Personally, I have done my research, and the whole situation is very messed up. So many people who have received arcs and rated it 5 stars are people who have no following on their social accounts whatsoever. People were also promised fighting, love triangles, enemies to lovers and none of it happened. Quotes that she promoted endlessly on her Tik Tok are not even in the book. (Yes, I am aware that Arcs don’t have everything well done but it’s only a few proofreading tweaks that they all need, so it doesn’t really make sense for whole ass quotes that were really popular when she posted them to not appear at least once or twice in the Arcs) update: apparently, a ton of arcs were literally given out at YallFest for free to anyone who wanted one. Tons and tons. Which is why there’s this sudden uprise in just… pure hate. again, very messed up situation.
Totally agree. It sucks that so much was a letdown with it all, and because SO many people were invested in it I think they also were expecting a lot and it just... didn't deliver. I also wonder where in the process she was when she was sharing these quotes from her book because we don't know If the editor/publisher took stuff out due to one reason or another. And tbh, authors get little to no say over that. I didn't know about the ARC stuff at YallFest! Very interesting... It just sucks that at the end of it all it turned into hatred and bullying instead of constructive criticism and talking about the actual issues of the situation.
@EmilyReadsBooks I read the book. And it's genuinely 1-star or 2-star worthy. But my criteria is if the story breaks its own rules or ignores its own rules until the big reveal, than yeah, its not going to get above 3 stars. I dont follow social media hate if it doesn't reach the mainstream. And for me I haven't heard of the issues with race. But I did hear plenty of broken promises. It's also painful because there's another book called "Larklight" and when you try to search for that book, Lightlark overshadows it.
I think the biggest issue is in how both Alex and her publisher have marketed the book. It’s okay to gas your book up, because as writers we’re our own biggest fans, however there comes a point when there is too much hype and you make it impossible to deliver up to that standard, particularly if it’s your debut in a new genre. I think for me the critiques about the writing are quite well founded and valid and I hope that it’s those reviews that Alex does listen too if she intends to write the rest of the series. I also think that no writer should compare their work to another’s - for example saying ‘oh it’s like hunger games with ACOTAR’ like those are two really big franchises with really dedicated fan bases and so you’re drawing them in to read your book which cant always deliver to their standards. Currently I’m writing a book about elves, but in no way do I want to be compared to Tolkien because I simply cannot deliver to his level. I also think promoting your book based on specific scenes and tropes can be dangerous because as you’ve said in the editing process some things can be removed and when you’ve hooked people with a certain scene or trope and then your work doesn’t deliver on that, people become disappointed. Finally on the point about Alex presenting some kind of rags to riches story I do think some of the critique is quite valid there because she’s essentially made it seem that she has struggled to get published which has inspired a fan base of people who admire the success and struggle when in reality, although Alex says she hasn’t used her connections for this book, she has benefited from the privilege of not having to work whilst she writes and also that she has knowledge of how the publishing system works from having published books already. I appreciate that she has clarified that it’s the idea about lightlark that has been rejected time and time again, but also there is an element of privilege at play there. Alex’s starting line was a bit further ahead than most writers of her age and older and I think where she’s tripped up has been that she’s really heavily marketed herself as being a struggling writer. TLDR: I can see why people are annoyed but I don’t think it’s right Alex is personally getting so much hate, the legit reviews are pretty valid about the quality of the writing and generally the book I think was too overhyped and was never going to deliver.
Yup yup yup!! I think the marketing hyped it so much that even if it WAS a decent book in the genre, it wouldn't have delivered. We have to also remember she's still technically a new and young author. Hopefully, with the sequels, she gets more time with an editor to really make it great. Comping your book to other series is an industry-standard, though. So saying it's like Hunger Games and ACOTAR is what she was supposed to be doing to promo her book (it gives the readers a sense of what books they're already familiar with compared to how this book will be). This is something you do even when querying to agents so they take an interest in the book you're reading. The issue is that she used those as her comps and it just didn't hold up. I think Booktok is too obsessed with tropes in general, and truly that is why a lot of books being published in the past years have been let downs. They're just tropes mixed in with a few other things. Totally agree with the privilege thing. It just sucks that a lot of the conversation has shifted from constructive conversation to outright hate and bashing. I think the book honestly had great potential, just needed more time to be realized.
They handed out ARCS like candy. It was INSANE that she even ever tried to claim that there weren't that many out there. On top of 100+ being handed out at Yall West, Netgalley was set to auto approve anyone who requested the audio-arc. On top of THAT, every Barnes and Noble employee in the country had access to the e-arc. (It wouldn't surprise me if our sister store employees at Waterstones had similar access.) My store was sent 2 final copies for employees before release day as well. And, the scenes she promoted aren't in the final. She tried to make arc readers look crazy and lied that it's in the final. When some coworkers tried to ask why she was saying that when they read the final, she blocked them. Literally half my bookstore employees are now blocked by Aster. Which is a great way to ensure your book never gets recommended.
@@EmilyReadsBooks Yeah. I had taken one of the final copies that was sent to my bookstore before release date. It was.....bad. 😬 Which was really disappointing because the premise had potential! But Aster claimed she'd been working on this book for 10 years (which would maker her 12 when she started writing it) and I kind of believe her because it reads like a 13 year olds first wattpad story. Her editors did her dirty too. I swear if you had to do a shot every time you read "thing, meanly, grinned or yolk" you would straight up die before making it 2/3 in. There's a lot of plot holes, the magic doesn't really make sense, and I got kinda squeaked out that this book that was promoted as having a lot of "diversity" has one black background character with barely any lines, and a Latina coded MC who is a sultry, firey, temptress, that comes from a tribe of cannibals 😬
@@12makbe OOF. There’s a lot to unpack there 😭 thank you for such a thoughtful response! I’ve heard lots of similar things. It really goes to show that as long as hype will sell a book, some publishing houses maybe don’t care about quality. Or editing lol.
An ARC is never the finished version of a book, but usually the edits are done as a result of initial response. I've never heard of an ARC that purposefully keeps entire scenes out.
Yeah, that's why I was initially kind of confused. I've read tons of arcs before, and never have they been like "this is missing portions of the book". ESPECIALLY if they're the scenes that have been promoted online that people bought the book for in the first place.
As an author of several books, I know my ARCS are never that different from the final product. In fact, ARCS aren't usually printed until AFTER the book has been edited, copyedited, proofread, etc. There might be a few typos corrected and that sort of thing, but NOT extensive changes or scenes cut or anything like that.
