วีดีโอ

I used to sometimes watch Kris's true crime stuff until I figured out she was just copying the wikipedia articles almost beat for beat (and maybe all true crime channels do that, but honestly she has a big enough platform and enough resources to be doing her own research imo) and I wonder how much of this was all her own opinions vs her jumping on a bandwagon and parroting common criticisms she's seen, thinking they were more popular than they were.

The opinion that people enjoying smut = bad and gross and therefore should not be a thing is pick me at best, and pro control of women’s bodies, anti feminist, and misogynistic at worst. In my opinion.

Those creators have never attacked the "smut" consumed by men. Platforms full of revenge, kids, & trfking, and they want to complain about books.

her views going from millions to around 200,000 (at this time) shows that she offended A LOT of people. I agree that she absolutely needs to apologize to the creators that were originally in her video as she made them a target. she also needs to post her apology on youtube (even make the tiktok into a short idk) to make sure that she is apologizing to everyone. lots of people don't use tiktok and now, Americans won't even be able to see it after tomorrow. I'm glad that she is going to stick in her own lane from now on, but posting a video like nothing happened gives me the impression that she is not actually sorry; she just wanted a bag, like you said. she backpedaled because her tactic backfired. imo her original title + video shows how she really feels. saying at the end that she does not mean to offend anyone is like saying "don't be mad, it's just a joke" if she truly did take others experiences and opinions into account, she would have made a proper apology on TH-cam where it all started. posting it on tiktok gave me the impression that she does not want to stain her youtube channel with her actions.. other influencers who mess up on youtube and go make an apology on another platform are called out for not taking true accountability, so I think she should be as well. I'm very proud of booktok, not just the creators but the viewers, for speaking out and sharing why they defend it. people were sharing their personal experiences - it's a lot harder to do that imo. she also has the game of thrones series in the backgrround of her video which should be an obvious contradiction to herself. fyi I'm not just a random hater, i had been following her on tiktok for years and was subscribed to her youtube channel and even bought two bags of her and Caleb's candy. I remember the original video coming up on my recommended and I cringed so hard. I wasn't sure if it was because of my own mentality/interests that made me feel embarrassed or becauase I knew it was a bad take. I now have confirmation that what I enjoy is normal and okay (in certain communties anyways). at least there wasn't a ukelele. now I'm gonna go to therapy, go outside and find some grass, and crack open one of my smut books

She dissed gooners… and gooners are mad thats why people are mad

These DR defenders have the same attitude as male gamers who only play dating waifu sims. Both of these communities have the same extreme gender dynamics established by patriarchy. For these women, I think they read DR for confirmation bias of our violent, male-dominated society and to cope with the expectation that they will have to give themselve a "violent" man one day in order to survive our capitalist hellscape. If that is the case, then I'd say constantly immersing yourself in your existential dread is not good for your mental wellness. I would also say "take a walk in the park and touch some grass" but ... you know ... there's not a 0% chance one of these women would get attacked or worse.

Well, I've never heard of that creator. So I took a walk outside, watched this vid, and now I'm going to my couch to read a smutty hockey book. 🤓

The people saying "fvck you" to people who don't like smvt, and calling what they enjoy "boring" - really aren't any better. Nor is equivocating what Kris said to literal r*pists. Sure we can criticise what Kris said as being me,an spirited - and that even though she took some of those more off colour joke out, she didn't address it. But none of it was really that bad nor directly misog,ynistic. I know there are critiques of this fuvor around "smvt" in books having ties in misog,yny - which is an important conversation, but I don't think that's what's happening here (I would agree it's just for clicks). And there are also critiques about overconsumption in "booktok", and lazy writing, with little editing, that publishers are now pushing. And yeah, I'm personally pretty annoyed that my favourite genre - fantasy - is currently pretty overrun with smvt at the minute, and I would like to see some new stuff that isn't just romance with some magic in the background in 2025. But kris wasn't getting into either of those things, she was just joking -- which is probably where part of the problem is. None of it gives people an excuse to now dogpile her, and say some of this pretty h0rendous stuff back to her. (I'm also doubtful she deleted the comment of the first woman - i imagine kris is amoung the creators who have the more strict censoring (which has been making youtube a nightmare tbh))

I agree with Kris on her dark romance take. But smut books are like movies with sex. A good story can coexist with smut. If you’re gonna criticize books that we read, criticize the movies that practically have just as much “smut”.

