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I'm Latina and the only reason I'm not interested in reading Carrie Soto is because it's a sports book. There's this weird expectations on white authors to write diversity. But the moment they do write about other races they get criticized. I'm not talking about stereotypical characters, those are terrible, but we all have different experiences so no one is gonna write a character that represents a race/ethnicity as a whole.
Yes! Also, if we expected writers to write only about their own experiences that would be absurd. We would not have so many of great books that we do now.
Well as an actual Latina, who was born and raised in Argentina, I can tell you that the rep on this book was awsome. In fact, the spanished publisher who is from Buenos Aires helped Taylor with the quotes and the built of the characters. I have not seen a single problem with this book from people from Argentina. With respect, I find that people who don´t know about MY country should not be making this kind of commnets
I love the “actual latina”. More often than not, I see the ones who try to gatekeep what is latino representation and what isn’t are 3rd generation american-latinos. While we, actual latinas born and raised in Latin America, are just chill because we know being latino isn’t our only personality trait
@@thifanny7298 well that's your point of view and I agree with the first part. As for the last, I am going to speak if I see that I might know more about the experience of people from Latin America, that's not making it my "personality" 😅but actually speaking from a place of more knowledge
As a Latina (born in Mexico, raised in the US), I loved it. Also, I didn’t even see this as a “Latina” book. It was more about a woman who is incredible ambitious and how ambitious women are viewed. If you like TJR books, please read this one as well.
hey! so as a half latina specifically argentinian i have very strong emotions about carrie soto is back. personally i adore tjr and i think her representation of a hispanic is fine because in this day and age ur dammed if you do and dammed if you don’t. secondly and more importantly a big complaint was that the spanish was wrong BUT it isn’t it’s just the argentinan dialect of spanish and slang i think the effort put in to put it accurately is appreciatable.
Being Venezuelan-American and having really liked Carrie Soto is back , I don’t understand why we feel the need to keep writers in the boxes that society has put them in (or were “born into”) this is so scary as it limits creators range and censors their own voice. Gaining insight into the Latino in America perspective is not very hard, there is so much information out there that I am sure TJR put to good use. If we can only read latin American characters from latin people then prepare for them to the disappear from the US market (based on a simple population % + lack of Latin American writers representation in the US market) I loved Carrie Soto, she was a credible flawed character with bad ass skills, top notch work habits, and unapologetic attitude. despite a misogynistic society. Someone who even though was extremely successful needed to grow in other areas of her life (don’t we all). This book inspired me to work harder on what I love to do and I highly recommend the ride!
In Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, there is a whole passage on this since they made the japanese game and were not japanese. About how representation matters for these groups and that if we were never allowed out of our "boxes" (ie: if white female authors can only write about white female authors), we do a great disservice to art, literature, etc
I was about to disagree, but I think you're right. I was thinking that as mexican I wouldn't want an American writing about it. But as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said, there's a big difference between being half American and completely from other country. I just hope this won't make people look for American authors writing about the Latina experience, leaving actual Latinos without a voice
I’m Cuban American and absolutely loved Evelyn Hugo. I can understand why other Cubans wouldn’t (we are not a monolith) but I’m personally more concerned with her characters feeling complex than being entirely accurate to their ethnic background. That being said, you can absolutely tell TJR isn’t Latina by the way she writes her characters speaking Spanish. It was extremely noticeable in Carrie Soto because the way we communicate is not quite as simple as “random sentences in Spanish.” Spanglish often has regionalized but distinct grammar rules that are hard to replicate if you’re not intimately familiar with them.
I’m glad to know you enjoyed Evelyn Hugo as a Cuban American! And that’s a great point. I had read several criticisms of the Spanish in Carrie Soto which definitely added to the impression that the representation was not as accurate or well researched as we would hope.
As an amputee, I really appreciated the accurate descriptions of chronic pain in Tomorrow and Tomorrow… what I personally didn’t enjoy was how his arc revolves around a girl. I would’ve preferred his arc revolved on self acceptance, but I’m just biased lol.
I’m glad to know the representation felt accurate ❤️ I agree about his arc being tied to Sadie, but I do appreciate that it was a friendship not a romance (despite the complicated feelings involved)
I've said it before but I'll say it every time: it's so helpful to have a reviewer you trust give their honest opinion about these wildly popular books. If you're up for it I hope you do this every year! 📖
Interesting to hear your reasoning behind not reading Carrie Soto is Back. As a LatinX women I didn't find the character of Carrie Soto to be stereotypical, but I'm not of Argentinian/Latin American descent, so that could be why. I have read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and as a Cuban American, I can say that I didn't find the representation of Evelyn Hugo to be stereotypical either. I actually found it interesting and fairly accurate that the author would write about a LatinX individual trying to assimilate to American culture and trying to "pass" as caucasian during that time. From what I know about the experience of my grandparents/parents as immigrants to the US, this happened frequently during that time. Given the diversity within the LatinX/Hispanic communities, it would likely be impossible to write a character that pleased everyone. I also think the intent of the story/the characters story arc need to be taken into account. This author isn't writing a story focused on a first generation Argentinian-American discovering the balance between her ethnic heritage and American culture. A story like that would probably be best coming from a LatinX author, someone with personal knowledge of that experience. CSIB and TSHOEH are focused on different facets of those characters, they discuss their heritage, but it isn't the focus of the story the author is trying to tell. I agree that if writing outside of personal experience there needs to be appropriate research done and care taken, but I think at the end of the day, every LatinX/Hispanic individual is going to have a different opinion after reading CSIB and no one opinion or group of opinions can be considered "right" or "wrong." Disappointed to hear that readers feels the author has been dismissive of criticism of her writing of LatinX characters, but at the same time, maybe she has been listening to individuals who feels she's appropriately/accurately writing them. Not everyone can be pleased.
Thank you for sharing your perspective and such a balances take! I agree with so much of what you said here. The last note on TJR is, unfortunately, not the case. She has been outright asked in interviews about Latina readers' concerns and has brushed those concerns aside. Reading her response to concern and criticism in those interviews is what made me decide not to read the book myself.
@@PlantBasedBride Thank you for more insight into her comments. That is really unfortunate to hear. As someone who doesn't have personal knowledge she should be open to learning from those that do.
I only recently started reading TJR for my book clubs and Seven Husbands was my favorite book last year. As someone born and raised in Ecuador I really enjoyed seeing such a popular book have a Latina protagonist! I haven’t read Carrie Soto yet but if the main character is anything like Evelyn Hugo, I think it offers great insight into the Latinx experience, especially those that are trying to make it in certain fields (acting for Evelyn, tennis for Carrie) and as an artist myself, I’m always thinking about how my identity is tied to my aspirations and what it means to see more diversity in these fields. I can totally empathize with the fear that it’s a white author trying to appropriate another culture, but given how much I loved how Evelyn’s character was written I would actually love to see if I feel the same about Carrie Soto!
I would love to hear your thoughts if you get around to it! I always appreciate hearing more perspectives. I loved Evelyn Hugo and didn’t notice any issues with the representation, but I’m not Latina so that’s not saying much 😅❤️
as someone with chronic pain, Sam’s portrayal was incredibly surprising, I am not sure if the author is familiar with the symptoms, but I felt deeply represented and less alone, in a sense, being an audiovisual creator myself too I hope to find more books that talk about Chronic Pain in the future, as it is definitely one of the most common invisible disabilities out there ):
I’m so glad to know from multiple of these comments that the representation of chronic pain and living as an amputee are accurate, though I am so sad to know how many people live with invisible pain every single day ❤️
Hey! I know Talia Hibbert’s book Get A Life, Chloe Brown has chronic pain rep with a lead character with fibromyalgia and All’s Well by Mona Awad (I think) has chronic back pain. You may have already read these but thought I’s bring them up anyway!
I'm amazed by the amount of books you read and I really like the fact that you call a spade a spade and recommend NOT to read the bigot and harmful ones. Thanks a lot 📚♥️
As a Mexican-American who did read Carrie Soto, I can say you're really not missing much. Besides it being harmful, overly stereotypical, and also just...bland representation, the story itself doesn't match the quality of TJR's other works (many of which I have enjoyed.) I am really hoping she takes in some of the feedback going forward.
I’m disappointed but not surprised to hear that. Thanks for sharing your experience with it, Ava! I really hope she does, as well. She has a lot of potential as an author but her stubbornness/willful ignorance in this area is a big red flag.
I wasn't planning on engaging with internet trolls on here-I was simply affirming Elizabeth's choice not to read Carrie Soto. But since y'all keep commenting on this I'll just say this: 1) if someone says there is harmful rep, it's not for you to tell them they're wrong. You don't get to invalidate feelings or opinions even if you disagree with them. 2) TJR has a history of harmful rep toward the latin@ community as a whole, this isn't just about Carrie Soto and you don't have to be argentine to recognize it. 3) Since when is it impossible for there to be representation without stereotypes? That's the weirdest take I've seen yet. 4) The only thing I am a "victim" of is wasted time with a mediocre book. Anyway, I hope you all find something more fulfilling to do with your time than to defend a bestselling author's very mid book. No one is stopping you from reading and enjoying it, so you might want to think about why it's so upsetting to you that a stranger on the internet happened to have a different experience with it.
