#or the romance books that only care about the romance and shove the plot and the world in the background

[elvhendis]

Are there any good books that are not fantasy romance but more like... romantic fantasy? Like I DO want my romance plot/subplot and I want it to be in focus, but I also want a really well fleshed out and vast fantasy world with high stakes and a lot of action??

[marvelettesassemblenow]

The Porch Swing

Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x female Reader 

Summary: Jake spotted you in a coffee shop and just had to get to know you! 

Word Count: 622 

Warnings:  none 

A/N: I have no clue why Jake always ends like a lovesick fool, but I hope you enjoy this little piece

He would get you a porch swing! He had no clue if that was what you wanted, but he was determined to figure out what you wanted. Although he could see it: The leaves falling from the trees that were scattered around the plot of land that would belong to both of you, the grass that would need a final cutting before it would get to cold and wet and in the distance just before the house you would sit on that swing under some blankets and your book in your lap. 

When he would come up to you, you’d complain about not feeling your legs anymore as you had been sitting with your feet under your butt for longer than you should have and the drink next to you would be cold already, but he would make you another one. He would do anything for you, he knew it. 

“Hey, I’m Jake. I was wondering what you’re reading,” he told you when he made his way over to the table you were occupying in the coffee shop. 

Bewildered you looked up from your book and he could only hope that he was able to distract you from reading over and over again. He didn’t know where this came from, but he just had to know you! 

“It’s actually a – uhm romance novel,” you told him and showed him the cover of the book. 

“No need to be shy about enjoying something,” he winked at you. “Is this seat taken? I would like to know more about you and your preferences in books.” His hand was on the back on the chair, waiting for your okay before he pulled it out and sat down. 

“Is it just for you or for your friends?” You pointed behind him and he stared a little longer at your empty hand before he followed your gaze. He had forgotten all about Rooster, Bob and Phoenix who had wanted to grab a coffee to go with him, but he decided then that he would rather sit here with you, and he didn’t care if they went on their way without him – even though Rooster was his ride. 

But his friends must have seen something as they decided to take a seat at a table on the other side of the shop and they even sent his drink his way when they saw you inviting him to take the seat. 

Jake learned a lot about you until Bob came to the table and reminded him that they had to leave to get back to the base. 

“I hope I’m seeing you again!” You told him with a smile. He promised you he would before he left the shop with his coworkers. 

When he was about to climb into the car Phoenix told him that he better not wait for three days before he texted you and in that moment all color left his face. 

“Don’t tell me you didn’t her number,” Rooster asked shocked, but Jake never heard him as he was already running back to the café and hoped you were still there. You were, but your face didn’t look as happy as before when you were reading. 

“I’m a moron, I forgot to ask for your number!” Jake exclaimed and almost shoved his phone in your face. 

“Oh I’m glad you came back. I thought it was you letting me down easy,” you told him while typing in your number. 

“No, no, of course not. I was just so distracted. I’ll text you as soon as I can!” he promised. And not even a minute after he left your phone showed you a new message from an unknown number: 

What do you think of porch swings? 

[twstbookclub]

Tickled Pink, But It's a Skill Issue

Summary: Idia is anything but thrilled at the soulmate mark on his wrist. After meeting his soulmate on one sunny day though, he's having second thoughts. POV: 2nd Person Pronouns: Gender Neutral Admin/Writer: Cressa 🦋 Tags: Comedy, Slight Angst, Romance, Fluff, Soulmate AU, Minor Swearing, Idia Gamer Speak, The Absolute Cringelord that is Idia Shroud, and Minor Book 6 spoilers

Word Count: 1,218

Idia Shroud stared at the words tattooed on his wrist with a grimace. Throughout his eighteen years of living, it still baffled him that the words he was born with cursed with, more like it were four words that made him want to shrink from embarrassment. Anyone else might have wondered about their soulmate once they saw their mark, but Idia might as well die from cringe.

“Your hair is pretty,” he muttered, shuddering. Really? Idia would rather have anything—anything, really—for a soulmate mark. What kind of soulmate’s first words to him would be about his hair, an untamed trail of flames and emotion? Emotions that made it obvious to anyone that he’s either angry or embarrassed? Emotions bearing impossible dreams, brutally crushed during his childhood? Idia would rather his soulmate curse or insult him for how much of a shut-in he is. If he was going to take the L and spend the rest of his life with this one person, at least make it believable.

Must be a normie hopeless romantic, Idia thought as he tapped and typed on his holographic screens. The type who dreams of a knight who saves them from a dragon for an RPG quest. Just like those prissy, trash-tier snobs at RSA. Just like a cliché romance plot in a B movie.

Idia knew he shouldn’t think of his soulmate like this before even meeting them. People his age already found their soulmates at this point. Couples holding hands in the park, sharing a drink in the restaurant booth, and all of the typical, mushy, lovey-dovey things people in love do. Well, people that aren’t the Shroud family. With how robotic they are, Idia doubts if the Shroud pair ever fell in love. He didn’t care to know about how his parents found each other. Even if he was curious as a kid, his parents never gave him the time of the day. Not when they were too busy to even look at their children who were going to inherit the fate of the Shrouds.

A faint crackle made Idia glance at the lock trailing down his shoulder. The orange tips of his hair shone like the beginning of twilight in his room, which was Idia’s cue to calm down. He huffed, subconsciously typing more aggressively than usual, and willed himself to forget his feelings. The thought of his soulmate always worked him up, or was it his parents?

“Who cares? I need to log in and do my dailies. I don’t want to break my log-in streak just because of this.”

Idia spent another evening in his room with nothing but his games, shoving ridiculous sentiment aside and waiting for Ortho to come back from class.

The next day was supposed to be ordinary, bleak, uneventful. Idia only went outside the comfort of his room to grab the newest video games and manga he ordered. Classes should’ve kept every NRC student busy. He could’ve slipped in and out of daylight without anyone noticing him.

“Your hair is pretty.”

Why is the Ramshackle Prefect here? Better yet, why did the universe give him a soulmate that was always surrounded by drama? Is he the main character of some sick comedy? Are the gods making fun of him at this point?

Idia Shroud, a stuttering coward in the crowd and a callous bastard behind the monitor, wanted to disappear right then and there. The tips of his hair flickered between fiery red and hot pink. His amber irises switched from the Prefect’s eyes, the cobblestone of Main Street, the Lord of the Underworld’s statue, and back to the Prefect’s eyes before he remembered that he shouldn’t be looking at them in the first place.

Maybe Idia should’ve worked on that drone to grab his deliveries for him. Maybe he could’ve avoided this outcome. Then again, if he couldn’t avoid his fate of being stuck as the Watchman, Idia could never run away from this even if he tried to.

He knew your name. Everyone does. You were the infamous magicless student in Night Raven College. You always found yourself in troublesome situations and with the SSR Epic Troublemakers. Riddle Rosehearts? Leona Kingscholar? Azul Ashengrotto? Does he need to list more of them to get the point across?

More importantly, you’re his soulmate. You. His. Idia’s mind was on the verge of a shutdown until he remembered that he should reply to you instead of standing like a spooked cat drenched in the rain.

“What’s a normie like you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be in class with the monster kitty?”

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why was his literal default being an asshole? His soulmate is standing not more than a meter in front of him, and he called them a normie. Brilliant. Can’t he level up his Charm stat just this once? Is he seriously having a skill issue right now?

