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Imagine ignoring one of the most common expressions of all time 😂😂😂 don't judge a book by its cover, especially when it's clearly the pinnacle of an entire genre.

I love this series! Subscribed🥰

I haven't read Sword of Kaigen, but honestly, I can understand your disappointment! It sounds like those are similar issues I'd have. I always love hearing peoples' divisive opinions 😂yess so glad you enjoyed Nothing to See Here! I pictured Jack-Jack as well while reading that ahah.

Sounds like a really fun and diverse TBR, I hope you enjoy all of these. I feel you on just stumbling around in the dark when it comes to romantasy lol. Maybe give Reign & Ruin by JD Evans a go, that is such a perfect balance between fantasy and romance. Also, really curious to hear your thoughts on Dark Lord, I have been so nervous to try it! Happy reading 🥰

Hope you enjoy your books. That last book sounds good but heart breaking.

It’s okay to get some of the things mixed up (even young Kaladin got some of it mixed up as we saw in one of his flashbacks, and he lives there) *Spoilers through Oathbringer* I’m going to try to lay out some of the things you’re confused about in a more straightforward manner. Roshar (the world of The Stormlight Archive) had 3 “Gods”: Honor, Cultivation, and Odium (some other Cosmere worlds have similar setups). The god Honor (known as “the Almighty” in the religion of Vorinism) was “killed” (the consciousness behind it died, and the power broken into pieces). Long before he died, Honor gave some of his power to 10 people (The Heralds) to help them fight the forces of Odium. Each Herald had a different set of abilities. One of the Heralds formed the Oathpact, which allowed the them to return from death to fight the forces of Odium during the Desolations. However, each Desolation was so bad, it was basically a reset button on civilization. So that same Herald formed the Knights Radiant, allowing the sapient spren (as opposed to the more animalistic minded spren) to bond with people and grant them abilities like the heralds. The Knights Radiant would help the rest of humanity between desolations when the heralds weren’t around. Which brings us back to the Oathpact; while it allows the heralds to come back for the desolation, it, possibly unintentionally, meant that after each desolation was over, each herald had to voluntarily return to “Damnation” to be tortured until the next desolation. (Any herald that died was automatically sent back there) 4500 years ago, (see the “Prelude” in the 1st book), only 1 herald died in the desolation and the others had had enough torture and didn’t want to go back. So they lied to humanity, told them that was the last one, and that humanity had won. Then they slipped off on their own separate ways, hoping that the one they left to be tortured would be enough to keep their side of the Oathpact. Well, another desolation is coming (maybe is here, hard to say what is the official start), so the one herald the herald that they left to be tortured for the last 4500 years is back. Not a god, but certainly a mythical figure. (To answers one of the questions from book 2’s video, Nale, the one that brought Szeth back, is a herald as well) I hope this clears up some things. If not, feel free to ask, I won’t spoil anything (the reveals are too worth it to ruin), but I will clarify some of the bits that may be harder to piece together.

Just found your channel, and I also prefer the UK cover, but, something you might not realize with the US hardback Stormlight books is that the cover _underneath_ the slip cover is simple, beautiful, and embossed with something meaningful. (The color and embossing on each book is intentional to that book)

You always have such an interesting group of books. ALSO, I borrowed ACOTAR from the library. What do I do? Read it? 😂😂😂

I just bought this book and wanted to annotate it. This video was very helpful. I always have a hard time choosing my annotation key for each book.

I would love to find a romantasy I could get lost in!

I am very late to this vlog but I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy Sundial (although I’m glad I was able to help set your expectations!) I'm planning to pick up When the Moon Hatched once I finish my current read and I'm so intrigued to see what I think. When I bought it I'd heard nothing but positive things but I've since heard very mixed reviews!

amazing tbr!! i‘m the same with fantasy romance, on paper it should be a favorite genre for me but it‘s so hard to get right for my personal reading tastes! the only series i really loved (besides acotar) was the crowns of nyaxia series by carissa broadbent. maybe it was a 'right time right book' kind of situation because i really did not love her other series, but i had the best time with that first duology!

I’m watching and cheering! ❤🎉😂 I hope you enjoy it! Please feel free to message me. Happy reading!

I have also been trying to figure how what works for me in romantasy and what doesn't! I agree that taking a break in between is best.

The first like half of Edgedancer is an interlude from Words of Radiance, could have skipped it to help have to read less Lift because she is so tedious to follow lmao. I love Stormlight but I agree I frequently don't love the Interludes they tend to feel unnecessary for people unless you are a HUGE Cosmere person trying to do your red yarn piecing together the entire history of the galaxy. Oh Shallan...lolol I will be curious what you think of Rhythm of War.

This is a fantastic read!!