Your response to the issues with Taylor Jenkins Reid confirmed for me that you absolutely need to read Yellowface by RF Kuang. It doesn't release until the end of May, though ARCs are circulating right now, but it addresses this issue precisely. I'm a quarter of the way through my ARC and it's an incredible book that exposes some of the worst sides of the publishing industry.
You may be interested in the fact that a bunch of booktubers recently released a project they did called 10 Years of Goodreads Choice Awards winners. There is a playlist. They each took one of the categories and read the last 10 years of winners. So it's a lot of videos but really interesting.
I really love your reviews and trust you as a reader. There are books we've both read that we've rated differently (e.g. What Moves the Dead was a five-star for me!), but I typically know when you give something one star I can trust it's because it's either really harmful in its depictions of certain people, or really poorly written. I think the 3-5 star range can be really a lot more about personal taste but you've never steered me wrong on ones to stay away from whilst also being incredibly transparent about your personal preferences guiding some of your higher ratings, which is exactly how it should be! I am doing a genre reading challenge in my work book club this year and we started with Fantasy, because that was the most popular. We chose a book I'd never have chosen on my own, and I think there's something so valuable about that, which is why I love it when you do this challenge. :)
a video like this must take so much time to make & edit, but i really appreciate it!! feels like i'm sitting down with you with a cup of tea to chat about books 📚 your reviews are always so informative & concise. and i'm so glad i dodged the Hidden Pictures bullet. my god when i heard about the stuff that was in it i could not believe it. thank you for talking about it as well 💖
I'm currently reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and I'm absolutely loving it! Also I read, and loved, and cried reading The Final Gambit and now that you said such amazing things about Gallant I can't wait to buy it and read it! Thank you so very much!
This is the first video of yours I've stumbled upon, and I have to thank you for your discourse on The Maid! I haven't read it either myself, but as an autistic adult I want to express my gratitude that you brought this issue up and examined it in such a genuine and intelligent way.
I haven’t commented on a video in a while but oh man! I have a copy of The Maid and I’m so surprised it won Best Mystery?! I found myself soo frustrated with how Molly’s personality and interactions were portrayed. Maybe the author meant for “shy, awkward girl” but the book didn’t reflect that. At all. And I tend to get invested in main characters so the way the other characters interacted with her made me mad, lol. I agree with your thoughts 100%! All in all it was also predictable and I honestly could’ve bought something else.
As a latina, it doesn't bother me that she writes about a main protagonist that's latina and she isn't. I've read my share of latina writers and I also find that they also depict their main character stereotypically and don't care for it . Btw Love your video !
That’s so interesting to hear that Latina writers do the same thing. I wonder why they would resort to stereotypes as well? It must be so frustrating to read!
@@PlantBasedBride extremely frustrating. The best rep I've found so far in Latino writers and especially as a Dominican is Junot Diaz The Brief and Wonderous life of Oscar Wao. NOW THAT is not only accurate, relatable, but also the writing is phenomenal. Books like Dominicana I HAD to DNF. It wasnt accurate, it was poorly written and it was sooooo stereotypical it made me nauseous.
I totally agree that the idea that you have to love yourself to form deep connections with others is super harmful and gate-keeping. It always felt to me like saying, "if you have low self-esteem you don't deserve love." and I'm like... eww. No. Work to love yourself, but if you want romance, you should not have to put that away on a back shelf until you work through your shit.
Yes yes yes!! I was not in a good place with my self esteem when I met my husband, and his unfailing love for me despite my many flaws helped me SO MUCH to learn to truly love myself (it’s still a journey, of course, but it’s staggering how far I’ve come) ❤️ everyone deserves to be loved no matter how much they may struggle with self love!
I'm latina and when I read Evelyn Hugo, I loved it (nowadays, not so much, but due to personal reasons), and to be honest, while I read the book and specially now, a few years later, I keep forgetting that Evelyn is cuban. I didn't read Carrie Soto nor am I going to, but honestly I wasn't even aware Carrie was meant to be latina
Ok I adore SJM. Her books actually got me into reading and I’ll forever adore her for that… BUT. I could hardly make it through CC. And I only saw people rave about it. But good Lord it was too long 😩 so thank you for giving me a safe space to share that! Lol
I'm from Brazil, born and raise, and I have 1001 problems with TJR, none of them are regarding representation. 😂 I really don't care that she wrote latina characters, they all felt like regular real people and she's super successful here, never heard anyone complaining about her in this sense.
@@PlantBasedBride but brazilians are latin americans too! I'm so late to be answering this, but I couldn’t resist lol TJR is BIG here, and my problem with that isn't her interest in writing latine characters, but how overrated her books are, imo
📚📖I would totally recommend Hannah Gadsby’s 10 Steps to Nanette. Even though you don’t read much in the Humor genre. Hannah has a truly unique perspective and Nanette was a really powerful show. I always love watching these videos with the GoodReads app open in my hand. I end up adding so many titles to my TBR!
I'm agreeing with all your takes! Particularly if I find out a book belongs to a series, I cannot get behind catching up just to read it. That being said: Heartstopper
Appreciated the thumbs-up on Sea of Tranquility. Mine was one of the votes that put it in the top spot. So when it came time for the Hugo ballot, I was just really puzzled why it wasn't on there. At first I wondered if it was part of the hanky panky that went on with the award that year. No, she didn't say athing about China. This is how I learned the people who vote for the two awards come from different crowds. You would think there would have to be SOME overlap but apparently it's not enough to make a difference. I checked the top vote getters in the SF choice award for 2021 and it was the same thing. The top sf vote getters did not match the corresponding Hugo ballot. I encountered push-back when I was ranting about SoT's absence from the Hugoi ballot in sf discussion groups. The feeling seemed to be that it was a nice little book, an enjoyable enough read but "not worthy of a Hugo nomination." I am happy that you saw what I saw in it.
YASSSS! LEGENDS AND LATTES! My boyfriend got me that book for Christmas 2022 and I'm so excited to read it as I love a good warm slice of life book. Plus I love DnD so bonus! So glad to hear it got 5 stars from you
Hi! I was born and raised in Argentina, which is the country Carrie Soto's dad is from in the book, so here is my opinion: Yes, she does seem to have a lot of latinx characters, but thats a thing i love about her books. Granted, she is not latina herself, but she's giving all these latina characters life in her books, and in a beautiful way too. I've seen so much ""representation"" (mostly in american shows like csi but in some books too) where those ficcional characters are 80% of the time: mixed skin, don't have a great english and are criminals of some kind. So, the first time I encountered some resemblance to my reality as a latina (in something so popular) was reading Carrie Soto is Back. Everything about her relationship with her dad, the way she has to fight even harder just because of where her family came from (even as a nepotism kid), changing her name to the "american version" of her actual name. You can really tell by these things that she either spoke to some latinx people or just investigated on the topic. Either way, she did a great job. I would love to see latinx people writing any type of book with representation and succeeding in the way TJR has, but until that happens, what? I find this belief that an artist (writer/actor) can only create a character with characteristics specific to their persona really dangerous. Because if all viral writers are straight, should we LGBT people not have some type of representation in them? Again, reading Carrie soto was the first time that I felt that sense of like home thinking about a character and their surroundings, but reading The 7 husbands of Evenlyn Hugo I could fantasize about actresses from my country (for for example maia reficco, born in texas but raised in argentina, where her parent's are from) playing her. I loved Carrie Soto, she had a great personality but made mistakes in a way I think all could relate, not only us latinxs. Her hardworking personality reminded me of myself and I really like the book despise not knowing a thing about tenis. I would hardly recommend because even if TJR had some weird response to the criticism, she is still helping in the ways I named before, even if she is doing it for her own selfish reasons.
Thank you for sharing your perspective! I’m glad you felt Carrie Soto was good representation. Of course, not all groups are monolithic and different people will see things differently, so I’m glad to hear another perspective. Your second paragraph, though, is a common misdirection in these conversations that grinds my gears. No one is saying that authors can’t write characters who don’t have their exact identities or experiences. All we want is for authors to do their research, be respectful, think about why they’re choosing to represent characters a certain way with a critical lens, listen to feedback from readers, employ sensitivity readers before publishing, and use other common-sense steps to reduce the number of poorly rendered characters. For example, I have no problem with male authors writing female protagonists or authors who are not bisexual writing bisexual characters, but when someone who is not a woman or bisexual is writing that character based on harmful stereotypes, for example: portraying a bisexual character as a cheater, greedy, or just experimenting before “choosing a side,” then I have a problem with it. If a straight author is writing a bisexual character who feels like a complete realistic person with flaws that isn’t just buying into harmful stereotypes, then I’m all for the representation!
@@PlantBasedBride I totally agree with this! Of course not every Argentine will feel as I felt, let alone all latinxs, but I find the way she did is still easy to relate even away from that specific Argentine-American perspective. I also want authors to do all that, so maybe I misunderstood and/or miscommunicated. And I find the case you used as an example really annoying and specially hurtful as a bisexual woman myself. So, yes, in those cases with harmful stereotypes I totally get the problem and I agree, I wouldn’t read any (that's what i wanted to say with the csi ""representation"" bit of my reply). But, in the case of TJR books I felt there was some investigation done (and it was well done imo) and the latinx characters were written from what feels like a respectful and knowing perspective. Thank you for responding and have a great day!
