If You Disliked This... | Book Tag
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- Today I'm talking about books you might enjoy if you DIDN'T quite like, say, Throne of Glass, Anna and the French Kiss, and a few more. What do you think of my recommendations?
Original video: goo.gl/vsVzKT
Books I recommended:
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older
In Real Life by Corey Doctorow & Jen Wang
Just One Day by Gayle Forman
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
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BooksandLala
Shemightbemonica
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I feel like you could be Tyler Oakley's sister! lol
I deeply enjoyed fangirl, it wasn't perfect, I can accept that, and I do want to read carry on still, but I absolutely adore simon vs the homo sapiens agenda so much its just so nice and I'm trying to get my hands on the upside of unrequited I can't wait to get into it.
I recently bought Graceling! Now I'm excited!!
I hope you like it!
Your videos are so well-done! I love hearing you talk about your opinions because their always motivated.
My brother loved Ready Player One. I read most of it and I just didn't care. He is really mad at me for that but I completely agree with you on that book. It's being turned into a movie with Stephen Spielberg directing it and my brother said that if he messes up the book, that he will take all of his movies out of our house and burn them. But my dad loves Indiana Jones and I love Catch Me If You Can so if he gets rid of those, we might kill my brother.
I think my issue with Anna and the French Kiss was the fact that the main character was supposedly this film lover and not only hated the idea of moving to France but seemed surprised that Paris did in fact have cinemas. Like poser much? lol
I, personally, liked Ready Player One. Didn't feel excluded as a female mixed race gamer. But I wasn't really expecting much more than a fluffy popcorn book with 80s all over it. So maybe that's why. *shrugs* But I can't really remember it too clearly, so I would like to know why you had that interpretation.
Someone random my bff had the same problem with Anna! For me, I've met a lot of people who say they love films but for whatever reason haven't dug in deep to film history so to me Anna being rather shallow in her actual film knowledge felt pretty real.
I've yet to read RPO because I can't seem to get into it, is nice to see people's alternate opinions on it.
That's another excellent point about Anna! As far as Ready Player One, one of my main problems was with the character you're talking about. That character, for most of the book, is someone we are supposed to believe is a white, straight man. And then PLOT TWIST she's a black lesbian. My problem with her is that her entire character, every marginalized aspect of her identity, was boiled down to nothing but a plot twist. And, more than that, a plot twist so that we could see just how accepting the main character was of people different than him. It reduces her character to a learning element, which is 100% not an inclusion of female characters. It is an inclusion of a learning device. Plus, even after that reveal, every character continues to refer to her using he/him pronouns so her identity continues to be erased until the end of the book. Plus the other female character we got wound up just being a prize for Wade to win by the end of the novel. As far as women in gaming go, I was really unimpressed.
ProblemsofaBookNerd I see where you're coming from. But I interpreted it as her just being one of the guys. An ironic sort of jab at the whole gamer identity. Although the book was a bit clumsy all round really. I'd forgotten about the other female. I took it as a nod to the "save princess" trope. Albeit a rather shallow one. In the hands of a more skilled writer it could have been a sarcastic jab at gaming tropes. Alas.
You perfectly captured my feelings about Anna and the French Kiss. I loved 13 Little Blue Envelopes so I will definitely check out Just One Day. Thanks!
Simon, yes! I can get enough of that book and I can't wait for the upside of unrequited :D
The only problem I have with Rainbow Rowell books is that I find that they drag on and on. Especially toward the end. I did really, really enjoy Carry On by her but that's really the only one I liked.
The only other Rainbow Rowell book I have read besides Fangirl is Eleanor and Park which I absolutely hated for soooooooo many reasons. It took me years to be willing to read Fangirl because of E&P. But I haven't necessarily had a problem with them feeling like they dragged on when I read them, so it's interesting to hear that!
At the time of reading E&P and Fangirl I was starting to go into a slump which might be why they dragged on a bit for me. But because they did drag on I haven't really wanted to re-read them and give them another try. I think I gave them both pretty good ratings but mostly because I felt like I had too since everyone else loved them. I remember not being thrilled with Eleanor and Park but saying I loved it because so many others did.
I CALLED IT! I knew that Simon would be the recommended after you said the no real gay characters. And FRIIIIIICK!!!! I want to read the Dead House so badly now!!!!