Published writer here: You can have big differences from ARC to new book - my ARC had the full first chapter changed. But those changes will usually be suggested some time after the ARC has been out and recieved feedback, and largely driven by the editor, not the author.
Apparently in some places in the UK the book is already out. A guy bought it, read it and made a tiktok about it. The quotes Aster used to publicize the books, that are not in the ARC and that Aster promised would be in the actual novel... aren't there. I bet people feel ripped off. The money thing I think has to do with the fact that Aster's parents loaned her and her twin 15k dollars each to start a business. Her sister's is now worth around 200 millions, has ties with Selena Gomez and a huge following (it has to do with mindfulness and entrepreneurship, iirc). So she most likely helped publicize the book. Maybe even put Aster in contact with someone in the publishing business (not necessarily for Lightlark, since she's already published other titles... this is something else I found suspicious, Aster has been acting like this is her debut novel after years of rejection, when it's not). Aster said she's had to deal with rejection for 10 years, which sounds like a lot until you realize she started at 17. Of course at 17 your writing skills aren't stellar. And if reviews from people who've read the book are to be trusted, they're still really bad. So people of course think she got published through connections. A big issue people have with this book is that it was advertised as Hunger Games meets ACOTAR, but "diverse", which people where really excited about. Turns out that there's nothing of HG and there's only one character of color, who's also gay aka a token diverse character. I believe Aster is latina, so readers felt really disappointed and lied to. Apparently there's also a good dose of misogyny and slut-shaming, where the protagonist is "pure" as opposed to all the other "temptresses". About the movie rights: it's really common for companies to buy rights before a book is even out because they can buy them for cheaper and with less competition compared to a popular best seller. The company saw all the hype around the book and so bought the rights. But if it's truly in production already, before the book is even out... that's suspicious. And the fact that she talks about a movie franchise when the first book isn't even out and the second and third are years in the making is just 🤦🏾♀️🙈
Yeah, it's all a bit weird. It's hard not to feel a little let down with how she promoted it all. I heard about the slut shaming after I made the video which is again another weird disappointment. I think there's a lot to unpack, and honestly, I would need to read it to give it a comprehensive look outside of what was already said, but I don't plan on reading it. I just wish the bullying would stop. It's harming the actual conversations that are meaningful and should be taking place (like all the stuff you mentioned above).
@@EmilyReadsBooks Oh, of course. I'm talking strictly about reviews of people who have read the book and their criticism, I completely ignored the ones that had not read the book and were just happy to insult her. I won't be supporting her, but I won't be hating on her either. I think you hit the nail on the head when you pointed out how quickly she was signed and her book published after her TikTok. The publisher was more concerned with hype and sales than quality (I'm not sure that more rounds of editing would've changed the slut-shaming and lack of rep, those look like serious problems with the author's mentality and are hard to change, but the writing would've been better for sure). I wish I could look at this in a positive light and say "The publisher will learn the lesson and stop prioritizing sales over readers and storytelling!" but... 😅 publishing is a business, after all. Aster will be taking the blame, and the machine will keep on working like nothing happened.
I discovered the TikTok backlash/Goodreads drama about ten minutes before I watched this video, haha. This book has been on my mind a lot lately as just a truly fascinating event in the book world, so you were speaking my language here. I feel like the main issue is just empty promises that started with good intent-maybe no one told Alex Aster how she should market her book, or she just bit off more than she could chew in sharing from it and then things changed in the editing process. The drama’s gotten me interested in the book, but if I choose to read it, it’ll be a library pick for sure.
Ahh! Olivia!!! It's SUCH an interesting phenomenon that's going on. I definitely agree, she promoted it one way, and it just didn't deliver, which left people wanting more. I think this is a case where the "hype" around a book is really backfiring, and now everyone is jumping on the hate train. If you read it, I'd love to know your thoughts on it!
Okay, as someone who is in the movie industry: yes, the explanation you were given as to why the movie contract was signed before the book was even on the shelves makes perfectly sense and it's absolutely normal and almost expected. HOWEVER, considering how badly the book is doing, how many negative reviews it's getting and how many people are disappointed with it (and by the number of people who seem to be deleting their pre-order), I think it's going to be very likely that the movie will be either scrapped or shelved even before production will begin.
@@VickiWeavil well, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. It could be possible that the movie in question is still in pre-production (choosing the director, actors, technicians, studios that will do the editing/special effects/VFX), because movies are a very complex affair, even when they have small budgets. Authors are told if the project based on their book has been shelved or not, so if SJM has not said anything about the movie not happening, it's very likely that it's still in the works. Pre-production can even last years, which is why, for example, Twilight was a massive hit since the very beginning, but the movie didn't go to theaters until 2008.
@@myrtaleellery I'm interested to see what happens with the whole movie deal. Especially since this is going to be a series, and maybe the publishing house will go in another direction and the next books will be more what people are looking for. But who knows? At this point, it is all speculation and the 'negative' publicity may be the driving force for it to do well. Plus, a movie could 'fix' all the issues people are finding in the book since who knows what they would keep or scrap in an adaptation.
@@VickiWeavil Most 'movie deals' don't go anywhere, unfortunately. That's why payment is split between an upfront percentage of the final amount, and the rest once the show/movie has begun filming. However, I think in Maas' case it is just that they are in the process of development and haven't shared updates at this time.
@@EmilyReadsBooks Yeah, unfortunately I'm aware of how TV and film deals often end up going nowhere -- I had a TV deal on a couple of my mystery books, but the option wasn't renewed, so... That was the end of that.
I think it's an interesting theory that they probably rushed to get it out while there was still hype and that might've caused some do these issues. It kind of connects to what I've been suspecting which is that from the outside she seems very surrounded by yes-men, maybe because of the hype, which is not great when you want to sell the best product possible. Yes, having supportive people around you is important, but maybe the people publishing it are trying to rush it out and didn't want to stop and take the time to perfect it because they thought they'd gain more from hype than quality, which meant she might not have gotten the necessary criticism from them. Plus, who knows what her friends told her in private, but I think it's added to the outrage that a lot of the five star reviews come from her friends OR people who have new or private accounts with no following and barely any other reviews. Like I'm sure a lot of the one star reviews are fake, but it appears that at least some of the five star ones are too. It seems like a case of someone promising more than they could deliver, and painting an inspiring picture of both herself as a person and the book that people felt very passionate about but wasn't exactly accurate or transparent, and then throw in a social media algorithm that absolutely LOVES this type of drama and you've got a recipe for disaster.