I have watched and looked forward to your videos for some time now, and I am so honestly greateful for your content :) I do not always agree with your oppinion but I do always agree with your reasoning. That is so interesting to me. You have become a reference for me when looking for a new book to read. Thank you!! I hope you continue to do these videos, they are a very valuable contribution to our culture.
Oh I love this! We all have different preferences/interpretations when it comes to books but I’m glad I’m able to express mine in a way that helps you get an impression of whether or not you’ll enjoy it despite our differences ❤️
I was so baffled by the Maid winning. The only other nominees I read was The Night Shift, which was pretty good! I would compare it to Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; I like a more cozy and Agatha Christie-esque mystery personally but it was definitely enjoyable.
I’m Latino and haven’t read any Taylor Jenkins Reid and while I’ll admit I was excited to hear that Evelyn in her novel Seven Husbands is Cuban American (so am I) I was disheartened to hear it wasn’t handled well. I’ve also heard there’s significant anti-Blackness in Reid’s writing as well… Seven Husbands is still on my TBR simply because I’m curious about the discourse, but it remains to be seen if I’ll ever actually read it. I’m not gatekeeping characters, I totally think white authors can and should include Latino characters in their work, but they should do their research, hire Latino sensitivity readers, and accept feedback from the community when they get it wrong. If Reid can’t do that then she should stop writing characters of color. And if readers want to read about Latino characters, they should pick up books by Latino authors, particularly from the global south and not only the United States Latino perspective.
@@bookboxbabe I’m not Black so I can’t speak on it but Jesse from JesseOnTH-cam did an entire video on this subject if you would like to learn more: th-cam.com/video/NbOD2GH1WuM/w-d-xo.html
@@bookboxbabe I wouldn’t necessarily call it anti-blackness but definitely highly ignorant. Specially her portrayal of the journalist in seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo and the use of a black man as shock device.
Just found your channel. I’m half Cuban. I read 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I didn’t like it, but that’s because TJR is just not my cup of tea. It had NOTHING to do with how she portrayed a Cuban woman. If you want to read a book, read it!
9:44 I found this interesting, I am autistic and have never read this book. I do think its not too big of a deal for someone to make an autistic character without calling them autistic since there are reasons and benefits to making a character autistic coded instead of naming them as autistic, but I do agree that if there is an autistic character it is important to make the character fully fleshed out and make a good representation of what autistic people ar eactually like but I haven't read the book so I'm not sure. also thank you for putting a warning for vomit in your warnings for the next book I have a crippling phobia of it and I am always on edge because people never put warnings so I appreciate it.
I don’t read a ton of lit fic but I absolutely loved tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. I say the story really being about 3 friends who made a video game instead of just Sam and Sadie. I think it made me even more sad 😢
I'm a real one 📖... but full transparency; I watch on 1.25 or 1.50 speed LOL Looking forward to reading some of these, thanks for putting all the work in and sharing!
can someone explain to me why it matters that reid writes latina characters while not being latina? i think any artist should be allowed the creative freedom of any other media. no one would criticize a white painter for painting an asian woman. is it that the writing itself is insulting? i haven’t read these books so i’m really just looking for some clarification.
As I explained in the video, the problem is that she continues to write Latina protagonists, as in writing internal thoughts and lived experience of Latina women, without being one herself and that many Latina and Latino readers in have come out to say that the representation is inaccurate and harmful, based on stereotypes and not a true understanding of their experience and culture. She continues to ignore the concerns of the community she is claiming to want to represent, without being willing to learn and do better.
I couldn't agree more about the Fiction Winner. EVERYONE loves Legends and Lattes. I think that many times the popular writer gets votes without people reading the books. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I enjoy the long video though I am sure "editing Elizabeth" is not so happy. :) 📚📖
@@PlantBasedBride You should treat Editing Elizabeth to a long nap and a sweet treat. She works hard! 🧁🛌 Have you read A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers? I think you would enjoy it. I'm currently reading the second in the series.
I always see the criticism coming from people who live in the US which is funny, from my experience as a latina living in latam (as well as pretty much every comment i see from people actually living here in the southern hemisphere) we love the inclusion of latino characters in novels! Even if they are not perfect it is better than not having anything i still get excited every time chile or argentina get mentioned in a book, and when the representation isn’t perfect we just laugh it off as a community that being said, you should definitely read carrie soto is back! it’s really enjoyable, and the argentinian representation is on point! (as his father is from Argentina) also, the book itself is good, has been my favorite TJR novel by far
I’m not American and I don’t know the nationality of all of those who were unhappy with the representation, but I am glad to hear another perspective. I’m not interested in reading it but I’m glad you enjoyed it!
📖 I was hesitant to watch this video because my TBR list is already so long and while it did get longer after watching this, I wouldn't say that was a bad thing. I love how thorough you are in your reviews and I appreciate how you include potential triggers and the LGBTQIA representation. Definitely helps when I'm trying to figure out what next to read.
I’m latina (not Argentine but Brazilian) and I honestly don’t understand the issue with TJR writing latina characters. We adore her books in Brazil and I’ve never heard anyone complain about the representation here.
That’s great! I believe the concerns are being brought up by Latin American readers, as her characters are Latin American specifically. But again, I’m not part of the community so I’m no expert!
I can’t say I fully understand your issues with Taylor Jenkins Reid writing a book about a Latina. It is a fictional story. If we think about murder mysteries, should only murderers and criminals be the ones to write for that genre?
I read Carrie Soto and I really enjoyed it. But I was not aware of the criticism TJR received for her misrepresentation of Latinos. I will have to look into that. Thanks for bringing this up because it's the first time I've heard someone mention it.
Really loved getting your input on the winners. I haven't read any of them but do have some on my TBR. I love that I can get an idea of where to put them priority-wise or to take them off altogether. Thank you for sharing! 📚
Aaah getting so many recommandations from this video ! I could almost be angry at you because I already have a never ending TBR. But I can't. I enjoy your bookish videos way too much. Thank you for this video ❤️📖
📚 I just love listening to you rant and talk and ramble, regardless of the books you like or love or hate. 😂 On a more serious note and just some food for thought: Celeste Ng wrote a best-selling book , which was turned into a TV show. Yiyun Li's most recent book also received critical praises. Here we have an Asian American author writing about a middle class white family (), and a Chinese-born author writing about two rural French girls during the post-war era (). Both books are exceedingly well received and profound. So, shall we criticize them for writing about the white experience as Asian authors? Shall we erect gatekeeping so that authors can only write about their own racial experience? If not, then what's so unforgiving for white authors to write about non-white experience?
I can’t speak to those since I haven’t read them, but two things come to mind. First, a person of colour writing a book with a white protagonist doesn’t mirror a larger societal/historical issue of appropriation, and second that I would want to hear how middle class (presumably American) white people and French women feel about the representation. Was it made up of harmful stereotypes or were the characters portrayed in a respectful way as whole, complex people?
Great job. I will be a new follower to your channel. I appreciate your in-depth reviews because now I won’t bother with several of them. You had quite a challenge.
12:27 as a Cuban, I’m super excited to read Carrie Soto is back! I liked 7 husbands and I think she created a Cuban protagonist that was just such a bad ass and I think she’s gonna give some of that to Carrie Soto 😍
I don't love TJR writing but if she did the research, she should be able to write the perspective, not for us to say. Because we can't get mad at her for writing a Latina perspective but then be ok with a man writing a woman perspective. That's just my opinion though, everyone has their own.
Doing research doesn’t guarantee accurate and respectful representation, though. I stopped reading Riley Sager’s books a while back for a similar reason. He’s a man writing almost exclusively female protagonists and I have found his female characters to be built on stereotypes and under developed. After reading a few of his books I decided I was done reading female characters written by a man who clearly doesn’t understand them (or isn’t bothered representing them as full, complex humans). That’s just my perspective, though, and my personal reading decision (just like my personal decision to not read any more books written by TJR featuring Latina protagonists).
I was mostly just happy that Colleen Hoover didn't win romance again, LOL (I mean, I read Book Lovers 7 times last year, so I was stoked to see it win :p but the GR nominees list is biased very heavily against historical romance, and we couldn't even write in nominees this year, so I am kind of perpetually annoyed about that). Tomorrow x3 was a solid 3 star for me - the first part of the book was VERY good and then the back half just went "what if I play with style for fun?" plus I didn't like how Sam violated Sadie's boundaries for what seemed like his own motivation (also, Dov can get in the bin, ugh, no pushback there whatsoever). In the memoir category, I haven't read the McCurdy yet, but I did read Alan Rickman's diary which was very interesting looking at someone's raw thoughts and creative process (although, i was disappointed that it picks up AFTER he's made Truly, Madly, Deeply, Die Hard, and Robin Hood and my kingdom for his thoughts on filming the Sheriff of Nottingham). In poetry, I haven't read the Gorman, but I have read the Vuong (LOVED), the Baer (liked), and Alive at the End of the World by Saeed Jones, which was my pick for best poetry collection because it is AMAZING. 📚📑
Oh, I’ll have to read those other two poetry collections it seems! I didn’t even realize nominees couldn’t be written in this year. Is this the first time that’s happened? It’s definitely great to see a different author win best romance. 😂
@@PlantBasedBride Yeah, I can't remember if write-ins were allowed last year or not but it's a very recent change. Bc we managed to get at least 1 HistRom author who publishes primarily in mass market on a previous year list for the semi-finals (I think it was the year Sarah MacLean was eligible for Day of the Duchess, so like 2017 or something)
oh dang I really wanted to read hidden pictures but not really anymore after hearing what you’ve said. as a Christian myself, I don’t think it’s right to dog on other beliefs and lifestyles just because it’s different than yours. like I know our religious beliefs are total opposites, but I still think you’re a great person and love watching your videos ya know? I’ve heard that ending is pretty controversial so I think I’ll just go read a spoiler and save myself the reading time. loved this video ❤❤❤❤❤
Oh definitely! I have no problem with people having whatever faith they do, just so long as they don’t try to push it on me ❤️ I would definitely skip it!
i actually have been part of good reads for 3 years or more and never have read any of the books that have been part of the best of in any category.... and yes I read. lol
I laughed out loud when you described The Office as...a show. I also never got into The Office and have never felt the need to watch it; so, I understand not having a desire to read the book for the humor category. Life is short and there are way too many books. Great video; very entertaining.