I just think she was condescending about it. I genuinely think that the mainstream booktok dark romance books are terrible and harmful but her video just felt mean.

Love kallmekris. Was this video “controversial?“ lololol. She’s silly and I wouldn’t take anything she says too seriously. My goodness 🤣

Bruuuh , people say she's a misogynist, but those same people don't criticize male creators who are actually sexist and mean when it comes to booktok.

😂That person coming up with ways to stop an uprising has not seen what had happened to every oppressive monarchy in history.... They got murdered even if many people had to die trying. And Hunger games is a YA honey🤣

Gooners don't like to be called gooners

Criticise the problematic books, not the people reading them. If she was really interested, she would understand the complexities in why women read these kinds of books, shaming doesnt bring anything; just war. I personally don't like dark romances because of the common themes such as SA, stalking and inc*st; I find it rather disturbing (past traumas tm), but that's just me. I'm not going out here shaming the women, I'm actually interested in what makes this appealing to some women, aka, understanding another's perspective, not whatever she's doing

I think some of y'all need to watch a video Rachel Oates made about dark romance. Dark romance is not bad but romanticising abuse is. We can't dismiss it as "we can tell fiction from reality" because we can't. There is data proving that dark romance skews the perception of romance, and could possibly lead very young readers into staying in abusive relationships. This is not something to take lightly. In this case people actually need to touch grass and meet others. Because we actually can base our life on the books we read. And if we're constantly told that being abused is sexy, or that we suddently became the only able to change him: you need to see a therapist.

You said one sentence which is the essence of what she did - rage bait brings money. The more aggressive someone is in a "personal opinion" video, the more aggressive response it gets, which equals money. To say that people need therapy is not only an insult but bullying. Is one to not like a certain genre, is a very different thing to generalize and minimize people and their preferences. Just let the people read whatever they want. Of course, is all right to bring problems into a certain discussion, but not in this way. Even if she hadn't a bad intention, but contrary, the delivery was very bad. Yes, we have big problems in the world of books, from the industry to the social media platforms, even with authors or influencers. But balance and a real discussion is what will resolve some issues, not insults and judgments. And to return to the beginning, balance does not bring money. They don't care about how others can feel, their cushion is soft. Is all that matters.

I've been reading romance and erotica for more than 10 years and this kind of discourse always exited. It's like a moral panic; a panic that adult women are too dumb to understand what is real and what it's fantasy. We know that in real life men it's not like the books (but should), we know that toxic relationship is bad, we know that a perfect relationship like Emily Henry writes is unreal. We understand that romance books ARE FANTASY. You, hater romance people, need to understand as well.

LMFAO. This sort of sh*t is LITERALLY the problem with social media. Everyone thinks that their opinions matter. They dont, and shhhhh. 😂 "Romance novels" are just porn for women. . . As porn is just porn for men. No shame on either side( a little actually for actual porn, cmon mates, stop it, go to the gym) BUT, that being said, noone cares. Keep your opinions to yourselves. If you don't, and feel the need to broadcast your particular brand of crazy to the world, deal with the backlash... 😂

I agree that the crux of the problem is focusing your criticism on readers rather than on the books themselves. I don't think we can make blanket statements about what certain groups of readers are like. But I think it's very different to criticize, say, the way that extreme kinks are presented in dark romance without sufficient context or respect and the potential for this to impact the way that the general public perceives the real-life kink community, or the potential for this to have a negative impact on readers' own perceptions of sexuality especially if they are very young.

