Beautifully said, I agree with everything you said. “Everything you read is written by an imperfect person” is going to be my new ready quote when I get a negative comment
I think some folks think that if you don’t like a book that they loved, then you don’t like them as a person. I don’t know how conscious this is, but I think there’s something to it. Books that I love are so incredibly personal to me, as they are to all of us, and I’ll admit that when I do recommend a book to someone and they don’t like it, I feel a bit let down. Like, ok, we can’t be friends now. I’m kidding! But at the same time, I can absolutely read negative reviews of my favorite books and not be offended. Actually when a reviewer doesn’t like a book I loved, it’s still enjoyable and interesting to listen to why they feel that way.
It also doesn’t help that reading and books has become very moralized in certain very ‘online’ spaces. So people are very reactionary because they think ‘oh this person didn’t like this book, so they are a bad person or an uncaring person’ or ‘i like a book someone had valid critiques of, am i a bad person?’. I see this all the time and it’s pretty unfortunate.
There’s too much groupthink and if someone doesn’t agree it like “how dare you”. We’re all different ppl with different tastes. We won’t all like the same things. That’s why I don’t get books based off of recommendations anymore the last time i did I was so disappointed. So I just stick to choosing books on my own
i absolutely loved “they’re going to love you”, but your review of it made me subscribe immediately because i loved the way you presented your critiques. i completely agree with what you said about having blinders on, your review made me consider things about the book that i hadn’t already. i still love it, but i also love to hear different perspectives, i can’t understand people who take negative reviews so personally
@@dtsotm thank you!! And yes you made a good point. This has happened with me as well, with books I really enjoyed. Someone else’s opinion didn’t change my view but they helped me to think about it with more depth!
it is absolutely necessary to have different point of views and accept that not everybody needs to like the same things. I like you and your channel precisely because you have your own opinion and don't want to mould yourself to what everybody else says. Keep doing what you are doing!
I think some videos I should be able to like more than once. This is one. I like hearing negative book reviews especially when they rant. As you said, some of them highlight things that I actually love in books or highlight something I missed. One of the things I love about your channel is the thumbnail of your face letting us know ahead of time how the video is going to go.
Had this video recommended to me and it did not disappoint! You earned a new subscriber. I think people confuse any negative review for someone arguing in bad faith, and unfortunately it really limits some really great discussions from being had. As you said, this goes for not just books, but movies, sports, politics, religion, etc.
Art is subjective so what some enjoy others will not. Sometimes I come across a very popular book and I just don't connect...or sometimes I really connect with a story that most don't like. To be honest, sometimes I am curious to read negative reviews on books I really enjoy, or sometimes I try to understand why I didn't connect with a critically acclaimed book. At the same time, it's the internet so no matter someone's opinion there can be backlash.
Signed on just so I could “like” the video and say YES YES YES ALANA - stand on business - I’m only 5 minutes in & am a new subscriber and I LOVE this rant already!!!
This may be off topic, but I love that you set the expectation that your video would be a rant/ramble. It's easier to go along for the ride and enjoy the discourse when I know what I'm getting into. I wish more RUclipsrs did this. Also, I agree that negative book reviews are important because they lead to great conversations. I loved Shark Heart by Emily Habeck, but folks in my book club didn't enjoy the way the story was structured. I DNF'd The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab, but a person in my book club said it is one of their favorite books of all time. In both instances, the conversations were fun and eye-opening. It'd be great if more people focused on connecting over the joy of reading instead of getting caught up in differing opinions. Folks love getting worked up over things, though. Anyway, great video! I'm glad Madame Algorithm led me to your channel.
I'm glad you put out this video, I needed to hear someone say what you've expressed. This hit home for me because of my experience with William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!. I absolutely detested that book, and when I told people how I felt about it, I didn't even get a smattering of crickets, I just got dead silence. I fear that Absalom, Absalom! might be the kind of work whose author is so revered that people are reluctant to admit they can't relate to it. Thank you, Alana, excellent video.
good video. Re: “they worked so hard on the book so we shouldn’t say anything critical”- I think it’s actually more respectful of the work the author put in to give a thoughtful critique than a vapid praise. They put all that effort in to say something and they want it taken seriously, which sometimes means disagreement!
This is a great discussion. I'm with you that negative or critical book reviews are super important, especially for books that have received a lot of praise and little criticism. Even if they're coming from someone who isn't an expert on the book and may have missed something. An opinion is really only an opinion at all if there was ever a real possibility of giving a different one. To me the goal of a review isn't to be mean or nice to the author. I think giving a well-thought review, positive or negative, in a certain way honors the author and their work through an honest report of the effect it had on me. A well-done negative book review is still more of an honor and a respect to the author than a false or unreflected positive one because it shows you took the time to engage with their work. It's like admitting to your friend you personally think their new outfit just doesn't suit them, versus simply validating them and telling them it looks amazing even if you think it looks ridiculous. Sure it might not feel good for the author to receive critical comments, and sure they might privately think, OK this reviewer just didn't get what I was trying to communicate with this work at all ... but I think in putting your work out there you're implicitly welcoming people not just to read it (or watch it) and love it, but also giving them the right to dislike or disagree with it.
For a more personal connection to this video ... I generally like Sally Rooney's style but absolutely I appreciate the way you voiced how and why you dislike it so much. I get that too.
Not every book is going to land with everybody. That's just fact. It doesn't mean it should be taken personally. If you read widely you will not enjoy every book. I enjoy well rounded reviews because they often raise something I hadn't thought about. I also don't want to live in an echo chamber. Happy Christmas Alana x
💯💯 I've stopped recommending books to people because usually we disagree. 😅😅 Also I've grown up enough to just keep my thoughts in my head "You are wrong and you have that right. " 😂😂😂 Love this rant!!!🎉🎉🎉❤
@@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD when I know people are wrong, I say, “I’m gonna let you be great.” It really throws people off. Use wisely, because it also makes people very mad and you may need to prepare to throw hands.
Hi @thecatlady, last week over on Anne’s channel she made a comment about wanting to read some Kurt Vonnegut next year. Just what Alana's ranting about. I love Vonnegut, not a completest, but I've read a bunch of his novels and never met one I didn't like. So I told as much to Anne but added the caveat that he can be extremely irreverent to say the least. As soon as I sent off my post I repented and thought of you guys reading The Road and not DNFing it. Not loving it, but you did finish it. So I thought ‘well Slaughter House Five is way better than that’ so I worked up another message. Point is it can be extremely hard to make a recommendation and not have it taken the wrong way. Books are just so personal like Basil’s portrait of young Dorian Gray. You're half afraid of showing too much of yourself to the world.
@dougirvin2413 First, I Loved the road. Lol. 2nd, I agree...I had not thought abt it that way before. Making a recommendation to someone IS offering someone a part of yourself, part of how you feel emotionally about the themes or characters that remind you of yourself or something in your life dear to you. That explains why I decided to stop recommending even if I think the book is in their taste too.
@@alanaestelle2076 An old friend of mine once just up and baked a loaf of bread with only the foggiest notion of how to do it--tasted amazing. To each their own--I'd much rather have a socio-literary discussion with you than him! Enjoy ballet season!
@@alanaestelle2076 Excellent points by the way. I feel like these are basics that are taught to children(or should be). But here we are. Homogenization can be a bitch. But hey.. what to do😅😅😅
Funny timing on this; I have a video going up tomorrow of me reacting to 1 star reviews of my 5 star reads. 😆 I find reading negative reviews can be quite enlightening...and even if they aren't, they are often funny! My favorite book is Wuthering Heights, so I don't care if someone hates a book I love. I'm used to haha. But I do try to see the book from other people's perspectives and understand why they disliked it. It would be so boring to live in a world where everyone liked the exact same books and no one ever gave anything a negative review.
My most memorable book discussions with others are the ones with the most varied opinions. The curiosity that drives me to reading also guides me in exploring what other readers noticed that I didn't from a text. How boring would life be if we all noticed (and loved) the same things?!
My favorite book is All the Light We Cannot See, and you didn't like that book. And that's totally okay! My first instinct when someone dislikes my favorite books is to feel a little sad, and then I try to understand that person's perspective. In my opinion it makes us more thoughtful, and that's a good thing to be as a reader. There is no excuse for being rude.
First of all, I agree there's a huge difference between constructive criticism and nastiness. I like Hemingway. Actually, I love Hemingway. I love Hemingway because he's an absolute master. Only a master could get away with what he gets away with and be a pop writer of his generation and beyond. I love Hemingway precisely for the reasons you didn't like him as much: HIS STARKNESS. I love Hemingway for the same reason I love yoga, even though I sometimes hate yoga. I used to love to go out for drinks and food. It was my favourite thing to do. Hang out with friends, meet new people. And then... IDK what changed. I saw things from yoga perspective and I started to see it as self-serving. I stopped going out for drinks. Then, I realized I ate when I wasn't hungry just b/c I craved the taste of certain foods. Again, I stopped going to restaurants. Then, I realized I buy things at Sephora which I often give away, so I started to detach myself from the initial desire for that new shampoo, or getting a $7 latte at Starbucks. And then... I found myself alone and wondered "Hey! Where is everyone? Oh yeah, they are out drinking and eating and chatting and wearing the latest Sephora make up." I had to make a choice. It's hard to like yoga sometimes because it puts me in a very unrealistic and stark place where I have nothing to do, but look at myself and the things I don't like. I like Hemingway because his writing reflects this starkness. It's strange that he was an alcoholic b/c I find his writing reflects the sobriety of mind I lacked in my youth. I longed for it. I craved it. His writing is so crisp and unadorned. I still don't write like him. I doubt I'll ever have that kind of a sharp mind. As for Jane Eyre... Not only do I agree with you that no person reads the same book, but I also want to add the same person at different ages also doesn't read the same book. I loved Jane Eyre at uni so much. it was so much easier to read than The Odyssey, or Aeneid, or Plato, or even Derrida. However, I picked it up again in 2022 and I didn't love it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. The House of Sand and Fog touched me more. Reminded me of The Trial by Kafka. Anyway... Good rant. I like how you say people get upset and it's only an opinion not a fact.