At this point I could structure my TBR to be whatever you've given 5 stars, because we really do agree 100% of the time. I have been patiently waiting for Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow to be available at my library because I've banned myself from buying more books this month, but I am extremely excited to dive into it as an avid gamer and with all the hype surrounding it! I love this series because I rarely branch out of my Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Speculative genres and getting an opinion from someone who also reads a lot in those categories has been a great way to carefully select some out of my comfort zone authors! Thank you for braving the Good Reads Pile of Surprises for us all, and for putting together such an informative video once again 💜
I feel like there aren’t enough people hating on SJM. I always give side eye to such blown up books on tiktok and I regret caving in. I agree with everything you said, also He growls??????? I thought we left that back in 2012
📚 This is my first time on your channel, this video was suggested by TH-cam and I don’t know how TH-cam knows that I love books 😅 but I was really curious about this video in particular, but I will probably go and watch some others on your channel. This review of the Goodreads 2022 winners was really interesting and even though I have only read (and loved!) The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo from TJR earlier this year, I had a similar feeling about that author , I could not tell you why, but I was wondering if I would read some others so your thought about her and her behavior towards readers was very interesting.
I really love your long videos especially videos with ranting😬😅 I understand it takes effort to film and edit it and I really appreciate it📚📑 your bookish videos are so cozy and calming♥️♥️
Thank you! I now have even more books in my TBR. ;) Also thank you for your rant on The Maid (love your rants). I jumped on it for the disability representation (so rare) and the raves and... hated it for all the reasons you mentioned. And then I started wondering if it were because as a disabled person I could see the stereotyping and able-bodied people couldn't. So awful. So infantilizing, condescending, and formulaic, but in a way I'd thought wouldn't pass a sensitivity read. Which probably means it didn't have one, just a bunch of able-bodied publishing twits thinking how cute and inspirational it was. Yech.
I wonder how you feel about male authors writing female characters and vice versa. Do you feel that authors should only write characters that they've lived? What's the difference in cultural appropriation and gender appropriation?
I stopped reading Riley Sager’s books because he always writes female protagonists and he doesn’t write them well/offer accurate and respectful representation. Authors can write any character they like, but it’s up to readers to decide if we’re willing to read their work based on how they write those characters.
What do you use to tab your books? I should start doing that as I have to re-read books over and over to get the idea of the book (ADHD). Love this idea!
I buy my tabs on Amazon - they should be linked in my Amazon storefront or in the description. If not I’ll add them now! ❤️ i’m actually considering making a video talking about how I tab and annotate books as I read 🥰
I enjoyed this video SOOOO MUCH. I am currently doing a very tedious job (from home at least) and your video totally was what I needed to pass my morning and now I have some books to check out. I am not a big non academic reader so is hard for me to pick books to read, now I have a nice list to check out and I know they will be good because I trust your opinion 🙌🏻
Thank you for your comments and info about the Taylor Jenkins Reid situation. I wasn't aware of the appropriation that was going on and had several of her books on my tbr, but I'm also not wanting to support her now that I've looked into her responses as well. Tbh, I hadn't added this current title to my tbr just because the premise wasn't interesting to me but I've since edited this author out of my tbr list completely. So disappointing that she couldn't have handled her responses to the community and her research into actual Latino/Latina experiences better.
📖 thank you for the video I love hearing your thoughts on books that are recommended and books you thoroughly enjoyed. It always leaves me with an array of books to add to my tbr list
First time I see anyone reading The Book Eaters. I drove an hour to pick it up because my city doesn't have a B&N!!! I haven't finished but I love it so far. And I found The World we Make for $4 at Ollie's - y'all hit up that store if you have one. I find books there for WAY less than most stores. Almost as good as Salvation Army :)
I’m skeptical of phrases like “the Latina experience.” Like, what is our experience? Latin America has so many different cultures, and even more nuanced cultures in the US as first and second generations. We’re not a monolith. You can have the same ethnicity as another person and still have completely different life experiences (and they’re not all defined by being Latina). I get that there are similarities but if the main focus of the character is the fact that they’re Latina rather than their own unique person, I feel like you’re leaning towards stereotyping again. I see both sides though. I don’t like the idea of that author writing lazy caricatures. I would trust a Latina author to write those characters 100x better. It’s a balance I guess. But appreciate the discourse
This is an amazing point, thank you for bringing it up! I’d agree there’s no one experience for any group of people, and that was my mistake in using that phrase in trying to convey the concerns I have read and heard about how TJR writes Latina characters. Thank you for taking the time to leave your comment ❤️
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I'm Latina and the only reason I'm not interested in reading Carrie Soto is because it's a sports book. There's this weird expectations on white authors to write diversity. But the moment they do write about other races they get criticized. I'm not talking about stereotypical characters, those are terrible, but we all have different experiences so no one is gonna write a character that represents a race/ethnicity as a whole.
Very well said 👏👏👏
Yes! Also, if we expected writers to write only about their own experiences that would be absurd. We would not have so many of great books that we do now.
Well as an actual Latina, who was born and raised in Argentina, I can tell you that the rep on this book was awsome. In fact, the spanished publisher who is from Buenos Aires helped Taylor with the quotes and the built of the characters. I have not seen a single problem with this book from people from Argentina. With respect, I find that people who don´t know about MY country should not be making this kind of commnets
I love the “actual latina”. More often than not, I see the ones who try to gatekeep what is latino representation and what isn’t are 3rd generation american-latinos. While we, actual latinas born and raised in Latin America, are just chill because we know being latino isn’t our only personality trait
@@thifanny7298 well that's your point of view and I agree with the first part. As for the last, I am going to speak if I see that I might know more about the experience of people from Latin America, that's not making it my "personality" 😅but actually speaking from a place of more knowledge
Lmfao of course as an Argentinian you are super defensive 😂 😂
As a Latina (born in Mexico, raised in the US), I loved it. Also, I didn’t even see this as a “Latina” book. It was more about a woman who is incredible ambitious and how ambitious women are viewed. If you like TJR books, please read this one as well.
hey! so as a half latina specifically argentinian i have very strong emotions about carrie soto is back. personally i adore tjr and i think her representation of a hispanic is fine because in this day and age ur dammed if you do and dammed if you don’t. secondly and more importantly a big complaint was that the spanish was wrong BUT it isn’t it’s just the argentinan dialect of spanish and slang i think the effort put in to put it accurately is appreciatable.
Being Venezuelan-American and having really liked Carrie Soto is back , I don’t understand why we feel the need to keep writers in the boxes that society has put them in (or were “born into”) this is so scary as it limits creators range and censors their own voice. Gaining insight into the Latino in America perspective is not very hard, there is so much information out there that I am sure TJR put to good use. If we can only read latin American characters from latin people then prepare for them to the disappear from the US market (based on a simple population % + lack of Latin American writers representation in the US market)
I loved Carrie Soto, she was a credible flawed character with bad ass skills, top notch work habits, and unapologetic attitude. despite a misogynistic society. Someone who even though was extremely successful needed to grow in other areas of her life (don’t we all).
This book inspired me to work harder on what I love to do and I highly recommend the ride!
i feel like a lot of the time authors don’t try and do research and just say the most stereotypical things at time for “relatability” or shock value
I'm Cuban-American and I agree.
In Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, there is a whole passage on this since they made the japanese game and were not japanese. About how representation matters for these groups and that if we were never allowed out of our "boxes" (ie: if white female authors can only write about white female authors), we do a great disservice to art, literature, etc
@@amandapretti2102 she did a good job you can really tell she did her research
I was about to disagree, but I think you're right. I was thinking that as mexican I wouldn't want an American writing about it. But as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said, there's a big difference between being half American and completely from other country. I just hope this won't make people look for American authors writing about the Latina experience, leaving actual Latinos without a voice
I’m Cuban American and absolutely loved Evelyn Hugo. I can understand why other Cubans wouldn’t (we are not a monolith) but I’m personally more concerned with her characters feeling complex than being entirely accurate to their ethnic background.
That being said, you can absolutely tell TJR isn’t Latina by the way she writes her characters speaking Spanish. It was extremely noticeable in Carrie Soto because the way we communicate is not quite as simple as “random sentences in Spanish.” Spanglish often has regionalized but distinct grammar rules that are hard to replicate if you’re not intimately familiar with them.
