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Against the Matriarchy #3
Against Her Gentle Sword
On an island ruled by women, young men must duel each other with stun swords to impress young ladies and attract romantic interest.
Dario, a boy yearning for freedom and equality, is selected to duel in front of the girl he loves. He has no desire to fight his friends, and little chance of winning. Will he refuse to duel, suffering punishment and humiliation? Or will he ruin his chances of winning her heart through an embarrassing defeat?
His problems get more complicated when a former ally hijacks his revolutionary plans, turning them into an evil power grab. Real, deadly fighting breaks out for the first time on the island.
Dario, a boy yearning for freedom and equality, is selected to duel in front of the girl he loves. He has no desire to fight his friends, and little chance of winning. Will he refuse to duel, suffering punishment and humiliation? Or will he ruin his chances of winning her heart through an embarrassing defeat?
His problems get more complicated when a former ally hijacks his revolutionary plans, turning them into an evil power grab. Real, deadly fighting breaks out for the first time on the island.
144 pages, Paperback
First published September 16, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 19, 2014
Against Her Gentle Sword is the most exciting romance that I have ever read. The entire novel is well-written. The plot with its interesting twist drives readers forward and a new yet strange society lures them in deeper. A boy who wants his freedom and equality for his society shares his plans with a few other guys. When fate brings the boy to the arena to fight his friends, that's when everything goes wrong. Men have to fight each other with swords to win a woman's attraction and the right to reproduce with that woman. Gwen chooses the one boy to fight his friends. She loves him but she has to follow their society's rules. Women rules against the men. Will Dario win his love? Or lose his love due to defeat and humiliation from the arena? Will Gwen still love Dario even though he is against the way their society currently is? Will they form a new society o their own where both men and women are equals? To find out what happens, I highly recommend reading Against Her Gentle Sword by Alan Stroe. He definitely knows how to attract and lure in his readers through his thrilling romance novel unlike any other. Overall, I rate this amazing novel a 5 out of 5 stars.
December 31, 2014
I had been craving a good dystopian novel, so I scanned my to-be-read list for one. I found it in Alan Stroe's Against Her Gentle Sword: Fighting for Love and Freedom in a Woman's World. Stroe's novel, which is set on an unidentified tropical island known only as The Colony, centers around Dario. As he is set to graduate high school, Dario has been selected for a fencing competition during which he will be selected by certain chosen females for his hand in marriage and his Reproductive License. He need not win, he just has to impress one of the female Protectresses. Dario's dilemma is that he will have to battle against some of his closest friends. His choices: fight against his friends (knowing the loser will face a humiliating Defeat Ritual) or try to impress Gwendolyn, the girl he has always loved. Things get complicated when the psychotic Sylvester disappears without a trace. Dario, increasingly frustrated with The Colony's unwarranted gender discrimination and the female-dominated authorities' apparent unawareness of the danger they are in at the hands of Sylvester and his gang of renegades, knows that now is the time to take action, even if it means losing Gwen, the only thing in his life that means anything to him.
While the reverse gender discrimination is certainly an attention-grabber, it is not the main theme of the book. I think the most important message that Stroe wishes to convey is that people need to be treated as individuals, regardless of gender (or race, ethnicity, or anything else). Making rules and laws based on stereotypes and assumptions is not only unjust, it is potentially dangerous. Stroe also skillfully tackles the theme of civilized society vs. anarchy, and challenges the reader to think about whether a patriarchal or matriarchal society would lead to less lawlessness and violence. The whole novel leaves that question up in the air. Education is also an important theme. School authorities are given very high positions of power within the government, and all children (male and female) are given a solid education (which, yes, does include a healthy dose of indoctrination).
So if the idea of a young-adult dystopian novella without the graphic violence of The Hunger Games sounds appealing, check out Stroe's Against her Gentle Sword.