If you have the strengths of your convictions to just be yourself, you may find you are looking around for your former "friends." First and foremost, you have to be you. Your own opinion of yourself matters so much more than everybody's else's combined because you have to live with yourself 24x7x365. Be yourself!
The way you spoke about reviews reminded me of what I don't like about some reviews (and you don't do this, by the way) - the reviews that are just "I liked it" or "I didn't like it" and focus on the reviewer's reactions, emotions etc - that can be a part of a review, but if it's doesn't get into the text itself, then why do I care?? I don't care so much about whether a review is positive or negative, I care about what it has to say about 1) the text first and foremost and 2) the reviewer. I looooove scathing reviews, but I read one lately, about some Kristin Hannah novel, that was just... it had nothing to say other than "oh my god I can't believe this book is so popular, it's not good". Ya gotta go deeper than that. And I think the whole "the author worked so hard on this, I don't want to be negative" thing is very juvenile. Respect the work they did by engaging with it honestly. Anyway. Good rant!
You know, I've been considering making a video like this, since I've also been troubled by what I've seen as a level of 'groupthink' on BookTube. That we're supposed to like these certain things and not like these other things, when the beauty of reading or consuming any other type of art is that people will take different meanings from it. I think there's a real lack of serious criticism on BookTube, either people will gush about books and not really go into the meat of what makes a book tick or just bash a book without really thinking about what the author is trying to say or do. I could make a whole series about my gripes with criticism on BookTube...and RUclips in general, but I won't get into that. If you don't mind me pushing back a little bit, I don't really think it's negative reviews as much as it is a lack of thoughtful, nuanced critiques. People tend to assume that 'reviewing' either means gushing or bashing, with no real inbetween. Now I get there's some people who are on BookTube to share the books they love and that's totally fine, but I've grown uncomfortable with this idea that we can't dislike things on here, or else you'll rock the boat or something like that. Might just be me, but it's become a concern. Thank you for making this. If you don't mind, I might make a response to this video, adding some of my own thoughts on this subject.
Exactly! groupthink versus rocking the boat. it's a social media thing... you have to be "social" which now seems to mean being agreeable and conformity. What's the difference between a hard-and-fast law of no freedom of speech versus a self-induced limitation of speech because you are worried about social backlash? If that is now the case, do we really have free speech anymore?
I am always suspicious of channel's that ONLY do positive reviews. Come on now, not every book is a banger for everyone. If someone doesn't like a book, I like to hear about why they don't like it. Sometimes that saves me from buying a book I might not like and sometimes I actually pick up a book after a negative review. Sometimes, what someone doesn't like is what I DO like. Bottom line - it is YOUR channel girl. You say whatever you want to say. If someone doesn't like it, they are not being held at gunpoint to watch the video lol.
Thinking people are aware of different opinions exist in this world and it help them to see a subject from various perspectives, but bigots don’t care about any reasonable explanations of others’ judgments that don’t resemble theirs ones. To explain something them is inconclusive. I like your reviews for your sincerely and thorough work on books, despite I might disagree with you on some points. Keep making reviews, you’re awesome! PS. The timbre of your voice is beautiful, I wonder if you sing
@@alanaestelle2076 I assume that for some people a book is a companion to spend time with, for others it’s a real cult, an object they worship to, so if you dislike it you’re a sordid heretic in their eyes, and as faithful believers they don’t debate with their enemies😁 I don’t think we lost something indeed, it’s likely in humans’ nature to unite around some random idol and to defend it from any doubt of its excellence. George Orwell said in his Notes on Nationalism “Aesthetic judgements, especially literary judgements, are often corrupted in the same way as political ones. It would be difficult for an Indian nationalist to enjoy reading Kipling or for a Conservative to see merit in Mayakovsky, and there is always a temptation to claim that any book whose tendency one disagrees with must be a bad book from a literary point of view”. PS. Aw! My ears don’t lie then😄
The job of a critic is to critique. I don’t think people calling themselves critics or reviewers who refuse to actually engage critically (not negatively; critically and as objectively as possible) should actually be calling themselves that. Those people are just outsourced marketers or PR staff.
I need to hear the negative review. Helps me decide if I want to take the time to read it. Also decide if I want to purchase a book. Books are not cheap. Prices steadily rising
im an intp so i best learn when im exposed to multiple views on a subject. religion, philosophy, the Arts, should come with challenging discussions. By listening to opposing views im able to experience the book/music in ways i originally wouldnt have. honest truth above all else..
I love your reviews - negative and positive. This speaks home to me right now having just read _Huckleberry Finn._ This morning I just saw a BookTuber who just finished it, and loved the jokey humor in it. It’s interesting to see that people respond differently, and especially humor may boil down to a matter of taste or proclivity. I didn’t find it funny, so what am I to do with that? Tell him to read the book again? Lol.
Spot on observations. I created a bookreads account for a bookclub and reviewed a few of the many classics I got ahead of me and it’s very interesting to see how other people viewed it. Recently read Dostoevsky‘s "White Nights" and while I absolutely loved the first two chapters, the second half of a book was a letdown and the ending felt too constructed. So many people online call this a great love story and whatnot, but I wasn’t really impressed.
If you get upset about a negative review from just some guy who’s critiquing your favourite piece of art, I just write you off as insecure… simple as. I go to reviews to get a new perspective, not to validate my own.
Love this, 😊I don’t have issues with constructive critique of a book but I do have issues with what’s called bad faith actors masking their constructive critiques that has everything to with how the feel about the book. For me an example of constructive critique would be the plot of the story didn’t make sense because it didn’t “flow smoothly “ I felt I was all over the place or the main character motives or intent were not clear etc.🤗
@@phoenixr6811 there are few authors that make me want to critique them and the book🤣 but yes I think it’s more helpful to address the issues with the book that may not work.
I agree. We need negative reviews just as much as positive ones. Toxic positivity is a real thing and can hurt a lot of products. I’ve seen people say if they didn’t like a book they just don’t say anything at all. That’s dangerous. Cause then all of the reviews are positive and it seems like the most perfect thing ever cause it has no negative reviews. If you don’t like something, explain it just don’t be a dick is all.
One of my favourite books is Lord of the rings. Also the movies are my favourite. I'vet met many people that told me they don't like or hate the books, or that they are hard to read and so on. I respect their opinions. But their opinion won't take away what they mean to me. Or how they changed my life. I won' t try to change their minds. It's good to have different opinions and different tastes. I like reviews and how you present them. Happy Holidays ❄️🤗
@alanaestelle2076 as I said in my previous comments, all your recommendations have been good. I've discovered writers that probably wouldn't cross my mind to read them. Magda Szabo for example. Also, now I want to read Beowulf. I also want to try Sally Rooney to see for myself. But I love your energy and how you present your ideas and thoughts. You are very sincere 🥰
Alana, I see you have Eighth Life on your shelf! Have you read it and if so, did you like it? Hate it? I’d love to know bc it’s on my wishlist and keeps calling to me. I know it’s almost 1,000 pages so I want to be sure it’ll be a page turner. Or at least somewhat.
Hi @martasolty, so glad someone pointed out that you really can't read the same book twice, it doesn't change but you might. Love Hemingway? Ever come across that first novel by William Faulkner, Soldier’s Pay? Before he found his literary home in Yaknapatawpha County Billy F. was actually good! Soldier’s Pay reads a lot like a Hemingway work, same staccato rhythm.
One thing I don't like about positive reviews: 1) Rating a book highly because of it portrays a lesser-known historical event. You may appreciate that you learned something, but *your* ignorance, in itself, does not make a book good. (recent example: _Small Things Like These_ which I personally rated as just an average book) Two things I don't like about negative reviews: 1) Not separating the art from the artist. Not liking a book based upon what the author said, or did, outside of what is between the covers. You may not want to (financially) support said person, which is well and fine (put your money where your mouth is), but that should not taint your review of the content. (tons of examples, but most popular seems to be JK Rowling) 2) Judging a historic book based upon today's standards. _I have no problem with dated things. I do not hold against a past time its inability to miraculously speak to my present. _ - Anonymous I particularly have that problem when a book is about Civil War, and slavery, or Jim Crow and the N-Word comes up. To dislike a book because it is historically accurate is sincerely unfair. (that said, just because it does , or does not, use a particular derogatory term is no reason to increase or decrease your rating).
@@kurtfox4944 this!! Especially number 2. I think there are rare occasions when the author can be pulled in, when they are being deceptive and their hypocrisy needs to be called out, when that wow a clear agenda . I have no problem doing that 😏
I often worry that future generations will judge us harshly for all the stupidity we are currently engaged in. Audible was running a free special deal last week so I read The True Story of the Christmas Truce, by Anthony Richards. Good read, but it really worked to show how much power for good can be wielded by regular people when we put our minds to it.