I totally agree with what you're saying here. It definitely isn't helping that SO many people are all scrambling to make content on TikTok because the algorithm is going crazy for it. I was going through my FYP the other day and I swear I had 8 videos in a row all talking about this book. I think it also is not AS bad as people are making it out to be. I think at the end of the day, she marketed really well, but the book isn't living up to the marketing and promises she made in her videos. But for some people, I think it WILL live up to it. But there are some really long and comprehensive reviews (which is great!) that I think people are reading as objective truth. SO many people read and don't care about the "quality" of the writing. ESPECIALLY the age group this book is written for. So, yeah, it's all a bit odd. At the end of the day, this book is gonna make some amazing sales because of the drama so... that's a win I guess? lol
It really is. And completely dismisses the entire reason for Goodreads in the first place. The worst part is she is getting exorbitant amounts of hate for something that is 'vaguely shitty', while people have no problem repeatedly reading and promoting authors who actually deserve to be called out.
I read the book and I don't even know about the hype around it when I was reading it. It's a good book, if you don't expecting anything. It's unique and has it's own element that will make you remember it. I do notice that when I look at the cover, Marie Lue, one of my favorites author also recommend it, so yeah, I did finish it. But after read that and i want to add it to my bookshelf on goodreads, I finally understand what's the hype is all about and why people are dissatisfied. But I have to say, it's still worthwhile reading it.
Thank you for this response! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the book ❤️ it's great to hear from someone who read it (especially since you hadn't heard about all the drama before the release). I also love Marie Lu's work! She great
Of course! Thank you so much for your comment. I hope that it was informative enough that you got a decent understanding of the situation. I definitely think it's a mix of a ton of things, but at the end of the day... that's just publishing (which is a dumpster fire right now to begin with lol).
Really great breakdown of the whole situation, Emily! I'd heard of something going on (because half of BookTube is now making videos about money vs. skill/the gap between publishing houses and audiences), so it was great to see such a clear video on what's been going on. Hope you're keeping well in Belgium! 🇧🇪
I saw one or two of her videos and kind of ignored it because I wasn't going to read it, but when I saw people freaking I was like.... what?... and then fell down the rabbit hole. It's definitely nothing like I've heard of in the past decade with book promotion.
I think what you really mean is "bait and switch", Emily. As a first time viewer I learned a lot about book writing in general, however. PS I subscribed.
This was a really great and informative video! I'm always fascinated by the weight and power reviewers have over a book. And I totally agree: To rate a book before you even read it is not cool. It doesn't only hurt the author but it also gives other readers a wrong impression of the book. Loved to hear your thoughts on this. =)
Thank you so much!! I agree so hard. It's why I love reading ARCs! Being able to review a book and recommend it before it's even out brings me so much joy, and to feel like I'm helping an author makes it all the better. I think in this case with all the drama, the book is gonna sell really well. And hopefully, it finds the right audience for the author. It's really a bummer how a lot of this went down.
yeah i don't think aster should be bullied or anything and i can only hope she takes the criticism well to make the rest of the series better? improve on the writing, do more editing, help us make more sense of the world etc! but it is disappointing to hear about the misogyny in the book and the lack of representation too :( there was no reason to make the other 2 female realm leaders both pale white with white hair they look the exact same and both start with the letter c😭 ah but i don't feel like cancelling the preorder because i'm still curious hehe
Oh, for sure! I only learned about the misogyny after this video, or that totally would have been talked about! It's really too bad with how everything happened, and I hope things improve! I hope you read it, and I'm super curious as to your thoughts on it.
Some people have other theories she benefited from nepotism on the book and the movie deal, since her family is rich but we don’t have proof of that so do with that info what you will. But it’s still a pretty messed up situation.
Yeah, agreed. It's hard because everyone wants to speculate, but at the end of the day, there's only so much about the situation we actually know, and the rest is people just gossiping. I saw something about her sister owning a marketing company (or something similar) that specializes in TikTok, so the only thing I could think of that's reasonable is maybe they were using tactics based off of that. But at the end of the day, it's all speculation.
As an indie author myself, I've developed an interest in these viral sensation books which go on to move mega-numbers seemingly out of nowhere, as well as the impact that has on the publishing industry. The prevailing wisdom seems to be that both agents and publishers are absolutely uninterested in the quality of the story, as much as they are interested in how far-reaching a writer's social media presence is. This, because with a few exceptions, there is next to no marketing and promotional budgets put toward an author's work. Hence, advertising one's work is solely the responsibility of the author. Now, I've not read this book, and I doubt I will, as I aged out of the YA genre before Harry Potter even hit the scene. But based on what I've been hearing, Lightlark seems to be a fairly bog-standard YA offering. Simplistic characters, contrived plot devices, and presented in the sort of point-to-point prose that will give it broad-based appeal to that audience, without demanding too much from them.
Oh, that is so cool! I'm looking at going indie myself when my book is finished! I'm so happy to hear your perspective on this, and I totally agree with it all. Because if major publishing houses are now relying on the author's built-in community to drive sales instead of marketing the books... then what are we working with them for? It's just unfortunate that we are seeing these kinds of books promoted and becoming very successful just because of "hype" and false promises. Now that it has all kind of died down, I hope the author gets a better editor for the second one haha. Thank you so much for your comment!
@@EmilyReadsBooks Yeah, I was querying agents and having my manuscripts get lost in publisher's slush piles as far back as the 90s, when the entire publishing paradigm was very different. Here's a statistic to keep in mind, if you go indie and become discouraged by initial low sales numbers: 50% of the nearly 58,000 titles published annually by the BIg Four houses each sell less than a dozen copies. Ever. I released three months ago, and I've outsold them by a factor of four. So, don't get discouraged, debut books often sell the least, your second book sells your first, your third book sells your first two, and so on. Best of luck to ya! 👍
Honestly, I have a negative opinion of Lightlark because of videos made by people who read ARCs. (Spoilers ahead?) The book sometimes doesn't make sense at all. For example, there was a scene where Isla has chocolate with Grim despite Isla having mentioned how she must keep it a secret that she isn't affected by the Wildling curse. It doesn't feel like Isla is thinking. It is also disappointing that the only gay character is the only Black character that is also probably the least fleshed out ruler. It's not really representation if they're barely there. One thing that really hurts this book is the fact that almost every female character is just bad or evil. Be it her tutors, Celeste, etc. I understand making women the villain but having the vast majority of your small female cast evil really puts a horrible image on your book. I really like the premise initially but she really couldn't live up to the hype. The island is only made inaccessible because of a 100-year storm. The Centennial isn't much of a bunch of games and there's considerably few murder attempts on the day where murder is made legal. The games themselves were not lethal. This book definitely gets too much hate but it is genuinely not a good book outside of the drama.
