What also frustrates me about the Greek myth retellings is that they are barely retellings. They don't really do much interesting stuff with the story. If you think of fairytale retellings, they usually change the story in some way, but here we just tell the exact same thing from another character's pov. There is so much potential there, but most of those authors just do nothing with it. I can sort of excuse Atalanta since that book highlights a lesser known character form Greek mythology, but all the Medusa and Trojan War ones, do something interesting!
Jennifer Saint does Greek retellings so poorly in particular because she truly makes them so boring because she doesn’t really add anything new?? No thanks.
🐥 It was ages ago that I read Rushdie's Midnight's Children, but several scenes have stuck with me. It's very much more of a literary magical realism thing. I've wanted to pick up Haroun and the Sea of Stories, though it's more of a children's book.
I’ve only read Ariadne by Jennifer Saint, but had many of the same notes. It just didn’t feel like it took ownership of the story in a way that invested me. I did find Natalie Haynes’ A Thousand Ships had a unique feeling angle, but I haven’t felt myself prioritizing her recent fiction.
🐦Enjoyed hearing your thoughts on the various Goodreads choice awards! Definitely some that sounded very interesting. And I definitely get the frustration of a book not feeling like the genre it was placed into on the goodreads choice awards. I especially get frustrated with the sci-fi lists.
I feel your Kel rant. Have you noticed that there are an abundance of "Rin/Ren/Vin" for female characters in fantasy. I would also like to mention the "Kaden/Caden/Calen" situation? Who decides these character naming trends. The names are too similar for it not to be a trend?
As someone who mostly goes by Kel, there can never be enough characters with the name... but I do take your point that it's weird when the books are so similar. Did she not know, or just not care?
Read starling house and someone told me the book isn't gay. I read it and there are so many gays around. 🏳🌈The only thing I found scary is rich people deciding that paying fines for endangering their workers is cheaper than protecting said workers.
Re: Unmaking of June Farrow genre category. I don't think its so much a disagreement as just inherent issues of crowdsourcing, they aren't reading the books for content, just putting it where its been most shelved as far as I know, which I suspect a huge amount of those shelvings under fantasy happen even before it released. Same deal for Starling House, sure its got a foot in fantasy, but it fits better in horror as its full on gothic story, but probably just got a load of fantasy shelvings before it released based on the authors past work and the description implying something fantastical. I wish they would put more effort in, but eh it is what it is.
I feel so validated by your take on VE Schwab, nothing I ever read by her worked for me (they all feel pretty soulless), but most of my favourite youtubers love her, so, thanks for this, as was slowly beginning to question my sanity!
I agree that June Farrow is more sci-fi! I was so annoyed by that. I also don’t think Flower Bride is fantasy. I was pleasantly surprised by Sword Catcher. I didn’t notice the similarities between ADSOM, but I aggressively hated that series so maybe that’s why. I’ve read 16 of the 20, and 8 of them were books I liked a lot (four stars or higher). The Will of the Many & Tress are my two favorites.
I totally get the flower bride thing, although the Azure part felt like fantasy to me even if its not lol I know genres are just vibes and marketing and sometimes I get very particular and other times I am vibey 😂
So many of these seem to be very "fantasy because we don't want to pollute the other categories and one person does magic." I was so unimpressed with this list. I do want to read VenCo though. That set up reminds me of Nettle and Bone
So moral of the story, most 2023 releases have been aggressively 'fine', lol. I am glad to hear you enjoyed Sword Catcher though, that was also such a pleasant surprise for me. Definitely eager for more in that series!! One of my highlights of the month was The Vanished Birds, that story is living rent-free in my brain right now 🤩🤩
🐦 I think there are a few that Goodreads has put in the wrong category, according to booktubers saying its something else. For example, Jasad Heir was put in Romantasy but people are saying its very light on the Romance.... Same with Vamps of El Norte I have read that and it reads more Romance with light horror. I'm glad it is in a category bc I loved it either way, but I dislike being tricked going into something thinking its one thing and it's completely different. So thanks for the heads up on the Adrienne Young book!
I’ve had the audiobook of Venco since it came out, but just didn’t have any pull towards it. You make me want to read it. I think a quest with her grandmother sounds great.