I’m glad to know you enjoyed Evelyn Hugo as a Cuban American! And that’s a great point. I had read several criticisms of the Spanish in Carrie Soto which definitely added to the impression that the representation was not as accurate or well researched as we would hope.
As an amputee, I really appreciated the accurate descriptions of chronic pain in Tomorrow and Tomorrow… what I personally didn’t enjoy was how his arc revolves around a girl. I would’ve preferred his arc revolved on self acceptance, but I’m just biased lol.
I’m glad to know the representation felt accurate ❤️ I agree about his arc being tied to Sadie, but I do appreciate that it was a friendship not a romance (despite the complicated feelings involved)
What arc means?
@@PlantBasedBride I got so annoyed when at the end they tried to awkwardly turn it into a love thing and I was like "no. stop it. leave it be."
I've said it before but I'll say it every time: it's so helpful to have a reviewer you trust give their honest opinion about these wildly popular books. If you're up for it I hope you do this every year! 📖
Aw I’m so glad! I always find it interesting so I’m sure I’ll keep doing it ❤️
Interesting to hear your reasoning behind not reading Carrie Soto is Back.
As a LatinX women I didn't find the character of Carrie Soto to be stereotypical, but I'm not of Argentinian/Latin American descent, so that could be why.
I have read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and as a Cuban American, I can say that I didn't find the representation of Evelyn Hugo to be stereotypical either. I actually found it interesting and fairly accurate that the author would write about a LatinX individual trying to assimilate to American culture and trying to "pass" as caucasian during that time. From what I know about the experience of my grandparents/parents as immigrants to the US, this happened frequently during that time.
Given the diversity within the LatinX/Hispanic communities, it would likely be impossible to write a character that pleased everyone.
I also think the intent of the story/the characters story arc need to be taken into account. This author isn't writing a story focused on a first generation Argentinian-American discovering the balance between her ethnic heritage and American culture. A story like that would probably be best coming from a LatinX author, someone with personal knowledge of that experience. CSIB and TSHOEH are focused on different facets of those characters, they discuss their heritage, but it isn't the focus of the story the author is trying to tell.
I agree that if writing outside of personal experience there needs to be appropriate research done and care taken, but I think at the end of the day, every LatinX/Hispanic individual is going to have a different opinion after reading CSIB and no one opinion or group of opinions can be considered "right" or "wrong."
Disappointed to hear that readers feels the author has been dismissive of criticism of her writing of LatinX characters, but at the same time, maybe she has been listening to individuals who feels she's appropriately/accurately writing them. Not everyone can be pleased.
Thank you for sharing your perspective and such a balances take! I agree with so much of what you said here. The last note on TJR is, unfortunately, not the case. She has been outright asked in interviews about Latina readers' concerns and has brushed those concerns aside. Reading her response to concern and criticism in those interviews is what made me decide not to read the book myself.
@@PlantBasedBride Thank you for more insight into her comments. That is really unfortunate to hear. As someone who doesn't have personal knowledge she should be open to learning from those that do.
I only recently started reading TJR for my book clubs and Seven Husbands was my favorite book last year. As someone born and raised in Ecuador I really enjoyed seeing such a popular book have a Latina protagonist! I haven’t read Carrie Soto yet but if the main character is anything like Evelyn Hugo, I think it offers great insight into the Latinx experience, especially those that are trying to make it in certain fields (acting for Evelyn, tennis for Carrie) and as an artist myself, I’m always thinking about how my identity is tied to my aspirations and what it means to see more diversity in these fields. I can totally empathize with the fear that it’s a white author trying to appropriate another culture, but given how much I loved how Evelyn’s character was written I would actually love to see if I feel the same about Carrie Soto!
I would love to hear your thoughts if you get around to it! I always appreciate hearing more perspectives. I loved Evelyn Hugo and didn’t notice any issues with the representation, but I’m not Latina so that’s not saying much 😅❤️
as someone with chronic pain, Sam’s portrayal was incredibly surprising, I am not sure if the author is familiar with the symptoms, but I felt deeply represented and less alone, in a sense, being an audiovisual creator myself too
I hope to find more books that talk about Chronic Pain in the future, as it is definitely one of the most common invisible disabilities out there ):
I’m so glad to know from multiple of these comments that the representation of chronic pain and living as an amputee are accurate, though I am so sad to know how many people live with invisible pain every single day ❤️
@@PlantBasedBride it’s not talked about it enough, that’s for sure 🥲
Hey! I know Talia Hibbert’s book Get A Life, Chloe Brown has chronic pain rep with a lead character with fibromyalgia and All’s Well by Mona Awad (I think) has chronic back pain. You may have already read these but thought I’s bring them up anyway!
@@RiffyRaf tysm for recommending! I did know about Chloe brown, but not about “all’s well”! I will look into it too 💛
I'm amazed by the amount of books you read and I really like the fact that you call a spade a spade and recommend NOT to read the bigot and harmful ones. Thanks a lot 📚♥️
I definitely think it’s important to explicitly say why these books are harmful! And thank you ❤️❤️
As a Mexican-American who did read Carrie Soto, I can say you're really not missing much. Besides it being harmful, overly stereotypical, and also just...bland representation, the story itself doesn't match the quality of TJR's other works (many of which I have enjoyed.) I am really hoping she takes in some of the feedback going forward.
I’m disappointed but not surprised to hear that. Thanks for sharing your experience with it, Ava! I really hope she does, as well. She has a lot of potential as an author but her stubbornness/willful ignorance in this area is a big red flag.
what stereotypes? I havent read the book but I am curious /gen
@@e-todlonghair2856 there’s no stereotypes actually.
I've read 6 TJR books and loved them all, but Carrie Soto was definitely my least favourite
I wasn't planning on engaging with internet trolls on here-I was simply affirming Elizabeth's choice not to read Carrie Soto. But since y'all keep commenting on this I'll just say this: 1) if someone says there is harmful rep, it's not for you to tell them they're wrong. You don't get to invalidate feelings or opinions even if you disagree with them. 2) TJR has a history of harmful rep toward the latin@ community as a whole, this isn't just about Carrie Soto and you don't have to be argentine to recognize it. 3) Since when is it impossible for there to be representation without stereotypes? That's the weirdest take I've seen yet. 4) The only thing I am a "victim" of is wasted time with a mediocre book. Anyway, I hope you all find something more fulfilling to do with your time than to defend a bestselling author's very mid book. No one is stopping you from reading and enjoying it, so you might want to think about why it's so upsetting to you that a stranger on the internet happened to have a different experience with it.
Your response to the issues with Taylor Jenkins Reid confirmed for me that you absolutely need to read Yellowface by RF Kuang. It doesn't release until the end of May, though ARCs are circulating right now, but it addresses this issue precisely. I'm a quarter of the way through my ARC and it's an incredible book that exposes some of the worst sides of the publishing industry.
I came here to recommend this too!
Thank you for the suggestion! I remember seeing the cover for it but I knew it hadn’t been published yet. I’ll definitely add it to my TBR!
You may be interested in the fact that a bunch of booktubers recently released a project they did called 10 Years of Goodreads Choice Awards winners. There is a playlist. They each took one of the categories and read the last 10 years of winners. So it's a lot of videos but really interesting.
Oh how interesting! I hadn’t heard about this. What a great idea!
I really love your reviews and trust you as a reader. There are books we've both read that we've rated differently (e.g. What Moves the Dead was a five-star for me!), but I typically know when you give something one star I can trust it's because it's either really harmful in its depictions of certain people, or really poorly written. I think the 3-5 star range can be really a lot more about personal taste but you've never steered me wrong on ones to stay away from whilst also being incredibly transparent about your personal preferences guiding some of your higher ratings, which is exactly how it should be!
I am doing a genre reading challenge in my work book club this year and we started with Fantasy, because that was the most popular. We chose a book I'd never have chosen on my own, and I think there's something so valuable about that, which is why I love it when you do this challenge. :)
Oh thank you! That means a lot. I definitely agree ratings from 3 to 5 have so much to do with personal preference from one reader to another!
📖📕 I'm actually decreasing my goal for reading from 50 to 30 so I can focus more on ones I like. Love hearing your thoughts on these!
I decreased my goal this year, too ❤️ next step is learning to DNF when I’m not enjoying a book!
a video like this must take so much time to make & edit, but i really appreciate it!! feels like i'm sitting down with you with a cup of tea to chat about books 📚 your reviews are always so informative & concise. and i'm so glad i dodged the Hidden Pictures bullet. my god when i heard about the stuff that was in it i could not believe it. thank you for talking about it as well 💖
Aw I’m so glad! That’s exactly what I hope these videos feel like ❤️ and yes, I was shocked, too!
I'm currently reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and I'm absolutely loving it! Also I read, and loved, and cried reading The Final Gambit and now that you said such amazing things about Gallant I can't wait to buy it and read it! Thank you so very much!
This is the first video of yours I've stumbled upon, and I have to thank you for your discourse on The Maid! I haven't read it either myself, but as an autistic adult I want to express my gratitude that you brought this issue up and examined it in such a genuine and intelligent way.
Thank you, I really appreciate that. I’m always trying my best to read more critically and examine how characters are being represented ❤️
Just wanted to say how much I appreciate you saying Latino and Latina vs Latinx. It made me smile so much.