Found this so interesting and useful! love it when you do tags, i mean i love your channel loads anyway!! :)
I love all your upgrades! I am definitely adding Shadowshaper to my TBR pile now.
Another one for if you have issues with Throne of Glass is The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce, first book being Alanna, The first adventure. It's about a girl who dresses up as a boy to become a knight
Loved this so much! Shadowshaper is definitely a great alternative to the Shadowhunters books. And I COMPLETELY agree about Just One Day and 13 Little Blue Envelopes as alternatives for Anna, because those were the two books I thought of myself as the cover of Anna came up. And I love the self discovery aspects of both, they're fantastic :D
I looooved the friends in Shadowshaper. I want a novella of just them hanging out at that diner talking because I was so entertained. That book is so underrated
cool format, really enjoyed your recommendations, even the ones I have already read
I love this series. I added many books to my to-read list from your recs.
omg, I lOVE the Graceling series!! When you started talking about Throne of Glass, Graceling was the first book that popped into my mind as an alternate.
Shadowshaper sounds amazing! City of Bones wasn't quite for me, but I found the world to be fascinating and fun, so this seems like it'll be perfect!
My heart skips a beat every time someone talks about Graceling
I looove this video, it's such a creative ideas and I love the books you did recommend, some of them are my favorites lol. Great video!! ❤❤❤
This is such a great tag. So often i read a book that I was really interested in but the writing isn't good or it's really tropy or something. And I'm like uggg if only there was another book just like this but better! I really enjoyed this video
Loved this tag! I would love if you did more tag videos......and definitely more recommendations!! :)
This is the first of your videos that I am seeing, but I already love it! You look so nice and you make some really strong arguments, love it :)
Thank you! Glad you found some of my videos :)
This was a really fun tag! All your recommends were spot on :-D
I totally agree with your thoughts on Anna and the French Kiss. Yeah, going to France for school sounds soooo horrible hahah!
I have read none of those books, but I can see the points you make possibly working on other books too. I definitely have come across books where I wasn't a fan of similar things.
but generally I am really good at picking the books I like. I hardly ever end up below a 3.5 star rating. except for a book I am reading now, but that one I got for free because it is 'boekenweek' in the Netherlands. We have a whole week here, fully dedicated to books(also one for children's books. How awesome is that?
Ive watched a few of these videos, and that was the most clear explanation of the tag.
This was a great video! Will definitely check out Graceling and Shadowshaper ( although I do love the shadowhunter world, I too dislike Clary). Anna and the French Kiss and Just One Day are two of my favourite books probably because I relate so personally to them. Need to read 13 Blue Envelopes ASAP.
I have the exact same issues with Throne of Glass (don't get me started on the bashing of Chaol in later books. I cannot with that series anymore), so I'll definitely check out Graceling. This tag was great.
I think I stopped reading the moment where aelin goes off on him for not worshipping her (can't remember if it's in HOF or QOS) and how great Rowan is I was like lol bye.
Yeahhhhhhh Chaol is one of my only remaining characters that I actually like?? So his treatment in the books has not made me like Celaena much at all as the series has gone on. Also, I despise Rowan and the weird hyper-masculine bro fest that is currently happening in the series.
LMAO Rowan is a mess, it's everything SJM finds attractive slapped into one giant super-masculine man who lacks personality. Once or twice I found myself questioning whether him and Aelin where even friends because there had been no indication of it earlier??? and then they suddenly ~~love each other~~?????
oh yes, the hyper-masculine, possessive alpha male thing is just so... I hate it. And I especially hate the excuse for it I've seen around, about how it's because they are fae and that's just how male fae act because, well, fae aren't real. One can not simply hide behind "oh that's just how this completely made up creature acts! what could I do abt it?", nope. SJM's male characters are possessive, hyper masculine idiots because she wanted them to be so, and that's sad, because I absolutely adored the first two books in the series.
Everything seems to be excuseable in that series. "Oh he just abused her because he's fae!" is kinda like this worlds boys will be boys. I also adored the first two books, and I miss when it was just dorian, celeana and chaol without all this undeveloped magic/fae shit. But since I am a gay rat, Malide is pretty good.
Yay! So glad to see you doing the tag!
I wanted to read Graceling for such a long time. The only thing that stops me is that I only own the second book.
P.S. This shirt is to die for
Thanks for tagging me! I loved this idea. And yes, you really need to get to Graceling! I would say go ahead and read Fire but it kind of spoils a bunch of back story for the villain in Graceling, which is why I recommend reading them in publication order. But Fire is a great one as well!
