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As someone who works in publishing, I have to say I'm actually kind of glad they made a romantasy category - It's certainly becoming a big enough category to warrant it and it is having a huge moment right now so it makes sense to me. That said, I hated fourth wing with a fiery passion lol. There are way better.
I see what you mean, for sure. I’d love to know which ones are better! Maybe I need to make a video reading more romantacy to really get a feel for the sub genre 🤔
I would LOVE to see that video! As for recommendations, I always recommend the ACOTAR series (Sarah J Maas is hit or miss for people but I enjoy her writing and world building), A Fate Inked In Blood is a Norse inspired one that just came out - other big authors in the space are Jennifer Armentrout, Scarlett St. Claire, Claire Legrand (she released an adult fantasy romance last year), Amanda Bouchet...it's also important to note that romantasy books definitely still have a level of corny/cheese that the romance genre is known for. @@PlantBasedBride
I agree on being glad that there is a Romantasy category now. I do not read Romantasy but I think it’s a smart way to put a label on the books that are fantasy but focus heavily on the romance aspect. For a lot of people, they are reading fantasy for the world and creativity, and aren’t always looking for romance in the stories. And for others who are looking for romance in their fantasy books, how they know exactly which books to read. 👍🏼
@@PlantBasedBride as someone who also didn't finish most of the romantasy books or series I started (wonder if ACOTAR will be sitting on my tbr for another year before I just accept I'm not even getting through the 3rd book, let alone 2 more of that), I read Daughter of no World, The War of Lost Hearts series and genuinely enjoyed it. There were parts I thought were cringy in writing, but I could brush off as inconsistent without really taking away from my overall enjoyment, the relationship between the main characters felt genuine, supportive, empowering and beautiful to me, They're badass and op, but not obnoxiously perfect (as I feel about ACOTAR for example), but my favorite part aside the couple making it so easy to root for them, what I liked most was the way their romance frequently knew when to take a backseat and let all the themes and concepts and multiple POV's and internal battles as well as the pretty epic fantasy-esque war and politics shine that were most compelling to me about it. I'm glad I went into it pretty blind as there's not a lot of people talking about this trilogy, which is a shame i think, but I also recommend just going in without a lot of expectations. I think the worldbuilding isn't quite as well-crafted as your standard high fantasy or the story and plotwists super original or unpredictable, but still really solid and interesting, and just when the second book started to become dry to me, the author made some choices with it that I really enjoyed pulled it all together. There's a heavy focus on exploring complex character dynamics, struggles with war and family trauma , identity, agency and slavery that despite the suffering taking up the majority of the series, didn't seem to exist for the sake of voyeuristic satisfaction in their misery or shock factor. It stood out to me against a lot of glorified war narratives involving totally overpowered and unrelatable characters in fantasy. I was also pleasantly surprised with the implementation of issues like language barriers and some mild and mostly psychological horror twists that always hooked me right back in, and showed the writer shining when using a bit more of an understated, reflective tone. I love the concept of romantasy as I'm a sucker for both romance and fantasy, but I'd say that even if you don't feel totally blown away by this series, it's a prime example of this genre doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing and doing it well, with enough of a fresh feel to it and a nice breather from romanticized toxic power dynamics and relationships, that I can't currently think of a book within that category doing it all better, and I wish there were more of its kind. Would love to see you check it out and hear your thoughts! Why yes I'm also very concise in my writing lol sorry.
I'm glad that romantasy is its own genre now because now I know what books to avoid or at least know which books to go into without expecting something that leans more on the fantasy. I like romance in books, but I prefer it as a subplot.
But I think we all know what will happen is that all fantasy books written by women will be thrown into the romantasy section, just like they all used to be thrown into the YA category, whether they belong there or not.
@@kathleenoconnor6622 We have to fight against that. Thanks to social media, we as readers have the power now to voice our opinions and turn the tides of publishing.
Same but I prefer Romance as the main plot, and a sprinkling of Fantasy. As someone who writes Fantasy Romance, having a Romantasy category helps me find my readers.
@@kathleenoconnor6622 Maybe they should write actual adult fantasy if they don’t want this to happen. So far all of the popular ‘fantasy’ written by women in the last couple years that I have read was actually overly graphic YA romance with a sprinkle of fantasy, marketed as ‘fantasy’. Fourth Wing is not ‘fantasy’, unless you count ‘s3xual fantasy’ as part of that category. If there is any legitimate fantasy being written by women lately, it’s getting buried beneath the smvt aimed at a kid-dult audience. Which personally isn’t something I’m into. If you have a good recommendation of a fantasy written by a woman that is an ACTUAL fantasy novel, not written in an immature YA style, and is more focused on explaining explicit magic systems than explaining explicit s3x scenes, I’d certainly be open to reading it.
Hearing you talk about Henry Winkler's book made me think about the fact that I knew nothing about Jeanette McCurdy before reading her memoir and throughly enjoyed it.
I'm a very silent viewer, but I'd just like to say that I love your reviews. We don't always agree, but I always think you give such thoughtful reviews and point out things that personally didn't bother me. It doesn't change my experience and I don't feel attacked at all, as you are always very respectful, but your points make me think, make me aspire to be as attentive as you are with your readings. So I really hope people can see that and respect your opinions just as you respect the authors and readers.
Oh wow, thank you! That's so kind of you to say and I really appreciate it. I try to be fair/go into books with an open mind, and I also try to note when something is a personal pet peeve/preference rather than some objective measure of quality. It means a lot to me that that comes across in my videos! ❤
I’m newer to reading in my adult life again and I have to say you’re the only youtube book person I watch.. I love how eloquently you speak about books and your annotation guide has made reading even MORE exciting to me. I just got all my supplies and I’m so excited!!
I thought all the characters in yellowface were flawed - even Athena. Athena was put on a pedestal (hence the framing of her as exaggeratedly perfect) and I think that the fact that we dont know much about her is part of the point, as the mc projects who she is rather than learning who she is.
I agree, it’s been a while since I’ve read it now, but I thought that there were flashbacks/memories that purposely cast doubt on Athena’s morality. And totally, her death at the very beginning of the novel deifies her in a way- we don’t really ever get to hear her POV.
I think it's important to have romantasy separated, as now authors are laying heavily on the romance and lacking on the fantasy part (fourth wing is a huge example of that, as Yarros focused so much on the romance she forgot she was writing a fantasy). As I do love romantasy, that would help me guide myself better on which one to choose, if fantasy or romantasy, depending on the mood 😅
Sorry I'm late to the party. I also wanted to point out that it's a good thing it's seperated now as well because regular fantasy were losing to Romantasy almost every time due to the fact that romance is one of the biggest selling genres. Now people who just want fantasy can finally see the top rated books instead of mish mash of both.
On yellow face, r.f kuang herself said that Athena was not a good person and a lot of the criticism that June and other characters had on her to be valid, if anything June was more like kuang then any other character
I had very similar feelings after reading Britney's memoir. I think you summarised it very well. My impression was that the ghost writer just transcribed a bunch of recorded interviews with her and slightly edited them to make it look like a book. Or maybe I just want to believe it was a stylistic choice to make it sound like her own voice.
I love the shade at the beginning, and how you always keep it real with exactly who you are! You know what you like, and aren't scared to say it. 🥰🥰 (As someone who grew up watching Happy Days with my mom, it's wild to know there are even Millennials who don't know who he is! But I appreciated the caveat.)
Loved the 'romantasy' blinking. I actually stopped what I was doing to look at the screen when you said that, and there you were with the same look on your face that I had. So funny. Right, back to watching / listening to your vid.
I have a rule that if your book cover features the naked (or partially clothed) torso of a man, it’s a romance. I don’t care whatever genre it’s set in, if your book has a love triangle, or a love interest that over shadows the plot it’s a romance.
I agree with your critique of the trope, but in defense of Ali Hazlewood, a lot of the professional chess players i know of have talked about the importance of staying physically fit. They are athletes and apparently the best player has a personal chef for when he plays in tourneys too.
Huh, that’s very interesting to know! I must admit I’m not super familiar with the chess world. It just feels like a type for her since it’s so heavily emphasized in her books and all her male love interests are in more sedentary/nerdy careers so it feels a bit unrealistic 😂
For most of pro players either in chess or in e-sport for exemple, it's mandatory to have a physical activity and they usually have a coaching team for that. Because as a pro player to be performant in your field, you have to have a well balanced life style, eat healthy, a good sleep schedule and exercise. I watch a lot of esport (because I am a reader but also a video game nerd 😅) and pro players have regular bodys, even if sport is an important part of their routine as a pro player.
I appreciate you sharing about the unnecessary heavy-handedness about mothering with Weyward. I’ve been really intrigued by this book, but I’m child-free. I didn’t become child-free by choice, though now I have found contentedness in it. That said, I’m in a place in my life right now where I find this trope to be VERY annoying. I recently read a book that I was drawn to specifically because the main character was going to be the last of her line. Call me naive, but I really thought that would stay true and it would be an empowering read. It was still a beautiful book, but it was instantly off-putting the second I realized it wasn’t going to play out as it was advertised. So while I’m still intrigued by this book, I may just hold off for now.
