sooo when is the plot starting?

Do you guys have any theories as to why most people seem to prefer mlm over wlw? Especially considering that most romance readers are women and if you are reading gay romances you would be more on the progressive scale so one wouldn't immediately sus you out for misogyny. Any ideas?

i see a lot of lists with so-called cozy books and i understand it’s the new marketing term that sells like romantasy is (was). but most of these cozy books actually talk about heavy subjects like being overworked, suicide, death (human and animal), and depression. sometimes without an happy ending. and those books would have never been labeled as cozy had the authors not been east-asian or had a pastel cover with a cat on it.

yes, i’m afraid some racism is at play here. from readers as well as editors who put cats on every japanese books despite the book having no cat at all. if a book about the inevitable death we are all about to face came out by someone with an american name, it would rarely be labeled as "cozy🌸🥰", especially if the ending was dreadful.

my question is, do we not have the same definition of what is cozy?

to me, a cozy book is something that leaves you with a positive feeling or a positive outlook on life. not something that leaves you crying and haunted.

i see a lot of lists with so-called cozy books and i understand it’s the new marketing term that sells like romantasy is (was). but most of these cozy books actually talk about heavy subjects like being overworked, suicide, death (human and animal), and depression. sometimes without an happy ending. and those books would have never been labeled as cozy had the authors not been east-asian or had a pastel cover with a cat on it.

yes, i’m afraid some racism is at play here. from readers as well as editors who put cats on every japanese books despite the book having no cat at all. if a book about the inevitable death we are all about to face came out by someone with an american name, it would rarely be labeled as "cozy🌸🥰", especially if the ending was dreadful.

my question is, do we not have the same definition of what is cozy?

to me, a cozy book is something that leaves you with a positive feeling or a positive outlook on life. not something that leaves you crying and haunted.

now more than ever, i’m someone who finds it impossible not to jump between books. sometimes i’ll find a book that’s like a black hole for me, and i’ll be completely absorbed by it, but usually i have between 3 and 5 books on my roster at any one time. normally, one of these will be an audiobook, with at least one physical book and at least one e-book, so they also serve somewhat different purposes. what about you? do you read multiple books at once? and if so, are they across different mediums?

i see vastly divided opinions on this and i’m curious to hear everyone’s thoughts!

i don’t really like receiving books as gifts for a few reasons: i don’t have much space for more books, i mostly get my books from the library, and my taste is expansive but specific and i trust VERY few people to be able to pick out a book for me.

the only exception is when i ask for a specific edition of a book (special edition, international edition, etc) and i emphasize the ISBN! this is only every now and them and usually from my mum or my bf, who both know my book-receiving preferences by now.

i generally prefer bookish things that relate to my favorite books. i’ve had friends give me candles, shirts, sweatshirts, prints, bookmarks, etc that i love and complement my book collection perfectly!!

so where do you fall? do you want books as gifts? do you not? do you also have multiple book themed candles on rotation? tell me!!

Before i dnf this, does it improve and are the other books better? I have the whole series but i’m bored 😭

Edit 2: There are too many comments on this post now. I cannot keep up, sorry if I fail to respond when mentioned/addressed.

Edit: The general consensus seems to be that downvoting as a feature is definitely not the issue but how it is being used should be amended so that it is used more responsibly/kindly. On the flip side we can also all just stop taking it to heart and roll with it + some users are weary of discussing this again and again ( I apologize for that since I was not aware that this is a super overdone issue).

I know there have been posts before about forum moderating and other instances of people bringing up the issue of downvoting. But I wanted to ask if generally the consensus is pro downvoting on pagebound and that too so excessively. I find it to be on the edge of bullying and hostility. I am one of the earlier set of users but I stepped away for a bit as I was in a reading slump and I recall how much more comfortable and enjoyable the community was before this feature was being abused (that's how I would put it atleast). Excited to hear your thoughts on the matter. Do you guys really think moderating quality is worth all the hostile bullying? Because we can't really get people to see it as "oh we are just correcting you on a technicality" without giving them mob lynching energy when we come so strongly to attack them. This is not a complaint about the feature as much as it is a concern over how it's being used.