reviewing tiktok's favorite books: from blood and ash
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- Опубліковано 1 гру 2024
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This review is FULL OF SPOILERS and it's a one star review so if that is going to make you upset, feel free to skip this one. I did leave a couple things out, but there is a written review on Goodreads: www.goodreads....
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![ninth house is a hot mess | one star review [CC]](/img/n.gif)
Can’t wait to be a published writer and have Marines drag me all the way back to Cuba. Honestly, I live.
Same. Imma just send her my manuscript tbh.
Right? I relate to that feeling lol
I know. I'm like, it would be an honor and a terror in equal measure, and worth it so much.
*Marines
@@rachaelshort1704 thanks, fixed!
No one has described this book in a way that made me want to read it previously but this video made me feel like I need to board up my windows and defend my bookshelves in case it gets in my house and I fall over and start reading it.
I feel like this is a twilight situation where all these tweens and teens will look back later at their "complex and spicy" fave when they're adults and be like "welp" lol
It feels like way, but so many of the tiktokers I see are not teens so I was bamboozled.
@@mynameismarines weird. Tiktok is an odd odd place
The number of not teens of children lately that I've seen still raving about Twilight is non-zero and that makes me sad
@@JulianGreystoke omg i hit that stage with sjm books like 4 years ago and couldn’t believe i’d been so into her. then i revisited twilight recently and was like bruhhh lol clearly my lack of taste went back to middle school, not just high! 😭😭 i’m 24 btw
Umm excuse you twilight is amazing ! 👏🏼 it's your issue if you don't like it but alot of us adults love twilight. If you don't like vampire shifter type love triangle romance with some action then idk what type of fantasy books you reading because most are like this. If you don't like shifter romance why would you read different ones with these same plots? Just look for something else not everything is for everyone.
It feels like last decades paranormal romance has turned into fantasy romance except no one ever learned how to world build 🙃
THISS
I really enjoyed the repeated emphasis on "because Nancy Drew was made for LITERAL CHILDREN so"
I just wanted everyone to know that there is a REASON the ghost writers at Nancy Drew do this...
Marines: "Jennifer L. Armontrout named her one brown character 'Tawney' "
Me: *👀 at Serpent and Dove where the only brown character is named Coco*
Someone else also mentioned this elsewhere in the comments and the real joke is that I own a signed copy of Serpent and Dove.
@@mynameismarines I think that one was me lol. How did you get a signed copy and do you think you’ll read it?
@@mynameismarines That's just her nickname. Her real name is Cosette.
@@giveandtake8428 That makes it even worse.
*in pain*
THANK YOU! It is unbelievable to me that this book has such high ratings. It was so awful! The relationship portrayed here is so unhealthy and Poppy is so dumb. I was rolling my eyes every other page.
It was PAINFUL because I just was groaning and rolling my eyes the whole time. I hope my neighbors didn't hear going UUUUUGH OH MY GOD, I HATE EVERYTHING but they probably did.
So the silver lining is, "At least I got a video out of this."
Always! Like comment and subscribe everyone, for the love of God.
"200 year old magic man" IM CACKLING
Me too, it sounds like he walks around dancing with a cane and creepy top hat
Finally I found an intelligent book review channel that’s not just here to sell and grow in popularity. I appreciate you.
I agree with every point you made here! Everything about this book was so frustrating, but I think the most frustrating thing was this weird...tone? That the book took with Poppy's freedom. Like her WHOLE THING is that she feels like she has no agency in her life, her body, her choices, and she spends like 600+ pages monologuing about it. And then Some Guy comes along, completely takes away all her agency and choices and uses her under false pretenses, and it's treated as fine and/or sexy??? I haven't been that angry at the end of a book in a long time lol
I haven't read it but this is what would tip the scales for me with "the book may be bad, but still might have fun in the badness" to "bad and I wanna punch someone because this is so f--ked in its whole premise"
Books like this one and SJM ones are the reason I stopped trusting the majority opinions. Maybe to a lot of new readers this book is good. But not for someone who has any amount of experience with actual good writing and world-building.
In my first TikTok review of it, I said too that I would certainly not recommend this for seasoned readers of the romance, fantasy or urban fantasy genres. 😬
@unprofessional critic Can you recommend a book? I read from blood and ash and liked it but I’m curious to know what you consider good if blood and ash didn’t do it for you 😄.
