I cringe every time I hear "Babydoll" and "Good Girl"

Guys I've been REALLYY wanting to try out the Shadowhunters series, but it's so big and very intimidating, is it worth it? 😭😭

What are some of your romance hot takes?

I'll be honest and say I don't read much romance-focused books, as in the central plot is around the romance. BUT my hot take is that the "you're mine" and "you belong to me" tropes are just not that good imo 😬😬

Like, what happened to the "you belong with me" vibes? 😭 I HATE possessive men they pmo soooo much. I just can't see the appeal. And some authors have literal TEENAGERS say this. Like, don't you have studies, dude? (I say this as a teen, I'd RUN if a boy said that to me.)

Also, why do I feel like romance books are more lust than love nowadays?? (cough Ana Huang cough, no offense to the people who like her)

I know this is a controversial topic, but the more controversial the more important it is to have a discussion about it. My strategy is to always check my library and local bookstores first before pirating. While I do want to support authors and their works, I cannot bring myself to support the major book sellers in my city because of their really weird views on genocide. This method has actually worked really well for me in terms of finding the book I want. The only time it has failed me has been with much older works and obscure religious/spiritual/occult texts.

So now I put the question out to the rest of this lovely community: what are your thoughts on piracy?

curious about what constitutes a 5-star read for all of you, since these days i really find myself questioning where my line is between a book that's a 4.5-star and a 5-star. for me, i feel like a 5-star read really has to rock my world a bit, in a way that kinda just leaves me staring out into space for a bit.

so, what makes a 5-star read for you? do you have to feel a certain strength of emotion, or need your worldview sufficiently challenged, or is it more general vibes?

What do you guys do when you get a book hangover? I finished the scorched throne duology by Sara Hashem a few days ago, and I have not been able to stop thinking about it, nor pick up anything else 😭 Those books are engraved in my mind now.

Any suggestions on how to deal with this? And have you experienced something like this before?

Sefa 😢

What do you guys do when you get a book hangover? I finished the scorched throne duology by Sara Hashem a few days ago, and I have not been able to stop thinking about it, nor pick up anything else 😭 Those books are engraved in my mind now.

Any suggestions on how to deal with this? And have you experienced something like this before?

"Stop looking at me. I am not going to make a mistake." A soft laugh escaped Arin's lips.

This whole sequence has me blushing. Ahh! I am loving their chemistry so much, yet Arin and Sylvia are not a couple.

Can we take a moment to appreciate a good FLOPPY book? I am far more likely to buy a book simply because it is floppy. So easy to hold, no worries about spines. Why can’t they all be floppy? If given the choice, would you prefer stiff over floppy?

I’ve definitely read some that I didn’t like at all, but there are also a few that I’ve really connected with. I don’t see them as something that’s going to fix my life, but I do like having them around for when I need a little perspective or motivation.

Sometimes I see TikToks making fun of these books and it makes me wonder if it’s weird that I actually enjoy some of them. Like I know it's not for everyone but it kinda makes me feel that these books are a "scam" by the way they're reacting.

I might be shitting on a lot of readers and okay, anyone can read whatever they want to. Who cares. But here's my qualm with it, the question annoys me so so so much whenever I see it below marketing posts and reviews. Why is this question so important? Is that the sole marker of your reading list? Not that there's anything wrong with spice but there are specific genres that are catered to your reading preferences so why would you ask that below random books? Especially IF IT'S YA??? THEY ARE TEENAGERS. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO READ ABOUT MINORS HAVING SEX??? THAT'S WEIRD. (I'M LOOKING AT YOU SARAH J MASS)

It gives this narrative that books need to be spicy to have good romance and that's just not true. It's because of this mindset that so many authors who have genuinely good stories with potential feel to need to have smut addded to them UNNECESSARILY because otherwise a lot of readers won't pick it up.

THERE IS A WHOLE GENRE FOR YOU — EROTICA. IT'S CALLED EROTICA. Can you please pick up erotica instead of asking that question under posts about random books. PLEASE. LET ME ENJOY MY NON SMUT ROMANCE/THRILLER/FANTASY/MYTERY IN PEACE. I'M BEGGIN YOU

Edit: A good example of this was people asking "does it have smut" under a post about The Last Tiger by The Riew Siblings. They'd clearly mentioned in the post that the book was a fictional retelling of their grandparents' very real story AND on top of that it was YA. And then you ask. Does. It. Have. Smut??? Be for real right now please 😭