wtf did I just read ?? 🫠 i wanted to like this book so bad but the characters and plot fell flat imo

I am genuinely envious of people who can't visualize the things they are reading.Reading this while a 4k movie runs in my head is making me feel repulsive and disgusted.

Hello, fellow readers! Does anybody else here play/read Interactive Fiction (IF)? If you don't know what it is, it's exactly what it sounds like. It's a story where you get to control the main character and the events inside the story. Sometimes you can choose things like physical features, love interests, factions, etc. It's a lot like Visual Novels but without the graphics and usually way more reading heavy.

I play almost all of mine on itch.io and they're usually made by 1 person. I wanted to know if anyone had any favorites or recommendations? I have a few if y'all are interested in trying: Sentience by st.sleepy -- It's a horror/fantasy with angels, religion, and magic. Klaus my beloved 🫶🏽 Stygian Sun: Total Eclipse by Fennyth -- Fantasy world with a kingdom war and arranged marriage. This only has a chapter out so beware of that. It's still very good so far. A Tale of Crowns by qeresi -- A high fantasy romance based on the Middle East. This one gets updated fairly regularly. My favorite is Delal 💖 Wayfarer by Idrelle Games -- A dark fantasy reminiscent of games like BG3, DnD, etc. This is one of the most dynamic IFs I've come across.

Fair warning as of 9/14/2025 @ 9:30 PST itch.io is having slow load times. It should be resolved in a couple of hours if you want to check out the games I linked above.

Hi everyone! I'm in my once every few months reading slump it seems, and I thought who better to help me out than the reading community? Does anyone have advice that helps them get out of a slump or a particular book genre they go to? In the past I've tried romcoms and that's helped but I'm a little rom-commed out. Any other suggestions?

What are some of your favourite and least favourite troupes and cliches in books and why??

I've never read an autobiography/memoir, so I'm looking for recommendations. What's the autobiography you couldn't put down, that you think more people should read, and why?

I have been seeing a lot of discourse regarding book cover preferences lately. I wonder if anyone has ever gotten the ick from a book cover? If so, did you still read the book, or was it an immediate no thank youuuu?

Hey folks! I was listening to music when I had an idea/question come to mind.

What is your favourite music genre? Favourite book genre? And do they have any correlation?

For example, my favourite my favourite music genre is punk. My favourite book genre is sci-fi (especially dystopian sci-fi).

Punk is very much a genre of awareness and resistance. Overcoming oppression through struggle and grit.

Not all sci-fi is like that, but the stuff I tend to gravitate towards usually has the protagonist working against the status quo in some way. It can be looser (like in Scythe, the world's status quo is still roughly the same, but the internal one is challenged) or more direct (The Hunger Games, for example).

So I'm curious if this is coincidence, or if there's a trend with this, so I figured I'd ask y'all!

Parents.

Because what do you mean their ALL GONE OR ABUSIVE?!? I've read sooooo much fantasy books but 99.9% of the time the PARENTS ARE GONE OR ABUSIVE AND CAUSE SO MUCH TRAUMA ITS INSANEE💔

I get that authour's dont want to write all that family drama but sometimes its NECESSARY!! WE CAN ONLY HAVE SO MUCH DEAD PEOPLE IN OUR BOOKS!

I really love a good protective mother getting revenge for their child or a father getting mad when people hit on their child💗💗💗but than THERE IS FANTASY

-Dead mother who ran away from abusive/absent father. CHECK✅ -Abusive PARENTS who like this other child better.. CHECKK✅ -Absolutely NO MENTIONING of family CHECCK CHECK CHECK✅✅✅

Like if we can have it in romance for example in Binding 13 WE HAVE A BALANCE OF TRAUMA AND LOVING PROTECTIVE FAMILY!! ITS NOT THAT HARD TO WRITE A WORRIED MOTHER. YOU CAN STILL HAVE TRAUMA WITH BOTH ACTIVELY LOVING PARENTS!!!!😔😔

Also some of these family backstories are SO TRAUMATIC IS SCARY! WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE CHEATED ON YOUR MOTHER WITH SOME RANDOM GIRL AND SO DID HIS/HER PARENTS?!?🤨 What do you mean he FUCKING GROOMED HER THATS NO FAMILY TRAUMA THATS JAIL TIME! Or it's something like "they died when I was small and I never saw them again/dont remember them."😭😭💔

Dont get me wrong I love it when their's trauma and a sad backstory but EVERY SINGLE FRICKIN TIME?!? Does anyone have any Fantasy rec's with at least 2 LOVING AND CARING PARENT'S?!?😔

I’m currently reading a book that has reviews, but no forum interaction. I’ve already posted like 3 times. I think im starting to feel a little self conscious. At the same time, it’s fun and I like seeing my thoughts out in the ether. 😅 Does any one else feel weird when they are the only one posting? 😆

I absolutely LOVE doing this - it lets me see all kinds of things people have read, are reading and plan on reading. I get off work in an hour and I finished the book I was reading on shift tonight.

So. What I want to know is everyone's Last - Now - Next! I started another one right after, but I am a mood reader and have no idea what I am going to read next.. so I need ideas from you all with your answers!

Last - Fixiation of the Mind by Kira Stanely Now - Black Ties & White Lies by Kat Singleton Next - IDK lol. Maybe the 2nd in the series for my NOW book.

I’ve been so absent lately, it was my birthday recently, it wasn’t bad, but I’m going through small crises of personal growth (nothing out of the ordinary), my biggest dilemma is.... books, I feel so disconnected..., believe me, I’m angry about what’s happening to me, I love to read, I feel a great connection with being in the world I read, but the big problem here is what’s happening, the way books are selling lately, the influencers, this whole issue has made me feel left out, I think it affects me more because my favorite genre is Dark romance, they have destroyed that genre, I am aware of it, it may sound selfish, but I wish this boom of “adoration” for reading would end when in reality it is pure and hard consumerism, or the fact that everything has become so commercial that the stories are decadent or so out of place that honestly sometimes it’s disgusting to read x books...., that’s what’s been happening to me these last two months, I left a dark romance book halfway, the ending is missing, god there's nothing wrong with that book, it's the one I was reviewing, but my friend said... "I can't take it anymore, stop", then I moved on to a more cliché one, to see if that would bring back, I don't know, the desire, it's Play Me, a typical romance about a rugby player and assistant, nothing out of place, a very slow love, full of sarcasm and very cliché... but it can't be done, I love that book too but... ugh, I feel overwhelmed and at the same time unenthusiastic, right now from time to time I read "the green witch", it's a book about witchcraft, no stories, no love or anything, it's to learn about green witchcraft, it's more of a guide than anything else, I don't read it at the level I would like, even so I find it hard to follow the thread.... I feel like society right now has ruined all my passion for reading.

In fact, I recently spoke with a friend about why I was having the dilemma of whether or not to buy a book that I've been waiting for months. He told me to make it a special edition and it's beautiful, plus Acequibre. 2. I would already have it when that passion returned. The book is Enigma by Runyx, my favorite author and Dark genre, in this case the book is Dark Academia genre, I love her way of writing, because it's pure... but honestly I feel exhausted.