@@Branchoutofthefire Depends on your definition of what kind of book "does it" for you. Do you read for mindless smutty scenes only? FBAA it is for you. Do you read for plot, subtlety, beautiful writing and nuanced characterization? There are SOOOO MANY books that do it SO much better.
It seems you think FBAA is "good". If you watch this video Marines does make many valid points here and I agree with her. Anyway, despite the difference in tastes I can suggest you some books that actually incorporate coherent plots, well-written characters and have some depth and substance to them.
Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings series.
Mistborn, Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
The Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin
Jade City by Fonda Lee
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.
Even YA has books to offer thousand times better than this.
The Winner's Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski and The Cruel Prince both has great political intrigue, plot and smart heroines. Strange the Dreamer duology has amazing writing and a complex plot, world-building with gray characters with moral dilemmas.
@@unprofessionalcritic3107 even though I liked the book I do agree with everything Marines pointed out lol.
Something that has the same “theme” fantasy romance type of book perhaps.
I been stuck on what to read and I don’t want to read any YA type of books. I’ll definitely check out the books you mentioned though, even the YA! Thank you :) it will be a good start.
Why do adult romance novels keep being marketed as commercial young adult? It's so messed up. This sounds like one of those "kink" romance novels that should be marketed as a niche for grown ass women who know what they're getting into and have the maturity to read it as an unrealistic fantasy that isn't actually healthy in real life. These books are setting up young people for some very toxic relationships. It's irresponsible to market it this way.
because young adult category is currently more popular than new adult or adult category and publishers will use this for their cash grabs.
Honeydew. That’s. It.
No thoughts. Empty head. Zero vibes. Just *HONEYDEW.* BYEEEEEEEEEE
THIS REVIEW I FUCKING LOVE IT!!!
PRINCESS 👑 🥲🙃🤢🤮
OKAY, I saw the honeydew thing EVERYWHERE and when I tell you I expected then to f#%* in a vat of honeydew or something.......
Like, not him just saying “tastes like honeydew!”
Lmao I KNEW SJM's writing would be brought up in this 😂😂😂👏
Had to. I just had to. ♥️
I think it was Cam on Twitter who recently was begging people to just read Romance and like, yeah.
Listen I am a bad judge of spice truly but often I feel like people need to just read a Romance novel.
And sadly this author is primarily a romance writer XD
@@alwaysahollyday4139 I thought that might be true, there's definitely some meh Romance out there but if you read more in the genre I feel like you are a better judge of what's truly spicy?
Maybe I am being too optimistic though
Your impression of the male character’s laugh SENT me! 😂
It’s 100% how he sounded in my head 😂
🤣 I love that this book was so bad it made you giggle. That’s something I can relate.
why do negative reviews always make me wanna read the book? 😭😭😂
I am laughing a lot in this video but I was ~s u f f e r I n g~ while reading, to be clear.
I'm the exact same way, smh. I end up reading them then dnfing them. And get mad at the book when I should have just listened to everyone. Lol
I came here from TikTok and I’m so excited to find someone who feels the same about this book where all of the other reviews I read were like “this is the best book I’ve ever read” and I thought “are you for real??”
I read the second book because why not and I cannot stand Hawke because he acts like a 16 year old who cannot control his sexual urges and uses poppy to satisfy himself and it’s GROSS
It sounds like questions the editor maybe told her to think about and she just wrote it in?
I'm dying.
Editor: Think about what Poppy is feeling in this moment.
JLA as Poppy: "What am I feeling right now?"
When this book was released I very quickly figured from the plot summary that it was not for me but OH WOW thank you for confirming that!
Ooooo I do not like the sound of that relationship dynamic at all. I can often bring myself to accept the age differences inherent in magical being / human relationships in fantasy settings, but the author has to make a point of showing the characters on equal footing in other ways AND NOT HAVE THE HUMAN (often female) CHARACTER BE CUT OFF FROM CONTACT WITH PEOPLE AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE OUTSIDE WORLD! It’s like the author was like ‘hey you know what would make this age gap romance even better [creepier]? Write the barely-adult MC like a literal child and isolate her from other people and experiences! Swoon!’
-Side note but that’s the reason I’m so particular about Rapunzel inspired stories because oh boy that original story is gross 😬
Also “200 year old magic man” was equally funny every time you said it 😂😂😂
oooooh calling people by names they don't want to be called is also a real life pet peeve of mine! that was one of the things i remember most about the raven boys too, which was just one reason i disliked the main romance
I paused the video because I had to go work and it was at a point that when I came back I really thought you'd gone on a tangent about the Darkling and Alina, but no, people just love old manipulative men idk. Thank you for reading this so that no one else has to, though xD
Phew love this video. I just finished this book and wow- the last 100 pages were absurdly ridiculous. This book was predictable from the start, so none of the “big reveals” really hit in any sort of emotional way. Also why does every series have to be 3-5 books long? I’ve heard this series just decreases in quality even more over the next few books. Someone needs to tell authors they don’t need to write 5 books worth of fluff
I noticed some of those things but not all but now after you mention it I can see it. My main issue was "Hawkes" behavior reminded me of my sexual abuser from when I was kid. It just rubbed me the wrong was so I already didn't like him and then my anger really sky rocketed when he takes her virginity while he is still lying about who he is and his intentions with her. It was.....disturbing. anytime I've mentioned these big issues in reading groups Im part of, the Fandom attacks me for not loving Hawke 🙄 apparently its unfathomable to not like him or find him sexy....
you're not the only one who thought that way. hawke's behaviour was absolutely godawful. i'm not touching that fandom with a ten foot pole then.
Then JLA did damage control in book two by implying that Hawke was sexually abused when he was held captive🙄. It felt like she was telling her critics, “Hawke isn’t an abuser, he was a victim too!”
Also as a person with a name that is easily shortened, I hate being called by a name that’s not yours or you haven’t given people permission to cal you. Only super super close friends can call me Dim, and I hate when people I don’t know we’ll shorten it. 😑😑
It's so rude and condescending and it's like an early indicator that someone has no respect for your boundaries and consent??? And the way it has been made a ~sexy thing~ makes me livid. IT'S NOT CUTE.
Marines I am watching and loving this for the third time and your genuine distress of “I DON’T KNOW!” when Poppy is doing her internal question monologue instead of explaining is getting me 😂
Thank you for suffering through this book to bless us with brilliantly reasoned and also hilarious content
😂😂😂 honestly, she was asking me questions and...!!!! YOU TELL ME!!
So much applause for you finishing 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Thank you!!! It feels like I should add this to my resume, like a badge of honor. 🥰
I love how you're just laughing throughout this video 😂
Nothing like a well-informed, well articulated, thorough drag of a literary work 😆 this was fun to watch. I will absolutely be avoiding this one.
Thank. you for watching and yeah, not missing out on much AT ALL.
Oh boy, idk if the book was spicy but this review definitely was! Honestly, the second I saw this book on Goodreads, I got the ACOMAF vibes instantly. And as someone who has had the misfortune of going through the entire ACOTAR series, I made sure to remain far away from this one. Also it's sooooooo long.
But appreciate you taking one for the team. Because honestly, this review was so fun to watch. Reading the book would've probably infuriated me.
This is just ACOTAR-2 with the inverse correlation of the amount of gushing praise and actual quality.
Sadly, most stories published in the fantasy romance genre since 2016 have been ACOMAF knock offs in some way. I don’t have much good to say about SJM’s writing but she has inspired a generation of writers for better or for worse.
@@nootnewt9323 honestly though, it's entirely possible Sarah was inspired by authors like this. That's kind of the ACOTAR thing, Sarah wrote it like the adult romances she was reading but it was published into YA so people thought it was unique and different.
Edited to clarify my words.
YES!! ALL of these things bothered me so much with the writing. I DNFd after reading the first couple chapters because the writing was so technically bad. I picked it up again and kept myself sane by counting the ellipses, which are a huge pet peeve of mine and got to 167 ellipses in 157 pages before I DNFd again. I only got through it be reading it via audio.
I wanted to quit at least once a chapter. The struggle was so real. Congrats on making it through, though! GO US!
I agree with EVERYTHING you said! I think what annoyed me the most is that she literally did not care that he manipulated and lied to her. Like her "anger" lasted 2 seconds and then it was back to "omg I love him bc he is the only one to treat me like this". Tried to read book 2 bc they said it got better but nope, nope it did not.
