Brandon Sanderson is a bad writer? Smut is boring? Unpopular Bookish Opinions!

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[blueowl]

I feel like breaks ups from misunderstandings in romance novels is lazy writing 😅

[anyssareads]

I thought i was the only one who got irritated when fantasy romances focus too much on the smut instead of keeping a balance between the romance/relationship/smut and the fantasy plot that was the original story from the beginning. It drives me nuts!!

[gabrielaharries]

I definitely agree with you about the hunger games! It's definitely going to be a classic in the future, it just feels like a timeless story

[musarat]

I re-read The Hunger Games last year after 10ish years and I enjoyed it more than the first time I read it. If you do re-read it, I recommend the audiobooks that are narrated by Tatiana Maslany.

[mothmallow]

Not sure how uncommon/common of an opinion this is, but I actually prefer found family stories over romance stories. I like romances best if they involve lots of respect, communication, and support haha. I like friends to lovers for that reason. But even in a story that does that well, I'm sometimes like "damn I kind of wish they had just stayed BFFs" because I feel like we don't have enough stories that highlight the beauty of platonic friend/family relationships and how they can be just as important as romantic ones.

[valkyrie]

I love the outfit in this one! and the opinions are wooo very interesting. I completely agree about the smut comments even thought I love fantasy with romance elements and I also think there is something to be said about trends breeding not as well written stories (example being the total breakdown of the enemies to lovers trope).

[liacurry]

I don't love all of SJM's books (I'm looking at you, crescent city) but what irritates me is that so many people disregard her as a real fantasy writer because of the smut/romance. Her world building and story lines have a lot to them and would absolutely be considered high fantasy were they less romance centered.

[rubymoon]

I agree! Tension and build up in romance books is much more compelling

[LeeraChan]

There are sooo many enemies to lovers books nowadays but I'm really struggling to find the one thing I crave for: super wholesome and innocent, burn (like reaaally slow) friends to lovers. There is NOTHING better than witnessing friends slowly realising they are falling in love especially when it's kept drama free. Just sweet and cute, light and wholesome. Cannot find anything like that : (

[katiedorn]

I just reread the hunger games and it definitely held up - and was even better as an adult when you can understand all of the nuances

[DrMike]

While I’m fine with the smut, I do agree that too many current writers do too much smut too fast. Like I personally can’t stand the “will they, wont they” storylines of the past because those always took too long for anything to happen or doing the immediate “misunderstanding” conversation that leads them to immediately breaking up. I would like a nice happy medium. A little bit of spicier content and have the love interests get to gather by the end of the first book in a series so that it’s possible to actually explore the full dynamics of their relationship.

[amandaweymouth]

I really appreciate your attitude about holding onto books! I feel like booktube can really promote over consumerism. I only want to keep books that I want to read, reread, and lend to my friends!

[rainyjreads]

Ohh I can totally see enemies to lovers. Feels like authors write that trope BECAUSE it is a trope, instead of two characters fully flushed out that actually have characteristics they want in each other and making the relationship feel real to the reader

[acase]

I also love having a huge physical tbr! It doesn't stress me out at all, I love having all these options and undiscovered future favs on my shelf saved for when I'm in just the right mood.

[robertdean]

Back in the ‘90s, when the Wheel of Time was new and social media was called Usenet, the Jordan fans used to say that you should stick with it, because it got really interesting by the 2nd or 3rd book. Personally, I didn’t have any interest in slogging through a doorstop book waiting for it to become interesting 800 pages later…

[jessicapurnell]

Agree about Jennifer L Armentrout's From Blood and Ash series. ACOTAR series by Maas got me out of a huge book slump and I asked for recommendations for what to read next and FBAA was the top one, i read it and only got to book 2 before i DNF'd. Realised that i wasn't going to be surprised by any of the "twists", and the smut just kept getting more and more ridiculous while still trying to do a "will they won't they" plot which become unenjoyable, and the actual fantasy plot line got completely lost. When the author remembered "oh yeah we're supposed to be in an actual fantasy story here" she just used a random character to info dump. Hated it. Avoiding those types of books for a while now after that experience. I enjoy reading good smut! But having it be essentially the entire focus point of a book is a bit boring to me.

[francesdeguzman]

I started reading Robin Hobb because of your recommendations, and I've never read fantasy before it. I love the heart of her writing, the world, the plot MMM. Bad side is it's hard for me to binge because its soooo emotionally taxing (IN A GOOD WAY). Thanks for the recommendation I am loving this Hobb journey!!!

[leemolloy]

i can’t stand the spice trend like that’s all people care about when it comes to books? it annoys me

[alethiariebeling]

Hii, so one of my favorite fantansy romance stories is in the Black Magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan, I seriously love that story!

[Wildflower]

Ah your comments about special editions answered something for me. I was wondering why you didn't get book boxes like illumicrate and fairyloot, but the matching things makes sense. I recently joined illumicrate and I'm sooo excited to start getting boxes!!! my trope rant: I hate second chance romance lolol. I think it's because in most of the books I've read with that trope either the entire conflict hinges on a single bit of miscommunication which feels lazy and just makes me think of the characters as terrible communicators OR the conflict is more complex, but the characters don't seem to have enough growth/change to make the second chance seem worth it.