I’m glad I could flag that for you! I’d recommend Hester as an alternative with similar themes. The main character does have a child near the end, but it was not nearly as emphasized.
As someone who is also child free not by choice and read Hester and (tried to) read Weyward... I agree that Hester is so much better. I DNF'd Weyward, hated it so much. I also read The Making of June Farrow and I did really enjoy that book just because it was different than anything I have read before, but I will say I was disappointed with the decisions she made at the end.
@@kategrossi8717 I do have Hester on my shelf waiting to be read! Good to know. I still liked The Unmaking of June Farrow, but it took something that could have easily been a 5 star read for me and made the rating drop.
I'm here for Romantasy being its own category to recognise it being so popular currently but I am so sad that they've taken children's books out as a category - feels like such snobbery around children's books and their importance!
This is my first video of yours and I like the way you discuss books! I don't neccesarily agree with all of your takes but I feel like I'm having a conversation with a friend about a book more than anything seriously contradicting. I'll look forward to more of your videos!
I'm gonna say that I think you should watch Barry which is Henry Winkler's most recent role and would 100% make this book even funnier as he reads his characters memoir in that, too. I think his book sounds a lot like it factors into that character. If you're not really into tv, I'd say the first episode should suffice.
I think Romantasy makes sense as a Goodreads nominee, as it is a very specific combination of fantasy and romance. What drives me crazy is that they removed Poetry, Middle Grade, and Graphic Novels?????
Love this!! But yes romantasy should be it's own category. I like to know if it is romance set in a fantasy setting or a fantasy novel. Cause sometimes paranormal smut is enjoyable. I also enjoy my candy books: tasty fun but not brain taxing. Other times i want LITERATURE! Between you and Willow talks books have caused my TBR to be godzilla size.
I read a really interesting article several years ago about how top chess players actually train like athletes because of how taxing top level chess tournaments can be on your body but i don't think Ali was thinking about it that hard. Also, i don't know if your critiques were the same but With Cindy also did a very interesting review of Yellowface that I think you might like.
i think the thing with ali hazelwood is that she came from fanfiction for reylo, so all her fics would have had the same love interests but different scenarios. As a fanfic reader, and one who only reads fics of the same pairing (not reylo, i have anime pairings lol) i eat it up every time. safe to say, ali is a fanfic author and hasn’t managed to take the next step to completely diversify her novels yet, imo.
Yes. Although I will say as a former fanfic writer and reader, i wasn’t too interested in Love theoretically. I am liking bride currently though. The love interest in theoretically, was too shallow to me, like an extension of the MCs character development and not his own character
@@sillygo0oser Love theoretically was the one i also liked the least - for the love interest too, actually!! fortunately the main character and i had a few similarities so i connected with her enough to enjoy the novel more. bride i really liked!! knot (lol) as outrageous as some make it out to be though.
Really love your takes and agree with you across the board! I checked out your ratings on previous books and you’ve loved a lot of my 5 star reads so I’m excited to subscribe and follow your future recommendations. My favorite book of the year so far has been This is How You Lose the Time War-I just adore books about love and time and memory. Would love to hear if you have recommendations similar to that one since you’re a sci-fi fan!
Very well-done video, I always love how thorough you are in your reviews! I was someone who was on the opposite end of the spectrum from you with Britney's memoir--I definitely understand where you're coming from on the writing aspect, and I think maybe we came at it with different levels of background knowledge (I had almost none) and expectations for what it would be. For me, my rating had a lot more to do with advocating for trauma and written documents of abuse, as they are two topics I am very passionate about. It could potentially be interesting to see more reflection from her in the future, but at the same time, I feel like a heartbreaking proportion of her life has already been stolen by everything and I hope she can enjoy as much of her life independent of the narrative as possible.
I definitely see where you’re coming from ❤️ I’m so glad she’s finally free to tell her own story, and I hope it helps a lot of people to read! I just really wanted to love it and struggled so much with the writing style. You’re right about her getting to leave this in the past and while I would have loved a more insightful memoir from her, I’d love it even more if she just gets to live in the moment and find joy ❤️
I loved the Mr Mercedes series....soooo goood. I am looking forward to reading Holly! It's the first thing I've been excited about in ages, so hope you check out the first book sometime. Ok, going to watch the rest now
I just finished reading Weyward. I loved the atmosphere and her descriptions and I pretty much agree with your critique of it with one exception lol. I actually enjoyed the magic in it. It still lead to very satisfactory revenge for me and I wonder if the author was trying to go for a metaphor with it - like women have long been told to stay timid, stay demure, restricted etc. And the magic in this was very much rooted with nature and it's wildness and so finally using their powers fully was shedding the societal expectations and embracing natural wildness and the freedom that comes with it/an inner power that we've long been told to contain. If that makes sense. But I would also say, she wasn't very clear on that either haha - IF that's the case. Could also just be my interpretation. But yeah...as someone who's also chosen to be child free the big emphasis on motherhood was definitely annoying at times. 📖🌱
That’s an interesting interpretation! You might be right. I agree she could have been more clear if that was her intention, but I see what you mean that it’s possible she meant the magic to reinforce the themes rather than contradict them ❤️
Good Day Elisabeth. I enjoy watching these videos. I am ever so thankful to you for your honesty and integrity, especially with the first books you talked about. Though just a little off topic, but not by much, I have a strong TBR recommendation. At 62, I read for the first time, Frankenstein. I found that it was written in 1819 as a challenge to a group of young people. Mary Shelly was only 19 in 1819 and wrote a book of great writing and depth of character. I believe from watching your videos for a long time, it would be a good read.📚📓📒💚💚💚
I loved Britney’s memoir, I listened to it as an audiobook which I think fits better. It felt like a friend telling me her life story, just as I was expecting
As a fantasy reader, I’m so glad they made Romantasy its own thing just so I can avoid it. I’m not a fan of heavy spice, I want world building and characters more than romance. Tired of romance heavy books dominating the fantasy genre
The Divine Rivals rushed cliffhanger ending did put me off of reading book 2. I'm just never a fan of a rushed ending or an abrupt clifffhanger/twist situation in a book. It makes me feel like I didn't actually read a complete story.
Got here via TH-cam recommendation. Very well done reviews and excellent video. I’m subscribed now. Keep it up. On the specific topic, we all see a lot of mentions of these books, so it’s interesting to have a level-headed reasonable and intelligent person review them. (Well, I said I was new to your content, so hoping that I’m right about this).
Here’s Allie Hazelwood in a nutshell 1. Men bad, women good (Except when men big, then men VERY GOOD) 2. Women in STEM, so cool. Quirky and tiny! 3. Here’s a character that isn’t straight or white, box checked! Are they written well? Never.
It feels like these awards are similar to movie awards (i.e. oscars) that just reward popularity rather than being GOOD. Though that really is tough to judge. I personally love books i wouldn't call objectively "good" but also is "good" objective? Probably can't be 😅
I think there are some more objective standards for what makes a good book, but for the most part it really is very subjective! I tend to evaluate every book I read on some of those more objective standards (which vary by genre) but a huge factor is my gut feeling 😂
I completely agree! For one, how many people voting have actually read all the nominees? I imagine that number is quite small. Also, you don’t have to prove you’ve read the book to vote. It’s just an honor system. It seems to be the books with the most hype on social media that win every time.
Making Romantasy it's own category theoretically means it's easier for me to avoid lol. So I think it's a good thing. Whatever helps you reach your target audience.
I'm glad there is a romantasy category to keep them from possibly taking a winning spot from the romance and fantasy categories. It's a big mx of romance and fantasy that I think makes it different then being in just romance or just fantasy. I also have little interest in romantasy. I couldn't finish fourth win, biggest reason was because of the dialogue; even the audiobook couldn't save them. lol. Yeah, in the mystery/thriller category, 'Bright Young Women' or 'The Only One Left' had a chance to win and should have won in my opinion.
I like Hell Bent more than Ninth House. Partly because I like some of the secondary characters better than Alex and you get more of them in the second book. That is so interesting about R. F. Kuang and her criticism of her critics. I always struggle with individuals in general who don't handle constructive criticism well, especially in academic contexts. I will need to look into that because I had no idea she did that. I haven't gotten around to reading any of her books yet, but want to read them.