Of course! I think that's totally okay. This video was made before 99% of the reviews came out (from people who actually read the book), and valid criticism is fine by me. The only problem I had was hate bombing just to hate. It isn't right, and while Alex comes from a place of privilege in the publishing community, it can harm smaller authors down the line if it becomes something "acceptable" to do. I, for one, probably will never read this book because of what I've heard about it. If it's a bad book, that's one thing, and totally deserves criticism, but the slander for slander's sake just because I can't get behind.
Comps aren’t uncommon in publishing to help readers get a feel for a book before it releases. I think it’s just the marketing did not live up to how she described it 😭
such an interesting and well put together video!!! honestly i’m really interested in reading the book based on the synopsis/snippets you mentioned, i wonder how it will compare to early reviewers experiences 🤨
Honestly feel like the controversy is way over blown. Definitely not a book I will ever read or enjoy and I do agree with much of the criticism. Like 1/3 POC main cast is fine but not “uniquely diverse.” Still, the hate and review bombing are extreme in comparison.
Yup, I completely agree. It's one thing to give genuine criticism, and another to just bully and ridicule an author (especially if it's in a genre that you wouldn't typically pick up to begin with). I think it got so blown up so quickly, everyone wanted to get on the hate train. Which honestly is so sad.
Gave up at page 80, had to google if anyone else struggled to read this dumpster fire of a book. I could not follow the writing at all made me feel so dumb. The writing is SOOOOOO BAD! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!
Unfortunately, publishers want books that will sell (and boy, this one did), and are willing to give up other aspects of it if it means they'll make a large profit.
@@EmilyReadsBooks I honestly don’t really know but the plot was just really interesting and the romance in it too! Especially who she chose in the end was surprising for me
I love how you didn't shit on Alex Aster like everyone else has. I haven't read the book and only recently heard about all of the drama but I feel so bad for her with all the hate she's getting. Like, we get it. People don't like the book. It just seems like an endless amount of reviewers popping up on TH-cam and TikTok giving the same redundant negative review. You were really objective throughout this and respectful of the fact that Alex is a person who clearly is passionate about writing and is human. Also, as an unpublished writer myself this whole situation breaks my heart. I can only imagine what it would be like to have people tear my hard work to pieces to this degree. Did she do some problematic shit? Seems like it, but damn...I don't know that the backlash is warranted to this degree...
Yeah, these are my thoughts exactly. We need to remember that at the end of the day she is just a person doing her best. Did she have some privilege when it came to being published (and to get a deal THAT big?), sure!! But hate bombing and bullying I just feel like is not the answer. I appreciate your comment, thank you!
I don’t have Tik tok (old school) I pre ordered the book based on the character art on Instagram to be honest because it’s gorgeous. I guess I will find out if I enjoy the book for my September Read athon.
Yes!! I would love to hear your thoughts on it. I'm glad you're deciding for yourself whether you like it or not, and not letting negative reviews scare you away. The character art is SO beautiful, and the page overlays she's advertised are so pretty.
Well yeah, you can put it on her be SHE’S the one that put it out there. The same way she posted it was, she should’ve posted that it didn’t make or it or post the NEW rewrites. This girl is a fraud. Period.
As much as I’m inclined to agree, there is also a LOT we don’t know about the situation. Yes, it was misleading, and yes she should be held accountable. However the bullying and harassment from random people on the internet is just wrong imo.
@@EmilyReadsBooks I will never agree with bullying! But, she needs to do a better job on providing accurate information after she garnered so much interest.
ACOTAR has more diversity tbh....Amren is asian, the Illyrians are dark tan, Helion is black and bisexual, Mor is bisexual....in Lightlark the only black character is also the only LGBTQIA+ character
I mean... meh. They're both bad, and that's the problem. Amren isn't even confirmed Asian, that is the fans pushing that narrative. And tan doesn't mean 'not white'. I just wish we had a better push for diversity in all genres and held authors (who make a TON of money off these books) accountable when giving representation.
@@Sam82631 yeah, that’s true. I suppose we need to see what kinds of things Alex puts into the next books in the series. Maybe she will listen to readers? But I’m keeping my hopes low.
Hi! I’m so sorry that I made you feel that way. The reason I mention race in this video at all was because she mentioned it in her tiktoks and many booktokers (who are not white and were upset about the lack of representation that was promised) spoke up about it. I thought it would be disingenuous to omit that from the discussion of the book.
Personally, I have done my research, and the whole situation is very messed up. So many people who have received arcs and rated it 5 stars are people who have no following on their social accounts whatsoever. People were also promised fighting, love triangles, enemies to lovers and none of it happened. Quotes that she promoted endlessly on her Tik Tok are not even in the book. (Yes, I am aware that Arcs don’t have everything well done but it’s only a few proofreading tweaks that they all need, so it doesn’t really make sense for whole ass quotes that were really popular when she posted them to not appear at least once or twice in the Arcs)
update: apparently, a ton of arcs were literally given out at YallFest for free to anyone who wanted one. Tons and tons. Which is why there’s this sudden uprise in just… pure hate. again, very messed up situation.
Totally agree. It sucks that so much was a letdown with it all, and because SO many people were invested in it I think they also were expecting a lot and it just... didn't deliver. I also wonder where in the process she was when she was sharing these quotes from her book because we don't know If the editor/publisher took stuff out due to one reason or another. And tbh, authors get little to no say over that.
I didn't know about the ARC stuff at YallFest! Very interesting... It just sucks that at the end of it all it turned into hatred and bullying instead of constructive criticism and talking about the actual issues of the situation.
@EmilyReadsBooks I read the book. And it's genuinely 1-star or 2-star worthy. But my criteria is if the story breaks its own rules or ignores its own rules until the big reveal, than yeah, its not going to get above 3 stars.
I dont follow social media hate if it doesn't reach the mainstream. And for me I haven't heard of the issues with race. But I did hear plenty of broken promises.
