THE ONES WE BURN | Did it deserve 1 star?
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2022
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Man, the cover artist did a good job. Shoutout to them for doing their best with this train wreck.
The illustration is amazing!
The cover artist did amazing. I was seduced by it and swore the book was amazing because of it
Looked it up, the cover was designed by Karyn Lee and illustrated by Elliot Baum !
Right? I shop by visual aesthetics and brief read of a single page, this one 100% would have fooled me.
that's what I was thinking lol!
Alternative to pale: His skin was like curdled milk, prominent veins raised to the surface like a slab of overripe gorgonzola.
I’m dead 😂😂😂😂😂😂
this is A FACE LIKE GLASS by frances hardinge. i am not kidding
When referencing my own pasty pale skin, I prefer to refer to myself as “Casper the unfriendly ghost.” 😂
@@Topdoggie7 she is a British writer so this is incorrect!!! my note is extremely complimentary however
@@geographconcept7523 Oh yeah. Sorry for the late post while barely awake. Hardinge writes amazing stuff.
there's so few characters because the story is taking place under COVID filming restrictions and they had to limit who was on set
hahahahahahahah
The topic of the same group of YA authors being nothing but supportive of each other is so important to discuss; because it creates a bubble for the genre and leaves no room for improvement for authors. It also leaves room for problematic elements to thrive if the circle of author friends are not willing to be objective and call it out. I have to ask myself, would they be okay supporting these books if they were written by people they weren’t friends with?
Like if I were publishing a book I would want 100% honest feedback and critiques to make sure my work is good.
Same. I would only want to ask my friends who I know will give me gentle but firm constructive feedback because I would WANT my book to be its best. I don’t want hype buddies I want feedback that challenges me.
@@ReadswithRachel exactly this! And I’d want to know if elements of my work were harmful as well.
You hit the nail on the head. With literally *every* controversial book I can think of, in recent memory, the author had other authors on their side, either blindly defending the book or their character in general. It’s not even just this group…there are literally different cliques depending on (sub)genre, and sometimes depending on whether it’s traditionally or self published. But the playbook is almost always eerily similar.
I agree. It feels like every three to five years we cycle through different YA author cliques who promo and blurb each other come hell or high water. It’s definitely gotten more prevalent as social media became the mainstream way to boost your popularity.
Hard agree. My critique partner was a feral animal, and I loved her for it. Like, she ate my entire heart twice, but it was necessary to improve my story. The sensitivity readers I hired were much gentler in their approach, but I got just as much out of their feedback because it was so pointed. I'm open to gentle and harsh feedback, as long as it's honest and constructive and not wishy-washy or cruel.
Author cliques are so prevalent on Twitter, and drama follows them everywhere. Also, I can't believe trad publishing won't stump up for sensitivity readers. I hired 5 for my first book (9 across the series of 6 books) and I'm just an indie who has no actual book income yet. Mostly because my books are still naked and I can't afford to dress them all in this economy.
I posted the first-ever negative review of After (on Goodreads, Amazon and my own blog). I subsequently had to take them all down for my own mental health.
You're not joking about rabid fans and toxic fandoms.
oh my god you are a brave soul because that fandom is willing to go for the necks of any and every person
As a 1D fan.... We don't claim Harry Het Stans (aka the girls who projected onto Tessa) who hyped up the fics/books and got them where they are now.
Most of the 1D fandom recognised the books for what they were and kind of let them be.
Now, the After fanbase that's independent from the 1D fandom...that's whole separate issue ngl. They are even crazier.
speaking as a writer, I think many of us would RATHER not be on social media lol (myself included.) it's the publishing industry that demands pre-built audiences, viral tiktoks or "easily pitchable" premises to even consider our stories and it kinda backs us into a corner... so many books these days are a product of, like you said, a person's "online presence preceding them" and it creates this cycle of mediocre stories getting skyrocketed to the top of people's most anticipated reads. I don't think rebecca's an awful person at all. it's just a lotttt of books are getting published prematurely/carelessly, including this one, it seems. thanks for breaking this down though lol, I was gonna pass this one up.