I’m always trying to learn how to use language in more respectful and inclusive ways! Just doing my best ❤️
I haven’t commented on a video in a while but oh man! I have a copy of The Maid and I’m so surprised it won Best Mystery?! I found myself soo frustrated with how Molly’s personality and interactions were portrayed. Maybe the author meant for “shy, awkward girl” but the book didn’t reflect that. At all. And I tend to get invested in main characters so the way the other characters interacted with her made me mad, lol. I agree with your thoughts 100%! All in all it was also predictable and I honestly could’ve bought something else.
Lol I can relate 😂 I was so frustrated at how she was portrayed and how the other characters interacted with her!
I felt like I read a children's book lol
These long book videos are my favourite. Love listening to these! 📚 📕 📖
Mine too! I love a good long bookish video to have on in the background ❤
As a latina, it doesn't bother me that she writes about a main protagonist that's latina and she isn't. I've read my share of latina writers and I also find that they also depict their main character stereotypically and don't care for it . Btw Love your video !
That’s so interesting to hear that Latina writers do the same thing. I wonder why they would resort to stereotypes as well? It must be so frustrating to read!
@@PlantBasedBride extremely frustrating. The best rep I've found so far in Latino writers and especially as a Dominican is Junot Diaz The Brief and Wonderous life of Oscar Wao. NOW THAT is not only accurate, relatable, but also the writing is phenomenal. Books like Dominicana I HAD to DNF. It wasnt accurate, it was poorly written and it was sooooo stereotypical it made me nauseous.
I totally agree that the idea that you have to love yourself to form deep connections with others is super harmful and gate-keeping. It always felt to me like saying, "if you have low self-esteem you don't deserve love." and I'm like... eww. No. Work to love yourself, but if you want romance, you should not have to put that away on a back shelf until you work through your shit.
Yes yes yes!! I was not in a good place with my self esteem when I met my husband, and his unfailing love for me despite my many flaws helped me SO MUCH to learn to truly love myself (it’s still a journey, of course, but it’s staggering how far I’ve come) ❤️ everyone deserves to be loved no matter how much they may struggle with self love!
Yeah it seems like I'm always going to keep learning things about myself
I'm latina and when I read Evelyn Hugo, I loved it (nowadays, not so much, but due to personal reasons), and to be honest, while I read the book and specially now, a few years later, I keep forgetting that Evelyn is cuban. I didn't read Carrie Soto nor am I going to, but honestly I wasn't even aware Carrie was meant to be latina
Our wives under the sea was such a treat to read, so weird, so creepy and yet..romantic in a way?
Yes exactly! Just so interesting and unique ❤️
Ok I adore SJM. Her books actually got me into reading and I’ll forever adore her for that… BUT. I could hardly make it through CC. And I only saw people rave about it. But good Lord it was too long 😩 so thank you for giving me a safe space to share that! Lol
I'm from Brazil, born and raise, and I have 1001 problems with TJR, none of them are regarding representation. 😂 I really don't care that she wrote latina characters, they all felt like regular real people and she's super successful here, never heard anyone complaining about her in this sense.
I believe it’s Latin American readers specifically who have raised concerns!
@@PlantBasedBride but brazilians are latin americans too! I'm so late to be answering this, but I couldn’t resist lol TJR is BIG here, and my problem with that isn't her interest in writing latine characters, but how overrated her books are, imo
📚📖I would totally recommend Hannah Gadsby’s 10 Steps to Nanette. Even though you don’t read much in the Humor genre. Hannah has a truly unique perspective and Nanette was a really powerful show.
I always love watching these videos with the GoodReads app open in my hand. I end up adding so many titles to my TBR!
I’m not familiar with Gadsby but I’ll look into it! ❤️
I'm agreeing with all your takes! Particularly if I find out a book belongs to a series, I cannot get behind catching up just to read it. That being said: Heartstopper
Appreciated the thumbs-up on Sea of Tranquility. Mine was one of the votes that put it in the top spot. So when it came time for the Hugo ballot, I was just really puzzled why it wasn't on there. At first I wondered if it was part of the hanky panky that went on with the award that year. No, she didn't say athing about China. This is how I learned the people who vote for the two awards come from different crowds. You would think there would have to be SOME overlap but apparently it's not enough to make a difference. I checked the top vote getters in the SF choice award for 2021 and it was the same thing. The top sf vote getters did not match the corresponding Hugo ballot. I encountered push-back when I was ranting about SoT's absence from the Hugoi ballot in sf discussion groups. The feeling seemed to be that it was a nice little book, an enjoyable enough read but "not worthy of a Hugo nomination." I am happy that you saw what I saw in it.
Really appreciate the way you approached the challenge this year, considering every option, giving feedback, while maintaining some boundaries
Thank you! That’s kind of you to say ❤️❤️
I'm glad my mom died is actually best on Audiobook! Jennette voice it herself and it was just both jarring and captivating that way
YASSSS! LEGENDS AND LATTES! My boyfriend got me that book for Christmas 2022 and I'm so excited to read it as I love a good warm slice of life book. Plus I love DnD so bonus! So glad to hear it got 5 stars from you
It’s so so good! I hope you adore it 🥰
The commitment to reading all these is so impressive!!📖📚📖
Thank you! There were a couple I skipped but I read the vast majority 😅❤️
Hi! I was born and raised in Argentina, which is the country Carrie Soto's dad is from in the book, so here is my opinion: Yes, she does seem to have a lot of latinx characters, but thats a thing i love about her books. Granted, she is not latina herself, but she's giving all these latina characters life in her books, and in a beautiful way too. I've seen so much ""representation"" (mostly in american shows like csi but in some books too) where those ficcional characters are 80% of the time: mixed skin, don't have a great english and are criminals of some kind. So, the first time I encountered some resemblance to my reality as a latina (in something so popular) was reading Carrie Soto is Back. Everything about her relationship with her dad, the way she has to fight even harder just because of where her family came from (even as a nepotism kid), changing her name to the "american version" of her actual name. You can really tell by these things that she either spoke to some latinx people or just investigated on the topic. Either way, she did a great job.
I would love to see latinx people writing any type of book with representation and succeeding in the way TJR has, but until that happens, what? I find this belief that an artist (writer/actor) can only create a character with characteristics specific to their persona really dangerous. Because if all viral writers are straight, should we LGBT people not have some type of representation in them? Again, reading Carrie soto was the first time that I felt that sense of like home thinking about a character and their surroundings, but reading The 7 husbands of Evenlyn Hugo I could fantasize about actresses from my country (for for example maia reficco, born in texas but raised in argentina, where her parent's are from) playing her.
I loved Carrie Soto, she had a great personality but made mistakes in a way I think all could relate, not only us latinxs. Her hardworking personality reminded me of myself and I really like the book despise not knowing a thing about tenis. I would hardly recommend because even if TJR had some weird response to the criticism, she is still helping in the ways I named before, even if she is doing it for her own selfish reasons.
Thank you for sharing your perspective! I’m glad you felt Carrie Soto was good representation. Of course, not all groups are monolithic and different people will see things differently, so I’m glad to hear another perspective.
Your second paragraph, though, is a common misdirection in these conversations that grinds my gears. No one is saying that authors can’t write characters who don’t have their exact identities or experiences. All we want is for authors to do their research, be respectful, think about why they’re choosing to represent characters a certain way with a critical lens, listen to feedback from readers, employ sensitivity readers before publishing, and use other common-sense steps to reduce the number of poorly rendered characters.
For example, I have no problem with male authors writing female protagonists or authors who are not bisexual writing bisexual characters, but when someone who is not a woman or bisexual is writing that character based on harmful stereotypes, for example: portraying a bisexual character as a cheater, greedy, or just experimenting before “choosing a side,” then I have a problem with it. If a straight author is writing a bisexual character who feels like a complete realistic person with flaws that isn’t just buying into harmful stereotypes, then I’m all for the representation!
@@PlantBasedBride I totally agree with this! Of course not every Argentine will feel as I felt, let alone all latinxs, but I find the way she did is still easy to relate even away from that specific Argentine-American perspective.
I also want authors to do all that, so maybe I misunderstood and/or miscommunicated. And I find the case you used as an example really annoying and specially hurtful as a bisexual woman myself. So, yes, in those cases with harmful stereotypes I totally get the problem and I agree, I wouldn’t read any (that's what i wanted to say with the csi ""representation"" bit of my reply). But, in the case of TJR books I felt there was some investigation done (and it was well done imo) and the latinx characters were written from what feels like a respectful and knowing perspective.
Thank you for responding and have a great day!
Thank you for talking about Hidden Pictures in this way!! It was on my TBR, glad I could remove it without losing any time on it.
You’re so welcome! I don’t want anyone to waste time on it or be hurt by it.
I have watched and looked forward to your videos for some time now, and I am so honestly greateful for your content :) I do not always agree with your oppinion but I do always agree with your reasoning. That is so interesting to me. You have become a reference for me when looking for a new book to read. Thank you!! I hope you continue to do these videos, they are a very valuable contribution to our culture.
Oh I love this! We all have different preferences/interpretations when it comes to books but I’m glad I’m able to express mine in a way that helps you get an impression of whether or not you’ll enjoy it despite our differences ❤️
I was so baffled by the Maid winning. The only other nominees I read was The Night Shift, which was pretty good! I would compare it to Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; I like a more cozy and Agatha Christie-esque mystery personally but it was definitely enjoyable.