It's also painful because there's another book called "Larklight" and when you try to search for that book, Lightlark overshadows it.
I think the biggest issue is in how both Alex and her publisher have marketed the book. It’s okay to gas your book up, because as writers we’re our own biggest fans, however there comes a point when there is too much hype and you make it impossible to deliver up to that standard, particularly if it’s your debut in a new genre. I think for me the critiques about the writing are quite well founded and valid and I hope that it’s those reviews that Alex does listen too if she intends to write the rest of the series. I also think that no writer should compare their work to another’s - for example saying ‘oh it’s like hunger games with ACOTAR’ like those are two really big franchises with really dedicated fan bases and so you’re drawing them in to read your book which cant always deliver to their standards. Currently I’m writing a book about elves, but in no way do I want to be compared to Tolkien because I simply cannot deliver to his level. I also think promoting your book based on specific scenes and tropes can be dangerous because as you’ve said in the editing process some things can be removed and when you’ve hooked people with a certain scene or trope and then your work doesn’t deliver on that, people become disappointed. Finally on the point about Alex presenting some kind of rags to riches story I do think some of the critique is quite valid there because she’s essentially made it seem that she has struggled to get published which has inspired a fan base of people who admire the success and struggle when in reality, although Alex says she hasn’t used her connections for this book, she has benefited from the privilege of not having to work whilst she writes and also that she has knowledge of how the publishing system works from having published books already. I appreciate that she has clarified that it’s the idea about lightlark that has been rejected time and time again, but also there is an element of privilege at play there. Alex’s starting line was a bit further ahead than most writers of her age and older and I think where she’s tripped up has been that she’s really heavily marketed herself as being a struggling writer.
TLDR: I can see why people are annoyed but I don’t think it’s right Alex is personally getting so much hate, the legit reviews are pretty valid about the quality of the writing and generally the book I think was too overhyped and was never going to deliver.
Yup yup yup!! I think the marketing hyped it so much that even if it WAS a decent book in the genre, it wouldn't have delivered. We have to also remember she's still technically a new and young author. Hopefully, with the sequels, she gets more time with an editor to really make it great.
Comping your book to other series is an industry-standard, though. So saying it's like Hunger Games and ACOTAR is what she was supposed to be doing to promo her book (it gives the readers a sense of what books they're already familiar with compared to how this book will be). This is something you do even when querying to agents so they take an interest in the book you're reading. The issue is that she used those as her comps and it just didn't hold up.
I think Booktok is too obsessed with tropes in general, and truly that is why a lot of books being published in the past years have been let downs. They're just tropes mixed in with a few other things.
Totally agree with the privilege thing. It just sucks that a lot of the conversation has shifted from constructive conversation to outright hate and bashing. I think the book honestly had great potential, just needed more time to be realized.
They handed out ARCS like candy. It was INSANE that she even ever tried to claim that there weren't that many out there. On top of 100+ being handed out at Yall West, Netgalley was set to auto approve anyone who requested the audio-arc. On top of THAT, every Barnes and Noble employee in the country had access to the e-arc. (It wouldn't surprise me if our sister store employees at Waterstones had similar access.) My store was sent 2 final copies for employees before release day as well.
And, the scenes she promoted aren't in the final. She tried to make arc readers look crazy and lied that it's in the final.
When some coworkers tried to ask why she was saying that when they read the final, she blocked them. Literally half my bookstore employees are now blocked by Aster. Which is a great way to ensure your book never gets recommended.
Damn that is so crazy!! Thank you for sharing this with me. Did you end up reading it yourself?
@@EmilyReadsBooks Yeah. I had taken one of the final copies that was sent to my bookstore before release date.
It was.....bad. 😬 Which was really disappointing because the premise had potential! But Aster claimed she'd been working on this book for 10 years (which would maker her 12 when she started writing it) and I kind of believe her because it reads like a 13 year olds first wattpad story. Her editors did her dirty too. I swear if you had to do a shot every time you read "thing, meanly, grinned or yolk" you would straight up die before making it 2/3 in.
There's a lot of plot holes, the magic doesn't really make sense, and I got kinda squeaked out that this book that was promoted as having a lot of "diversity" has one black background character with barely any lines, and a Latina coded MC who is a sultry, firey, temptress, that comes from a tribe of cannibals 😬
@@12makbe OOF. There’s a lot to unpack there 😭 thank you for such a thoughtful response! I’ve heard lots of similar things. It really goes to show that as long as hype will sell a book, some publishing houses maybe don’t care about quality. Or editing lol.
An ARC is never the finished version of a book, but usually the edits are done as a result of initial response. I've never heard of an ARC that purposefully keeps entire scenes out.
I've never heard the term ARC before, what does it mean? I assume it's an acronym?
@@ryanciesiolka9435 Advanced Reader Copy. The version of the book sent out to be reviewed to generate hype before a book's formal launch.
Yeah, that's why I was initially kind of confused. I've read tons of arcs before, and never have they been like "this is missing portions of the book". ESPECIALLY if they're the scenes that have been promoted online that people bought the book for in the first place.
As an author of several books, I know my ARCS are never that different from the final product. In fact, ARCS aren't usually printed until AFTER the book has been edited, copyedited, proofread, etc. There might be a few typos corrected and that sort of thing, but NOT extensive changes or scenes cut or anything like that.
@@VickiWeavil Exactly my thoughts.
Published writer here: You can have big differences from ARC to new book - my ARC had the full first chapter changed. But those changes will usually be suggested some time after the ARC has been out and recieved feedback, and largely driven by the editor, not the author.
Interesting!! Thank you for offering some insight.
Apparently in some places in the UK the book is already out. A guy bought it, read it and made a tiktok about it. The quotes Aster used to publicize the books, that are not in the ARC and that Aster promised would be in the actual novel... aren't there.
I bet people feel ripped off.
The money thing I think has to do with the fact that Aster's parents loaned her and her twin 15k dollars each to start a business. Her sister's is now worth around 200 millions, has ties with Selena Gomez and a huge following (it has to do with mindfulness and entrepreneurship, iirc). So she most likely helped publicize the book. Maybe even put Aster in contact with someone in the publishing business (not necessarily for Lightlark, since she's already published other titles... this is something else I found suspicious, Aster has been acting like this is her debut novel after years of rejection, when it's not).
