วีดีโอ

Thanks for the bookish inspiration . I look forward to following your adventures with books. See you on a dragon one day!

18:56 Yes, I just sold 25 books to Ziffit and the other week I sold them 9 (and still continuing to declutter).

Couldn't agree more. I was so excited to read the book when I came across the concept. I mean, women and dragons!!!!!! Like come one. The book kicked off awesomely. Around 2/3rd of the book done, it got kind of our if hand. Just lost the premise and the central idea. I wish it would have been better if the story focused on one central idea. Honestly,.I kinds lost interest when the dragons started talking. It just ... Somehow made it less serious . The whole idea. And what was it about Beatrice going on to get a Nobel price?????and why did Sonja ALSO had to dragon. It started with the story about rage and it just turned into a story about dragons

You have inspired me to unhaul!!! Great video! ❤

First, thank you so so much for your review! I could not finish this book because it was putting me in a headspace of just disappointment and anger and dissatisfaction. I was looking for a review specifically for spoilers and discussion so I could find out what happened and see if I need to finish the book while also get some clarity on what I was reading. I respectfully disagree with some of your points, one being that dragons can't wear lipstick and hats. I love that you recognized she just put them back in stereotypical roles but I quite enjoy the idea of dragons not having to be one thing which I think was a big point for this book. You don't just have to be revenge and anger and ferocity you could essentially be a woman/dragon and be anything. Also, these were American English speaking women so I follow that even though they became dragons maybe fully realizing themselves that they could totally speak English if they chose to come back. However, so many of your points hit home for me I really appreciate you taking the time to dig through this and why I was so disappointed with this book when many other women felt so uplifted by it. I don't think it's a bad book because it reached so many people but it was not the book for me and I did not enjoy it as a whole. Thanks again for your review and your channel I will be looking for more of your reviews!

Little Thieves was nowhere on my radar, but I may have to look into it. ACE representation feels super rare, thanks for the mention 💜

Hello fellow Aspiring author!

"I'm not allowing myself to buy books until i read the books on my shelf...I did happen to buy a book yesterday . We're ignoring that!" 😂 I felt this down to my DNA

This book bothered me, too. Only after watching this video did I finally comprehend the reasons. Your critique was spot-on, thank you!

"Percy Jackson is staying." Same! I love my Percy Jackson books. I reread them last year and I loved them just as much as I did the first time. I still haven't watched the new TV series yet but I heard its good.

Your writing vlogs are so peaceful and relaxing to watch. I just finished redrafting/editing my novel in January. Best of luck with edits!

great vlog! im in the redrafting process as well and i relate so much to everything you said. it's so much harder to fix things when you already have the story down on the page. i found drafting to be so much easier. it's nice to know im not the only one stuck in the editing trenches and trying to find my way!!

Good luck with edits! That's the hardest part in my opinion...hello, from New Hampshire! :D

Great video! And, a super belated Happy Birthday! I myself am writing a book-length poem and am right now only three poems away from finishing the first of three parts whoot! I'm hoping to finish it by the end of the summer, but if I can't that'll be okay too. Have you got a timeline goal in mind for finishing your revision? It's been fun already seeing you make progress with your novel!

Tip #1: What works for one writer may be completely wrong for another writer. You have to find out what works best for you. I do some videos talking about my editing/writing, most especially my Editing Explained playlists. Just this last night, I finished the fourth draft of a book (Ottoman Destiny) and ordered a proof copy of what will be the fifth draft. So I'd suggest checking out my most recent Ottoman Destiny Editing Explained.

I agree with so much of your review. I felt a lack of cohesion with the dragons - I came to the book assuming it was about adult women dragoning out of rage, so I just got lost with all the other kinds of dragoning throughout the book. I agree the book had a lot of potential, but fell flat for me. I couldn’t connect with Alex, either.

