I find myself coming back to this quest everytime I sense a reading slump approaching and without fail, the books on this quest manage to pull me out of a slump. I am a romantic at heart so I love reading about charatcers falling in love. But I often find that Romantasy (and SFF that put too much emphasis on the romance), sometimes create plot points for the express purpose of causing angst for our love interests. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, I personally find subplot romance to feel a bit more natural and true to how people really fall in love and build connections through shared experiences and values.

So what draws you to books with romantic subplots? What about this genre appeals to you and how does it compare to SFF with more/less romance? What is the sweet spot for you?

(edit for typos)

I often see a lot of talk in the book community, specifically fantasy and romantasy readers, about FMCs when they refuse to wear things the MMC gave them, and it kind of pains me to see people complaining about how "stubborn" the FMCs are.

I'm referring to books where the FMC has been captured, kidnapped, forced to do something, or is enemies with the MMC. This is not about books where the the main love interests are in a relationship or good friendship or something.

Some booktok and booksta readers (at least, that I've seen of) often complain, "why is the FMC whining and crying when the MMC is literally giving her a gorgeous gown/jewelery/whatever?" and I think they fail to see a point. It isn't just about the dress, it's about control.

Put yourself in your main character's perspective. You've been kidnapped by, say, an enemy. He gives you pretty dresses to wear, but you have to ONLY wear what he wants. You wouldn't do what he wants, right? Because that gives him control. The love interest has already kidnapped our main character and stripped her of her freedom, and now he also wants her to dress how he wants?

Maybe the MMC has good intentions, sure, but it still doesn't erase the fact he wants (or gives off) to control the FMC. A VERY popular example of this is Shatter Me by Taherah Mafi, the first book specifically (ahead may contain slight spoilers, but not extreme). Warner kidnaps Juliette, the FMC. He does tests on her, then proceeds to say weird stuff about them working together and what not, when he JUST kidnapped her. He gives her dresses to wear and fancy food to eat, which gives off one thing: he wants control. Of course, Juliette doesn't do anything he wants, or else that would mean giving him control over her, yet the (some of) fandom continuously say she was too whiny in the first book, and that she should've trusted Warner, blah blah blah. HOW is she supposed to trust a man who kidnapped her, tried to do tests on her, and is trying to control her?? 😃

I just think more people should really think of the FMC's situation or the actions of the MMC before blantly calling her whiny or ungrateful. What do you guys think of this?

I love the dedication. But man Covid days I don’t wanna be remind of. So much loss.

“Apparently, people do strange things when they’re scared of dating, and one of them is hoarding toilet paper. “

Hi everyone! Our readalong of Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón starts on Friday. I wanted to share more info about the schedule I was thinking & how I will post discussion questions. Feel free to leave any thoughts, questions, or concerns here. Luckily enough there are four sections in this collection, so given that this is tentative schedule I was thinking of: Week 1: (May 1-May 9th)- Part 1, 17 poems Week 2: (May 10th-May 16th)- Part 2, 15 poems Week 3: (May 17th-23rd)- Part 3, 14 poems Week 4: (May 24th-May 31st)- Part 4, 16 poems Since there are obviously more than 5 poems in each section & given posting limits, I'll be gradually posting a discussion post for each poem w/ questions throughout the week (I am so excited I have a whole master doc)! The questions are mostly meant to kick start your brain, but any other thoughts about each poem are more than welcome. I'll try to have them all up by the middle of the week, depending on how many there are. Feel free to pace each week to your liking :), or based on how fast I can get posts up lol! Excited to read this collection with you all!!

i'm a girl who LOVES to solve a good puzzle, whether its in a book, movie, videogame, show, etc! some of my favorites from japan in no particular order are the professor layton series, detective conan, ace attorney, the apothecary diaries, zero escape, and danganronpa! does anyone have recs for similar puzzle solving/crime/detective media?

I felt like nothing has happened in this book besides a wild goose chase and now this sudden plot twist? Why wasn’t Paedyn just killed at this point…

Now I feel like I have to read book 3. At least it’s the last one