I did enjoy this book, but I also agree with everything you said. I did go into it knowing that it was going to be trash, so that was probably the big difference. It allowed me to turn my brain off and not think for a while. I did not enjoy how modern the language was and if those sex scenes were “spicy”, they only used salt.
This is one of those books that I KNOW i'm not gonna like but everyone loves it that i'm curious about.
Leigh Bardugo does the same question narrative with Alina in Shadow & Bone, but she asks the SAME questions in all three books lol. Very Twilight-ish. Nauseating…
I hated being in Alina's head in the same way I hate being in Poppy's head and now I realize why.
I’m sorry you had to slog through this book, but let me tell you, I was highly entertained by the content we got out of it.
🤣 your enjoyment explaining the density of Poppy and the amateur foreshadowing is cracking me up!
I honestly couldn't stop laughing thinking about it.
@@mynameismarines 💀
Excuse me madam, it is unlawful for you to make me laugh out loud so that I’m literally choking on my waffle as I watch 😂😂😂😂😂. Thank you for saving me from this bc I’ve been tempted but no thanks
Hasn't this book been on BookCommuniTEA?🤔
@@tirill452 I mentioned the part about the POC character briefly but I haven't read it LOL
My line is usually like "still give it a try if it sounds appealing" with most books because I never want people to miss out, but for this one, I'mma go ahead as say NOT WORTH IT.
I only picked this up because it won the GR Choice romance award and I was salty about it. The reading experience made me saltier than Lot's wife. So bad. So, so bad.
I even missed it won in the romance category, but it doesn't surprise me because the GR winners are always The Worst.
Living for all of the exasperated sighs, groans, and laughs. You could make supercut review of this book with just those moments. Loved this video a lot! Wasn't ever going to read this anyway, but I'm now glad to know what it's about.
I haven't heard a single person I trust say anything good about this book.
So I'm just here to hear more dislike for this book.
Also the name "Poppy" annoys me, I don't know why. Lol
The thing about the name Poppy that really annoyed me was a) her full name is Penelophe, and while I know you can give yourself any nickname you want...I feel like Poppy instead of Penny was just to add an extra layer of quirk, and b) she outright says in the beginning of the book no one calls her Poppy but her brother...and then EVERYONE proceeds to call her Poppy. The logic! It fails!
This is such a shame. The way you described it at the start of the video sounds so interesting but it sounds like it unravels hella quick. Like pg 1.
Off topic, but you saying "just shut up and let the scene play out" hit me just right. It's probably the best bit of writing advice I've ever heard. So, thank you for that!
IIRC there's an em dash and an ellipsis on the first two pages and I noped out so fast. Strong Sarah J. Maas fan fiction vibes.
I hope you treated yourself to something nice after finishing this.
My next read was Scythe for the House Salt book club, and I gave that 3.5 stars and had fun lol. ♥️
Honestly poppy’s character was truly idiotic like she shouldve knew something was off about hawk especially when the duke died like it was obvious that he had killed the duke it was also obvious that he was an Atlantian bc she kept pointing out how fast he moved
Okay okay okay I'm back and I have now read and really enjoyed this book... And agree with a lot of what you're saying. I'm wondering if listening to the book instead of reading it made it better?
I did find myself thinking that the fight scenes dragged a little and maybe it was because of the weird switches between nothing happening and the HUGE FIGHT SCENE!
Adding as I'm watching. I AM DYING!!! 🤣🤣🤣 You are so right and so funny! The questions hahahah I think I didn't notice as much on 1.3 speed.
Poppy is dense.
I imagine listening would smooth over some of the writing stuff, make it easier to just let the story wash over you, but it wouldn’t really lessen my issues with the characters, the icky relationship or the racism. I this this was just a fail for me!
I saw this second lol. Yes speed read this only!!
@@mynameismarines I dont know how the name choices got past an editor... or a beta reader... or literally anyone. Kieran I could see as an unfortunate choice, its a cool name... But Tawny isn't even a name.
I stopped reading YA after the release of Serpent & Dove, so almost two years now? I didn’t like the direction YA Fantasy novels seemed to take post ACOTAR aka “trashy romance novels pretending to be fantasy novels” no shade towards romance I do read romance sometimes although I only read lgbtq ones. I was curious about this book but from what I’m seeing there’s a huge overlap with fans of SJM and I absolutely cannot stand her books, so I skipped reading it. I think I made a good choice. Will be removing this from my list.