Yes it’s important to have negative reviews of books that are truly bad. I don’t hesitate to critique books I find unreadable such as some by people like Thomas Pynchon, David Foster Wallace William Gass and others I could name. I know the fact that an author’s work is difficult doesn’t neccessary mean it’s bad but at my age I have no time for those kind of works. Readers who are much younger are welcome to give them their best shot. As for Sally Rooney of course I’m not interested in things about young adults who spend a lot of time bed-hopping and who think Marxism might be a viable system after seeing the recent massive failures of the present “free market” one. Be well. ⚛❤
at one point you say "grow up" and i think that generational differences may play a significant role. if you're a young millenial/genz then you probably grew up on fanfiction where there's an attitude of "no crit". you know, you're reading something really personal from somebody who crafted it for free, it would be "rude" to point out its flaws. r/nosleep has a rule that you don't question the validity of any post/story, all of it should be assumed true. and then there's the social media aspect where everyone is fishing for validation, "likes" are really important. if you like something that i like, that means i am correct and have good taste, and the inverse is also true. maybe all this is coalescing into a sort of toxic positivity when it comes to art, an aversion to engaging with media critically out of fear of finding out something about yourself that you're not ready to hear.
I'm late but I also blame JKR for this. I think because of her views on certain things, I do think there is legitimate pushback against her for valid reasons and why I won't ever read her books and I do side eye anyone who does still read her. However, I think within online bookish spaces, this has definitely led to moralizing how we read, what we read, and why we read, to the point where it's gotten to be toxic. Like, I have found some bookish influencers unable to take any criticism or just a difference in opinion and if you do you're considered some kind of "-ism" or I'm not intelligent enough to understand or am a hateful individual. At the end of the day, we have to be okay with disagreement and heck even disagreeing about disagreeing if that makes sense? Like yes, it's wrong to be hateful, but not liking someone's opinion about a book doesn't make them a bully!!! Because I think the issue is also that people put authors on a pedestal and your bad review is somehow attacking the author? And I will say that if a bad review attacks the author, then I don't like that either. Basically authors should stay away from reviewer spaces, and reviewers can roast books to filth without personally attacking the author. So yeah, you're not a bully. ❤
I think it goes before JKR - I think that's a separate convo and separating the art from the artists. I think that boils to personal conviction. People will read what they want to read, for various reasons. But Yea, we are all engaging with these texts for so many different reasons that it's weird to me how people get so defensive. LOL I'm not a bully but i'm blunt and people don't like that. I just rarely care what people think about me hahahaha
Did you go to grad school? I've always felt like your reviews are so organized and informed as if it were for class. And I love your videos, especially if you have a different opinion than me about a book because I'm allowed to see it in a new and different way :)
Moll Flanders is awfully boring (sleeping pill). I agree with you about Sally Rooney too. I think you're right about publishers sending books content creators who never seem to do negative reviews. Jane Eyre is one of my favourite books as well and I know many don't like it nearly as much asI do. But when I hear people rave about Emma it makes me laugh because I hated the book. Different strokes for different folks. People need to be accepting of different opinions and this period we're living in is challenging for that. Accepting critique is a part of being an artist. However, authors shouldn't be roving on forums where readers exchange on the books they love and hate. The critiques we make are for readers essentially, not for authors.
@@browngirlreading moll Flanders is … so dull 🤣 haha I love Emma! Yes you bring up an excellent point! The reviews are for the authors. They are for other readers and some authors need to realize that once the book is in the public it’s up for public discussion. Period.
The problem is people cannot distinguish between and objective and subjective. I used to think they were being intentionally difficult. But I am to the point where I think people genuinely do not understand the distinction. Objective points to the object - the THING - itself. Subjective points to the subject - the PERSON - doing the observing of the object. A book can have elegant prose, an interesting plot, characters that are well developed, and themes that make you think. Those are objective qualities*. They pertain to the book. You, as a person, could still end up disliking, even passionately hating the book, for any number of reasons, *while still acknowledging* that it has those objective strengths. Since people can't distinguish between objective/subjective, that is why they get so angry and nasty. They perceive it as rejecting a book = rejecting them. *I acknowledge there's not a written-in-blood standard for all these metrics. But I think, as readers, we understand that general standards do exist.
@@Yesica1993 you better preach!!!! This is the issue with society today when people have opposite view points and when you don’t agree, people get defensive and resort to name calling.
"If I finish a book a week, I will read only a few thousand books in my lifetime, about a tenth of a percent of the contents of the greatest libraries of our time. THE TRICK IS TO KNOW WHICH BOOKS TO READ." ---Carl Sagan, Cosmos, The Persistent of Memory, 1980.
I really enjoy and appreciate critical analysis but not negative criticisms. I personally haven't perceived your videos to be negative, but constructive as you said. You have great taste, and as soon as you say that the editing was lacking I already know it's not the book for me. Thank you for sharing so many great reviews. Yep, that's me. I don't have the heart to welcome nasty comments from internet trolls and rude people. So, I am grateful for courageous people like you who can handle it.
@@leafsonata thank you! Very true and people misconstrue constructive criticism as negative. Haha I admit I’m wired a certain way. I have a coworker who tells me that I’m a Rottweiler in a ballerina’s body 🤣
Hey Alana just caught up on your review you are so right if you don't like it.... Who cares They are over reacting I like listening to what you think about all your books I don't read a lot of books but you have made me realize I have been missing out on, I like movies I have just finished a book called. The Alchemist ( I like it ) Take care and have a happy new year 2025
👏🏽👏🏽 EXCELLENT points! I agree as you mentioned, that we all are reading for many different reason (I too abhor poorly edited books) and that will steer our judgement when we rate books. But honestly, WHO LIKES EVERY BOOK they read 😂 Love what you bring to the YT reading community! Pls consider reading some works by Toni Morrison in 2025😊 I would love to hear your thoughts!
I laughed at you murmuring Jane Eyre. I love it, and I mean I am open to hear criticisms but most of them are so lazy. "but did you KNOW Rochester is not a great boyfriend??? I would not date him, ergo the book is TRAAAASH". I don't engage with those reviewers though, I just roll my eyes and move on :)
More to the contrary I am amused with the hatred of books that I like. There is a Book Tuber who regularly punches the cover of "American Psycho" for example. She is not impressed by the idea that all the horrible crimes described in the book are probably just in the character's head 😸😆 The sort of books I tend to like would not be those books if the majority did not dislike them! So be it then! 👍 I have no problem writing criticism because people are free to write in and criticize ME right back, so what is the problema?
First off, I support your form of expression on your channel even though I don't know you. I enjoy your style of presentation whether or not I agree with your views. Having said that I am of the view (more and more as I become more humbled) that it serves us to have light opinions because they are only opinions. We may be confident in knowing what we like, but there is no telling that it will (or should) stay the same. Having light opinions doesn't mean we don't have integrity which I feel people think is the reason we ought to have strong opinions. I'm starting to know every moment what I don't know and that helps me to take myself less seriously, even if I still take myself too seriously 😂. But it can be fun to share our experiences having read a certain book, or movie, or whatever. And in my humbled opinion (because it was not always the case) it makes discussion more accessible when our opinions are light. Which brings me to a weird concept that I'm not sure we as a collective are comfortable with: you can have loose opinions and still critique a work because you are not personally criticizing the person who wrote it. A character the author has written does not define that author as a person, even though a lot of the author went into that character. The same goes for the novel as a whole. So I totally agree that it is valid for you to post negative reviews. You are not trying to insult the person who wrote it, I would hope. And you gave your time to that work. It's published and now it doesn't belong only to the author, but also the people who took the time to read it. It could also help the author disassociate their sense of worth with how the book has been received. And you're right, we don't have to be nasty about it. When done right it isn't negativity because your intent is positive. What you should do is fix that slanted book angle behind you. Because I said so. 😂😂😂 Jk. I seem to have caught a bit of Chuck fever on this post. But I do appreciate your platform in allowing me to post. You are generous with the volume of content you put into this stuff and I appreciate your efforts. Thank you!
Hi Ernie, Ha Ha Ha! I knew this video would induce an attack of ‘Chunkitis’! Couldn't agree with you more on your well thought through analysis of BookTube literary criticism and have only one substantive notion to add, but first… I thought I was the only one bothered by Alana’s crooked camera! Hard core C.S. Lewis fans will see where I’m going with this one and I don't recall ever hearing Alana mention the guy so I don't think she did this camera tip on purpose, or at least not for this purpose. However she’s a rather sly character and I too have been humbled once or twice before. In Lewis’ first Space Trilogy book, Out of the Silent Planet where he offers up a tolerably good explanation to the Fermi Paradox (??? where are all the aliens ??? Don't know if you're a big space and astronomy guy or not?) Lewis envisions a creature analogous to a Biblical archangel which he calls an Oyarsa. His Oyarsa are so powerful and so just and so pure that when they appear to humans they look straight up and down but the whole world looks canted to one side, heeled over like a sailboat in a stiff wind. When I saw Alana’s skewed camera work I thought that was what she was trying to convey. My mother, herself a very experienced reader, once observed that the true masters don't make very many mistakes in their art, so if you think you have ferreted one out, better double check your work before you go to press with your discovery. It's a bit like we talked about before when Homer seems to ignore Greek grammar when it suits him or Shakespeare just makes up new English because…he’s The Bard. Please note I am resisting the temptation here to rip into that darn James Joyce (you made it further into Finnegan's Wake then me), I don't want to turn back into a giant centipede! Now to the point I wanted to make. I may re-post this part as a separate comment in hopes of more people seeing it, nobody's gonna read all this tripe I know! Seems to me some Great books are so because of their ideas, not their writing. I like a first rate wordsmith as much as the next bookie. But some of my favorites and those of many other readers are actually not all that well written, but the ideas the author conveys and the conversations they spark are worth it. You don't have to be half as smart Alana to find literally faults with: 1984 Fahrenheit 451 Brave New World Atlas Shrugged…I could go on but you get the point. 451 may not be the technical masterpiece that The Brothers K. is, although I'm happy to stand up ‘The Gardener' passage to ‘The Grand Inquisitor’ any day of the week. But for these 7 decades now Ray Bradbury has made people think about and discuss censorship and that is arguably more valuable than a troop of word junkies who can put pen to paper without an idea in their heads.