As a new-to-fiction author I’ve plunged into books in my genre (and genre-adjacent) to get a feel for the market. I’m grateful to have found you! Your opinions, so clearly worded with no gushing or ranting are extremely helpful, often affirmation of my own. I fear commenting on a book central to social media frenzy lest it hurt my book sales. I’ve never seen such fervent followers. But the struggle is real. I’m quite a lot older than mainstream readers and the technical aspect of writing continues to shock me. I’ve no formal education, can’t identify parts of speech beyond if it “sounds right”, yet I’m constantly potholed by modern slang jarring period fantasy settings, poor sentence structure and filler words jerking me out of the story, and wandering timeline jumps. Now I’m concerned my book will die a gruesome death because attention spans are so short, the supply and demand is the shortest cyclical pace between books published of my lifetime. It does, as you mentioned, seem like 1st and 2nd drafts are celebrated with no notice of it. Apologies for my whining, it’s such a relief to say what I think! Thank you, for bravery in saying what so many of us fear to. It’s a first, in my long life, not expressing my opinion freely (not vindictively). Your voice is important to me in targeting my audience. Theory: I believe romantasy was created purely because romance readers are by far the largest and most prolific purchasers of fiction. Fantasy and science fiction authors have a much higher chance of catching on with BookTok frenzy if dragons AND sex are touted as the selling point. The sex was always there, it’s just highlighted as a selling point.
This is such an interesting video - I love people's views on the GR popularity contest. I'm curious if you approached Yellowface as basic general fiction or as satire? I think, for me, that makes a difference in my expectations and how I prepare myself for the tone of the writing. I definitely read it with satire in mind and felt like it hit the nail on the head with that but I know that not everyone came at it in the same way.
I am absolutely never reading another Emily Henry! I DNF’d Happy Place at around page 80-90, awful, awful, and I knew it was only going to get worse. Her and C.Hoover I will never understand the hype.
Yeah, I’m not sure it’s worth the risk at this point 😅 I really wanted her to be a new favourite because I struggle finding romance authors who consistently deliver books I enjoy! But I think I just have to accept she’s not the one for me 😭
@BrookeReadsBooks333 and @PlantBasedBride, have either of you hopped aboard the Taylor Jenkins Reid train? She includes romance, but the stories aren't JUST about that and her writing is consistent and phenomenal (in my opinion).
Oh dear the nominees for Mystery/Thriller that you put up on the screen after discussing The Housemaid's Secret is loaded with excellent books! The Lisa Jewel, the Rebecca Makkai, the SA Cosby, the Richard Osman, the Angie Kim, all really solid offerings with top-notch line writing and skilled plotting/structure. How did The Housemaid's Secret win?! A Mystery indeed!
Love when you talk about books!!☺It would have been fun to see what your favorite books are that you would really recommend to someone else!! Something that really got you hooked and kind of turned your world upside down.
This was fun. Holly Gibney is one of my absolute favourite King character (and I am a longtime fan). A smart, neurodivergent young woman with severe family issues, slowly gaining self-confidence and creating her unique place in the world. A sister of Lisbeth Salander (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Saga Norén (The Bridge TV series) without the reader feeling she was created for the male gaze to marvel at. Just excellent.
I’m glad I’ve found the only other person on Earth with the same feelings towards The Housemaid as I. It was one of the first books I read getting into reading as an adult last year and my first thriller. I was perplexed! Like this cannot be for real!!!
Love that someone is being more thoughtful about this. I was feeling very awkward even bad about not enjoying Yellowface, since everyone seems to love it, I’m planning on finishing it but for now it is in my DNF I’m not at all invested on it. Started to read “Liliana’s Invincible Summer” and I can’t stop reading sometimes. Hope you do a review on it
Was really looking forward to this video! I actually just read Hell Bent because my book club read Ninth House in December. I actually liked Hell Bent better and enjoyed the demons/creatures elements, but I can totally understand where you and many other reviewers are coming from. It was likely because it wasn't as trigger-heavy as the first one. And I was bummed to hear Bardugo's opinion on trigger warnings because I absolutely could've used some in Ninth House 😔 Unrelated to this video, but I'm about to read A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and I'm so excited to dive into Becky Chambers based off of your recommendations 😊
Oh I hope you adore ALWTASAP! I love that book so much. It actually might be time for a reread! Hell Bent just felt *very* repetitive and plodding to me. I was still invested in the characters and the plot, but it felt like Bardugo was actively trying to cut the tension lol
I have read the "footsteps sound like gunshots" line before and I think it's supposed to evoke just how loud the sound is piercing the silence or just how quickly the sound gets the characters attention as if it were a gunshot. Maybe also trying to evoke fear that would be felt if someone was trying to hide then they heard someone coming down the stairs. Just my two cents!
Really enjoyed hearing you talk so thoughtfully about all these books. I don't plan to read most of these, but I'm always interested in what books rise the top of these internet polls and thinking over how they got there. I rarely read memoirs but I tend to find them much more engaging when I don't know much about the person/was not previously a fan of the person the memoir or autobiography was about. For example, I don't really know anything about Barbra Streisand's life but I'm so intrigued by the idea of someone writing a 1,000 page autobiography of their life and wondering what she put in it. I may have to read that.
If we are talking about correct/accurate/inclusive queer representation in the YA category, I highly recommend Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli. The book does a GREAT job discussing different queer realizations (gay awakenings) and how it isn’t always an easy “I’ve always known I was gay.” 👍🏼
Hello! Thanks for the recommendation! Can I ask something? All the book is about discovering the main caracther sexuality or has something else/another plot? Thanks 😘
@@examenesinternacionalesaf3576 It’s centered around the main character visiting her friend at the friend’s college. The story mostly takes place at the college and involves college social life but the plot focuses a lot on being queer, social aspects of being queer (friends, relationships, stereotypes, etc) and figuring out that your queer.
This was such an enjoyable watch, thank you for putting it together. For the books I have read, we are very much of a mind - especially “Yellowface” (although I “round down two starred” because the metaness and defensiveness of the writing seemed to me particularly immature and somehow self-congratulatory?) And your commentary on Ali Hazlewood, I absolutely agree with… and that leads to a sincere question on the one book we diverge on - “the collected regrets of clover”. I read it based on your vid recommendation, but it landed with me completely differently and I actually saw many, many parallels between the tropes that irritate me in Hazlewood and TCROC. By which I mean the same sort of “oblivious, doesn’t know how cool she is, manic pixie dream girl, wide eyed innocent” in the protagonist. Which was doubly confusing to me given that Clover was meant to have been so well travelled, how was it that she was so unworldly? I almost DNFed, but struggled through, and ended up with a (quite angry) one star. I guess it may boil down to which themes speak to each individual reader in their engagement with a book. I wasn’t taken up so much with the themes of grief, and maybe if I was then the main character would perhaps have been more compelling. And, perhaps, if I was more focused on the cultural appropriation themes of Yellowface, I wouldn’t have been as annoyed at the self referential (and self reverential) tone. (I was honestly in two minds about commenting, mostly because I really love your book reviews and find myself agreeing more often than not, but there’s this one book we definitely disagree on and I don’t like that! But then you invited input so sweetly and kindly so here I am with a comment that I want to super emphasize comes with the utmost respect.)
I definitely understand what you mean about Clover! She was wearing on me in the first half, but she grew on me towards the end as she opened up and was more vulnerable about how much pain and guilt she was feeling over her grandfather’s death. I lost my grandma who I was extremely close to at 12, and I was away at camp when she had a stroke and went into a coma. I went through a lot of the same guilt and regret that Clover did, realizing I’d written her several letters while away sharing all the fun I was having with my new friends and she was never able to read them. I’d give just about anything to have spent just a few more weeks with her. So it hit very close to home for me. I’m now dealing with more grief, unfortunately, as multiple of my family members are terminally ill. So it still feels very close to my heart and I’m grateful I read it, because I think often about a few of the metaphors in it to help me cope. All of that to say, I completely get how it wouldn’t land for someone else the same way! I of course always hope y’all will love the books I recommend as much as I do, but I’m not offended or hurt at all if you don’t (though I do feel bad you wasted your time on a book you didn’t enjoy on my account!) ❤️ thank you for sharing your comment. I love reading your thoughts on the books I recommend, even if they didn’t work for you!
Every year I stare at the Goodreads choice awards nominees and go ehhh well, some of these are good. and then being surprised every single time when the last one I thought would win, wins. Im always flabbergasted
Yes, Monstrilio! What a book -- amazing, right? I know you're bummed about it not winning the horror category, but it did win its match-up on the Tournament of Books today! I was so freaking excited! 💚💚💚
There should be separate romantasy categories as fantasy is often exploited by romance writers. It's popular romance fantasy but it's nice to differentiate
I love your reviews - and I want your spoilers!!! 😂 numerous moments I was like give me the details! I need to know. Like what formula was Frieda McFadden! Your reviews are always so fascinating to me. I don’t always agree with your hated books, but you are always so succinct with why you don’t like a book and often have a well thought and valid opinion.
Thank you! I wanted to do spoiler sections in this video, too, but I knew it was already going to be very long considering how many books I was talking about, and with spoilers, it would have probably at least doubled in length lol my poor little Mac struggled already exporting this one 😂 The formula is that the first half of the book is told from the main character’s perspective, and the second half is told from the female employer of the main character’s perspective, each time revealing that everything is not as it seems and turning our impression of that secondary character on its head. I found it interesting the first time, but the second time, it wasn’t nearly as effective (in my opinion). The second part was also structured as a how to guide, basically, which I found kind of weird but unique the first time, and felt a little too campy the second time.