While Idia was handling an internal battle with himself, you raised a brow. Oh no. He’s done it. Here comes the insult, the slap, the animosity he’s familiar with.

Except, you weren’t all those things.

“Did you just call me a normie?” You laughed, crossing your arms and grinning. The sound echoed in his ears, rattled his mind, and stole his every thought. Suddenly, Idia wanted to hear more of it. Honestly, this entire scenario feels like it was ripped out of a dating sim. This was getting into dangerous territory.

Idia’s hands hovered over his chest as he watched the magicless prefect. His shoulders visibly relaxed, but his fists clenched ‘til his knuckles turned ghostly pale. Well, that’s a first.

You kept going, undeterred by his insult, “It’s none of your business. I just wanted to say your hair’s pretty. Shouldn’t you be in class?”

You… didn’t know him. Idia didn’t know whether he should collapse from relief or cry about how invisible he was to you. Is this what it felt like to be a forgettable side character in a Triple-A game? Since when did it matter what you thought of him? Since when did he decide that you calling his hair pretty wasn’t cringe? Since when did his hair glow bright pink?

“Nevermind. I don’t have time for this.” You shook your head and walked around him. Idia almost grabbed your wrist out of instinct. As if this scene was straight out of a shoujo manga where the main character tries to reach out to her love interest before confessing. His hand shot back to his chest as if he was burned.

Oh great Seven, he’s turning into a walking cliché at the sight of his soulmate.

Idia’s heart jumped into his throat when you looked back at him with a knowing smirk. One that he knows will damn him for the rest of his life just because he wanted to get his video games and manga. Idia wanted to die on the spot at what you told him next.

“Look, you’re hot and all, but seriously? Pro tip: don’t insult your soulmate on sight. Make a better first impression next time, alright?”

Oh.

Oh.

Idia will make damn sure that he finishes that drone before he sees you again. Otherwise, he’ll combust on the spot and the pink flames will be screaming his infatuation for you.

[freebooter4ever]

Im relistening to ballad of songbirds and snakes and i still dont understand the authors choice of snow as protagonist. Its interesting but it isnt especially compelling compared to a lot of other characters in the initial books. Like where is our prequel detailing haymitch's story? We've seen multiple different perspectives of a tribute through katniss's eyes. And now i guess the author wants to show the capitol through a citizen's eyes? But i would much rather see it through another third party. Rewatching catching fire reminded me of how we got tiny glimpses of haymitch's world. Katniss is so self centered she never stops to think about anyone but herself unless its shoved immediately in front of her priorities. But unlike her, the audience catches and sympathizes with haymitch's tiny comments and snippits of how miserable he's been trying to straddle the worlds of the 'district' and 'capitol' for decades. And being the only mentor available for twelve. He didnt have a mentor in the games, so when he suddenly found himself on the other side of things he must have had people help him out. And his friendships with the other victors - chaff, mags, beetee, joanna (my favorite), etc - would be extremely interesting to read about.

Whereas snow...i just dont care about. Its interesting from a plot and political world building perspective. But the man himself is boring af. I think thats my one complaint about the book. That and the ending which i STILL dont understand. There were no hints leading up to it, it came out of nowhere. And the 'romance' was even more lackluster than in the original novels lmao. There was a point to katniss and peeta not really seeming 'romantic'. But it felt like the author was trying and failing to make snow and lucy grey be 'in love'.

[lunaremy]

I wouldn't be surprised if black has a crap-ton of mirrors hidden in his room

Might not even be hidden, with how much pride he puts into himself!! (short story under the cut)

"Oh, jeez..." Black muttered to himself as he flipped through the pages of his book.

It was hot on the market right now- a real hit with the population of Planet Bomber. And, right now, Black understood why.

"I think i've fallen in love with you, Marie. Which was a massive mistake on my part."

"Why, dearie? This romance is not a mistake to me."

"It's not a mistake to me, either. But..." Black stared violently at the book as he flipped the pages, his focus unwavering as he invested into the plot.

"I can't dodge the draft. The government's coming to get me in a few days, and i'm....I'm so weak. I don't know if i'm going to come back or not."

"Oh....!"

'I can't believe people posted about crying to this nonsense,' Black thought to himself despite his eyes beginning to water.

"If this is the last time we ever see each other, the last time our lips meet...I want to appreciate it as much as possible, my love."

Black's eyes began to water. The story doesn't end like this, right? The pages are running out. If her husband dies, like that...

"Hey, Black!"

All focus was shattered instantly as White barged in (without knocking, incidentally).

"We need you to- Were you crying just now?" He interrupts himself to question Black.

"What?! No."

"Okay. So, I need you to look after Yellow and Aqua while me and the other bros go fishing."

Oh yeah. Fishing. Doesn't suit a pretty guy like Black. The bait is nasty, the water is nasty, and the fish are nasty. So when White talked about the trip in advance, he already said that he didn't wanna go.

"Why aren't they going?"

"Aqua said that the hook hurts the fish too much, and Yellow wants to draw instead. So they're staying here with you, and I want you to look after them."

"But I don't wanna-"

"Great. Thanks, Black! We're off!"

The door slams shut. Black hears the ship leaving outside.

Goodness.

A good thirty minutes or so passes in silence, before...

"...Um....Eldest brother?" He hears Aqua's voice through the door. "It's a little lonely. May we stay in your room for a little bit?"

Black makes an imprint in the page he was on before shoving the book under his bedsheets.

White's gonna get it when he gets home.

"It's not surprising that you'd want to be in my gorgeous presence. Come in, Aqua!"

She doesn't say anything in response to Black's officious efforts to seem cool, instead opting to open the door slowly and walk on in, Yellow in tow.

"Wow...your room is clean!!" Yellow looks around.

"Only the most luxurious rooms for me, Yellow. You shouldn't be surprised."

He sits up- possibly to keep them from messing with any of his things.

"Wow...is this a garden?"

Aqua points at the miniature greenhouse located at the right of Black's bed. It emits blue light, and is covered in glass. Inside are a set of red roses, covered in water as if they had been misted with care not too long ago.

"I thought you didn't like dirt."

"I don't!" Black walks towards Aqua as they look at the flower garden together. "If you look closely, you'll notice that these flowers are grown with a new hydroponics-related substance."

"That's awesome, Black!"

"I know," the smug bastard replied.

"Wheee! Ahahaha!!"

Black turned around to notice Yellow striking various poses in front of his full-body mirror.

"I wish I had a mirror like this in my room! Do you have any to give me, Black?"

Black knew that he had more than enough mirrors in his room, but...

Actually, no, he didn't. It would take a whole solar system of mirrors to accurately capture his beauty, or so he says.

So, Black responds:

"I'll think on it."

"Weehee!! Yayy!!" Yellow jumps for joy. And then,

"I have an idea! We can get all the mirrors together and then make a maze out of them!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!! Black!! Black!! Can we borrow all your mirrors? What if we set it up before everyone gets home? Then, they can play as soon as they get here!"

"And, these flowers are really pretty. Can I have some to use in my crafts?"

Black sighs to himself.

Well, an impromptu mirror maze would be funny to freak White out with.

And Aqua seems content, at least. So....