"published prematurely" is EXACTLY how i would put this case, absolutely. I think that publishing is really unfair to authors, and having to rely on online presence in order to sell books is going to cause this to keep happening. Publishers should instead be willing to do more to help efficiently get books ready for publishing, then do more to market books.
@@ReadswithRachel it's just a way to cut costs with marketing, if you have a big enough platform to market your own book they don't need to spend as much.
As a writer currently writing my debut novel, your words resonate so much with me. I'm very shy in public and online so the thought of implementing multiple social media accounts to try marketing my books sound terrifying
I feel like it's a lot of toxic positivity. People are trying so hard to pretend that everything's okay, that they're scared to honestly admit when it's not. Critique is a necessary part of growth, but no improvement is made because feedback gets self censored
I absolutely agree with you
Unless something has changed in the last decade, this is actually how "critique" is being taught in colleges, too (at least in the US). I almost failed my creative writing classes because I was "too mean" in my reviews by pointing out anything from flaws in the plot and banal dialog to straight up racism. The instructor pretty much only wanted us to point out gramatical errors in our peers stories, and then just asspat each other. I ended up having to have a mediation between myself and the instructor with a campus counselor where I snapped that I felt unchallenged in the class because no one ever did anything other than praise me and that I didn't pay to get my ego stroked.
I got accused of thinking I was better than my peers (not true, I was asking to be given honest reviews) and ultimately ended up with a C in the class lmao. And looking back on the stuff I turned in for the course, it was all bad! They were just as littered with weird plot holes, boring dialog, and the occasional ignorant stereotype as everyone else's stories were but I couldn't see it at the time because no one was giving me real critique.
@@kyokunskitty That is honestly insane. I am so sorry that your college did that to you and your teacher was completely wrong. That is the exact opposite of my experience in my under grad. In fact my creative writing teacher went out of her way to make sure we got negative critiques. Not in a horrible or insulting way. She just made sure we learned how to give critiques properly, that we learn how to word things in a helpful way without just insulting each other, but make sure we weren’t afraid of being honest. She even talked about how we needed to get used to getting critiques if we were going to be writers, that we needed to have a thick skin as well as knowing how to critique writers in a helpful way.
Even now I am getting my masters and everyone in my writing workshop classes are encouraged to give honest critiques as long we can also suggest ways to help the author improve.
@@EVILIMPproductions dang I'm jealous of your experience!
@@kyokunskitty
"straight up racism"
OH HECK NO! You should definitely point that out in your critiques!! 😮😮
As an author of 12+ years myself, I feel like this almost epidemic of poorly executed/written stories is happening - to a degree, at least - because publishers are almost forcing the hand of authors to promote themselves 100% and build an audience before a book releases(a lot of times, before a book even exists and is just an idea even.) when originally Publishers were responsible for that to a larger degree in prior years.
Now authors aren't just writing and doing some marketing, we're a lot of times doing the jobs publishers used to do, plus some, even while Trad Publishing. That being said, social media is definitely at the root of this issue in a lot of ways and is an extremely double edged sword for us, but unfortunately is all we can do now to stand a chance in an already extremely difficult industry to get into, let alone thrive in.
Fantasy sapphic romance is SO hard for authors to get right, I feel like. I want a good one. I'm begging the universe, please give us readers a well written fantasy sapphic romance book. DX
The finale strife has a sapphic romance.
i am officially moving up the final strife on my tbr
cinderella is dead is a sapphic fantasy that i enjoyed!
*adds both to TBR*
The Elemental Logic series by Laurie J Marks is the gold standard for me and literally no one knows about it. Multiple queer characters in a literal found family (they live together and raise a child collectively), a fascinating magic system, in-depth discussions of the morality of war, and Le Guin-level prose
Tasha Suri's Burning Kingdoms may be what you're looking for. I just finished the second book and I don't think my heart will recover.
I gotta say though, that cover slaps
oh for sure, i agree
4:06 Since I have no self control, I decided to "fix" the synopsis a bit:
"Ranka is tired of death. All she wants now is to be left alone, living out her days in Witchik’s wild north with the coven that raised her, attempting to forget the horrors of her past. But when she is named Bloodwinn, the next treaty bride to the human kingdom of Isodal, her coven sends her south with a single directive: kill him. Easy enough, for a blood-witch whose magic compels her to kill.