I am binge watching all of your vids and I am LIVING for your analysis. I have a graduate degree in literature which is a far cry from editing but I agree with you 100% on everything, especially your YA reviews. You have earned a sub and my upmost respect. I run when I see books written in first person and those damn dashes 😩. Thank you for saving me from bad YA fiction.
Your description of this book is so entertaining, I'm here watching it for the second time 😂
Omg, thank yo9u so much! ♥️
I have also watched it twice 😂
I guess I'll skip this one. I wanted to read it, but I heard it was like ACOTAR and I wasn't able to finish that... Thanks for the thoughtful review, Marines!!
my god i can't stop looking at these shelves, they are so pretty
I actually enjoyed this book and the 2 that come after it but I love your take because you’re not wrong. 😂😂 The her constantly asking questions? In book 2 it actually becomes a running joke in the story. Every time she opens her mouth a side male character calls her out because he knows she’s going to ask another question.
Even tho I enjoyed the story I struggled through the first half and the world building was confusing and damn near non existent and you don’t get any answers until the end of the book and in to book 2.
Falling off a cliff? She literally almost does that in book 2 and your comment made me cackle. 😂😂
The knowing the plot twist? I don’t think there is a single person on the planet who didn’t figure it out....except for Poppy who continues to remain super dense.
200 year old magic man. I’m dead. 🤣 I’m using that to describe him from now on.
In the next 2 books you get more characters of color, but they aren’t main characters save for one who’s a main side character.
You should keep reading the series just so we can get more reviews like this. The series is trash, and I love it, but I can recognize its trash. And I love seeing rant reviews that are actually insightful like yours are because you’re not wrong about any of your points.
Lol the end of this video 😂😂 I mean you said the writing was bad and I believed you but now I believe you believe you. 😂
I could’ve listened to you rant about this for another 20 minutes!
I have to confess that I use ellipses quite a bit in texts/social media, but it also bothers me to see them all over the page in books.
Those excerpts were painful, but also I love story time 😂
I’m so convinced JLA is racist because of the whole Tawny thing plus the only other black character (also in a position of service btw) is called Kieran and the literal translation of the name Kieran is “black” like sis???? How is that a coincidence jla literally did it twice smh
OKAY, WAIT. So someone commented earlier that Kieran was also a non-white character, so I had to like search for his description. It's like pale blue eyes and warm beige skin, so I didn't immediately clock non-white, but then when I was searching Kieran for fan-art and descriptions, I SAW THE NAME MEANS BLACK????? And also, not only is he also a servant, JUST LIKE TAWNY, but he shifts into a WOLF, which tracking this back to the Twilight legacy of having your POC shift into the dogs.... WHY IS THIS HAPPENING???
@@mynameismarines Yup for real I genuinely think it’s deliberate at this point because there’s no way she’s doing ALL that without knowing how it could come across like???? It’s just so messed up that she can do that and not get called out for it tbh. And to think some people are out here praising her for her rep lol you have to laugh or you’ll scream
@@wardas5700 It is even worse because someone actually did question her about this in one of her facebook groups and she completely blocked the woman and kicked her out of the facebook group. Apparently she has repeatedly blocked women of color from her facebook group when they bring it up sooo...
"everyone kept saying this was so spicy, but it's really vanilla" LMAOOOOOO
alright.... i've read it.......... and they were right 😐
There's just plain vanilla het sex taking place in this book. Nothing spicy here. I have no idea how TikTok considers this spicy.
I just read Obsidian by Armentrout which came out 10 years ago and I see she hasn't changed lmao
I read a lot of things out of curiosity, but I draw the line at JLA’s old stuff. Wont.
She basically writes the same characters with a different background/paranormal creature. But hey: it works for her. Her books sell like hotcakes.
@@mynameismarines no yeah I would've never picked up that book if it wasn't bc me and my friends found the summary hilarious and got curious about how bad it could to be 🤣
@@giveandtake8428 I can see, while watching the description of the two mcs relationships in this vid, I was surprised how little her writing has changed in TEN years
I thought the reason why the author's world building in the beginning is so haphazard is because we are seeing it from the Maiden/Poppy's limited views of it. She doesn't fully understand it either and on top of that, she's somewhat resistant to her role in the world she lives in. So I thought that's why it was a bit "this is the way because it is the way" type description was because it was from her narrowed viewpoint/understanding.