Aster said she's had to deal with rejection for 10 years, which sounds like a lot until you realize she started at 17. Of course at 17 your writing skills aren't stellar. And if reviews from people who've read the book are to be trusted, they're still really bad. So people of course think she got published through connections.
A big issue people have with this book is that it was advertised as Hunger Games meets ACOTAR, but "diverse", which people where really excited about. Turns out that there's nothing of HG and there's only one character of color, who's also gay aka a token diverse character. I believe Aster is latina, so readers felt really disappointed and lied to.
Apparently there's also a good dose of misogyny and slut-shaming, where the protagonist is "pure" as opposed to all the other "temptresses".
About the movie rights: it's really common for companies to buy rights before a book is even out because they can buy them for cheaper and with less competition compared to a popular best seller. The company saw all the hype around the book and so bought the rights.
But if it's truly in production already, before the book is even out... that's suspicious.
And the fact that she talks about a movie franchise when the first book isn't even out and the second and third are years in the making is just 🤦🏾♀️🙈
Yeah, it's all a bit weird. It's hard not to feel a little let down with how she promoted it all. I heard about the slut shaming after I made the video which is again another weird disappointment. I think there's a lot to unpack, and honestly, I would need to read it to give it a comprehensive look outside of what was already said, but I don't plan on reading it.
I just wish the bullying would stop. It's harming the actual conversations that are meaningful and should be taking place (like all the stuff you mentioned above).
@@EmilyReadsBooks Oh, of course. I'm talking strictly about reviews of people who have read the book and their criticism, I completely ignored the ones that had not read the book and were just happy to insult her. I won't be supporting her, but I won't be hating on her either.
I think you hit the nail on the head when you pointed out how quickly she was signed and her book published after her TikTok. The publisher was more concerned with hype and sales than quality (I'm not sure that more rounds of editing would've changed the slut-shaming and lack of rep, those look like serious problems with the author's mentality and are hard to change, but the writing would've been better for sure).
I wish I could look at this in a positive light and say "The publisher will learn the lesson and stop prioritizing sales over readers and storytelling!" but... 😅 publishing is a business, after all. Aster will be taking the blame, and the machine will keep on working like nothing happened.
I discovered the TikTok backlash/Goodreads drama about ten minutes before I watched this video, haha. This book has been on my mind a lot lately as just a truly fascinating event in the book world, so you were speaking my language here. I feel like the main issue is just empty promises that started with good intent-maybe no one told Alex Aster how she should market her book, or she just bit off more than she could chew in sharing from it and then things changed in the editing process. The drama’s gotten me interested in the book, but if I choose to read it, it’ll be a library pick for sure.
Ahh! Olivia!!! It's SUCH an interesting phenomenon that's going on. I definitely agree, she promoted it one way, and it just didn't deliver, which left people wanting more. I think this is a case where the "hype" around a book is really backfiring, and now everyone is jumping on the hate train.
If you read it, I'd love to know your thoughts on it!
Okay, as someone who is in the movie industry: yes, the explanation you were given as to why the movie contract was signed before the book was even on the shelves makes perfectly sense and it's absolutely normal and almost expected. HOWEVER, considering how badly the book is doing, how many negative reviews it's getting and how many people are disappointed with it (and by the number of people who seem to be deleting their pre-order), I think it's going to be very likely that the movie will be either scrapped or shelved even before production will begin.
Especially considering that Maas has had film deals that have not panned out (yet). A lot of film options go nowhere, sadly.
@@VickiWeavil well, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. It could be possible that the movie in question is still in pre-production (choosing the director, actors, technicians, studios that will do the editing/special effects/VFX), because movies are a very complex affair, even when they have small budgets. Authors are told if the project based on their book has been shelved or not, so if SJM has not said anything about the movie not happening, it's very likely that it's still in the works.
Pre-production can even last years, which is why, for example, Twilight was a massive hit since the very beginning, but the movie didn't go to theaters until 2008.
@@myrtaleellery I'm interested to see what happens with the whole movie deal. Especially since this is going to be a series, and maybe the publishing house will go in another direction and the next books will be more what people are looking for. But who knows? At this point, it is all speculation and the 'negative' publicity may be the driving force for it to do well. Plus, a movie could 'fix' all the issues people are finding in the book since who knows what they would keep or scrap in an adaptation.
@@VickiWeavil Most 'movie deals' don't go anywhere, unfortunately. That's why payment is split between an upfront percentage of the final amount, and the rest once the show/movie has begun filming. However, I think in Maas' case it is just that they are in the process of development and haven't shared updates at this time.
@@EmilyReadsBooks Yeah, unfortunately I'm aware of how TV and film deals often end up going nowhere -- I had a TV deal on a couple of my mystery books, but the option wasn't renewed, so... That was the end of that.
I think it's an interesting theory that they probably rushed to get it out while there was still hype and that might've caused some do these issues. It kind of connects to what I've been suspecting which is that from the outside she seems very surrounded by yes-men, maybe because of the hype, which is not great when you want to sell the best product possible. Yes, having supportive people around you is important, but maybe the people publishing it are trying to rush it out and didn't want to stop and take the time to perfect it because they thought they'd gain more from hype than quality, which meant she might not have gotten the necessary criticism from them. Plus, who knows what her friends told her in private, but I think it's added to the outrage that a lot of the five star reviews come from her friends OR people who have new or private accounts with no following and barely any other reviews. Like I'm sure a lot of the one star reviews are fake, but it appears that at least some of the five star ones are too.
It seems like a case of someone promising more than they could deliver, and painting an inspiring picture of both herself as a person and the book that people felt very passionate about but wasn't exactly accurate or transparent, and then throw in a social media algorithm that absolutely LOVES this type of drama and you've got a recipe for disaster.
I totally agree with what you're saying here. It definitely isn't helping that SO many people are all scrambling to make content on TikTok because the algorithm is going crazy for it. I was going through my FYP the other day and I swear I had 8 videos in a row all talking about this book.
I think it also is not AS bad as people are making it out to be. I think at the end of the day, she marketed really well, but the book isn't living up to the marketing and promises she made in her videos. But for some people, I think it WILL live up to it. But there are some really long and comprehensive reviews (which is great!) that I think people are reading as objective truth. SO many people read and don't care about the "quality" of the writing. ESPECIALLY the age group this book is written for. So, yeah, it's all a bit odd.
At the end of the day, this book is gonna make some amazing sales because of the drama so... that's a win I guess? lol
I don't agree with people leaving 1 star reviews on something they've not read. I think that's sh*tty behaviour, personally.