While the reverse gender discrimination is certainly an attention-grabber, it is not the main theme of the book. I think the most important message that Stroe wishes to convey is that people need to be treated as individuals, regardless of gender (or race, ethnicity, or anything else). Making rules and laws based on stereotypes and assumptions is not only unjust, it is potentially dangerous. Stroe also skillfully tackles the theme of civilized society vs. anarchy, and challenges the reader to think about whether a patriarchal or matriarchal society would lead to less lawlessness and violence. The whole novel leaves that question up in the air. Education is also an important theme. School authorities are given very high positions of power within the government, and all children (male and female) are given a solid education (which, yes, does include a healthy dose of indoctrination).
So if the idea of a young-adult dystopian novella without the graphic violence of The Hunger Games sounds appealing, check out Stroe's Against her Gentle Sword.
March 5, 2015
Against Her Gentle Sword is a different type dystopian novella. In this novella the gender roles are switched, the woman are powerful and the men are like slaves. It’s an interesting concept but I think it was presented a little too extreme. The women still were still stereotypical. They were afraid of bugs, wanted the strongest/muscly men, and self proclaimed their lack of muscles. The men still led the group of main characters. I wasn’t a huge fan of this novella, though it is well written and kept me interested. I don’t think I connected with the characters because they were too immature in their mindset. I think someone who was more of a fan of YA would enjoy this book quite a bit.
The story does have a few graphic sexual encounters and a few fight scenes. I wouldn’t recommend this for younger teens. I’m going to give this novella 3/5 because I enjoyed the concept and the author’s writing.
The story does have a few graphic sexual encounters and a few fight scenes. I wouldn’t recommend this for younger teens. I’m going to give this novella 3/5 because I enjoyed the concept and the author’s writing.
December 21, 2014
This is a really great book. It was very exciting. I liked how it explored the idea that men should not be allowed to wear arms. In our world many men are aggressive with no reason. Also, I liked how Gwendolyn acted when she was with Dario on the beach. I like that even though he couldn't have power over her, she respected him as though he was a powerful man. I recommend this book to everyone.
Merged review:
This is a really great book. It was very exciting. I liked how it explored the idea that men should not be allowed to wear arms. In our world many men are aggressive with no reason. Also, I liked how Gwendolyn acted when she was with Dario on the beach. I like that even though he couldn't have power over her, she respected him as though he was a powerful man. I recommend this book to everyone.
Merged review:
This is a really great book. It was very exciting. I liked how it explored the idea that men should not be allowed to wear arms. In our world many men are aggressive with no reason. Also, I liked how Gwendolyn acted when she was with Dario on the beach. I like that even though he couldn't have power over her, she respected him as though he was a powerful man. I recommend this book to everyone.
April 23, 2015
I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads Firstreads giveaway.
A quick and wonderful read! Against Her Gentle Sword is very well written, and a great book for generating conversation. Even though the characters exist is a matriarchal society, the traditional male and female stereotypes are extremely prevalent. However, the overall point of the story is equality regardless of gender. As a whole, I really enjoyed Against Her Gentle Sword. It had lots of action and a few interestingly funny surprises. I would definitely recommend this book!
A quick and wonderful read! Against Her Gentle Sword is very well written, and a great book for generating conversation. Even though the characters exist is a matriarchal society, the traditional male and female stereotypes are extremely prevalent. However, the overall point of the story is equality regardless of gender. As a whole, I really enjoyed Against Her Gentle Sword. It had lots of action and a few interestingly funny surprises. I would definitely recommend this book!
December 21, 2014
This is a really great book. It was very exciting. I liked how it explored the idea that men should not be allowed to wear arms. In our world many men are aggressive with no reason. Also, I liked how Gwendolyn acted when she was with Dario on the beach. I like that even though he couldn't have power over her, she respected him as though he was a powerful man. I recommend this book to everyone.
April 20, 2015
Oh my goodness. Just don't. Ok? Please, just don't.
so terrible.
so terrible.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews