The worst writer to have ever existed: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yaros, spoiler filled rant.
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Disclaimer: if you liked this book, good for you. This is not a personal attack on anyone who likes this book. This is my personal critique/view.
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I dnfed Iron Flame solely because of Violet being such an annoying, childish ass. They literally got into huge trouble in the first book because Xaden shared too much info with her, yet she still couldn’t see why Xaden hiding things from her was necessary :D I don’t understand how she can be so unable to see past her own hurt feelings to understand that not everything is always about her (people are dying? It’s a WAR????). She’s somehow supposed to be a smart character, but she’s so overwhelmingly shortsighted and self-absorbed that it’s comical. I normally read books for fun and games, don’t give a damn about plot holes or poor world building or things not really making sense (hence why I actually quite enjoyed Fourth Wing), but I have my limits.
And the way it dragged on and on and she kept being so whiny about it made me irritated. The situation didn’t make any progress, it was just chapter after chapter of ”boohoo, I can’t trust him, he could be hiding anything from me 😢😢” Girl, get a grip. Also, Xaden’s whole ”I want my three little words back” thing was so cringey and melodramatic that I just couldn’t enjoy the romance anymore.
YES YES YES! Spot on! I forgot to mention the 'three little words' thing... I agree! The childish, immature behaviour combined with the repetitiveness is too much for any sane person to read lol.
I agree that Xaden couldn't really be 100% open and honest with her, but they're both so childish that they never even discuss and negotiate what she CAN know. He never offers up anything meaningful on the page, and then later when he does, he gaslights Violet and tells her he didn't offer it because... she didn't ask? but whenever she would ask, he'd shut her down or decide she was asking the wrong questions? it was so gross and frustrating--the power dynamic in that was handled so poorly. this is not a healthy aspirational relationship and i have no reason to root for it.
I actually think people are too harsh on Violet for wanting honesty. It shouldn't be a crazy thing to ask for or want. I think her wanting 100% disclosure was illogical and dumb, especially when she's meant to be clever. As the book went on, Violet seemed more and more like a victim of domestic violence, because she started not wanting to say things in case it turned into a fight and made Xaden mad. In this whole situation, Xaden held all the power and knowledge and then was making all the decisions about what she could and couldn't know, and there was no involving her in any part of that process or negotiating to tell her other stuff unrelated to the rebellion so she'd still feel included or respected, it was just "listen, i'm always going to have secrets. accept it" + "well i would have told you but you never asked" + "say you love me and i'll have sex with you". SIR??? I thought you were meant to be "in love"? At one point he gets upset and basically shouts about how she doesn't even know his mother knitted him a blanket when he was a kid. again, SIR??? you tell her NOTHING when she DOES ask shit. what??
I'm also really confused because Violet was training to strengthen and keep up her mental shields so she wasn't a liability or whatever, but then it felt really unclear to me why everything was still being kept secret from her? was she meant to be shit at the shielding and so they deemed it not worth the risk?
@@whatareyousayinggirlI got the sense that she was very inconsistent with having her shields up, which is why Xaden and Tairn remind her so many times to put them up. That's why I find her annoying because you can't want to know everything if you can't even do the basic of having your shields up all the time.
A whole hour critique/rant on a sequel to a book I'll never read from one of my favourite RUclipsrs? Oh, this is going to be good.
Haha thanks Rogue. Hope you enjoyed it.
I will always support Rebecca Yarros criticism cause being a bad author with this level of popularity is one thing, but being a bad person is quite another
Agreed!
It's always a little disheartening to see books like this get so popular. As someone who wants to get published, I'd like to think that all you have to do to have a shot is be a good writer. That's attainable--you can work on your writing and gain skill. But when books like this are popular, it makes me really worried about what it takes to get published. Is it mass TikTok appeal now? Or tropes? When it's not a merit-based system anymore, what IS it based one? Makes me fear that my work will get buried under a mountain of 4th Wings and Lighlarks and never see the light of day.
Please don't let it get you down! I have a belief that the pendulum will swing back our way and quality will rise to the top again. The bubble will burst at some point.
@@bookswithzara I hope so--otherwise I'll be forced to figure out how to use TikTok😬
@@yeettheduck23 don’t go to the dark side!!
So what if they do keep writing if you got something worth reading people will read it. stay off social media as it makes up a small percentage of the world.
I think the disability ‘add-on’ (cause that’s what it feels like) is two-fold. Yes, she definitely wanted to tick that box for points but I think it’s also used to show how Violet is even tougher than others because it doesn’t actually hamper her in a real way.
I think authors of romantasy especially feel like their heroine has to be “the most” to justify their role and anything that could be considered a weakness is therefore off the table? It’s so backwards. As if a character struggling in anyway (especially a woman) is somehow bad. It doesn’t feel like ‘feminism’ or ‘representation’ instead it just feels condescending and dangerous for girls/women.
I agree with you and I suspect you're right on point 2. If that is the case, I personally think that's really silly and narrow-minded (even though they would probably argue the opposite).
"It doesn’t feel like ‘feminism’ or ‘representation’ instead it just feels condescending and dangerous for girls/women." THIS IS SPOT ON.
It's neither. The disability add-on is because it's a disability Yarros has in real life. This simply raises a bunch of very interesting questions, though, because one would have to ask why the disability rep in the book is so bad when it's one the author actually has.
Honestly it’s pretty intimidating as someone who hopes to publish fantasy books in the future. Because I dislike everything about this book and the SJM books… and I won’t include most of those tropes so what will publishing look like in the future if I DONT include those things?
I’m a big believer that you should write what you want to write because the end product will be better for it. Yarros, as well as other authors attached to the same publisher, were asked to pitch a fantasy romance. It’s not as if she has been working on this for years and she was really passionate about it. And it shows.
We really need more interesting stories that don’t keep following the same old, tired tropes.
Might this hurt you further down the line? Potentially. But I beg you to do it because there will always be people who want to read compelling, unique/different stories.
Best of luck in your writing journey!
In solidarity with your fears, I made a vow to the moon and stars to write what I wanted to read, and I'm doing just that. I wrote an all ages gender-flipped Beauty and the Beast retelling cause I got tired of toxic romances aimed at teens. Not sure if it will "sell" but writing from the heart is so much more important and if you do that, then that's what matters. Writers Unite!! ✊
Set up the trope and then veer off from it. Like, use the "chosen one" trope and then find out the chosen one is so Mr. Bean that he basically gets un-chosen... Use the tropes but only to abuse them.
Even if you want to use a trope such as 'the chosen one' trope without abusing it or putting a spin on it, you can do it in a way that isn't so 'main character' focused. Don't forget about your side characters and world building, try to flesh them out well. Then, even if you use a trope, you would use well and people would still enjoy it.
A few things about this video that I either forgot to say or want to reiterate:
1. Disclaimer: if you liked this book, good for you. This is not a personal attack on anyone who likes this book. This is my personal critique/view.
2. Any inflammatory comments about the Palestine/Israel situation will be instantly banned (on either side).
3. If you love this book/author and can’t handle criticism, then I implore you not to watch this video. No video is worth watching if it’s going to potentially hurt your mental health.
4. I encourage debate and conversation so please do get involved! Just be respectful about it.
5. 4:43 is where the analysis actually starts.
And another problem is Rebecca only grazing over the effects of war. There is some PTSD exploration, but it’s so minimal. There are plenty of military men who write books about war or made up wars, and show the emotional and psychological effects of being battle and going to war.
EXACTLY! If an author is going to write about a topic then please do justice to said topic! Don't just glaze over it.
@@bookswithzara- I agree!
Rebecca Yarros: *publishes a book*
Zara: So. You. Have. Chosen. Death.
Me: *grabs popcorn* It's show time! lmao
How tf does this writer fail to properly represent a disability that she herself has IRL?!?! "WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW" is one of the most common pieces of writing advice out there. How is her writing so bad that she cannot even write about her own life experiences properly?!? Oh, and she has family in the military, but fails to properly depict military life and how it effects ppl...what the hell?!?!? 😂😂🤣🤣
With that being said, however, there is actually only one important question here in this entire hour+ long video, and Zara raises it at 57:20 - "Would you sleep with someone turning into an evil being?" - The answer depends entirely on how hot the person turning evil is. Obviously it would be weird to sleep with an unsexy evil person, but if they are fine as hell then, well, it would be difficult to resist regardless of moral alignment lmao 😅😅
Lol, the funny thing is I wasn’t even trying. This is all stuff that was glaringly obvious.
Yes! Exactly! The fact that she has a disability and is a military wife but FAILS to barely scrape the surface on what is happening is a testament to how bad her writing is.
Hahahaha this made me laugh out loud. You’re right, of course. Hot evil person - ✅✅✅ Ugly evil person - ❎❎❎
Thanks for a great comment. This made me chuckle :)
It might be a sign how she didnt really care to make it consistent ans has the worst of all, not trying. Like bad books that tried, at least are trying to have that?! Which at least is fun to hear ranting about.