Except the prince doesn't seem to be what the coven thinks. And it’s his sister-the wickedly smart, infuriatingly beautiful Princess Aramis-who seems to be the real threat.
But when witches start turning up dead, murdered by a mysterious, magical plague, and coup draws nearer, Ranka is forced to decide between the coven that raised her and the people who see beyond the monster she's been shaped to be.
But as the bodies pile up, a monster may be exactly what's needed."
i actually like this better than the official one! i like how you stuck to the og vision and really worked off the bones of the synopsis without just completely changing it, though it probably wasn't hard cuz the concept it had was really cool, the execution just sucked on the authors part. all in all, neat job!
I think not putting the part about the prince and princess would be better it make the idea that they are "evil" or bad stay a little longer, keeping the mystery
I don’t understand why authors are so scared of negative reviews. Critical reviews are a crucial part of the creative process.
Scathing, unapologetic, and absolutely brutal reviews are vital to creating a better work. You don’t forge a sword by gently rubbing a piece of steel with a towel, you have to heat it and beat the hell out of it to get something worthwhile. Your reviews are honest and fair, and reflect your opinion as a reader and reviewer. People need to accept that.
i appreciate that! I try to be fair, i make jokes for the sake of my audience but if an author asks me for help i really do try to work with as many as i can to help make their books the best they can be
Your review doesn't need to be brutal. You can give criticism without being a ass
You know these reviews are just for fun right? Actual legitimate reviews need to be clinical, surgical, and full of substance. In other words, boring to us but critical to the person it’s meant for. A good review is a review that explains what’s wrong and how to fix it. That’s it. “Scathing reviews” implies that the reviewer is getting emotional and thus will put out an inferior review because they’ll be too blinded to give accurate advice.
I think this is untrue, reviews are for the reader not the author. By the time the book is out and ready to be reviewed the author is already working on their next book. Scathing, unapologetic, brutal reviews are fine but they’re not vital to the authors growth because they shouldn’t be reading/watching that anyway. That’s how you end up with authors crossing boundaries and attacking reviewers.
The problem is many have forgot the art of 'review' and tare apart the author as person based on the book (not to say a author shouldnt be called out a person with issues if it based on more then the work itself). More character assassination rather then provide out lines of a books issues. Why I'm glad I found this channel, because it's not hurtful towards the author or readers. It's a critical analysis of the work itself.
I had such a weird time listening to this because my name is Galen and not once have I heard it fictionally or in any kind of video ever. I imagine this is what people with normal names feel like lmao
the main character in Princesses of the Midnight Ball is named Galen!
Try Dragon Quest, there's a famed bard by that name, he's got a town named after him and all.
Authors are often asked by their publishers to blurb books -- not necessarily even books FROM that publisher. It can be a quid pro quo sort of thing between publishers too. So the author can be put in a bind. Maybe they don't want to praise a book, but... Which is why I give some of these authors a break, in terms of them giving blurbs.
This! And this is also why I never buy a book for the blurb or even give the “opinion” a thought.
Yes! I truly dont understand being mad at an author for blurbing the book, the way people came for chloe over this was so disproportionate of a response
Man, when you told me the synopsis I found the whole concept so cool. It really is a pity the execution was so lackluster.
Ik! The evil violent magic thing sound so cool as does the science-y find a cure thing but clealr yet doesn't work out 😕
I picked up this book before realizing the behind-the-scenes drama with the author. It was a book that I read in about two days and when I finished I thought, "It was fine." Reflecting back a week later when I realized I couldn't remember anything I noted that the book was a big old ball of nothing. It looks pretty on my shelf though... :/
Whole situation made me think of the “Crier’s War” series . Though the author of that book is not a poc, the two protagonist who fall in love are described to be. She does an amazing job of writing two characters and not overly reminding the reader just to mark a check in a diversity box. This story exploring the meaning of what it is to be human, and the protagonist just happen to be people of color.
