TO BOOKTOK, FROM READERS 📱📚 let’s discuss
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ต.ค. 2024
- TO BOOKTOK, FROM READERS 📱📚 let’s discuss
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On the point of irate fans feeling their favourite author has been plagarised/ripped-off, I'm always reminded of Terry Pratchett who was confronted by an angry Harry Potter fan who said that his Unseen University was just a rip-off of Hogwarts. He politely pointed out that his Discworld books predated Harry Potter by about 15 years.
The fan then huffed "Oh so I suppose you're saying JK Rowling ripped you off?".
"No" replied Practhett "there's just some things in fantasy like magical schools that are generic. That's why it's called a genre"
Reminds me of Stephen King defending Suzanne Collins by saying that people have accused him of plagiarizing Battle Royale since Battle Royale came out- despite the fact that both the books he wrote (Running Man and The Long Walk) were published years prior.
Another proof that Harry Potter fans never read anything else
@@taeza007hd noooo dont group us together.
@@taeza007hd More like Harry potter was their intro to fantasy... i read HP when I was ten... didn't get much comparison at that point. Now I can point out at least ten other magical school that existed before HP was even written.
Maybe a good solution would be to go into a book as blind as possible, then indulge in the fandom afterwards.
That's the way I do it and it's infinitely more enjoyable!
Yesss!! That’s the way I do it!
That’s usually what I do.
The only problem is you can't always control when you are or aren't going to stumble across something from the fandom, since fandom can also trickle out into non-fandom-specific spheres....and sometimes that is how certain book titles/covers/whatever first get brought to your attention to begin with!
But, yeah, that is largely how I usually try to approach getting into things myself too-not seeking other people's reactions or opinions out until after I've already formed my own for myself. Unless it's something I'm more indecisive about whether I wanna pick it up myself or not, OR if it was something I didn't think I was going to read but then engaging with content about it and learning a little more about it changed my mind for some reason.
That's what I do! If a booktuber goes too in depth (I've had to unfollow some because they give away too much in their "spoiler free" summaries) I'll just fast forward until they're done with describing the plot! I love being surprised and try to protect that for myself! 💚
I also think there is a HUGE difference between romance and smut. I really like a very prominent romantic subplot but smut is not my thing. If there are very descriptive sex scenes with the generic petite girl and giant dude, I don't think it's romance - I think it's smut. The emotions and the relationship is not the important thing in books like Fourth Wing and SJM-books like there should be in a... Romance!
omg so much this especially when the smut takes up half the book 😭
I wish I could print this comment and publish it everywhere. This is me 😭 Its so hard to explain that yes, I love romance, but not THAT kind of romance (no emotional depth, all smut).
All the booktokers saying Fourth Wing was TOP fantasy instead of romance/smut in a fantasy setting was just blatant lying.
I'm sorry but booktok seems to me very superficial, fake and influenced by publishers/brands.
Preach
Makes you think about how much fantasy they have read or what types.
I don’t know that I would paint all of BookTok in such a way. I don’t think every one of them who likes fourth wing is lying; in my experience, the average bookworm who makes content isn’t doing so to try and trick other readers, it’s usually to connect with other readers. There’s the occasional bad apple certainly, but I don’t think it’s a widespread issue among TikTok readers.
I do think miscategorizing books can be frustrating, though I think calling fourth wing fantasy is likely due to it being sold in fantasy. At least that’s where it was when I first saw it
@ebnovels it reminds me of the book Cinder which was categorized as dystopian but wasn't really that... it was the popular genre back then
Preach. They also probably don't read fantasy and think that Romantasy is fantasy which it is not.
I call "trash" books "junk food" books. No nutritional value and will not improve my life in any way, but it's yummy and fun! I need that dopamine hit 😂
Yes, a guilty pleasure lol
There are unhealthy food, and there are rotten food with shit smeared on it. I think a book is bad because it failed to be what it tries to be, and we shouldn't feel guilty to dump on it.
@@swordigosung994 oh, I'll talk crap with the best of them. I'll gladly set aside my afternoon to rant about the bridgerton books 😂 but I'm referring to the idea that if a book isn't "intellectual" it's a bad book. Which I don't agree with, I like my smutty fae as much as I like my classics. But I'll also dnf a book if it's just not working for me and I'll talk trash if I think the book was problematic in theme or execution
Yep… sometimes I need a book where I don’t have to fully think about what’s going on. Because I know that if I actively think about a “bad” plot I’ll stop enjoying the book that I’m reading purely for fun.
Like I know this plot isn’t going to be the greatest story ever told. But if I can enjoy it, then it has a better chance than if a book is boring.
Yaaaasssss. I grabbed a Stargate-SG1 fanfiction book off my shelf to cleanse my palette while in the middle of reading some heavy (and not enjoyable) sci-fi earlier this year and it was wonderful. It wasn't "trash" or "junk," but it wasn't hard-hitting sci-fi. It was fun. It was fast. It was clever and well-written, but not that deeply hard-hitting sci-fi that the sci-fi bros give all the attention to. It was perfect and yummy. I needed it. (All that to say, I totally agree with you!)
so real about not wanting to hear anybody's thoughts about a book before you've had a chance to read it and form your own opinion on it. no matter how well-intentioned we are, it is always hard to go in with a blank slate once you have those previously-formed biases. this is why i took a step back from youtube and social media because i could definitely feel it impacting me
I remember watching your video where you discussed that! I think taking that step back makes complete sense (even though I missed your videos! :P)
That’s so true. You only get to experience something for the first time only once.
Agreed
There should also be a discussion on people thinking YA is for readers ages 18+. I’ve seen people complain that YA smut isn’t good but YA is for ages 12-17 it isn’t smut
Wow, I wonder when people started thinking that? I didn’t realize that was some people’s expectation for YA 😮
@@ebnovelsyeah it’s the same people who complain that YA protagonists act young or like teenagers… hellooo that’s what they are and who they’re for?!
I thought it was kinda unofficially official that current YA is actually NA/Adult because the original demographic grew up and took the genre with them, so to speak. So what now would have been YA by the old definition is most of the time relegated to middle grade.
Something like that. It was a while back I heard that being the trend, so I don't remember exactly. Maybe I'm just putting my foot in my mouth🤷🏻♀️
Whatever the case, finding the right books has felt like a very messy affair for a long time now. "You want this simplified book about dragons, with large print, meant for 9 year olds? Or the one where romance is just a family friendly synonym for p- *cough* erotica?"
No one thinks YA is for 18+. There is plenty of real drama so need to make some up that doesn't exist.
