#i have found a lot of gems going down rabbit holes on thriftbooks

[wiltking]

Hi wilt do you have theories as to why so many MM books are shitty? Are my standards too high? Like so many popular MM books are popular based off the sexiness of the characters and the sex alone and so many are just the most basic "I'm serious/edgy guy" and "I'm flirty/funny guy" relationship.

I have to fight for my life to find a good MM book that isn't instant attraction/love (I fucking hate when an MCs first thoughts about the other MC is "I want to fuck him so bad"; it's only good in a few stories), and has a worthwhile plot, well developed characters with serious/realistic problems, and a meaningful romance. I know there's really good MM out there but it's so annoying going thru Goodreads and finding maybe one actually well-thought, not porn-y book out of 13 hockey romances about the same generic, muscley white ppl.

so, i dont read popular books. full stop. i also generally avoid anything marked as strictly 'romance' or published in the past 8+ years out of personal preference (if i can help it). because from my experience what youre describing is an ongoing problem with modern publishing standards and i have zero patience or interest for it.

my advice would be to try reading stuff published before 2015, roughly, and avoid goodreads like the plague. easier said than done because ive been trawling through older and weirder gay books for about a decade now, and they have certainly not all been Good. but generally the good stuff (complex characters, weird narrative styles, compelling and morally difficult stories) isnt what's "marketable", and youre gonna have to work harder to find it. stuff thats out of print, self published indie authors, old abandonned review blog sites - it takes work. but your standards arent too high.

i think publishers these days are too interested in making a quick buck off queer readers (with sanitized YA and smutty plotless shovelware novels) rather than take risks with more challenging, thoughtful, adult gay fiction. older books (from smaller and even shortlived publishers) seem to have been a lot more willing to take those risks because publishing stories with gay characters was already a risk in and of itself. and if they were going to print a book with gay characters the story have better been damn good and worth the investment.

in conclusion capitalism is the death of art, use storygraph instead of goodreads, and take chances on books that maybe dont have many reviews but are just strange enough to pique your interest. good luck and godspeed out there soldier