There have atleast been enough good books to balance, and my mental head space has been enjoying the serotonin of finishing things but very ready to be done with this project today 😅
Yeah everyone keeps pointing out the similarities between Sword Catcher and Shades of Magic. It doesn't help that Cassandra Clare's been notoriously called out for plagiarism many times in the past. Seriously. What were the publishers thinking? xD
Sorry, no. The only appropriate emojis for this video are 🐈🐈⬛❤ Loved hearing your thoughts on these! Also, the way you described VenCo, it sounds great - why the blah cover? I honestly passed it multiple times because the cover and title invoke nothing.
VenCo sounds like something Id love because Ive always been drawn to witches and covens, and have been looking for something to fill the void Her Majestys Royal Coven has left in my heart. I also really need to pick up a Rushdie book, hes always been on my tbr. I totally agree about SwordCatcher, and I really enjoyed the way she made a totally bi positive world, which was nice. (also totally agree about the naming of Kel hahah)
I did hear from someone who really liked her majesties royal coven that this wasn’t as good for them but they also might have read them close to each other
Sword Catcher was so interesting to me, because it felt like there were a lot of moments that were intentionally not written like Shadowhunters, even if it would have been fine. I feel like that made the similarities to A Darker Shade of Magic standout more, but then a few things reminded me of Kushiel's Dart but not done as well. That said, it also caught me by surprise, because the info dumping at the beginning was so brutal but then I did not want the book to end. I'm hoping we get more character POV's in the sequel, though.
🏛️ Schwab never thrills me. Harrow worked for me one time (ten thousand doors). Young never grabs me either. I am waiting for my library turn with Will of the Many. I loved Islington’s Licanius trilogy. Also added myself to the waiting list for Ink Blood & VenCo! ❣️🥰 Thank you 😊
Totally agree with Fragile Threads of Power, wish we had just done the catharsis and recovery from the events at the end of Conjuring of Light. The Will of the Many seems to be doing pretty well as far as people are really enjoying it. I can't decide if I want to try that or his other series first.
I think I will probably just stick to this series by him. But you might like his first one more than me. I am scared of it cause I think the character work is only ok
@@LiteratureScienceAlliance I read the first book in the Licanius trilogy and found the character work....shallow. There was a lot of travelling around and talking, but it felt like very little of substance. The idea of the world etc had lots of potential, but I don't think the execution lived up to it. 700 pages of meehhhh :( (but I have an unpopular opinion I gues lol)
Ngl I'm glad to see someone else as invested in wrong categorization of genre as I am. 😁 It's not fantasy, stop putting it there!😬 Also they really should have a mythology category. Vampires of El Norte sounds very interesting, and it seems like it might actually be an ok horror for me (hello, hi, scaredy-cat here), buuuut war. 😐 But VenCo is definitely going on the long-term tbr.
I agree. Who decided that myths were fantasy? How? Miscategorizing books like this means that there were 5 fantasy books that were left out. The Scifi category was even more of a travesty in my opinion.
Venco I read about 60% but I felt it went on a bit about how they got their spoons but not the direction about how they were going to what they were going to do. Maybe I will finish it one day 🕊️
![DDG & G Herbo - Nosey [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/I9Ra0Zc2NlQ/mqdefault.jpg)
What also frustrates me about the Greek myth retellings is that they are barely retellings. They don't really do much interesting stuff with the story. If you think of fairytale retellings, they usually change the story in some way, but here we just tell the exact same thing from another character's pov. There is so much potential there, but most of those authors just do nothing with it. I can sort of excuse Atalanta since that book highlights a lesser known character form Greek mythology, but all the Medusa and Trojan War ones, do something interesting!
Great rundown! I have to admit, the nominees are all pretty underwhelming this year, but I’m definitely adding VenCo to my TBR!
I have atleast liked doing the project but yea no new faves unfortunately
i think a trip to toronto to get the pretty venco cover is in order 👀 (but also yes we do get random canadian only versions)
Listen Rhyan and I both want to go to Toronto, so it will happen eventually!
Jennifer Saint does Greek retellings so poorly in particular because she truly makes them so boring because she doesn’t really add anything new?? No thanks.