@@writerducky2589 It is not a trend and never has been.
We need to normalise dual ratings for books. A quality rating and an enjoyment rating. That way we can differentiate between bad books that we love, and also good books that we hate.
In some ways I agree, but "quality" is still extremely subjective
@@elskabee How? Enjoyment seems like the subjective one. Quality ratings might be skewed by how seasoned the readers are but it's still more objective
@@elskabee I disagree that quality is subjective. Some people may make it subjective by equating what they like and high quality, but those people aren't playing by the rules. When it comes to quality, after a work has been around long enough for opinions to have settled down, there is usually wide agreement on what is good and what is bad, regardless of whether one likes it or not.
@@W-I463 because writing is not math, different people have different things they like or consider 'quality' there is no way to objectively measure quality other than saying it has errors or not (like grammar and spelling). Plus reading in general is all about personal interpretation and experience, which is good!
I don't think it's a bad idea. For example, I really love the Cruel Prince series but we all have to admit that the writing is not extraordinary when it comes to the language or descriptions, especially in book 1 from what I remember. But did I enjoy it? Love it? Absolutely!
Timestamp 45:00 about booktok bringing minors into it: I've seen booktok people harass a minor, boy, because he looked like someone booktok would eat up, or because he looked like a character in this spicy book they read. The boy got so uncomfortable and stated many times to leave him alone because he's a minor and these adult booktokers would not leave him alone. It was baffling. Similar thing to the Wade Wilson situation, the irl murderer that some booktokers fell in love with because he looked like a guy straight out of a spicy book
Me, watching this despite not being on TikTok: Hmm, yes. Quite.
Me too, although I see some tiktoks on shorts or Instagram
I get the argument about people not liking romance in books at all, and so marketing doesn’t want a book discounted for that aspect of a story. However, I think the real problem is people being sold a story based on the fantasy aspects only to start reading it and then realize it’s 500+ pages of relationship drama and 4 pages of magic/plot. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen booksellers stand in front of fantasy shelves and always default to SJM or JLA without ever offering up a non romance centric option.
In regards to "challenging your brain" by reading "high literature" books: Look, I am doing a PhD. My brain is sufficiently challenged everyday at work. Sometimes I just want a simple book with a straightforward plot and/or setting that will make me feel smart after having had a long day of getting my ass handed to me by my own research LOL I will read "high" literature on the days I have enough brainpower left and "trashy" literature on the days I have already had sufficient brain work out.
Hope your PhD is going well! 🥳
Find books chockfull of empathy. You need it for your mental peace after a long and busy day.
Deceitful is the right word, you’re not be dramatic lol calllll them outttttttt. Publishers are setting wrong expectations to get our money and it sucks and they don’t realize it kinda hurts the author reputation too. But yeah idk why romance is such a divisive factor like hey love is beautiful?? Also Sanderson romances are pretty bland imo so I don’t think anyone minds cuz they’re not reading him for romance (at least I’m not!)
I’m reading Sanderson for the world building, settings, and character development. Any romance that turns up I generally think “Aw, that’s sweet” but it’s never been a main part of what I was reading the books for.
This is why I only buy books in person at the book store. I always skim the first few pages to gauge the style, perspective, tone, and I will scan the cover to look up reviews on goodreads.
Yeah I don't like Sandersons romance. I agree that thats not necessarily his focus but I honestly wish he'd leave it out then because his stories would do fine without them.
I think people use romance and erotica interchangeably when they are not. So, a book getting marketed as romantasy means different things to different people, and people are reading those books for different reasons.
You're seriously like the sweetest TH-camr on the platform. Everything you say is either positive, welcoming and inclusive to all readers, writers, and whoever else, or kindly put constructive criticism where you seem just a bit worried about offending someone without appearing overly anxious or apologetic for the community. You discussing how you want everyone to feel welcome on your channel was so nice.
The section where you talk about publishers wanting to throw things in spoke to me. I’m attempting to write a book for the first time and I feel a pressure to make sure that everything is like checked off of a list of things to have, but that’s just not how my story is. For instance idk if I’ll ever write in gay or queer characters, but that’s mostly because I hate seeing it done as a rush job or badly or when it feels like it is thrown in for the check box. I don’t want to do an injustice to people I have respect for. If I’m able to get further down the road and one of my characters is queer then that is what they are, but I’m not going to force it just to say that I had it in there. There is representation and then there is representation done well. Even as a black person I hate when a side character is black for basically no reason, or it doesn’t fit the story and they are just there to be there. Frozen did that and it was ridiculous. The hyper Caucasian country just suddenly has a few black people in the second movie? It doesn’t feel right.
I remember seeing a remark in The Guardian about how, according to the BBC, every single Black woman is also a lesbian and sometimes I think about that when I encounter a Black character in a book whose also queer, if they're the only Black character AND the only queer character (besides their white partner ofc)- as much as I love How I Met Your Mother, Barney's gay Black brother is such a good example of this. Like, Black queer people exist obviously, but a lot of times it's so painfully obvious that's just them trying to check two boxes with the same character.
Thank you for being kind to new readers. I was never a reader but now that I am diagnosed adhd and medicated and found that speeding up audiobooks keep me focused I started re reading Harry Potter and twilight because of nostalgia and then had a friend suggest acotar at the beginning of this year and I just pressed play without reading about it or wouldn’t have read it and loved it so much.
I am now on book 143 this year and I’m realizing more of what I like and what I don’t like but I LOVE talking books with people and didn’t have any friends who were reading and I could find a community in booktok or Facebook because it was so popular and I was so depressed that I just needed friends with similar interests.
I didn’t think I could handle romantasy or more fantasy before acotar and it was because of that series that it got me into reading and I’m forever grateful for it and not everyone can be nuanced about it and I see so many people hating on acotar and how it’s poorly written or overhyped but it gave me community when I didn’t have one.
Now that I’m branching out I’ll find a book and finish it and so desperately want to talk about it and can’t find anyone who has read it and so I have read some booktok reccs I have strongly regretted after but it was because I was chasing community.
its kinda crazy how nobody is talking about the forbidden eBook Magnetic Aura from Borlest
I’ve been an avid reader for quite a long time. I find that most of my books that I get recommended via social media or book groups I tend to enjoy less because I’m going into it knowing more than just the summary on the back. As a kid/teen I went into every book “blind” and I found I enjoyed that way more. I do think that social media does have positive influence as far as I had never read science fiction until I saw your video on the winnowing flame trilogy, and I absolutely loved it. To me, it’s coming down to how much do you actively seek your own content with no influence and how often do you get things recommended to you from people who may or may not have a good way to explain why they enjoyed a book.