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

[fanghur]

thinking about the maximum ride series by James Patterson again and, like, I still love the concept and story, just really, really hate the writer and how he treated it. Almost nothing is consistent save for character's races (but hair and eye colour are free game!), there's plot points that go nowhere that I'm still mad about, and can't because the last book I read ended (Spoilers for uhh, Nevermore I think?) with fucking Meteors Coming the Fuck outta Nowhere and hitting the Earth and fucking killing basically everyone outside the people we care about, so never mind the ominous tunnel under the normal school from book two, it never came up again and everything destroyed! Which leads to my third major issue, 'plot twists' that come from nowhere and/or a different plot twist feels like it's coming but Nope! See, previously mentioned Meteor of Fuck Y'All

Like, you want another example of the series lost potential? Okay, cool, buckle up because it's gonna be a doozy, not even getting into all the rest of my ranting after.

So in case you aren't familiar with the series and wanna know wtf am I talking about, here's the first book. Max Ride is a mutant bird kid that leads a Flock of other bird kids and makes sure they aren't found by the scientists, White Coats, that created, abused by, experimented on, abused by, and did I mention abuse? They got out 4 years prior because Jeb, a white coat, got them out, so he's Good! but he disappeared, so boo. Anyways, one day they're all chillaxin at their home that Jeb was able to acquire for them years ago without The School that the White Coats work at knowing about, and Boom, evil wolf-human hybrids called Erasers show up, and kidnap Angel, the youngest at 6, and also a telepath, and the others chase after them. Got it? Good.

They get Angel back, awesome, now they're on the run, less awesome. Then Max get's a grenade-grade migraine that almost makes her a Splat because it was at cruising altitude, and Ta-Da, Max! You're now the proud owner of a Voice in your head, but don't worry, you're not developing a mental illness, because it can interact with computers and stuff! A couple books later, Jeb, who's alive! But, ~gasp~ EVIL??! reveals that HE is the Voice! Aaannnd that's all the reveals I remember regarding that plot point.

Sooo, with the background knowledge, you probably noticed something, if only because of the details I chose. That's right, no one suspects Angel the telepath of being the source or carrier/relay point of the telepathic Voice, because she's Baby, nevermind that she telepathically forced someone to ram into a wall repeatedly, she's Baby. Like, as cool as I thought Max was, I wanted to shake her even back then because Angel was Literally in the Hands of the White Coats Maximum use your fucking brain-

And that could have been a cool plot twist that Angel was evil and subtly guiding everyone along. Hell, she askes/demands to be made leader of the Flock and Max just, says no and waves it to the side? Like, girl she could make you! Ask yourself Why? But nope, Jeb's gotta be able to talk in the Voice's, well, voice, meanwhile the company that owns The School is run by someone with turtle DNA that's over, like, 100? How? Or the Head of the FBI is a director of The School, or just wtf was up with the Uber-Director from uhh, the Final Warning I think? The one where it just leans HARD into climate crises and Global Warming, and cool, good message, but what happened to the whole Bird Kids Hiding so they don't get Experimented on Again angle? When they're literally putting on aerial shows to raise awareness?

But you wanna know the one thing I HATED on a more personal level? What a surprise from someone who's ace, because it's the motherfuckin Love Story that got shoved in here! Oh no my friends, not just a love Story, it's a Love Triangle

Basically, Book 2 Fang kisses rando and Max gets jealous but is confused because romance? In my survival? Get that shit outta here. Then, a few books later but especially in MAX the Novel (cause that ain't confusing at allll for book 5) Fang peruses Max romantically. Which, uh, a) ace like I said, I was a fan of Max's prioritizing survival because romance did not make sense to prioritize more, and b) Max constantly tells the reader she sees it as a sibling relationship, not romantic. Sure, he's her "right-wing man" but still a brother, so, not a fan of incest either, icked me out that it became a focus, to the point he wears her down and they try dating and just fuck that.

Don't get me wrong, I can like romance, but it's a put-off if it doesn't make sense for the characters, and guess what? It made no sense for Max.

Then, I guess Patterson realised the incest angle was bad so enter Dylan, a new bird kid that was cloned from some dead rando kid that was created, literally, to be Max's Perfect Match, a mad scientist SoulMate if you will, and then they date after Fang fucks off into the sunset.

WHAT

Realise that, outside Fang 'romancing' Max until she caved, Max is definitely the type to, and had continuously, rebel against the machinations of evil scientists, so, wtf?

Meanwhile, if Max had realised that, that scene in book 2 still canon, that she was jealous of Fang kissing red-headed rando girl, well, then we could have gotten a) no incest ick b) rebelliousness in a non-conventional relationship (attempt) c) a major Fuck You to the Evil Scientists and their 'owo perfect bird kids kids' eugenics program (btw Max was still 15 when Dylan's introduced) and d) representation of LGBT+. Boom, mic drop. Plus, from inter-fandom shipping perspective, that's a lot of potential for fanart and even I like fluffy shipping art once in a while. (btw if this inspires people to ship Max and redhead girls from other fandoms I would appreciate links because it is a hill I will die on)

There's more, but that's my biggest gripes

TL;DR Fuck James Patterson for all the wasted potential of this series, and also I headcanon Max Ride to be a lesbian who doesn't realise and has a thing for red-heads.

[aceyugiohdreamer]

It’s genuinely depressing how many books I’ve read recently that have had their potential ruined at the very least by being first person narration and/or romance. Both qualities have this nasty consequence of steering character and relationship developments in the most uninteresting directions.

With first person, you can only see other characters through one set of eyes, which is such a frustrating tease. You can never have a character who just stands on their own, you can only know them in relation to the narrating character, and more often than not, I don’t care about the narrating character. I want to know so many of the other characters, but the author is trying to force me to see the other characters and the world through one person (maybe two or three), and I hate it. I want other characters to be free to be themselves on the page, not objects the narrator has to navigate around. I don’t understand this impulse to have a story revolve entirely around one person’s perspective. It makes no fucking sense.

(It also lends itself to this plot “device” where you can only find out things that happened where the narrator character couldn’t be through bs conversations that explain events that would have been much more interesting described through real, third person narration.)

First person also puts the reader in the position of a fucking therapist because again, I don’t fucking understand why the narrator is narrating anything in the first place. Who are they talking to? What is supposed to be the reason for any first person narrator to be talking to me, the reader? I don’t know, but usually I end up just feeling like the narrating character is baring their soul to me to explain and justify their actions because I’m their assigned therapist or something. Especially because first person narration has this tendency to be very repetitive about how the character feels. It’s like oh my god I get it, you don’t have to keep telling me over and over and over how you feel. It’s really not that hard to grasp, and the way it’s being said isn’t nearly as lyrical or deep as the author seems to think it is. The word count spent agonizing over the narrator’s emotional state is so unnecessary and boring.

And this is exacerbated by romance because the character then has to keep justifying to me why they think or feel a certain way about the love interest. Especially in enemies to lovers, the narrator has to go through this huge psychological dump where they try to untangle all their conflicting feelings and I’m just sitting there like, am I your therapist? Is that what this relationship is? Are you telling me all this because I’m supposed to help you understand these feelings that you’re having? That’s literally what it feels like because I can’t think of any other situation where a person would just say all the things a first person narrator says. It’s so fucking unnatural god I fucking hate first person with a passion I hate every little thing about it.