You said everything I've ever felt about Throne of Glass!
I was updating my Goodreads as the video went on xD Thanks for the recommendations!
I loved Ready Player One when I read it but I feel like I wouldn't like it as much if I re-read it now and I think you've hit the nail in the head as to why, because I couldn't word my issues with it but I think it's along the lines of what you've said.
Also wow, that "The upside of unrequited" book sounds really interesting, I've seen people reading it for the BooktubeAThon but I had no clue.
Such a great tag idea I'll definitely be giving this one a go!
I NEED to check out the book you recommended instead of TMI!!! I've read about 2.5 of the TMI books and Clary was my least favorite character. Actually, she's tied with Lena from Delirium as my least favorite character of all time. But Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older sounds so much more up my alley and I'm so interested in reading more books about Latinx characters (as I am also Latinx). I'm going to need to add all of these books to be TBR list!!
Gonna pick up The Upside Of Unrequited now! I really enjoyed simon vs the homosapiens agenda, and have been looking at this one for a while. I have read two books by Rainbow Rowell, but don't get the hype about them... Great video :)
I personally loved City of bones and the rest of Cassandra Clare's novels, but ShadowShaper sounds SO interesting.
I definitely think it is a book that can still be enjoyed even if you love City of Bones!
cookies77814 same
that's a great idea actually.would love to see more of this!
Glad you enjoyed!
If you don't like Fangirl, maybe check out How to Repair a Mechanical Heart by J.C. Lillis, because its depiction of fandom is really good for those people who are just so engrossed in fandoms, even thought the fandom in the book is made up, it functions just like real life fandom. Also the main love story is gay and it's pretty darn good.
I bought the dead house a couple of weeks ago so I'm excited to read it now. I also have simon vs as well.
Subbed on this video alone. Thank you and I look forward to more of your videos.
I think I trust your book recommendations more than basically anyone else on booktube at this point! I didn't really love Fangirl but now will definitely read the Becky Albertalli ones. Thank you! Also, I'm curious: have you read Cinder? I'm trying to work out if I'll like it or not, and I feel like I'll trust whatever you say!
Yes! I have read Cinder. I think it was fairly good, but I have liked the other books in the series more as I've gone on. I think it falls into a lot of the YA fantasy tropes that are out there and usually annoy me, but I think the space aspect and the fairy tale aspect allowed me to enjoy it anyway? I don't think it is the most amazing YA book ever but I definitely had a lot of fun reading it at the very least. Plus the third book, Cress, is amazing in my opinion.
So many books I'm "meh" about translated to books I'm "🎉" about
This is such a great tag!
Yaaaaaas the Graceling trilogy is so amazing!!! 💜
I dislike anything by Cassandra Clare so I will definitely check out Shadowshaper! 👌🏻
Whaaaaat who disliked Night Film??? 😭 I LOVE that book! For me the fact that nothing was revealed was perfect.
Love The Dead House as well though! 😊👏🏻
Loved Fangirl cause it was just so pure and sweet. Nothing annoying tbh.
Simon was sooooo cute 🙌🏻💯 Waiting for her next book 😭🙏🏻
Very interesting video, thank you! 😙💜
I just noticed your Elliott figure in the background! I can't handle how much I love it!
Thank you! I got him for my birthday a couple of days ago and I'm in LOVE
So, I've heard of the hate people give to City of Bones before reading it. I probably wouldn't have liked it for a reason that I'm gonna reveal later. People say that this series gets better and better but I think that's wrong. I liked City of Bones but didn't love it. And I would of probably hated it IF IT WASN'T FOR THE INFERNAL DEVICES. When I read City of Bones I was just on the wave of love towards Clockwork Princess so that's probably the reason why. I really think you should read the Infernal Devices, they take the good things from The Mortal Instruments and take it uo a milion notches.
Have you read Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde? It's an adorable queer fandom love story. Super diverse, super cute.
I haven't, but I have heard all of the rave reviews! It definitely seems like a good fit for those who wanted more from a book like Fangirl!
I called the In Real Life bit, I love that book!
Hahah I thought this video what going to be 'if you didn't like this you also shouldn't read...' and I just thought 'that's not like cece to tell us what we shouldn't read'! This is a very helpful book tag!