@@dougirvin2413 "Seems to me some Great books are so because of their ideas, not their writing. " I think this is the reason readers don't like Ursula K LeGuin. Often, her first 40-50 pages are rough. Oh, but her ideas are certainly discussion-worthy. Different reasons for reading...
@@dougirvin2413 I had an idea that she was doing the camera thing on purpose. Her presentation is pretty spot-on so I figured it was intentional, but it was more in reference to her saying that we shouldn't tell other people what to do with their own channel. I still don't know the reason why it is slanted, but your explanation makes sense. Haha! As for literary criticisms I can go back and forth with them. Sometimes the reasons are different, but oddly enough it's Stephen King who touches on writing quality and meaning in the book 11/22/63. I don't know if you have read it, but the main character is a school teacher who is shown a way into the past and is given the task of preventing the assassination of JFK. Before he finds out about this we follow him grading adult essays, many of which are fairly well technically written, but there is no depth to what they are writing about. He then reads a janitor's paper and is moved to tears even though it is technically inept. I do think King plops on the symbolic lazyboy instead of making it to the bed, but this part speaks to me very well. A person can write with heart and convey an idea without being the best literary talent or craftsman, and that is what we are really trying to do (in my opinion). Some things cannot be conveyed in the traditional use of language so a person has to take more artistic liberties with the craft, whereas some people are good at conveying an idea even though they are limited in their knowledge of the craft. We can learn the rules so well to break them, or we can be ignorant of certain rules and end of coming out of it with a style that exists because we didn't say it was wrong for it to exist. At least that is a possibility with creating the work. Sometimes a lack of knowing the rules can limit you so that badly written books can also just be badly written books. Since I consider us all to be creators and artists it's useful for me to be sensitive to why a book is "badly written" and if it would actually benefit from being written in a more technically skilled way. It might unintentionally take away from the artists voice. The craft can be refined through time, but what is important to me is that the voice is clear. And Alana is right, sometimes you're not on the frequency of a certain artist. I tend to look at it and ask why that is rather than accept that it just is that way. If I said certain artists were just not for me and left it there I would have missed out on so much good music! John Coltrane and Radiohead being just a few examples. This is an example of not taking my own opinion too seriously. It hasn't always worked out. I still have a hard time listening to heavy metal and certain forms of rap, but it has helped immensely in developing a palate for things. It also helps me to get into a story that may not be the best grammatical masterwork. Again, though, this is one reason I come to Alana's page. Because I agree with her that some content creators give fast food reviews and say something is just good. She explores topics beyond that and I think that her intention is positive, so "negative" reviews are useful. They aren't negative in the traditional sense. It's just her saying she doesn't like something. That's fair. Man, Chuck fever is real. Gotta drink those fluids. Lol!
Hi Ernie, LOL! I hope I'm wrong about my Alana tilt cam theory! What could be more arrogant than imagining that your content creation is second only to The Creation!?!🤣 That sounds like some Prince and the NPG action…🎶”In the beginning God made the sea, but on the seventh day He made ME…” -My Name Is Prince, from The Love Symbol album, circa 1992. Oh God, am I that old?!? Or perhaps in closer keeping with the spirit of Alana's channel say it's like Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov thinking that since it was OK for Napoleon to commit great crimes so he could for full his great destiny because he was a GREAT man…’therefore it should be fine if I go and murder this little old pawnbroker lady (Alyona Ivanovna) and well I guess maybe her little sister too (Lisaveta) so what’s some collateral damage when you're on your way to GREATNESS!?’ I'm paraphrasing here, but not by much. I do have issues with Crime and Punishment, great work of art or not, I do have issues.😝 Which of course is the whole point of this video right? But just like my mother warned me about not being too critical of a great genius, they don't make mistakes too often. I've often pondered this seeming thematic gaff. He published C&P in 1866 a good 2 decades after being imprisoned and nearly executed himself. He wasn't a young man anymore and must have known what a stretch into incredulity this ‘Napoleon’ thing would be. IDK maybe such craziness was more common then than now? If there are any first rate D$ scholars out there (this is Alana’s channel so I suspect there could be) please enlighten me if I'm missing something obvious. Just seems like he could have come up with some simpler plot device to get to the double murder easier and more believably. I grant you that this plot line makes more sense, dare I say, perfect sense, if we take it purely metaphorically. Say we substitute Rodion for the U.S. Government in general and General Custer in particular and Alyona and Lisaveta for, oh say,The Sioux and The Cherokee Nations, you know, Alana's people, just a thought.
Hi @asdfghjklasdjkl, LOL! Definitely all JKR’s fault! I'm much too old to be a big H.P. fan but I did read the first three installments with a reading buddy many years ago and I basically liked them well enough for what they were. But in the third book, The Prisoner of Azkaban I had a real Dunning-Kruger effect moment when she depicted the prison guards as these Dementors whose job it was to suck the souls out of the inmates. I'm a retired prison guard and I immediately identified my own post orders and general job description as well as many thousands of pages of department policies and procedures all distilled into this bit of fiction, ‘how did she know that!?!’ I asked myself. Another author who totally gets my old job description correct was Wilkie Collins (Jezebel's Daughter, 1880AD) , a pretty good Victober read for next year.
"i get what the author was doing, i just didn't like it" exactlyyyyyy !!!
@@rozreallyreads Yas! 🙌🏼
Beautifully said, I agree with everything you said. “Everything you read is written by an imperfect person” is going to be my new ready quote when I get a negative comment
@@PoorPersonsBookReviewer glad that resonated with you!
I think some folks think that if you don’t like a book that they loved, then you don’t like them as a person. I don’t know how conscious this is, but I think there’s something to it. Books that I love are so incredibly personal to me, as they are to all of us, and I’ll admit that when I do recommend a book to someone and they don’t like it, I feel a bit let down. Like, ok, we can’t be friends now. I’m kidding! But at the same time, I can absolutely read negative reviews of my favorite books and not be offended. Actually when a reviewer doesn’t like a book I loved, it’s still enjoyable and interesting to listen to why they feel that way.
It also doesn’t help that reading and books has become very moralized in certain very ‘online’ spaces. So people are very reactionary because they think ‘oh this person didn’t like this book, so they are a bad person or an uncaring person’ or ‘i like a book someone had valid critiques of, am i a bad person?’. I see this all the time and it’s pretty unfortunate.
@ great points! Yes, the moralizing needs to stop.
@@nikkivenable73 yes to all of this!
@@litera.dreams3274 spot on!
we need to accept a diversity of opinions/thoughts or else we are so cooked as a society.
@@ebonykenae THIS!!! Monolithic though is scary.
"I SAID WHAT I SAID AND I'M NOT CHANGING IT!" I love your boldness and I wish it wasn't outlier behavior. "no two people read the same book." YESS!
it annoys me when people change their opinions because they get bullied into it lol
There’s too much groupthink and if someone doesn’t agree it like “how dare you”. We’re all different ppl with different tastes. We won’t all like the same things. That’s why I don’t get books based off of recommendations anymore the last time i did I was so disappointed. So I just stick to choosing books on my own
As long as no one’s being disrespectful, I agree. How else can we all have different tastes?!
@@OvSpP yes!!!
Excellent discussion. Not so much the book discussion but being a dissenter
Saturday night and RUclips?
“This is not an airport. I don’t need to announce my arrival or departure.” Thanks for that.
@@BookishTexan it’s one of my favorite lines 🤣
i absolutely loved “they’re going to love you”, but your review of it made me subscribe immediately because i loved the way you presented your critiques. i completely agree with what you said about having blinders on, your review made me consider things about the book that i hadn’t already. i still love it, but i also love to hear different perspectives, i can’t understand people who take negative reviews so personally
@@dtsotm thank you!! And yes you made a good point. This has happened with me as well, with books I really enjoyed. Someone else’s opinion didn’t change my view but they helped me to think about it with more depth!
I'm really sorry people treated you like that :/ this just makes negative reviews the more important!! Subscribed! :)
I don't take it personally ;)
it is absolutely necessary to have different point of views and accept that not everybody needs to like the same things. I like you and your channel precisely because you have your own opinion and don't want to mould yourself to what everybody else says. Keep doing what you are doing!
Thank you!:)
I think some videos I should be able to like more than once. This is one. I like hearing negative book reviews especially when they rant. As you said, some of them highlight things that I actually love in books or highlight something I missed.
One of the things I love about your channel is the thumbnail of your face letting us know ahead of time how the video is going to go.
Thank you! I'm glad you feel my thumbnails aren't misleading. I try not to be clickbait.
Had this video recommended to me and it did not disappoint! You earned a new subscriber. I think people confuse any negative review for someone arguing in bad faith, and unfortunately it really limits some really great discussions from being had. As you said, this goes for not just books, but movies, sports, politics, religion, etc.
@@LancetheLibrary thank you! Very true, people also, I think, don’t know how to properly debate. They just get defensive.
I've been in a sensitive space these days and this was the talk that I needed to realign my thought process. Thanks for putting this out
@@Cam0412 this is encouraging and I’m glad this resonated with you! Thanks for watching!
Art is subjective so what some enjoy others will not. Sometimes I come across a very popular book and I just don't connect...or sometimes I really connect with a story that most don't like.