Truly just a straight retelling and its SO boring for it
🐥 It was ages ago that I read Rushdie's Midnight's Children, but several scenes have stuck with me. It's very much more of a literary magical realism thing. I've wanted to pick up Haroun and the Sea of Stories, though it's more of a children's book.
Yea I am not intrigued by a ton of his stuff
“THIS IS NOT A FANTASY. FIGHT ME.” 😂😂😂
I was just so annoyed 😂
I’ve only read Ariadne by Jennifer Saint, but had many of the same notes. It just didn’t feel like it took ownership of the story in a way that invested me. I did find Natalie Haynes’ A Thousand Ships had a unique feeling angle, but I haven’t felt myself prioritizing her recent fiction.
🐦Enjoyed hearing your thoughts on the various Goodreads choice awards! Definitely some that sounded very interesting. And I definitely get the frustration of a book not feeling like the genre it was placed into on the goodreads choice awards. I especially get frustrated with the sci-fi lists.
The poor goodreads scifi list is already full of lit fit and it could have had this historical suspense!
I feel your Kel rant. Have you noticed that there are an abundance of "Rin/Ren/Vin" for female characters in fantasy. I would also like to mention the "Kaden/Caden/Calen" situation?
Who decides these character naming trends. The names are too similar for it not to be a trend?
Your feelings on Weyward were exactly how I felt about The Once and Future Witches 👀
Further proof that I should probably pass on that one 😅
You’re not wrong
As someone who mostly goes by Kel, there can never be enough characters with the name... but I do take your point that it's weird when the books are so similar. Did she not know, or just not care?
Read starling house and someone told me the book isn't gay. I read it and there are so many gays around. 🏳🌈The only thing I found scary is rich people deciding that paying fines for endangering their workers is cheaper than protecting said workers.
Yea I never found it scary in a supernatural way either
Re: Unmaking of June Farrow genre category. I don't think its so much a disagreement as just inherent issues of crowdsourcing, they aren't reading the books for content, just putting it where its been most shelved as far as I know, which I suspect a huge amount of those shelvings under fantasy happen even before it released. Same deal for Starling House, sure its got a foot in fantasy, but it fits better in horror as its full on gothic story, but probably just got a load of fantasy shelvings before it released based on the authors past work and the description implying something fantastical. I wish they would put more effort in, but eh it is what it is.
I did not expect to be sold on Sword Catcher when I clicked on this video 😂
I feel so validated by your take on VE Schwab, nothing I ever read by her worked for me (they all feel pretty soulless), but most of my favourite youtubers love her, so, thanks for this, as was slowly beginning to question my sanity!
Soulless is a fantastic way to put it.
I am glad so many get to have her as a fave but unfortunately she has always been a miss for me 😝
I agree that June Farrow is more sci-fi! I was so annoyed by that. I also don’t think Flower Bride is fantasy.
I was pleasantly surprised by Sword Catcher. I didn’t notice the similarities between ADSOM, but I aggressively hated that series so maybe that’s why.
I’ve read 16 of the 20, and 8 of them were books I liked a lot (four stars or higher). The Will of the Many & Tress are my two favorites.
I totally get the flower bride thing, although the Azure part felt like fantasy to me even if its not lol I know genres are just vibes and marketing and sometimes I get very particular and other times I am vibey 😂
Nearly all of these are on my tbr, so thank you! I can’t praise Vampires of El Norte enough. Loved it so much.
Its just so good!
So many of these seem to be very "fantasy because we don't want to pollute the other categories and one person does magic." I was so unimpressed with this list. I do want to read VenCo though. That set up reminds me of Nettle and Bone
It does have some kingfisher adjacent humor when the grandmother is on page!
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So moral of the story, most 2023 releases have been aggressively 'fine', lol. I am glad to hear you enjoyed Sword Catcher though, that was also such a pleasant surprise for me. Definitely eager for more in that series!!
One of my highlights of the month was The Vanished Birds, that story is living rent-free in my brain right now 🤩🤩
Yesss so glad Vanished Birds hooked you like it did me!
Yay for someone new on the Vanished Birds hype train! That book is stunning and sooo incredibly underrated.
@@ReadBecca 💯💯💯
🐦 I think there are a few that Goodreads has put in the wrong category, according to booktubers saying its something else. For example, Jasad Heir was put in Romantasy but people are saying its very light on the Romance....