I would actually like to suggest reading Fire before Graceling even though it's published as the second book. Chronologically it's the first and it works really well if you read it first,. Not only did I prefer Fire as a character, it makes the ending of Graceling have a bit more impact and it makes the villain way WAY more interesting.
You said the main character in Simon VS The Homo Sapiens Agenda is obsessed with Harry Potter. Are there Harry Potter spoilers in the book? I'm reading the HP series currently, but I plan on getting Simon and reading that, which will be before I finish all 7 HP books. Will I run into spoilers?
Sorry! This is not a thing I remember about Simon. I don't THINK there were any huge spoilers? But I am definitely not an authority on that because it has been a while since I read it. Sorry!
That's ok! I'm going to look into it, see if I can find someone else discuss or mention it!
Really hated Throne of Glass, only read it because of the amount of buzz it got around booktube, had to push myself to finish it, didn't waste time on the sequels.
I adore TMI it's my favorite series 💕💕💕
I actually didn't like Fangirl and really loved Simon, so yes, pretty accurate XD
Also, if you want another book that has to do with fun gaming experiences, I recommend Click Here to Start by Denis Markell. It has to do with someone who loves escape room games and when his grandfather dies and leaves him this mysterious room, he recruits two friends and goes on a crazy smart adventure. It doesn’t have as much gaming elements as Ready Player One, but it’s still pretty cool
YES ON ALL THE POINTS FOR READY PLAYER ONE. Did you do a review for it by any chance? When I read it, it definitely was annoying with how obsessive it was with the geek culture of the 80s,but I could have maybe seen past it if there hadn't been so much sexism, that weird borderline transphobic line where the hero questions a girl's gender identity (asking if she's "always" been a girl and hasn't had "a sex change operation". Fffffff- there's so much wrong with that sentence I'd need a week to talk about it). Also, the racism of the Japanese characters? I swear I thought the plot twist with them would be that they were secretly weebo white boys. It's like Earnest Cline has never met a Japanese person; his characters were randomly adding san honorifics to people's names and using the term "sepuku" to mean suicide, not to mention of COURSE the only director they reference is Kurosawa (one of the only Japanese director to have had popularity in the West) without any other real insight to the vastness that is Japanese culture, ughhhh. So many problems.
I'll read the graphic novel you recommended. I love the style! I tried to read Arena knowing it was about VR, but I'm such a video game nerd, I had serious issues with aspects of the world building (I think it's super dumb that they had it so that VR players could feel pain inside the arenas. Why??? Why would you add something so limiting? Video games allowed you to control characters that can do things far past the limits of most people, or even all human beings. Why add limits to that?).
I can't wait for Marie Lu's Warcross. Hopefully the one VR novel that won't dissapoint because Lu is amazing :P
I do have a review for Ready Player One, but I don't often recommend it? Just because when I made it, it was a while ago on BookTube and I hadn't gained enough confidence to really explain my full feelings on the book. If I made the video again now I know I would have been vicious but in that video there is a lot of me just... trying to like the book even though it was really full of soooooo so many faults? So yes, there is a review/spoiler discussion if you want to dig through my channel, but all the stuff in there 100% does not reflect my full feelings on how much I feel the book failed. Also, I avoid that video like the plague because of the number of men in the comments who repeatedly leave just vile comments. Ugh.
i hate fangirl . so much . hope i like the two books you recommended
I really like this series! Added a bunch of these to my library holds. Also, I'm sure you know this already, but the Shadowhunters tv series (based off of City of Bones) has A LOT of amazing queer representation. I detested the books, but the show is amazing.
I have never read anna and the french kiss but i heard she cheats on her boyfriend with a french guy :( is that true? That sounds sad....
Actually it is the reverse. The man she likes cheats on his girlfriend with the main character. It is not given nearly enough gravity in the story, and they are a bit eager to push the blame off on others. Definitely not my favorite thing.
I never disliked Fangirl. Fangirl really captured what it's like in a fandom. Writing fanfiction, making fanart, etc. Living in that world because you love it so much. I've had years of never reading books, I was just reading fanfiction (of more than one fandom) so I guess I've got a strong love of that book. I could relate directly to Cath.
Simon and the Homo Sapiens agenda is really not the same as Fangirl... plot story etc. I read it also, before I read Fangirl. It's also a great book! I think you can appreciate both those books for different reasons.