Or like james tullos said, its just alazy cadhgrap, at least lightlark is funny bad.
Hell even rysand is just a box to tick off.
@@marocat4749 yeah she clearly didn’t. Bear in mind she hasn’t been working on this idea for years. She (and others) was asked to pitch an idea for a fantasy series to her publisher and then it got approved, because they wanted to diversify their portfolio.
Wow thats just cynical. @@bookswithzara
😂😂😂😂 This was so awesome. I hate this romantasy trend - he's hot, I love him and I want him. And nothing else matters, like literally nothing.
I refuse to read it because her version of dragons is trash. Obedient to weaker creatures, bonding for no reason, with no goals or agency of their own. The Dragons I write are closer to Cthulhu than Smaug, and I am offended by her weakling breeds.
YES. What is your book called?
@@bookswithzara I'm not quite published yet, and the titles are up in the air, but thus far the two I've written are going with the operative titles of 'Shyael' and 'Broken Bard'.
@@TheAdarkerglow If you want a reviewer to review your books once you're ready, feel free to drop me an email :) best of luck!
I agree with you one hundred percent. This book is really really bad, I’d say it’s worse than Lightlark 😂
All the good reviews this book and Fourth Wing has makes me lose faith in humanity. I can’t wait for more people to rip into this book. There’s not enough videos trashing this series imo 😂
Hahaha, right??? I don’t get it! What is it about this series that has people so divided? It’s just pure trash.
@@bookswithzaraits earnest trash thou 😔
What I find fascinating is that Rebecca tried to backpedal from her Israel statement by saying "I'm against war and that's what all my books are about" as she writes a book that not only encourages toxic competition in the military, but to such a degree that they're actively ignoring their own material realities. She's supposed to be a military wife and still can't puzzle out that no half-way decent military is stupid enough to commit wanton slaughter of their own human resources no matter how evil they are.
Exactly!
You damn well DELIVERED! Honestly, this video is better than the book, sorry not sorry 🤣🤩
I am honestly so glad I had the audiobook to consume this story because I would have ripped the pages out if I had to read that horrible writing with my eyeballs, lol. Anyway, really good points, all of them! And why am I not surprised in the slightest that Yarros is ProBLemAtiC?! Who would've thought 🥲
I hadn't thought about the potential for a romance with the prince (with his stupidly spelled name), but I think you're onto something. And ugh I don't know if I'd be able to handle Xaden's POV because the little snippets we got didn't do it for me. But then, it would be less time in Violet's dumbass head so there's that.... silver linings 🤣
Thanks for doing this Zara, your suffering has been appreciated 🙏❤
Haha thanks Esmay. I’m glad you enjoyed it! I agree about having to read Xaden’s pov. I doubt I’m going to read the next book anyway but if it has Xaden’s POV then I especially doubt I’ll read it haha.
@@bookswithzaraI will happily be your guinea pig for book 3 lol
@@esmayrosalyne🙏🏽🙏🏽
when she has empathy for and wants readers to empathise with dragon-riders and their families who are victims of war, displacement, and colonialism, but she can't make herself empathise with Palestinians enough to condemn their displacement, , genocide, and the colonial war crimes being committed against them... 🙄 she also disagrees with people who call her "pro-military" but she very much is, and she's proud of it.
This is my issue, she's a hypocrite (which I forgot to say in my video lol). If she's pro-military then own it. At least, I can respect that she has a stance even if it's one I disagree with. It's the hypocrisy of saying 'I'm anti-war' and then all her books are pro-military and her own comments on the Gaza situation are 'Israel can defend itself'. HOW IS THIS ANTI-WAR????????????? She's an eejit.
This makes me feel so much better as a newer author 😂
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 best of luck!!
My wife is newly getting into reading fiction and Fourth Wing was the first book that she loved. So much she made me read it. I love fantasy and sci-fi (ASOIAF, Dune, First Law, etc.) so she thought I would share in her enjoyment. I honestly thought she was messing with me. I genuinely thought it was the worst book I could ever remember reading. I questioned how she could (or so many others for that matter) enjoy it so much. At the risk of offending her, I dropped it and just agreed to disagree. It’s great to see a female who felt the same way I did, because she thought my dislike for the book was because I’m a man. Nope, it’s just awful. I tried to give Iron Flame a shot as well. Made it 5 chapters and I cannot make it further.
No no no, this has nothing to do with gender. It's just bad.