Glad I wasn’t the only who was trying to figure out what was going on in “The One’s Who Burn.” The flashbacks had me fighting for my life. I still don’t understand the whole “nail” thing😭. Like are their nails talons, inky black, or all of the above. Besides that I’m genuinely confused on why the book is so length if significant events and characters are glossed over repeatedly.
Omg the nails!! I still don't get the thing her sister poured on her hands to make it lighter? How it could be make lighter? What's the reason for them to be black? Fr a no-brainer
There was a twitter thread about in response to authors always describing poc characters with food (ie: mocha, honey, caramel skin) and that poc authors should do it for their yt characters. Responses tickled me.
Wait? Saying that author should describe us(white) like mozzarella, cheese, milk, yogurt😂😂😂😂
@@CyanHope "Her skin was whiter than mozzarella, and softer than mayonnaise. It tasted of plain yogurt."
Edit: Now that I think about it, I probably just wrote something a cannibal would. 🤔
@@DelilahDarling17 a cannibal who apparently really likes dairy🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@CyanHope Either someone already wrote a book about that, or someone is about to! 😂
@@DelilahDarling17🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’m lowkey convinced these bad TikTok books are the first attempt at AI generated books, and the industry is using these tiktokers as figureheads to sell.
Lol, believe me when I say AI would write way worse books than this.
I tried using AI once to test this theory AI for sure doesn't write like that it's worse it can write your a scene but nothing more it doesn't understand context
In defense of Chole Gong: Here's what happens when you're successful, usually your editor/publisher or someone in the industry that's stood by you in your hardest moments gives you a book and says: "I really need you to blurb this." You're really busy but you both "owe" and like this person. So, you read the book quickly and with a bias you can't help as a human and you write a good sentence about the best of it. Also she's a Chinese American author. Just by existing she's gone through stuff, so give her a break.
I haven’t read this book but I’ve read a few fantasy books recently where I’ve just wondered how they ever got published. I didn’t quite figure out the mysterious antagonist in 20ish pages like you did, but some of the books I’ve read recently have had the most obvious plot twists. They’re so obvious that I can’t even call them twists. When I’ve read reviews for some of them, a lot of people rave about the twists and it makes me question if I’m taking books too seriously (but truthfully, some of the setups were so blatant, I don’t know how people couldn’t predict it). Some of the reviews made question if I had even read the same book. Some of them weren’t even YA and I felt like I was reading the equivalent to a children’s animated show when the goal is to teach a lesson so the animators literally pan to whatever object is going to be the subject of the day. I’m not looking for literary masterpieces, but I am looking for books with just a bit more, I don’t know, planning? Thought? The assumption that the reader has some level of critical thinking? I don’t even know.
your review reminds me of me when i read caraval. I was so convinced by the reviews that I would love it so when i didnt i was like "is it me? am i the problem? am i taking this too seriously?
its a shame, the cover is so gorgeous and if i didnt know anything, i mightve picked it up
There's a part of me that is always afraid when I see a booktube title that says "did it deserve 1 star", because of my own self-published books. But"thankfully" mine are so unremarkable I don't even have any reviews. Ha-ha-ha... :sobs:
Noooooooo not this! Did you seek out beta readers? Those can help you get some early reviews but still allow you to utilize the feedback pre-publishing
@@3catday-writingandcats724 Cat-a-tonic sounds too cute. I know the only having a few reviews thing can be disheartening. If I can carve out a little time in the next week or so, I'll try to read it and add another review for you. I know the self-publishing process can be trying and I wish you the best of luck!!
@@palindont9238 Thank you so much! I appreciate it.
What's your books name?
Maybe a bit of an odd comment- but I've only just come across this channel and these critiques are amazing, very eloquent and thorough. As an amateur writer I think I'll start using these books as a guide for what not to do lmao.
I feel like for a debut book it's decent, but there are some area where I get flashbacks back to when I was a 10 year old, determined to become an author, having a lot of cool or important things happening off page because I thought it would be too tedious and annoying to right. I'm still pretty young so some more mature themes tend to float over my head, but when I read the book it definitely felt a bit scrambled and disconnected. The whole book felt like a concept that someone really loved but that was all they had.