To be honest, sometimes I am curious to read negative reviews on books I really enjoy, or sometimes I try to understand why I didn't connect with a critically acclaimed book.
At the same time, it's the internet so no matter someone's opinion there can be backlash.
@@rafm3068 it’s all so relative!
The internet is the Wild West 🤣
Signed on just so I could “like” the video and say YES YES YES ALANA - stand on business - I’m only 5 minutes in & am a new subscriber and I LOVE this rant already!!!
@@MelindaButler1014 aw thank you!!
I died when you mentioned cooking lol
@@dancingwithcalvin LOOOOL! 🤣
Absolutely agree! I personally love reading and watching reviews that are critical, it’s fun and creates a much better conversation!
@@Scr3675 they are fun! I love watching people say what they think!
obsessed with your channel now because YES YES YES
Aw, thank you!
This may be off topic, but I love that you set the expectation that your video would be a rant/ramble. It's easier to go along for the ride and enjoy the discourse when I know what I'm getting into. I wish more RUclipsrs did this.
Also, I agree that negative book reviews are important because they lead to great conversations. I loved Shark Heart by Emily Habeck, but folks in my book club didn't enjoy the way the story was structured. I DNF'd The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab, but a person in my book club said it is one of their favorite books of all time. In both instances, the conversations were fun and eye-opening. It'd be great if more people focused on connecting over the joy of reading instead of getting caught up in differing opinions. Folks love getting worked up over things, though.
Anyway, great video! I'm glad Madame Algorithm led me to your channel.
Not off toxic at all! That is exactly why I titled it this way :)
I'm glad you put out this video, I needed to hear someone say what you've expressed. This hit home for me because of my experience with William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!. I absolutely detested that book, and when I told people how I felt about it, I didn't even get a smattering of crickets, I just got dead silence. I fear that Absalom, Absalom! might be the kind of work whose author is so revered that people are reluctant to admit they can't relate to it. Thank you, Alana, excellent video.
@@aldovergara9035 I’m glad!! Omg when you don’t like a book from a well known author, people think your insane 😫
good video. Re: “they worked so hard on the book so we shouldn’t say anything critical”- I think it’s actually more respectful of the work the author put in to give a thoughtful critique than a vapid praise. They put all that effort in to say something and they want it taken seriously, which sometimes means disagreement!
Agreed! :)
Preach! Me not liking something and you liking the same thing =/= me not liking you.
@@TheMonkey0King AMEN!
This is a great discussion. I'm with you that negative or critical book reviews are super important, especially for books that have received a lot of praise and little criticism. Even if they're coming from someone who isn't an expert on the book and may have missed something. An opinion is really only an opinion at all if there was ever a real possibility of giving a different one.
To me the goal of a review isn't to be mean or nice to the author. I think giving a well-thought review, positive or negative, in a certain way honors the author and their work through an honest report of the effect it had on me. A well-done negative book review is still more of an honor and a respect to the author than a false or unreflected positive one because it shows you took the time to engage with their work. It's like admitting to your friend you personally think their new outfit just doesn't suit them, versus simply validating them and telling them it looks amazing even if you think it looks ridiculous. Sure it might not feel good for the author to receive critical comments, and sure they might privately think, OK this reviewer just didn't get what I was trying to communicate with this work at all ... but I think in putting your work out there you're implicitly welcoming people not just to read it (or watch it) and love it, but also giving them the right to dislike or disagree with it.
For a more personal connection to this video ... I generally like Sally Rooney's style but absolutely I appreciate the way you voiced how and why you dislike it so much. I get that too.
Yes! That is a really good point - a well-done critique still respects the authors work, as the reviewer took the time to really engage with the text!
Not every book is going to land with everybody. That's just fact. It doesn't mean it should be taken personally. If you read widely you will not enjoy every book. I enjoy well rounded reviews because they often raise something I hadn't thought about. I also don't want to live in an echo chamber. Happy Christmas Alana x
Merry Christmas! :)
💯💯 I've stopped recommending books to people because usually we disagree. 😅😅
Also I've grown up enough to just keep my thoughts in my head "You are wrong and you have that right. " 😂😂😂
Love this rant!!!🎉🎉🎉❤
@@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD when I know people are wrong, I say, “I’m gonna let you be great.” It really throws people off. Use wisely, because it also makes people very mad and you may need to prepare to throw hands.
@alanaestelle2076 🤣🤣🤣
Hi @thecatlady, last week over on Anne’s channel she made a comment about wanting to read some Kurt Vonnegut next year. Just what Alana's ranting about. I love Vonnegut, not a completest, but I've read a bunch of his novels and never met one I didn't like. So I told as much to Anne but added the caveat that he can be extremely irreverent to say the least. As soon as I sent off my post I repented and thought of you guys reading The Road and not DNFing it. Not loving it, but you did finish it. So I thought ‘well Slaughter House Five is way better than that’ so I worked up another message. Point is it can be extremely hard to make a recommendation and not have it taken the wrong way. Books are just so personal like Basil’s portrait of young Dorian Gray. You're half afraid of showing too much of yourself to the world.
@dougirvin2413 First, I Loved the road. Lol. 2nd, I agree...I had not thought abt it that way before. Making a recommendation to someone IS offering someone a part of yourself, part of how you feel emotionally about the themes or characters that remind you of yourself or something in your life dear to you. That explains why I decided to stop recommending even if I think the book is in their taste too.
Really good points. Also a solid chuckle at the crack about this not being an airport 😆
It's one of my favorite lines! 🤣
I love the semi-confessional segue into cooking/baking labors of love. Just confirms (again) you're a glorious human.
@@stevesunusual haha thank you! That time I messed up that bread lives in my head rent free 🤣
@@alanaestelle2076 An old friend of mine once just up and baked a loaf of bread with only the foggiest notion of how to do it--tasted amazing. To each their own--I'd much rather have a socio-literary discussion with you than him! Enjoy ballet season!
Yes! The rant is FINALLY here!😤😅😅😅
@@iamhere9805 🤣
@@alanaestelle2076 Excellent points by the way. I feel like these are basics that are taught to children(or should be). But here we are. Homogenization can be a bitch. But hey.. what to do😅😅😅
Funny timing on this; I have a video going up tomorrow of me reacting to 1 star reviews of my 5 star reads. 😆 I find reading negative reviews can be quite enlightening...and even if they aren't, they are often funny! My favorite book is Wuthering Heights, so I don't care if someone hates a book I love. I'm used to haha. But I do try to see the book from other people's perspectives and understand why they disliked it. It would be so boring to live in a world where everyone liked the exact same books and no one ever gave anything a negative review.
I've learned not to take what others say abt my fav books personally. I say (in my head), "you can be wrong and I'm ok with that." 😂😂😂
@@elizabethaliteraryprincess I love those videos! They are so funny. Life would be so drab if we didn’t have debates LOL
My most memorable book discussions with others are the ones with the most varied opinions. The curiosity that drives me to reading also guides me in exploring what other readers noticed that I didn't from a text. How boring would life be if we all noticed (and loved) the same things?!
Yes! Life would be so boring if we all said the same things.
My favorite book is All the Light We Cannot See, and you didn't like that book. And that's totally okay! My first instinct when someone dislikes my favorite books is to feel a little sad, and then I try to understand that person's perspective. In my opinion it makes us more thoughtful, and that's a good thing to be as a reader. There is no excuse for being rude.
:)
First of all, I agree there's a huge difference between constructive criticism and nastiness. I like Hemingway. Actually, I love Hemingway. I love Hemingway because he's an absolute master. Only a master could get away with what he gets away with and be a pop writer of his generation and beyond. I love Hemingway precisely for the reasons you didn't like him as much: HIS STARKNESS. I love Hemingway for the same reason I love yoga, even though I sometimes hate yoga. I used to love to go out for drinks and food. It was my favourite thing to do. Hang out with friends, meet new people. And then... IDK what changed. I saw things from yoga perspective and I started to see it as self-serving. I stopped going out for drinks. Then, I realized I ate when I wasn't hungry just b/c I craved the taste of certain foods. Again, I stopped going to restaurants. Then, I realized I buy things at Sephora which I often give away, so I started to detach myself from the initial desire for that new shampoo, or getting a $7 latte at Starbucks. And then... I found myself alone and wondered "Hey! Where is everyone? Oh yeah, they are out drinking and eating and chatting and wearing the latest Sephora make up." I had to make a choice. It's hard to like yoga sometimes because it puts me in a very unrealistic and stark place where I have nothing to do, but look at myself and the things I don't like. I like Hemingway because his writing reflects this starkness. It's strange that he was an alcoholic b/c I find his writing reflects the sobriety of mind I lacked in my youth. I longed for it. I craved it. His writing is so crisp and unadorned. I still don't write like him. I doubt I'll ever have that kind of a sharp mind. As for Jane Eyre... Not only do I agree with you that no person reads the same book, but I also want to add the same person at different ages also doesn't read the same book. I loved Jane Eyre at uni so much. it was so much easier to read than The Odyssey, or Aeneid, or Plato, or even Derrida. However, I picked it up again in 2022 and I didn't love it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. The House of Sand and Fog touched me more. Reminded me of The Trial by Kafka. Anyway... Good rant. I like how you say people get upset and it's only an opinion not a fact.
Merry Christmas Marta🎄
If you have the strengths of your convictions to just be yourself, you may find you are looking around for your former "friends." First and foremost, you have to be you. Your own opinion of yourself matters so much more than everybody's else's combined because you have to live with yourself 24x7x365. Be yourself!