Re: Anxiety surrounding making comments on videos - emojis are our friend. 😎📚👍

I just stumbled onto your video! You have such a great demeanor in front of the camera. Cindy was one of the first BookTubers that I became aware of as well. Hilarious. Best of luck with your channel - looks like you are doing great! 😎📚👍

I definitely need to do a book unhaul but can't bring myself to do it, watching this is making me think I should

Lot to get through there. I hope you get some great reads.

Snow Glass Apples looks beautiful!! I like that you are thinking about whether you will reread books to determine if you will keep them! I hate it when books in a series don't match. Good job making enough room for your keepers!

A Deadly Education sounds soo good! I'm bumping it up my tbr! I also really need to get to Emily Wilde! I've heard so many good things and it sounds like something I would just adore! 💖

If you like heist books, The Lies of Locke Lamora is wonderful. Its the Gentleman Bastard series/trilogy.

My favorites were Wolfsong and Ravensong in the Green Creek series by TJ Klune, also The Adventures of Amina Al Sarafi. Emily Wilde was ok, I gave it 3 🌟 I was hoping it would be a favorite. Half a Soul was great, but read the year before.

A propos non-fiction, I had same hesitation between jumping into the genre - now I always have a non-fiction book among currently read books! I think it comes from the fact that from looking at non-fiction shelves in bookshops and libraries, one might think that nonfiction is all about grim political topics and dissecting tragedies, when in fact there are books about every topic imaginable! I find that carefully chosen nonfiction book provides as much comfort as the fiction read. My favourites that I’d recommend to you is “Factfullness” by Rönnlund, Rosling & Rosling and “Humankind” by Rutger Bregman. Not sure if they are escapist, but they will make you feel good! On related note, I’m currently finishing “In Defence of the Witches” and I got to say, it’s not a very witchy book. It’s an alright feminist read, but there are very, very, very few mentions of witches (most of them in the introduction) for a book with such title.

Ahhh I 100% get what you mean about the online social anxiety 😆I think I overthink what I'm saying and whether it's coming across in the way I intended it to! Hopefully, we can both work on this! For the books, defo get to Babel soon, it's so amazing, and Ruthless Vows.

This is so exactly how I felt about this book, it made me scared about the bigger issue of how the Internet can be an echo chamber lol! I felt guilty listening to this! It was so exactly my thoughts, I felt guilty! (I'll go listen to an opposing view next haha). Favorite moment- (trying to get ahead of angry comments,) "I have nothing against the dragon from Shrek." 😂 Phew. Covered.

I’m definitely an extrovert so talking to people online isn’t typically an issue for me, but I feel like a good place to start is answering the questions people ask in their videos! I am also hoping to FINALLY get to Rebecca in 2024! It was on my 2023 fall tbr but yeaahhhhh… here we are

Lots of luck with your goals!🤩 "Babel" was amazing, I hope you really like it! I'm also planning on reading "Rebecca" this year, here's to hoping we both love it^^ I haven't heard of "S" or "Under The Earth, Over The Sky" but they sound really good, I'll have to look into them👀

Yeah same, I'm trying not to buy any new books until I've read the books I already own. I bought a few for Christmas/my birthday so I'd like to read those first before I buy more which is hard because there's soooo many amazing books out there I want to buy haha. I also need to unhaul a few books too. Best of luck with your reading goals!

Hi dear

Half a Soul was so sweet. Ahhh! Emily Wildes!! Love it. I can't wait for the sequel. I love to see The Mask of Mirrors on your list. I just finished the series in December and I do feel the need to reread it soon! I love the cover of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea. It is stunning. I've never read it, but I may have to. Great List!

Emily Wilde and The Mask of Mirrors were both on my favourites from last year as well. I was so pleasantly surprised by the whole Rook & Rose trilogy!

I loved this book! Instantly top 5 of all time and I felt called to it as a woman. I personally liked the dragons and how they where portrayed and these powerful beautiful creatures. Their rage did not take away their humanity and love for their children. I felt the second half when the dragons came back was significant because a theme of the book was that there lives “did not fit like a dress that was to small”, when they came back they remained large dragons and they forced society to make space for them. I feel it unfair to say that they just “returned to their roles” when many dragons returned to school, became construction workers, and in general used their new abilities to improve society. This book is about feminism, and feminism is a about choice. Tapping into your feminine rage to realize you deserve more is the idea, and that’s exactly what they did whether they decided to return to their roles or choose something new.

