i feel like the book community has lost its ability to accept constructive criticism, let alone any criticism. your video was very clearly not with intent to "cancel" but to inform and discuss. but people act like anything other than gushing positivty is a pot shot against a creator
I agree with this, but it’s also good to remember people online are partially anonymous, so you will not only encounter those who are not arguing in good faith, but also A LOT of very very very young people. It cannot be overstated that people are joining online spaces ever so earlier in life (specially Tik Tok) and, therefore, we have become (unbeknownst to ourselves) teachers of rationality and constructive criticism to an audience at times 1/3 our age.
Every damn mediocre published author is like “i pulled myself up from my bootstraps and so can you!” and then goes home crying to their multimillionaire mansion, rich parents, and industry friends when they get the slightest bit of criticism. Like, be honest about who you are and how much work you ACTUALLY put into it and accept that people review books however they want, thats what happens when you sell a product to people.
One thing thats really bugged me about her bootstrapping efforts was that "10 years of rejection" statement, because she was getting rejected by agents when she was like TWELVE. Thats not the same as being an adult trying for 10 years to get published!
The idea that people shouldn’t give critical reviews because they “ruin” authors careers is so infantilizing, honestly. Toxic positivity and resistance to basic criticism and critique are part of the reason I don’t engage in wider book spaces 😭
It's exhausting. And like I said, I get a ton of lovely support and the majority of people get it, but it's the people crying about how critique ruins art and critique is mean that seem to be the loudest.
It’s just impressive that she landed an agent in university with some really bad prose. Lightlark’s biggest crime is that it’s just not good, YA and fantasy has a very specific type of book now and Lightlark feels algorithmically processed to be everything required to be a bestseller and appeal to that reader base. She’s misrepresented herself sure but the real problem really was anyone seeing that Tiktok and saying: ‘yes that sounds brilliant’
@@JustanotherCZcamsr771 I'd disagree the very pitch on what it is is so base that I just can't imagine anyone not realizing they were being worked. But then I'm not the target audience
Its exactly the same thing as Kylie Jenner being named a self made millionaire. She quite literally can't be. She was raised on millions and given millions
“trope-driven book” is a great way to describe a lot of books I’ve disliked lately. I’ve also been calling it all trope, no substance. Tropes are great, but not when that’s literally all there is.
@@mynameismarines I feel it has to do a lot with the popularity of fanfiction and booktok, packaging books only in little buzzwords, tropes and aesthetics. An author who wrote a popular book (which was also originally fanfiction) has said in an interview that her agent gave her a list of tropes to include in her next book, because she "had no idea what she was doing" when writing. Sometimes I think, it's not looking bright for publishing :/
The comparison around 19:00 that you pose between Lightlark and the Hunger Games reminds me of why I'm growing to genuinely loathe any books that use The Hunger Games as a comp--which is that they steal the "people fight to the death" plot without grounding it in any realistic in-world logic (and without actually making a point. The Hunger Games actually had something to be angry about. Books like Lightlark and other comps typically don't.) Lightlark seems to suffer from the OPPOSITE problem that Amanda Foody's "All of Us Villains" does. Lightlark drops the protagonist into the killing game without any real context; All of Us Villains spends the first 40% of the novel introducing a bunch of characters who all live to the end anyway (also what is it with Hunger Games comps that won't kill their characters??? Characters killing each other is the only thing you're stealing and you're not even doing that well lmao). Tl;Dr: people need to stop using Hunger Games plots and thank you for this honest review. This is the first review I've seen by you and you're doing lovely work here :)
Currently trying to convince the nosey part of me that it will probably cause me severe pain if I give in and pick this book up. Ps. Marines, if you have time, you should consider posting your tiktoks on yt for those of us who are allergic to tiktok and love your content/insights.
I did post one or two videos of just a compilation of my TikTok's but I honestly wasn't sure if that was good or wanted lol. I can only do some of them on Shorts because most of my TTs are too long for Shorts, but I'll put together another compilation for sure!
@@mynameismarines my brother mentioned a creator he watches had a video that was just barely too long for shorts but they were like "forget this, I'm posting it anyway" and as a traditional video with normal ads it made more than all of their shorts combined so... You could just post the long ones as normal, albeit vertical, videos for us.
I can't think of a more perfect metaphor for modern social media than people trying to cancel someone with less privilege for "cancelling" someone by pointing out their actual privilege
Thank you for mentioning characters needing wins, nothing bothers me more than authors (and TV/movie writers) thinking that a series of unfortunate events is supposed to be the actual plot of a story.
One of the most interesting aspects of this whole situation (besides the conversation about the publishing industry) is the fact that Alex Aster brought this on herself...the reason her privilege became such a big deal was bc of the narrative she was pushing about her writing journey. Also, she seems to think the hard work entitles her to success. I feel like a lot of people are like that, and while I understand the sentiment of wanting to be successful with something you worked very hard on, just because she worked really hard on a book does not mean people will enjoy it. I could spend 10 years on a painting but that does not mean it will received positively. Unfortunately hard work does not necessarily equate to quality or success.
Exactly. Besides, all authors or aspiring authors are hard-working. You can't make it in this industry if you aren't (even if, say, you get published through connections, you still need to sit down and write a manuscript). But she acts like she's the only one putting in hard work, and so she deserves success.
Angela Aguilar is a third generation mexican country musician. Yet, she is well liked because she doesn't need to market her hard work. We can hear how good she is. Even if you have a lot of natural talent, you still need to work hard to hone your skills. We only hate nepo babies when they clearly have not worked enough to develop their skills. YET, they're holding a space that should be deserved for someone who has walk the walk.
Yes. The best (worst) part is that they are all Spanish words, right, but they aren't pronounced that way Like it's eyes-lah and ah-zuul. That, to me, makes it more annoying.
Thing is, I don't even mind her privilege when it comes to publishing her art. What I mind is misleading marketing claiming that the book is just so good when in reality... It's not even remotely good. Like, when you're going to use your privilege to publish a book at least make sure it is really a work of art.
Books are art but they're also commercial products and this is a business. Nobody is going to market their book by saying "Yeah this piece of shit isn't art, don't expect anything good because I just crapped this out." Even the worst stuff out there has fans and defenders. To this day there are people who think the Fifty Shades books are unironic masterpieces and the haters just don't get it. That said marketing in YA is ridiculously misleading recently. Every time a book claims to be X meets Y I know it will probably be nothing like either of those properties. They especially like to use "It's X meets Game of Thrones" about books that share nothing in common with Game of Thrones lol.
This is incidental compared to all the other issues you brought up, but I really appreciate your critique of the "yolky sun" line! Every review I've seen points it out as bad, but only one of them even mentioned that the sun being egglike ends up being a plot point, and didn't do so in a way that actually addressed that the metaphor was intentional (it seemed as if they wanted both to have their "metaphor bad" cake and eat their "solution was out of nowhere" too) so I came away wondering if they were just willfully ignoring a (mild) spot of decent construction. But you made a case that even in context, it wasn't as clever a choice as I may have hoped...rip.
I agree with you 120% about privilege being a factor in artistic spaces-I only credit the fact that I was able to pursue an art career cause I had a stable home life where all my basic needs were met. Booktok coming after you for supposedly destroying her career when the author herself confirmed your discussion points is absolutely wild to me lol
There's something so yikes about bigger creators going into the comments section of videos about themselves, especially if it's a smaller creator's video. If you think you're being described unfairly, either post a video about it on your own channel or wait for it to blow over. I also roll my eyes when she says her sister has nothing to do with her success. Even if her sister didn't lift a finger, it just takes an agent one google search to find the connection, see names like Ariana Grande being tossed around, as see the $$$.
I notice a lot of novice authors do this and it never works out for them. I wish there was a way to teach authors to stay away from the reviewer/comment space but sadly some of them learn the hard way.
i work at a library and typically booktok books have 50 holds on them but i was shocked to find that this book somehow had zero lol . like somebody checked it out and returned it since we got it, but nobody else was desperate for it
I go to my public library every 1 to 2 weeks and always check the new fiction book sections. Lightlark is always there on the shelf. I wonder if anyone has checked it out since the library acquired it.
completely agree with everything you've said - I'm a currently English Literature student and I'm very surprised by the pushback you received, considering that the context of a piece of literature (the author's circumstance, contemporary political events etc) are integral to the meaning of the work. And the fact that criticism of someone's writing (and analysis of the circumstances around the book) are in no way an attack on that person. I mean it is TikTok so I'm not shocked, but at the same time I feel like if a lot of people are consuming this much literature they should at least be aware that literary criticism a) exists and b) isn't personal
I feel like ppl (mostly her defenders) are forgetting that it’s totally acceptable to talk about questionable behavior and point out patterns of behavior. The way Aster has gone about promoting LL (lying about content to framing this as a debut for herself and a rags to riches) story) IS worth discussing. People are of course going to be upset if they were lied to outright or misled. She chose to market her book this way and there are consequences for that. I don’t think she deserves 1 star reviews from people who haven’t read the book, but I’m not surprised that people are rightfully calling her out. The naming system sounds like something a middle school kid would write…. Your discussion about privilege was wonderful!
There was a whole additional piece of the conversation about how Aster promoted certain lines and moments on her TT and they didn't show up in the book. She basically said it was because editing happened, which is fair, but it just feeds into the disappointment people have that what was presented and marketed feels a bit misleading. And I can say that without wishing Aster harm or failure and without sending one out to cancel her or anything like that. Like, come on, we are in review spaces. We should know how this works. The naming system was truly one of the worst parts of this all.
I'm an aspiring writer, too. I would love to finish my manuscript, but my job makes it so, so hard to find the energy to write. In many ways I have a lot of privileges that would make it easier for me to do so, but I also work 50-60 hour weeks in a very people-forward job and I'm an introvert who still wants to sometimes see friends, so when I do have extra hours, my brain is mush. Someday I'll finish, but it will take longer. I don't at all begrudge Alex for being able to take time away from an intense job to finish her book, but that is a privilege that should be acknowledged in her narrative. This whole drama does have a very...entitled feeling to it. Though it has definitely escalated far more than it should in true internet fashion.
I'm surprised people forget the Eragon author whose parents were in the publishing industry and got his books published. People were more than willing to dump on him FOR YEARS. His early writing was very juvenile just like hers, but no one wants to dunk on her because she's an 'influencer'.
Omg, I was only lightly following this situation on TikTok and I'm retroactively furious at all the people who willfully misinterpreted your very clear and sensible argument about privilege in publishing.
It was so wild to me. I honestly had to keep talking to my best friend about it because I was confused as to if what I was saying was unclear. Truly being gaslit by the comments.
I’ve been reading the letters of Shirley Jackson, and there are so many times, even after she’s getting published and quite famous, when she borrows money from her parents. And no shade to her, I’m glad her parents were able/willing to help her and she was able to produce great work, but it got me thinking about how hard it’s always been to break into the arts if you don’t have the means (intergenerational wealth). As long as I’ve been an adult I’ve been in the arts, but the only way I’ve ever been able to support myself is working almost full time as a waiter, even after getting some fairly lucrative contracts- that money runs out fast when you have nothing to fall back on. And when I’m working full time hours in a restaurant it really slows down the rate I’m able to produce work. Great video as always!
Yep, this. There are so many ways wealth provides privilege and just time and energy is such a key one to me when it comes to creating art. After I’ve worked a full day, sometimes there is nothing left in the well to make things, even if I want to.
It's always been the case in all the arts -- those with the privilege to work on their art without seriously having to worry about basic needs like food, shelter, etc. have always been able to get ahead easier and faster. It's one reason why historically, men have dominated writing and the arts. Even if they were not wealthy, men often had wives or mothers or sisters who were taking care of the house, food prep., and so on. When you consider how little time most women have had (still have) to do art -- which becomes "one more thing" on top of all their other jobs and duties -- it really does make a difference if they can, oh, I don't know, pay for some childcare or housekeeping, or eat out a lot, or otherwise have the funds to pay someone else to take care of some of their responsibilities so they actually have time to write, make art, or whatever. Of course, this is true for men as well, but I think it is especially true for women in the arts. Those with privilege and the support that offers are already in a position to move ahead of others who don't have such things. To say otherwise is disingenuous at best. For example, I readily admit that the fact that I am retired (with a pension) from a good job and I also have social security allows me a lot more freedom as an author than someone who is working full-time (some doing 2 or 3 jobs!) on top of trying to write.