I feel this! I think it’s also difficult when people “see” different things in books, so what they end up highlighting might not even be what someone else finds prevalent, which I think contributes to the “did I read the same book as everyone else?” effect 😅
You’re totally right about the use of the word “trash.” I see comments here saying “guilty pleasure” and I think that’s a much better way to have put it. I tend to call a lot of my favorite things “trash” as a catch-all because it’s a silly word.
The workout analogy was spot-on!
Not booktok’s fault really, but could bookstores stop ONLY catering to Booktok? My local bookstore has an entire section devoted to Sarah J. Mass but only like 3 Brandon Sanderson books, that’s an issue.
Those videos of people concealing the book cover until the very end drive me crazy. 😂
One of my fears of writing is the publishing system. I feel like I need to be less creative and force my story into the latest trend if I want it to reach any kind of audience.
I don't want to read fantasy romance because when there is romance in fantasy it can be an amazing story element. When it is specifically "fantasy romance" about half the time it's basically porn.
In regards to the comment about trash books: maybe ‘guilty pleasure’ book might also explain the sentiment? I have read so many books where objectively I know very well the book isn’t that great. Basic writing, plot holes, … whatever the case may be. But when I ask myself if I liked it the answer is “I ate it UP, was unable to but it down, it entertained me way past my bedtime, etc… “. Those books serve a purpose too.
Yeah, there's been a lot of push back in recent years against the term "guilty pleasure" too though, because a lot of people feel it implies they like a thing which they shouldn't like and the whole point is there's nothing wrong with liking books that serve less high-brow purposes or such! It's like a cheesburger or l'il smokies in bbq sauce versus a steak with veggies/potatoes/etcetera or a casserole, or like ice cream versus a bowl of fruit salad, or something.
Now.... When I tell you that I can't eat more than one or two chicken nuggets' worth of white-meat chicken without my body rejecting it and spewing it right back out again, but every once in a while I still like to eat that one chicken nugget anyway just because it tastes good even if my insides are going to get a little bit irritated and my throat might constrict a little bit for a little while afterward and so on, I would call THAT a "guilty" pleasure.😅
I would also say that something more like cotton candy could maybe be considered a 'guilty' pleasure, too, but for entirely different reasons. Loll
But maybe that's just me!🤷🤷♀️😊
I usually just call them Popcorn Page Turners
You brought up Captive Prince briefly and I think it's a perfect example of why I think the shorter framework that reviews/recommendations are subject to is not so great for most titles.
I LOVED the whole Captive Prince trilogy, but I would NEVER recommend it to anyone without the huge caveat that they need to look up the trigger warnings. Saying it's a fantasy romance in the same way things like Fourth Wing (which I also enjoyed), ACOTAR, etc. are fantasy romances is disingenuous. I've have had many of my irl friends in my bookclub ask what my favorite book is and my response always starts out the same: "The Captive Prince series, BUT..."
I want to add that it's the truest form of enemies to lover, probably the best example of that kind of trope I've ever read....and I love that series lol but also very few people I can recommend it too
I laughed at the commenter who said they had no opinion as they were not on the platform; that's me too.
13:20 Yes, this is exactly it. Getting prople to view more than one loop is boosting engagement, so tiktokers make the ending loop seamlessly into the beginning to dupe out several more watches.
It's absolutely rational to want a disclaimer on whether a book is a smut book or not, or whether the romance is the main focus or not. Not everyone likes those kinds of stories. I can't find a good fantasy book anymore because they're all porn fanfics in disguise and none is tagged accordingly.
A trend I feel needs to be explored more, similar to indie to trad published book edits, is special edition. I feel more emphasis seems to be on creating and owning the best looking book verse the best story.
Love the Luna cameo at the end ❤
I vote for both formats. Unedited is fun for the raw reaction but edited allows more conversation.
Is Powerless trad published? All these books seem to have not editing done. At least that's what I read in reddit about powerless and acotar. I haven't read them, though. I think edited is the right way to do it specially if you are paying a good bit for the book. Idk 🤷♀️ 🤷♀️
Just want to say I always enjoy your discussions and really appreciate how you can see all sides. And that dog is gorgeous!
She’s so cute it’s dumb. I think, “Ahhh, look how cute she is!” is my most used phrase 😂
I read both fantasy and romantasy/fantasy romance, however I've felt recently that a lot of new fantasy releases are being marketed as "romantasy" because it's the buzzword of the moment. But there's no consistency on what that *actually* means.
I've picked up romantasy books that have been 80-90% focused on the romance, but I've also picked up romantasy books that are 60-70% fantasy and the romance feels more like a significant side plot.
It's frustrating when marketing gets it wrong because it prevents books from getting in front of the right audience.
I think part of why this is happening is because fantasy romance (a romance set in a fantasy world/with fantasy elements) and romantic fantasy (a fantasy story with a significant romance subplot) have both been thrown under the same umbrella term/buzzword "romantasy" even though they are two different sub-genres.
A note on fantasy romance marketing:
I would very much like it if publishers would say if there is romance in fantasy books. I don't just want to know if it's a full on romantasy book. I simply want to know if there is any level of romance at all. Even if there's only 1% romance I want to know about it. I also want it to be clear if the book is mostly romance with just a hint of fantasy vs mostly fantasy with just a hint of romance. I hate it when publishers trick me into reading romance books. It makes me feel icky about the publisher, even if it wasn't entirely intentional.
As a dubiously aro, highkey ace, I couldn't agree more. Especially because, while I'm sure this isn't totally true, it feels like as time goes by, romance is getting less subtle, shallower, and smuttier. No shame, I just want to know if I can enjoy something in peace or if I have to be in a certain mindset to handle engaging with a work without feeling erased.
I hold the same thoughts on this. I'm not digging anything to do with romance right now
OMG, yes! The squandered potential for a big chunk of romantasy is killing me. The lack of polish in traditionally published books is borderline inexcusable to me. It just makes authors look bad when they simply needed a few more rounds of editing and a professional editors eye. Edits make a world of difference to books.
I have a really complex, technical job in the medical field... sometimes exactly what I need in my downtime is... DOWNTIME :) So the thoughts about "not using your muscles".. well yeah, that's exactly the point! :D My brain is TIRED. I want to be entertained, I want to switch off in a healthy way, and a simple easy to read story is the perfect way to do that. PS: Also the 1lb dumbbells in the gym analogy continues to be perfect because that person is still getting mental health benefits from moving their body, even if they're not in a point where they're bulking up!