Love these types of videos. Honestly, I could listen to you read your grocery list. A lot of your 5 stars are on my TBR for this year. 📚📕📖
Haha aw thank you! 😂❤️
100% agree about Lessons in Chemistry which I read on a whim and will continue to re-read.
I’m Latino and haven’t read any Taylor Jenkins Reid and while I’ll admit I was excited to hear that Evelyn in her novel Seven Husbands is Cuban American (so am I) I was disheartened to hear it wasn’t handled well. I’ve also heard there’s significant anti-Blackness in Reid’s writing as well… Seven Husbands is still on my TBR simply because I’m curious about the discourse, but it remains to be seen if I’ll ever actually read it. I’m not gatekeeping characters, I totally think white authors can and should include Latino characters in their work, but they should do their research, hire Latino sensitivity readers, and accept feedback from the community when they get it wrong. If Reid can’t do that then she should stop writing characters of color. And if readers want to read about Latino characters, they should pick up books by Latino authors, particularly from the global south and not only the United States Latino perspective.
I love this take! Thank you for sharing your perspective. ❤️
i’ve read all of tjr and i have no idea where you’re getting anti blackness from 💀
@@bookboxbabe I’m not Black so I can’t speak on it but Jesse from JesseOnTH-cam did an entire video on this subject if you would like to learn more: th-cam.com/video/NbOD2GH1WuM/w-d-xo.html
@@bookboxbabe I wouldn’t necessarily call it anti-blackness but definitely highly ignorant. Specially her portrayal of the journalist in seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo and the use of a black man as shock device.
In which book does she talk badly about black people
I’m mexican and I don’t have any problem with Taylor Jenkins Reid characters, actually I love all her books ❤
Just found your channel. I’m half Cuban. I read 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I didn’t like it, but that’s because TJR is just not my cup of tea. It had NOTHING to do with how she portrayed a Cuban woman. If you want to read a book, read it!
9:44 I found this interesting, I am autistic and have never read this book. I do think its not too big of a deal for someone to make an autistic character without calling them autistic since there are reasons and benefits to making a character autistic coded instead of naming them as autistic, but I do agree that if there is an autistic character it is important to make the character fully fleshed out and make a good representation of what autistic people ar eactually like but I haven't read the book so I'm not sure.
also thank you for putting a warning for vomit in your warnings for the next book I have a crippling phobia of it and I am always on edge because people never put warnings so I appreciate it.
and I appreciate you for making a long book-talk video. thank you📚
I don’t read a ton of lit fic but I absolutely loved tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. I say the story really being about 3 friends who made a video game instead of just Sam and Sadie. I think it made me even more sad 😢
Love your videos, not over the top and just feels like a conversation with a friend.
I'm a real one 📖... but full transparency; I watch on 1.25 or 1.50 speed LOL
Looking forward to reading some of these, thanks for putting all the work in and sharing!
Lol I watch all videos at 1.5x speed at least, and listen to most audiobooks at 2.5x, so no judgement here 😂
can someone explain to me why it matters that reid writes latina characters while not being latina? i think any artist should be allowed the creative freedom of any other media. no one would criticize a white painter for painting an asian woman. is it that the writing itself is insulting? i haven’t read these books so i’m really just looking for some clarification.
As I explained in the video, the problem is that she continues to write Latina protagonists, as in writing internal thoughts and lived experience of Latina women, without being one herself and that many Latina and Latino readers in have come out to say that the representation is inaccurate and harmful, based on stereotypes and not a true understanding of their experience and culture. She continues to ignore the concerns of the community she is claiming to want to represent, without being willing to learn and do better.
I really enjoy this style and type of video!! Thank you for taking the time to so elaborately chat about the books you have read, such cozy vibes🥰
Oh thank you! I’m glad this video gave cozy vibes ❤️
I couldn't agree more about the Fiction Winner. EVERYONE loves Legends and Lattes. I think that many times the popular writer gets votes without people reading the books. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I enjoy the long video though I am sure "editing Elizabeth" is not so happy. :) 📚📖
I think you’re probably right! And editing Elizabeth was definitely a little sleep deprived lol 😂
@@PlantBasedBride You should treat Editing Elizabeth to a long nap and a sweet treat. She works hard! 🧁🛌 Have you read A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers? I think you would enjoy it. I'm currently reading the second in the series.
I always see the criticism coming from people who live in the US which is funny, from my experience as a latina living in latam (as well as pretty much every comment i see from people actually living here in the southern hemisphere) we love the inclusion of latino characters in novels! Even if they are not perfect it is better than not having anything
i still get excited every time chile or argentina get mentioned in a book, and when the representation isn’t perfect we just laugh it off as a community
that being said, you should definitely read carrie soto is back! it’s really enjoyable, and the argentinian representation is on point! (as his father is from Argentina) also, the book itself is good, has been my favorite TJR novel by far
I’m not American and I don’t know the nationality of all of those who were unhappy with the representation, but I am glad to hear another perspective. I’m not interested in reading it but I’m glad you enjoyed it!
📖 I was hesitant to watch this video because my TBR list is already so long and while it did get longer after watching this, I wouldn't say that was a bad thing. I love how thorough you are in your reviews and I appreciate how you include potential triggers and the LGBTQIA representation. Definitely helps when I'm trying to figure out what next to read.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, even if I did add a bit to your ever-growing TBR 😅❤️
I’m latina (not Argentine but Brazilian) and I honestly don’t understand the issue with TJR writing latina characters. We adore her books in Brazil and I’ve never heard anyone complain about the representation here.
That’s great! I believe the concerns are being brought up by Latin American readers, as her characters are Latin American specifically. But again, I’m not part of the community so I’m no expert!
I can’t say I fully understand your issues with Taylor Jenkins Reid writing a book about a Latina. It is a fictional story.
If we think about murder mysteries, should only murderers and criminals be the ones to write for that genre?
I read Carrie Soto and I really enjoyed it. But I was not aware of the criticism TJR received for her misrepresentation of Latinos. I will have to look into that. Thanks for bringing this up because it's the first time I've heard someone mention it.
I’m glad I could bring it to your attention! ❤️
Really loved getting your input on the winners. I haven't read any of them but do have some on my TBR. I love that I can get an idea of where to put them priority-wise or to take them off altogether. Thank you for sharing! 📚
I love spending time with the long videos, it feels like a coffee with a good friend. Thank you for that
Aw I’m so glad 🥺 sitting down to film these always feels like catching up with my bookworm friends, too! 🥰
Aaah getting so many recommandations from this video ! I could almost be angry at you because I already have a never ending TBR. But I can't. I enjoy your bookish videos way too much. Thank you for this video ❤️📖
Aw haha sorry (but also not) 😂 I hope you love any of the books you pick up on my recommendation! ❤️❤️
you finally convinced me to make a profile in goodreads! i'm adding the world we became to my TBR 📖
Oo I hope you love it! Make sure to read the City We Became first ❤️
Based on your take on Hidden Pictures alone, I feel that I can trust you. I was baffled by any positive reviews of this book.
Truly baffled and horrified by its popularity.
I really enjoy listening to you. The perfect blend to get work down and still hear about books
I'm so glad❤️
Regarding Taylor Reid. As a Mexican American living in the US I can say I don’t appreciate her obsession with Latinas. I appreciate your opinion btw!
📚 I just love listening to you rant and talk and ramble, regardless of the books you like or love or hate. 😂
On a more serious note and just some food for thought: Celeste Ng wrote a best-selling book , which was turned into a TV show. Yiyun Li's most recent book also received critical praises. Here we have an Asian American author writing about a middle class white family (), and a Chinese-born author writing about two rural French girls during the post-war era (). Both books are exceedingly well received and profound. So, shall we criticize them for writing about the white experience as Asian authors? Shall we erect gatekeeping so that authors can only write about their own racial experience? If not, then what's so unforgiving for white authors to write about non-white experience?
I can’t speak to those since I haven’t read them, but two things come to mind. First, a person of colour writing a book with a white protagonist doesn’t mirror a larger societal/historical issue of appropriation, and second that I would want to hear how middle class (presumably American) white people and French women feel about the representation. Was it made up of harmful stereotypes or were the characters portrayed in a respectful way as whole, complex people?
📖 I loved Legends & Lattes so much
If you enjoyed Station Eleven I think you’ll really like Sea of Tranquility! They have quite a few similarities but SoT was the better book, imho ❤️
I want to second Sea of Tranquility. It was so different, I loved it.
Great job. I will be a new follower to your channel. I appreciate your in-depth reviews because now I won’t bother with several of them. You had quite a challenge.
Welcome and thank you 🥰
12:27 as a Cuban, I’m super excited to read Carrie Soto is back! I liked 7 husbands and I think she created a Cuban protagonist that was just such a bad ass and I think she’s gonna give some of that to Carrie Soto 😍
I don't love TJR writing but if she did the research, she should be able to write the perspective, not for us to say. Because we can't get mad at her for writing a Latina perspective but then be ok with a man writing a woman perspective. That's just my opinion though, everyone has their own.