Read Fourth Wing to my regret. The writing is bad, no way to sugar coat that in my opinion. Somehow this woman is still laughing all the way to the bank??!! I will agree there are some cool concepts with unfortunately crappy execution. Probably going to pass all together on Iron Flame unless I get bored and want to see if it can get worse than Fourth Wing and/or I want to punish myself for some reason.
I definitely suggest staying away from Iron Flame as it's even worse. Nothing improves, which is unsurprising given how short the timeline was for from the first book releasing to this one.
Great comments about attitudes towards war (and by extension, oppression and violence) as they relate to current events! 👍
Thanks Josh.
I mever underatood how dragons would obey human. Theyre dragons! The dragons Im writing about arent even challenged by humans. Instead, they settle to pretty much worshipping then because they dont want to be on the creatures' bad sides and gain their trust.
This makes more sense to me! I love the way Ursula K Le Guin writes dragons in Earthsea. They’re evil and manipulative. Not stupid!!
I love how in your review, you become more and more depressed as time goes on. It’s like the book is draining the life out of you.
Personally, I’ve enjoyed both books because of the characters and the love story. But the fantasy aspect is just so badly written. Like nothing makes sense! 😂
Hahaha, it literally was 😂😂😂
That's totally fair, good to hear you enjoyed it! I actually think this would have worked better without the fantasy aspects. It could have just been a military contemporary romance or something.
@@bookswithzara - That’s exactly how it reads! Lol
I do enjoy these books, but they’re terrible Fantasy. Good character melodrama, but terrible fantasy. But I do like the characters, the world, and the romance. But Yarros doesn’t even understand her own geography. Like the amount of time to travel and traverse towards areas, doesn’t make a lot of sense. And I don’t think she even knows which part of the Continent is South, North, West or East.
But I do like the characters, I care about the love story. I enjoy how cheesy it is, and the fact that Violet used the word Endgame for her and Xaden, in a Medieval like fantasy world with dragons, is just hysterical in the worse kind of ways.
I give both books a 7/10, or 3/5 stars. But I mostly agree with the negative reviews. 😂
That's totally fair! I like that your view is balanced, because the amount of people who say this is well-written is genuinely shocking to me. I think it's absolutely fine to say you enjoy it and accept that it's not well-written fantasy. And to be clear, there's nothing wrong with liking something that isn't well-written, we like what we like.
idk, people been using "females" as a casual term 15 years ago in their fan fictions and roleplaying threads/games. It was cringe then, and i still hate it...
I never read fan fiction or played role playing threads/games, but 15 years ago, I’m not surprised that was a thing. It’s 2023 now and it shouldn’t be happening today 😭
agreed. It's not an eloquent word, it's just cringe and kind of creepy for any non-villain character to use unironically...@@bookswithzara
I really enjoyed Forth Wing for what it was. I felt it could be a series (sure enough it's going to be.) I was looking forward to Iron Flame. The first chapter was shit. I mean at least have the epilogue of the last scene of her brother being alive! Instead we get Violet eating cookies. She became so whiny in the 2nd book the same arguments between her Xanden very toxic and it's because YR is a shit writer. Using that as filler instead of story arc and going into depth about the gods, wards etc... so much happening at once yet nothing. When I've seen videos of people say they cried. I felt disconnected to Violet because she was so annoying. he didn't grow in her power and Andarna who I loved was just as annoying because now she's a teenager?!! Really that's what she decided to go with? This really could be two books NOT 5. Unless you do it from other people's POV because it was tiring at shit listening to Violet POV. The whole Idea of the book is great but lousy execution and follow through on characters. And Violet to me is a narcissist.
Yes to everything you said! I totally agree that their relationship is so toxic, it's so lacking of any depth/meaning. I also agree that Violet is a narcissist. She straight up gaslights Xaden and it's so gross. If it was the inverse, everyone would be flipping tables.
I wish us humans would forget about these people ,those people ( religions etc). WAR IS UNNECESSARY. THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM THAT CANNOT BE SOLVED WITHOUT WAR. WHY DO HUMANS NOT UNDERSTAND THIS VERY SIMPLE FACT. Why ????????I am not naive. It is simple.We choose to make it not.
I agree. She's also a hypocrite about it (something I forgot to mention in my video). She says she's anti-war/a pacifist and yet she endorses war. Make it make sense.
Brandon Sanderson released 5 books in 2023, and 3 of them are incredible and way better than Yarros’s books. By far! 😂
Hahaha, I have my issues with Sando but yeah, he is definitely a better writer than Yarros.
Yaros dribbles ( her books ). Sorry, definitely needed to clarify.
Hahaha, no worries. Yeah, she's really bad.
