I HATE THIS AWFUL BOOK SO MUCH!

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#romance #fantasy #books

[HigatsukuTaishi]

The "female" and "male" thing is absolutely not petty lol; if I recall correctly, SJM is particularly infamous for using those words as nouns for characters and it reeks of bioessentialism. And any time a woman is referred to as a "female" it's an immediate red flag, on and off the page.

[poe.and.theholograms]

So the male's penetrating eyes robbed the female of speech... one might say it caused a

pergantn pause

[DeidresStuff]

Male/female makes things sound like a nature documentary. "The male arrives at the water hole, drawing the attention of the female."

[TripleRoux]

Oh how I hate the endless assassins in fantasy books...

[gamewrit]

"Nope. Nope, that's not a sentence." 4:00 LOL.

[sandeesandwich]

"Smelted stone topped with a ladle of cream." -- that is some writing right there. If only I knew what it meant. Or cared what it meant. I think I can take this off my library hold list. Thank you, Willow!

[RoundSeal]

Ahh, the classic immature writer trap — thinking that purpling the living daylights out of your text makes it seem more Intelligent & Good. 💀

[badger-]

I researched this book because I was curious and the 'smelted stone topped with a ladle of cream' made me decide against it. It wasn't even the full quote you read, just that one bit of it made me say nope

[ApricusInaros]

Sounds like the sort of dime novels I read at my grandma's house when I was a teen. Lines that spoke of unbridled passion, sparks of desire that ignite a fire of burning lust and wild ecstasy. 😂

[skyviewknits]

In one of the SJM books I've read, she implies that male and female are used to differentiate fae from human men and women. And yet... it still just feels somehow both pretentious and bioessentialist. It also doesn't make sense because there's an attempt to describe fae as instinctual and animalistic, but also noble and more civilized than humans? These fairy romantasy books try too hard to sound smart when they lack any sort of substance or nuance.

[crystalotus]

Thank you for saving me precious time ... and pain. "What does that even mean?" sums it up perfectly. I do love your reviews 😂

[badfaithu]

Thank you for doing this video. Message recieved. Will avoid the book.
You are not being petty about the male female thing. Your opinion makes sense.

[David-sgyi]

That whole male/female wording makes me think of Wild Kingdom or being on a Safari doing a documentary.

[Rotwood]

I can't bring myself to read straight romantasy anymore. It's too much of a minefield for me.

I do run into some duds when I read queer romantasy ("The Crack at the Heart of Everything" was a dissappointment for me and most of what I read from AJ Sherwood infuriates me), but for the most part I have a fantastic time and a high bar is set. Both "Sorcery and Small Magics" by Maiga Doocy and "A Spell for Heartsickness" by Alistair Reeves were recent delightful romantasy reads. Also, I particularly enjoy books by Foz Meadows, Moniquill Blackgoose, Freya Marske, Allie Therin, and to a less intense degree of love but still entertaining Seth Haddon, Tavia Lark, Ben Alderson, and Alexandra Rowland.

[mackenzie]

This made me cry laughing 🤣 thank you so much! And my condolences to you for your loss of all that time!! But what a passionate review! I’ve subscribed for books and you delivered! 👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼

[Barryislarge]

12:10 is just me when i'm trying to hit a word count

[rivervlogs]

I do feel like Acotar was overhyped based on what I saw on booktok.. I don't think this was the best introduction into the genre but I have learned a few things from it after reading it as an aspiring writer creating my own fantasy romance it was helpful 😅

[andreeadraginov]

Oh, no! I have it on my TBR, had high hopes for it...😔 Thank you for making these videos, life is too short for bad books :)

[zachreads]

My №1 rec romantasy is still "The Mermaid the Witch and the Sea" by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
A few lesser but good ones are
-The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska
-A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske
-Dragonfall by L.R Lam
-Her Spell that binds Me by Luna Oblansky
-Kingdom of Exiles by Maxym M Marrineau (I read the adult version, but the clean YA version is pbly better)

Some very good ones that may or may not count as romantasy
-The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec (5☆ all day!)
-The Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa (book one is the weakest in the series)
-Providence Girls by Morgan Dante

From the unhinged smut side of the fence that far exceed most
-The Princess and the Foxgirl by Julie Law
-Taken by the Witch Queen by Luna Fury

One popular tragically bad one I would love your review of
-One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

[shuwei]

Not petty, I remember the gender essentialism of SJM books being one of the key factors I moved on very quickly from her work. I don't want to be "not like the other girls" though and absolutely want to support romantasy with sincerity. So I am absolutely living vicariously through your experimentation hehehe. I shall have an easy time picking up the good stuff after Willow's Critical Filter™️