I mean, I agree! That's why I made sure to mention in this video that I do already like Fangirl. I agree that it really captured the identity of living life online and being involved in fandom. But I think that Simon offers a nerdy character with an awkward romance, and those aspects are there just with less of the intense fandom aspect. They aren't identical by any means, but I think there are elements of Simon that are similar to elements of Fangirl as far as characters go. But I do still really enjoy Fangirl.
I would be mad if my parents dropped me off in France to go to school just saying
I thought Throne of Glass was pretty poorly-written but ADORED Graceling, so check to that!
I disliked City of Bones but I liked those elements, so I'll try Shadowshaper! I keep adding and taking Shadowshaper off of my GoodReads TBR but back on it goes!
You already know what I think of Ready Player One! And I own In Real Life and enjoyed it! Another check!
I hated Anna and the French Kiss, lmao, and ADORED 13 Little Blue Envelopes! Check, check, check! Never read the sequel, it ruins everything from the first. I'll try Just One Day!
Awesome video, as always!
Oh yeah, the sequel to 13 Little Blue Envelopes is SUCH a disappointment. I have no idea why anyone thought that was a good addition to make? So frustrating.
are there also gay gairls in simon and the homo sapiens agenda? :)
You are adorable
I that this one is very obvious. But if you want a book about gaming instead of Ready Player One, then read Warcross.
thank goodness at least one booktuber hates ready player one
Ready Player One was so pretentious and the main character sucked so I feel you
Thank you thank you thank you! Every time I do a video where I say I don't like Ready Player One I get an influx of comments telling me how wrong I am. So I appreciate hearing from other people who also really didn't like it.
I couldn't even finish it because I kept wanting to knee Wade in the groin.
I really like Ready Player One. I could see the faults in it and agree with what you said. I also read In Real Life and found it an negative experience. It relied on the white savior trope as its base plot points. Basically a privilege white girl is going to change working force in China. She stays in her comfortable room trying to make the workers there realized how less privilege they are so they can fight for change when she has little to no knowledge on how the world works. She thinks she can help people from a different country and change their ways. And she does. Because this graphic novel promotes the idea of everything can be solve if a white person leads. And God help us, the asian, if a white person doesn't step in and change our way of life to his/her way because theirs are always better. But the novel have good representation of female gamers...
Completely agree! I thought there was some questionable saviorism from a character who took none of the cost of these actions. Plus it seems to equate her losing her account with the cost the workers pay for rebelling which is simply silly.
So it basically lionized that stupid keyboard warrior/slacktivist mentality of "changing the world" when in actuality they're nothing but spoilt brat millennial white kids who don't have enough worldly experience to know what the hell they're talking about? That's unfortunate. (And for the record I am a spoilt brat millennial. But I have kind of outgrown a lot of that "culture" I guess?)
Someone random I don't think not knowing what they're talking about is limited to millennials 😕
BookChats Ahh but it's more prominent among my peer groups is it not. We're young and inexperienced. It's just a side affect of our youth. And instant access to the Internet. Although there is a book about the phenomenon of how access to the worlds information causes people to ignore experts these days.
Someone random you know I'd love to see real data about this because I think it's just our perception that it's millennials.
Think about fake news and how popular it is among baby boomers. Even the slactivist mentality... millennials aren't the only ones signing useless petitions.
Either way, the white savor trope should definitely be called out when it's present
WARNING: READY PLAYER ONE SPOILERS
I don't know if I agree with you on Ready Player One. Just because the main character is a male doesn't really make the novel exclusionary? The other 2 main characters were female, one of which is a lesbian, black female. I'm not sure if I understand where the notion of the novel being misogynistic comes from? Would love to discuss this more with others because I'm really curious and really enjoyed this book.
I understand where you're coming from with the author being like "look at all of this cool geeky nerdy knowledge I have and all of these cool and geeky pop-culture references" (which aren't all 80's references) but I didn't really find this to bother me at all and I saw it as an insignificant issue to the novel.
I should also mention that this isn't me bashing on your opinion in any way. I'm just of a different opinion and I would like to hear a little more about where you or anyone else that agrees with you is coming from
No, the main character being male doesn't make it exclusionary. However, I mentioned how the book made marginalized identities a plot twist? That's exactly where H comes in. Yes, she is black and a lesbian and a woman! But we didn't know that for the entire book, and then even after we were told she is still referred to with "he" pronouns. It reduces those elements of her characters to just shock value and to make the main character question his previous ideals. And black, lesbian women should not be reduced to plot twists or learning devices for white men.