I'm always here for Marta, Doug and Kurt commentary ;)
The way you spoke about reviews reminded me of what I don't like about some reviews (and you don't do this, by the way) - the reviews that are just "I liked it" or "I didn't like it" and focus on the reviewer's reactions, emotions etc - that can be a part of a review, but if it's doesn't get into the text itself, then why do I care?? I don't care so much about whether a review is positive or negative, I care about what it has to say about 1) the text first and foremost and 2) the reviewer. I looooove scathing reviews, but I read one lately, about some Kristin Hannah novel, that was just... it had nothing to say other than "oh my god I can't believe this book is so popular, it's not good". Ya gotta go deeper than that. And I think the whole "the author worked so hard on this, I don't want to be negative" thing is very juvenile. Respect the work they did by engaging with it honestly. Anyway. Good rant!
OMG DON'T GET ME STARTED ON KRISTIN HANNAH!!!! I read one book of her's and I was editing it myself LOL. There were blatant grammar errors.
You know, I've been considering making a video like this, since I've also been troubled by what I've seen as a level of 'groupthink' on BookTube. That we're supposed to like these certain things and not like these other things, when the beauty of reading or consuming any other type of art is that people will take different meanings from it. I think there's a real lack of serious criticism on BookTube, either people will gush about books and not really go into the meat of what makes a book tick or just bash a book without really thinking about what the author is trying to say or do. I could make a whole series about my gripes with criticism on BookTube...and RUclips in general, but I won't get into that.
If you don't mind me pushing back a little bit, I don't really think it's negative reviews as much as it is a lack of thoughtful, nuanced critiques. People tend to assume that 'reviewing' either means gushing or bashing, with no real inbetween. Now I get there's some people who are on BookTube to share the books they love and that's totally fine, but I've grown uncomfortable with this idea that we can't dislike things on here, or else you'll rock the boat or something like that. Might just be me, but it's become a concern.
Thank you for making this. If you don't mind, I might make a response to this video, adding some of my own thoughts on this subject.
Exactly! groupthink versus rocking the boat. it's a social media thing... you have to be "social" which now seems to mean being agreeable and conformity.
What's the difference between a hard-and-fast law of no freedom of speech versus a self-induced limitation of speech because you are worried about social backlash?
If that is now the case, do we really have free speech anymore?
You make a good point - I do think it's a lack of thoughtful critique. Would love to see. response to this!!!
@@alanaestelle2076 It'll probably happen in early 2025. Gonna be busy with some stuff.
I am always suspicious of channel's that ONLY do positive reviews. Come on now, not every book is a banger for everyone. If someone doesn't like a book, I like to hear about why they don't like it. Sometimes that saves me from buying a book I might not like and sometimes I actually pick up a book after a negative review. Sometimes, what someone doesn't like is what I DO like.
Bottom line - it is YOUR channel girl. You say whatever you want to say. If someone doesn't like it, they are not being held at gunpoint to watch the video lol.
@@radiantchristina yes exactly!
Haha oh for sure. I’m going to do what I want 🤣
Thinking people are aware of different opinions exist in this world and it help them to see a subject from various perspectives, but bigots don’t care about any reasonable explanations of others’ judgments that don’t resemble theirs ones. To explain something them is inconclusive.
I like your reviews for your sincerely and thorough work on books, despite I might disagree with you on some points. Keep making reviews, you’re awesome!
PS. The timbre of your voice is beautiful, I wonder if you sing
@@R.V.I. I feel like society has lost the are of debating. People resort to name calling and talking all over each other.
Lol I can sing.
@@alanaestelle2076 It even goes all the way up to Presidential Candidates nowadays.
@@kurtfox4944 my favorite presidential insults are by Thomas Jefferson to Hamilton 🤣
@@alanaestelle2076 I assume that for some people a book is a companion to spend time with, for others it’s a real cult, an object they worship to, so if you dislike it you’re a sordid heretic in their eyes, and as faithful believers they don’t debate with their enemies😁 I don’t think we lost something indeed, it’s likely in humans’ nature to unite around some random idol and to defend it from any doubt of its excellence. George Orwell said in his Notes on Nationalism “Aesthetic judgements, especially literary judgements, are often corrupted in the same way as political ones. It would be difficult for an Indian nationalist to enjoy reading Kipling or for a Conservative to see merit in Mayakovsky, and there is always a temptation to claim that any book whose tendency one disagrees with must be a bad book from a literary point of view”. PS. Aw! My ears don’t lie then😄
The job of a critic is to critique. I don’t think people calling themselves critics or reviewers who refuse to actually engage critically (not negatively; critically and as objectively as possible) should actually be calling themselves that. Those people are just outsourced marketers or PR staff.
PREACH!!!!
I need to hear the negative review. Helps me decide if I want to take the time to read it. Also decide if I want to purchase a book. Books are not cheap. Prices steadily rising
@@gail1249 same! Omg books have become so expensive!
im an intp so i best learn when im exposed to multiple views on a subject. religion, philosophy, the Arts, should come with challenging discussions. By listening to opposing views im able to experience the book/music in ways i originally wouldnt have. honest truth above all else..
@@MoneyCodez agreed!
I love your reviews - negative and positive. This speaks home to me right now having just read _Huckleberry Finn._ This morning I just saw a BookTuber who just finished it, and loved the jokey humor in it. It’s interesting to see that people respond differently, and especially humor may boil down to a matter of taste or proclivity. I didn’t find it funny, so what am I to do with that? Tell him to read the book again? Lol.
@@davidnovakreadspoetry LOL! That always gets me “read the book again” like … whaaaat?! 🤣
Thank you for this video. This was the best Christmas Gift. Yes!
@@InfiniteText yay :)
Spot on observations.
I created a bookreads account for a bookclub and reviewed a few of the many classics I got ahead of me and it’s very interesting to see how other people viewed it.
Recently read Dostoevsky‘s "White Nights" and while I absolutely loved the first two chapters, the second half of a book was a letdown and the ending felt too constructed.
So many people online call this a great love story and whatnot, but I wasn’t really impressed.
@@frizzyrascal1493 oooooh interesting about White Nights! I want to read that soon-ish
If you get upset about a negative review from just some guy who’s critiquing your favourite piece of art, I just write you off as insecure… simple as. I go to reviews to get a new perspective, not to validate my own.
@@SR-7142 this! I also view it as very insecure
Merry Christmas Alana 🎄
Merry Christmas! 🎄
Amen and YES!!!! And "DANG"....love it :)
@@DevinLaVore thanks Devin!!!
Love this, 😊I don’t have issues with constructive critique of a book but I do have issues with what’s called bad faith actors masking their constructive critiques that has everything to with how the feel about the book. For me an example of constructive critique would be the plot of the story didn’t make sense because it didn’t “flow smoothly “ I felt I was all over the place or the main character motives or intent were not clear etc.🤗
@@phoenixr6811 there are few authors that make me want to critique them and the book🤣 but yes I think it’s more helpful to address the issues with the book that may not work.
You are now my new favorite book tube❤ channel! I must say tsk tsk about Jane Eyre being your favorite. The Christ in me forgives you 😊
@@Logoslover thank you! LOOOOOOOL! Jane and I have been through some things together! 🤣
I agree. We need negative reviews just as much as positive ones. Toxic positivity is a real thing and can hurt a lot of products. I’ve seen people say if they didn’t like a book they just don’t say anything at all. That’s dangerous. Cause then all of the reviews are positive and it seems like the most perfect thing ever cause it has no negative reviews. If you don’t like something, explain it just don’t be a dick is all.
YES toxic positivity is ironically toxic LOL
One of my favourite books is Lord of the rings. Also the movies are my favourite. I'vet met many people that told me they don't like or hate the books, or that they are hard to read and so on. I respect their opinions. But their opinion won't take away what they mean to me. Or how they changed my life. I won' t try to change their minds. It's good to have different opinions and different tastes. I like reviews and how you present them. Happy Holidays ❄️🤗
@@MusidoraKeller same! I love those books but I understand why prowl don’t get on with them! Tolkien can be … long winded lol.
@alanaestelle2076 as I said in my previous comments, all your recommendations have been good. I've discovered writers that probably wouldn't cross my mind to read them. Magda Szabo for example. Also, now I want to read Beowulf. I also want to try Sally Rooney to see for myself. But I love your energy and how you present your ideas and thoughts. You are very sincere 🥰
Alana, I see you have Eighth Life on your shelf! Have you read it and if so, did you like it? Hate it? I’d love to know bc it’s on my wishlist and keeps calling to me. I know it’s almost 1,000 pages so I want to be sure it’ll be a page turner. Or at least somewhat.
@@nikkivenable73 haven’t read it yet. Waiting for the time it calls my name 🤣
@ darn it! But I completely get what you’re saying!
@ lol yea I wait until it feels … “right” haha
@@alanaestelle2076 1000 pg books, the older I get, take years to motivate me. 😬
@ haha this is why Les Mis is sitting unread on my shelf 🤣
Hi @martasolty, so glad someone pointed out that you really can't read the same book twice, it doesn't change but you might. Love Hemingway? Ever come across that first novel by William Faulkner, Soldier’s Pay? Before he found his literary home in Yaknapatawpha County Billy F. was actually good! Soldier’s Pay reads a lot like a Hemingway work, same staccato rhythm.
Agree 💯
I also think it's important to talk about DNFs... when we DNFd and why.. that's valuable info imo.
YES!!!