I think there needs to be a clear distinction between romance and smut also. You can have all the smut without any romance. 😅
I think the first response was talking more about smut, not just romance. Since you can have romance without smut
Some people just don't like Romance because more often than not it's smut and cringe.. I'm tired of smut/spice/steam/cringe being injected into everything.. Fantasy, SciFi... I've found I can most tolerate relationships/love in YA because it's not annoying .. like in The Stationery Shop, The Lion Women of Tehran, and As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow.
I’ve had The Lion Women of Tehran on my shelf for a couple months, now I gotta move it up my TBR (once all my library books stop coming in!).
@@Meg_Sprite nice, hope you enjoy it! I love how she uses words in their native tongue but has the English meaning with it, so you get to learn new words. Also all the food talk omg I wanted to eat it all 😆
Yeah I don’t like romance because for the same reason. I can do a little bit like how Brandon Sanderson does it but not much. Not to mention the absolute lack of diversity when I was growing up and even now still to a degree. I probably would’ve been more open to it I didn’t get turned off from an early age.
@@the_eerie_faerie_tales The language is called Farsi, if you're wondering. Edit: The book sounds interesting. Another edit: have spent some amount of time (1.5-2 years? I was too small to remember) in Iran...
@@bluenuttefly8813 yes Farsi is a beautiful language ! I learned a little when I had Iranuan residents at the apartment community I worked at for a while.
24:12 a good psychologist will tell you: there is no we. Each person likes it for their own reasons.
Your point about books coming around again reminded me of Eragon. I see people discovering it and I’m like, I read that when that came out, it’s not that old…
It’s been over 20 years, what the heck? 😵💫 so ya, there are going to be people discovering it for the first time. Still weird though lol
Eragon its on my SuB this year and i will read it for the first time😊
@@g.n.9075 Enjoy! 😄👍🏻 I’m currently reading the newest book, Murtagh, and it’s really bringing me back ❤️
I just started reading Eragon the other day for the first time! I knew about it but just didn’t pick it up until now 😂 didn’t realize it has been out for 20 years until I finally marked it “currently reading” on goodreads 😅
@@melanie6759 I didn’t realize until I was writing this post! 😆😅 Hope you like it!
How dare you make me feel old? Eragon came out not a second past 10 years ago and I refuse to hear any release dates or logic that contradicts that in my mind! 28 is still young, damnit! 🤣
Sometimes I think people don’t understand their fyp on TikTok. I really like queer romance and fantasy so when you like a type of video on there it gives you more of that video. Sometimes you need to search for your types of reads and that way you won’t always get like forbidden romance type of books that people always attribute to TikTok. The search bar is your friend! I also feel like there are just so many books and so many people that TikTok is just making it visible. I am 31, when I was like a teenager none of this was available and the only thing I knew to find a book was to go to the library since we didn’t have much money growing up so just seeing this amount of information on books come up now just brings emotion to me about just making all these books known. Thank you for not just shitting on TikTok though I really appreciated your nuance.
Also 31! I basically only ever found books through the school library; it was rare that I even got to go to the public library, so I agree about how drastically different hearing about books is nowadays 📚
That's interesting. Usually my first inkling is to ask people if they actually curate their feeds or just get mad at the content.
But with TikTok (I don't use it myself) I've already heard many complains (online and in real life) about the impossibility to change the TikTok algorithm. No matter what they do the feed doesn't change at all, or only for a short time. Some even created whole new accounts, just to get the same results.
For me the main issue seems to lie with the platform and how it operates.
The type of romance we want depends on who's reading. It has to be in the reader's preferred ranges on the Smuttiness Spectrum™, the relationship toxicity scale, have the correct amount of romance and the desired orientation, and has to be the characters that the reader wants to get together, etc. Take into account that a fair percent of readers are simply misogynists and misandrists, or against homo or hetero pairings or against elf/orc pairings. On top of all that, it has to be written well. It's not that people don't want it, but that there are many different personal tastes. Here's the issue: Books in the Romance genre can target the readers' preferences... you can choose between dark romance, erotica, cute romance, lgbtq romance, all-men-are-scum-except-for-the-hot-love-interest romance, interspecies romance, etc. It's easy to advertise this because the romance is the main draw. But in a book where romance is only secondary to the main genre, it's a lot harder to properly advertise the type of romance to prospective readers, and a lot harder to make a clear promise at the beginning of the book, especially where at least one of the characters of the pair isn't even going to be introduced till later. It's an advertising conundrum. For example, if Brandon Sanderson starts talking about what kind of person the love interest is in Mistborn, he starts spoiling the book. If Ali Hazelwood starts talking about what kind of person her love interest is, she spoils absolutely nothing about the story. So, in a secondary romance, you're always going to get some readers who don't like it. But if you have the romance fit well into the book's overall mood and theme, and you set up the romance well, most readers will be OK with it.
Just adding: well said!
I love most music but can't stand heavy metal. But still can't say its trash. I just resign myself on the idea that these are a matter of taste.
I love most music, especially heavy metal, but I'm a lot less likely to prefer most rap music typically. So ..That's totally fair! Lol
I think that really is the big issue with a lot of people and separating things into "trashy" books versus "actually 'good'" books-a lot of them don't really have an objective criteria for which books are lumped into which category in their opinion beyond simply what they personally like or don't, or they don't really account much for the difference between something actually not being written well versus something simply being written in a different way for a different purpose or about different types of things or whatever.
Tbh I think why there’s such an opinion of “well booktok is to blame..” because of how much it’s changed things. How many bookstores now have a table near the front that says “as seen on tiktok” when we don’t see the tables for booktube or bookstagram. Books are being pushed based on tropes, spice, being similar to another popular book (which isn’t new, but it’s really only how tiktok recommends books). So it’s felt like tiktok was getting all of the spotlight for reading when there has been these other corners of the internet before it. So now it’s easy to point at tiktok and go “yes they are the problem”
A romance's core responsibility is to present a happy ever after or happy for now ending. A love story has no obligation to do that. Christine Feehan (Dark series) is romance. Nicholas Sparks writes love stories. That's how I've always understood it, at least.
You might want to chat with Read with Dr B... She's a psychologist that reads all sorts but likes dark romance. Love this series concept!
I think people don’t mind Romance, the problem comes with Romance becomes the sole focus of something we were told it wouldn’t be the focus of. Look at the DC/CW shows like Arrow & Flash. What’s the biggest complaint people have about those shows? The Romance drama overshadows everything else on these shows. The superhero stuff is relegated to the B of even C plot. Romance always seems to be the one genre that sneaks in there as oppose to horror or comedy.