And also with romance, it usually means that any other relationship is pushed to the periphery, underdeveloped, and wasted. Relationships that would genuinely be so much more interesting and compelling are shoved aside to prioritize the romance, and it seriously debilitates the story. I can’t remember the last time I read a romance and actually cared, actually gave one single fuck, about the romantic relationship. Maybe it’s the aro in me or maybe it’s just that authors don’t write romance in a way that moves me, I don’t know, but I always end up thinking that if the romance wasn’t such a major priority in the book, the actual story and other relationships could have actually had a chance to be decent. They would have had the space to breathe and grow.

Not that changing the narration or the genre would fix every issue, but it would be a good start. Characters could potentially be developed so much better and other relationships made so much more meaningful without the stupid limitations of first person and glorified romance.

I think I kept torturing myself reading all these months because I was wondering if I’d actually come across a romance that I actually liked. My curiosity kept me going, but god I’m so fucking worn out. I can’t read anymore. I’m tired of having hope that maybe this next book will be written well, that it won’t sacrifice everything at the altar of romance, that its plot won’t be riddled with holes, that its characters will be likable or at least their actions and motivations reasonable, that the romance will at least feel real and organic and purposeful in the story.

I’m sure I’m being uncharitable but I’m so frustrated right now I don’t want to bother being diplomatic. I almost hate reading again. I need to go back to writing now so I can have more material to read that I actually enjoy and won’t be disappointed by.

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: The Duke's All That by Christina Britton

3.5/5. Releases 2/6/2024.

Vibes: "my wife is dead--OR IS SHE?", inconveniently talking parrots, there's only one bed, och aye

Working class guy turned unexpected duke Iain thought he was a widower... for thirteen years. Except oops, his wife, Seraphina, has been alive the whole time. And they're still legally married, whether they want to be or not. Ian isn't very happy with Seraphina, who he believes left him without remorse; and Seraphina isn't any happier with Iain, who she charges with his own betrayal. She's made a happy life for herself, and Iain could upend everything she loves; but there's still something between them, and even getting a divorce may not be enough to stop that.

Apparently, "I thought my spouse was dead" is on trend for 2024, and I'm not mad at it! This book was off to a great start with a reunion between Iain and Seraphina, both seriously pissed. And I do love their interplay, the hurt feelings and the snippiness and the remaining attraction. This is a solid book.

... Which makes it a little more disappointing that it's not everything it could've been. It's a pleasant read; I did like it; and I suspect that some of the people reading this would really like it. But I think it could've hurtled to a different level if there had been just a bit more stretching.

Quick Takes:

--This is the type of plot that does rely on chemistry to make the couple believably matched, and Iain and Seraphina do have that. There's more to their history than their (brief) time as a married couple, and that added to the sense of hurt feelings. They don't quite know each other--I mean, can you know someone after thirteen years of separation?--but they do still have feelings for each other, and that's rather delicious.

--Here's the thing, though. After this really arresting first meeting, you kind of go into this "hurry up and wait" thing. I get why Britton focused on Seraphina's relationships with her friends and her sisters. She's a girl's girl. I love female friendships in romance novels, especially historicals.

However, the focus on those relationships and Seraphina's life without Iain either needed to get cut down a good bit, or it needed to be shifted to another part of the book. For all that these two had a lot of chemistry, I didn't feel like they had enough time together in the first chunk of the novel, and that slowed the pacing significantly. Once we get to them one-on-one, I was kind of frustrated.

--Your mileage may vary on why there's so much confusion between Seraphina and Iain and what they both think of each other. I don't really mind miscommunication and secrets in romance, but I will admit that there is a lot happening here. On the other hand, I don't know that this kind of plot works without it.

That being said, there are a lot of external forces at play. Which again, may work for you. I felt like it was sort of... shoved in there to shift some of the blame off the two of them. I'd rather they both have to come to terms a bit more about being a little (or a lot) irrational. Because feelings!

--I did like how tough Seraphina was, and how willing she was to go to major lengths--including painful ones--to take care of herself and her sisters. It's rough at points, but I respected it, and it made her subsequent feelings and emotional walls more understandable.

Conversely, I found Iain to be a bit more "also ran" but still, he was a solid hero. I kind of would've liked him to be more of an asshole, to be honest. But that's kind of hard to pull off in the current market.

The Sex:

There are a few sex scenes, none of which are bad, but they're also not anything super explicit or super tame. Sort of flowery, but not super flowery, if that makes sense. I do think it could've happened a bit earlier in the book. Like I said, this is a slow burn.

Overall, I don't know that this book made me feel like I MUST read another Christina Britton novel anytime soon. But it was good, and I appreciated the places it went to. If you're into something that touches on the "dead spouse but not really" thing without going too far, check it out.

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[babycharmander]

Just read Legends & Lattes. I never thought I’d wind up reading a coffee shop book, but a couple folks ( @jaywings and also my supervisor at work) recommended it, so I decided to check it out.

It’s about an orc setting up a coffee shop in a town where no one knows what coffee is. It sounds like a humorous idea, but the book plays it entirely straight. (Granted, there were still a few times I laughed out loud.) I really appreciated the attention to detail in the book—it made the story feel solid and grounded in spite of the fantasy setting. You really care about Viv and the other characters and the little shop they’re building, and gosh dang the story is COZY. I’ve never read a book I thought of as cozy before—not typically my thing—but this one was great. Highly recommend you read it with your favorite coffee and pastry nearby.

I almost didn’t read it because I saw some reviews describing it as a romance, but I was then told it really wasn’t one at all and the romance is only a very brief part of the ending. And, looking at some other reviews after having finished the novel, it looks like some folks went in expecting the story to be a full-blown romance novel and came out disappointed. So yeah, it’s definitely not a romance—it just happens to have two characters that fall for each other at the end, and as someone who dislikes reading romance, that worked out well for me. The romance is minor and very sweet and never shoves the plot awkwardly away.

Overall an excellent book. Highly recommended.

[thatonekreachur]

So here is the story of how I got into elemental, I have no idea what I should say for the introduction, except that you can reblog this so other people can see it.

The story begins somewhere in late june or early july, I don't even know the date for when I watched it but I remember that it was before the Fourth of July. I was on a summer vacation to my grandma's house, and she decided we can go an watch this movie in the theater. At first, before I watched the movie, I thought it looked decent, judging by the trailers that literally made the movie look like some generic boring Zootopia rip-off that is only gonna be visually pleasing and nothing else. Let's just say the actual movie isn't like what I said before.

So then me, my grandma, and my two siblings went to see Elemental, and lucky for me, I didn't know that it will change my whole life, and my whole point of view of things.

Like where do I even start to begin with??? First off, how gorgeous those visuals look. I can't even explain these visuals!! Let me try... It is like getting your eyes assaulted by the most colorful most vibrant thing you have ever seen in your life, and these visuals really stick out during the sunset and night scenes. Like, even the cinematography is amazing, that beach scene still has me in awe to this day.

And these visuals, combined with the believable character personalities, that serious undertone, that well executed romance story with these other subplots, interesting backstories for our mcs, the score which I can't describe with words alone, and the worldbuilding, especially the worldbuilding...

So, if you took a peek into my account, you can probably see that I have a non human worldbuilding project blog that is very new. I am a big worldbuilding enthusiast, especially when it comes to non humans, or at least creatures that vaguely resemble humans, and this movie is no exception. Like, the worldbuilding in this is pretty unique and interesting, and because of it, I am literally hungry for MORE at this point.