16:39 You thought Weasley, but I instantly thought "that's Beaker from the Muppets"
Hahahahahaha
I love this series, really helps me weed out my tbr list. Thank you for spending the time I can't on books like this
I was looking forward to this book but im also used to tiktok recs being crap but people hyping them up anyway. Thank you for saving my time and money.
Just doing my civic duty!
I was so excited for this one 🥺. I need to stop looking at covers 🤣🤣
THE COVERS GET US EVERY TIME!!!
Literally this book and “we fall down” got me for the covers but both are apparently just awful💀
Don't feel bad. I pick up books for their covers too!
But who drew the art? We need to support them!!
Yeah, pretty covers have given me many duds. Look good on the shelf though. Lol.
Your reviews are important to both the authors and others. I personally take notes for myself by watching your videos. because I want to write a good book. Maybe there are people who think it's cruel, but only by criticism the writer can grow.
This means so much to me, thank you!
Listening to your vids and other like it while trying to write a lesbian love story with sirens. I may not be a lesbian or even a woman (well anymore🏳️⚧️) I still feel like trying to put out good written women/lesbians by men so yeah. You're amazing Rachel
I look forward to seeing your story someday!
@@ReadswithRachel Thank you! I really look up to you so you have no idea how happy that makes me
God that is a pretty cover though, props to the cover artist/designer!
Huge THANK YOU! I’ve been binging your videos and you’ve truly helped me as an author. As I’m going through my manuscript, I’m looking for moments where I can see you roasting me, and fixing them. You’re the best! ❤❤
I'm so glad!
This is beautiful. I, too, write like I can imagine someone roasting me XD
Thanks for the review. Loved it.
i love this series so much, i was hoping you’d make a vid for this book!
I was definitely hooked by the cover but then I had to dnf after the cabbage man from avatar the last Airbender cameo bc WTF WAS THAT
i could watch your videos all day 😭 your humor is unmatched u just keep it so real
I appreciate that 🥹❤️
just discovered your channel, thanks for this.
the online presence getting certain people especially writers opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t is the reason the whole concept of poetry has been so corrupted! and i hate so much to see it happening in other genres too
I have to thank you because I'm currently reading this book and you were able to give me more informations about what is going on than the book itself! First, I'm soooo annoyed by the absence of a map in this book cuz names are just dumped here and there and it took me idk how much to realize sunra is the royals surname and not a place! (or maybe it is? I have no idea?). I feel just stupid lol while continuing the reading, I'm even failing to understand this treaty purpose? And why there's no maid even dressing ranka up?? No change of dresses? No etiquette? It's just the 4 of them it's honestly boring
Tbh the synopsis and intro make this book sound like a sequel
I dieeeeed at your Malfoy/Weasley comment
I really wanted to buy this book the other day, and I'm glad I put it off. It sounded interesting and looked beautiful, but I'm so disappointed that that it isn't good.
I’ve only reviewed books anonymously ever since 2012 and all of the authors behaving badly (and even an agent behaving badly wrt The Selection), Stop the Goodreads Bullies doxing reviewers, etc. Modern social media (especially tiktok and twitter) has made it even worse. And not to be grossly cynical, but so many current YA books (and some adult crossover books) feel like popularity grabs from people who already have popularity, and not a love of storytelling/craft. Like, they want to skip the work and time and go for the IP and fandom idk.
i think you're absolutely right
also... i forgot about stop the goodreads bullies. what a wild time on the internet.
Wtf, they dox negative reviews???
Honestly your in depth read of the book. I hope after this book gets revamped by the editors and Rebecca take this as a writing lesson in publishing a book, she will improve further on.
I'm so glad that I canceled my preorder for this one. 😭
Honestly… money well saved. Not worth your cash.
im about to see if i can cancel mine... wish me luck !
i cant until i receive it,,,
@@aasha8759 Oh, no. That sucks.
would love to see a video of you tier listing types of magic bc I also love death magic and necromancy
Good idea!