Its actually a problem I got with this romantasy like its so romance focused the fantasy is the background. Most of the books got romance in them so its nothing new. The thing is those romantasy exaggerate it to the point its cringe and embarassing. Its feels fake and superficial rather than natural.
I love romance but as a side plot. I also feel especially with female character when men come into the picture they get infantilized. We're told she's strong and independent but we never see that because she's constantly relying on a man to do stuff for her and make decisions. While when it's a sub-plot the main character if they're a woman actually has to make good choices and her love interest is usually an ally she bonds with over time.
The classical music comparison is PERFECT! Yay Paganini 😂
I’m fine with romance in a book, even in my fantasy. In fact I like solid love interests in stories. But I don’t want to read a book targeted towards female readers with graphic sex scenes.
Romance has more readers than fantasy... it's definitely a bonus to mention it.
I feel like booktokers definitely try to make the video quicker so they get more views 😬
To touch on the Captive Prince part of this video: it is a "romance" by the basic definition of it all aka the two MCs fall in love ; however it isn't a "Romance" by the genre convention, for multiple reasons, one being that it starts off with characters that are in a very dark place and are very unhealthy toward each other. Yes there's abuse in it, though I don't feel it qualifies for a "Dark Romance" either, in that the abuse isn't romanticized and part of the appeal of the other character. It's shown for what it is (wrong, but part of the MCs culture), and the abuse ISN'T what makes Damen fall in love with Laurent. Also, even though it doesn't come up until later in the books, I think it's important to understand that Damen's POV is INCREDIBLY BIASED. He's done terrible things too, he just sweeps them under the rug by going "but it was for honor!".
TLDR: Damen and Laurent are both terrible people in terrible situations who learn to navigate said situations with the help of the other and uplift each other until they're both out of the dark and into better places while falling in love in an incredibly long slowburn. It's not a romance I'd recommend to anyone for sure, it hits hard on some subjects, but I don't think it glorifies abuse in the same way some "Dark romance" books do.
Honestly, Captive Prince is a hard to label trilogy. I guess now it /could/ be said to be a Romantasy? From what I heard of Acotar, some of Damen's and Laurent's actions aren't much worse than Rhys or Tamlin, and we don't label it a "Dark romance" either.
totally agree with you. i would like to add that imo "Captive Prince" is one of the few enemies to lovers stories to actually commit to the "enemies" part lol. it also shows excellently how both Damen and Laurent are initially the villain in the other's story. their romance is definitely slow burn and very complicated, but imo it's very rewarding to see where they get to eventually.
This is one of my favorite series, but I seldom talk about it because people often start reading the first book expecting a romance and then look at people who love this series with open condemnation and disapproval, because it is FAR FROM A ROMANCE. I characterize this series as a political and military fantasy with an enemies-to-lovers sub-plot.
Since I already filmed that portion of the other video, if you end up watching it, just know that I’ve seen your comment here! I think from what I state about it, there will still be interesting conversations to have, and also, I appreciate more insight on what some readers expect from dark romance 📚
@@MrGreyseptemberI am totally in the same boat as you. In fact, I love the series so much I have read all the books at least three times each at this point. I never talk about it with anyone though because it is such a difficult series to recommend and even describe in a way that doesn’t make it feel like you are glamourising emotional, sexual and physical abuse. In that sense, it actually really reminds me of A Little Life - another book that most people would probably benefit from avoiding
@@ebnovels I'm definitely not a "Dark Romance" reader, so I'm not sure I'm very qualified to talk on the genre, I'm mostly just a CaPri fan who's always a little surprised when people qualify this as a romance of any kind! I very much agree with @MrGreyseptember in that it's a complex political fantasy with a TRUE enemies-to-lovers romantic subplot, but qualifying it as a Romantasy risks having people that are VERY unaware of the content warnings going into it and... hating it, for obvious reasons haha. I don't recommend it often, and when I do, I specify the trigger warnings in advance, and do warn people that going through the first book IS HARD, but very necessary to build the base of the plot and relationship development in the second and third books. I still have an old blog post saved somewhere that's made to help readers avoid the triggering chapters in the first book, but no matter what, it is a heavy series, though what always mattered to me was the absence of glorifying any of those subjects, including the abuse Laurent deals (and receives, though we don't get to understand it in book 1).
But yeah, as @raccoonlordling said, to me, Captive Prince is the only true enemies-to-lovers I've ever seen. They hate each other's guts, with good reason, and are at each other's throat for more than a book. Anything else is just rivals-to-lovers with a little bit of angst IMO, but I don't think many people are actually ready for what a true enemies-to-lovers entails.
Anyway, I appreciate the reply, and I'll of course watch the other video since I keep up with most of your vids! It's just a bit annoying when I see Captive Prince being mischaracterized, because /if you know what you're getting into/ it can be one of the most life altering stories you'll ever read. But I dont blame you for falling into the trap, it happens to the best of us, and I can totally understand if it wasn't for you either, as, once again, it isn't for everyone! I just hope you avoid going into "it's really toxic and I don't understand the people who read it" territory with it, mostly because it would be reductive, since the series as a whole is actually a really good examination of power imbalances and cycles of abuse (and how to dismantle them) once you crack through the hard to break surface ^^
(Small edit: I'm not saying you will be saying this in your video, I actually really appreciate how understanding you always are, trying to get everyone's point of view, which would make you not understanding the Captive Prince appeal break my heart even more haha, even though once again I am very aware that it isn't a book that will appeal to everyone even if they understand what it tries to do)
I've been watching on and off your vids and I find the discussions and the points raised good enough to sink my fangs into them. One tiny detail that I'd like to see a discussion about is that phrase I keep hearing, especially on tiktok: I'm glad people are reading again and it becomes more popular (while disagreeing with the content). When I'm sitting here and going 'are we really? glad that people read, especially those dark romance books?' Because then that phrase only sounds like a platitude, something to shield yourself from the mob because you voiced an opinion that goes against theirs.
Because we have to look at this and not make it be a 'label' that covers all, neither an excuse that because they're reading, it doesn't matter what they consume. I wouldn't be glad if, for example, my little sister (14) started getting into dark romance and consuming it voraciously. And we don't even need to look at teens. There are people in their 30s and 40s who are not in touch with reality and cannot distinguish between fantasy and real life toxic men and women. And so if you normalize such relationships in books and they only or mainly consume those, then imagine the decisions they make based on how they see things.
