I genuinely need an empathetic mmc, I'm so tired of the "burn the world for you" trope. Yes, I do like it, but it's become so overdone and it's losing its meaning and sometimes not well done.

Give me a man who'd save her AND the people in a burning building. Wdym it's not your business as long as she's alive, when you have the power to save tens, maybe even hundreds of people, including children?? I need a man with softer hobbies or something, why does he ALWAYS have to be a rich shadowdaddy or the strongest knight or just wealthy/rich in general? I'd love to see a normal man for once, and if it's fantasy, the life of a normal person in that world. A man that is good with children, or doesn't know how to fight. Almost every man on booktok nowadays punch someone and they're dead. Also, why do they ALL have to be emotionally unavailable? 😔

Personally, I'd always choose a man who cares about others and not just me, over a man who's rude and apathetic to others.

If you have recs, pls help a girl out 😭 (any genre other than horror will do, and preferably no spice)

btw, I'm not saying I hate all of them or they're all like this. I'm just saying a change would be nice 💗

I’ve always struggled with DNFing books even when I find myself dreading reading them. I just feel so bad because the author put a lot of work into their writing, but sometimes I’m just bored or uninterested and don’t want to keep reading. But at the same time, I don’t want to habitually drop stories a couple pages in because they don’t immediately grab my attention.

How do you guys decide when to DNF a book? How do you balance pushing through and dropping books when you don’t enjoy them?

I want to be bamboozled, I want puzzles to solve, I want clues to put on a theorizing string board. Bonus points if there's witty dialogue. I feel like really good thrillers and murder mysteries are hard to find so let me know the best you've read!

Edit to add: I've created a list of all these great recs in case anyone else wants to keep track of them!

I'm looking for some good dark fantasy reads, or political reads.

I tried reading Alchemised which was the main recommendation I got from co-readers (like co-workers but insteas of people I work with they're fellow readers) and I just couldn't get into it - there is an entire review if you want the reasons why - I will note I'm not a fan of SA in books because I feel to many people now use it for shock value or a plot driver and just don't treat it with proper care or respect.

That being said I want dark, I want gritty I want morally corrupt characters. Any recommendations would be appreciated.