You have the patience of a saint. My friend wants me to read this for her spicy book club, and I am struggling. I have been taking angry notes on my kindle, and it slows me down so much. But when I tell myself I’m going not take notes, I can only go a handful of pages before I can’t take it any more, and have to make another note about how mad it’s made me. It’s a struggle and a slog, and I will give you all the props for finishing it.
Apparently some readers now have a bullying fetish. smh I saw that on a Booktok as a positive thing about some book the person read.
A round of applause of taking that bullet.
I had to control the urge not to throw my tablet every time anyone spoke in the second book (I am hate reading, goddamn curiosity), the dialogue is just so cringey
I got this book from the library after seeing it all over Bookstagram. I got to the end of page 4 or 5 and returned it immediately. I never got far enough to meet Tawny but how in the fuck did she have all the names in the world to choose from and as many as she could make up, but she named her only brown character "light brown" ?
I miss TikTok. 😭 It's been banned in my country.
It’s like we’re not even reading the same books. People who liked this probably also enjoyed that toxic mess Serpent & Dove. Yikes. The narrative question thing was very 50 shades of hell no 😂
I still have Serpent and Dove on my tbr wish me luck.
I am having a similar experience with boneless mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke. There's an unbelievable amount of info dump in it too.
Same but I like that book 😂
...this is what happens when you feed SJM after midnight.
Omg thank you so much. I just read this travesty of a book for my bookclub and i was alone in my hatred for it. This review was DEEPLY satisfying to listen to.
I think comparing Poppy to Nancy Drew is so on point, given the average age of book tiktokers. It's probably their 1st times experiencing epic fantasy/romance books and I love that for them. But it also makes sense that Millenials are less easily pleased.
Now though, I cant help myself to see Nancy Drew as the Maiden being all very propper dating Hawk on a roaster with some other guards with perfectly parted hair and going from places to places in the Kingdom with her vintage convertible.
😂
Wait a minute, is this book a fanfic of The Darkling × Alina? A lot of that plot sounds so familiar!
Doesn’t tiktok also stan We Were Liars? It feels like early booktube all over again over there.
I have seen Salty Marines before but this was nearly Wrathful Marines and I’m here for it.
😂
In these reviews I tend to get increasingly more angry or annoyed and then I'm watching myself back while editing like 😳
i’ve been waiting for you to review this for so long!!!! you articulate criticism so well. i was also criminally curious and regret wasting like 8 hours of my life on it 😂
It was such a waste! TikTok led me so wrong.
Marines' laugh is so infectious, this video had me laughing while she described how absurd this book sounds. Definitely not interested in picking this up.
I could write a whole damn essay of things about this book that go from mildly annoying to infuriating. But it's honestly on me for reading it. The hype around this book is such that I was feeling insane for not liking it for several hundreds of pages until I "gave it" and thought I liked it for a second? Or maybe I was just happy to read something for fun after finishing my dissertation. I even went on to read the second book in the series but did not finish it. It is A SLOG to get through and doubles down on all the worst things about the first one: complete lack of plot structure, unnecessarily long inner-monologue at the cusp or during pivotal scenes, Poppy feels so infantilized that it started to really gross me out, Kieran's entire characterization and its racist undertones (thank u for that Tiktok, btw), Casteel's only personality trait becomes being horny for Poppy, and ALL JOKES ARE REPEATED 100 TIMES. They do have the worst banter. For anyone who hasn't read it, book #2 (and #3 from what I've heard) is basically just Poppy asks a question > Keiran complains/makes fun of her for having another question > Casteel is horny for her > she treated to stab him > he is hornier > REPEAT FOR 600 PAGES.
Because I keep tagging these tiktoks about FBAA, I keep getting tiktoks gushing about it. And, listen, I'm chill about people liking different things, but it's making me angry for this reason: I feel like I'm missing SOMETHING. It's WILD to me that something I saw as so bad nobody has a harsh word for!
I managed to have a friend lend me copies of 2 and 3 because since the first one had this bad representation of POC, I'm really curious if book 2 and 3 has more stuff like this that no one is noticing or talking about. But also, I'm not convinced I'll actually be the one to find out because if it's just hundred of pages of the same thing, I might just die.