No one could have explained this concept of privilege in the most respectful and logical way, honestly. People are going to be defensive and sensitive no matter how clear you communicated your point. I really loved how respectfully you explained privilege and creating art -- As an illustrator and writer, I pass as white Latinx and grew up fairly high middle class; these are privileges I couldn’t control and it’s not a bad thing to acknowledge Jesus Christ. Thank you for being a sane part of the conversation. I hope you don’t decide to ever not speak up because of this dumb pushback, we need you!!!
Exactly! It's the same as anyone talking about what it takes to succeed on YT. For one, a bunch of privilege, including access to Internet and editing software, lighting and good equipment, time to do this especially if you have to spend a lot of time making ends meet, space, and that's to say nothing of the creators the algorithm seems to prefer. I can talk about all of that, and the ways I am privileged to have some of these things, and feel like it takes absolutely nothing away from how hard I work on any given video. You can work hard and acknowledge the little legs up you have that everyone might not have.
@@mynameismarines Yes, exactly, it doesn’t diminish from any of the hard work you put in. Acknowledging simply means you are contributing transparency to a much-needed conversation/discussion about any of these industries.
I'm new to your reviews and have been absolutely devouring them! Its so nice you covered not only the authors stance but were also able to do an honest review. As someone who doesn't have tiktok, I appreciate you including those videos here as well instead of just referring to them. Thank you for another great video!
Your reviews are so comprehensive and thorough and enjoyable! I have a feeling the author, like her main character, is a ~not like other girls~ kinda woman. If I've learned anything lately, it's that if a book is popular on tiktok I am not interested.
I thought I heard somewhere that the author had supposedly been working on this story for ten years? Given the writing and the plot holes and the poorly handled characters, I very much doubt this claim. I think she may have had this idea brewing around in her head for ten years, but she certainly wasn't working on it directly for ten years. The book is rather messy and makes me think of a first or second draft. Something that had some interesting ideas, but definitely needed way more time and effort put into it before publishing. This is why newer authors need to understand that writing multiple drafts of a story is important. It helps you flesh out characters, relationships they have, lore, world building. Your writing improves because you're practicing each time you rewrite it. You cut pointless segments and filler out. It helps you understand your story more and your characters better. You're able to pick out the issues and fix them. The first draft is just a means to get ideas out and loosely set things up, it's not meant to be the final version.
Yeahhh I think she had the idea, probably mapped some plot lines, settled on actually writing it, got mega hype, and then the pressure was on to actually finish it. It probably would have been a lot better if she had done several drafts, and probably should have had several before marketing it, but I think the ink dried on the deal and that was that 😅 I think some experienced writers can write to a deadline and turn out real quality work, but I think that’s an incredible ask of someone with little experience, I think a mistake was made there.
The first time I read the synopsis on this book, I couldn't get past wondering how this battle to the death happens every 100 years between 6 realms if one entire realm is killed each time. Are there just an infinite number of realms? Do they have battles to determine who goes to the competition thingy? So many questions.
That’s very much what the story leads you to think is the case for a bit and it wasn’t until halfway that I realized that no one has ever won the centennial which is while there are still 6 realms and everyone is still alive. I think. Listen I wouldn’t pass a quiz on this book.
I keep getting glimpses of this “controversy” all over social media but quite frankly, your take is the only one I’m going to listen to, because I know you come from a place of honesty, integrity, and intelligence and you did not disappoint. Lightlark is at the heart of what’s wrong with the publishing industry and the power of influencers. Not gonna touch it with a 6 foot pole.
Reading this book was compatible to missing the first season of a KID'S fantasy cartoon, starting at season 2 with no prefix, no understanding of what is happening, who anyone is, or why in the universe I'm supposed to care.🧐 Oh and let us not forget about the adult jokes that are in kids cartoons that typically fly over children's heads except here it's a little more direct. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
wait... once every 100 years a whole kingdom is wiped out? how do they repopulate? do the other kingdoms donate portions of their population to repopulate? what about the trade that was reliant on that now wiped out kingdom? are there just incredible social security nets for those left destitute cus their livelihood relied on trade with that kingdom? what about people who migrated? are they killed by the curse too? what about their children? how could a realm of 6 kingdoms survive the complete destruction of 2 kingdoms in the space of 100 years? this is painted background world building; looks expansive but the second you try to walk into the backdrop you find a dead end instead.
I haven’t read it but from Rachel’s more spoilery review, a kingdom and its ruler are only wiped out if the curse is broken,and the curse can only possibly be broken once every hundred years. Not to say it makes a lot more sense, and I could be misunderstanding the book also, but that was my take between Rachel’s and Mari’s reviews
@@starksandrecreation ah, I see. That's... moderately better, I guess? But I still have a lot of questions about how that dynamic would affect the inter-kingdom interactions between everyday folk. Like, what's the point of breaking the curse given the potentially apocalyptic social, political and economic ramifications of losing an entire kingdom over night? Has she ever really thought about what would happen to the rest of America if even one state was utterly depopulated over night? Like, the UK would be rapidly screwed if it lost the whole of Cornwall overnight, let alone Wales or Scotland...
@@camillagilmore1547 it’s like…..it’ll be wiped out if they succeed at breaking the curse and they get a chance every 100 years. So far they’ve failed every time. Not worth reading /:
Rachel found out that Aster's parents are millionaires and registered Republicans... no wonder she grew up with the mentality that "hard work is the only key to success!" and refusal to acknowledge privilege and other factors (such as pure luck). Every aspiring author is hard working and talented to some extent. Saying "I made it because I worked hard!" is kind of a slap in the face. The difference is that they don't have connections or the privilege to write without worrying about how to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head. Luck plays a huge role, as well. Luck that an agent is looking for the exact type of story that you wrote. Luck that that same agent didn't sign someone else with a similar story minutes before coming across your query. Or in this case, luck that TikTok users care more about tropes than actual quality, and hype your videos to the point that it piques the interest of publishers.
@@mynameismarines Yes! And I watched both livestreams, the one with Jess and Mara about BookTok, and the big group discussion about Barnes and Noble, and I still want more! 😝🤣
When I first heard of the plot of this book I was intrigued (yes I like stories about kingdoms and rulers). Half a year later I decided to buy the book; Alex was signing them with special requested messages, so I sent her a message saying I wasn’t going through a good time and would like for her to write her favorite POSITIVE quote from LightLark to encourage me and that it would also be fun when I found that quote as I read the book. The quote she chose to brighten my mood with was “There are lies and liars all around you” 🧐 mmm… when I got it I was like wth? This isn’t encouraging at all! She just chose a random quote. But now it makes sense, with your comment about there being no wins for Isla (which by the way I had been pronouncing as Island and Isle lol), Alex couldn’t write a positive/encouraging quote from the book because there aren’t any encouraging moments! But still, I decided to start reading the book and my initial thoughts were: -Why is she repeating the whole “an island that appears every 100 years where rulers fight to break their deadly curses” thing over and over again in the first few pages? -This feels like high school level wording -I’m getting bored And so I stopped reading, put the book away for weeks and only started reading it again last week. I have too much time off at work this month and I was determined to finish it so that I didn’t feel like I tossed my money in the garbage. And I binged it. I binged the book, just as you said here! I’m not gonna lie, there where parts that I was somewhat enjoying but then nothing. The plot either changed too quickly or didn’t lead to anything. *Also, side note: I don’t want to judge Alex as a person, but I do agree with what some people commented here, there’s something off about her. I’ve been trying to be very supportive on her Instagram, but I don’t know what it is. There’s something else she said in a short video, about her being in the group of people who can’t see images in their heads, like I can’t understand how that works, but I’ve heard other people say that; so it makes me think if that might be the reason why she had difficulty expanding the world in this book, but then again she was very detailed in some parts. So it’s confusing. Also did you guys see her interview on the Kelly Clarkson show? Where the 2 actresses were very interested and wanted to be part of the project. Alex made a comment on Instagram saying she has no say in who gets casted. Which is very strange! How do you work so hard on a book and not have a say in the important aspects of the film? I don’t know if it’s a contract type of thing, but a lot of things don’t make sense here. *To be continued* my phone is dying 😂
I always thought she was just so glad it got a movie deal so she does not care who plays who. But when you think about it again, it is kinda weird. Writing years on a story and it gets recognized from the public only to say I don‘t care who plays who ….Like do you not feel anything for the thing you created?
I feel like she was comparing herself to her family. Everyone seemed more successful than her until this happened and she too could finally say she was on the way to joining the millionaire club like her other family members. Sometimes I think she had insecurities about how much less rich she was than the others and let this guide her 😬
I love a trope as much as the next girl, but you can definitely feel when an author just gone down a trope checklist without really paying mind to connecting them seamlessly.
The pushback you received from those booktokers (and their massive praise of the book) made a lot more sense after the book launched and they all were flown out to her events to meet her. But yeah, let's talk about the slight review bombing being dishonest. 🙃
Can't get over the fact that the golden guy is called ORO. Just gold in spanish. Like, i get it, symbolism and all but like. Aurelio Is Right THERE man. C'mon. ROWLING put more effort into her names!
@@mynameismarines You're so much stronger than I; my heart wouldn't be able to take it. Even so, I'm sure the stress for you is real, too, so don't forget self care 😘
It feels uncomfortable that Alex Aster responded directly to your tiktoks in a comment. She could have, and probably should have just made a her own tiktok video addressing her privilege as she sees it without referencing you or anyone else specifically. She could easily address how her original narrative was deceptive without calling out engaging with anyone who's covered the controversy. Or she could remain silent on all of it. I think financially, the book's success is somewhat guaranteed at this point. She may find the conversation surrounding her and her books upsetting or even undeserved (and to a certain degree she might have a point as her privilege isn't unique for books that get big marketing plans, we have to ask if it's just how she was portrayed that set people talking or if there's some other component on why when she did what other authors with this privilege did she received push back). It's an interesting conversation with a lot of angles and nuance. It's not as black and white as "good team" "bad team" but more an examination of the kinds of stories that get publishing and marketing dollars and why big corps bet on these books vs others. Especially since we've seen what takes off is often a guessing game and the time it takes to make a novel is so long, "writing for trends" isn't really a thing.
It's always interesting when someone starts on a bookish platform as a community member and then becomes an author because it blurs the lines for them and they feel way more comfortable stepping into what would generally be considered reviewer space because it's also been their space.To be fair, I was talking more about her than her work. so I get why she might've felt entitled to respond, but I was not super happy about it. As for why she specifically received pushback: 1- this is something I have seen before, from Victoria Aveyard to Chloe Gong, all people who have either means or connections or had the privilege of being able to write full time while supported by others. It's not something exclusive to Aster, but it is louder because 2- she's got a massive platform and 3- it applies especially here because part of her marketing and part of building that platform was so specifically about succeeding because of hard work and how she faced 10 years of rejection and making it seem like this is her debut. I think part of the reason people used the term industry plant is because one of the definitions is basically trying to give something an indie or grassroots appearance when in fact it's backed by large marketing dollars. I agree with that definition of plant that that is the case here.
@@mynameismarines Too true. I've self-published via Amazon with a new adult contemporary fantasy novel, so I guess technically I'm an author (though at a pretty low volume we're talking selling like 30 books sold over 2 years). And while my channel is almost entirely a reviewer angle, some of the things that interest me like writing style and storytelling components and trends and all of that is definitely tangled in my passion as a writer too, which probably shows especially when I start brainstorming edits I'd suggest. As far as me interacting in a reviewer space, I've always had a pretty clear plan. If I didn't writer it: I can interact as a reviewer. If someone ever ended up reviewing something I wrote or edited or whatever, I might not be able to help but watch it (curiosity and all that) but I would NEVER respond because that would be weird. Also if people didn't want to read and review the book because they knew me, I'd get it. I've got a friend who's published in several anthologies. I like some of their work and hate other stories of theirs and I only rate those I like because conversations with them after rating something poorly are really strained. To me, discussing a marketing style, social media interactions, all that stuff is part of the meta conversation and an author shouldn't jump in unless they're invited like maybe a panel discussion might suit. I agree there's good reason to talk about Aster's marketing and the truth behind the image she presented and I've found the discussions to be pretty interesting and generally fair to her. If you use a rags to riches story in your marketing, you've made that aspect of your life part of the meta conversation surrounding your book. I see a lot of similarities to what she did to large scale catfishing.
@@jessicadoneganreads This is such a thoughtful response, thank you. I think you have the right of it in terms of lines to draw about how you can interact in reading and writing spaces as a reader and author. I too would be curious about reviews of my work, though I would TRY to resist watching lol. And this is a great way to put it about how the marketing and social media plays into the larger work here, especially because the whole reason this book exists is because of that social media marketing. It's a huge part of what AA is selling to her audience, really.