This sounds worrisome, why is this so popular? 🤔
Never mind, I looked at the length of the video, brought my 🍿, let's go. 😁
They are making an Amazon series from Fourth Wing, will it also extend to this book? And will there be...okay this is tough to type...sequels?
Sorry got carried away for a moment. Who needs Stephen King horror novels when these are available? 😂
My sympathies to your eyes and brain.
Omg please no! Amazon is making this series? Why why? It’ll be cancelled after one season guaranteed 😂
That’s a really great question, Paromita! I refuse to believe most people think this is good writing. I get the whole idea of ‘popcorn fiction’, that’s akin to reality tv, but the inconsistencies and plot holes are straight up bad.
I didn’t know they were making a tv series but man, that is infuriating. Look how long it took to get a Best Served Cold adaptation and yet this trash got something within a year of the first book being published 🤢🤮
Publishing industry really needs to sort itself out.
@@bookswithzara Soo...what I read from your comment is - you will be binge-watching it and doing episode wise reviews? 🤣
It's okay, between this and the Twilight TV series, my To Be Watch is really full. There's Dune Part 2 film but after these assured masterpieces, I don't think anyone will care to watch that. 🤭
P.S. Why hasn't there been an ACOTAR TV show yet?🤔 There is a fan base and I am quite sure fae don't require significantly more CGI than (shiny) vampires/werewolves or (ahem...horny) dragon riders?
These are the real questions! 🤣🤣
@@yelena86 Now, now, do not lose hope. If all goes well, we will get an extra season compared to the number of books like we did with the Twilight films! 😈😂
@@Paromita_M I’ll do it for a fee 😂😂
Re an ACOTAR show, I suspect it’s just been in limbo. I think it was optioned at some point but not sure if it actually went to the next stage where the start developing it. I’m sure we’ll get one at some point.
While I don't disagree with the critique, I do wish to maybe offer context and a potential answer for the '2months and sleeping away the teenage years.' This likely to the growth of the dragon. You've mentioned the baby dragon is changing colours and growing fast. An example is dogs mature faster than humans, in fact a dog grows approx 7 years for every 1 we humans live. Human's are the only ones that've given context to time like this. So it could be a mere reference that dragons grow into adulthood extremely fast. The caveat being it's not slowed down anywhere else - of course.
Thanks!
A one line sentence would have sufficed as an explanation. The fact that she can't give simple context furthers my point about how bad her books are.
@@bookswithzara I don't disagree, though I've seen authors being racked over the coals for stuff like that (treating the reader like they don't understand and need it spelled out to them). You're right, though, that it could've been done in a sentence or two. What I think she should've done is through internal dialogue had Violet wonder if they were like other creatures and how fast they age against humans, etc.
It was the amount of time she wrote “as the bile rises in the back of my throat” or “I’m going to be sick” or the 60 times violet was nauseous. Like whyyyy does everything make violet sick 🙄
So true! But then it doesn't actually have any lasting impact on her? So bizzare.
I just wanted her to find another way to explain anxiety. Anytime she would write that, it was to explain anxiety, fear, or a bad memory
Just saw your review of Fourth Wing the other day. I can’t believe you went back to the sequel and subjected yourself to it.
Yeah, as I said, I didn’t it because I had about 25 people ask me to do it. I’m also fine critiquing badly written books.
The lady is Mormon and has 6 kids. Maybe she’s just really tired all the time
😂😂
Is she? I can't find any evidence that she's Mormon.
At this point in time, we as a species are the dumbest on the planet. This also explains the popularity of these Yaros dribbles.
You know... I don't disagree.
When I saw that they did a midnight release for this book at my local book store I wanted to read this series just out of FOMO essentially. I knew that I probably wouldn’t vibe with it much but I got the excited about the concept of a fantasy book breaking through and blowing up the way HP books did when we were kids. I hadn’t picked any of them up yet but had loose plans.
I definitely won’t be following through with that after seeing the first part of the video and doing some more research on the topic. Glad this video came on my auto play and saved me from supporting a dummy.
You dodged a bullet! It's wild to me that it had people doing midnight release parties.
I wouldn't say you dodged a bullet, maybe dodged being disappointed. "Dodged a bullet" implies that reading this book would leave lasting harm. Perhaps Zara is being hyperbolic which is fine, I'm not familiar with their content.
I read the books, I like fantasy, not a fan of romance, still enjoyed them. They don't seem "dodged a bullet" level bad to me.
If you are the kind of person that will feel very guilty having "supported" an author after finding out they are a "bad person" (btw I think people throw that phrase around WAY to easily), then it might enter "dodged a bullet" territory for you.