I really rec "Bright Young Women" from the Mystery/Thrillers category. It's more of a critique about serial killers and misogny than it is a traditional thriller, but that's what makes it so good. 📚
I’ve mostly read books that touch on it as part of a larger discussion rather than books entirely focused on poverty. I’ll have to go to my Goodreads and search for the titles of the ones I’m thinking of!
I let Henry years in 1992 and wanted to get a picture with him (I grew up with The Fonz). His bodyguard tried to push me away and instead HW pushed his bodyguard away and led me in fir the photo. A moment in my life I'll never forget, I never expect that from celebs, especially after growing up a mile from Dean Koontz who graduated with my Aunt and I couldn't get a response from him to get a book signed that he dedicated to a mutual teacher we had 25 years apart.
Hmm...I haven't read most of the books that were winers, or on your list even, but I enjoy your honest reviews. You have piqued my interest in a few and even crossed a couple off my TBR. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 📖🤓
Light Bringer absolutely should have won the Sci-fi category. One of the best books I've ever read. The fact it still got second place while being the sixth book in a series is impressive in its own right though
Loved your recap! As always you keep it so real. Not sure if you’re a V. E. Schwab fan, or if you’ve read the Darker Shade of Magic series, but I would LOVE to hear your thoughts!
Also, I had just started 4th wing. I’m not a huge fantasy reader. I immediately put it down. No need to waste my time. I dislike YA books and I thought it seemed YA.
Totally agree with your review of the Britney Spears memoir. If you want to try another book in the memoir category read, How to Say Babylon. Such a well written, heart breaking memoir.
Okay thank you for the review of Weyward. You put into words better than I did with my review on what I didn't like about the book last year. I was VERY shocked at how many book of the year awards it won. I didn't like that there was a theme of resilience of being treated terribly by men and how prominent it was across all three stories.
Yes, I didn't even get into that because I was trying to avoid potential spoilers, but the amount of abuse these women were subjected to started to get into the trauma p*rn realm for me.
I had the same reaction to Emily Henry's books as you do. Try Beach Read - it's also good. Seems that when she writes about books and book lovers (no pun intended), she knocks it out of the park. Otherwise... Well. Also, I had a great time readinf Babel, but DNF'ed Yellowface last year. Oof, not good.
It sounds like this challenge is tough for you but I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the goodreads awards every year! We agree on a lot and disagree on some things but I truly value your opinion as someone who has been subscribed to you for years! Thank you for your service!
This is my most anticipated video from you every year! I love how well thought-out your reviews are. For fantasy, I voted for the last tale of the flower bride, rouge for horror and a study in drowning for YA fantasy!
I agree Happy Place is not good, to be honest I would consider Emily Henry’s work to be more adult fiction with a bit of romantic undertones than romance. You are not “swept away” in the love story, you’re more like “well I guess that’s a story about to people that think they are in love”. That being said, of all the nominees, I would recommend the Seven Year Slip; it was a nice story with a bit of magical realism and a theme of grief that I found very well handled.
You’ve just reminded me with the Henry Winkler book, I used to watch happy days reruns after school! It must have been a 30ish year old show already at that point
Loved hearing your thoughts on the books and the goodreads choice awards as a whole. Thank you for advocating for content warnings on books! I personally don't pay attention to them or care but I know several people who do and it's not a hard thing to include on the book like you said. I have not read any of the books that won, but a few are on my TBR. A LOT of the nominees (and winners) are also on my tbr, mostly from botm subscription. Yellowface, Fourth Wing, Happy Place, Check & Mate, Divine Rivals, The Woman in Me, and Weyward. I won't write down all the titles of the nominees because I don't want my comment to turn into an essay and there's so many lol. Weyward and Encyclopedia of Faeries are on my TBR for march and I'm going to start them very soon.
I would really love to know your thoughts on Iron Flame! I know how you felt about the first book but imo the second book was way better than the first. Also I want to know your opinion on the broken kingdom series by lj andrews. I honestly think you might enjoy it. The world building was amazing and the characters well written and how all the books just flow together even though they are focusing on different couples throughout the series. Hands downs it's my favorite series besides the outlander series.
I’ve been contemplating reading Iron Flame but I just don’t know 😂 maybe once it’s nice out and I can read in the backyard again I’ll go for it 🤔 I don’t know if I’ve heard much about The Broken Kingdom series! I’ll have to look it up ❤️
What would you say makes Iron Flame a better book? I DNF-ed it 50% through as the pacing was so incredibly slow. I asked some people who finished it, who fully supported my DNF. So I am very curious to hear the other side of the argument! /gen
I haven’t read most of these books but I did read Divine Rivals and Fourth Wing and had a very similar experience with them. I’d categorize both of them more as YA romance more than fantasy, and I don’t usually read or like either YA or romance much. I was pleasantly surprised by Divine Rivals and I absolutely hated every moment of Fourth Wing. LOL
I would love to see you read Serpent and the Wings of Night or Blood Mercy, two fantasy romance or Romantasy books that are more fantasy with a romance sub plot.
Hi! I just found your account through this video and I wanted to give you kudos for doing this - you put so much time and effort into this video, it was amazing to watch! So thank you for that :) Divine Rivals is now definitely on my wishlist hahaha :D And even though I don't agree with all of your opinions, I felt comfortable listening to all of this and thought you were really respectful, even if you didn't like a book. So thank you for that, as well :) I wanted to throw in my two cents about Yellowface, because I was really surprised that you felt like the critique on Athena was dismissed (and I really mean surprised, not irritated in any way). I have to say that this is my first book by the author (and I still have a quarter of it left to read). But for me, it seemed like Athena was portrayed as this shining, perfect woman only in the beginning and that her image began to crack somewhere in the middle. Of course the author chose to include some general hateful comments about Athena, but I felt like there was "normal" criticism, as well, that wasn't dismissed as being hateful. But maybe I misread the setting that these comments were made in? Who knows! :D I just thought it was interesting how the same book can be perceived in such different ways by different readers, so I wanted to join in the conversation a bit :) I definitely understand where you're coming from, though, and I appreciate to know your thoughts on this! I will read the last bit of the book with your opinion in mind and challenge my own view on the story. Thanks again for this video, I just subscribed and I will definitely come back to your content more often. Much love!
I stopped caring about Goodreads Choice Awards a couple of years ago, because they always nominate the same authors; they are not the best, but the best selling. It's a hype award, a popularity award. I can just as well follow some best seller lists, or GoodReads' lists, it's practically the same
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As someone who works in publishing, I have to say I'm actually kind of glad they made a romantasy category - It's certainly becoming a big enough category to warrant it and it is having a huge moment right now so it makes sense to me. That said, I hated fourth wing with a fiery passion lol. There are way better.
I see what you mean, for sure. I’d love to know which ones are better! Maybe I need to make a video reading more romantacy to really get a feel for the sub genre 🤔
I would LOVE to see that video! As for recommendations, I always recommend the ACOTAR series (Sarah J Maas is hit or miss for people but I enjoy her writing and world building), A Fate Inked In Blood is a Norse inspired one that just came out - other big authors in the space are Jennifer Armentrout, Scarlett St. Claire, Claire Legrand (she released an adult fantasy romance last year), Amanda Bouchet...it's also important to note that romantasy books definitely still have a level of corny/cheese that the romance genre is known for. @@PlantBasedBride
I agree on being glad that there is a Romantasy category now. I do not read Romantasy but I think it’s a smart way to put a label on the books that are fantasy but focus heavily on the romance aspect. For a lot of people, they are reading fantasy for the world and creativity, and aren’t always looking for romance in the stories. And for others who are looking for romance in their fantasy books, how they know exactly which books to read. 👍🏼
@@hippie1325 100000%! Romantasy books are still romance first and if you're not a romance reader you likely won't enjoy them.
@@PlantBasedBride as someone who also didn't finish most of the romantasy books or series I started (wonder if ACOTAR will be sitting on my tbr for another year before I just accept I'm not even getting through the 3rd book, let alone 2 more of that), I read Daughter of no World, The War of Lost Hearts series and genuinely enjoyed it. There were parts I thought were cringy in writing, but I could brush off as inconsistent without really taking away from my overall enjoyment, the relationship between the main characters felt genuine, supportive, empowering and beautiful to me, They're badass and op, but not obnoxiously perfect (as I feel about ACOTAR for example), but my favorite part aside the couple making it so easy to root for them, what I liked most was the way their romance frequently knew when to take a backseat and let all the themes and concepts and multiple POV's and internal battles as well as the pretty epic fantasy-esque war and politics shine that were most compelling to me about it. I'm glad I went into it pretty blind as there's not a lot of people talking about this trilogy, which is a shame i think, but I also recommend just going in without a lot of expectations. I think the worldbuilding isn't quite as well-crafted as your standard high fantasy or the story and plotwists super original or unpredictable, but still really solid and interesting, and just when the second book started to become dry to me, the author made some choices with it that I really enjoyed pulled it all together. There's a heavy focus on exploring complex character dynamics, struggles with war and family trauma , identity, agency and slavery that despite the suffering taking up the majority of the series, didn't seem to exist for the sake of voyeuristic satisfaction in their misery or shock factor. It stood out to me against a lot of glorified war narratives involving totally overpowered and unrelatable characters in fantasy. I was also pleasantly surprised with the implementation of issues like language barriers and some mild and mostly psychological horror twists that always hooked me right back in, and showed the writer shining when using a bit more of an understated, reflective tone.