@@yapdog unfortunately authors do this all the time, sometimes over a misunderstanding. I just wish authors would write books quietly and stop trying to be influencers. I had friends who had anxiety attacks bc they were retweeted by authors or something and harassed as a result.
16:29 "challenges set up, for the rulers to demonstrate their power. Why?" Because the prophecy said 1 of 6 must win, so they had to invent some things they could win at. It's not enough for 1 of 6 to die, that would mean 5 of 6 win.
This is actually not all the way true, I think, because Isla and the other girl were planning on breaking the curse and winning together. If there could only be one winner, then this side plan would've made no sense. Plus wasn't it said that in some years, people just refused to come and play? So in those years, were the games just moot? Because someone wasn't there to die to leave one winner?
The prophecy alone was kinda wrong to begin with If the "one of six" involved the bond maker, then one of six kingdoms die but the curses are still there in the second book. The challenges could have also been circumvented by just having 5 do some lame trick and the last one does their super special thing, because we dont know what the prophecy actually means and people just pick who won. And clearly after 600 years, 6 Lightlark runs, and no one found a way to actually do this thing, then maybe the prophecy is just wrong or that part is filler. The second book focuses solely on the romance so maybe it actually doesn't matter
The description of the world alone makes me immediately think this is a middle grade. If you had just provided the initial story description, I would have been shocked that it was Upper YA or NA. I am generally not a plot-driven reader, so what I'm about to stay probably won't be surprising, but I become very frustrated with stories that think *plot* _is_ the story. Without characterization and world to anchor the story, of course plot is going to feel convoluted! It's like you said: No foundation to pull from. And an author forcing plot thrill after plot thrill so often undermines every other aspect of the story, to the point where the plot collapses either as soon as you reflect once you finish or while you're reading. As an aside, it's part of the reason I wish people wouldn't take the show vs tell advice and the must have an active protagonist so literally (or misinterpret it).
A thing that new writers get hung up on, some but not all, is that they think they don't need a plot because their writing is just so "wonderful" that everyone will enjoy their story. Then the story is just over extended drivel, maybe not overwritten but it just keeps going with no clear direction. There might be a goal but there's nothing attached to it, no way to understand why what's happening in any given chapter will move the main character forward. Even a bad book that elicits eye rolls because of the obviousness and heavy handedness of the plot is still better than 50+ thousand words of nothing because you can't deconstruct nothing. If you can't answer "so what's the plot" in under a sentence or two no one is going to waste their time and more frequently people with no talent are getting these opportunities and big book deals because they've been fed on social media to pitch and get to the point, even when there's no substance involved.
@@KarmaSpaz12 Interesting! I feel we may partly have different reading tastes and partly are coming at an issue we see in books from different angles. I find it *worse* when a story is just a series of events with nothing to ground them. If the plot feels heavy handed, it usually has characterization and world-building to go with it. When you have neither, that is when it feels convoluted. The author either has all the information in their head and is not communicating it or has taken the 'show vs tell' advice in the wrong direction. That is to say, they think show versus tell means there shouldn't be any opportunity for character introspection or world building (or they aren't sure how to insert it in an engaging way). If the book is just a series of events and I find myself asking 'why' each time something happens, I'm going to DNF that book very quickly. For me, lack of grounding in characterization and world-building is part of what makes it feel directionless. There have definitely been moments where I've noticed a subplot needs to be axed (Atlas Six, I'm looking at you)-- so I see your point, of course! There are moments where I've read books and skipped over sections that felt like author's darlings. I just don't think that is the defining issue of new writers necessarily. Like I said though, I'm not a capital P Plot-driven reader. In fact, I often find myself identifying plots in what other people would consider plotless or arguing that a slower pace can read to a richer reading experience. The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri comes as a relevant example. I adored the book and was riveted the whole time. It was considered slow for people who want a BANG plot point to happen quickly - and some argued there wasn't any plot in the beginning at all. I disagreed! Just because the events are fireworks level, doesn't mean plot isn't happening. Perhaps another way to bring our two views closer together: In general, passages of writing need to do multiple things at once and need to inform or tie into multiple aspects of the story.
i'm sorry you had to deal with that nonsense in response to your original tiktok! you're great. you literally made good points and i completely agree with you. i can't see how anyone who listened to what you were saying came to the conclusion that you were trying to 'cancel her'. like be fr. i'm not on tiktok so i've only heard about this book and the discourse around it through twitter. YA is not for me anymore but i love your reviews. great video!
Yeah, it was wild. People just throw around the word cancel every time they hear a critique on the Internet. Like I said, I maybe should've expected that with her big platform and connections that I would've gotten this kind of pushback, but I was still shocked lol. Thank you for watching and commenting!
I love this video. I read an article where they basically describe her as someone who whined about not getting a book deal on tic Tok and then got a book deal because of views. There’s two sides to every story and her media coverage is a bit mixed which I find interesting.
There is a lot of hate towards TikTok and it’s influence in publishing that I find is often looking down in young girls especially. I don’t resent anyone for using TT to leverage a platform. AA just seems to have really nailed the formula and in her case I think it was slightly disingenuous.
@@mynameismarines maybe I haven’t seen the write people of tic tok but I find for the bookish world it’s more of a place people tell you the premise of book and not how well it is excited. You can have an amazing premise but then it not be pulled off well or the reading experience is off in some ways. I just found I can read a good reads blurb or back cover copy and get just as much information. That being said I have like how it has helped good self published authors get there books in front of more readers.
Ugh, I’m so sorry about the responses you’ve been getting. I actually ordered a copy during a B&N preorder sale a few months back bc the premise intrigued me, but after I read the early reviews I tried to cancel. B&N said I couldn’t bc it had already shipped or something?? Seems unlikely but okay. So I mailed it back as soon as I got it lol. I’m SO LAZY about returns but I was determined not to pay for this book and your review has confirmed I made the right choice 😂 Also - I thought you did a beautiful job in the discussion part, as always. No one is saying privilege = you don’t work hard! It means you are more likely to get the opportunity for your hard work to make a difference 🤷🏻♀️ people are so quick to take any acknowledgment of privilege / luck as a criticism of their abilities when the issue is that they had circumstances that meant their abilities were actually rewarded - which as you pointed out is the ideal we’d like for everyone!
I heard from a few people that they were unable to return their preorders!! That’s so wild. I briefly thought maybe that influenced her being at #1, but word in the street is that she sold many thousands of copies in her first week. That TT marketing really, really paid off.
Sorry that you had to deal with “fans” that accused you of “canceling” the author. The premise of the cursed families having a battle royale actually sounds intriguing but any enthusiasm for that set up instantly dropped when you pointed out how bland the worldbuilding was even just from the lazy nomenclature.
My thoughts on it are very similar, I was frustrated at the lack of characterization, and there were so many plot holes. It felt like this was a first draft, like it needed a rewrite. Or several. Isla is also the only one in the book with a last name, so like…where did her last name come from, is it a family name or something else? It seemed like “Isla Crown” just sounded cool to the author. And the villain reveal made even less sense, because…how was she alive and how was she not who she said she was? Plot holes abound!
Me too. It gives me anxiety but then also frustration, especially when I can’t understand why the character is making the decisions they do. Homegirl was being reckless for no reason.
@@sylviagodsmith6957 Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers- sorry i cheated, it's sci-fi, but brilliantly fleshed out culture building for alien societies. And it's a worldbuilding and character driven story that's thematically about interracting with and accepting other peoples' cultures and worldviews so really good use is made of all that worldbuilding The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin- it's a really heartbreaking and heavy series to get through, but very intentionally so and in a very well done way. It's one of those series that makes its magic feel like a grounded in universe form of science and also like a beautiful, brilliant art form that the characters who perform it genuinely love at moments. The world of the series experiences frequent earthquakes and mini-apocalypse level natural disasters called "fifth seasons" or just "seasons" and the entire society branches off of that premise in a really brilliant way, from the unevenly modern technology levels to the caste system to the way history is described ("after the choking season" "before the acid season") to the slang and language used to the way orogenes are treated. A lot of the story centers on how the orogenes are oppressed by this society, how the government uses them as tools, how the average person is just disgustingly, violently bigoted towards them, and the variety of ways the orogene characters react to that. Jemisin really expertly writes this oppression of orogenes in a way that closely parallels several real world kinds of oppression down to things like reclaiming slurs, but is at the same time a product of the world of the story, and it's definitely its own messed up society with aspects that don't exist in reality. (disclaimer I'm white so I'm not the authority on fantasy racism, this could be described better) Hello From The Hallowoods- (There will be spoilers with this one i apologize) More cheating! this is a podcast! Hello from the hallowoods is cool because it's got everything and the kitchen sink in terms of magical creatures + forms of magic - Vampires, werewolves, demons, frankenstein's monsters x 8, a horrifying orchestral music themed serial killer, The Apocalypse, witches, a bunch of ravens that are all one conciousness, frog people, you name it... but they all originate from a few main sources. That is to say, most of these types of magic are from eldritch gods, and many of these creatures serve these eldritch gods (indescribables). Since all the magic comes from a somewhat unified source, it's possible to get really creative and weird with it and have it still feel grounded, which I like. Also, there's a lot of fun thematic stuff going on with the concept of the indescribables, and a lot of exploration + subversion of both gods seeing humans as ants and expecting to be worshipped, and also with the indescribables specific domains. The god that caused the apocalypse was a god of Change, not anything so explicitly horrible as destruction or anything, and a lot is done with that. There's also an indescribable whose domain is watching and seeing, and he's such a human-feeling character in how he struggles with claiming agency, and how only watching, being afraid to make real choices or affect the world has psychologically harmed him.
If I werre to ever write a book I would pay you to edit it lol you seem like such a nice person to work with and your criticisms are very thoughtful and helpful if they were taken into account. ❤️ Love the video!
Not to mention, all the TikTok's she made quoting lines from the book to get people excited about it that WERE'NT EVEN IN THE ADVANCED COPIES lol The rollout &marketing for this weirdly hyped book is a hot mess.
I forgot I saved a bunch of those videos to look at after I read the book and while I was ready to be like "yeah, man, things get edited," there were whole moments she promoted that just weren't in the book. The vibes of her promotion and what the book actually was felt a little off to me, personally, so I can see why others also felt disappointed by that.
For someone who hasn't read the book but has listened to quite some reviews, I have a question. Is it explained in the book how the realms still exist if every 100 years one ruler and their entire realm dies? I mean, were there more realms originally? Or do they get somehow repopulated?...
On the previous 4 times that the rulers met for this purpose, none of them managed to kill each other. The first time, they killed some bystanders in the crossfire and one time, one of Isla's ancestors lost a hand but that's about it.
I just finished this book as I tried to avoid the noise and the premise sounded good. I can't you how anything works ..she is a ruler that knows nothing of her own realm.
Hey, I’ve never watched your videos before, and I gotta say - the hate is unwarranted. You were very respectful and articulate, and that’s kind of book conversations we should be having. Hug ❤️
I appreciate it! It was so wild to me because I felt like I was trying to be very clear about where I was coming from and I just kept getting these accusations of being out to destroy someone. It was wild.
An aside you may find entertaining: I straight up believed her surname was Lightlark and was about to commend her for naming her YA fantasy series after herself. I don't have that kind of moxie. (Of course, I know she is Alex Aster now.) I've seen this sentiment expressed before, but it really shines when discussing books like this: people who write YA don't 1) believe teenagers deserve intelligent, thoughtful works and 2) are not actually writing for teenagers. It's all starting to feel... randomly generated to appeal to people who have never read anything BUT YA. I'm not saying that to dunk on YA. Some of my favorite books as a teenager and as an adult are YA. But who is this for? I would have been downright insulted if somebody recommended this to me when I was sixteen. The naming system is terrible and the writing style, personally, grates on me. There are points to criticize the Hunger Games. However, the trilogy does not think the reader to be an idiot incapable of picking up on subtext. (Don't ask me about Songbirds and Snakes, that is between God and Miss Collins at this point, lol.) The knee jerk reaction the book community has to any form of critique is honestly alarming. I think, even for this book, there are some good bones to this story. Aster would have GREATLY benefited from more critique, perhaps a harsher editor as well. That way it could be refined further. As for the stereotyping, far be it from me to talk down to anyone about Latine characters, particularly when the author themselves is Latine, but I think some people forget it takes skill to pull off something of this magnitude. To juxtapose reality, curses, and rumors, you need to understand inside, outside, and backwards what you are doing and what you want to do. It will fail if you are unclear about any portion of it. Wow, that was a novel. Anyway, hi Marines, missed you on CZcams! (I'm a rube who doesn't use TikTok.)