Anyway, my advice is don't fret too much about reading a book and liking it when others don't, and don't fret too much about reading a book and disliking it when others do. People have different tastes and something that comes off as "immature and childish" to one person can come off as "approachable and relatable" to another, for example. But if this video helped you get past your FOMO when you already didn't think you were going to vibe with it, skipping it is OK too.
@@lukegerhard yes, I was being hyperbolic. As you said, everyone’s experience will be different and regardless of where you are on that spectrum, one can talk about it any way they wish to.
Glad you enjoyed it though. I’m all for people liking the books they like for whatever reason they like.
I’ve been listening to audiobook through the library through book 1. I had been forcing myself to continue but I’ve basically agreed with everything you’ve said and predicted so far through the first 6 minutes. 😂 it’s too easy and doesn’t seems almost like an AI fantasy author wrote this.
You know, you're on to something. I think she's written like 3-4 books this year, so it wouldn't be stretch to think she's use chatGPT (or something similar) to write this.
I can get behind the full-stop usage. But they have to be used every now and then. Whenever I use them, it's extreme. It stands out in the rest of the text.
Exactly. Doesn’t need to be used every. Single. Page.
I couldnt even speculate much or theorize because i was so confused the whole time or i just dont trust her writing bc she brings up so much random information i dont know if itll come up again. I found myself going well i guess this will die here or itll come back later because i have no idea anymore.
Also Jacks resurrection should have been shch a huge deal because naolin died doing it so everyone should have been losing their minds lol. I also have no idea how Xaden is gonna do his own thing since the dragons cant be apart from each other. She really pigeon holed herself with that plot line.
Its sad because Murtagh came out arouns the same time and ive seen no coverage of it. But my algorithm could be off too
AGREED! It's a random mish mash of poorly executed ideas. A bad combination. The Jack resurrection subplot was awfully executed. Do you think you'll pick up the third book?
What's Murtagh? Haven't heard of it.
Oh I just realised it's the new Paolini book lol. Is it set in the same world as Eragon or is it a completely new series?
I couldn't make it past the first page! It was terrible
Smart move!
@@bookswithzara I am so glad I got both from my local library and didn't waste any money on them! I can hold my hands up and amit to being suckered in by the hype.
I honestly don't understand the hate. Is Yarros the best author ever? No, she is not, she doesn't make top 100, she's not even close. However, did i enjoy it? YES!! I went through both books in 3 days, i loled several times with the dragons, i cried when XXXX died!! Would i nominate it for a Hugo award? NEVER, but i don't regret reading it, i enjoyed it a lot. Not everything needs to be Patrick Rothfuss' prose level.
@@Liilliithh I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ve never said every book needs to be Patrick Rothfuss level. Nor do I even believe that. The book has inconsistencies and the reading experience was janky which made for an unpleasant read, for me. It has to make sense and not feel like a disjointed mess. If you’re happy to gloss over that, then great!
Edit: typo.
I will give the books one thing. The prose is very readable. As in, you can just tear through pages without thinking very hard outside of digesting tropes and whatever little conflict is going on in the story.
I could go on all day about whats wrong with the books. The fact is that this is just the latest itteration of every YA dystopia trope distilled for maximum effect. This method of writing has been going on for over a decade. These books are like the reincarnation of The Red Queen series.
They fufill every story beat someone invested in the genre would expect in mediocre fashion. All the while not striving to break the mold or push the limits of the tropes or genre conventions it uses even a little.
The bottom line is that these books are a very safe bet for publishers and bait for YA fans.
"These books are like the reincarnation of The Red Queen series." I forgot to mention the similarities to Red Queen!
I think an author can tick all the boxes but also execute it well. She doesn't even do that, and that's why I find this series so ridiculous.
Thank you for making a really boring work session enjoyable, because I was listening to this video while working on something I REALLY didn’t want to do, but your comments and reactions kept me entertained throughout 😂
Hahahaha I'm so happy you enjoyed it!
So, What is the name of the book you have written that could be critique
😂😂😂
I never who or what this book was until about a week ago so I looked it up on RUclips now my feed is overrun with long videos of people not only hating the book but hating her as a person for her politics.
People hate the book so much that they have to read the second one and this makes no sense to me. I don't know about anyone else but my money and time are precious if I don't like something why would I continue?
I am a simple person people should read what they want as there are a million books out there for people to read. This seems to be a fast-food book that people consume and move on. Genuine book lovers love to hate because it is hard to conceive that someone could like it.
