Yes, today I'm finally finishing my Mediator reviews, and, wow, it's going to be a rough one. Paul (I'm saying his name today because he's there too often in the final books to shrug him to the side with an aggravated nickname) is everywhere in the last few Mediator books. Suze can't get away from her creepy classmate. It's gross to read.
Which is why, I'm sorry to say, it felt like a crash and burn ending to me. Sure, there were aspects I liked, but an unfortunate darkness spread over them as Paul Slater infiltrated every part of Suze's life. Is he supposed to be an enjoyable villain? Are we supposed to have compassion for the supposedly morally ambiguous guy who "loved Suze too much" to listen to her? Other than Suze's Buffy-like comebacks and the less-involved characters (David, Jake, Brad, Gina, even CeeCee), nothing in these books survived Paul's presence.
But we can start with the good. Enjoyable part number one: Suze's chic fashion and strong one-liners. While at times Meg Cabot could drive home the Suze-loves-clothes point a little too hard, most of the time, it kept the content fluffy and relaxing. In the midst of a huge battle, only in a fun beach read could the main character worry about her shoes. To a reader skimming over the book, it's an unimportant detail, but to someone engrossed in what happens to Queen of Sass Suze Simon, it's a reminder that the only possible outcome has to be good. It's all too teen drama to be anything else in the end. Eventually, nothing will really be lost or changed for the worse.
And you have to love Suze's sass. While it's clearly heavily borrowed from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it's nice to see a character so similar to powerful Buffy untouched by Joss Whedon Besides, in a book like this, I enjoy reading archetypes (even very, very specific reiterations of an archetype) I know I will like. It's like how every YA fantasy needs a dark-haired white boy with a troubled past and a buried heart that the reader can't help but swoon over. Most of the time, he actually sucks (except for Kaz Brekker, who's not-very-secretly a good guy). Does that matter to the reader? No. It's just what the genre is. In teen paranormal romances, a spunky and strong teenage girl is always at the center of the plot (except for Supernatural, which is by far one of the worst shows I've ever seen, and Twilight, which is barely paranormal and entirely bland romance). Suze's snarky remarks were one of the only things keeping me faithful to the Mediator series.
I also think many of the side characters stayed unaffected by Paul. David continued being the kind younger brother I knew him to be, always looking out for Suze (even when she didn't deserve it). I hope that the Netflix TV adaption will give him a more integral role, considering he's one of the least flawed and most enjoyable characters in the whole series. The other stepbrothers, Jake and Brad, also stayed rather normal as the series concluded. Jake continued to be the chill background character who mostly stayed out of the way. Brad grew into a pretty good dad, even if he still wasn't perfect. Overall, by the end of the story, the three stepbrothers were a lot more than Dopey, Doc, and Sleepy (the strange, slightly cruel secret nicknames Suze assigned to them upon first meeting).
Gina and CeeCee also kept their strong characters in the final books. While Gina didn't have as much development, being in New York so much, she still stayed entirely herself, which is honestly all I could ask from anyone once Paul Slater took over. CeeCee also continued to be herself, albeit more and more from the sidelines as the books went on. When Suze grew closer with Jesse, she also grew apart from CeeCee, especially after high school, which felt unfair. In the revival novels, it almost felt like it was actually a revival TV show that the actress didn't have time for, so she flew in for just a day to film a couple scenes then continued on with her life. Except this is a book, so the characters are available when Meg Cabot says they are. CeeCee had no reason to be cut out! I missed her cool gadgets and "futuristic" (in quotations because this was the early 2000s, so not a single thing was even kind of futuristic) tech knowledge. The side characters were fun in the final books, but Paul took up all of their time to shine.
By now you probably think I'm exaggerating with this whole "I hate Paul" thing. And I get that. I would think so, too, if I heard someone rambling on about one character single-handedly taking down an entire series. I mean, if a character that flawed makes it into the book, there are most likely underlying issues, right? Wrong. Not here. Here it's all his fault.
Well, okay, maybe there are some dated vibes here and there. I wrote about those in my first Mediator review—but before Paul, it was manageable. I understand these were written twenty years ago and audiences were different. To a point, I can respect that, especially with a mostly diverse book. But Paul took being problematic to a whole new level. He disgusted me, plain and simple. He made the people around him feel unsafe—he made the women around him feel unsafe. He embodied privilege, doing whatever he wanted and knowing full well how it would affect the people around but not caring.
Some readers probably want examples of that. Frankly, he grosses me out too much to go into it. Take my word for it or read it yourself. Sorry. My blog, my rules.
Paul's negative grossness seeped into plenty of aspects in the final books, which sucked. Jesse, for one, became weirdly over-protective and toxically jealous. His possessiveness over Suze (while simultaneously being cryptic and distant, of course) made it hard to care about their relationship. Sometimes, I wished someone nice and normal and level-headed would come in to sweep Suze into a healthy relationship—saying a lot, coming from me, considering I can pretty much always get on board with the ships presented to the reader.
Paul was also just such an unnecessary plot drive. Like, there was no reason to add an obnoxious teenage boy obsessed with Suze in order to make anything happen. That just isn't necessary. There are plenty of easy Big Bads. I'm not even asking for creativity here. I just don't want to be offended. Widen your range of beta readers and pick a different trope.
I probably wouldn't mind Paul as much as I do if he didn't get a redemption in the last book before the revivals. Yes, you read that right: redemption. He doesn't even do anything to deserve it, either, Suze just takes pity on him because she doesn't like him back. Excuse me? What kind of lesson does that teach the young girls reading? That when a man can't take "no" for an answer, they should be kind, stroke his ego because "boys will be boys"? Strong, unforgiving Suze should have no pity on someone who refuses to understand boundaries.
This series had a lot of potential. Sure, it was corny and predictable, but for most of the books, it didn't suck. The actual devil Paul Slater becoming a major part of the series, however, angered me. After all the hours I put into Suze's life, that was what it lead to? The last books tinted the entire series for me, and I think if someone asked for a paranormal teen book rec, knowing how it all ends, I would rather scour GoodReads than recommend Meg Cabot's Mediator series.
It was a short one today. Paul makes me too angry to keep writing—but, hey, two in one month! And I have another lined up to be posted soon. Try to (safely) enjoy the nice weather. As always, keep reading, readers.