The more you expose yourself to an idea, the more it becomes yours and the way you think. So I'd disagree with this phrase unless I know for a fact that the person is able to think critically of the ideas they consume.
Yes, normalize reading (although I'm still of the opinion that it is normalized), but not unchecked consumptions of toxicity. If a story stuns you the first time you read it because of how toxic and gory and plain abusing (but loving ^_^ /sass) it is, you won't see the consequence now or a week or a month or a year from now. But in a few years when you'll encounter this toxic dude you'll think about that little story you've read years back and then you won't focus on the abusive part and all the red flags you see at him, but on the happy ending, which you want. So then, how can you be glad people are reading such drivel when exposure to specific content changes the way you see reality?
And I don't believe these books teach people how to write the English language better, either. (because most of these books are predominantly coming from the American market) They definitely do not use and normalize words that you'd only hear in high society or among academic circles. So you can't even use this as an excuse.
Booktok has always gotten on my nerves.
I find it a bit frustrating that booktok goes crazy for romantasy books like ACOTAR, while books like Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (which is a far better book IMO) aren't as widely talked about
Would you recommend the latter? Need more for my tbr
@Rachopin77 Yes. I would recommend Encyclopaedia of Faeries
New to your channel and i loooove the nuance. I've never been on tiktok, but so much of the panic is cyclical. I remember a lot of these sentiments from early booktube days. Cheers! I'm off to go explore your other videos.
In the same vein as toxic romance, I wish toxic friendships were marked as such. Tomorrow x 3 and The island of sea women were advertised as books with a focus on the power of heartwarming friendship, but were really about people who once were friends, but faced an incident that caused them to break up and be awful and hate each other for the majority of the book, and really didn't have anything to do with friendship, just awful petty drama that made you wish that they just would cut each other out of their lives already. You have to wonder if the marketers who marketed it as a powerful friendship read the books, or if they were worried that a book that doesn't focus on romance wouldn't sell or something, I can objectively see that these novels weren't poorly written but they were very different from my expectations and I was left feeling annoyed and disappointed by them.
I really like this format, you give really insightful answers and you speak really well off the cuff
Thank you! I’ll keep that in mind for the next one I do 😊
Yes I also prefer the spontaneous reactions :)
Truth in ads..... I read books with my grandkids ... need a warning... romance ok not smut..
I don't always mind when newer readers are rediscovering older works. About a year ago there were a lot of booktok and bookstgram people talking about Legend by Marie Lu (My personal favorite dystopian from the 2010s). I try to remind myself that they might be younger (late teens/early 20s), and it's kind of nice seeing people read books that got less attention get that attention now. With Sanderson, it's more silly for them to assume that nobody else has heard of it before.
I only recently read Legend; it does kinda feel like no one talks about it, even though it’s a very popular series 😂
Percy Jackson is another one. 😅 It was so big when we were growing up, it's like watching people act like Harry Potter or LotR is an underrated/undiscovered gem. 😂 I do understand it's the next generation of readers, but it's so weird to see from the outside haha
Honestly my biggest issue with booktok is how inauthentic it feels.
My experience is people fake sobbing and overselling honestly really bad books.
Im absolutely sure plenty of them like the books they hype but to have a book you claim is pure fantasy with the tiniest bit of romance, and sob about how deep and beautiful the connection is and how readibg it was life changing, and then its 50 shades of gray tier smut?
Thats just inauthentic and honestly annoying even if i like the book.
I don't hate booktok. It can have its place, but I sigh at it's strength to completely control trends. Such as the trope marketing. I don't want to know the plot points of a novel before I read it. I don't want stories to mimic short form content. I like long, languishing stories too.
The Romantasy irks me because I don't see it as fantasy and I wish that it had its own section or that it was in the romance section.
I'm trying to write a Dark Fantasy book and I'm anxious that they're going to want to try to change my story for it to be "spicy" when there is zero romance in it and I have no desire to write romance.
And also since I'm a woman, people are going to assume that I'm writing Romantasy (another commentator on this video said that they skip over female authors because they assume that it's romance heavy and tbh I think that's sexist because it groups all female fantasy authors as smut writers) when I'm not, and it's like do I go with a male pen name so that people take me seriously? Even when I'm doing my best to make sure that the book cover is dark and that the premise screams this is *DARK*? Idk and it's so frustrating. 🙄
(Also there's this huge deal with people getting attacked for sharing a negative book review. But whether if a review is negative or positive, it's valid and people should be able to talk about it).
PLEASE interview a psychiatrist about book tropes! I would watch for sure haha
I like this format for discussions! 😊 Nothing wrong with the other vids, they're more focused, but you're great at springing off comments to expand the topic.
Your good faith in marketing is endearing. It's no secret that marketing will do EVERYTHING in the underhanded genre of tricks to get the book to sell and keep their jobs, and they do it on purpose if they know the product has the very thing that makes it not sell.
It's just "this shampoo doesn't burn eyes" all over again.
3:34 i think the thing about this point, the whole romantasy vs fantasy this is that fantasy puts more emphasis on the worldbuilding/plot rather than the romance. Ive read plenty of fantasy stories with romances i actively enjoyed! The thing that gets me about romantasy is that a lot of these stories sound so incredibly interesting plotwise and have the potential to be great, but end up being a backdrop to a (usually) cishet romance with two white characters.
Yes on the first section about romance, there needs to be some sort of brief/honest scale for sure. Going through a heartbreak makes me not in the mood for any romance right now.
Yes! Please advocate for ppl getting books from a library, school or public! All around the country, cities are defunding public libraries bc ppl don't use them. Libraries offer FREE ebooks and audiobooks too. Also, public libraries are one of the only public places that offers free wifi for those who can't afford internet access
First of all, can I just say I love your videos? Even if you’re talking about books I don’t gravitate towards, I still watch your content because it’s always fun and engaging! So, thank you!
Secondly, I completely agree with you (and your commenter)! Books are extremely subjective! And I don’t believe reading books is the only way to ‘work their brain muscles’! Sometimes people are working those muscles in their day/night job, whether they’re saving people’s lives or dealing with nasty customers who are complaining about the ice melting in the drink they had delivered to their door on a super-hot day, or even the anxiety that customer might be feeling from other areas in his/her life and the watered-down drink was the figurative straw that broke the camel’s back! Books (like music, TV, and movies) can just be an escape from RL, and we need to be okay with that. There are so many people out there suffering from anxiety, stress, depression, rage, etc. Why shouldn’t they be allowed to read the books that get them out of that negative place without being judged because they enjoy something someone else might consider ‘trash’? Everyone should be allowed to read / watch / listen to whatever puts a smile on their face or releases some of the tension from their day-to-day lives. LoL Sorry. I had no intention of writing this much. 😅 ::rant over::
3:34 There are people that just don't want to read romance, and they might defensively and preemptively declaire they don't want romance. They shouldn't, but also people shouldn't try to force romance on them or tell them they just need to give it a try.