Same with Vamps of El Norte I have read that and it reads more Romance with light horror. I'm glad it is in a category bc I loved it either way, but I dislike being tricked going into something thinking its one thing and it's completely different. So thanks for the heads up on the Adrienne Young book!
I think atleast with Vampires of el Norte it has a horror element but June Farrow has zero magic/magical realism etc. it irks me 😂
I’ve had the audiobook of Venco since it came out, but just didn’t have any pull towards it. You make me want to read it. I think a quest with her grandmother sounds great.
I enjoyed the audio book!
Yay that you're almost done with the reading project, but too bad that so many are just mediocre.
There have atleast been enough good books to balance, and my mental head space has been enjoying the serotonin of finishing things but very ready to be done with this project today 😅
Yeah everyone keeps pointing out the similarities between Sword Catcher and Shades of Magic. It doesn't help that Cassandra Clare's been notoriously called out for plagiarism many times in the past. Seriously. What were the publishers thinking? xD
Like all they had to do was not call him Kel, so simple 😂
Sorry, no. The only appropriate emojis for this video are 🐈🐈⬛❤ Loved hearing your thoughts on these! Also, the way you described VenCo, it sounds great - why the blah cover? I honestly passed it multiple times because the cover and title invoke nothing.
Truly do not know why the publisher phoned it in on that cover
VenCo sounds like something Id love because Ive always been drawn to witches and covens, and have been looking for something to fill the void Her Majestys Royal Coven has left in my heart. I also really need to pick up a Rushdie book, hes always been on my tbr.
I totally agree about SwordCatcher, and I really enjoyed the way she made a totally bi positive world, which was nice. (also totally agree about the naming of Kel hahah)
I did hear from someone who really liked her majesties royal coven that this wasn’t as good for them but they also might have read them close to each other
Sword Catcher was so interesting to me, because it felt like there were a lot of moments that were intentionally not written like Shadowhunters, even if it would have been fine. I feel like that made the similarities to A Darker Shade of Magic standout more, but then a few things reminded me of Kushiel's Dart but not done as well. That said, it also caught me by surprise, because the info dumping at the beginning was so brutal but then I did not want the book to end. I'm hoping we get more character POV's in the sequel, though.
Truly reminding me how much I like info dumps that I didn’t even notice their existence 😆
🏛️
Schwab never thrills me.
Harrow worked for me one time (ten thousand doors).
Young never grabs me either.
I am waiting for my library turn with Will of the Many. I loved Islington’s Licanius trilogy.
Also added myself to the waiting list for Ink Blood & VenCo!
❣️🥰 Thank you 😊
Hope you enjoy The Will of the Many!
Totally agree with Fragile Threads of Power, wish we had just done the catharsis and recovery from the events at the end of Conjuring of Light. The Will of the Many seems to be doing pretty well as far as people are really enjoying it. I can't decide if I want to try that or his other series first.
I think I will probably just stick to this series by him. But you might like his first one more than me. I am scared of it cause I think the character work is only ok
@@LiteratureScienceAlliance I read the first book in the Licanius trilogy and found the character work....shallow. There was a lot of travelling around and talking, but it felt like very little of substance. The idea of the world etc had lots of potential, but I don't think the execution lived up to it. 700 pages of meehhhh :( (but I have an unpopular opinion I gues lol)
Loved your thoughts! Thank you! And the cats. 😅
They were so cute and helpful while filming 😆
Ngl I'm glad to see someone else as invested in wrong categorization of genre as I am. 😁 It's not fantasy, stop putting it there!😬 Also they really should have a mythology category.
Vampires of El Norte sounds very interesting, and it seems like it might actually be an ok horror for me (hello, hi, scaredy-cat here), buuuut war. 😐 But VenCo is definitely going on the long-term tbr.
Or put mythology in historical fiction, or general. That’s where its typically shelved anyways
I agree. Who decided that myths were fantasy? How? Miscategorizing books like this means that there were 5 fantasy books that were left out. The Scifi category was even more of a travesty in my opinion.
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Venco I read about 60% but I felt it went on a bit about how they got their spoons but not the direction about how they were going to what they were going to do. Maybe I will finish it one day 🕊️
I think you also gave it a pretty good shot to engage you so if its a forever dnf so it remains