#book rant

AND

I DONT BELIVE IN TURNUNG ALL BOOKS INTO ADAPTATIONS

Okay so everyone heard the news about the folk of air series being picked up to become a TV show or movie (I aint sure )

And I DONT LIKE THAT ans I say that as somebody who love love loves the series top 5 books for me but I truly dont feel like capturing the series on screen will be faithful or half as good as the book not to mention they'll most likely concentrate on the romance kinda like how booktok is always focusing on the romance and if you read the series you'd know that the romance is there but ITS ALL ABOUT THE POLITICS

It just feels like the values of books are now being measured by them becoming shows or movies like everybody is getting turned its miserable some books shouldn't be movies not cause they're bad but cause they're awesome turning them into a 90 min movie would remove so much of their hearts

Like this feels like the animation has to become life action

So, before the book was released, the author kept on putting importance to chapter 6.

And when I got to chapter 6, I was disappointed. I thought that something big would happen, but what happened wasn’t all that revolutionary.

Fast forward a few chapters, and it’s said that Trystan is reading a romance novel. A smutty romance novel. And some of the characters are waiting for him to reach a certain chapter.

Chapter 6.

And see, that connection didn’t click until chapter 37, when, uh, Trystan re-enacts chapter 6 from the book he was reading and specifically says that he was copying chapter 6…

And thus, there is the importance of chapter 6.

(SPOILERS)

Justice for Zara Jones yall, in the beginning I felt like she played such a big part and was my fav character. But she became less of a main character and more of a background character. They never get deep enough into her story as much as I'd like and damn I love the romance between Jude and Emer but like third wheel much, it's to the point she is fully ignored they don't even pay attention to her much when together.

It just bothers me a bit cuz I loved the dynamic early on sm but it's sad when Zara's ending feels so melancholic and unfinished.

Dark romance books, ARENT MEANT TO ROMANCE LITERAL FUCKING TORTURE.

A dark romance is the love interest doing immoral to people with the intention to PROTRCT the mc. NOT to the mc. The mc isn't supposed to be fucking cia tortured just so they love the love interest.

Dark romance was ALWAYS about the love interest doing things FOR the mc, not to them.

Carmilla, for example, she's a vampire. She feeds off the girl meant to visit and befriend Laura so she can keep Laura's attention to herself. YES, she drinks from Laura, but she never kills her. Even in the end she haunts Laura despite supposedly being dead. She is never described as explicitly HARMING Laura in anyway, but she does harm the girls in the village because she's a vampire.

That is a very soft example, but it is an example. Dark romance isn't meant to be fucking torture porn, it is supposed to be the lover preforming immoral or taboo acts in service / name FOR the mc.

NOT TORTURING THE FUCKING MC AND IT BEING WRITTEN AS SEXY OR HOT. TORTURE AND ABUSE IS NOT FUCKING HOT.

There are books about gay men written by straight women. Books written about straight couples by straight women and men. Etc etc.

There are queer books but I don't see many lesbian specific books. The books that blow up on tiktok either romanticize abuse or are heavily sexualized mlm smut books that straight women use to infantalize them.

But wlw books? There are so few and you have to DIG for them.

My mom is big into booktok, I ask her for book recommendations? Smut. All of it. Straight smut with the occasional mlm book thrown in there that is only ever talked about for the sexual scenes.

I have only ever been given one lesbian book in my entire life, it's part of a series and I have literally LOST the threw books I had because my mom fucking STOLE THEM and can't find them again. I can't even remember the name of the books but ik they were short and so so so cute, and I have never been able to find them again.

The “s*x scenes” of that book changed how I read and understood the story. It literally highlighted the MCs disdain for women; they show the raw, barely-concealable, misogynistic nature of Winston. The way it demonstrates the loss of passion and love in a totalitarian society really impacted me. It’s really remarkable how, while contrasting, the scenes between Julia and Winston and Winston and the s*x worker both have an underlying layer of loneliness, rebellion, and hostility towards women.

Whether it’s because of the Party’s influence or just an innate character trait; Winston seems to see s*x as something somewhat unsatisfying and has no regard for the women he’s having it with. There’s barely any interpersonal connection between Winston and Julia until the very end!

Like Winston fantasies about ending Julia’s life before their ‘relationship’ is established due to how turned on she makes him feel. He feels an insane level of hatred for women. It’s giving Frodo from The Hunchback from Notre Dame after Esmeralda escapes him. The only reason this didn’t happen was Julia coming onto him. Dude was ready to commit a capital crime because a girl was pretty. ‘Too pretty’. Their relationship’s turning point before being found out clearly was their first time ‘making love to each other’.

Winston sees their relationship (which already is practically based on physical connection and immediate satisfaction) as a way to rebel against the party. I sometimes thought he was reaally close to getting a b*ner from simply thinking against Big Brother and the Party rather than from being with Julia. He’s more excited about the hope for widespread rebellion and unknown historical knowledge; being with her represents his dim hopes for a brighter future.

Julia is more of a symbolic character overall. She’s all about the small acts rebellion and finding small moments in a place where she’s oppressed at every turn. The s*x and interactions with Winston showcase this. She’s the ‘normal’ person. The one who is trying to reclaim herself in a world that won’t let her be by seeking pleasure in every aspect possible. Normal people wouldn’t be Winston in this scenario. Most people would not go around trying to overthrow the government or finding the ‘truth’. There’s no point, after all.

The s*x scenes carry out some of the heaviest themes in this book and I honestly can’t imagine Winston would have gotten so far in his rebellion and ‘character development’ without them. I’ve heard people claim these scenes are the reason why US banned them from schools, but it’s extremely hard to understand how a barely explicit scene that contributes so much to a story could lead to banning a cornerstone of political critique in literature.