I’ve been reading Fourth Wing and posting my thoughts about it, and something I keep hearing, both here and in real life, is that I’m “thinking about it too much.” People often tell me that to enjoy it I need to “turn my brain off,” or just read it in a more “smooth-brain” way.

Sometimes this advice is meant kindly, but it still leaves me feeling confused. Why would I ever want to turn my brain off while reading? That’s the opposite of what I enjoy about books.

For me, reading is engaging my brain. Thinking about the story, the characters, the themes, the structure. That’s where the fun is. If I have to actively stop thinking in order to enjoy something, that just doesn’t make sense to me.

And I don’t mean that as an attack on people who enjoy the book. Plenty of things can be flawed and still fun, I think the movie The Room is a perfect example of something that’s objectively messy but enjoyable for many people. But when I’m repeatedly told that the solution is for me to stop thinking about the book, it starts to feel like the problem is being placed on me rather than the book simply not working for me.

I don’t like being overly negative about a book, and I definitely don’t want to be the person raining on everyone else’s parade. But I also don’t really understand the mindset of “turn your brain off to enjoy it.”

My brain is honestly the part of me I like most. I read because I want it engaged. I read to think, to analyze, to imagine, and to stretch my mind beyond everyday life. That’s what makes reading fun for me.

So when people say “just turn your brain off,” I’m always a little baffled because for me, if my brain isn’t involved, the magic of reading disappears.

I'm debating reading the novella before the readalong starts so that I can then directly jump into A Master of Djinn, but I'm wondering if it might give information away from the main story?

For people that have read both, would you recommend starting with the novella, or with A Master of Djinn?

Thanks!! 💫⭐