People need to understand if you are a fan of a book or a book series and someone reviews it and don't like the book doesn't mean that the fans of the book should go and tell that person to do horrible things to themselves we are entitled to our opinions and not everyone is gonna like a particular book people have favorite genres or types of books I just find it childish that grown people are acting like children
I was just looking at this book YESTERDAY on a list of upcoming F/F releases. I read the blurb and figured it wasn’t for me. Wild that all this has happened around it!
omg i nearly bought this book cause i liked the cover. so glad i went with a comic instead 😭
Agree with you 100% about the anonymous review. It is sad that reviewers have to worry about backlash. As a self-published author, it's recommended that we NOT read our reviews as they are not for us they are for other readers. I stupidly still read some of mine and, yeah, the one and two star ones can sting, but those folks just aren't your tribe and that's ok. They're still entitled to their opinion what they think of my book is none of my business. Best thing to do is just keep writing, because just like any other skill the more you do it the better you get at it and oh boy, when you go back and read over your first books and cringe because even you can see your own improvement. Just keep on keeping on and leave the reviews and reviewers alone. Folks shouldn't have to be afraid to post their opinion.
All communities are vitriolic I feel like these days. Every community I take part in on UA-cam has so much hate.
I remember being in the online vegan community and it was present there as well, lots of in-fighting
I enjoy your rambles
sis your smart don't put yours self down like that.
I appreciate it but I legitimately do not think so!
I'm really glad I skipped this one. That's so weird that so many people don't even show up and a lot of stuff just happens off the page. That would frustrate me a lot.
the off-page stuff kills me. Im not asking every scene be a GRRM level case of political scheming but to have entire groups just not on page? come on
I got this as one of my fairyloot boxes and I was excited. Now I’m nervous 😂 I’m hoping it’s bad enough it’s funny but I am not feeling hopeful and I’m only a few minutes into the video 😂😂
i was really looking forward to this book because it sounded cool to me, so i'm extremely disappointed to hear that it wasn't done well😭
Okay so I'm from America and I'm kind of tired of the new government always being defacto Democracy. Like bruh there's better systems or even ways we can improve democracy. But it's so cut/dry
It's so boring when that happens, and sometimes it even sounds mildly like propaganda lol
Love your channel!
thank you so much!
When my book is released I want you to read and review it omg, you're so thorough I appreciate that so much in reviewers
i'd be happy to!
@@ReadswithRachel Oh my gosh hell yes
As an aspiring author, I watch lots of videos on new and promising (YA) fantasy books, especially those that seem to fail their expectations. I'm on the fence about whether or not to buy this book just to get a first-hand idea of what went wrong and teach myself not to make the same mistakes, but the comments tell me that it would be a waste of 20$ lol
This might be a book you’d wanna grab from your library, if you have access to one, so you don’t waste your money trying to learn what went wrong here!
I literally had someone I critiqued for writing problematic content and bury your gays repeatedly for the straight character's development go to her writing circle and use them to validate her and she only takes inner circle criticism. I cringed so damn hard because that's vile to me and toxic positivity.
please tell me this wasnt a tradpub author
@@ReadswithRachel They're an editor who toots their own horn on Twitter and they have a small following there. They encourage people to tradpub and almost all of their advice is so squeaky clean like never have a gay character ever ever display any negative personalities, trans people can do no wrong, the LGBT can never be a bad guy. I ran into them because I dared to have a gay character have anger issues. It's really weird because they write gay villains all the time but if one of their paying customers does it they freak out and scream.
What….. the utter f***
@@Topdoggie7 that's especially absurd because like do they think that anyone in the LGBTQ+ group is non human and therefore unable to have human emotions and flaws like everyone else?
I got an arc of this and wanted to power through since it was an arc but ended up dropping it. I can see why it got a lot of negative feedback before it was even was out.
Rachel you're almost at 4k 🙌
I’m seriously shocked 😭
I mean, the premise itself sounds interesting to me. It's sad the execution wasn't as good.
man the cover really is gorgeous though
I’m in the midst of my sixth draft (hopefully submitting in January) and I’m glad my betas read me for filth. Because if you don’t edit, this is what happens
I'm not super familiar with the industry so I could be way off base here, but I wonder if the issue re: people with big online followings getting publishing deals and producing sub-par work is due to the publishers deciding, since they can get the sales, they can slack on actually helping develop the book. Whereas, imo, you should spend the money you're saving on marketing on helping the author produce a good product.