I think of it like misscommunications in comedies happen, but I also find them anoying or draining to read. Romance is the same way. It's everywhere, it's too much. I can't eat the same thing day in and day out without getting bored of it. I don't care that romance is normal, I'm just done reading it. Sometimes I'll be in the mood again for a romance. When that happens I'm not ashamed to pick one up. When I do pick one up there's so much focus on who's hot or sexy, so much yearning, so much anything but actual story that my romance metre gets filled right up and in just the one book I'm done with romance for the next 2 years or so.
Not everything needs romance. Non-romantic relationships exist. Unfortunately most books that gain social media coverage have big romance elements to it. The demographics that don't want romance have to google for table scraps at this point.
If there was more non-romance out there that was easily accessible to retreat to, then romance wouldn't be such a huge issue. If there was more stories that only had slight or non-intrusive romantic tones in it, then it'd be easier to read more without getting sick of them.
I think its fine for people to have low tolerance for romance in fiction. Some people cant handle ghosts, gore, etc. It's just different strokes for different folks, and we should be careful about possibly demonizing that.
Lunaaaaa ❤❤❤
Honestly as someone who had yt on in the background i didnt notice a huge difference in reacting to the opinions ❤ loving all these To authors videos ❤❤
SJM looks like she copied SOOO much from The Black Jewels series. I'm on book 3 and it is so glaring how much she took. Like even the same characters and jokes. Too many things to list. This series was from the 90s.
Love this series! You are such a wonderful communicator and ambassador on these subjects-and your audience is so shrewd and discerning. Agree that BookTok has its purpose to serve. At least it helps make books (not the ones I like, necessarily) relevant to the lives of younger folks, who need the encouragement. Also, I too use short-form platforms to watch cute animals. That is its greatest contribution to humankind.
Romance genre necessitates a happily ever after or a happy for now.
If it doesn't, it's not romance.
loved this post! Very warm ❤
To answer the question you want to ask a psychiatrist “why do we like toxic/dark traits in stories?” , I recommend the video essay about “Twilight “ that Counterpoints made a few months ago. It blew my mind.
In regards to the first point about promoting books and romantacy, one of the reasons the "deceptive" marketing and promotion bothers me is because I am a lesbian and I don't want to pick up a book thinking it's just regular fantasy or sci fi and it turns out the book has a major focus of a f/m romance (its fine minor, like i LOVE Sazed/Tindwyl). The issue is 100x worse with the romance from the female perspective and 10000x worse if there is smut, never have and never will want to read straight nsfw content. Media my entire life is women and men, straight couples everywhere and the main focus. Life is short, I want to curate what I read and not waste my time. Also hate most enemies to lovers bc so much of it comes off as abusive and booktok frustrates me bc its mostly enemies to lovers YA, f/m romance, women fetishizing m/m, dark fantasy, smut. Very little variety in booktoks :( and sometimes ppl will promote books as queer and its just one minor couple. Or its a woman promoting m/m she thinks is hot. I am sorry if this sounds negative or mean, just booktok and youtube compilations frustrate me so much
Also I appreciate you wanting ppl to feel welcome
I feel like not being attracted to men ruins the experience. I don't care how many muscles he has he shouldn't be locking you in a room "for your own good". It's like watching my straight girl friends date. its a horror show.
I am 21 year old reader and end up finding videos/creators on booktok that I liked and some I didn't. I also really like booktube and I would agree they both have different roles and those roles work differently for different people. I go to youtube for recommendations more often then booktok and booktok for relatability for books.
I noticed there is a generalization of the way booktok is presumed to be 'these kinds of books" because those videos tend to be most popular. Though I have found pretty popular booktoker's who read books more similar to my taste (which is similar to your taste, lol). but yeah-- I think it's a bit sad how narrow of a lens people see booktok when booktok is really anyone who reads and wants to share their thoughts on booktok--- it isn't representative of all romantasy and dark romantance books as many people assume.
Totally off note--- but I really like talking to people who enjoy reading different genres than me. I feel I can learn from them and them from me (maybe). I will watch booktok to understand and learn from different readers since there hasn't really bit a great variety of book recs in the genres I'm interested in that I haven't read yet.
Thinking that writers are stealing the concepts of fae courts is WILD/ lol. I've read books older than this series that included fae courts. if you look at older fantasy stories with fae, they include fae courts (not all, but many. First two that came to mind was the Shadowhunter Chronicles and 13 Treasures). If you look it up, its a very old concept----as far back as the middle ages if potentially farther.
A little off topic, but somewhat in line with identifying books correctly (romantasy, not just a fantasy), what's your take on a book rating system like we have for pretty much every other medium? I think it would be nice to know (especially in light of generic cover art) if a book is going to have excessive sex, language, violence, etc.
I would be VERY interesting in a discussion with a psychologist like you talked about here. I think it would be facinating.
I've been following your content for months now and just realized I wasn't sub'd.. 😅 Also, agree with the first point. Romantasy is its own sub genre now. It should be marketed so. Having romance plots in big epic fantasy is fine, but the difference is that the main story normally isn't about the romance. You aren't actually reading love stories. It's more about heroism and adventure, saving the world, politics, wars, etc. But romantasy novels are love stories placed in fantasy settings. It's fantasy lite. And sure, if that's your cup of tea, have at it, but I don't want to be tricked into reading romantasy because it was marketed as fantasy. Fourth Wing was a damn lie. 🤣 Bamboozled!
Gurl let the snob out lol
Lucy Score writes small town contemporary romance. She lives in my city and some of her fans are ridiculous. She so nice though. I met her at a book signing, had no clue who she was. Read her popular book and loved the humor but too spicy for me. Fable is an interesting place for readers.
Personally as a writer, tropes are limiting. Book themes and a character's journey are a lost art.
@4:32 - I want to add a little more to this as someone who also avoids the romantasy label. I enjoy the occasional romance novel in between my fantasy books and would welcome romantic subplots in fantasy, but I have zero interest in the tropefest that is romantasy. I had no interest before it got this label because it did seem like authors were going about it in a very methodical way (like going through a checklist) and it's only gotten more extreme with the creation of an actual category. It might make finding books easier but boiling down books to the bare tags makes the books sound so hollow. Also, the obsession with 'spicy' (I irrationally hate this term) is a bit funny and kinda unfortunate. Like fanfics exist. Can we not make it a must for every book to have elaborate sex scenes that might shift the focus of the story or break the pacing? 😂
It's tough to convey a story well in a short space without spoilers. Even with just one POV character it's tough. If you have several, it's impossible. So, you just give a quick blurb about one or two of the characters and hope that gets the agent/publisher/reader's attention.