All of a sudden would-be authors are now saying there is no hope for them, Why? fashion comes and goes including in the book publishing business.
The question that is not been answered is why 2 million people picked up the first book and then in the first week of the second book 500,000 books were sold (I had to look this up) clearly there is something there even if we can't understand it. Promotion will only get you so far but why did so many people buy a copy of her second book in the first week?
we are so busy hating the book and the person that nobody is even willing to try and understand this.
To really critique first off there needs to be a balanced argument weighing the pros and cons you don't come to a conclusion at the start of the video you come to your final assessment and thoughts at the end with a conclusion.
And not in any way shape or form trying to be rude here but if I were judging an art form on someone's personal politics at all times many books, films music, and other art forms would be consigned to the dustbin not necessarily on artistic merit just because I don't agree with there politics.
Are you telling me that every author on your shelf is someone you could get behind politically or morally?
I find it unusual that you don't like the book, but you're doing theorizing for what might be happening and what might happen. Like, that's some dedication to reading to theorize for a book you didn't enjoy! Shows you gave it a proper read, this rant wasn't from a skim read.
That’s just the way my brain works! And yeah, I’m not going to skim read a book I’m doing an analysis on. That’s bad form.
idk why people are shocked, shes pro american military... of course shed have these opinions
No one is shocked? People are boycotting her and rightly so.
Have you read Iron Widow...?
I haven’t! Should I?
@@bookswithzara I don't know much about them, but I think the author is a respectable human being - but the book was markted as Handmaid's Tale crossed with Pacific Rim with poly-rep, and it is a crime against feminism and one of the worst YA books I have ever read. (But I haven't read Fourth Wing yet...)
@@marzipandonkeyah ok. I’ll probably stay away in that case!
At least Lightlark was half entertaining whereas this is just bad.
😂
Always appreciate such rants
No hate, some valid criticism here, but i do want to push back on a couple of things. Again, no hate and these are just my opinions:
1) the disability didn’t seem like an add-on to me. I'm not disabled, full disclosure, but it seems presumptuous to say that a disabled author is representing her own disability wrong in a book she's written. Like, it's a take you can have but boy is it a biiiig take. Also, exhibit A, the saddle. Does violet "tough through it" and overcome her disability to be able to ride like all the others? No. She needs to be strapped in. No other rider does this. Its an accommodation she's forced to accept instead of "overcoming" her disability. Is it always represented consistently? Maybe not. Is that bad writting? Up to your opinion. Does that make the author a bad person? In my opinion, no. (And maybe you weren't saying that, but it kinda felt like it to me)
1.5) it's a fantasy book. Is the main character able to acomplish feats that it would be unrealistic for them to accomplish? Yes. Now suppose the character has a disability. All of the sudden it's bad writting if they pull off unrealistic feats??? Heros do unrealistically heroic feats. And somehow saying "it hurts a lot" isn’t good enough of a consequence for having a disability? Idk i just feel like there are resons to criticize this book, and to me, this is just not one of them.
2) i think people throw around "bad person" way too quickly. Maybe the author is a bad person, but for me to conclude that from ONE thing they said? Now, some say they've seen this author be consistently bad about war while saying they are anti-war, and if that's the case its more reasonable but still, its reducing a whole human to one dimention. I've seen people complain about 1 dementional characters in a book and then go and minimize REAL PEOPLE to one dimention in the same breath. Also, when the person puts out follow up statements it's described as "backpeddaling" instead of changing their mind. Again, maybe they are, but it just seems like a lot of people are super quick to judge someone and then NEVER let them change from that judgement. Are we willing to let people be real, messy, disappointing, growing people? If you don't like the author, fine. If you don't like her writing, fine. But to call this person "bad" and then shit all over their writting using the most unkind words, that's... good? Express yourself and your opinions however you like, you deserve to be heard as much as me or anybody. I just thought I'd share my opinion that it seems a bit more hateful than i think is warrented. Maybe I'm wrong. But you do you!
All good, I rarely take anything personally.
1) It did to me but it’s also fine that it didn’t feel like it to you.
2. Oh I totally get that it’s fantasy. But I like it when heroes are flawed and can’t do everything. So it’s obviously just a personal preference thing. If you like heroes like the ones she’s written, then that’s also totally fine.
3. I don’t and have never used the word ‘bad person’ lightly. Again, people have different limits so if that’s not enough for you, then that’s fine.
Also I do get that bad takes can come in different sizes and this author's bad take is a BIG, very disappointing bad take. So I get it. I still think it's minimizing them to say that makes them a bad person.
