Without a Trace by Colleen Coble rounded down to 1 star

[Karin]

NB the female protagonist heads a search and rescue team who use dogs to find people using air scents (not ground) and I felt that this plus a couple of other things qualifies this rather abysmal novel.

1.5 stars rounded down

The novel itself is closer toward 2 stars--disappointing and the writing is often rather weak and some parts were just wooden--not as good as the other Colleen Coble novels I have read and I thought this from the start of the novel. However, the fact that not only did Cobel write one particular line that is at once unnecessary and demeaning to a number of women, but that whoever edited this book left it in is surprising. Considering the body image struggles women have had for generations I was not impressed. Does Coble not realize that women of all body types read her novels?

So the offending line--and I ran this by someone who isn't nearly as sensitive to this sort of thing as I am-- is on page 28 of the paperback.

Slim to the point that she had none of the womanly curves most men admired. This does two things: it implies that very slim women are not womanly and it drives home feelings of inferiority to naturally very slim women who read this (I am not talking about eating disorders).

This line was completely unnecessary, and the irony of her having two men in love with her wasn't lost on me, but that didn't make this line any less unkind.

[Peacejanz]

I love your review. I have not read the book (nor do I hope to) but her negative view of women will keep it off my list. Thank you for an honest review. You help the world be a better place. peace, janz

You possibly over-rated it. ?

[Karin]

Peacejanz wrote: "I love your review. I have not read the book (nor do I hope to) but her negative view of women will keep it off my list. Thank you for an honest review. You help the world be a better place. peace,..."

No, 1 star is fine, :)