I think you are mistaking has Romance with romantasy. I am currently reading some old male written fantasy novels and they most definitely have their mandatory heterosexuality but no one in the right mind would call them a romance book. in fact one of my complaints is that there is very little actual content about the relationship older than it happens. Fantasy books can have romance, but not be romance books
re: ACOTAR, I have heard people mention it out in the real world a handful of times and tbh it makes me feel so weirdly happy? I read the series and don't love it, but it honestly rekindled my love for reading during the pandemic when I needed something silly and easy. I turned my head like an owl when I was walking down the street and two women passed going the other way, and one was describing what ACOTAR was to the other.
And at my favorite used book store, multiple times I've overheard friends gushing about ACOTAR/Fourth Wing/whatever romantasy is the new hotness to each other. More people excitedly talking about their favorite romantasy books is more people talking about books!!
People who want smut should really just look at the romance genre instead of looking for it in every other genre.
So to the second bit, the idea a new audience discovering something new to them and older fans being annoyed by that. I feel that a lot., in regards to the Cosmere. In the sense of a meta-series. I get annoyed by Sanderson fans stating how unique it is, myself being a massive fan of Moorcock's Eternal Champion cycle. But like I try to temper it. Instead of lambasting, I like to then introduce a potential new reader. "You like the interconnectedness of the stories? Check out this series from 60s!" Instead of "Moorcock did it first!"
Does anyone else remember that before Maas, we had Margaret Rogerson with her "An Enchantment of Raven's"? I adored her books at the time (I've been in this cauldron of fantasy and its derivatives for a long time, so the hits of the last 7 years are not something new for me in the subgenres)😁
We like dark or toxic romance for the same reason we love gore-filled movies, horror novels, haunted houses, roller coasters- our brain craves stimulation and thrills. fantasy is the perfect place to explore things we don’t want or like in reality in a safe way. It frequently doesn’t have much or any correlation to our morals.
Sometimes I pick romantasy and sometimes I want to read fantasy without any romance. It depends on the mood, and it's valid to want no romance.
Its been ages since I read mistborn, but I remember as a teenage girl I did not care at all about the romance there, it appeared to me as just a checkbox needed to be field because the MC is a female
Various themes and ideas being milked and then buried is something that has existed for ages. I saw a lot of that when I was a book blogger back in the 2010s. There was the magic boom from Harry Potter, the vampire boom from Twilight, the dystopian boom from The Hunger Games, etc. A book comes out and does well, people cash in on the fad, and then it burns itself out for several years or decades.
idk why youtube never shows me when you ask the questions😭but i wanted to mention that i do not think tiktok is the best place to talk about books because its all too fast. i think if someone talks about one book in a tiktok it could work but thats not what happens most of the time right? i completely gave up on it after a trend of "i tell you if a book is worth it or not with an yes or no" because what do you mean just an yes or no? i need more than this! especially if its from a creator i dont even know. and im saying all of this to say that i think THS is the issue with booktok and not the books they talk about there. because you need to know how to pick recomendations too, and i know that i could never take a rec just with an yes or not or just a quote but clearly if people are making those videos not everyone knows that so of course the chances of you enjoying will be lower. and of course tiktok recommendations will get a bad reputation because of it.
I have been trying to read more indie authors lately, not reading trends because the trends on booktok are not usually what I want to read. I tend to love high fantasy, but I also (being a gay man) love gay romance. Well-written gay romantacy is very scarce, and while I do like romance being a big part of the plot, I also love complex magic systems and tons of world building and higher stakes, found family, quests, adventures...
The quest to find good self published books in this genre is proving to be more difficult than I thought. It would be nice to have indie recommendations on places like booktube and booktok. What started this for me was I was recommended an amazing indie book this year from a friend of mine, and it completely blew me away. Like, I WAS NOT expecting this book to be as good as it was. It was pretty darn close to trad quality. But since reading it and the author's other book, I have not yet found another indie book like it. I understand why there's an apprehension to reviewing or recommending indie books as there are a lot and most of them... Are not good, and I know they don't get as many views on TH-cam. But I think the book community could really benefit from booktok and booktube finding and recommending indie books that have different tropes, intended audiences and genres.
I know this is likely a far-fetched idea, and I'm definitely the minority, but it would be nice. I've been watching booktube for years, but it did get tiring after being recommended the same books and authors over and over again. I'll try anything different, even if I don't end up liking it, but at least it would be different.
As a lesbian I feel you
I finished my tax filing listening to this so I won't fall asleep lol! great content though, as always
14:49 i think you're confusing a synopsis and a blurb. a synopsis is a summary of the entire plot so it will inherently have spoilers, while a blurb is something like the description on the back of the book, or the book's description on its goodreads page.
Another btw, I never heard of booktok. But I think you do a great job giving us all the info.😊
Loved the video ! I discovered your channel recently 🥰
I may add my little thoughts about two points :
- There is a distinction for me between romantasy (or fantasy with a big romance subplot) and smut (or fairy p****rn). I think explicit sexual scenes (specially the one who are absolutely not realistic or/and problematic like Captive Prince) should be specified on the back of the book. It can be harmful to young readers and parents should be able to find this information quickly (and same for libraries and bookshops). On this point, booktokers (and creators on all the social platforms) should put it in the caption at the minimum. I'm seeing too much of books wrongly categorised because of this. (In my home country, I often see the Captive Prince or ACOSF in YA sections and it's a big no for me).
- About trends, I agree with you. Adult and YA fantasy books have both had their time when a lot of books were similar. After the Tolkien universe, everybody was doing an epic quest with a group of mismatched creatures and species wanting to defeat the big bad wolf. After, Hunger Games, everybody was doing a dystopy world when a 17 year-old girl was destroying the corrupted system. But I find that these trends were leaving more quickly because there was not so much tropification. Now, every YA fantasy book has to have a found family, an enemies-to-lovers, a one-bed trope, etc all in one. But it may be because I read too much of it and they are all starting to blend and my taste is beginning to refine too.
(Sorry if I made mistakes, I tried to be clear but English is not my mother tongue 🙏)
I can't believe medieval heraldry plagiarised wyverns from Sarah J. Maas...