Girl Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is one of the most interesting things Collins has written, it's certainly isn't dumbed down in comparison to THG lol. The only real flaw is that the final few scenes were rushed, it was otherwise a really interesting look inside the mind of a spoiled sociopath, wartime poverty, the way people are integrated into these corrupt systems. Watching Snow constantly come to the wrong conclusions etc was chilling. People are just mad they didn't get a Haymitch book, and ignored the fact that Collins literally snapped with this one. I also liked that since the YA genre has evolved since 2008-2009 she was able to include a close range look at darker themes, even including mentions of cannibalism. It felt like she had something to say once again about real world politics and she did it really well. If we're ragging on YA books being shallow or dumbed down I don't think Ballad fits the bill in any way.
Honestly you've hit the nail on the head. I genuinely believe that the explosion of YA as a 'genre' as it is now with its own recycled cliches instead of an age category of 'older teens' as it was originally has destroyed the space there was for *intelligent children's/teen novels.* If you look at the 1980s through to early 2010s, you find all sorts of incredible genre books that are suitable for kids as well as adults - War Horse is genuinely dark and painful and full of stunning characters arcs, but also easy to follow and sweet; Terry Pratchett and Diana Wynne Jones have written incredible teen fantasy novels that do NOT talk down to their readers in style or lore, only the size of the problems the characters face is more child-sized... It really is a shame you now need to basically go DIRECTLY from MG to adult if you don't care for these pre-chewed not-like-other-girls enemies-to-lovers love triangles...
@@KaiInMotion I think there is a misunderstanding here. I made a blasé comment about The Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes because I haven't read it. Writing from a perspective like that of President Snow's is a pretty hefty task. I respect Collins for taking it on.
Super thoughtful and fair review!! Sorry you had to deal with such pushback for just trying to have necessary convos abt privilege 😞😞 wish people were more receptive to literary criticism, like someone having issues with/not liking a certain thing you’re a fan of isn’t a personal attack
Privilege is definitely something that needs to be talked about more in the book industry. A lot of people are in the same scenario as Aster, they don’t need to worry about health insurance, they have money from family members, and can be writers full time. Some have industry connections (not aster and I won’t name the ones who do have connections). Also as soon as you mentioned YA wanting an adult romance I rolled my eyes. Yeah definitely won’t waste my time on that. From the plot it just sounds like one of those SJM derivatives that started popping up in the mid to late 2010s.
Yep, exactly. Even just from a time and energy standpoint, wealth makes it easier to create art, and that's I think important for all people who are trying to recognize. It can be so easy to get down on yourself for not working hard enough as those who are succeeding, because we are told that all it takes is hard work. It very much feels on the same level as ACOTAR. SJM's writing is differently bad, more wordy and convoluted, but all of the same weaknesses in the world building, plot and characterizations are there.
@@mynameismarines I just looked more into it and why is Alex pretending she didn’t publish two books with sourcebooks? From the looks of it the series may have flopped but you still have connections even when that happens. I just don’t understand why people feel like they have to hide their privilege.
Sigh. I'm sorry people have been pushing back at you for talking about very real privileges that some authors have. Like, I think it was... Sarah Dessen??? that mentioned that she wouldn't have been able to go full time if they hadn't had her husband's insurance. And that conversation happened so long ago. We don't ever get authors saying, "Hey, these are some things that I had that made this easier for me."
Right, and like, I don't expect AA or anyone to start every video with a list of privileges, but in a conversation specifically about how she found success, to me, pretending that it was just grit and determination is misleading and it really hurts people who look up to her as aspiring writers.
...people amaze me. Social media has made it impossible to have a difference of opinion. Its sad. Smh. If the book is bad its bad. Her background aside. I watched rachaels video as well. I wish people coud be real without fear of backlash because most people arent because of the fear of backlash. Not everyone has to like this book. Gosh.
It is upsetting to hear about the representation. Mostly because - as a Brazilian - that is how my people have been described and portrayed in the media for years. In general, the Latinx community has always been the wild, Amazonian-style people or the sexy, Pitbull-music-video people. I think that if she wasn't Latina I wouldn't have minded as much because I can almost just go "well it's the stereotype". But when you are part of the community and feed into the stereotype, it rubs me the wrong way. This is all my opinion but I think that if the community cannot speak and defend itself, no one else will. And the misrepresentation being done by someone who is Latinx does a lot of harm because it shows other people that it is okay to stereotype.
i’m subscribed but it’s definitely time for me to turn my notifications on because i never saw this video in my feed and i’m extremely annoyed by that lol. glad to see another video from you marines!! xx quick sidenote, the ‘a court of thorns and roses’ vibes i got here were serious. when you said the main character was torn between the light and dark courts, it was all i could think about haha! that and the young adult leaning into adult *wink wink*. i’ve no intention of ever reading this book but man was it fun to listen to your experience!
Hi Marines, I really liked your review, I appreciate how balanced it was, giving very insightful constructive criticism without being hurtful. I'm really sorry that you received such a backlash. Your content is great!
When you gave the synopsis, I thought "ohh that sounds interesting". I hope she'll use her privilege to get a ghost writer and editor to rewrite it. The storyline sounds intriguing to me. 🤷
10 years.... and this is what the books is? Not even heard of the spicy Latina estereotipe? In TEN years... okay. Oh dear. And I know the not like other girls is more talked about but I'm ace and latina, so that hurts more
Okay, the thing with the 10 years is that it is also misleading. She talks about facing 10 years of rejection, making it seem like it was for Lightlark, but she only started writing that book in like 2020. Plus, she didn't just face 10 years of rejection because she had 2 other books published by a big publisher. When she says 10 years, she's counting back to when she was TWELVE and she first started writing............
The 10 years thing was so blatantly disingenuous. And it's so frustrating because I know authors who legitimately tried for 10 years. Who wrote book after book and were rejected by dozens of agents. And they don't make that aspect of their career a part of their brand.
Never heard of this book before this video, watched the whole thing because A, this whole thing is fascinating, especially for such a bad book, and B, you deserve it after that backlash!
All this reminds me of the Starving Artist drama in the art world, especially back in to the 90’s. The whole impoverished artist lived in a squat but were in reality trust fund babies was so cliche. They never acknowledged their privilege or connections were how they became famous over the genuinely poor people they were mimicking for clout.
This exactly! Publish also wants us to buy into the myth of it being a meritocracy, and so boot strap narratives are common and I just hate them and this is one case where it is demonstrably false.
I think it's a response to the way people are marketing books on TT. I don't mind it as a way to talk about books amongst ourselves, especially for romances where the tropes are so integral, but I don't want writers to craft their books that way? Just as a series of badly connected tropes? But unfortunately, I think some books like that, like Lightlark, are doing incredibly well and using TT as a way to push that success.
“Felt like we were just interested in hitting specific character and plot tropes. And we were getting there by any means necessary.” THIS is such a good line to describe some books out there. 🤌🤌🤌
The thing about being an "industry plant"....do people just not know how many published authors a) were at one point/currently work at a major publishing house b) know other authors and openly thank those authors in the acknowledgements in their own books? Maggie Lehrman, Lindsay Riber, and Kaitlyn Detweiler are YA authors with industry ties (Lehrham as an editor, Detweiler and Ribar literary agents). Are they "industry plants" because they already had connections to that world? They're far from the only authors with those connections-those are just examples I could name off the top of my head. And what about authors who are friends with each other publicly...are those writers all part of the industry plant circle because they're friends with NYT bestselling authors? I don't know a ton about the industry, but I have heard about how notoriously insular it can be. "industry plant" is a weird accusation for that type of community.
I definitely don't know or care if Alex was an industry plant, but to add a bit to what it actually is, the piece that's key is that it's a person that is placed into an industry and has those connections, but the front is that they don't. They are a grassroots or like no name person who just wow, finds so much success, what a great story, but in fact, they were fed by an industry machine and connections beforehand specifically for selling them as an indie kid.
The way she and her fans were trying to weaponize Latine culture without understanding race and how it is viewed in Latine culture was a whole other mess.
I honestly did not even want to get into any of that because the conversation is so messy. When she wrote to me “I suppose I’m white passing,” I rolled my eyes so hard. Anyway, though, for the sake of the conversation, I just took her at her word that she is Latina/Indigenous and a person of color.
I suppose this is neither here nor there but regarding exaggerating the bad writing I feel like i've noticed a trend where people will pick apart general non-issues in books they don't like? I can't think of any specific examples off the top but I have seen instances that made me think "I don't get why this is an issue?" where I know for a fact that an author they liked would get away with ding the same thing. Does that make sense? also im really thinking about getting tiktok just because i love your opinions on things so much
I'm going to try to do better about getting TT content on here in some way! I totally get why people avoid it, it is a time suck, but when I'm not being inundated by AA supporters, I'm having so much fun! To your point, I had a few people in my TT comments come for Lightlark but defend ACOTAR and I know tastes vary and all that, but everything Lightlark does poorly, ACOTAR does too....
@@mynameismarines the turn around people had on maas still baffles me. is it the smut?? i think its the smut. Which to that end Aster saying her ya is "spicy" is surely...something. It's really something (i guess you could slot that in with the bigger argument about how ya doesn't really feel like its for teens anymore but that's its own can of worms). and yeah the timesink is a big reason im staying away. granted, i do spend probably too much time on twitter.
i feel like the book community has lost its ability to accept constructive criticism, let alone any criticism. your video was very clearly not with intent to "cancel" but to inform and discuss. but people act like anything other than gushing positivty is a pot shot against a creator
So true
I agree with this, but it’s also good to remember people online are partially anonymous, so you will not only encounter those who are not arguing in good faith, but also A LOT of very very very young people. It cannot be overstated that people are joining online spaces ever so earlier in life (specially Tik Tok) and, therefore, we have become (unbeknownst to ourselves) teachers of rationality and constructive criticism to an audience at times 1/3 our age.
Toxic positivity.
@@887frodo Please this cannot be stressed enough
There isn't a "book community." Come _on_ , that's as ridiculous as talking about the breathing community.
Every damn mediocre published author is like “i pulled myself up from my bootstraps and so can you!” and then goes home crying to their multimillionaire mansion, rich parents, and industry friends when they get the slightest bit of criticism. Like, be honest about who you are and how much work you ACTUALLY put into it and accept that people review books however they want, thats what happens when you sell a product to people.
😊p😊😊😊😊p😊😊😊
😊
One thing thats really bugged me about her bootstrapping efforts was that "10 years of rejection" statement, because she was getting rejected by agents when she was like TWELVE. Thats not the same as being an adult trying for 10 years to get published!
The idea that people shouldn’t give critical reviews because they “ruin” authors careers is so infantilizing, honestly. Toxic positivity and resistance to basic criticism and critique are part of the reason I don’t engage in wider book spaces 😭
It's exhausting. And like I said, I get a ton of lovely support and the majority of people get it, but it's the people crying about how critique ruins art and critique is mean that seem to be the loudest.
It’s just impressive that she landed an agent in university with some really bad prose. Lightlark’s biggest crime is that it’s just not good, YA and fantasy has a very specific type of book now and Lightlark feels algorithmically processed to be everything required to be a bestseller and appeal to that reader base. She’s misrepresented herself sure but the real problem really was anyone seeing that Tiktok and saying: ‘yes that sounds brilliant’
Well I don’t know. The TikTok didn’t make it seem quite as bad as it is
@@JustanotherCZcamsr771 I'd disagree the very pitch on what it is is so base that I just can't imagine anyone not realizing they were being worked. But then I'm not the target audience
“Self made millionaire” when the parents are already very wealthy.
Neither one was self made. Darn Shane people purposely misuse that term.
Its exactly the same thing as Kylie Jenner being named a self made millionaire. She quite literally can't be. She was raised on millions and given millions
Isla Crown is the funniest name to me for a ruler. Queen Crown over here.
The sister to Moon Moon
America Singer?
“trope-driven book” is a great way to describe a lot of books I’ve disliked lately. I’ve also been calling it all trope, no substance. Tropes are great, but not when that’s literally all there is.
I love a well-deployed trope but the no substance part is the kicker. You gotta connect your tropes with something…
@@mynameismarines I feel it has to do a lot with the popularity of fanfiction and booktok, packaging books only in little buzzwords, tropes and aesthetics. An author who wrote a popular book (which was also originally fanfiction) has said in an interview that her agent gave her a list of tropes to include in her next book, because she "had no idea what she was doing" when writing. Sometimes I think, it's not looking bright for publishing :/
The comparison around 19:00 that you pose between Lightlark and the Hunger Games reminds me of why I'm growing to genuinely loathe any books that use The Hunger Games as a comp--which is that they steal the "people fight to the death" plot without grounding it in any realistic in-world logic (and without actually making a point. The Hunger Games actually had something to be angry about. Books like Lightlark and other comps typically don't.)