I know there's the unlikely friends book, I have heard that it has more tasty info for me, but my anxious ass unfortunately does not let me have it for myself 😢

Lets also talk about the phenomenal score itself. Like, I have never heard such beautiful music before in my life, and guess what? It fits with the theme of this movie. I don't really have much left to say about the score, so there.

There's also the character personalities. Each character has their own unique quirks, backstories, and other stuff that really makes them feel like individuals in the movie. Heck, even the background characters all look unique from each other. Go ahead, you can make an oc out of these background characters, I'm all in for it.

I also like the serious tone this movie is going for. The first few minutes into this movie and I was like "wow! I kinda like how pretty serious this looks!". I am a sucker for animated movies that always focus on the plot and they don't need any potty jokes or any other kinds of childish humor to move it forward. (well, the exception is captain underpants, or any other movie that had a good story..). Because then, it would prove to the Oscars or any other person or company that animation is not just for babies, one year olds, and little kids, but for people to enjoy from all ages.

There is also the racism subplot somewhere in the movie. I heard some say that this subplot that I mentioned felt kinda forced, and that they tried to shove it down our throats in a "hey, this happened, and now your supposed to care about it!" kinda way. But for me, I would say no. You see, it also had at least some buildup even from the beginning too.

And finally, I haven't told you about this before, but I unironically love credits scenes. I know that the purpose of the credits scene is to tell the audience "hey we made this movie!", but... there are some animated movies that have moving 2d pictures with text while the most banger song you have ever heard plays in the background, and this movie has it all. Like, for some reason it makes me happy and relaxed...

Anyways the movie is over, and we walked out of the theater booth. This movie has changed so much of me that I needed to go pee afterwards (I held it in because turns out I love this movie so much and I needed to watch all of it and I won't miss some important scenes). Now, let me say this: elemental was the perfect movie for me, this movie gave me a reason to live, a reason to be happy that I'm alive on this earth right now. I wouldn't imagine not having eyes or ears, because I wouldn't be able to see or hear the beautiful things in this movie if I don't have either.

This was on the poster for the theater booth we walked out. I don't know why I included this, maybe it's because my hyperfixation is kicking in...

Anyways, happy new year everyone.

[hanabeeri]

i have a lot on my mind. well it isn't a lot it's just two thoughts that are spiraling TT

I. i don't like the way my sisters husband (and she herself too) restrict my nieces usage of media and the internet in general. the day before yesterday she asked me whether i could give her extra lessons in english because she failed her exam and needs to pass in order to be able to attend the next grade. and i wholeheartedly believe that she wouldn't have failed her exam if her parents would have allowed her to browse the web where she be confronted with english pretty much everywhere. or even play games! my other niece and nephew learned english by playing minecraft! i personally learned english by watching pewdiepie and scrolling through tumblr. besides we're not living in the 90s anymore where the internet was just a nice thing to have, we are living in the 20s of the 21st century and people rely on the internet a lot more and incorporate it more into daily activities! how do they think she will manage in the future? she once came to me because she didn't even have a clue on how to make a powerpoint. i mean yeah at her age i didn't know how to make complex and pretty looking ones either, but most could do a simple one: black text on white slides, consisting of either way too many bullet notes or walls of text. it's so frustrating. also i gave her my phone number and told her to please read the books that i gave her and if she needed any help to ask me. and she still didn't text me. girl, i know you are struggling i tested you two days ago and skfkskdksks anyways. i hope she will pass despite her parents being too restrictive. i'm pretty sure my niece in 2nd grade knows more on how to navigate media.

II. recently i was talking about bl and gl anime and manga with my friend from university, but i was so tired that day that i couldn't properly explain myself. and since i had a small breakdown over it at breakfast earlier i will try to explain myself now. it's not that i don't like to watch anime or read manga (i wish there would be a word like kana, hiragana&katakana but for anime&manga) that have bl/gl couples inside, it's just that i don't like it when shows are reduced to just that when they have a complex story or at best an entertaining one. i also don't like joining fandoms anymore for the very same reason, because everywhere you go there are only ships, and while it's fun to indulge yourself sometimes i'm not that big of a fan of it anymore; i used to be but nowadays i prefer to watch the series and discuss the lore or characters. another reason why i don't like to watch bl/gl anime is because more than not it's bl, and even more often than not they aren't even canon, which usually leads to the creation of a fandom that solely builds its likes and dislikes on fetishes. sometimes it's not even the fandom per se, sometimes it's the mentality of so many people that see two guys hugging each other and immediately stamping them off as gay. people however do not do the same to girls. this just shows how messed up some beliefs still are. i would like to enjoy series without being shoved pornographic art or written work in my face that scream 'i don't care about the series i'm a porn addict that found a bl ship and will not use it to let my mind go wild', good for u, but i personally don't want to engage with that. at least make it worthwhile and have an interesting plot. when im watching or reading a shounen or seinen im there for the series, not the ships, it's just so tiring for me. if there is some bl romance involved (eg banana fish) i don't mind, i like it, too. but again, more often than not those series get reduced to traumatic romances and people forget the rest. (i will continue later i have to catch my bus)

i'm back. anyways. continuing. not every series will obviously be about romance which is why it's of course not necessary that relationships are explicitly made canon. i'm fine with that, but i don't like bait. and yes i do think of many things as bait. i don't care if japan has a different society and culture because YoI was still published and the relationship between yuri and viktor has been so wonderfully displayed and showed even without direct kisses or proclamations of love. i'm just not the biggest fan when a series has a male cast only and fans reduce it to: yeah they're all gay. all of them. they fuck and friendships suddenly aren't a thing anymore. i'm the embodiment of yes i'm gay yes i'm homophobic. that's that. during the discussion with my friend i brought up LOTR because i had no clue that people even shipped sam/frodo or aragorn/legolas until i dipped my toe in the fandom. and then i ran. aragorn has the most gorgeous wife so, no. and sam and frodo wouldn't have been shipped as much if they were female. let's be honest, people ship them because they are male. even in fetishes women or female presenting people are not welcome. i'm not crying about it btw i'm glad gl isn't fetishized to the point where it's uncomfortable, it's usually very childish sjfksksks. i'm simply putting it in perspective. and that's where i will draw the line, and my conclusion is: i will watch the great pretender but i doubt i will see anything more than two guys that are close.

do not mind the text below because i came back to finish my thoughts. my train is late and i don't want to wait until the next class starts so i'm just going home, i'll revise the material on my own sifksksksk

ok nevermind im tired of this discussion with myself maybe i'm just a hater. just kidding i'm simply not in the mood to write out my thoughts anymore. here are the vibes do what u want with them. i was bothered but i found my inner peace again and now i'm unbothered again.

[edanmaia]

very intangible ideas for acotar 5 since cc3 will indefinitely flip everything around:

Despite no one wanting it (reader and rhys alike), rhys becomes high king

elriel secret romance. but how do they get together? maybe they start flirting in cc3 and really commit in acotar5. who knows, atp i dont see how the plot forces them together.

koschei looming, but he's for acotar 6

more eris cryptic riddle shit

mor/emerie relationship blooming? mor coming out at a weird time to the inner circle (...sarah giving her 13 pages in the middle of a war to come out the feyre is silly goofy)

nesta hopefully becoming a normal not sex-crazed character. can sjm un-butcher her from not her pov?

Who tf is the villain? the other 5 queens? the asteri? that was the problem with acosf. There was no villain and no story.