I love your videos on this series! It’s like I get to experience them for the first time again, plus I’m refreshing my memory in time for book five.

I'm glad there was enough payoff for you! I've probably forgotten so much of this book in the last four years. John from the channel Talking Story just hosted an in-depth Oathbringer discussion with Fantasy Awash and Read by Kyle in case that helps!

yay, i was so excited for this vlog! i totally get your frustration with the world and magic system because i definitely felt the same on my first read (and even on my second read lol). i ended up watching a lot of readalong discussions and lore videos on stormlight which really helped, especially on the history of the heralds and knights radiant! i‘m currently catching up on some other cosmere reads before finally moving on to rhythm of war but from what i‘ve heard it focuses a lot on explaining the magic system more. excited to see how it goes for both of us!! also hard agree on lift and shallan😭 shallan is finally growing on me on this re-reading journey but she can be such a frustrating character for sure!

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Nothing better than a wonderful wine and a great book!

Jak, would you like to review my novel 'Red Scarf?' (Amazon) I'll be more than happy to pay you for this service, bye, for now, Alex 🙃

The last book in the last series. Stack up on those tissues!

I love the concept of this video as a 36 y/o, but wish there were more options in SFF (not blaming you, Jak, you did a great job with this)! I'm not usually a fan of literary fiction and it seems like that's where 30+ FMCs are most common.

Hope you find your sapphire. Not the best reading week. Hope the next books are better. I'm passing on the Sundial book. I've had it since it released but i can't read animal torture. It's my one trigger in books. Watching your video speed up my dinner preparation. 😁

Jak....why love is such a painful thing 😭😭

Great list, love older characters.

Hooray for 30+ Years Old female characters! I’ve heard fantastic things about Ottessa Moshfegh, and that sounds like an interesting story. I recommend checking out The Queens of Renthia by Sarah Beth Durst. The first book is more YA, but book 2 introduces an amazing 30-something female character (Naelin). Book 3 fell flat for me, but I still think the trilogy is well worth reading for the forest setting and Naelin!

lol love that you're still collecting WoT, have you tried book 1 yet? 😛

Ugh I’m so sorry to hear about your ring! Hopefully by now you’ve found it. If you’ve still got lots of footage from vlogging maybe you can see a moment when it’s gone and go from there?

Hmm, I haven't read The Shining 🤔

Wow, I loved your hot takes! 🔥 I’m impressed you’re going to continue that romantasy series with a 2.5, but I hope it’s worth it. I also don’t like when sci-fi books info-dump ideas at you. I’m so sorry about your sapphire, and I hope you find it!

lovely vlog as always!! that party looked like so much fun! i‘m still unsure whether i want to pick up when the moon hatched or not - i‘ve heard such conflicting things about it and based on your description of the main character i feel like i would get incredibly annoyed by her😭 i wish we got a little more variety in the character archetypes in romantasy these days. also so sorry to hear about your ring, crossing all my fingers the missing sapphire will turn up again!!

We love a woman with range!! What a diverse reading week, loved hearing all your thoughts on these books. When the Moon Hatched hit me at exactly the right moment when I needed a brain candy read, but I totally agree that it can get very annoying (and a bit derivative) at times. Also, bummer to hear about Chain Gang, that premise sounded soooo good! So sorry about losing your gorgeous ring btw, I will keep my fingers crossed for you that it somehow still turns up 🥲❤

Jak you are so lovely 🌹🥺🥺

The lobster slippers!!!! omg I DNFed When the Moon Hatched :/ I couldn't get past the main female lead either

You always have the best puppy footage! I love it! Also when I saw you were reading Sundial I couldn’t wait to hear your thoughts! I got it super cheap on kindle, but then I heard about the animal cruelty and decided I should skip it. Was curious to see your thoughts since I know you’re a dog lover too!

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I loved ultra processed people - made me so angry

Beagle 😍😍😍😍😍

I can't get Chain Gang All-Stars out of my mind - it struck me as a higher tech version of our country's horrible history of treating lynching like a spectator event. I agree that it was hard to keep everyone straight.

Adore the doggy tread mills 😊

I DNF’d chain gang - loved the premise but struggled with the execution so many characters and so many footnotes that I felt that it took me away from the story 😐

I had a harder time with WTMH - I can see why people liked it but not for me!

I guess I’ve definitely gotta prioritize Swordheart and Float Plan!!

I forgot about the sequel to Squeak...too bad it was so bad lol dang June's reading was not it for you this has to be the biggest 'books I disliked" section you've had. Hopefully July is going better. Your hatred of the writing style of EotD always is entertaining because it's just interesting because I don't have that issue in any way. Oooh shots fired on Sword of Kaigen, I still haven't read it, but now I am concerned because we align usually on our hatred of trauma porn.