As far as the other female character, she was really reductive in terms of winding up as nothing but a prize for the main character to work towards. Despite the fact that she was just as qualified as Wade, she never got much of a chance to show that and at the end she became a completely different person who was there to show how accepting Wade was of people. Which felt like a real smack in the face to her character, as the only real female representation I felt we got throughout the book.
It was annoying because I expected this future world to represent women as having come a little farther in terms of their place in gaming, and they weren't. They were still hiding, or Art3mis was there as kind of a token woman who was good at games. And these two women I'm talking about are the only real named women, except for the one who existed just to die and make men sad because they both wanted her sexually? There were just a lot of issues with women being reduced to stereotypes or plot twists that made me feel very much not a part of the narrative.
I hope that explains a bit where I'm coming from. As a female reader I just never felt like I was supposed to be a part of the story, and I was annoyed that women in this future world apparently hadn't moved forward in any discernible way.
“White male geek boy” oh no. Tumblr. A white dude wHoa EviL!!1!1!11!1!
I read both Ready player one and In real life around the same time and while I loved Ready player one, I found In real life lacking something. I can't really explain why, but it might have something to do with the usage of the Chinese gamers as a plot-point and making the main character seem like she was doing something, although I only remember her sitting in her room the entire time, safe and sound. It felt like what it would be like if I tried to help someone in China with issues I know nothing about in a society I don't live in.
I get a little pissy about people equating 80s movie and game culture with white male culture. There are A LOT of us who are just as into this aspect of culture. We've earned our place here and white males try just as hard to act like we aren't part of things, so when well meaning people write us off it makes me sad. I loved Ready Player One and thought it felt like home.
I'm a little confused which side of the debate you are coming in on, sorry! To clarify: I felt that Ready Player One was about 80s and gamer culture while it also erased women from that world. I totally agree that women are a part of gaming and 80s culture, and their exclusion from Ready Player One is what made it feel rife with white, male stories. I would have really enjoyed Ready Player One and all of the fun nerd-based aspects if I hadn't felt like I was being systematically erased from that world or turned into just a prize for male gain. Does that clarify how I felt? Or am I misreading your comment?
ProblemsofaBookNerd that clarifies. It sounded as though you were equating gamer culture with white male which continues the problem of erasure. I guess i didn't feel like it was terribly full of white male experiences any more than one would expect In a book with a white main character. And while I get why people don't like the exclusive references I don't think it's his fault that not all books are for all people. It doesn't feel like a fair criticism of a book that never claims to be for everyone.
No, my problem was that the book felt like it was equating gamer culture with white men. My problem was that women were not a part of the story. One female character was equally able within the game, but then that ability was suddenly erased so that Wade could be the hero and then, of course, win her affections. It is a super common trope that women in a sci-fi or action story are equally or more qualified than male characters, and then somehow they don't get to save the day and are relegated to the position of a prize. And the other female character we get has her entire identity (black, female, gay) used as nothing more than a plot twist to show how accepting the main white, male character is. Every single gamer I know is a woman, and I was frustrated that in this far off distant future it seemed as though women were no more able to be included in gamer culture than they are now. It still felt like their abilities were questioned or that you get one girl who gets to be the token good at games character. I wanted more women in top billing in Oasis. I don't care if there is a male main character, I care that the women are not chalked up to stereotypes and prizes by the end. I don't think the author gave nearly enough care to those female characters throughout the book, and I was frustrated that his distant worldbuilding didn't seem to include a space for more women in games.
Interesting. I really saw Helen's big "reveal" as being more about who people really are and how people feel forced to take certain routes to make their lives easier. I didn't really notice or think of his reaction as part of that. And I liked that she really wasn't a particular stereotype but she was a demographic that is often overlooked (queer people of color).
I would agree there are more places for women in gaming in that book.
I didn't see Samantha as being a prize honestly. I really saw her turning him down and sticking to it as fantastic. I also legitimately think she wants to be with him so the two of them ending up together seems like good resolution to me.
It definitely falls into the "chosen one" trope where one guy for no reason gets all the breaks, but so does Harry Potter and the Shades of Magic series (though Lila would be the "chosen one" there). It's an issue inherent to the trope. So I don't see this as being uniquely problematic or sexist.