Honestly this sounds fun to read to me.
One day i cant wait to hear you reviwe one of my books
So blood witches are basically berserkers? Why do we need magic to explain a murderous rage? Did she think no one would like her character if she was just Like That?
Whatever symbolism she was trying to write in the witchery in this book was completely lost on me
I dunno, witches acting like your typical DnD barbarians seems like a fun concept. I'd watch an animation of that for sure!!
@@DrawciaGleam02 I would too, but, well, look at it this way.
A witch that acts like a barbarian is interesting, but doesn’t need to have some magical explanation behind it. If she was cursed that way, or if she just happened to be a berserker, it would probably be something she had to overcome to achieve her goal. That would be interesting and plot-relevant. And assuming, of course, she doesn’t want to be a berserker.
In this case, however, I got the impression she doesn’t seem to care. It’s just an excuse for her to kill people as the plot demands while still leaving her as “likable.” It isn’t necessary, because plenty of people would love her, as you mentioned. And it tells me the author didn’t trust her own ability to write a likable berserker woman, and therefor didn’t bother to try.
(Also, the MC ISN’T a witch acting like a DnD barbarian. She has magic. It does nothing besides make her enter berserk mode when angry. That’s it.)
As a budding author, I enjoy the truthful looks you take. :) But is it shadenfreude for me to be looking up all the reviews on bad books? I fully admit it makes me feel good, lol.
The cover art is so cool though
I really think it's sad, that the book turned out so badly, because the plot could've been the base for an actuallly good storyline imo. Like, throw in some extra characters who interact meaningfully with the protags, do the important plot points ON screen, maybe write a bit more chronologically instead of just getting a starting point way ahead of the meat and potatoes only to infodump later.... The list goes on.
And with building romance, you CAN turn banter and even serious fights into a bonding experience, platonically or romantically.
I know I'm not a super-skilled writer either, but I like to think that my current fantasy novel is doing better than that... Simply because I kinda know how to write in differnt voices and give backstory through dialogue, character morals, and show-not-tell.
Isnt better the name "Berserker Witch" instead of "blood witch"? Or something like, Boiling blood witch, or Rage witch?
Yeah I agree, I would’ve liked to see Rage Witch used instead
I think regardless of any of the poor writing, the discussion surrounding this book is the reverse racism and harmful stereotypes. The book probably could have been garbage and not been one star bombed but the problematic issues pushed it over the edge. But it’s good you went thoroughly and addressed the poor writing too.
I’m aware of the discussion that led to it being one star bombed.
I finished my book. I'm terrified that it's no good, but my friend tells me that it's good.
My advice: if you can… Hire a reviewer who’s reviews you respect for their honesty to help you as a beta reader.
I found an editor who liked a small sample and wants to work on it.
The pale thing made me think of Stephen King and JK Rowling and they always repeat a character’s physical trait or a tick they do. I get it, but not five times a page.
Bro, he hasn't done that for years, but Rowling adores it for sure.
@@Topdoggie7 I haven’t read a Stephen King book since high school and that was one of the reasons why. I tried to reread the Stand, but oh buddy the repetition made me want to pull an Oedipus and rid myself of my eyes. It was melon baller time.
@@AllisonMiller30 Oh man that is a terrible book to pick. Like I'm a huge fan but I can tell you that certain ones like Jerusalem's Lot and Salem's Lot, these are books that I do not recommend. The Stand itself is kind of one of those because it goes so deep into things like nipple hair that you get taken out of all of it. I highly recommend reading some of his new books because he does really good short stories and he does really good newer books.
@@Topdoggie7 yeah, I shouldn’t have read that book so young, I remember just reading along and then the butt sex happened and I was like “well this just came out of left field,” I don’t remember the character’s name, but his death wasn’t satisfying enough.
@@AllisonMiller30 Yeah I definitely recommend his fat books to older audiences. The smaller ones are fine, though.