Love your taste in book's and author's. ❤ I really enjoyed reading legendborn and the book little thieves is waiting in my bookshelf for me to pick it finally up. 😂

What a fantastic collection of books! It's great to see so many books with autistic representation. Half A Soul sounds so cute. I love Howl's Moving Castle! Emily Wilde sounds really interesting. I've seen a lot of people on Bookstagram rave about it. Yessss! Political intrigue is my favourite!

Belladonna will be on my worst books of the year list. 😐I liked the mystery and hated the romance, which takes priority in the storyline. I also did not enjoy that the romance would trump some very time sensitive events in the book. Not for me, but a lot of people love it. I really enjoyed The Left Handed Booksellers of London, but I DNF'd the second one. It is definitely magical realism, which I have a love hate relationship with. I enjoyed Spice Road. I loved the Djinn in the book and his eventual storyline. I totally agree with the message of this video. 🤣 If you aren't having fun, put it down and read something else!

I read this book last year and I found myself a bit disappointed as well. I've always told people when they asked that I was disappointed by the lack of fantasy in the book. The book doesn't really focus on the dragons and more focuses on the two girls in the story. I think that your perspective on the dragons not being "dragony" may have helped me put my finger on why I didn't think Barnhill really leaned into that fantasy element. I do agree that I would have liked to see an explanation of the dragoning in other parts of the world. I enjoyed the book more than you, as I rated it 4 stars. However, I understand your points. I did not analyze it as thoroughly as you have. 😊

very nice and important discussion 👌👌💜

I'm the exact opposite: I prefer fantasy books that are set in the real world! Sometimes it's hard for me to get into books that have heavy world building... too hard for me to follow. But I totally understand why you feel that way!

"All the books I DNF'd in 2023" Lol it'd be almost a list of every book I picked up this year. I've probably DNF'd 60 books and finished 2-3. Not a good reading year for me. Lots of duds and mediocre books. But also just not been in a big reading mood. I've been productive writing, and always prioritize writing over reading. Also have had other things come up - got a job, working in a bookstore of all places, and got a new bird, a very demanding conure. Been a bit too busy to read.

I have a book of short stories of ghosts settled in Christmas time and there's one that I recommend you, since you are recommending creepy stories for winter. It is that horrifying story "The old portrait" by Hume Nisbet 😮. A vampire for Christmas, ho, ho! Take care, gorgeous!

Hey Jessica, I just watched your video and I must say that it was really informative and well-made. I was wondering if I could help you edit your videos and also highly engaging thumbnails which will help your video to reach to a wider audience .

Congratulations!!! I think it would be interesting to go back and reread something that long that you have written. I think about when I read emails back to myself sometimes my paragraph is missing context that existed in my head that I didn't add to my text. I can only imagine how nuts that would be when writing an entire novel!!

Wintersong sounds so good but it’s funny it’s romance when it sounds eerie 😅

Thanks for the recommendations. I’ve enjoyed a few of these and the others sound like books I’d like to read.

oh no not ACOTAR!!!! 🤣

Welcome to booktube!! I hope you will enjoy creating videos and making bookish friends!! 🤗

This is so cool, what an accomplishment! Congratulations😄👏 I'll always be in awe of people like you who manage to not only develop a solid idea they believe in, but who are also able to follow through with writing it. Good on you! Lots of luck with your editing, and with brainstorming your new ideas👀

Congratulations on finishing your novel!!! That's amazing! 🎉 I usually love happy/sad bittersweet endings to books personally. I really enjoyed this vlog series and I hope draft 2 edits go well for you 🤞🏻 Do you have a Bookstagram? I'm always looking for new writers to follow 😊 I'm thinking about starting a booktube channel in the new year but I'm not sure yet. I need to get a decent camera haha.