It really is. And completely dismisses the entire reason for Goodreads in the first place. The worst part is she is getting exorbitant amounts of hate for something that is 'vaguely shitty', while people have no problem repeatedly reading and promoting authors who actually deserve to be called out.
I read the book and I don't even know about the hype around it when I was reading it. It's a good book, if you don't expecting anything. It's unique and has it's own element that will make you remember it.
I do notice that when I look at the cover, Marie Lue, one of my favorites author also recommend it, so yeah, I did finish it. But after read that and i want to add it to my bookshelf on goodreads, I finally understand what's the hype is all about and why people are dissatisfied. But I have to say, it's still worthwhile reading it.
Thank you for this response! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the book ❤️ it's great to hear from someone who read it (especially since you hadn't heard about all the drama before the release). I also love Marie Lu's work! She great
Thank you for this breakdown. I only just heard about this in passing on Twitter. Sounds like folks are blowing this up out of proportion.
Of course! Thank you so much for your comment. I hope that it was informative enough that you got a decent understanding of the situation. I definitely think it's a mix of a ton of things, but at the end of the day... that's just publishing (which is a dumpster fire right now to begin with lol).
Really great breakdown of the whole situation, Emily! I'd heard of something going on (because half of BookTube is now making videos about money vs. skill/the gap between publishing houses and audiences), so it was great to see such a clear video on what's been going on. Hope you're keeping well in Belgium! 🇧🇪
Hey!! Thank you so much! ❤️ I’m glad you found the video helpful and clear to follow. I hope you are doing well! 😊
I’ve definitely seen her promote her book on booktok but skipped over it because I’m not a fantasy girlie but this is really interesting
I saw one or two of her videos and kind of ignored it because I wasn't going to read it, but when I saw people freaking I was like.... what?... and then fell down the rabbit hole. It's definitely nothing like I've heard of in the past decade with book promotion.
I think what you really mean is "bait and switch", Emily. As a first time viewer I learned a lot about book writing in general, however. PS I subscribed.
This is a perfect case of TikTok and YT book reviewers believing they are the be all end all of the literary industry. They're not.
This was a really great and informative video! I'm always fascinated by the weight and power reviewers have over a book. And I totally agree: To rate a book before you even read it is not cool. It doesn't only hurt the author but it also gives other readers a wrong impression of the book. Loved to hear your thoughts on this. =)
Thank you so much!! I agree so hard. It's why I love reading ARCs! Being able to review a book and recommend it before it's even out brings me so much joy, and to feel like I'm helping an author makes it all the better. I think in this case with all the drama, the book is gonna sell really well. And hopefully, it finds the right audience for the author. It's really a bummer how a lot of this went down.
yeah i don't think aster should be bullied or anything and i can only hope she takes the criticism well to make the rest of the series better? improve on the writing, do more editing, help us make more sense of the world etc!
but it is disappointing to hear about the misogyny in the book and the lack of representation too :( there was no reason to make the other 2 female realm leaders both pale white with white hair they look the exact same and both start with the letter c😭 ah but i don't feel like cancelling the preorder because i'm still curious hehe
Oh, for sure! I only learned about the misogyny after this video, or that totally would have been talked about! It's really too bad with how everything happened, and I hope things improve! I hope you read it, and I'm super curious as to your thoughts on it.
Some people have other theories she benefited from nepotism on the book and the movie deal, since her family is rich but we don’t have proof of that so do with that info what you will. But it’s still a pretty messed up situation.
Yeah, agreed. It's hard because everyone wants to speculate, but at the end of the day, there's only so much about the situation we actually know, and the rest is people just gossiping. I saw something about her sister owning a marketing company (or something similar) that specializes in TikTok, so the only thing I could think of that's reasonable is maybe they were using tactics based off of that. But at the end of the day, it's all speculation.
As an indie author myself, I've developed an interest in these viral sensation books which go on to move mega-numbers seemingly out of nowhere, as well as the impact that has on the publishing industry. The prevailing wisdom seems to be that both agents and publishers are absolutely uninterested in the quality of the story, as much as they are interested in how far-reaching a writer's social media presence is. This, because with a few exceptions, there is next to no marketing and promotional budgets put toward an author's work. Hence, advertising one's work is solely the responsibility of the author.
Now, I've not read this book, and I doubt I will, as I aged out of the YA genre before Harry Potter even hit the scene. But based on what I've been hearing, Lightlark seems to be a fairly bog-standard YA offering. Simplistic characters, contrived plot devices, and presented in the sort of point-to-point prose that will give it broad-based appeal to that audience, without demanding too much from them.
Oh, that is so cool! I'm looking at going indie myself when my book is finished! I'm so happy to hear your perspective on this, and I totally agree with it all. Because if major publishing houses are now relying on the author's built-in community to drive sales instead of marketing the books... then what are we working with them for?
It's just unfortunate that we are seeing these kinds of books promoted and becoming very successful just because of "hype" and false promises. Now that it has all kind of died down, I hope the author gets a better editor for the second one haha.
Thank you so much for your comment!
@@EmilyReadsBooks Yeah, I was querying agents and having my manuscripts get lost in publisher's slush piles as far back as the 90s, when the entire publishing paradigm was very different. Here's a statistic to keep in mind, if you go indie and become discouraged by initial low sales numbers: 50% of the nearly 58,000 titles published annually by the BIg Four houses each sell less than a dozen copies. Ever. I released three months ago, and I've outsold them by a factor of four. So, don't get discouraged, debut books often sell the least, your second book sells your first, your third book sells your first two, and so on. Best of luck to ya! 👍
@@keiththorpe9571 Thank you! The same you to!
Honestly, I have a negative opinion of Lightlark because of videos made by people who read ARCs. (Spoilers ahead?)
The book sometimes doesn't make sense at all. For example, there was a scene where Isla has chocolate with Grim despite Isla having mentioned how she must keep it a secret that she isn't affected by the Wildling curse. It doesn't feel like Isla is thinking.
It is also disappointing that the only gay character is the only Black character that is also probably the least fleshed out ruler. It's not really representation if they're barely there.
One thing that really hurts this book is the fact that almost every female character is just bad or evil. Be it her tutors, Celeste, etc. I understand making women the villain but having the vast majority of your small female cast evil really puts a horrible image on your book.