85% plot / 15% smut. please sarah

no butchering of azriel or elains character. i know we know nothing about them but she fucked up cassian so bad he's such an unlikable character after acosf. Please give azriel some personality and some tact 🙏🏻🙏🏻. i dont need to see his pining and yearning as 100% of his pov. i would like to see him and his intelligence. Same for elain, i want to see depth and not a caricature or someone who's only personality is gardening and trauma.

no training no training anything but training for elain. not even becoming a spy. just let elain be powerful in her soft femininity 🫶🏼

give elain the dusk court! i dont know the logistics but its hers.

i need a huge dramatic falling out between azriel and rhys. like a huge rift that takes a lot to repair. let azriel be able to trauma dump on rhys and be angry and have distance (i assume azriel doesnt wanna torture people anymore. and if rhys can read minds i dont understand why azriel has to torture info out of ppl anyways)

elain's independence. i don't necessarily care about her relationship w feyre and nesta. she told them she wasnt an object, and id like to see how that results because we didnt see shit in acosf

Story outside of elriel. It was so boring stuck in nesta and cassians "story" because we get nothing from the other characters and the only story was sex and being sad. 😑 no one wanted to read 600 pages of that

slow build up of story instead of randomly shoved in story (we know sjm cant do that but i can hope)

I wanna know about the history of seers!i want elain to be special ✨ like that

it would be awesome if lucien was happy and ready to be in a relationship with vassa or smth so we dont have to see him continue to be sad and lost when elain rejects him. I reallt cant deal with all the characters being sad all the fucking time sarah. But i just know he's gonna be so lost and so sad throughout the book, which leads him into his character arc for book 6. but imagine if elain and lucien both had their character arc in book 5. that would be awesome.

elain needs to move tf out of rhys and feyres house

retcon on the necklace. clotho never gave it to gwyn. i really cannot deal with that dumb ass storyline. + it was in a bonus chapter?? Is sarah gonna throw in a short line saying "az tried to give it to elain, they almost kissed, rhys forbade az from getting near elain, he gave it to clotho after he saw gwyn triajfnien etc etc"

I really dont want az to be like rhys, where yoy find out he's a great guy and 100% a hero. nothing gray about it.

i want azriel to be someone who tortures people, clearly doesnt like it and wants to stop, but has to for his brothers. and his story arc is ceasing to do things that bring him misery. Like, he did that. No question. and that's terrible. but he wants to become a better person and is working towards that.

sjm there's still time @sjmaas

[nikethestatue]

I’m sorry, my favourite chicken died today. I’ve had a few drinks, and I’m going to try and whinge about my fandom woes coherently. 🫠

I don’t understand why it’s okay for the other sides of the fandom to be anti elain or anti elriel, mock and bully our theorists, fellow fans and literally have a whole blog dedicated to hating us for being “mean and dumb” whilst still having the expectation that we (elain + elriel Stans) “don’t dismiss” their ships, theories or beloved characters. I don’t think it’s fair. Like, I simply just don’t understand how they can be so anti..us..and expect us to not be anti back about stuff? Like, that’s so hypocritical. I understand two wrongs don’t make a right, but it gets really hard to not become frustrated when people constantly demean and shit on you (potentially personally), and something you care enough about to participate in..and then get salty when you bark back and engage in similar behaviour🫠

I bought into the tiktok hype. That’s how I got here, in this mess. I’ve only been here since like February (a week before the HOSAB release to be precise) and I’m already just so exhausted, by all the hate and contradictions.

Elriel makes the most sense for me, bc I think yeeting the build up, and changing course so late in the game would simply be a waste of time, and would make any new romance (because these are in-fact romance/fantasies) rushed. I believe Changing ships in a bonus chapter is simply not a done thing?? Bonus chapters (in my experience) are marketing tools. Providing little slices of life for beloved characters or inconsequential and irreverent POVs you wouldn’t be getting in the main series. I cannot recall a single book series I’ve read, that has done anything drastic in a BC. I also believe the imagery of two brothers, two sisters, and a third sister with some random dude..just clashes. I’ve already seen arts when’re it’s Feyre + Rhys, Nesta + Cassian and G/wyn + Az. All lined up. Elain no where to be seen. It’s jarring, and uncomfortable to look at, but then again Elain is my favourite character, so I acknowledge a good chunk of my discord at that particular art, is my own feelings.

I don’t hate the e/Lucien ship at all. I wouldn’t be mad if it came to pass, and I think there’s merit in the fact they’re mates..but that’s all they have at the moment. SJM would have to walk back elriel, and shove E/Lucien together and perhaps introduce a new LI for Azriel all in one book, no matter how big she makes it, it will be super obvious why that happened and why it was squished into one book. SF was criticised for jamming in too many plots and feysands story detracting and rushing Nestas arc. I’d assume that SJM wouldn’t run that gambit again. Ultimately E/Lucien simply hasn’t been built up enough (or at all really) for me to rejoice if the ship sails, ya know? Again, I won’t be mad. Just a bit disappointed and confused.

G/wynriel is a whole other kettle of fish. When I first got into this fandom, I used to be like “teehee, I’m ship neutral” and then I’d watch some TikToks, read some posts, see some art and I would flip flop on how “neutral” I was. There was a time (before I actually read the series myself) where I shipped g/wynriel based on nothing but pretty fan-arts, and TikTok videos. Reading the series. Reading their “history” together..well..it sickened me. As a trauma survivor, I was so surprised..I had read the books, only to discover I could not ship them anymore. TikTok and the fan-arts had literally painted a very pretty picture. What it hadn’t painted was Azriel in the g/wynriel ship was literally a first responder to her SA, who then goes onto be a personal trainer + self defence instructor. He is also 550+ years older than her. I would be unsure and uncomfortable..but I could potentially overlook any one of those things. All three of them? No. The power imbalance is simply too much, and would hit too close to my own trauma. (Now before anyone takes a jab, I don’t care for the Feysand and Nessian age gaps either) also, they have no romantic coding?? I don’t hate why people ship it. I do hate that I, and my fellow survivors both in the elriel community, and even outside of it..are villainised, and accused of “weaponising our trauma” for not being cool with it. the futureI just don’t think that’s fair, or okay.

That was very long. I understand if you don’t respond to it XD

I am sorry about your chicken :(

In the beginning, when Gwynriel started, I think some original Gwynriels, though already pretty militant, at least had IDEAS. They came up with plots--even if they didn't make sense--they came up with 'evidence' and theories. The ship, at least made sense, from that stanpoint.

Now, the thing is that it feels like 90% of Gwynriels havent not only read any other books, but haven't read ACOSF. And have NO IDEA what they are even shipping. They've just seen Insta pix and TikToks.

Just recently an Elriel posted some response from some rabid Gwynriel who haven't even read the POV or the book. But had the audacity to argue. When that Elriel pointed the text in the POV, the gal was like 'Well, I am not expected to read everything. I didn't even know the POV existed'. Yet she felt qualified to argue.

At this point--and I am hoping that this will change tonight at 7 pm EST--there is no point in talking or engaging. It's like talking to flat earthers.

