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“The last I saw of Count Dracula was his kissing his hand to me, with a red light of triumph in his eyes, and with a smile that Judas in hell might be proud of.”

To celebrate the release of Katabasis that brought such academic discourses with it, let’s analyze the differences between true dark academics and lovers of such VS lovers of aesthetics.

Consumerism is the bane of all existence and the first thing that has bugged me about this book on social media are the “required readings” to understand it. When the author stated that she was inspired by some literature and she doesn’t except anyone to buy and read other books to understand Katabasis . Then you have angry people on social media attacking the author for something that influencers spread around.

It is so funny seeing big booktok influencers persuading people once again to spend money on stuff they probably wont be interested in.

But the…

Big words..

You are reading books from an academic set in an academia type world . If the words weren’t “big” it wouldn’t make sense. It can’t be called pretentious as then you diminish the intellectualism of not only the work you are reading but the world of knowledge in general. If you are not interested in this type of work, you do not like Dark academia, light academia or anything alike. You are infatuated with the aesthetic.

It is alright to like something without understanding it deeply. But criticism is not welcome then. How can you sit there and praise an author for work that is a clear plagiarism of someone else’s work (even copying same sentences 😭) then call a book annoying. Without being condescending I know who and what may be annoying…

Please feel free to discuss your own opinion I would love to hear it !

“You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty, and then we shall fill you with ourselves.”

Every new novel, I stop and think of one thing: I need the female lead to be strong, mighty, cold—but also loving—with an interesting and equally hot love interest, and of course, she must be of remarkable beauty…

SAID NO ONE EVER.

Let’s stop and start over. What defines a good character—especially the main character of a story? A "strong, empowering lead" is now just a checkbox for the publishing industry. A book without it won’t even be considered. They think giving her a tragic backstory, making her seem “quirky,” not like other girls, cold, sarcastic, and emotionally unavailable (trauma™) somehow makes her interesting.

AND PEOPLE EAT IT UP.

The next segment is just my constructive criticism of such characters and their (lack of) writing:

The Prison Healer series Kiva Meridan, the main protagonist, is a case I dread talking about. The first book was amazing in its details and story! She seemed caring toward her patients but distrustful of everyone—which made sense given her situation. She was scared. There were clues of her being well-versed in healing, but not in a way that hinted at what was revealed later. Her hatred of the royals was justified, and her distrust toward Jaren—even after he saved her—was believable.

The plot twist at the end was truly unexpected and opened the door for her character development (that never happened).

In the second book, Kiva— escaped a prison, forced to heal or face death, alone, without family, having watched her mother die, with the Kingdom at fault for everything that’s happened to her— is suddenly surrounded by rulers who are so kind and loving toward her. They even help her.

The tragedy of facing two opposing sides, and her being stuck in the silver lining, could’ve been revolutionary. Sadly, that wasn’t the case…

Somehow, she gets thrown between the two forces in the dumbest way imaginable. The kidnappings. The vomiting.

The crying over a man she didnt even like before? The sudden loss of all combat ability? Pathetic. I can’t even begin to fathom the forced “enemies-to-lovers” trope between her and Jaren.

For god’s sake, there’s more chemistry between my socks.

But the most annoying part is— she becomes so trusting of the people she literally promised to overthrow just days ago?! And yet, the Kiva in book one wouldn’t even trust her own family? THEY LOCKED HER UP.

All of this is to say: Be mindful of the stories you choose to read.

Reading is fun, but that isn’t its sole purpose. Books are critical. Pretending they’re not cheapens their value. Characters are not selling points. They are reflections.

Dear R. F. Kuang,

WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS?! I mean it’s my fault by reading the dragon republic at the beach.. BUT WHAT THE FUCK.

I read other books guys pls, I’m just hyper fixated on tpw for now 😋

Some of these books have dark themes not to be taken lightly, do your research! This is just for fun.

I will be also posting this on my instagram page that is under construction right now.

Throwback to this diabolical page.