#book rant

I've mentioned before that I have a book club with my IRL friends, and we just picked this months book {with only half the month left, I know, but life gets busy}

And the book that was chosen?

A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC BY V.E. SCHWAB

I have been in the book social media community for about 2 years now, and I have to say it is a strange place to be.

First it was the clock app where everyone ended up being too busy dividing up into groups to bash each other that it stopped really being about the books. When we all thought we were losing access to that app in the US, there was a mass switch to the picture app that didn't last. Most of the people that switched now have a shell picture account "just in case."

I am happy that I moved over to the picture app personally. There is a lot less drama made from nothing. Book people on the picture app come with receipts when there is an issue of any kind. I don't think it is as clique focused on the picture app, but I might have just found the busy bees side of the community where they don't have time to post every day let alone cause drama lol

The one thing I would change about the picture app is how often they change how the algorithm works. There was a point where I wanted to try and just make a little something on the side with my book page. Instead I watched how every three months, it was like I was hidden or that what I was doing didn't work to be seen anymore. I now have no idea what I need to do to my posts to have them been seen by the people following me, let alone new people on the app. It has caused me to hit a wall of burnout that I don't know how to get out of, so my page has been taking the brunt of it.

It is also fun being able to interact with authors, but I am also learning that when you use certain words or tags, you will get random authors just pushing their book on you. It caused me to get turned off from the ARC side of supporting indie authors. Between signing up for books and not wanting to say no (obviously my issue not theirs) I got burnt out incredibly fast. I am just focusing on reading for authors that I genuinely talk to now because it will be so much better for everyone until I find myself in a different daily life scenario or decide I do not need to sleep ever again.

There are three things that I do not understand that keeps popping up all over the community though.

Hate on audiobooks - these were originally made as a way for people that couldn't physically read, whether is was blindness or medical conditions, to be able to still enjoy the books. Why is everyone acting like they don't count as reading the book just because people that don't have time to sit and read found that audiobooks work with multitasking

Hate on people that listen to audiobooks at more than 1x speed. Okay, we all know that ADHD is real and Neurodivergent brains do not run the same. So why are we surprised that there are people out there that can listen to a book at a crazy speed and still fully comprehend the book? If I can answer your questions, then I legitimately read the book....

Hate on Dark Romance. This is a genre that has actually helped a lot of people heal through their trauma because they have been given someone in literature that they can see themselves in. Some people like being able to safely imagine darker fantasies by reading about it. And some people just need a story that isn't fantasy that can completely remove them from reality. Let people ready whatever they want. It seems pretty simple.

I am currently burnt out on my picture app book page for posts. I am hoping that I will find the inspiration to be active again, but we will see. I might just have to keep trying and hope for the best as I find my footing again and the passion I had there for a while.

so, i started reading "The Summer of Broken Rules" because a close friend of mine had recommended it to me since last year, so I assumed that the book was going to be good, especially from all of the hype.

but in short, HECKS NAHHH I DID NOT ENJOY IT 😭😭 i got as far as pg 53 and was just so done with these characters. I tried to enjoy it, and honestly, ok, the writing styles ok but idk i'm asian and these were-- NO OFFENSE PLS DON'T COME AFTER ME-- the whitest shit ive ever heard. the dialogue was kind of cringy and i found it a little unbelievable that the mmc just... acted that way, yk?? like, ok, the fmc was just going through something cuz her sister died and she just got dumped by her bf and now this guy shows up at the wedding and if i had like a word or a phrase to describe him he's just so ANNOYING OML like he's acting like those hearthrob dudes youd see in tv shows and movies, when ive never met a guy who's ever acted like that lol.

also why TF DID THEY JUST LIKE... START FALLING IN LOVE SO SOON??? like sure it was just dialogue BUT BRO IT WAS SO OBVIOUS THAT HE WAS INTERESTED IN HER. and she's EIGHTEEN??? i thought she was like a junior in college. idk for me, the ages are just... idk. and i heard that they had like seggs or something and idkddkkddkdkk I STILL THINK THEY STILL KIDS. THEY STILL HAVE "TEENS" IN THEIR AGES.

OML DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE WHOLE "TAYLOR SWIFT"-ESQUE SHIT. i looked at the reviews and the people that were commenting like 5 or 4 stars were taylor swift fans. i don't want to be a hater or anything to her or anyone who likes her music, but i just dont fw with her music cuz AGAIN IT AINT FOR ME. and it just explains a lot about how freaking cliche this book was and why my friend liked it cuz she LOVES romance books AND taylor swift lol.

this book just proved to me that i just... don't like romance books lol AT ALL. i just find them unrealistic, a little cringe, and uncanny lol but honestly, it's not for me so don't come after me cuz i dont like a genre. like, for romance, it needs to be SO WELL WRITTEN. that goes for all genres; they need a complex storyline, and characters that are realistic yk? getting a lil off topic, but i prefer characters who even LOOK average and ARE AVERAGE, cuz idk, i feel like it makes it more relatable or wtv yk? that what makes me love writing so much; im able to create a world with relatability and also REALITY. i want my characters to hold some relatability and be in a world that makes my readers so compelled with them because it feels REAL.

1. Witch Hat Atelier season 1 finale episode. I am UNBEARABLY excited for this, I can’t wait to see how the season wraps up, even if it’s probably gonna be on the biggest cliffhanger ever.

2. My copy of A Prince Among Pirates by Katie Abdou arriving soon. I am also super excited to get my copy as I LOVE pirates, but especially books about pirates, and the premise of this particular book is very intriguing (also it’s queer and I’ve never read a queer pirate novel, so I’m even more excited for that)