Noelia (thisbookishlove)’s Reviews > Alchemised > Status Update

The internalized misogyny in this book is soooo LOUD

Nadia wrote: "The internalized misogyny in this book is soooo LOUD"

I agree. The author wrote the MMC like a Gary Stu, basically. Every chapter, every sentence it's like he's so perfect, he's so strong, he's so smart, he's invincible. I wonder if SenLinYu had a fetish with Draco Malfoy or Tom Felton, and kinda inserted themselves in the story. I'm genuinely considering that. I mean, Helena is practically useless. She's weak, she can't fight. He has to teach her to use her resonance.
I have never read Manacled, but I wonder if these scenes are also there. Because that's a very very wrong way to portray Hermione. And I'm saying this as a Potterhead of the first dawn. Hermione was top of her class, and she couldn't be easily surpassed. She was the most talented wizard of her generation by far. Harry only surpassed her in Defense Against the Dark Arts. In everything else, she was better. So, having Malfoy (Ferron) to train her? In exactly what? As far as I remember, Malfoy was a mediocre student.

I read Manacled so I can do a proper review/research for it since apparently everyone is screaming, crying, throwing up about how romantic it is and the best piece of literature (we are sooooo doomed as a society, like as a woman myself it's so disheartening) I skimmed it a lot though, because it's soooo repetitive... and it's there as well. I hate to say this but a lot of the fans of this book and Manacled are reading it as a self-insert. And i love that you touched upon Hermione's character because in a lot of Dramione fanfic, Hermione's character were made to be as of no substance and no personality as possible, because ultimately this is again, a self-insert. it's easy to imagine yourself being with "Draco" or Keine when the FMC has no personality. This is what ultimately made me hate Manacled so much because they have made my Hermione, stronger, utterly smart, vicious Hermione, the Gryffindor Victor to be a perpetual victim. It's insane

Nadia wrote: "I read Manacled so I can do a proper review/research for it since apparently everyone is screaming, crying, throwing up about how romantic it is and the best piece of literature (we are sooooo doom..."

Girl, I agree on every point you've made. I would take it as far (and at the risk of Dramione fans coming for my throat) as to say that even Malfoy is out of character. I mean, all of us who read HP and understood what it was trying to say know that Malfoy was just the byproduct of his parents, more specifically his father. Acknowledging that means that there's no universe where he could have fallen in love with Hermione, unless it were one where Hermione was a pureblood of a wealthy, well-related family. He hated her because she was a mudblood. He was raised to believe that mudbloods shouldn't be allowed magical education, and this was one of the biggest subplots in all the HP books. He might have had a change of heart at the epilogue of The Deathly Hallows, but still that doesn't mean he has changed his ways. I imagined he came to respect her, but to go as far as to potentially marry a mudblood is inconceivable, as J. K. Rowling imagined him.
I don't read fanfics, they're not my cup of tea. But I would have imagined that characters staying as "in character" as possible was the right way to tackle fanfics.

For this pair to work, both need to be written so out of character and that's just the way it is. And by the way, I fail to understand how could someone "fell" for Draco. He is just one of those posh, spoiled, selfish and coward kid in school who bullies people for being poor and.... he's racist. Pairing Hermione, in essence, is like pairing a KKK member with a black person which is soooo concerning. Now they wrote this ish?? and it's published. We are so doomed....

I believe a lot of girls are just can't get over their crush on Tom Felton when they were a teenager. I remember that a few months before this book is published, a fan gave a bound copy of Manacled to Tom Felton on a fan meeting. Could you imagine? Giving a fanfic filled with SA to the actor who played the character. That in itself is a harassment. It was all over Tiktok

another Dramione book that was traditionally published this year also had a weird fixation on virginity! it was so odd and really kept me from liking it more.

Nadia wrote: "For this pair to work, both need to be written so out of character and that's just the way it is. And by the way, I fail to understand how could someone "fell" for Draco. He is just one of those po..."

Draco never did it for me. All of us who have read the books would agree that he was a bully. For me, he was obnoxious enough to not even think about considering him hot. Nope. I pass.
And to the second, I didn't know that. God, the guts you gotta have to handle such a thing to Tom Felton, who, in real life, has nothing to do with Malfoy. He's actually a very charismatic, charming, well-mannered guy. Very thoughtful too (not that I fancy him. He isn't my type). But he doesn't strike me as a person who would enjoy or applaud such a thing. Even more, I think he will be disgusted to find out that someone took the liberty to portray Malfoy in an even more disgusting way than he already was.

Completely with you on this!!

Annabelle wrote: "another Dramione book that was traditionally published this year also had a weird fixation on virginity! it was so odd and really kept me from liking it more."

Damn. You mean "Rose In Chains"? I recently foud out that that was originally another Dramione fic. And I think the other one is "The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy". I found out about this like two days ago, no kidding (proceeds to remove such books from TBR 🤣).
One would think that by now we should have moved on from that medieval mentality of considering a woman's virginity like a "gift" or something to be praised. But nope.

SK (Back for good this time? We'll see) wrote: "Completely with you on this!!"

😊😊😊

Noelia (thisbookishlove) wrote: "Annabelle wrote: "another Dramione book that was traditionally published this year also had a weird fixation on virginity! it was so odd and really kept me from liking it more."

Damn. You mean "Ro..."

yep Rose in Chains! virginity is like a whole plot point 🙄