Lightlark seems to suffer from the OPPOSITE problem that Amanda Foody's "All of Us Villains" does. Lightlark drops the protagonist into the killing game without any real context; All of Us Villains spends the first 40% of the novel introducing a bunch of characters who all live to the end anyway (also what is it with Hunger Games comps that won't kill their characters??? Characters killing each other is the only thing you're stealing and you're not even doing that well lmao).
Tl;Dr: people need to stop using Hunger Games plots and thank you for this honest review. This is the first review I've seen by you and you're doing lovely work here :)
Currently trying to convince the nosey part of me that it will probably cause me severe pain if I give in and pick this book up.
Ps. Marines, if you have time, you should consider posting your tiktoks on yt for those of us who are allergic to tiktok and love your content/insights.
She's been posting a few as Shorts and a while ago she did a couple of TikTok compilations in the form of longer videos
I did post one or two videos of just a compilation of my TikTok's but I honestly wasn't sure if that was good or wanted lol. I can only do some of them on Shorts because most of my TTs are too long for Shorts, but I'll put together another compilation for sure!
@@mynameismarines my brother mentioned a creator he watches had a video that was just barely too long for shorts but they were like "forget this, I'm posting it anyway" and as a traditional video with normal ads it made more than all of their shorts combined so... You could just post the long ones as normal, albeit vertical, videos for us.
"If you can just turn your brain off, you could read this really quickly."
BWAHAHAHA. Oh my
For like 95% of the book then suddenly you need a phd to understand the twist 🥴
I can't think of a more perfect metaphor for modern social media than people trying to cancel someone with less privilege for "cancelling" someone by pointing out their actual privilege
Thank you for mentioning characters needing wins, nothing bothers me more than authors (and TV/movie writers) thinking that a series of unfortunate events is supposed to be the actual plot of a story.
Honestly the word “canceling” barely has a meaning anymore. I’ve been told I was canceling an author because I left a bad review.
Yes, no one knows what that means anymore and people just use it if you express an opinion they don't like.
One of the most interesting aspects of this whole situation (besides the conversation about the publishing industry) is the fact that Alex Aster brought this on herself...the reason her privilege became such a big deal was bc of the narrative she was pushing about her writing journey. Also, she seems to think the hard work entitles her to success. I feel like a lot of people are like that, and while I understand the sentiment of wanting to be successful with something you worked very hard on, just because she worked really hard on a book does not mean people will enjoy it. I could spend 10 years on a painting but that does not mean it will received positively. Unfortunately hard work does not necessarily equate to quality or success.
Exactly. Besides, all authors or aspiring authors are hard-working. You can't make it in this industry if you aren't (even if, say, you get published through connections, you still need to sit down and write a manuscript). But she acts like she's the only one putting in hard work, and so she deserves success.
Angela Aguilar is a third generation mexican country musician. Yet, she is well liked because she doesn't need to market her hard work. We can hear how good she is. Even if you have a lot of natural talent, you still need to work hard to hone your skills. We only hate nepo babies when they clearly have not worked enough to develop their skills. YET, they're holding a space that should be deserved for someone who has walk the walk.
Exactly. What is so hard to understand about this??
I silently snicker everytime I hear the main character's name and think about how the book is set on an... island.
Yes. The best (worst) part is that they are all Spanish words, right, but they aren't pronounced that way Like it's eyes-lah and ah-zuul. That, to me, makes it more annoying.
@@mynameismarines I was afraid about that, given the way you pronounced some names 🤯 yikes!
@@ZwischenTausendZeilen I didn't even think to clarify that I can indeed pronounce isla and oro and azul correctly lol
@@mynameismarines I had all the confidence in you and zero in the author 🤣
Ugh the knee jerk negative reactions to discussions of privilege are SO revealing and exhausting
Agreed. I honestly could not believe we were going so hard for rich people in my comments. And for what??
18:37 - "...the fact that it felt overly simplistic and convoluted at the same time is almost impressive to me." hahahahaha!
"if you can disengage your brain to the level that it requires, you can definitely read this very quickly." let me tell you, i screamed!! 💀
Thing is, I don't even mind her privilege when it comes to publishing her art. What I mind is misleading marketing claiming that the book is just so good when in reality... It's not even remotely good. Like, when you're going to use your privilege to publish a book at least make sure it is really a work of art.
Books are art but they're also commercial products and this is a business. Nobody is going to market their book by saying "Yeah this piece of shit isn't art, don't expect anything good because I just crapped this out." Even the worst stuff out there has fans and defenders. To this day there are people who think the Fifty Shades books are unironic masterpieces and the haters just don't get it. That said marketing in YA is ridiculously misleading recently. Every time a book claims to be X meets Y I know it will probably be nothing like either of those properties. They especially like to use "It's X meets Game of Thrones" about books that share nothing in common with Game of Thrones lol.
This is incidental compared to all the other issues you brought up, but I really appreciate your critique of the "yolky sun" line! Every review I've seen points it out as bad, but only one of them even mentioned that the sun being egglike ends up being a plot point, and didn't do so in a way that actually addressed that the metaphor was intentional (it seemed as if they wanted both to have their "metaphor bad" cake and eat their "solution was out of nowhere" too) so I came away wondering if they were just willfully ignoring a (mild) spot of decent construction. But you made a case that even in context, it wasn't as clever a choice as I may have hoped...rip.
when she described the ocean as being like soup i about died😂
I agree with you 120% about privilege being a factor in artistic spaces-I only credit the fact that I was able to pursue an art career cause I had a stable home life where all my basic needs were met. Booktok coming after you for supposedly destroying her career when the author herself confirmed your discussion points is absolutely wild to me lol
"Where is Isla?"
ME: "Isla in the Isla Isle"
There's something so yikes about bigger creators going into the comments section of videos about themselves, especially if it's a smaller creator's video. If you think you're being described unfairly, either post a video about it on your own channel or wait for it to blow over.
I also roll my eyes when she says her sister has nothing to do with her success. Even if her sister didn't lift a finger, it just takes an agent one google search to find the connection, see names like Ariana Grande being tossed around, as see the $$$.
I notice a lot of novice authors do this and it never works out for them. I wish there was a way to teach authors to stay away from the reviewer/comment space but sadly some of them learn the hard way.
i work at a library and typically booktok books have 50 holds on them but i was shocked to find that this book somehow had zero lol . like somebody checked it out and returned it since we got it, but nobody else was desperate for it
I go to my public library every 1 to 2 weeks and always check the new fiction book sections. Lightlark is always there on the shelf. I wonder if anyone has checked it out since the library acquired it.
completely agree with everything you've said - I'm a currently English Literature student and I'm very surprised by the pushback you received, considering that the context of a piece of literature (the author's circumstance, contemporary political events etc) are integral to the meaning of the work. And the fact that criticism of someone's writing (and analysis of the circumstances around the book) are in no way an attack on that person. I mean it is TikTok so I'm not shocked, but at the same time I feel like if a lot of people are consuming this much literature they should at least be aware that literary criticism a) exists and b) isn't personal
I feel like ppl (mostly her defenders) are forgetting that it’s totally acceptable to talk about questionable behavior and point out patterns of behavior. The way Aster has gone about promoting LL (lying about content to framing this as a debut for herself and a rags to riches) story) IS worth discussing. People are of course going to be upset if they were lied to outright or misled.
She chose to market her book this way and there are consequences for that. I don’t think she deserves 1 star reviews from people who haven’t read the book, but I’m not surprised that people are rightfully calling her out.
The naming system sounds like something a middle school kid would write….
Your discussion about privilege was wonderful!
There was a whole additional piece of the conversation about how Aster promoted certain lines and moments on her TT and they didn't show up in the book. She basically said it was because editing happened, which is fair, but it just feeds into the disappointment people have that what was presented and marketed feels a bit misleading. And I can say that without wishing Aster harm or failure and without sending one out to cancel her or anything like that. Like, come on, we are in review spaces. We should know how this works.
The naming system was truly one of the worst parts of this all.
@@mynameismarines 👏🏻 Exactly!
I'm an aspiring writer, too. I would love to finish my manuscript, but my job makes it so, so hard to find the energy to write. In many ways I have a lot of privileges that would make it easier for me to do so, but I also work 50-60 hour weeks in a very people-forward job and I'm an introvert who still wants to sometimes see friends, so when I do have extra hours, my brain is mush. Someday I'll finish, but it will take longer.
I don't at all begrudge Alex for being able to take time away from an intense job to finish her book, but that is a privilege that should be acknowledged in her narrative. This whole drama does have a very...entitled feeling to it. Though it has definitely escalated far more than it should in true internet fashion.
I'm surprised people forget the Eragon author whose parents were in the publishing industry and got his books published. People were more than willing to dump on him FOR YEARS. His early writing was very juvenile just like hers, but no one wants to dunk on her because she's an 'influencer'.
Obsessed with you trying to compliment the writing by noting that it is free of obvious editing mistakes :D
My haters will say I’m unfair 😩
Omg, I was only lightly following this situation on TikTok and I'm retroactively furious at all the people who willfully misinterpreted your very clear and sensible argument about privilege in publishing.
It was so wild to me. I honestly had to keep talking to my best friend about it because I was confused as to if what I was saying was unclear. Truly being gaslit by the comments.
Everyone lives on an island. The story takes place on another island.
What is the main character’s name?
Isla(nd)
worst even, isla is outright island in spanish.
@@lucalopez9604 even worse than that, Aster says it's pronounced "eyes-lah". In a book where "island", "isle" and "Isla" is written every single page.
I’ve been reading the letters of Shirley Jackson, and there are so many times, even after she’s getting published and quite famous, when she borrows money from her parents. And no shade to her, I’m glad her parents were able/willing to help her and she was able to produce great work, but it got me thinking about how hard it’s always been to break into the arts if you don’t have the means (intergenerational wealth). As long as I’ve been an adult I’ve been in the arts, but the only way I’ve ever been able to support myself is working almost full time as a waiter, even after getting some fairly lucrative contracts- that money runs out fast when you have nothing to fall back on. And when I’m working full time hours in a restaurant it really slows down the rate I’m able to produce work.
Great video as always!
Yep, this. There are so many ways wealth provides privilege and just time and energy is such a key one to me when it comes to creating art. After I’ve worked a full day, sometimes there is nothing left in the well to make things, even if I want to.
It's always been the case in all the arts -- those with the privilege to work on their art without seriously having to worry about basic needs like food, shelter, etc. have always been able to get ahead easier and faster. It's one reason why historically, men have dominated writing and the arts. Even if they were not wealthy, men often had wives or mothers or sisters who were taking care of the house, food prep., and so on. When you consider how little time most women have had (still have) to do art -- which becomes "one more thing" on top of all their other jobs and duties -- it really does make a difference if they can, oh, I don't know, pay for some childcare or housekeeping, or eat out a lot, or otherwise have the funds to pay someone else to take care of some of their responsibilities so they actually have time to write, make art, or whatever.
Of course, this is true for men as well, but I think it is especially true for women in the arts. Those with privilege and the support that offers are already in a position to move ahead of others who don't have such things. To say otherwise is disingenuous at best.
For example, I readily admit that the fact that I am retired (with a pension) from a good job and I also have social security allows me a lot more freedom as an author than someone who is working full-time (some doing 2 or 3 jobs!) on top of trying to write.
No one could have explained this concept of privilege in the most respectful and logical way, honestly. People are going to be defensive and sensitive no matter how clear you communicated your point. I really loved how respectfully you explained privilege and creating art -- As an illustrator and writer, I pass as white Latinx and grew up fairly high middle class; these are privileges I couldn’t control and it’s not a bad thing to acknowledge Jesus Christ. Thank you for being a sane part of the conversation. I hope you don’t decide to ever not speak up because of this dumb pushback, we need you!!!
Exactly! It's the same as anyone talking about what it takes to succeed on YT. For one, a bunch of privilege, including access to Internet and editing software, lighting and good equipment, time to do this especially if you have to spend a lot of time making ends meet, space, and that's to say nothing of the creators the algorithm seems to prefer. I can talk about all of that, and the ways I am privileged to have some of these things, and feel like it takes absolutely nothing away from how hard I work on any given video.
You can work hard and acknowledge the little legs up you have that everyone might not have.
@@mynameismarines Yes, exactly, it doesn’t diminish from any of the hard work you put in. Acknowledging simply means you are contributing transparency to a much-needed conversation/discussion about any of these industries.