I love the concept of romantasy as I'm a sucker for both romance and fantasy, but I'd say that even if you don't feel totally blown away by this series, it's a prime example of this genre doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing and doing it well, with enough of a fresh feel to it and a nice breather from romanticized toxic power dynamics and relationships, that I can't currently think of a book within that category doing it all better, and I wish there were more of its kind. Would love to see you check it out and hear your thoughts!
Why yes I'm also very concise in my writing lol sorry.
I'm glad that romantasy is its own genre now because now I know what books to avoid or at least know which books to go into without expecting something that leans more on the fantasy. I like romance in books, but I prefer it as a subplot.
Sameee! Sometimes I just want the fantasy 🥲🥲
But I think we all know what will happen is that all fantasy books written by women will be thrown into the romantasy section, just like they all used to be thrown into the YA category, whether they belong there or not.
@@kathleenoconnor6622 We have to fight against that. Thanks to social media, we as readers have the power now to voice our opinions and turn the tides of publishing.
Same but I prefer Romance as the main plot, and a sprinkling of Fantasy. As someone who writes Fantasy Romance, having a Romantasy category helps me find my readers.
@@kathleenoconnor6622 Maybe they should write actual adult fantasy if they don’t want this to happen. So far all of the popular ‘fantasy’ written by women in the last couple years that I have read was actually overly graphic YA romance with a sprinkle of fantasy, marketed as ‘fantasy’. Fourth Wing is not ‘fantasy’, unless you count ‘s3xual fantasy’ as part of that category. If there is any legitimate fantasy being written by women lately, it’s getting buried beneath the smvt aimed at a kid-dult audience. Which personally isn’t something I’m into. If you have a good recommendation of a fantasy written by a woman that is an ACTUAL fantasy novel, not written in an immature YA style, and is more focused on explaining explicit magic systems than explaining explicit s3x scenes, I’d certainly be open to reading it.
Hearing you talk about Henry Winkler's book made me think about the fact that I knew nothing about Jeanette McCurdy before reading her memoir and throughly enjoyed it.
I had the same experience with her memoir!
Never stop doing the Goodreads reviews!!
Haha ok, deal! 🤝
I second the motion!
I'm a very silent viewer, but I'd just like to say that I love your reviews. We don't always agree, but I always think you give such thoughtful reviews and point out things that personally didn't bother me. It doesn't change my experience and I don't feel attacked at all, as you are always very respectful, but your points make me think, make me aspire to be as attentive as you are with your readings. So I really hope people can see that and respect your opinions just as you respect the authors and readers.
Oh wow, thank you! That's so kind of you to say and I really appreciate it. I try to be fair/go into books with an open mind, and I also try to note when something is a personal pet peeve/preference rather than some objective measure of quality. It means a lot to me that that comes across in my videos! ❤
Fun fact: "Jumping the shark" was a term that was coined after a happy days episode where Henry Winkler "jumped" over a shark in an episode.
I learned this when he did it on an episode of “Arrested Development”.
I’m newer to reading in my adult life again and I have to say you’re the only youtube book person I watch.. I love how eloquently you speak about books and your annotation guide has made reading even MORE exciting to me. I just got all my supplies and I’m so excited!!
Aw thank you! I’m so flattered ❤️ I love that the annotation guide was helpful!!
I thought all the characters in yellowface were flawed - even Athena. Athena was put on a pedestal (hence the framing of her as exaggeratedly perfect) and I think that the fact that we dont know much about her is part of the point, as the mc projects who she is rather than learning who she is.
I agree, it’s been a while since I’ve read it now, but I thought that there were flashbacks/memories that purposely cast doubt on Athena’s morality. And totally, her death at the very beginning of the novel deifies her in a way- we don’t really ever get to hear her POV.
I think it's important to have romantasy separated, as now authors are laying heavily on the romance and lacking on the fantasy part (fourth wing is a huge example of that, as Yarros focused so much on the romance she forgot she was writing a fantasy). As I do love romantasy, that would help me guide myself better on which one to choose, if fantasy or romantasy, depending on the mood 😅
I think I've come around to this opinion, as well. I'm glad regular adult fantasy has the chance to shine!
Sorry I'm late to the party. I also wanted to point out that it's a good thing it's seperated now as well because regular fantasy were losing to Romantasy almost every time due to the fact that romance is one of the biggest selling genres. Now people who just want fantasy can finally see the top rated books instead of mish mash of both.
The fact that you didn't know Henry Winkler made me feel very old lol
On yellow face, r.f kuang herself said that Athena was not a good person and a lot of the criticism that June and other characters had on her to be valid, if anything June was more like kuang then any other character
I had very similar feelings after reading Britney's memoir. I think you summarised it very well.
My impression was that the ghost writer just transcribed a bunch of recorded interviews with her and slightly edited them to make it look like a book. Or maybe I just want to believe it was a stylistic choice to make it sound like her own voice.
I’m glad I’m not alone in that feeling. I agree it reads more like a stream of consciousness interview than a structured memoir!
Henry Winkler was basically America's sweetheart for midst of his life. People love that guy.
I feel so old. Happy Days ran from 1974 to 1984 so anyone under age 40 wasn't born yet.
And from everything I've read, Henry Winkler is one of the few really NICE guys in Hollywood/show biz.
I love the shade at the beginning, and how you always keep it real with exactly who you are! You know what you like, and aren't scared to say it. 🥰🥰 (As someone who grew up watching Happy Days with my mom, it's wild to know there are even Millennials who don't know who he is! But I appreciated the caveat.)
Haha I can’t help being 100% me at all times 😂 I’m a terrible liar lol yeah, I don’t know how I managed to miss it 🤔
Loved the 'romantasy' blinking. I actually stopped what I was doing to look at the screen when you said that, and there you were with the same look on your face that I had. So funny. Right, back to watching / listening to your vid.
Hahaha we were on the same wavelength 😂
I have a rule that if your book cover features the naked (or partially clothed) torso of a man, it’s a romance. I don’t care whatever genre it’s set in, if your book has a love triangle, or a love interest that over shadows the plot it’s a romance.
I agree with your critique of the trope, but in defense of Ali Hazlewood, a lot of the professional chess players i know of have talked about the importance of staying physically fit. They are athletes and apparently the best player has a personal chef for when he plays in tourneys too.
Huh, that’s very interesting to know! I must admit I’m not super familiar with the chess world. It just feels like a type for her since it’s so heavily emphasized in her books and all her male love interests are in more sedentary/nerdy careers so it feels a bit unrealistic 😂
For most of pro players either in chess or in e-sport for exemple, it's mandatory to have a physical activity and they usually have a coaching team for that. Because as a pro player to be performant in your field, you have to have a well balanced life style, eat healthy, a good sleep schedule and exercise.
I watch a lot of esport (because I am a reader but also a video game nerd 😅) and pro players have regular bodys, even if sport is an important part of their routine as a pro player.
I appreciate you sharing about the unnecessary heavy-handedness about mothering with Weyward. I’ve been really intrigued by this book, but I’m child-free. I didn’t become child-free by choice, though now I have found contentedness in it. That said, I’m in a place in my life right now where I find this trope to be VERY annoying. I recently read a book that I was drawn to specifically because the main character was going to be the last of her line. Call me naive, but I really thought that would stay true and it would be an empowering read. It was still a beautiful book, but it was instantly off-putting the second I realized it wasn’t going to play out as it was advertised. So while I’m still intrigued by this book, I may just hold off for now.
I’m glad I could flag that for you! I’d recommend Hester as an alternative with similar themes. The main character does have a child near the end, but it was not nearly as emphasized.
I guess that book was The unmaking of June Farrow😅
As someone who is also child free not by choice and read Hester and (tried to) read Weyward... I agree that Hester is so much better. I DNF'd Weyward, hated it so much. I also read The Making of June Farrow and I did really enjoy that book just because it was different than anything I have read before, but I will say I was disappointed with the decisions she made at the end.
@@juliager5702 Yep.
@@kategrossi8717 I do have Hester on my shelf waiting to be read! Good to know. I still liked The Unmaking of June Farrow, but it took something that could have easily been a 5 star read for me and made the rating drop.
I'm here for Romantasy being its own category to recognise it being so popular currently but I am so sad that they've taken children's books out as a category - feels like such snobbery around children's books and their importance!
I LOVE when your videos are long like this one. brings me so much peace.
Aw I'm so glad! I talk so much that making shorter videos is always a bit painful lol 😅
This is my first video of yours and I like the way you discuss books! I don't neccesarily agree with all of your takes but I feel like I'm having a conversation with a friend about a book more than anything seriously contradicting. I'll look forward to more of your videos!
