okay so here’s the thing: i am SOOOO TIRED of books acting like “strong female lead” means “emotionally constipated sword-wielding pick-me with no personality except violence and eye rolls.” like no offense but girl being cold and rude for 300 pages isn’t strength. it’s just dry.

💅 STRONG ≠ BORING. GIVE HER SOME RANGE. i want flaws. i want ambition. i want softness that’s not weakness. i want a main girl who can destroy a man’s ego and cry when someone tells her they’re proud of her. STOP GIVING ME GIRLBOTS™️ WITH NO EMOTIONS.

because when it’s done RIGHT?? when a female character is strong, scared, soft, ruthless, and emotionally complex?? LITERATURE. i am EATING. i will go to war for her. i will tattoo her quotes on my forehead. i will physically fight her enemies.

📉 WHEN SHE’S “STRONG” BUT SHE’S JUST... MEAN FOR NO REASON like okay cool, she can kill a man in 2.4 seconds. slay. but where’s the depth?? does she have dreams? internal conflict? a bestie? a purpose outside of the love interest?? OR IS SHE JUST THERE TO BE “DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER GIRLS” 😭

the “not like other girls” pipeline is OUT. OVER. DEAD.

👑 STRONG FEMALE LEADS WHO ACTUALLY CLEARED??:

🖤 Jude Duarte — the blueprint. the original delulu warrior princess. she was out here scheming, lying, surviving, breaking every rule, and kissing enemies while threatening to stab them. a menace. a mastermind. the moment. ✧ strength = ambition and strategy.

🔥 Juliette Ferrars — the GLOW UP OF THE CENTURY. she went from scared and isolated to leading a literal rebellion, learning her power, unlearning her trauma, and choosing herself every 👏 single 👏 time. ✧ strength = vulnerability + growth + choosing softness without losing your edge

🌪️ Paedyn Gray — built herself from the ground up with literally NOTHING. no powers, no privilege, no protection — just her brain, her guts, and a sharp tongue. she played the game better than the players. ✧ strength = surviving when the world is against you + making people regret underestimating you

🐍 Tory Vega — a whole damn queen. trauma? yes. chaos? double yes. loyalty? ride or die. she gets torn down 500 times and gets up 501. her grief, rage, and raw power??? unmatched. ✧ strength = being a hot mess and the most powerful person in the room

👗 FEMININITY =/= WEAKNESS STOP ACTING LIKE liking dresses or wearing makeup makes her “less strong.” i want the girly girls with glitter eyeshadow who will kill a man at dawn. i want warrior princess energy. i want the ones who cry when they’re hurt and STILL WIN.

🩸TRAUMA ISN’T PERSONALITY — IT’S A STARTING POINT a tragic backstory is NOT a character arc. show me how she heals. how she evolves. how she lets people in. how she makes choices and faces consequences. don’t just slap on “oh she’s strong because she has no emotions now.” that's lazy writing, bestie.

show me girls who: — forgive people who don’t deserve it — take up space — refuse to let their pain define them — survive and still choose softness

that’s power.

so yeah. don’t give me a Strong Female Lead™️ with no depth. give me a real one. with morals she’s still figuring out. with friendships that actually matter. with goals, regrets, sass, softness, sharpness — all of it.

#LetHerBeLayered #GiveMeGirlsWithGrit #SoftAndStrong #StrongFemaleLeadsThatSLAY #SwordAndLipGlossEnergy

drop your fave book girlies who made you feel seen, unwell, empowered, and slightly afraid. i’m ready to simp again 😤📖💅

I'm finding it difficult to find quests with books that match my taste. I really want go participate in them but there will only be 2 or so books if I'm lucky that I'm interested in reading or have read. Even if I put myself out of my comfort zone to try new books that do seem interesting, it only increases the total to 3 most of the time.

Most quests consist of books I know I'm not interested in reading and I feel like I'm left with not many choices. I've yet to get any badges because of it.

I also read 95% of my books from the library so my access to books depends on what is available.

Does anyone else have a similar experience as I do? Am I not looking hard enough when it comes to the quests?

A few years ago I had a bookstagram account, it was fun and I took it as a hobby, until it wasn’t, I had to post everyday (because that’s what everyone says you have to do) and make reels (I had no idea how to do that haha) and stories and a bunch of things, and honestly, it felt like a whole job! So, I decided to move on and closed it, but ever since, I’ve been missing it quite a bit and now that I’m on PB, I’ve been considering bringing it back! Idk, I’m just having intrusive thoughts haha

What do you think about the whole bookstagram environment? Do you like it? Do you have an account? How do you treat it? Just for fun or as an actual job? I’m just super curious to read everyone’s thoughts! ☺️

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I like Maddie. Yes her approach to some situations is a bit harsh with the "tough love" but I understand where she's coming from. She sees Emma as a sister and wants to protect her, and you can tell she gets frustrated with Emma's whole self sabotage persona and actions. And how Emma has a wall up even with Maddie. Seeing your closest friend continuously sabotage her own happiness can definitely be upsetting. Specially if it's a repetitive pattern.

Does anyone else work with coding? I'm a graphic designer and while I don't do any web design, I did have to take coding in school and the magic system in this book reminded me so much of coding. I'm wondering if M.L. Wang has a background in that or if it was just all research. Still one of my favorite magic systems in a book!

Have you ever, mid-book, switched formats?

I started reading Guards! Guards! on the 3rd, and I'm around 80ish pages in. I've got it in ePub format that I'm reading on my phone.

I absolutely adore this book so far, but reading digitally has been a bit of a struggle (brain goes brrt with distractions, lol). So on payday, I'm planning to pick up a physical copy (also the start of my Discworld physical collection).

I'm curious if anyone else has switched from ebook to physical, or vice-versa, and why? Or, or audiobook to physical/digital and vice-versa.

Hello Readers, I'm past the first 50 pages of a book, and it's becoming a struggle to read. However, I don't want to give up on it because the part prior to it was so interesting. I'm the type of reader who has always finished books I've fallen out of love with, lost interest in, generally didn't like, or borderline hated. I want to change that because there are so many good books out there to read, and I don't want to potentially waste time on a "bad" book. Why I began reading it: I love reading about chefs'/people's experience with food and associated culture (when relevant) It's a memoir about a food critic who is genuinely interesting I read through the first few pages and found myself enjoying it The cover art was iconic (sorry, not sorry) Why I am considering "breaking up" with the book: It's gotten too wordy (the author quotes from other books just as much as he writes, if that makes sense) It's strayed from what I thought it was actually about (but it could dip back in? What if I'm quitting too early?) The author has said a few weird things in the book that I don't necessarily agree with

I appreciate any and all advice!