I'm new to your reviews and have been absolutely devouring them! Its so nice you covered not only the authors stance but were also able to do an honest review. As someone who doesn't have tiktok, I appreciate you including those videos here as well instead of just referring to them. Thank you for another great video!
Thank you for watching! Yeah, I figured that a lot of people here don't see my content there. I'm trying to be better about sharing on both platforms.
Your reviews are so comprehensive and thorough and enjoyable! I have a feeling the author, like her main character, is a ~not like other girls~ kinda woman. If I've learned anything lately, it's that if a book is popular on tiktok I am not interested.
I thought I heard somewhere that the author had supposedly been working on this story for ten years? Given the writing and the plot holes and the poorly handled characters, I very much doubt this claim.
I think she may have had this idea brewing around in her head for ten years, but she certainly wasn't working on it directly for ten years.
The book is rather messy and makes me think of a first or second draft. Something that had some interesting ideas, but definitely needed way more time and effort put into it before publishing.
This is why newer authors need to understand that writing multiple drafts of a story is important. It helps you flesh out characters, relationships they have, lore, world building. Your writing improves because you're practicing each time you rewrite it. You cut pointless segments and filler out. It helps you understand your story more and your characters better. You're able to pick out the issues and fix them.
The first draft is just a means to get ideas out and loosely set things up, it's not meant to be the final version.
Yeahhh I think she had the idea, probably mapped some plot lines, settled on actually writing it, got mega hype, and then the pressure was on to actually finish it. It probably would have been a lot better if she had done several drafts, and probably should have had several before marketing it, but I think the ink dried on the deal and that was that 😅 I think some experienced writers can write to a deadline and turn out real quality work, but I think that’s an incredible ask of someone with little experience, I think a mistake was made there.
The first time I read the synopsis on this book, I couldn't get past wondering how this battle to the death happens every 100 years between 6 realms if one entire realm is killed each time. Are there just an infinite number of realms? Do they have battles to determine who goes to the competition thingy? So many questions.
That’s very much what the story leads you to think is the case for a bit and it wasn’t until halfway that I realized that no one has ever won the centennial which is while there are still 6 realms and everyone is still alive. I think. Listen I wouldn’t pass a quiz on this book.
I keep getting glimpses of this “controversy” all over social media but quite frankly, your take is the only one I’m going to listen to, because I know you come from a place of honesty, integrity, and intelligence and you did not disappoint. Lightlark is at the heart of what’s wrong with the publishing industry and the power of influencers. Not gonna touch it with a 6 foot pole.
Reading this book was compatible to missing the first season of a KID'S fantasy cartoon, starting at season 2 with no prefix, no understanding of what is happening, who anyone is, or why in the universe I'm supposed to care.🧐 Oh and let us not forget about the adult jokes that are in kids cartoons that typically fly over children's heads except here it's a little more direct. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
wait... once every 100 years a whole kingdom is wiped out? how do they repopulate? do the other kingdoms donate portions of their population to repopulate? what about the trade that was reliant on that now wiped out kingdom? are there just incredible social security nets for those left destitute cus their livelihood relied on trade with that kingdom? what about people who migrated? are they killed by the curse too? what about their children? how could a realm of 6 kingdoms survive the complete destruction of 2 kingdoms in the space of 100 years?
this is painted background world building; looks expansive but the second you try to walk into the backdrop you find a dead end instead.
I haven’t read it but from Rachel’s more spoilery review, a kingdom and its ruler are only wiped out if the curse is broken,and the curse can only possibly be broken once every hundred years. Not to say it makes a lot more sense, and I could be misunderstanding the book also, but that was my take between Rachel’s and Mari’s reviews
@@starksandrecreation ah, I see. That's... moderately better, I guess? But I still have a lot of questions about how that dynamic would affect the inter-kingdom interactions between everyday folk. Like, what's the point of breaking the curse given the potentially apocalyptic social, political and economic ramifications of losing an entire kingdom over night? Has she ever really thought about what would happen to the rest of America if even one state was utterly depopulated over night? Like, the UK would be rapidly screwed if it lost the whole of Cornwall overnight, let alone Wales or Scotland...
@@camillagilmore1547 it’s like…..it’ll be wiped out if they succeed at breaking the curse and they get a chance every 100 years. So far they’ve failed every time. Not worth reading /:
Krimson Rogue has a 7+ hour review of lightlark that goes into extreme detail of how garbage this world building is, its impressive
Rachel found out that Aster's parents are millionaires and registered Republicans... no wonder she grew up with the mentality that "hard work is the only key to success!" and refusal to acknowledge privilege and other factors (such as pure luck).
Every aspiring author is hard working and talented to some extent. Saying "I made it because I worked hard!" is kind of a slap in the face.
The difference is that they don't have connections or the privilege to write without worrying about how to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head.
Luck plays a huge role, as well. Luck that an agent is looking for the exact type of story that you wrote. Luck that that same agent didn't sign someone else with a similar story minutes before coming across your query. Or in this case, luck that TikTok users care more about tropes than actual quality, and hype your videos to the point that it piques the interest of publishers.
When we needed her the most, she came back 🥺😭❤️
(Your TikTok's are great but I miss you on CZcams 😅🤧💞)
lol, I'm here, I'm here! I was on a live with Mara a bit ago and I had a couple people lovingly yell at me to make videos and I was like okay. 😭
@@mynameismarines Yes! And I watched both livestreams, the one with Jess and Mara about BookTok, and the big group discussion about Barnes and Noble, and I still want more! 😝🤣
@@asdfghjklasdfghjkl321 ok whose channels were these on I need that Mari content
When I first heard of the plot of this book I was intrigued (yes I like stories about kingdoms and rulers). Half a year later I decided to buy the book; Alex was signing them with special requested messages, so I sent her a message saying I wasn’t going through a good time and would like for her to write her favorite POSITIVE quote from LightLark to encourage me and that it would also be fun when I found that quote as I read the book. The quote she chose to brighten my mood with was “There are lies and liars all around you” 🧐 mmm… when I got it I was like wth? This isn’t encouraging at all! She just chose a random quote. But now it makes sense, with your comment about there being no wins for Isla (which by the way I had been pronouncing as Island and Isle lol), Alex couldn’t write a positive/encouraging quote from the book because there aren’t any encouraging moments!
But still, I decided to start reading the book and my initial thoughts were:
-Why is she repeating the whole “an island that appears every 100 years where rulers fight to break their deadly curses” thing over and over again in the first few pages?
-This feels like high school level wording
-I’m getting bored
And so I stopped reading, put the book away for weeks and only started reading it again last week.
I have too much time off at work this month and I was determined to finish it so that I didn’t feel like I tossed my money in the garbage.
And I binged it. I binged the book, just as you said here!
I’m not gonna lie, there where parts that I was somewhat enjoying but then nothing. The plot either changed too quickly or didn’t lead to anything.
*Also, side note: I don’t want to judge Alex as a person, but I do agree with what some people commented here, there’s something off about her. I’ve been trying to be very supportive on her Instagram, but I don’t know what it is. There’s something else she said in a short video, about her being in the group of people who can’t see images in their heads, like I can’t understand how that works, but I’ve heard other people say that; so it makes me think if that might be the reason why she had difficulty expanding the world in this book, but then again she was very detailed in some parts. So it’s confusing. Also did you guys see her interview on the Kelly Clarkson show? Where the 2 actresses were very interested and wanted to be part of the project. Alex made a comment on Instagram saying she has no say in who gets casted. Which is very strange! How do you work so hard on a book and not have a say in the important aspects of the film? I don’t know if it’s a contract type of thing, but a lot of things don’t make sense here.
*To be continued* my phone is dying 😂
I always thought she was just so glad it got a movie deal so she does not care who plays who.
But when you think about it again, it is kinda weird.
Writing years on a story and it gets recognized from the public only to say I don‘t care who plays who ….Like do you not feel anything for the thing you created?
The review that Reads with Rachel did about this book really well summarized the issues with the stereotypes and the issues with the Oro/Isla romance
My thing is what did she think was gonna happen after her rags to riches story was proven to be false?
If you read early interviews with her and her twin, they very much believe they hard worked their way to good luck and fortune…..
@@mynameismarines They probably believe that they did💀
I feel like she was comparing herself to her family. Everyone seemed more successful than her until this happened and she too could finally say she was on the way to joining the millionaire club like her other family members. Sometimes I think she had insecurities about how much less rich she was than the others and let this guide her 😬
@@samauthor342 You might be right and maybe most of us will never understand what it’s like to have rich parents and siblings
“Trope-driven book.” Yes yes yes. And boy oh boy do I have so many (mostly negative) thoughts on this trend.
I love a trope as much as the next girl, but you can definitely feel when an author just gone down a trope checklist without really paying mind to connecting them seamlessly.
The pushback you received from those booktokers (and their massive praise of the book) made a lot more sense after the book launched and they all were flown out to her events to meet her. But yeah, let's talk about the slight review bombing being dishonest. 🙃
Can't get over the fact that the golden guy is called ORO. Just gold in spanish. Like, i get it, symbolism and all but like. Aurelio Is Right THERE man. C'mon. ROWLING put more effort into her names!
And the Sky kingdom guy is Azul. I was stunned.
Know what, Marines? I have mad respect for you, standing your ground while speaking with such reason and clarity. Got your back. Always👍
Thanks as always! And I tried. I hate being misunderstood but after a bit, it was clear to me that people were purposefully misrepresenting me.
@@mynameismarines You're so much stronger than I; my heart wouldn't be able to take it. Even so, I'm sure the stress for you is real, too, so don't forget self care 😘
Another banger of a review/discussion! Always love your takes on the book and publishing community
okay, "another banger of a review" made me unreasonably happy.
It feels uncomfortable that Alex Aster responded directly to your tiktoks in a comment. She could have, and probably should have just made a her own tiktok video addressing her privilege as she sees it without referencing you or anyone else specifically. She could easily address how her original narrative was deceptive without calling out engaging with anyone who's covered the controversy. Or she could remain silent on all of it. I think financially, the book's success is somewhat guaranteed at this point. She may find the conversation surrounding her and her books upsetting or even undeserved (and to a certain degree she might have a point as her privilege isn't unique for books that get big marketing plans, we have to ask if it's just how she was portrayed that set people talking or if there's some other component on why when she did what other authors with this privilege did she received push back).
It's an interesting conversation with a lot of angles and nuance. It's not as black and white as "good team" "bad team" but more an examination of the kinds of stories that get publishing and marketing dollars and why big corps bet on these books vs others. Especially since we've seen what takes off is often a guessing game and the time it takes to make a novel is so long, "writing for trends" isn't really a thing.
It's always interesting when someone starts on a bookish platform as a community member and then becomes an author because it blurs the lines for them and they feel way more comfortable stepping into what would generally be considered reviewer space because it's also been their space.To be fair, I was talking more about her than her work. so I get why she might've felt entitled to respond, but I was not super happy about it.
As for why she specifically received pushback: 1- this is something I have seen before, from Victoria Aveyard to Chloe Gong, all people who have either means or connections or had the privilege of being able to write full time while supported by others. It's not something exclusive to Aster, but it is louder because 2- she's got a massive platform and 3- it applies especially here because part of her marketing and part of building that platform was so specifically about succeeding because of hard work and how she faced 10 years of rejection and making it seem like this is her debut.
I think part of the reason people used the term industry plant is because one of the definitions is basically trying to give something an indie or grassroots appearance when in fact it's backed by large marketing dollars. I agree with that definition of plant that that is the case here.
@@mynameismarines Too true. I've self-published via Amazon with a new adult contemporary fantasy novel, so I guess technically I'm an author (though at a pretty low volume we're talking selling like 30 books sold over 2 years). And while my channel is almost entirely a reviewer angle, some of the things that interest me like writing style and storytelling components and trends and all of that is definitely tangled in my passion as a writer too, which probably shows especially when I start brainstorming edits I'd suggest.
As far as me interacting in a reviewer space, I've always had a pretty clear plan. If I didn't writer it: I can interact as a reviewer. If someone ever ended up reviewing something I wrote or edited or whatever, I might not be able to help but watch it (curiosity and all that) but I would NEVER respond because that would be weird. Also if people didn't want to read and review the book because they knew me, I'd get it. I've got a friend who's published in several anthologies. I like some of their work and hate other stories of theirs and I only rate those I like because conversations with them after rating something poorly are really strained. To me, discussing a marketing style, social media interactions, all that stuff is part of the meta conversation and an author shouldn't jump in unless they're invited like maybe a panel discussion might suit.
I agree there's good reason to talk about Aster's marketing and the truth behind the image she presented and I've found the discussions to be pretty interesting and generally fair to her. If you use a rags to riches story in your marketing, you've made that aspect of your life part of the meta conversation surrounding your book. I see a lot of similarities to what she did to large scale catfishing.