Thank you for putting so much time and effort into making this review videos. I truly enjoy listening to your opinions and the way you analyse books❤
I'm gonna say that I think you should watch Barry which is Henry Winkler's most recent role and would 100% make this book even funnier as he reads his characters memoir in that, too. I think his book sounds a lot like it factors into that character. If you're not really into tv, I'd say the first episode should suffice.
It was interesting reading the portion of the book where he touched on Barry, so I’ve considered at least watching the first episode!
Omg, I have been waiting for this!! Wasn't sure if you would do it tho.. Thank you, Elizabeth
It took me a little longer to get it done since there were so many books to read 😅 I hope you enjoy it! 🥰❤️
This challenge seems torturous. Thanks for taking one for the team.
I think Romantasy makes sense as a Goodreads nominee, as it is a very specific combination of fantasy and romance. What drives me crazy is that they removed Poetry, Middle Grade, and Graphic Novels?????
Love this!! But yes romantasy should be it's own category. I like to know if it is romance set in a fantasy setting or a fantasy novel. Cause sometimes paranormal smut is enjoyable. I also enjoy my candy books: tasty fun but not brain taxing. Other times i want LITERATURE! Between you and Willow talks books have caused my TBR to be godzilla size.
I read a really interesting article several years ago about how top chess players actually train like athletes because of how taxing top level chess tournaments can be on your body but i don't think Ali was thinking about it that hard.
Also, i don't know if your critiques were the same but With Cindy also did a very interesting review of Yellowface that I think you might like.
This is the first an only video I have seen of yours and I loved it :D
i think the thing with ali hazelwood is that she came from fanfiction for reylo, so all her fics would have had the same love interests but different scenarios. As a fanfic reader, and one who only reads fics of the same pairing (not reylo, i have anime pairings lol) i eat it up every time. safe to say, ali is a fanfic author and hasn’t managed to take the next step to completely diversify her novels yet, imo.
Yes. Although I will say as a former fanfic writer and reader, i wasn’t too interested in Love theoretically. I am liking bride currently though.
The love interest in theoretically, was too shallow to me, like an extension of the MCs character development and not his own character
@@sillygo0oser Love theoretically was the one i also liked the least - for the love interest too, actually!! fortunately the main character and i had a few similarities so i connected with her enough to enjoy the novel more.
bride i really liked!! knot (lol) as outrageous as some make it out to be though.
Really love your takes and agree with you across the board! I checked out your ratings on previous books and you’ve loved a lot of my 5 star reads so I’m excited to subscribe and follow your future recommendations. My favorite book of the year so far has been This is How You Lose the Time War-I just adore books about love and time and memory. Would love to hear if you have recommendations similar to that one since you’re a sci-fi fan!
Very well-done video, I always love how thorough you are in your reviews! I was someone who was on the opposite end of the spectrum from you with Britney's memoir--I definitely understand where you're coming from on the writing aspect, and I think maybe we came at it with different levels of background knowledge (I had almost none) and expectations for what it would be. For me, my rating had a lot more to do with advocating for trauma and written documents of abuse, as they are two topics I am very passionate about. It could potentially be interesting to see more reflection from her in the future, but at the same time, I feel like a heartbreaking proportion of her life has already been stolen by everything and I hope she can enjoy as much of her life independent of the narrative as possible.
I definitely see where you’re coming from ❤️ I’m so glad she’s finally free to tell her own story, and I hope it helps a lot of people to read! I just really wanted to love it and struggled so much with the writing style. You’re right about her getting to leave this in the past and while I would have loved a more insightful memoir from her, I’d love it even more if she just gets to live in the moment and find joy ❤️
Please continue to do this. Its my favourite annual video from you
I’m glad you enjoy it 🥰
For sci-fi, both are not first books in a series but are so worth it the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells and Red Rising series by Pierce Brown.
I loved the Mr Mercedes series....soooo goood. I am looking forward to reading Holly! It's the first thing I've been excited about in ages, so hope you check out the first book sometime.
Ok, going to watch the rest now
It makes me so happy when my faves drop long videos 😍❤
Me too! I love long videos 🥰 I hope you enjoy this one! ❤️❤️
I just finished reading Weyward. I loved the atmosphere and her descriptions and I pretty much agree with your critique of it with one exception lol.
I actually enjoyed the magic in it. It still lead to very satisfactory revenge for me and I wonder if the author was trying to go for a metaphor with it - like women have long been told to stay timid, stay demure, restricted etc. And the magic in this was very much rooted with nature and it's wildness and so finally using their powers fully was shedding the societal expectations and embracing natural wildness and the freedom that comes with it/an inner power that we've long been told to contain. If that makes sense. But I would also say, she wasn't very clear on that either haha - IF that's the case. Could also just be my interpretation.
But yeah...as someone who's also chosen to be child free the big emphasis on motherhood was definitely annoying at times. 📖🌱
That’s an interesting interpretation! You might be right. I agree she could have been more clear if that was her intention, but I see what you mean that it’s possible she meant the magic to reinforce the themes rather than contradict them ❤️
Good Day Elisabeth. I enjoy watching these videos. I am ever so thankful to you for your honesty and integrity, especially with the first books you talked about. Though just a little off topic, but not by much, I have a strong TBR recommendation. At 62, I read for the first time, Frankenstein. I found that it was written in 1819 as a challenge to a group of young people. Mary Shelly was only 19 in 1819 and wrote a book of great writing and depth of character. I believe from watching your videos for a long time, it would be a good read.📚📓📒💚💚💚
I read Frankenstein a few years ago! It was fantastic, though I found the doctor and the monster both a bit annoying 😂
@@PlantBasedBride agreed
Loved this book as well.
I loved Britney’s memoir, I listened to it as an audiobook which I think fits better. It felt like a friend telling me her life story, just as I was expecting
I agree that the narration was well done!
As a fantasy reader, I’m so glad they made Romantasy its own thing just so I can avoid it. I’m not a fan of heavy spice, I want world building and characters more than romance. Tired of romance heavy books dominating the fantasy genre
The Divine Rivals rushed cliffhanger ending did put me off of reading book 2. I'm just never a fan of a rushed ending or an abrupt clifffhanger/twist situation in a book. It makes me feel like I didn't actually read a complete story.
Got here via TH-cam recommendation. Very well done reviews and excellent video. I’m subscribed now. Keep it up.
On the specific topic, we all see a lot of mentions of these books, so it’s interesting to have a level-headed reasonable and intelligent person review them. (Well, I said I was new to your content, so hoping that I’m right about this).
Once again totally agree with all your points about housemaid and secret - love to hear it, I always thought it was just me 😮
Same!! I really didn’t like it which was surprising given the high ratings and good reads win
Here’s Allie Hazelwood in a nutshell
1. Men bad, women good
(Except when men big, then men VERY GOOD)
2. Women in STEM, so cool. Quirky and tiny!
3. Here’s a character that isn’t straight or white, box checked! Are they written well? Never.
Forgot the cringe
It feels like these awards are similar to movie awards (i.e. oscars) that just reward popularity rather than being GOOD. Though that really is tough to judge. I personally love books i wouldn't call objectively "good" but also is "good" objective? Probably can't be 😅
I think there are some more objective standards for what makes a good book, but for the most part it really is very subjective! I tend to evaluate every book I read on some of those more objective standards (which vary by genre) but a huge factor is my gut feeling 😂
I completely agree! For one, how many people voting have actually read all the nominees? I imagine that number is quite small. Also, you don’t have to prove you’ve read the book to vote. It’s just an honor system. It seems to be the books with the most hype on social media that win every time.
Making Romantasy it's own category theoretically means it's easier for me to avoid lol. So I think it's a good thing. Whatever helps you reach your target audience.
I'm glad there is a romantasy category to keep them from possibly taking a winning spot from the romance and fantasy categories. It's a big mx of romance and fantasy that I think makes it different then being in just romance or just fantasy. I also have little interest in romantasy. I couldn't finish fourth win, biggest reason was because of the dialogue; even the audiobook couldn't save them. lol.
Yeah, in the mystery/thriller category, 'Bright Young Women' or 'The Only One Left' had a chance to win and should have won in my opinion.
I like Hell Bent more than Ninth House. Partly because I like some of the secondary characters better than Alex and you get more of them in the second book.
That is so interesting about R. F. Kuang and her criticism of her critics. I always struggle with individuals in general who don't handle constructive criticism well, especially in academic contexts. I will need to look into that because I had no idea she did that. I haven't gotten around to reading any of her books yet, but want to read them.
As a new-to-fiction author I’ve plunged into books in my genre (and genre-adjacent) to get a feel for the market. I’m grateful to have found you! Your opinions, so clearly worded with no gushing or ranting are extremely helpful, often affirmation of my own. I fear commenting on a book central to social media frenzy lest it hurt my book sales. I’ve never seen such fervent followers.
