The third season of Veronica Mars ended two episodes short. Venus and Mars is my attempt to pick up all the dangling threads, follow all the clues and bring everything to a logical and satisfying conclusion.
I’m not mad about this book. Let’s start with that. I mean, I LOVE Veronica Mars. Excellent tv show. Now, rather like the tv show, this book had some parts I didn’t like, and some parts I did. The reasoning behind the two star rating is…well, firstly, the parts I liked? Basically were the parts from the show. There was a line here or there that I liked, but over all I felt kind of like the Veronica Mars and Logan Echolls and Co. that I knew from the show were kind of replaced by characterizations of themselves that were sort of distorted. It was mostly Veronica and Logan that I struggled with. While as a couple they were definitely who I was rooting for on the show: hoping they’d make it through, come back together, learn to let the love they obviously felt for each other help them to overcome their failings in their complete inabilities to have a functioning relationship, in this book I felt like their problems were kind of turned on their heads. Instead of Veronica being totally justified in being upset that Logan would hire someone to tail her (for her own security, to be clear) without telling her, it’s kind of framed in this book as being justified because it ended up being helpful once. Also? Veronica’s super sleuth powers were severely downplayed so that some guy was following her for MONTHS and she never caught on. Which I find INCREDIBLY hard to believe. And even more? Everyone ended up being a huge Logan fan. Now, I’m a Logan fan, but this felt too far. Not everyone is going to get along. Logan IS a jackass at times and generally has zero interest in forming relationships with other people even if they are friends with Veronica, simply because he’s content to have the few people he does as long as he’s got Veronica as well. Also, there is no reason for suddenly everyone to start liking Logan. To suddenly all come to the conclusion that he is a bad ass and super cool. It felt like Logan’s faults were hugely glossed over or forgiven entirely because it was due to his love for Veronica or because it allowed him to have a “bad ass” (and by “bad ass,” I mean violent, which I don’t consider to by synonymous) moment.
Now, obviously, this is one fan’s interpretation of these characters. And it is different from mine. It might be very much like another fan’s on the other hand, and that fan would probably thoroughly enjoy this book. But I think my big takeaways from this is that: Veronica Mars (the tv show and movie) are noir. Or noir-based. This book…isn’t. I mean, it’s got a bit of mystery, got a bit of danger and daring do, but it’s not noir as I understand it. No fatalism, no real ambiguity, which I always considered an important part of that genre. Now, if you want something that isn’t quite so…well, fatalistic, as noir, this is a fine book to read.
The other takeaway was this: I do not know this Veronica Mars, and she’s not as cool as the one I feel like I do know. I mean, just because Veronica gets to use her taser, gets to swoop in and rescue Logan once (from one guy, who wasn’t really armed, and was by all accounts incredibly dumb), does not mean that she has the same bad-assery and even the same agency as the Veronica from the show. Veronica Mars is Batman. But this Veronica felt more like Lois Lane or…some really cliched side-kick/love interest. I feel like the author threw a couple of violent moments Veronica’s way and expected readers to interpret that as being bad ass. I just don’t see violence as the same thing as being bad ass or being a strong female lead character. Violence isn’t cool, it’s just violent. The Veronica of this book was really more set up to be Logan’s love interest. Logan earns Veronica by being suitably violent in her defense, rescuing her and her father (via violence), and simply waiting around for her to realize he’s there and perfect. Not perfect for her, but just perfect. And that’s where this book and I had our problems. I felt like Logan was put on a pedestal and Veronica was relegated to being the sidekick when she used to be Batman.
I’m not mad about this book. Let’s start with that. I mean, I LOVE Veronica Mars. Excellent tv show. Now, rather like the tv show, this book had some parts I didn’t like, and some parts I did. The reasoning behind the two star rating is…well, firstly, the parts I liked? Basically were the parts from the show. There was a line here or there that I liked, but over all I felt kind of like the Veronica Mars and Logan Echolls and Co. that I knew from the show were kind of replaced by characterizations of themselves that were sort of distorted. It was mostly Veronica and Logan that I struggled with. While as a couple they were definitely who I was rooting for on the show: hoping they’d make it through, come back together, learn to let the love they obviously felt for each other help them to overcome their failings in their complete inabilities to have a functioning relationship, in this book I felt like their problems were kind of turned on their heads. Instead of Veronica being totally justified in being upset that Logan would hire someone to tail her (for her own security, to be clear) without telling her, it’s kind of framed in this book as being justified because it ended up being helpful once. Also? Veronica’s super sleuth powers were severely downplayed so that some guy was following her for MONTHS and she never caught on. Which I find INCREDIBLY hard to believe. And even more? Everyone ended up being a huge Logan fan. Now, I’m a Logan fan, but this felt too far. Not everyone is going to get along. Logan IS a jackass at times and generally has zero interest in forming relationships with other people even if they are friends with Veronica, simply because he’s content to have the few people he does as long as he’s got Veronica as well. Also, there is no reason for suddenly everyone to start liking Logan. To suddenly all come to the conclusion that he is a bad ass and super cool. It felt like Logan’s faults were hugely glossed over or forgiven entirely because it was due to his love for Veronica or because it allowed him to have a “bad ass” (and by “bad ass,” I mean violent, which I don’t consider to by synonymous) moment.
Now, obviously, this is one fan’s interpretation of these characters. And it is different from mine. It might be very much like another fan’s on the other hand, and that fan would probably thoroughly enjoy this book. But I think my big takeaways from this is that: Veronica Mars (the tv show and movie) are noir. Or noir-based. This book…isn’t. I mean, it’s got a bit of mystery, got a bit of danger and daring do, but it’s not noir as I understand it. No fatalism, no real ambiguity, which I always considered an important part of that genre. Now, if you want something that isn’t quite so…well, fatalistic, as noir, this is a fine book to read.
The other takeaway was this: I do not know this Veronica Mars, and she’s not as cool as the one I feel like I do know. I mean, just because Veronica gets to use her taser, gets to swoop in and rescue Logan once (from one guy, who wasn’t really armed, and was by all accounts incredibly dumb), does not mean that she has the same bad-assery and even the same agency as the Veronica from the show. Veronica Mars is Batman. But this Veronica felt more like Lois Lane or…some really cliched side-kick/love interest. I feel like the author threw a couple of violent moments Veronica’s way and expected readers to interpret that as being bad ass. I just don’t see violence as the same thing as being bad ass or being a strong female lead character. Violence isn’t cool, it’s just violent. The Veronica of this book was really more set up to be Logan’s love interest. Logan earns Veronica by being suitably violent in her defense, rescuing her and her father (via violence), and simply waiting around for her to realize he’s there and perfect. Not perfect for her, but just perfect. And that’s where this book and I had our problems. I felt like Logan was put on a pedestal and Veronica was relegated to being the sidekick when she used to be Batman.