One thing I don't like about positive reviews:
1) Rating a book highly because of it portrays a lesser-known historical event. You may appreciate that you learned something, but *your* ignorance, in itself, does not make a book good. (recent example: _Small Things Like These_ which I personally rated as just an average book)
Two things I don't like about negative reviews:
1) Not separating the art from the artist. Not liking a book based upon what the author said, or did, outside of what is between the covers. You may not want to (financially) support said person, which is well and fine (put your money where your mouth is), but that should not taint your review of the content. (tons of examples, but most popular seems to be JK Rowling)
2) Judging a historic book based upon today's standards.
_I have no problem with dated things. I do not hold against a past time its inability to miraculously speak to my present. _ - Anonymous
I particularly have that problem when a book is about Civil War, and slavery, or Jim Crow and the N-Word comes up. To dislike a book because it is historically accurate is sincerely unfair. (that said, just because it does , or does not, use a particular derogatory term is no reason to increase or decrease your rating).
PREACH!!🎉🎉
@@kurtfox4944 this!! Especially number 2. I think there are rare occasions when the author can be pulled in, when they are being deceptive and their hypocrisy needs to be called out, when that wow a clear agenda . I have no problem doing that 😏
I often worry that future generations will judge us harshly for all the stupidity we are currently engaged in. Audible was running a free special deal last week so I read The True Story of the Christmas Truce, by Anthony Richards. Good read, but it really worked to show how much power for good can be wielded by regular people when we put our minds to it.
Merry Christmas Kurt 🎁
@@dougirvin2413 Merry Christmas
Yes it’s important to have negative reviews of books that are truly bad. I don’t hesitate to critique books I find unreadable such as some by people like Thomas Pynchon, David Foster Wallace William Gass and others I could name. I know the fact that an author’s work is difficult doesn’t neccessary mean it’s bad but at my age I have no time for those kind of works. Readers who are much younger are welcome to give them their best shot. As for Sally Rooney of course I’m not interested in things about young adults who spend a lot of time bed-hopping and who think Marxism might be a viable system after seeing the recent massive failures of the present “free market” one. Be well. ⚛❤
@@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd agreed! Hahaha Rooney is the gift that keeps on giving 🤣
at one point you say "grow up" and i think that generational differences may play a significant role. if you're a young millenial/genz then you probably grew up on fanfiction where there's an attitude of "no crit". you know, you're reading something really personal from somebody who crafted it for free, it would be "rude" to point out its flaws. r/nosleep has a rule that you don't question the validity of any post/story, all of it should be assumed true. and then there's the social media aspect where everyone is fishing for validation, "likes" are really important. if you like something that i like, that means i am correct and have good taste, and the inverse is also true. maybe all this is coalescing into a sort of toxic positivity when it comes to art, an aversion to engaging with media critically out of fear of finding out something about yourself that you're not ready to hear.
Can you imagine how boring the world would be if we agreed on everything?
@@Christian-ut2sp omg it would be so dull
I'm late but I also blame JKR for this. I think because of her views on certain things, I do think there is legitimate pushback against her for valid reasons and why I won't ever read her books and I do side eye anyone who does still read her.
However, I think within online bookish spaces, this has definitely led to moralizing how we read, what we read, and why we read, to the point where it's gotten to be toxic. Like, I have found some bookish influencers unable to take any criticism or just a difference in opinion and if you do you're considered some kind of "-ism" or I'm not intelligent enough to understand or am a hateful individual.
At the end of the day, we have to be okay with disagreement and heck even disagreeing about disagreeing if that makes sense? Like yes, it's wrong to be hateful, but not liking someone's opinion about a book doesn't make them a bully!!!
Because I think the issue is also that people put authors on a pedestal and your bad review is somehow attacking the author? And I will say that if a bad review attacks the author, then I don't like that either. Basically authors should stay away from reviewer spaces, and reviewers can roast books to filth without personally attacking the author.
So yeah, you're not a bully. ❤
I think it goes before JKR - I think that's a separate convo and separating the art from the artists. I think that boils to personal conviction. People will read what they want to read, for various reasons. But Yea, we are all engaging with these texts for so many different reasons that it's weird to me how people get so defensive. LOL I'm not a bully but i'm blunt and people don't like that. I just rarely care what people think about me hahahaha
Did you go to grad school? I've always felt like your reviews are so organized and informed as if it were for class. And I love your videos, especially if you have a different opinion than me about a book because I'm allowed to see it in a new and different way :)
Nope :) I was DONE after undergrad, and I wasn't a lit major.
Seriously!??, I'd never have guessed. Academia lost a treasure when you decided to do something else 😢.
@@dougirvin2413 I prefer independent learning. 😅 “academia” has also changed a lot.
Moll Flanders is awfully boring (sleeping pill). I agree with you about Sally Rooney too. I think you're right about publishers sending books content creators who never seem to do negative reviews. Jane Eyre is one of my favourite books as well and I know many don't like it nearly as much asI do. But when I hear people rave about Emma it makes me laugh because I hated the book. Different strokes for different folks. People need to be accepting of different opinions and this period we're living in is challenging for that. Accepting critique is a part of being an artist. However, authors shouldn't be roving on forums where readers exchange on the books they love and hate. The critiques we make are for readers essentially, not for authors.
@@browngirlreading moll Flanders is … so dull 🤣 haha I love Emma! Yes you bring up an excellent point! The reviews are for the authors. They are for other readers and some authors need to realize that once the book is in the public it’s up for public discussion. Period.
The problem is people cannot distinguish between and objective and subjective. I used to think they were being intentionally difficult. But I am to the point where I think people genuinely do not understand the distinction.
Objective points to the object - the THING - itself.
Subjective points to the subject - the PERSON - doing the observing of the object.
A book can have elegant prose, an interesting plot, characters that are well developed, and themes that make you think. Those are objective qualities*. They pertain to the book. You, as a person, could still end up disliking, even passionately hating the book, for any number of reasons, *while still acknowledging* that it has those objective strengths.
Since people can't distinguish between objective/subjective, that is why they get so angry and nasty. They perceive it as rejecting a book = rejecting them.
*I acknowledge there's not a written-in-blood standard for all these metrics. But I think, as readers, we understand that general standards do exist.
And not just books.
Basically, what you are saying is people don't understand the concept of opinions, and can't distinguish feelings from fact.
@@Yesica1993 you better preach!!!! This is the issue with society today when people have opposite view points and when you don’t agree, people get defensive and resort to name calling.
I almost got in a fight for hating White Noise. 😂😂😂
LOOOOL people need to CALM down.
"If I finish a book a week, I will read only a few thousand books in my lifetime, about a tenth of a percent of the contents of the greatest libraries of our time. THE TRICK IS TO KNOW WHICH BOOKS TO READ." ---Carl Sagan, Cosmos, The Persistent of Memory, 1980.
Message- Break your bubbles💯
@@achunaryan3418 🙌🏼
I really enjoy and appreciate critical analysis but not negative criticisms. I personally haven't perceived your videos to be negative, but constructive as you said. You have great taste, and as soon as you say that the editing was lacking I already know it's not the book for me. Thank you for sharing so many great reviews.
Yep, that's me. I don't have the heart to welcome nasty comments from internet trolls and rude people. So, I am grateful for courageous people like you who can handle it.
@@leafsonata thank you! Very true and people misconstrue constructive criticism as negative.
Haha I admit I’m wired a certain way. I have a coworker who tells me that I’m a Rottweiler in a ballerina’s body 🤣
@@alanaestelle2076 LOLOLOLOL! That should be your Channel name
Hi @leafsonata, I'm looking forward to your next video, hope you're doing good!
Please get bookcover! I don't have Instagram and am trying to move away from Goodreads! Would love to follow your reviews more closely
@@zinaak4194 I don’t know what bookcover is 😅
I agree.
Hey Alana just caught up on your review you are so right if you don't like it.... Who cares
They are over reacting
I like listening to what you think about all your books I don't read a lot of books but you have made me realize I have been missing out on, I like movies
I have just finished a book called. The Alchemist ( I like it )
Take care and have a happy new year 2025
Happy New Year :)
2:51 that’s blockable behavior
@@Taysbookbabel oh trust and believe they get blocked. I have no problem doing it. I won’t put up with nasty behavior.
Kool stuff AE
I think you're brilliant!
👏🏽👏🏽 EXCELLENT points! I agree as you mentioned, that we all are reading for many different reason (I too abhor poorly edited books) and that will steer our judgement when we rate books. But honestly, WHO LIKES EVERY BOOK they read 😂
Love what you bring to the YT reading community! Pls consider reading some works by Toni Morrison in 2025😊 I would love to hear your thoughts!
Thank you!!! I have a Morrison sitting on my shelft, but I gotta wait for a book to call my name LOL
Most booktubers don't read the books they review.
@tianawashington8869 you said the quiet part outloud!! 👀
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Wise words. Kudos.
8K SUBS!!! WOW!!!! GO!!!
@@DevinLaVore I know right?! Crazy!😳
I still think the YT algorithm must be broke, if it was any good Joe Rogan would be calling up Alana for advice on how to boost his numbers!
I laughed at you murmuring Jane Eyre. I love it, and I mean I am open to hear criticisms but most of them are so lazy. "but did you KNOW Rochester is not a great boyfriend??? I would not date him, ergo the book is TRAAAASH". I don't engage with those reviewers though, I just roll my eyes and move on :)
Yea a lot of critiques on Rochester aere lazy. The man was ... challenging BUT he also is a fascinating character!
More to the contrary I am amused with the hatred of books that I like. There is a Book Tuber who regularly punches the cover of "American Psycho" for example. She is not impressed by the idea that all the horrible crimes described in the book are probably just in the character's head 😸😆 The sort of books I tend to like would not be those books if the majority did not dislike them! So be it then! 👍 I have no problem writing criticism because people are free to write in and criticize ME right back, so what is the problema?