I think ultimately, the eyes should be on the prize. All of this will fall away eventually. It is a bit ridiculous, but honestly, I dont have time or desire to argue with some 11 year old who hasn't read the books and doesn't have the knowhow of how to construct an argument. And it's not worth the time or the frustration, because they will all disappear and move on to the next thing. That's why I always recommend that people don't get too upset or emotionally hurt with these arguments. Yeah, it's frustrating and some of their takes are horrendous. Like one from yesterday who posted that just isn't strong enough because frankly she hasn't been r*ped like Gwyn, who basically should be wearing her assault like a badge of some kind of perverse honour. There is absolutely no point in talking to people like these because the mental and emotional maturity simply isn't there yet.

I enjoy my world, my Elriel experiences, the positivity that always permeates MY fandom, the support, the jokes, the laughter. I think many of us have grown fond of each other, became friends and I am always excited to see new 'faces'. There are no quarrels, pettiness, or any BS. That's why I am here. That's why I am waiting for Solstice, which will be bom-diggity fun like it was last year, and eventually, for the book.

[mallahanmoxie]

i read some books this year and because i can im going to talk about them. the yearly what-will-simba-attempt-to-pick-up book list is coming, i just have to decide. 2022 was a surprisingly fruitful year despite the horrifyingly devastating beginning of it (i don't think i read a single book til the end of march) and the first year i met my reading goal of 10 books a year :) in order under the cut

sing me to sleep by r.m. virtues. 2.75 ⭐

this was my first published erotica ever and it was fine. it's about a girl who's dad dies in a home invasion and she's understandably traumatized so she takes some sleeping pills and gets fucked by an antler demon in her sleep. not nearly as creepy as it sounds and it is to its detriment, but it's a decent thing, i just don't really vibe with erotica as i've come to find. if there's plot i don't care about the sex and if there's only sex then i don't care about the book. the antlers were cool tho.

a week to be wicked by tessa dare. 3.75 ⭐

this is a regency bodice ripper (?) where a budding geologist with her knickers in a twist cajoles a rakish viscount? earl? whomever into """"eloping""" with her so she can get a fossil up to scotland in a week. they do fuck. it was fine. the romance was nice, the characters were somewhat fun if supremely uninventive, and the whole thing was atmospheric. the mc never let up with the nit like other girls thing tho which cost it at least half a star

paradais by fernanda melchor. 3.75 ⭐

read it in spanish, super short, very mexican. some boy is a high school dropout working as a gardener in a luxury residential complex bc his mama forced him to and he Hates his life and wishes he could join a cartel like his brother in law and his cunt of a pregnant cousin is living in his house and taking his bed and as he's drowning in the oppressive monotony of poverty and corruption he makes friends with a fat rich kid who is addicted to porn and obsessed with his neighbor's hot trophy wife and it all ends in tragedy. i told you it was very mexican. this book was Commentary and very little else. i did not like it, but the ending hit. But also i had a gig on a complex similar like the one he works in and i gotta tell you i found the book incredibly relatable in those two hours

unequal affections by lara s. Ormiston 3.75 ⭐

or how i like to call it: going in and out of rooms, the book. this is a pride and prejudice canon divergence book where elizabeth actually accepts darcy's first proposal despite her not loving him, they go back to longbourn, she "can't say she loves him yet, honestly, it's been two days", he gets upset, exits the room. that's the book. like, it's decent fanfiction, but its best feature is how it highlights how dynamic pride and prejudice's second half is originally. i spent a good third of this book thinking oh im glad jane austen didn't do this, but it's not a bad book

project hail mary by andy weir. 4.5⭐

standard scifi and andy weir stuff. guy wakes up amnesiac in the middle of nowhere, space shoved inside a spacecraft and as he regains bits of his memory he remembers there are tiny alien microbes eating the sun back home and HE is the hero supposed to Save The Day. except he doesn't remember shit and his crew died on the way. fun stuff. the science bits were massively interesting, albeit clunky at times. the relationship between the leads was incredibly heartwarming, though, and i thought the ending was lovely

morning glory milking farm by c.m. nascosta. 3.75 ⭐

this was my second erotica i purposefully read for the sex on it and it was an improvement but my favourite bits were the romance so like, take that as you will. in this book mythological creatures have fallen prey to capitalism and modernity so the mc lands a job where she has to jerk off minotaurs on the daily bc their sperm has useful enzymes or something and there's one minotaur who particularly enjoys it so they date. not much of a plot besides the romance, but they were cute. funny to think about like, the fur. it's really not as crazy as people made it out to be, though. (edit: the jerking off is voluntary btw my mans goes there on his lunch break)

half a soul by olivia atwater. 4 ⭐

aw this was a lovely little fantasy regency book about a girl who encounters a faerie when young who steals half her soul so she's very odd for most of society and has to help her cousin get a husband so they both don't end up destitute or something, and she ends up mixed in with the going ons of the ptsd ridden royal wizard man. this was very cute, and also i read it while i was reading the making of the english working class so i was quite pleased to find some horrible factory working conditions in the book for me to be like oh!! Historical accuracy!!! (minus the fae)

how high we go in the dark by sequoia nagamatsu. 4 ⭐

oh i did not like this but it's very good. it's just cloyingly heavy, and there were too many stories i simply did not care for. but they were all done so well i ended every chapter like well, but it has a point. anyway this is a scifi that basically follows the course of humanity over millennia and the development of technology, industry and human relationships mostly around the institutionalization of grief (i found this believable but silly) and it begins after a woman dies on a scientific expedition on the artic and they find the mummy of a prehistoric girl who died of a virus that begins a pandemic of alien inclination. there were some spectacular chapters, my fave being city of laughter (the illness affects primarily children at first and they die at such a rate someone decides to open an amusement park where the kids can have a good last day and die on the loop of a rollercoaster. Fucking insane.) and pig son (scientist who lost his son is researching the illness on a pig to grow viable organs and the new pig starts talking and behaving like a boy).

sea of tranquility by emily st. john mandel. 4.75 ⭐

the book i rated highest this year, but not quite a five star. i just loved the way that this was written. how the writer structured her paragraphs and chapters-- and the voices! i loved edwin and his patterns of thought. this a book that also happens in centuries, but instead of humanity, it follows three people (a man exiled to canada in the turn of the century, a woman from a moon colony giving the last book tour on earth and a man with an aimless life in that same colony centuries afterwards) that are connected by an odd moment in time, like a glitch. i felt like it did what how high we go in the dark attempted but much better bc it was more self contained. the ambiance was amazing, and if I'd liked the central character more, i probably would've given it 5 stars

comfort me with apples by catherynne m. valente. 4.5 ⭐

this was my actual favourite book of the year, bc i think about the ending and just. Lie there. i told my friend about it and we cried about the unfairness of being a woman together lol anyway this is a super short book about a perfect woman with a perfect husband living in a house too big for her whose perfect life gets interrupted when she finds a lock of hair in a drawer on her vanity that doesn't belong to her and it's not the only body part she finds. it's really creepy at times, and the ENDING man i keep thinking about one line i truly was the perfect person to read this book because i did not see the ending coming until we were already on the last chapters and i frankly think this is a splendid little book it dragged a little at the middle but i think upon reread knowing the full context it'd be spectacular

dark matter by blake crouch. 4 ⭐

this was a fine book, but i think my disappoinment with it stems from the fact it was advertised to me as extremely fucked up and creepy and, like, it wasn't. in theory, it's a strong concept — a "failed" scientist gets kidnapped and forcefully sent into a parallel universe where he's a successful awarded man but he only wants to get back to his family and has to brave the multiverse that his doppelganger created access to. he finds a lot of shit, there's some mildly fucked up scenarios, but none of it is truly scary. the voice of the mc is very much, like, white male, tho. it did bother me. also everyone in this book is white which added to my disappoinment. as a scifi it works tho, as a multiverse is okay