That blurb is so long! I do love the title :-/
authors that arent on social media >
CLAIRE LEGRAND! And I love her for it. Elizabeth Acevedo is on but very rarely on. Those are my two favorite authors.
noooooo i was so looking forward to this book 😭
This doesn't make sense to you?! I think my brain hurts from all what's going on!
there's some authors who blurb almost anything under the sun, and I figure they are just doing it to be nice or 'cause they just want to blurb books. I simply don't take their blurbs seriously, even when I like the author's work.
i never take blurbs into consideration so when people were upsetty spaghetti with chloe for blurbing i was like.... why?
I think the book could've been better like rachel spoke if it was written in a more refined way with heavy beta'ing cuz tbh I was thinking how if some of the characters were fleshed out and the book took a different pace maybe divide into a trilogy to flesh out the bg info it could be a fun read.
Every time I cover buy a book, it betrays me. Loved this cover and almost preordered the book 'cause of it
How can everyone be pale? They pale in comparison to one another 🥁 🥁baddum tsss
Also, pale used this much makes me think they all must be sickly, because when I hear pale used to describe skin, it is usually in instances where the face pales due to shock or illness. Are the P@L3 people ok?
I cant even find an agent for my Fantasy book...and this BS was published AND recommended. Christ
Ito of pale, call them ghostly or ghostlike 😆 (I've been called a ghost ~too many~ times by the kids in school ✌🏻)
I got called white as death once! i'll take that lol
i really enjoyed this book, i had a lot of fun reading it. disappointed the hate campaign based on nothing have skewed people's perspective so severely.
Personally, nothing skewed my viewing of the book I just didn’t think it was good at all.
@@ReadswithRachel i was talking about the freaks that were review-bombing on goodreads and going crazy on twitter/tiktok. i get this book isnt for everyone and that its not some critical masterpiece, but i had fun with it and even disagree on some of your points. we all experience things differently and have different tastes so im not here to try to change your mind. i just wanted to share my thoughts. i love your authors behaving badly series, keep up the good work!!
I unfortunately don’t trust Marines’s opinion after watching some of their comments on an author that degraded them as a person but i used to respect them so I understand why you would want to cite them in multiple videos i just can’t get by them
So youre telling me, a princess, doesnt know how to read?
if almost sounds like she skimmed a summary of the relationship between harrow and gideon and then sort of….. copy pasted it? but completely missed the point
God i wish this book had had the banter harrow and gideon have
dont do that. dont act like only one iteration of the big tough lesbian x small smarter lesbian can exist. dont be boring.
Goodreads is so useless for reviews. Every damn book has just about 4 stars unless it gets bombed, and half the time the bombing is total BS
I think it depends on how you use it. I ignore the rating and go read the reviews from people who's reviews I'm familiar with. Both reviewers whos tastes do and don't align with mine. This helps me get a feel for whether or not something might interest me.
I just want you to read all books for me. I like getting a run down of books I have no desire to read. 🤣
Lol thats what i'm here for! You're a potato starch marxist so if theres something specific you'd like reviewed i am happy to oblige
Is it hands of Salome or Solome, solomay?
Maybe she shoud work with a collaborator.
The color of library paste
This a badly written Serpent and Dove fanfic.
This implies that Serpent and Dove isn’t already badly written
i love this thread yall
Every time i see this book the withcyndi video starts to play in my head 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Yeah the synopsis is waaaay too long and overdescriptive but the set-up isn't bad. Also the cover is nice. I can see people expecting more and being very let down haha.
I understand the story is written poorly, but what were your feelings about all the other allegations (re:racial problems) about the book?
I didn’t personally observe anything overtly racist BUT I say that with a huge caveat:
Like Mari says in the tiktoks I linked to, “what are you as a white person going to decide on if something is racist?”. I can only say what I observed based on my own perceptions. And reading this as a white person there’s the possibility that I did not pick up on micro aggressions or stereotypes within the text. I cannot wholly and effectively sensitivity read for that issue. So I feel like my perception of the book on that issue is a moot point.
@@ReadswithRachel Thanks!