@@JohnSeney-t1i LOL! I think the problem is that people can’t think critically anymore 🤣
Calling out sally rooney ss a shit writer can't be the wrong opinion. Impossible.😅
LOL
I don’t know you. This is my first visit here. But I like you and I’m interested to know more. 👍🤘
First off, I support your form of expression on your channel even though I don't know you. I enjoy your style of presentation whether or not I agree with your views.
Having said that I am of the view (more and more as I become more humbled) that it serves us to have light opinions because they are only opinions. We may be confident in knowing what we like, but there is no telling that it will (or should) stay the same. Having light opinions doesn't mean we don't have integrity which I feel people think is the reason we ought to have strong opinions. I'm starting to know every moment what I don't know and that helps me to take myself less seriously, even if I still take myself too seriously 😂.
But it can be fun to share our experiences having read a certain book, or movie, or whatever. And in my humbled opinion (because it was not always the case) it makes discussion more accessible when our opinions are light.
Which brings me to a weird concept that I'm not sure we as a collective are comfortable with: you can have loose opinions and still critique a work because you are not personally criticizing the person who wrote it. A character the author has written does not define that author as a person, even though a lot of the author went into that character. The same goes for the novel as a whole. So I totally agree that it is valid for you to post negative reviews. You are not trying to insult the person who wrote it, I would hope. And you gave your time to that work. It's published and now it doesn't belong only to the author, but also the people who took the time to read it. It could also help the author disassociate their sense of worth with how the book has been received. And you're right, we don't have to be nasty about it. When done right it isn't negativity because your intent is positive.
What you should do is fix that slanted book angle behind you. Because I said so. 😂😂😂 Jk.
I seem to have caught a bit of Chuck fever on this post. But I do appreciate your platform in allowing me to post. You are generous with the volume of content you put into this stuff and I appreciate your efforts.
Thank you!
Hi Ernie, Ha Ha Ha! I knew this video would induce an attack of ‘Chunkitis’!
Couldn't agree with you more on your well thought through analysis of BookTube literary criticism and have only one substantive notion to add, but first…
I thought I was the only one bothered by Alana’s crooked camera! Hard core C.S. Lewis fans will see where I’m going with this one and I don't recall ever hearing Alana mention the guy so I don't think she did this camera tip on purpose, or at least not for this purpose. However she’s a rather sly character and I too have been humbled once or twice before. In Lewis’ first Space Trilogy book, Out of the Silent Planet where he offers up a tolerably good explanation to the Fermi Paradox (??? where are all the aliens ??? Don't know if you're a big space and astronomy guy or not?) Lewis envisions a creature analogous to a Biblical archangel which he calls an Oyarsa. His Oyarsa are so powerful and so just and so pure that when they appear to humans they look straight up and down but the whole world looks canted to one side, heeled over like a sailboat in a stiff wind. When I saw Alana’s skewed camera work I thought that was what she was trying to convey. My mother, herself a very experienced reader, once observed that the true masters don't make very many mistakes in their art, so if you think you have ferreted one out, better double check your work before you go to press with your discovery. It's a bit like we talked about before when Homer seems to ignore Greek grammar when it suits him or Shakespeare just makes up new English because…he’s The Bard. Please note I am resisting the temptation here to rip into that darn James Joyce (you made it further into Finnegan's Wake then me), I don't want to turn back into a giant centipede!
Now to the point I wanted to make. I may re-post this part as a separate comment in hopes of more people seeing it, nobody's gonna read all this tripe I know!
Seems to me some Great books are so because of their ideas, not their writing. I like a first rate wordsmith as much as the next bookie. But some of my favorites and those of many other readers are actually not all that well written, but the ideas the author conveys and the conversations they spark are worth it. You don't have to be half as smart Alana to find literally faults with:
1984
Fahrenheit 451
Brave New World
Atlas Shrugged…I could go on but you get the point. 451 may not be the technical masterpiece that The Brothers K. is, although I'm happy to stand up ‘The Gardener' passage to ‘The Grand Inquisitor’ any day of the week. But for these 7 decades now Ray Bradbury has made people think about and discuss censorship and that is arguably more valuable than a troop of word junkies who can put pen to paper without an idea in their heads.
@@dougirvin2413 "Seems to me some Great books are so because of their ideas, not their writing. "
I think this is the reason readers don't like Ursula K LeGuin. Often, her first 40-50 pages are rough. Oh, but her ideas are certainly discussion-worthy.
Different reasons for reading...
@@dougirvin2413 I had an idea that she was doing the camera thing on purpose. Her presentation is pretty spot-on so I figured it was intentional, but it was more in reference to her saying that we shouldn't tell other people what to do with their own channel. I still don't know the reason why it is slanted, but your explanation makes sense. Haha!
As for literary criticisms I can go back and forth with them. Sometimes the reasons are different, but oddly enough it's Stephen King who touches on writing quality and meaning in the book 11/22/63.
I don't know if you have read it, but the main character is a school teacher who is shown a way into the past and is given the task of preventing the assassination of JFK. Before he finds out about this we follow him grading adult essays, many of which are fairly well technically written, but there is no depth to what they are writing about. He then reads a janitor's paper and is moved to tears even though it is technically inept.
I do think King plops on the symbolic lazyboy instead of making it to the bed, but this part speaks to me very well. A person can write with heart and convey an idea without being the best literary talent or craftsman, and that is what we are really trying to do (in my opinion). Some things cannot be conveyed in the traditional use of language so a person has to take more artistic liberties with the craft, whereas some people are good at conveying an idea even though they are limited in their knowledge of the craft. We can learn the rules so well to break them, or we can be ignorant of certain rules and end of coming out of it with a style that exists because we didn't say it was wrong for it to exist. At least that is a possibility with creating the work.
Sometimes a lack of knowing the rules can limit you so that badly written books can also just be badly written books. Since I consider us all to be creators and artists it's useful for me to be sensitive to why a book is "badly written" and if it would actually benefit from being written in a more technically skilled way. It might unintentionally take away from the artists voice. The craft can be refined through time, but what is important to me is that the voice is clear. And Alana is right, sometimes you're not on the frequency of a certain artist.
I tend to look at it and ask why that is rather than accept that it just is that way. If I said certain artists were just not for me and left it there I would have missed out on so much good music! John Coltrane and Radiohead being just a few examples. This is an example of not taking my own opinion too seriously. It hasn't always worked out. I still have a hard time listening to heavy metal and certain forms of rap, but it has helped immensely in developing a palate for things. It also helps me to get into a story that may not be the best grammatical masterwork.
Again, though, this is one reason I come to Alana's page. Because I agree with her that some content creators give fast food reviews and say something is just good. She explores topics beyond that and I think that her intention is positive, so "negative" reviews are useful. They aren't negative in the traditional sense. It's just her saying she doesn't like something. That's fair.
Man, Chuck fever is real. Gotta drink those fluids. Lol!
@@kurtfox4944 A friend of mine was telling me about her writing style and how it was a little off. Funny you should mention her.
Hi Ernie, LOL! I hope I'm wrong about my Alana tilt cam theory! What could be more arrogant than imagining that your content creation is second only to The Creation!?!🤣 That sounds like some Prince and the NPG action…🎶”In the beginning God made the sea, but on the seventh day He made ME…” -My Name Is Prince, from The Love Symbol album, circa 1992. Oh God, am I that old?!? Or perhaps in closer keeping with the spirit of Alana's channel say it's like Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov thinking that since it was OK for Napoleon to commit great crimes so he could for full his great destiny because he was a GREAT man…’therefore it should be fine if I go and murder this little old pawnbroker lady (Alyona Ivanovna) and well I guess maybe her little sister too (Lisaveta) so what’s some collateral damage when you're on your way to GREATNESS!?’ I'm paraphrasing here, but not by much. I do have issues with Crime and Punishment, great work of art or not, I do have issues.😝 Which of course is the whole point of this video right? But just like my mother warned me about not being too critical of a great genius, they don't make mistakes too often. I've often pondered this seeming thematic gaff. He published C&P in 1866 a good 2 decades after being imprisoned and nearly executed himself. He wasn't a young man anymore and must have known what a stretch into incredulity this ‘Napoleon’ thing would be. IDK maybe such craziness was more common then than now? If there are any first rate D$ scholars out there (this is Alana’s channel so I suspect there could be) please enlighten me if I'm missing something obvious. Just seems like he could have come up with some simpler plot device to get to the double murder easier and more believably. I grant you that this plot line makes more sense, dare I say, perfect sense, if we take it purely metaphorically. Say we substitute Rodion for the U.S. Government in general and General Custer in particular and Alyona and Lisaveta for, oh say,The Sioux and The Cherokee Nations, you know, Alana's people, just a thought.
Hi @asdfghjklasdjkl, LOL! Definitely all JKR’s fault! I'm much too old to be a big H.P. fan but I did read the first three installments with a reading buddy many years ago and I basically liked them well enough for what they were. But in the third book, The Prisoner of Azkaban I had a real Dunning-Kruger effect moment when she depicted the prison guards as these Dementors whose job it was to suck the souls out of the inmates. I'm a retired prison guard and I immediately identified my own post orders and general job description as well as many thousands of pages of department policies and procedures all distilled into this bit of fiction, ‘how did she know that!?!’ I asked myself. Another author who totally gets my old job description correct was Wilkie Collins (Jezebel's Daughter, 1880AD) , a pretty good Victober read for next year.
Let's be honest, there are some shitty books out there. Lol.
YES!!!!
❤
@@SheanaJo ❤️
Kool stuff AE