@@mynameismarines It is confusing, but I think I cracked it after thinking about it a lot. First, obviously, sex sells and "spicy books" are IT on booktok, and booktok is really having its moment. Also, JLA has a large following to tap into and spread the word. She knows the market and used almost all of the most popular tropes, I think it's pretty clear that she set out to write her ACOTAR. (I kid you not, she made Poppy and Casteel "heartmates", no set up even, just suddenly threw in the word.) Other than those reasons, I'm sure hype and the fun of joining a large fandom are skewing people's perceptions. It's happened to me before. I read for fun and sometimes, after a while, I realize that the fun part wasn't reading the actual book, but having conversations and joking about it, which is totally valid and I'm fine with it, still getting something out of it. Lastly, the fans are doing so much of the work for JLA!! If it wasn't for fan art, "FBAA aesthetic" collages, and others' explanations of the worldbuilding or characters, the book wouldn't be what it is. With all the hundreds of pages of worldbuilding, I couldn't visualize much until seeing fan-made content.
That said, the harsh words are coming now. A lot of big fans of the series are disappointed in the third book and that she is extending it so much (3 more books, a spin-off series, a prequel and maybe more?). A lot of the criticism you've made about the writing is coming up. BUT, you are still the only one talking about the problematic racist undertones. I don't know if you have the stamina to continue with the series, but I know yours would be a valuable opinion.
What I can tell you from what I've read, more "wolven" are introduced, mainly Kieran's sister (named Vonetta) and Poppy finds that she has a connection to their bloodline that allows her to communicate with them like through vibrations.
[Sorry for the long comments, I'm just very interested and love your reviews/opinions.]
I regret spending my money and time on these books. At one point, listening to the audiobook, I found myself disassociating in the middle of a ONE-HOUR dialogue between Poppy and some other guy. I DNFed it right then and there because... one hour! of pure dialogue!!!
I can never trust tiktok reviews and recommendations at this point, not only they recommend the same books everywhere but when there is something new, it's just... Not good. I was disappointed so many times now.
This is really the first one I gave a try. If I do any others, it will be for content and not because they can ever fool me again!!!
The thing about Poppy stopping every other page to just bombard the reader with paragraphs after paragraphs of question is so true. Very much confirmed JLA does not want me to enjoy her book. Because every time I find myself interested in something, Poppy would just stop everything and just talk and talk about everything that we already know. Info dumps are so prevalent in this book that I can never be invested in the story for more than two second because JLA would not stop handfeeding me useless and repetitive nonsense.
This is even more noticeable in the second book. Regardless of how terrible the first book is, at least there is a concept that is at least being explored, no matter how terribly. But in book two, you don't even have that. Worldbuilding in this series is just painful to get through. There's just constant use of elipsis and em dashes. Why?
Anyway, a great review.
I've recently realized that some popular books may just not be for me because of how "easy" or "juvenile" they may be. And that could very well be why they're popular, people who don't read very often find these books and because they're "easy", they love them and recommend them and build them up. I guess people have to start somewhere and if this gets them reading then so be it.
I totally think that stories with mass appeal tend to be simplistic, and that's not inherently bad. Especially for me, as I tend to enjoy stories of good and evil, and chosen one, and really clear cut stakes. I also take issue with simple has to be bad and easy read equals good story. I mean I GET why these stories become popular but I just want better for everyone!!!
a lot of the booktok "romances" that i hear about make me want to send these fans to therapy. like babe, if this is the dude you're fantasizing about, are you okay?
I went into the book with the right expectations, I think. I knew it probably wouldn't be good and when it wasn't I could just shrug and go with it. But you're right about everything. Poppy is one of the worst narrators I've ever read from.
I couldn't even have "so bad it's good" fun because it was "so bad it was hurting me."
I knew I could count on you to hate this book (that’s a compliment) 😂. I was forced to read this for a podcast and all I could find was gushing but I saw you had a review and I just knew 😂😂😂
5:59, Oh my gosh, I just realized somethings else about the Shadow and Bone trilogy when you said this. Alina does a lot of that and it really slows down the story, drags out the word count and makes Alina far more dramatic than she needs to be as a character.
I know that’s way off topic, but it made me think of that. And from the premise it sounds like it’s a similar concept to Shadow and Bone.