laska by k. webster. 2 ⭐

i guess this counts as erotica but like, don't. it's bad. i read it in a feverish half hour to stall my growing panic attack while in the middle of writing a final paper, and like, the corniness did shock me into calmness. it's 26 pages of a pair of incestuous brothers living in the woods, how they get together and start eating people. a tiktok got me in the exact right moment and i suffered for it mfs were so fuckin corny 🙄

book lovers by emily henry. 4 ⭐

this was my last book of the year and a nice surprise. i avoided this novel because i was afraid it'd be too self referential (i hate writers writing writer characters, which i know is hypocritical but they never do it right), but it was quite alright. it's almost a hallmark movie parody about a ruthless literary agent and a book editor who have a "rivalry" (they're, like, barely acquaintances, let alone enemies) and find themselves in the same little town for a month. everybody says this authors writes the same characters and i can't tell you if she does, but they have very good chemistry. the book is more about the mc and her relationship with her sister, which i enjoyed. overall a nice wrap up to the year.

[hagatha-christie]

Not really using Tumblr anymore and also no one reads these, but I like doing them, so here are my November and December reads

The bad:

Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau: not bad so much as it’s boring. Did not care about any of the characters and tbh couldn’t tell you a thing that happened.

The fine: If This Gets Out by Cale Dietrich and Sophie Gonzalez: look there’s a lot of really great material in this book but because it only focuses on 2 of the 4 members of this boy band we miss out on like half of the stuff brought up in this book. Also I’d love it if we learned to correctly describe a book because they way people talked about it I genuinely thought it’d be a cute romance between 2 members of said boy band and like...one of the characters has a drug-induced psychotic break so it is very much not a cute romance.

Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn: I finally watched Bridgerton so my sister shoved this into my hands and I knocked it out in like a day. Penelope’s storyline was Colin realizing there was more to her because she’s smarter and funnier than she lets on and Penelope’s storyline was realizing there was more to Colin because he...has...anger issues? Idk. There was a scene where I thought he was gonna hit her but it didn’t happen thankfully. Anyway, Kinda toxic.

Secret Service by Tal Bauer: OK FINE. This is the author of those other two terrible romances I read. This one was by far the best of the three I’ve read. Anyway it’s basically a very good season of Scandal (forbidden gay romance between the president and his head of Secret Service detail! Political intrigue! Betrayal!) Also, it didn’t end in a throuple and i was shocked and upset.

The good/great:

The Secret Life of Albert Entwhistle by Matt Cain: checks all my boxes - unlikely friendships. Coming of age but it’s an older person. Reconnecting with people from your past. Healing the trauma of your childhood. Very, very sweet.

The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec: made me want to delve deeper into Norse mythology. Like Circe by Madeline Miller, if Circe was more plot heavy.

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames: this is kind of a dad book but it’s fun. Set in a fantasy world where mercenary bands are treated similarly to how we treat rock stars. It’s a classing “getting the band back together” storyline with more character development I thought we’d get. Some characters are more fully realized than others and it definitely has flaws but it was still extremely entertaining.

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White: an extremely disturbing YA post apocalyptic about a trans boy who escapes a religious ecoterrorist cult. Lots of body horror and Religious Trauma which I think is done really well in the narration. Also love that he finds shelter with a group of teens from the city’s LGBTQ shelter and there’s like...a lot of disagreements and fighting between them which I feel like you never see.

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala: like Jennifer’s Body meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets Heathers (just a little) meets But I’m a Cheerleader (just a little). Surreal and twisty and very, very fun. I read this in an afternoon and had a great time. It’s about a kid whose twin sister escapes from the fancy summer camp she’s been attending without him and breaks into his room in an attempt to kill him and ends up dying herself, and he wants to investigate.

[uncomplicatedbookreviews]

Andromeda Evolution

Series: The Andromeda Strain (#2)

Author: Daniel H. Wilson

My Rating: 2/10 ⭐⭐

Goodreads rating: 3.71/5

Date Read: Early 2022

Plot Summary: Following the events of the Andromeda Strain scientists believed the Andromeda Strain was no longer a threat and it faded from public attention. Many decades later, a government watch program finds signs that the Andromeda Strain is reemerging in the Amazon rainforest. An elite team of scientists is recruited to travel to the appearing anomaly, study it, and ultimately figure out how to stop it. They must travel through uncharted areas of the forest while fighting an unknown alien force that wants to stop their meddling at any cost. Tragedy and action go hand and hand in this story as the scientists make necessary sacrifices to save the world.

TL:DR: A poor attempt at recapturing the scientific wonder found in books like The Martian, this book suffers from dense, unnecessary scientific explanations, horrible characters, obnoxious foreshadowing and a bad antagonist.

Thoughts and Feelings: The original Andromeda Strain was a sci fi book written in 1969 by Michael Crichton who also wrote the Jurassic Park books. He was a great science fiction writer with really good ideas. It's a book I look back on very fondly. So when I found out there was a follow up book written by a different author I was extremely curious. Especially because the original story did not leave any room for sequels. So this story was already starting at a deficit and unfortunately it did not make up for it in any way. I had not read any books by Daniel Wilson before this book and I do not plan on reading anymore of his books after it.

The first half of this book is dragged down by a lot of unnecessary science that is not necessary to the story, the characters, or the understanding of the technology being presented. It feels like it was trying to mimic the type of science rambling and explanation that was so successful in Andy Weir's books, but in Andromeda Evolution the science lacks any character. In The Martian we have Mark Watney infusing his wit and sarcasm into the explanations, but in this book it reads like a text book with no personality.

Foreshadowing is a technique that should be subtle and used sparingly throughout a book. Andromeda Evolution ends every single chapter with a premonition of the future events of the book to the point where it stops being foreshadowing and becomes spoilers in their own rights. It resulted in me not being surprised by anything that was happening as well as keeping me from caring about the characters or the stakes being raised. Because I already knew what was going to happen.

The characters in this book are bad. All of the characters are introduced right at the beginning subsequently and the introductions throw the recommendation of 'show don't tell' straight out the window. You will have to suffer through boring descriptions of these scientists idiosyncracies and the struggles that they have fought through to get where they are. Of a special mention is the introduction of the female characters. Wilson makes sure to shove down the readers' throats that these women have struggled and they have been discriminated against there whole lives. And because of that they are super amazing, smart, and capable of taking care of themselves. Too bad they don't ever get to really display that.

There's just no nuance to this book and while there is action going on through out it ends up feeling boring.

Spoiler Thoughts and Feelings below

To continue on with my dislike of the characters in this book, the primary antagonist and secret villain behind the mutation and spread of the virus being the disabled woman who is apparently a psychopath whose only goal is to murder all of her teammates and 'force the human race' to evolve faster is just so not it.

Also the romance between Jeremy Stone and Nidhi Vedala was SO WEIRD and unnecessary and badly written. The book starts with Nidhi describing in detail how much she hates Jeremy and then through the course of the event of the books through no character growth or real interactions she ends up in love with him. The female characters in this book were written as if Daniel was really trying to write 'strong female characters' but he has not idea what that means and just made them 2D images of what a strong woman might be.