But the struggle is real. I’m quite a lot older than mainstream readers and the technical aspect of writing continues to shock me. I’ve no formal education, can’t identify parts of speech beyond if it “sounds right”, yet I’m constantly potholed by modern slang jarring period fantasy settings, poor sentence structure and filler words jerking me out of the story, and wandering timeline jumps.
Now I’m concerned my book will die a gruesome death because attention spans are so short, the supply and demand is the shortest cyclical pace between books published of my lifetime. It does, as you mentioned, seem like 1st and 2nd drafts are celebrated with no notice of it.
Apologies for my whining, it’s such a relief to say what I think! Thank you, for bravery in saying what so many of us fear to. It’s a first, in my long life, not expressing my opinion freely (not vindictively). Your voice is important to me in targeting my audience.
Theory: I believe romantasy was created purely because romance readers are by far the largest and most prolific purchasers of fiction. Fantasy and science fiction authors have a much higher chance of catching on with BookTok frenzy if dragons AND sex are touted as the selling point. The sex was always there, it’s just highlighted as a selling point.
This is such an interesting video - I love people's views on the GR popularity contest. I'm curious if you approached Yellowface as basic general fiction or as satire? I think, for me, that makes a difference in my expectations and how I prepare myself for the tone of the writing. I definitely read it with satire in mind and felt like it hit the nail on the head with that but I know that not everyone came at it in the same way.
I knew it was satire going into it but didn’t feel it delivered the way I was hoping/expecting!
I’ve been reading Hijab Butch Blues in the memoir category, and I’ve been LOVING it - I would really recommend it!
I am absolutely never reading another Emily Henry! I DNF’d Happy Place at around page 80-90, awful, awful, and I knew it was only going to get worse. Her and C.Hoover I will never understand the hype.
Yeah, I’m not sure it’s worth the risk at this point 😅 I really wanted her to be a new favourite because I struggle finding romance authors who consistently deliver books I enjoy! But I think I just have to accept she’s not the one for me 😭
I didn’t like Happy Place either and DNF. I loved her book Beach Read though.
@BrookeReadsBooks333 and @PlantBasedBride, have either of you hopped aboard the Taylor Jenkins Reid train? She includes romance, but the stories aren't JUST about that and her writing is consistent and phenomenal (in my opinion).
oh god yes i also DNF'd it, couldn't understand for the life of me what is supposed to be so high quality romance about it
Oh dear the nominees for Mystery/Thriller that you put up on the screen after discussing The Housemaid's Secret is loaded with excellent books! The Lisa Jewel, the Rebecca Makkai, the SA Cosby, the Richard Osman, the Angie Kim, all really solid offerings with top-notch line writing and skilled plotting/structure. How did The Housemaid's Secret win?! A Mystery indeed!
Love when you talk about books!!☺It would have been fun to see what your favorite books are that you would really recommend to someone else!! Something that really got you hooked and kind of turned your world upside down.
This was fun. Holly Gibney is one of my absolute favourite King character (and I am a longtime fan). A smart, neurodivergent young woman with severe family issues, slowly gaining self-confidence and creating her unique place in the world. A sister of Lisbeth Salander (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Saga Norén (The Bridge TV series) without the reader feeling she was created for the male gaze to marvel at. Just excellent.
I’m glad I’ve found the only other person on Earth with the same feelings towards The Housemaid as I. It was one of the first books I read getting into reading as an adult last year and my first thriller. I was perplexed! Like this cannot be for real!!!
Love that someone is being more thoughtful about this. I was feeling very awkward even bad about not enjoying Yellowface, since everyone seems to love it, I’m planning on finishing it but for now it is in my DNF I’m not at all invested on it. Started to read “Liliana’s Invincible Summer” and I can’t stop reading sometimes. Hope you do a review on it
THANK YOU for articulating so eloquently my feelings about happy place and the woman in me 🙏🏻
Happy to oblige! 😅❤️
Was really looking forward to this video! I actually just read Hell Bent because my book club read Ninth House in December. I actually liked Hell Bent better and enjoyed the demons/creatures elements, but I can totally understand where you and many other reviewers are coming from. It was likely because it wasn't as trigger-heavy as the first one. And I was bummed to hear Bardugo's opinion on trigger warnings because I absolutely could've used some in Ninth House 😔
Unrelated to this video, but I'm about to read A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and I'm so excited to dive into Becky Chambers based off of your recommendations 😊
Oh I hope you adore ALWTASAP! I love that book so much. It actually might be time for a reread!
Hell Bent just felt *very* repetitive and plodding to me. I was still invested in the characters and the plot, but it felt like Bardugo was actively trying to cut the tension lol
I have read the "footsteps sound like gunshots" line before and I think it's supposed to evoke just how loud the sound is piercing the silence or just how quickly the sound gets the characters attention as if it were a gunshot. Maybe also trying to evoke fear that would be felt if someone was trying to hide then they heard someone coming down the stairs. Just my two cents!
Finally someone gets it
Henry Winkler was the principal in scream
I’ve actually never seen Scream!
Really enjoyed hearing you talk so thoughtfully about all these books. I don't plan to read most of these, but I'm always interested in what books rise the top of these internet polls and thinking over how they got there. I rarely read memoirs but I tend to find them much more engaging when I don't know much about the person/was not previously a fan of the person the memoir or autobiography was about. For example, I don't really know anything about Barbra Streisand's life but I'm so intrigued by the idea of someone writing a 1,000 page autobiography of their life and wondering what she put in it. I may have to read that.
If we are talking about correct/accurate/inclusive queer representation in the YA category, I highly recommend Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli. The book does a GREAT job discussing different queer realizations (gay awakenings) and how it isn’t always an easy “I’ve always known I was gay.” 👍🏼
Hello! Thanks for the recommendation! Can I ask something? All the book is about discovering the main caracther sexuality or has something else/another plot? Thanks 😘
@@examenesinternacionalesaf3576
It’s centered around the main character visiting her friend at the friend’s college. The story mostly takes place at the college and involves college social life but the plot focuses a lot on being queer, social aspects of being queer (friends, relationships, stereotypes, etc) and figuring out that your queer.
@@hippie1325 Thanks so much to respond!
I loved Happy Place, I loved how messy the characters and relationships were and found it really relatable.
I'm glad you loved it!
Agreed! This was my first Emily Henry book and I enjoyed it a lot. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but it was engaging and relatable.
I thought it was good too as a usual contemporary romance disliker 🤷♀️ I gave it a generous 4 stars because I enjoyed my reading experience so much.
This was such an enjoyable watch, thank you for putting it together. For the books I have read, we are very much of a mind - especially “Yellowface” (although I “round down two starred” because the metaness and defensiveness of the writing seemed to me particularly immature and somehow self-congratulatory?) And your commentary on Ali Hazlewood, I absolutely agree with… and that leads to a sincere question on the one book we diverge on - “the collected regrets of clover”. I read it based on your vid recommendation, but it landed with me completely differently and I actually saw many, many parallels between the tropes that irritate me in Hazlewood and TCROC. By which I mean the same sort of “oblivious, doesn’t know how cool she is, manic pixie dream girl, wide eyed innocent” in the protagonist. Which was doubly confusing to me given that Clover was meant to have been so well travelled, how was it that she was so unworldly? I almost DNFed, but struggled through, and ended up with a (quite angry) one star.
I guess it may boil down to which themes speak to each individual reader in their engagement with a book. I wasn’t taken up so much with the themes of grief, and maybe if I was then the main character would perhaps have been more compelling. And, perhaps, if I was more focused on the cultural appropriation themes of Yellowface, I wouldn’t have been as annoyed at the self referential (and self reverential) tone.
(I was honestly in two minds about commenting, mostly because I really love your book reviews and find myself agreeing more often than not, but there’s this one book we definitely disagree on and I don’t like that! But then you invited input so sweetly and kindly so here I am with a comment that I want to super emphasize comes with the utmost respect.)
I definitely understand what you mean about Clover! She was wearing on me in the first half, but she grew on me towards the end as she opened up and was more vulnerable about how much pain and guilt she was feeling over her grandfather’s death. I lost my grandma who I was extremely close to at 12, and I was away at camp when she had a stroke and went into a coma. I went through a lot of the same guilt and regret that Clover did, realizing I’d written her several letters while away sharing all the fun I was having with my new friends and she was never able to read them. I’d give just about anything to have spent just a few more weeks with her. So it hit very close to home for me. I’m now dealing with more grief, unfortunately, as multiple of my family members are terminally ill. So it still feels very close to my heart and I’m grateful I read it, because I think often about a few of the metaphors in it to help me cope.
All of that to say, I completely get how it wouldn’t land for someone else the same way! I of course always hope y’all will love the books I recommend as much as I do, but I’m not offended or hurt at all if you don’t (though I do feel bad you wasted your time on a book you didn’t enjoy on my account!) ❤️ thank you for sharing your comment. I love reading your thoughts on the books I recommend, even if they didn’t work for you!