I really like the premise initially but she really couldn't live up to the hype. The island is only made inaccessible because of a 100-year storm. The Centennial isn't much of a bunch of games and there's considerably few murder attempts on the day where murder is made legal. The games themselves were not lethal. This book definitely gets too much hate but it is genuinely not a good book outside of the drama.
Of course! I think that's totally okay. This video was made before 99% of the reviews came out (from people who actually read the book), and valid criticism is fine by me. The only problem I had was hate bombing just to hate. It isn't right, and while Alex comes from a place of privilege in the publishing community, it can harm smaller authors down the line if it becomes something "acceptable" to do.
I, for one, probably will never read this book because of what I've heard about it. If it's a bad book, that's one thing, and totally deserves criticism, but the slander for slander's sake just because I can't get behind.
I felt a bit sceptical when she's trying to market as hunger games x acotar. As if she's saying it's actually a knockoff of the two combined
Comps aren’t uncommon in publishing to help readers get a feel for a book before it releases. I think it’s just the marketing did not live up to how she described it 😭
such an interesting and well put together video!!! honestly i’m really interested in reading the book based on the synopsis/snippets you mentioned, i wonder how it will compare to early reviewers experiences 🤨
Ahhh!!! Thank you, Mer!!! I hope you read it! I want to know ALL your thoughts on it.
Honestly feel like the controversy is way over blown. Definitely not a book I will ever read or enjoy and I do agree with much of the criticism. Like 1/3 POC main cast is fine but not “uniquely diverse.” Still, the hate and review bombing are extreme in comparison.
Yup, I completely agree. It's one thing to give genuine criticism, and another to just bully and ridicule an author (especially if it's in a genre that you wouldn't typically pick up to begin with). I think it got so blown up so quickly, everyone wanted to get on the hate train. Which honestly is so sad.
The book sales of Lightlark are amazing
Gave up at page 80, had to google if anyone else struggled to read this dumpster fire of a book. I could not follow the writing at all made me feel so dumb. The writing is SOOOOOO BAD! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!
Unfortunately, publishers want books that will sell (and boy, this one did), and are willing to give up other aspects of it if it means they'll make a large profit.
I actually loved the book and I can’t get it out of my head now lmao
Hahah! I'm glad to hear from someone who loved it! So often I've only heard hate. What about it did you like?
@@EmilyReadsBooks I honestly don’t really know but the plot was just really interesting and the romance in it too! Especially who she chose in the end was surprising for me
The publishers are counting their chicken before they hatched!
I love how you didn't shit on Alex Aster like everyone else has. I haven't read the book and only recently heard about all of the drama but I feel so bad for her with all the hate she's getting. Like, we get it. People don't like the book. It just seems like an endless amount of reviewers popping up on TH-cam and TikTok giving the same redundant negative review. You were really objective throughout this and respectful of the fact that Alex is a person who clearly is passionate about writing and is human. Also, as an unpublished writer myself this whole situation breaks my heart. I can only imagine what it would be like to have people tear my hard work to pieces to this degree. Did she do some problematic shit? Seems like it, but damn...I don't know that the backlash is warranted to this degree...
Yeah, these are my thoughts exactly. We need to remember that at the end of the day she is just a person doing her best. Did she have some privilege when it came to being published (and to get a deal THAT big?), sure!! But hate bombing and bullying I just feel like is not the answer. I appreciate your comment, thank you!
i had never heard about this before this video. ooh tiktok drama haha i have no real opinion, im just here for support ;)
hahaha thank you!! It's definitely a little niche, but the whole situation fascinated me, I had to talk about it!
I don’t have Tik tok (old school) I pre ordered the book based on the character art on Instagram to be honest because it’s gorgeous. I guess I will find out if I enjoy the book for my September Read athon.
Yes!! I would love to hear your thoughts on it. I'm glad you're deciding for yourself whether you like it or not, and not letting negative reviews scare you away. The character art is SO beautiful, and the page overlays she's advertised are so pretty.
@@EmilyReadsBooks too bad the overlays are US only 😢
@@rebar351 Literally the US gets everything :( the only thing I kind of miss about living there
what people don't realize is how difficult it is to recapsule one's book
it's like the video games style but in books, she will sell season pass to get the full story 🤣
I thought it was Olivia Wilde in the thumbnail
haha omg. I'm gonna take this as a compliment.
Well yeah, you can put it on her be SHE’S the one that put it out there. The same way she posted it was, she should’ve posted that it didn’t make or it or post the NEW rewrites. This girl is a fraud. Period.
As much as I’m inclined to agree, there is also a LOT we don’t know about the situation. Yes, it was misleading, and yes she should be held accountable. However the bullying and harassment from random people on the internet is just wrong imo.
@@EmilyReadsBooks I will never agree with bullying! But, she needs to do a better job on providing accurate information after she garnered so much interest.
Alexa tried to make it racially diverse but she is not the minority she is suppose to depict in her story
Guys, how do you pronounce “Isla”? Is it “Eye-la” “Eyes-la,” or “Ees-la”?
I believe it is “eye-la”
Its been a year, hey
Its actually "Is-la" like 'is' as in "Is this serious?"
oh no not bootleg rhysand and feyre.. as if the original aren't insufferable enough
lmaooooooo my thoughts exactly
ACOTAR has more diversity tbh....Amren is asian, the Illyrians are dark tan, Helion is black and bisexual, Mor is bisexual....in Lightlark the only black character is also the only LGBTQIA+ character
I mean... meh. They're both bad, and that's the problem. Amren isn't even confirmed Asian, that is the fans pushing that narrative. And tan doesn't mean 'not white'. I just wish we had a better push for diversity in all genres and held authors (who make a TON of money off these books) accountable when giving representation.
@@EmilyReadsBooks Totally agree with a larger push for diversity
@@EmilyReadsBooks But I stand by my previous statement that ACOTAR is more diverse, even if only a little bit
@@Sam82631 yeah, that’s true. I suppose we need to see what kinds of things Alex puts into the next books in the series. Maybe she will listen to readers? But I’m keeping my hopes low.
As a racial minority seeing all of you white and white passing women focus on the author's race & race in general is so creepy and blood crawling 💀
Hi! I’m so sorry that I made you feel that way. The reason I mention race in this video at all was because she mentioned it in her tiktoks and many booktokers (who are not white and were upset about the lack of representation that was promised) spoke up about it. I thought it would be disingenuous to omit that from the discussion of the book.