Doing research doesn’t guarantee accurate and respectful representation, though. I stopped reading Riley Sager’s books a while back for a similar reason. He’s a man writing almost exclusively female protagonists and I have found his female characters to be built on stereotypes and under developed. After reading a few of his books I decided I was done reading female characters written by a man who clearly doesn’t understand them (or isn’t bothered representing them as full, complex humans). That’s just my perspective, though, and my personal reading decision (just like my personal decision to not read any more books written by TJR featuring Latina protagonists).
I was mostly just happy that Colleen Hoover didn't win romance again, LOL (I mean, I read Book Lovers 7 times last year, so I was stoked to see it win :p but the GR nominees list is biased very heavily against historical romance, and we couldn't even write in nominees this year, so I am kind of perpetually annoyed about that). Tomorrow x3 was a solid 3 star for me - the first part of the book was VERY good and then the back half just went "what if I play with style for fun?" plus I didn't like how Sam violated Sadie's boundaries for what seemed like his own motivation (also, Dov can get in the bin, ugh, no pushback there whatsoever). In the memoir category, I haven't read the McCurdy yet, but I did read Alan Rickman's diary which was very interesting looking at someone's raw thoughts and creative process (although, i was disappointed that it picks up AFTER he's made Truly, Madly, Deeply, Die Hard, and Robin Hood and my kingdom for his thoughts on filming the Sheriff of Nottingham). In poetry, I haven't read the Gorman, but I have read the Vuong (LOVED), the Baer (liked), and Alive at the End of the World by Saeed Jones, which was my pick for best poetry collection because it is AMAZING. 📚📑
Oh, I’ll have to read those other two poetry collections it seems! I didn’t even realize nominees couldn’t be written in this year. Is this the first time that’s happened? It’s definitely great to see a different author win best romance. 😂
@@PlantBasedBride Yeah, I can't remember if write-ins were allowed last year or not but it's a very recent change. Bc we managed to get at least 1 HistRom author who publishes primarily in mass market on a previous year list for the semi-finals (I think it was the year Sarah MacLean was eligible for Day of the Duchess, so like 2017 or something)
Watching this made me add some books to my "I wanna buy it / read it" list 😳
Thanks for those vidéos !
oh dang I really wanted to read hidden pictures but not really anymore after hearing what you’ve said. as a Christian myself, I don’t think it’s right to dog on other beliefs and lifestyles just because it’s different than yours. like I know our religious beliefs are total opposites, but I still think you’re a great person and love watching your videos ya know? I’ve heard that ending is pretty controversial so I think I’ll just go read a spoiler and save myself the reading time. loved this video ❤❤❤❤❤
Oh definitely! I have no problem with people having whatever faith they do, just so long as they don’t try to push it on me ❤️ I would definitely skip it!
i actually have been part of good reads for 3 years or more and never have read any of the books that have been part of the best of in any category.... and yes I read. lol
I laughed out loud when you described The Office as...a show. I also never got into The Office and have never felt the need to watch it; so, I understand not having a desire to read the book for the humor category. Life is short and there are way too many books. Great video; very entertaining.
First video of yours and I'm so sold (and subscribed)! 📚
Welcome to our little corner of the internet! 🥰
THAT chapter in Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow had me sobbing! The way Zevin crafted that was beautiful
So so beautiful 😭 I was a mess
"NPC" was one of the greatest chapters ever.
Every year I look forward to this video, and every year you don’t disappoint. Thanks for the review! 📖📚
Haha aw thanks! 🥰
At this point I could structure my TBR to be whatever you've given 5 stars, because we really do agree 100% of the time. I have been patiently waiting for Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow to be available at my library because I've banned myself from buying more books this month, but I am extremely excited to dive into it as an avid gamer and with all the hype surrounding it!
I love this series because I rarely branch out of my Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Speculative genres and getting an opinion from someone who also reads a lot in those categories has been a great way to carefully select some out of my comfort zone authors!
Thank you for braving the Good Reads Pile of Surprises for us all, and for putting together such an informative video once again 💜
Haha aw thank you! ❤❤
I feel like there aren’t enough people hating on SJM. I always give side eye to such blown up books on tiktok and I regret caving in. I agree with everything you said, also He growls??????? I thought we left that back in 2012
This is my favorite video of yours! Thank yo u for doing it again! ❤️📚❤
You're so welcome! I love making these, too 🥰
Just discovered your channel withat video, subscribed and will binge watch more videos today! 🤗📚📝 Loved your reviews so much!
Welcome and thank you! 🥰
Would you consider switching from Goodreads to the Storygraph? I find it's a so much better!
I tried it a while back and couldn’t get used to it but I’ve been wanting to try it again ❤️
📚 This is my first time on your channel, this video was suggested by TH-cam and I don’t know how TH-cam knows that I love books 😅 but I was really curious about this video in particular, but I will probably go and watch some others on your channel. This review of the Goodreads 2022 winners was really interesting and even though I have only read (and loved!) The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo from TJR earlier this year, I had a similar feeling about that author , I could not tell you why, but I was wondering if I would read some others so your thought about her and her behavior towards readers was very interesting.
I really love your long videos especially videos with ranting😬😅 I understand it takes effort to film and edit it and I really appreciate it📚📑 your bookish videos are so cozy and calming♥️♥️
Aw thank you! 🥰
Hidden Pictures was on my TBR and I’m so glad I saw this review before purchasing.
I’m glad I could help you avoid it!
Thank you! I now have even more books in my TBR. ;) Also thank you for your rant on The Maid (love your rants). I jumped on it for the disability representation (so rare) and the raves and... hated it for all the reasons you mentioned. And then I started wondering if it were because as a disabled person I could see the stereotyping and able-bodied people couldn't. So awful. So infantilizing, condescending, and formulaic, but in a way I'd thought wouldn't pass a sensitivity read. Which probably means it didn't have one, just a bunch of able-bodied publishing twits thinking how cute and inspirational it was. Yech.
And just like that my TBR list has grown! 😅😅😅😅 thanks Elizabeth for yet another bookish video! I was waiting for it and it was awesome!
Haha sorry (but not really) 😂 ❤️❤️
I wonder how you feel about male authors writing female characters and vice versa. Do you feel that authors should only write characters that they've lived? What's the difference in cultural appropriation and gender appropriation?
I stopped reading Riley Sager’s books because he always writes female protagonists and he doesn’t write them well/offer accurate and respectful representation. Authors can write any character they like, but it’s up to readers to decide if we’re willing to read their work based on how they write those characters.
What do you use to tab your books? I should start doing that as I have to re-read books over and over to get the idea of the book (ADHD). Love this idea!
I buy my tabs on Amazon - they should be linked in my Amazon storefront or in the description. If not I’ll add them now! ❤️ i’m actually considering making a video talking about how I tab and annotate books as I read 🥰
I think you would really enjoy Remarkably Bright Creatures. 🐙
I LOVE SJM and when I say I cackled at your reading that "Adventure! Suspense!" 😂
Who writes those descriptions?? I just want a word lol
I enjoyed this video SOOOO MUCH. I am currently doing a very tedious job (from home at least) and your video totally was what I needed to pass my morning and now I have some books to check out. I am not a big non academic reader so is hard for me to pick books to read, now I have a nice list to check out and I know they will be good because I trust your opinion 🙌🏻
I'm so glad I could keep you company and give you some book recs! 🥰
I love watching your book reviews! I always discover very interesting books to add to my reading list 📚
I'm so glad!
Thank you for your comments and info about the Taylor Jenkins Reid situation. I wasn't aware of the appropriation that was going on and had several of her books on my tbr, but I'm also not wanting to support her now that I've looked into her responses as well. Tbh, I hadn't added this current title to my tbr just because the premise wasn't interesting to me but I've since edited this author out of my tbr list completely. So disappointing that she couldn't have handled her responses to the community and her research into actual Latino/Latina experiences better.
Her response is definitely very disappointing. I hope she learns to take the feedback into account moving forward!
📚📖enjoyed this so much! thank you.
I'm so glad! ❤️
📖 thank you for the video I love hearing your thoughts on books that are recommended and books you thoroughly enjoyed. It always leaves me with an array of books to add to my tbr list
First time I see anyone reading The Book Eaters. I drove an hour to pick it up because my city doesn't have a B&N!!! I haven't finished but I love it so far.
And I found The World we Make for $4 at Ollie's - y'all hit up that store if you have one. I find books there for WAY less than most stores. Almost as good as Salvation Army :)
I wish I had cheap used bookstores around me! I’m in a book desert lol
I’m skeptical of phrases like “the Latina experience.” Like, what is our experience? Latin America has so many different cultures, and even more nuanced cultures in the US as first and second generations. We’re not a monolith. You can have the same ethnicity as another person and still have completely different life experiences (and they’re not all defined by being Latina). I get that there are similarities but if the main focus of the character is the fact that they’re Latina rather than their own unique person, I feel like you’re leaning towards stereotyping again. I see both sides though. I don’t like the idea of that author writing lazy caricatures. I would trust a Latina author to write those characters 100x better. It’s a balance I guess. But appreciate the discourse
This is an amazing point, thank you for bringing it up! I’d agree there’s no one experience for any group of people, and that was my mistake in using that phrase in trying to convey the concerns I have read and heard about how TJR writes Latina characters. Thank you for taking the time to leave your comment ❤️
Couldn't agree more!