@@jessicadoneganreads This is such a thoughtful response, thank you. I think you have the right of it in terms of lines to draw about how you can interact in reading and writing spaces as a reader and author. I too would be curious about reviews of my work, though I would TRY to resist watching lol.
And this is a great way to put it about how the marketing and social media plays into the larger work here, especially because the whole reason this book exists is because of that social media marketing. It's a huge part of what AA is selling to her audience, really.
Color me cynical, but I believe Alex Aster knew what she was doing by responding directly, weaponizing her fans.
@@yapdog unfortunately authors do this all the time, sometimes over a misunderstanding. I just wish authors would write books quietly and stop trying to be influencers. I had friends who had anxiety attacks bc they were retweeted by authors or something and harassed as a result.
16:29 "challenges set up, for the rulers to demonstrate their power. Why?" Because the prophecy said 1 of 6 must win, so they had to invent some things they could win at.
It's not enough for 1 of 6 to die, that would mean 5 of 6 win.
This is actually not all the way true, I think, because Isla and the other girl were planning on breaking the curse and winning together. If there could only be one winner, then this side plan would've made no sense. Plus wasn't it said that in some years, people just refused to come and play? So in those years, were the games just moot? Because someone wasn't there to die to leave one winner?
The prophecy alone was kinda wrong to begin with
If the "one of six" involved the bond maker, then one of six kingdoms die but the curses are still there in the second book. The challenges could have also been circumvented by just having 5 do some lame trick and the last one does their super special thing, because we dont know what the prophecy actually means and people just pick who won.
And clearly after 600 years, 6 Lightlark runs, and no one found a way to actually do this thing, then maybe the prophecy is just wrong or that part is filler. The second book focuses solely on the romance so maybe it actually doesn't matter
The description of the world alone makes me immediately think this is a middle grade. If you had just provided the initial story description, I would have been shocked that it was Upper YA or NA.
I am generally not a plot-driven reader, so what I'm about to stay probably won't be surprising, but I become very frustrated with stories that think *plot* _is_ the story. Without characterization and world to anchor the story, of course plot is going to feel convoluted! It's like you said: No foundation to pull from. And an author forcing plot thrill after plot thrill so often undermines every other aspect of the story, to the point where the plot collapses either as soon as you reflect once you finish or while you're reading.
As an aside, it's part of the reason I wish people wouldn't take the show vs tell advice and the must have an active protagonist so literally (or misinterpret it).
Reading this makes me feel better about the slow, character focused early portion of my WIP Novel.
A thing that new writers get hung up on, some but not all, is that they think they don't need a plot because their writing is just so "wonderful" that everyone will enjoy their story. Then the story is just over extended drivel, maybe not overwritten but it just keeps going with no clear direction. There might be a goal but there's nothing attached to it, no way to understand why what's happening in any given chapter will move the main character forward. Even a bad book that elicits eye rolls because of the obviousness and heavy handedness of the plot is still better than 50+ thousand words of nothing because you can't deconstruct nothing. If you can't answer "so what's the plot" in under a sentence or two no one is going to waste their time and more frequently people with no talent are getting these opportunities and big book deals because they've been fed on social media to pitch and get to the point, even when there's no substance involved.
@@TheAdarkerglow You'll find a reader in me! A lot of the books I love the most are described as slow-paced and, by some, plotless.
@@KarmaSpaz12 Interesting! I feel we may partly have different reading tastes and partly are coming at an issue we see in books from different angles.
I find it *worse* when a story is just a series of events with nothing to ground them. If the plot feels heavy handed, it usually has characterization and world-building to go with it. When you have neither, that is when it feels convoluted. The author either has all the information in their head and is not communicating it or has taken the 'show vs tell' advice in the wrong direction. That is to say, they think show versus tell means there shouldn't be any opportunity for character introspection or world building (or they aren't sure how to insert it in an engaging way).
If the book is just a series of events and I find myself asking 'why' each time something happens, I'm going to DNF that book very quickly. For me, lack of grounding in characterization and world-building is part of what makes it feel directionless. There have definitely been moments where I've noticed a subplot needs to be axed (Atlas Six, I'm looking at you)-- so I see your point, of course! There are moments where I've read books and skipped over sections that felt like author's darlings. I just don't think that is the defining issue of new writers necessarily.
Like I said though, I'm not a capital P Plot-driven reader. In fact, I often find myself identifying plots in what other people would consider plotless or arguing that a slower pace can read to a richer reading experience. The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri comes as a relevant example. I adored the book and was riveted the whole time. It was considered slow for people who want a BANG plot point to happen quickly - and some argued there wasn't any plot in the beginning at all. I disagreed! Just because the events are fireworks level, doesn't mean plot isn't happening.
Perhaps another way to bring our two views closer together: In general, passages of writing need to do multiple things at once and need to inform or tie into multiple aspects of the story.
@@WhereintheworldisLeahJane I just read the sample on Kindle, and I also found myself asking "why..." Constantly.
Omg I absolutely love your TikToks, I’m so glad I found your CZcams
Lol, me but the other way around
i'm sorry you had to deal with that nonsense in response to your original tiktok! you're great. you literally made good points and i completely agree with you. i can't see how anyone who listened to what you were saying came to the conclusion that you were trying to 'cancel her'. like be fr. i'm not on tiktok so i've only heard about this book and the discourse around it through twitter. YA is not for me anymore but i love your reviews. great video!
Yeah, it was wild. People just throw around the word cancel every time they hear a critique on the Internet. Like I said, I maybe should've expected that with her big platform and connections that I would've gotten this kind of pushback, but I was still shocked lol.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
I love this video. I read an article where they basically describe her as someone who whined about not getting a book deal on tic Tok and then got a book deal because of views.
There’s two sides to every story and her media coverage is a bit mixed which I find interesting.
There is a lot of hate towards TikTok and it’s influence in publishing that I find is often looking down in young girls especially. I don’t resent anyone for using TT to leverage a platform. AA just seems to have really nailed the formula and in her case I think it was slightly disingenuous.
@@mynameismarines maybe I haven’t seen the write people of tic tok but I find for the bookish world it’s more of a place people tell you the premise of book and not how well it is excited. You can have an amazing premise but then it not be pulled off well or the reading experience is off in some ways. I just found I can read a good reads blurb or back cover copy and get just as much information.
That being said I have like how it has helped good self published authors get there books in front of more readers.
Lightlark sounds like a cake with no flour, no eggs, no milk, and no sugar...it's literally just day old frosting 🤡
Is that why I had a stomachache when I finished?
Ugh, I’m so sorry about the responses you’ve been getting. I actually ordered a copy during a B&N preorder sale a few months back bc the premise intrigued me, but after I read the early reviews I tried to cancel. B&N said I couldn’t bc it had already shipped or something?? Seems unlikely but okay. So I mailed it back as soon as I got it lol. I’m SO LAZY about returns but I was determined not to pay for this book and your review has confirmed I made the right choice 😂
Also - I thought you did a beautiful job in the discussion part, as always. No one is saying privilege = you don’t work hard! It means you are more likely to get the opportunity for your hard work to make a difference 🤷🏻♀️ people are so quick to take any acknowledgment of privilege / luck as a criticism of their abilities when the issue is that they had circumstances that meant their abilities were actually rewarded - which as you pointed out is the ideal we’d like for everyone!
I heard from a few people that they were unable to return their preorders!! That’s so wild. I briefly thought maybe that influenced her being at #1, but word in the street is that she sold many thousands of copies in her first week. That TT marketing really, really paid off.
@@mynameismarines Fun fact you only need to sell 5,000 books in the first week to hit the YA bestseller list
@@jostinaluver yep and what I heard is that she sold many, many more than that. What anyone would consider a good entire run for a book.
@@mynameismarines So much for the cancellation argument
Sorry that you had to deal with “fans” that accused you of “canceling” the author. The premise of the cursed families having a battle royale actually sounds intriguing but any enthusiasm for that set up instantly dropped when you pointed out how bland the worldbuilding was even just from the lazy nomenclature.
I was so happy this was in my feed when I woke up this morning 😆💜
😂 I finished this book and finally had the inspiration for a YT video.
My thoughts on it are very similar, I was frustrated at the lack of characterization, and there were so many plot holes. It felt like this was a first draft, like it needed a rewrite. Or several. Isla is also the only one in the book with a last name, so like…where did her last name come from, is it a family name or something else? It seemed like “Isla Crown” just sounded cool to the author.
And the villain reveal made even less sense, because…how was she alive and how was she not who she said she was? Plot holes abound!
I hate reckless characters, they give me anxiety, until I realise they wont be made to suffer the consequences of their actions.
Me too. It gives me anxiety but then also frustration, especially when I can’t understand why the character is making the decisions they do. Homegirl was being reckless for no reason.
I love fantasy. I hate stuff like this. It makes fantasy seem frivolous and boring. Give me some Neil Gaiman. Thank you for a thorough review.
EYYYY fellow Neil Gaiman fan!
I am looking for some fantasy books to learn more about world building and stuff. Would you like to share any recommendations to check out?
@@sylviagodsmith6957 Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers- sorry i cheated, it's sci-fi, but brilliantly fleshed out culture building for alien societies. And it's a worldbuilding and character driven story that's thematically about interracting with and accepting other peoples' cultures and worldviews so really good use is made of all that worldbuilding
The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin- it's a really heartbreaking and heavy series to get through, but very intentionally so and in a very well done way. It's one of those series that makes its magic feel like a grounded in universe form of science and also like a beautiful, brilliant art form that the characters who perform it genuinely love at moments. The world of the series experiences frequent earthquakes and mini-apocalypse level natural disasters called "fifth seasons" or just "seasons" and the entire society branches off of that premise in a really brilliant way, from the unevenly modern technology levels to the caste system to the way history is described ("after the choking season" "before the acid season") to the slang and language used to the way orogenes are treated. A lot of the story centers on how the orogenes are oppressed by this society, how the government uses them as tools, how the average person is just disgustingly, violently bigoted towards them, and the variety of ways the orogene characters react to that. Jemisin really expertly writes this oppression of orogenes in a way that closely parallels several real world kinds of oppression down to things like reclaiming slurs, but is at the same time a product of the world of the story, and it's definitely its own messed up society with aspects that don't exist in reality. (disclaimer I'm white so I'm not the authority on fantasy racism, this could be described better)
Hello From The Hallowoods-
(There will be spoilers with this one i apologize)
More cheating! this is a podcast! Hello from the hallowoods is cool because it's got everything and the kitchen sink in terms of magical creatures + forms of magic - Vampires, werewolves, demons, frankenstein's monsters x 8, a horrifying orchestral music themed serial killer, The Apocalypse, witches, a bunch of ravens that are all one conciousness, frog people, you name it... but they all originate from a few main sources. That is to say, most of these types of magic are from eldritch gods, and many of these creatures serve these eldritch gods (indescribables). Since all the magic comes from a somewhat unified source, it's possible to get really creative and weird with it and have it still feel grounded, which I like. Also, there's a lot of fun thematic stuff going on with the concept of the indescribables, and a lot of exploration + subversion of both gods seeing humans as ants and expecting to be worshipped, and also with the indescribables specific domains. The god that caused the apocalypse was a god of Change, not anything so explicitly horrible as destruction or anything, and a lot is done with that. There's also an indescribable whose domain is watching and seeing, and he's such a human-feeling character in how he struggles with claiming agency, and how only watching, being afraid to make real choices or affect the world has psychologically harmed him.
If I werre to ever write a book I would pay you to edit it lol you seem like such a nice person to work with and your criticisms are very thoughtful and helpful if they were taken into account. ❤️ Love the video!
Not to mention, all the TikTok's she made quoting lines from the book to get people excited about it that WERE'NT EVEN IN THE ADVANCED COPIES lol The rollout &marketing for this weirdly hyped book is a hot mess.
I forgot I saved a bunch of those videos to look at after I read the book and while I was ready to be like "yeah, man, things get edited," there were whole moments she promoted that just weren't in the book. The vibes of her promotion and what the book actually was felt a little off to me, personally, so I can see why others also felt disappointed by that.
privilege =/= hard work
I adore this
For someone who hasn't read the book but has listened to quite some reviews, I have a question. Is it explained in the book how the realms still exist if every 100 years one ruler and their entire realm dies? I mean, were there more realms originally? Or do they get somehow repopulated?...
On the previous 4 times that the rulers met for this purpose, none of them managed to kill each other. The first time, they killed some bystanders in the crossfire and one time, one of Isla's ancestors lost a hand but that's about it.