"I'm not shaming anyone" but also saying "go touch grass if you like this" is WILD. I saw the original video about an hour after she posted it. To see that she changed it instead of actually addressing anything was disappointing. Taking the harsh comments out isn't bad in itself, but when you do it to avoid getting hate instead of addressing what you said, that's where I have a problem with it.

I personally also think that there is a big difference between critiquing artwork and just stating problematic things in the book. Fantasy is also so seperate from reality and what people may find appealing in fiction has no bearing on how they actually behave.

I personally also think that there is a big difference between critiquing artwork and just stating problematic things in the book. Fantasy is also so seperate from reality and what people may find appealing in fiction has no bearing on how they actually behave.

I used to be in the mind of “dark romance is misogynistic and bad” but after hearing from (primarily women) readers why they like the books, it’s more complicated. I feel like people are used to seeing violence and bad things happen in other genres (Kris literally has ASOIAF on her shelf which from what I’ve heard has inc*st and incredibly disturbing SA scenes), but they’re taken aback because romance is supposed to be “wholesome” or whatever. This is honestly just the violence in videos games debate recycled. Liking to kill people in video games doesn’t make you want to go kill people irl and fantasizing about things in fiction doesn’t make you want those things to happen to you irl.

I think that many readers feel some kind of inferiority when they don't read smut. It doesn't mean that the dark romance and romantasy genres aren't problematic but the way people are handling this is not the right way. Criticism is good but there is a fine line to hate and the shaming starts.

I don’t even use TikTok since it tends to generate so much drama. Even on my own TH-cam channel I try not to talk too much about the books I don’t like just to avoid the extra drama. Once I give my opinion I feel like it’s over and done with and I never have to talk about it again.

The ideal example of smut that is enough for me and not too much is Funny Story by Emily Henry

I’m not a fan of dark romance but I do feel like the trend is just another slam dunk of being able to laugh at what women like. Meanwhile men are chronic corn addicts 🤨 remind me of who is gross, again? Often multiple things are true (the books are kinda gross but we don’t need to make fun of readers themselves or even assume anything being read is inherently a reflection of moral quality)

i agree with kallmekris, tbh. dark romance IS a very problematic genre and it is extremely gross.

Oh my god, I hated the housemaid is watching. Picked it up for a long train ride and it was a horrible experience

I like sharing books with others

It's no one else's business how someone reads, why someone reads, what someone reads, etc. Reading should simply be ENCOURAGED. That's it.

If I purchase a paperback, I don't write in it, but I will absolutely dog ear it or crack the spine. I dont crack the spine before reading, but its going to happen with reading over time. I read for the book- not the aesthetic. If I wanted the aesthetic as well, I'd shell out for the hardcover. When it comes to the dog ears, I use a normal bookmark for the read through, but I'll dog ear the page a specific scene I want to reread later.

I read the only one left by Riley sager and it was terrible. It’s the only book I’ve read by him and I don’t think I’ll be giving him another chance.

I go to the library. I buy max 1 book a month. I get two to three books for christmas/birthday. That‘s it 😂

“He’s too young for me… Thing that Leo DiCaprio never said” loved your honesty and sense of humor 😂

If you want an intense romance where grief is a big part of the plot, read PS: I hate you by Lauren Connolly. Maddie's (FMC) brother died of cancer. The book starts in his funeral, and then there's the reading of the will, and we find out that the brother wanted her and his best friend to spread his ashes in different locations in the US. The problem? Maddie hates Dom's guts (the best friend). In the story we get to see her grief, how she processes the loss, and how she falls back in love with Dom (it's a second chance romance). There's a couple sex scenes like in the last third of the book. But it's really good, probably my best book from 2024

Lovely❤

I think you really missed a lot of the culture in A Love Song For Ricki Wilde. It was filled with history and art and music. It was a romance to Harlem. I’m disappointed that you couldn’t see beyond the “brat” that you described Rickie to be. 🙄

I read "The Inmate" by Freida McFadden in 2024 and I thought it was so stupid! It just got so much more ridiculous the longer it went on and the ending had me literally laughing out loud...