I felt this book was written for middle age children but then added sex scenes. It was weird and I don't understand the hype with this book. But hey, pa gustos los colores!
it's so wack that this book has such high rating on goodreads omg. I was like seriously cannot believe this got published 😂😂 in the best way haha
It won the 2020 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance! 🥲 Like I wanted to ignore the existence of this book, but then I saw that it won and got curious.
@@eriklonnrot3578 Goodreads Choice Awards are little more than popularity contests, I've found.
@@itsvanya yes, I know. But I’m still curious. Especially since this one is self-pubbed and not being pushed by a big publisher.
Hehehehehehe. It makes me giggle that it made you giggle to even talk about how silly and obvious all the foreshadowing was. 😀 Aha - 200 year old magic man 🤪
I rolled my eyes SO HARD when she was like "wow, he's seeing so clearly in the dark!!!!111!" I'm surprised I've recovered.
@@mynameismarines this whole video was a joy to watch. Even though the reading experience was obviously not quite as joyous. Thank you for all your rating videos, I enjoy them so so much. 💕💕
i've had the ebook on hold for so long because i just keep pushing it back and pushing it back, so thank you for freeing me from the "but what if it's as good as people say it is?" trap in my brain
I understand the curiosity but if can be satisfied, please know, it is NOT as good as people say it is.
The only thing better would have been to actually watch you reading this cause I'm in tears right now😂😂
Yes, omg all of this! Thank you for articulating what I struggled with.
I was one of those who read it and thought it was trash, but just fun enough as a guilty read. (I was in a trashy read mood, I guess.) Basically, even though I had some fun with book one, I agree with literally everything you said about it. Probably because I went in expecting trash.
Then I read book two, got 60% in, physically gagged in two scenes (not a joke), almost threw my phone across the room (read it on digital) and DNF’d it. So if that’s any sign to you of just how bad the sequel is…yeah. Somehow the train wreck that is FBAA got worse. Somehow, the sequels are even more beloved and higher-rated on Goodreads…
The popularity of trashy books will forever baffle me…
I get so many comments on TT about how the second book is better so it is actually hilarious when a lone voice chimes to be like "it was in fact worse."
I call this type of books fast food books - you objectively know they are trash but sometimes you just want to feel cheap serotonin flooding your body for a while
People say this to me a lot but here’s the thing: I love fast food and it doesn’t have to be like ~quality~ but it still has to taste good. This book was like serving up 💩 and calling it a meal 😅
hahaha i felt exactly the same the writing style and the relationship dynamic was almost unbearable! I do get why people like it though it reminded me a lot of twilight and I unironically enjoyed twilight back when it was big. I read the second one because I thought it would be better and it was ever so slightly but not really
I'm at the point where I'm like ???? about people liking it because I had such a bad time with it. It's like my brain... can't compute...
200 year old magic man😂
I admire Marines' restraint and graciousness in her reviews instead of just exploding with rage, which is how she probably feels.
When I was reading this spice at the end I honestly thought that I skiped some chapter or two by mistake. And then I understood it's seriously just like that I couldn't not laugh at it.
I would love to be a fly on the wall while you read these books. Your reactions must be hilarious 😂
I DNF'ed I just dont care for the typical YA type stuff anymore especially characters asking tons of obvious questions lol and also when ppl say spicy and smut I always imagine way more lol
I honestly was expecting at least MORE quantity-wise?? It was a kiss at the beginning of the book, nothing for hundred of pages, another kiss, and two s-x scenes at the end. That feels like pretty standard romance fare to me so the repeated talk of HOW SPICY it was made me think this was leaning more erotica. No, friend. No.
LOL thank you. i felt very similarly and idk if new adult is for me because of this. i'll keep trying but i think i'm gonna stick to bipoc written content for a while. i usually like it more.
Yeah, could not get into this one despite trying to read it 2 or 3 times! And I think my tolerance for trash is significantly higher than yours. Also, it’s so loooong! If it was shorter, I’d probably be able to power through. But at this page count, with these interminable internal monologues from Poppy, I just couldn’t.😩
Ooh boy im ready for this, I haven’t read this book but this review reminds me of my own feelings for Bone Crier’s Moon 😂🙃
SAME
“I’m criminally curious” ME