Every year I stare at the Goodreads choice awards nominees and go ehhh well, some of these are good. and then being surprised every single time when the last one I thought would win, wins. Im always flabbergasted
Yes, Monstrilio! What a book -- amazing, right? I know you're bummed about it not winning the horror category, but it did win its match-up on the Tournament of Books today! I was so freaking excited! 💚💚💚
There should be separate romantasy categories as fantasy is often exploited by romance writers. It's popular romance fantasy but it's nice to differentiate
I love your reviews - and I want your spoilers!!! 😂 numerous moments I was like give me the details! I need to know. Like what formula was Frieda McFadden!
Your reviews are always so fascinating to me. I don’t always agree with your hated books, but you are always so succinct with why you don’t like a book and often have a well thought and valid opinion.
Thank you! I wanted to do spoiler sections in this video, too, but I knew it was already going to be very long considering how many books I was talking about, and with spoilers, it would have probably at least doubled in length lol my poor little Mac struggled already exporting this one 😂
The formula is that the first half of the book is told from the main character’s perspective, and the second half is told from the female employer of the main character’s perspective, each time revealing that everything is not as it seems and turning our impression of that secondary character on its head. I found it interesting the first time, but the second time, it wasn’t nearly as effective (in my opinion). The second part was also structured as a how to guide, basically, which I found kind of weird but unique the first time, and felt a little too campy the second time.
I really rec "Bright Young Women" from the Mystery/Thrillers category. It's more of a critique about serial killers and misogny than it is a traditional thriller, but that's what makes it so good. 📚
What would be your recommendations for books about poverty in Canada?
I’ve mostly read books that touch on it as part of a larger discussion rather than books entirely focused on poverty. I’ll have to go to my Goodreads and search for the titles of the ones I’m thinking of!
I let Henry years in 1992 and wanted to get a picture with him (I grew up with The Fonz). His bodyguard tried to push me away and instead HW pushed his bodyguard away and led me in fir the photo. A moment in my life I'll never forget, I never expect that from celebs, especially after growing up a mile from Dean Koontz who graduated with my Aunt and I couldn't get a response from him to get a book signed that he dedicated to a mutual teacher we had 25 years apart.
Highly recommend Hijab Butch Blues. Currently listening to the audio book. So good.
Hmm...I haven't read most of the books that were winers, or on your list even, but I enjoy your honest reviews. You have piqued my interest in a few and even crossed a couple off my TBR. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 📖🤓
Light Bringer absolutely should have won the Sci-fi category. One of the best books I've ever read. The fact it still got second place while being the sixth book in a series is impressive in its own right though
I love hearing your thoughts on any and all books, so fascinating ❤❤❤
Loved your recap! As always you keep it so real. Not sure if you’re a V. E. Schwab fan, or if you’ve read the Darker Shade of Magic series, but I would LOVE to hear your thoughts!
You don’t know the origin of “jumping the shark!” I grew up watching Happy Days. Love your reviews.
Oh wow, I didn’t know that was the origin of that phrase! How cool ❤️
Also, I had just started 4th wing. I’m not a huge fantasy reader. I immediately put it down. No need to waste my time. I dislike YA books and I thought it seemed YA.
Yup, the Fonze jumping his motorcycle over a swimming pool, was the sign that the show was on the decline!
Totally agree with your review of the Britney Spears memoir. If you want to try another book in the memoir category read, How to Say Babylon. Such a well written, heart breaking memoir.
Okay thank you for the review of Weyward. You put into words better than I did with my review on what I didn't like about the book last year. I was VERY shocked at how many book of the year awards it won. I didn't like that there was a theme of resilience of being treated terribly by men and how prominent it was across all three stories.
Yes, I didn't even get into that because I was trying to avoid potential spoilers, but the amount of abuse these women were subjected to started to get into the trauma p*rn realm for me.
I just love your reviews! Please keep chipping away at your soul by continuing
I had the same reaction to Emily Henry's books as you do. Try Beach Read - it's also good. Seems that when she writes about books and book lovers (no pun intended), she knocks it out of the park. Otherwise... Well. Also, I had a great time readinf Babel, but DNF'ed Yellowface last year. Oof, not good.
It sounds like this challenge is tough for you but I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the goodreads awards every year! We agree on a lot and disagree on some things but I truly value your opinion as someone who has been subscribed to you for years! Thank you for your service!
Such a comprehensive review, thank you! I'm surprised I wasn't subscribed yet :D
This is my most anticipated video from you every year! I love how well thought-out your reviews are. For fantasy, I voted for the last tale of the flower bride, rouge for horror and a study in drowning for YA fantasy!
I agree Happy Place is not good, to be honest I would consider Emily Henry’s work to be more adult fiction with a bit of romantic undertones than romance. You are not “swept away” in the love story, you’re more like “well I guess that’s a story about to people that think they are in love”. That being said, of all the nominees, I would recommend the Seven Year Slip; it was a nice story with a bit of magical realism and a theme of grief that I found very well handled.
I’m Canadian too. What did you read about poverty in Canada? A good book to recommend?
Oohh!! I'm Canadian too and I'd love a recommendation too
@@isirlasplace91 Lol!
You’ve just reminded me with the Henry Winkler book, I used to watch happy days reruns after school! It must have been a 30ish year old show already at that point
First video of your I've read, but I enjoyed your commentary on the books and the writing.
Loved hearing your thoughts on the books and the goodreads choice awards as a whole. Thank you for advocating for content warnings on books! I personally don't pay attention to them or care but I know several people who do and it's not a hard thing to include on the book like you said.
I have not read any of the books that won, but a few are on my TBR. A LOT of the nominees (and winners) are also on my tbr, mostly from botm subscription. Yellowface, Fourth Wing, Happy Place, Check & Mate, Divine Rivals, The Woman in Me, and Weyward. I won't write down all the titles of the nominees because I don't want my comment to turn into an essay and there's so many lol. Weyward and Encyclopedia of Faeries are on my TBR for march and I'm going to start them very soon.
I would really love to know your thoughts on Iron Flame! I know how you felt about the first book but imo the second book was way better than the first. Also I want to know your opinion on the broken kingdom series by lj andrews. I honestly think you might enjoy it. The world building was amazing and the characters well written and how all the books just flow together even though they are focusing on different couples throughout the series. Hands downs it's my favorite series besides the outlander series.
I’ve been contemplating reading Iron Flame but I just don’t know 😂 maybe once it’s nice out and I can read in the backyard again I’ll go for it 🤔 I don’t know if I’ve heard much about The Broken Kingdom series! I’ll have to look it up ❤️
What would you say makes Iron Flame a better book? I DNF-ed it 50% through as the pacing was so incredibly slow. I asked some people who finished it, who fully supported my DNF. So I am very curious to hear the other side of the argument! /gen
I'm so happy to hear someone who agrees with my opinion about Ali Hazelwood. I really don't understand the hype🤷♀️
thank you for this video! i made it through cooking and washing dishes by listening to your soothing voice
I haven’t read most of these books but I did read Divine Rivals and Fourth Wing and had a very similar experience with them. I’d categorize both of them more as YA romance more than fantasy, and I don’t usually read or like either YA or romance much. I was pleasantly surprised by Divine Rivals and I absolutely hated every moment of Fourth Wing. LOL
I would love to see you read Serpent and the Wings of Night or Blood Mercy, two fantasy romance or Romantasy books that are more fantasy with a romance sub plot.
Hi! I just found your account through this video and I wanted to give you kudos for doing this - you put so much time and effort into this video, it was amazing to watch! So thank you for that :) Divine Rivals is now definitely on my wishlist hahaha :D And even though I don't agree with all of your opinions, I felt comfortable listening to all of this and thought you were really respectful, even if you didn't like a book. So thank you for that, as well :)
I wanted to throw in my two cents about Yellowface, because I was really surprised that you felt like the critique on Athena was dismissed (and I really mean surprised, not irritated in any way). I have to say that this is my first book by the author (and I still have a quarter of it left to read). But for me, it seemed like Athena was portrayed as this shining, perfect woman only in the beginning and that her image began to crack somewhere in the middle. Of course the author chose to include some general hateful comments about Athena, but I felt like there was "normal" criticism, as well, that wasn't dismissed as being hateful. But maybe I misread the setting that these comments were made in? Who knows! :D I just thought it was interesting how the same book can be perceived in such different ways by different readers, so I wanted to join in the conversation a bit :) I definitely understand where you're coming from, though, and I appreciate to know your thoughts on this! I will read the last bit of the book with your opinion in mind and challenge my own view on the story.
Thanks again for this video, I just subscribed and I will definitely come back to your content more often. Much love!
📚 📖 📕 Great video as always! Thank you for all the work and effort I know you put into these! You’re appreciated!
Aw thank you! I appreciate you ❤
I love all your reviews. They are exactly my thoughts especially on Yellowface and Housemaid the latter of which simply infuriated me.
I stopped caring about Goodreads Choice Awards a couple of years ago, because they always nominate the same authors; they are not the best, but the best selling. It's a hype award, a popularity award. I can just as well follow some best seller lists, or GoodReads' lists, it's practically the same
Delightful video! Subscribed 📚