I just finished this book as I tried to avoid the noise and the premise sounded good. I can't you how anything works ..she is a ruler that knows nothing of her own realm.
Hey, I’ve never watched your videos before, and I gotta say - the hate is unwarranted. You were very respectful and articulate, and that’s kind of book conversations we should be having. Hug ❤️
I appreciate it! It was so wild to me because I felt like I was trying to be very clear about where I was coming from and I just kept getting these accusations of being out to destroy someone. It was wild.
I’m in the middle of this book and it’s dragging. Great review! I found your channel from TikTok
An aside you may find entertaining: I straight up believed her surname was Lightlark and was about to commend her for naming her YA fantasy series after herself. I don't have that kind of moxie. (Of course, I know she is Alex Aster now.)
I've seen this sentiment expressed before, but it really shines when discussing books like this: people who write YA don't 1) believe teenagers deserve intelligent, thoughtful works and 2) are not actually writing for teenagers. It's all starting to feel... randomly generated to appeal to people who have never read anything BUT YA.
I'm not saying that to dunk on YA. Some of my favorite books as a teenager and as an adult are YA. But who is this for? I would have been downright insulted if somebody recommended this to me when I was sixteen. The naming system is terrible and the writing style, personally, grates on me.
There are points to criticize the Hunger Games. However, the trilogy does not think the reader to be an idiot incapable of picking up on subtext. (Don't ask me about Songbirds and Snakes, that is between God and Miss Collins at this point, lol.)
The knee jerk reaction the book community has to any form of critique is honestly alarming. I think, even for this book, there are some good bones to this story. Aster would have GREATLY benefited from more critique, perhaps a harsher editor as well. That way it could be refined further.
As for the stereotyping, far be it from me to talk down to anyone about Latine characters, particularly when the author themselves is Latine, but I think some people forget it takes skill to pull off something of this magnitude. To juxtapose reality, curses, and rumors, you need to understand inside, outside, and backwards what you are doing and what you want to do. It will fail if you are unclear about any portion of it.
Wow, that was a novel. Anyway, hi Marines, missed you on CZcams! (I'm a rube who doesn't use TikTok.)
Girl Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is one of the most interesting things Collins has written, it's certainly isn't dumbed down in comparison to THG lol. The only real flaw is that the final few scenes were rushed, it was otherwise a really interesting look inside the mind of a spoiled sociopath, wartime poverty, the way people are integrated into these corrupt systems. Watching Snow constantly come to the wrong conclusions etc was chilling. People are just mad they didn't get a Haymitch book, and ignored the fact that Collins literally snapped with this one. I also liked that since the YA genre has evolved since 2008-2009 she was able to include a close range look at darker themes, even including mentions of cannibalism. It felt like she had something to say once again about real world politics and she did it really well. If we're ragging on YA books being shallow or dumbed down I don't think Ballad fits the bill in any way.
Honestly you've hit the nail on the head. I genuinely believe that the explosion of YA as a 'genre' as it is now with its own recycled cliches instead of an age category of 'older teens' as it was originally has destroyed the space there was for *intelligent children's/teen novels.* If you look at the 1980s through to early 2010s, you find all sorts of incredible genre books that are suitable for kids as well as adults - War Horse is genuinely dark and painful and full of stunning characters arcs, but also easy to follow and sweet; Terry Pratchett and Diana Wynne Jones have written incredible teen fantasy novels that do NOT talk down to their readers in style or lore, only the size of the problems the characters face is more child-sized... It really is a shame you now need to basically go DIRECTLY from MG to adult if you don't care for these pre-chewed not-like-other-girls enemies-to-lovers love triangles...
@@KaiInMotion I think there is a misunderstanding here. I made a blasé comment about The Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes because I haven't read it. Writing from a perspective like that of President Snow's is a pretty hefty task. I respect Collins for taking it on.
Super thoughtful and fair review!! Sorry you had to deal with such pushback for just trying to have necessary convos abt privilege 😞😞 wish people were more receptive to literary criticism, like someone having issues with/not liking a certain thing you’re a fan of isn’t a personal attack
Privilege is definitely something that needs to be talked about more in the book industry. A lot of people are in the same scenario as Aster, they don’t need to worry about health insurance, they have money from family members, and can be writers full time. Some have industry connections (not aster and I won’t name the ones who do have connections).
Also as soon as you mentioned YA wanting an adult romance I rolled my eyes. Yeah definitely won’t waste my time on that. From the plot it just sounds like one of those SJM derivatives that started popping up in the mid to late 2010s.
Yep, exactly. Even just from a time and energy standpoint, wealth makes it easier to create art, and that's I think important for all people who are trying to recognize. It can be so easy to get down on yourself for not working hard enough as those who are succeeding, because we are told that all it takes is hard work.
It very much feels on the same level as ACOTAR. SJM's writing is differently bad, more wordy and convoluted, but all of the same weaknesses in the world building, plot and characterizations are there.
@@mynameismarines I just looked more into it and why is Alex pretending she didn’t publish two books with sourcebooks? From the looks of it the series may have flopped but you still have connections even when that happens. I just don’t understand why people feel like they have to hide their privilege.
Sigh. I'm sorry people have been pushing back at you for talking about very real privileges that some authors have. Like, I think it was... Sarah Dessen??? that mentioned that she wouldn't have been able to go full time if they hadn't had her husband's insurance. And that conversation happened so long ago. We don't ever get authors saying, "Hey, these are some things that I had that made this easier for me."
Right, and like, I don't expect AA or anyone to start every video with a list of privileges, but in a conversation specifically about how she found success, to me, pretending that it was just grit and determination is misleading and it really hurts people who look up to her as aspiring writers.
...people amaze me. Social media has made it impossible to have a difference of opinion. Its sad. Smh. If the book is bad its bad. Her background aside. I watched rachaels video as well. I wish people coud be real without fear of backlash because most people arent because of the fear of backlash. Not everyone has to like this book. Gosh.
Respect and support from esta abuela. Brillante, as always.
Thank you, as always, for your support!
I live for your reviews lol
Thaaaank you 🥰
Spicy Mari is best Mari. I don't make the rules.
Great video, as always
Thanks for watching!
It is upsetting to hear about the representation. Mostly because - as a Brazilian - that is how my people have been described and portrayed in the media for years. In general, the Latinx community has always been the wild, Amazonian-style people or the sexy, Pitbull-music-video people. I think that if she wasn't Latina I wouldn't have minded as much because I can almost just go "well it's the stereotype". But when you are part of the community and feed into the stereotype, it rubs me the wrong way. This is all my opinion but I think that if the community cannot speak and defend itself, no one else will. And the misrepresentation being done by someone who is Latinx does a lot of harm because it shows other people that it is okay to stereotype.
Unrelated to the video, but I am SO jealous that you have the whole rainbow classic set!
i’m subscribed but it’s definitely time for me to turn my notifications on because i never saw this video in my feed and i’m extremely annoyed by that lol. glad to see another video from you marines!! xx
quick sidenote, the ‘a court of thorns and roses’ vibes i got here were serious. when you said the main character was torn between the light and dark courts, it was all i could think about haha! that and the young adult leaning into adult *wink wink*. i’ve no intention of ever reading this book but man was it fun to listen to your experience!
Okay but this was SO damn interesting
I was having a time with it on TT 😂
Hi Marines, I really liked your review, I appreciate how balanced it was, giving very insightful constructive criticism without being hurtful. I'm really sorry that you received such a backlash. Your content is great!
I’ve seen videos popping about Lightlark but only clicked on your video. I had no idea what was going on 😆
followed this conversation on your TikTok acc but I'm so glad u also made a video about it! great review as always!
Thank you! I’m always curious about who follows me in both places 😊
When you gave the synopsis, I thought "ohh that sounds interesting". I hope she'll use her privilege to get a ghost writer and editor to rewrite it. The storyline sounds intriguing to me. 🤷
10 years.... and this is what the books is? Not even heard of the spicy Latina estereotipe? In TEN years... okay. Oh dear. And I know the not like other girls is more talked about but I'm ace and latina, so that hurts more
Okay, the thing with the 10 years is that it is also misleading. She talks about facing 10 years of rejection, making it seem like it was for Lightlark, but she only started writing that book in like 2020. Plus, she didn't just face 10 years of rejection because she had 2 other books published by a big publisher. When she says 10 years, she's counting back to when she was TWELVE and she first started writing............
The 10 years thing was so blatantly disingenuous. And it's so frustrating because I know authors who legitimately tried for 10 years. Who wrote book after book and were rejected by dozens of agents. And they don't make that aspect of their career a part of their brand.
@@mynameismarines oh no, not twelve years old! ksksk and I don't know if she writing it as late as 2020 makes it better or worst honestly kskks
Never heard of this book before this video, watched the whole thing because A, this whole thing is fascinating, especially for such a bad book, and B, you deserve it after that backlash!
I loveeeee watching your videos! Can you please do Iron Flame :D
All this reminds me of the Starving Artist drama in the art world, especially back in to the 90’s. The whole impoverished artist lived in a squat but were in reality trust fund babies was so cliche. They never acknowledged their privilege or connections were how they became famous over the genuinely poor people they were mimicking for clout.
This exactly! Publish also wants us to buy into the myth of it being a meritocracy, and so boot strap narratives are common and I just hate them and this is one case where it is demonstrably false.
Smells of Highlander without the schlock and some YA fantasy tropes.
Uh, yep, sounds about right.
Yay! You’re back :)
I’m here, I’m here!
I wonder if this new trope driven book model is going to become a thing. Will people proudly proclaim their books are trope driven?
I think it's a response to the way people are marketing books on TT. I don't mind it as a way to talk about books amongst ourselves, especially for romances where the tropes are so integral, but I don't want writers to craft their books that way? Just as a series of badly connected tropes? But unfortunately, I think some books like that, like Lightlark, are doing incredibly well and using TT as a way to push that success.
“Felt like we were just interested in hitting specific character and plot tropes. And we were getting there by any means necessary.”
THIS is such a good line to describe some books out there. 🤌🤌🤌
The thing about being an "industry plant"....do people just not know how many published authors a) were at one point/currently work at a major publishing house b) know other authors and openly thank those authors in the acknowledgements in their own books?
Maggie Lehrman, Lindsay Riber, and Kaitlyn Detweiler are YA authors with industry ties (Lehrham as an editor, Detweiler and Ribar literary agents). Are they "industry plants" because they already had connections to that world? They're far from the only authors with those connections-those are just examples I could name off the top of my head. And what about authors who are friends with each other publicly...are those writers all part of the industry plant circle because they're friends with NYT bestselling authors?
I don't know a ton about the industry, but I have heard about how notoriously insular it can be. "industry plant" is a weird accusation for that type of community.
I definitely don't know or care if Alex was an industry plant, but to add a bit to what it actually is, the piece that's key is that it's a person that is placed into an industry and has those connections, but the front is that they don't. They are a grassroots or like no name person who just wow, finds so much success, what a great story, but in fact, they were fed by an industry machine and connections beforehand specifically for selling them as an indie kid.
The way she and her fans were trying to weaponize Latine culture without understanding race and how it is viewed in Latine culture was a whole other mess.
I honestly did not even want to get into any of that because the conversation is so messy. When she wrote to me “I suppose I’m white passing,” I rolled my eyes so hard. Anyway, though, for the sake of the conversation, I just took her at her word that she is Latina/Indigenous and a person of color.
@@mynameismarines I'm of the Dash Harris mindset that we need to start calling ourselves Black passing latines until they get it
I suppose this is neither here nor there but regarding exaggerating the bad writing I feel like i've noticed a trend where people will pick apart general non-issues in books they don't like? I can't think of any specific examples off the top but I have seen instances that made me think "I don't get why this is an issue?" where I know for a fact that an author they liked would get away with ding the same thing. Does that make sense?
also im really thinking about getting tiktok just because i love your opinions on things so much
I'm going to try to do better about getting TT content on here in some way! I totally get why people avoid it, it is a time suck, but when I'm not being inundated by AA supporters, I'm having so much fun!
To your point, I had a few people in my TT comments come for Lightlark but defend ACOTAR and I know tastes vary and all that, but everything Lightlark does poorly, ACOTAR does too....
@@mynameismarines the turn around people had on maas still baffles me. is it the smut?? i think its the smut. Which to that end Aster saying her ya is "spicy" is surely...something. It's really something (i guess you could slot that in with the bigger argument about how ya doesn't really feel like its for teens anymore but that's its own can of worms).
and yeah the timesink is a big reason im staying away. granted, i do spend probably too much time on twitter.
I hadn't even heard of this and I would have never picked this up, luckily...
lol you are spared!