And at the risk of having this comment deleted, I want to say genocide is never justifiable and from the info I've seen that's what's happening in Gaza. Not trying to be contentious or controversial, that's just what it looks like to me.
@@lukegerhard I’m not going to delete comments just because I disagree with them. I never have and never will.
I think it also depends on where you’re coming from. I have been close to the conflict in Gaza for many years, so it’s quite a personal topic for me. I think this author has shown behaviour that makes me think she is a bad person. But again, that’s entirely dependent on what you classify as good or bad, which is subjective. We all have our own definitions of good/bad, and in a circumstance like this, I think that’s fine.
Edit: clarification.
@@bookswithzarafair enough. And I will admit, after watching the rest of your video (I know, commenting before finishing the whole video is the cardinal sin of RUclips commenting 😅), I think we may just have some different sensitivities and tastes. And I am not close to the conflict in Gaza personally but fwiw I hate that my tax dollars are being used to continue the violence (I'm a US citizen). I don't mean to pry, as I don't know you, but I hope those close to you in the region stay safe and my condolences to you if there are any that you have lost in this inhumane ongoing tragedy.
On hopefully a brighter note, this is the first video of yours I've seen, and I'd be down to watch others from you, it was engaging even if I ultimately disagree with some of your takes. Keep up the good work!
Also! I haven't read a book in years, got glued to my phone and only recently tried to get back into books. 4th wing got me back into reading so yay, but if you have a recommendation of a fantasy book with what you consider actually good writting I'm all ears! I know I can find them on my own but I'd be interested to know what you consider good writting so I have a reference to where you were coming from in this video lol
@@lukegerhard I really appreciate your comment and I’m all for these types of discussions. At the very least, we’re unified by something we love and that’s books.
More than happy to recommend. Before I do so, what type of things do you like in your books? Would you like only fantasy recommendations?
why did you even try to read it? :)
@@arekkrolak6320 simply because I wanted to.
What’s the author say about the Israel war?
I looked up the Instagram account that you encouraged all of us to be educated on, and implored us to read. I don't see what you are warning us about on there. I see the complete opposite of your personal statement actually.
My point is that she didn’t endorse a cease fire. Where, on her IG, does she do that? Please enlighten me. I know you won’t be able to because she didn’t. She also claims she cares about children, on both sides. Yet she doesn’t endorse a ceasefire… 🤔
On TikTok, she said Israel has the right to defend itself. She claims to be anti-war and yet she is endorsing violence.
@@bookswithzara Thanks for your reply.
@Kaloo1968 Yarros changed her statement multiple times, the original one was very different. There might be screenshots floating around. I remember reading the original and being appalled by what she said.
@@StarN-ig6yuI'm sorry, but I don't see any screenshots online to support your statement. I looked.
Hey Zara, I have to comment on this video as it left a very bad taste in my mouth. I haven't read the book, I assume it's probably pretty bad, I'm just here for the entertainment value. But calling the author a "bad person" and that she should not receive any money from her books, that she is embarrasing etc. This is pretty shitty behavior. To my knowledge she has condemned the attacks on innocent palestinian civilians. The ongoing conflict is extremely complex and experts with decades of experience in the matter still have vastly differing opinions. Calling someone who is generally pro-israel does not make them a bad person and talking about them in a belittling, demeaning fashion does you no credit.
Hey Candydust,
Thanks for your comment. I’m going to respond to a few of the comments you made to clarify a few things. Please take this in good faith, I’m not trying to start an argument or anything. I’m happy to chat about this.
- I stand by my assessment of Yarros as being a ‘bad person’ because her behaviour indicates, to me, she is one. There is a literal genocide happening right now and anyone endorsing something other than a respite in the consistent bombardment of innocent people is disgusting.
- By spending money on her books, I am contributing to her financial and literary success. I do not want to do either because she is a terrible writer AND now, I consider her views to be damaging. I made this decision for me. I didn’t once tell other people to not buy her book for any other reason than her terrible writing.
- I said her writing and the industry shoving this nonsense down our throats is embarrassing, which it is. Please bear in mind, she created this series at her publisher’s request, not because she was super passionate about this idea and had been working on it for years. Maybe if she had been, it would have been better executed and not just a repeat of many other fantasy series (that also happen to be better written).
- ‘The ongoing conflict is extremely complex’ ok, and? Does that mean I can’t have my own opinion on it? I have friends both on both sides (one of my friends was asked to fight in the IDF a few weeks ago) so please, don’t imply that I can’t have an opinion on something that I’m actually quite close to. This is a conflict I’ve been following since I was 16 years old, and whilst I may not have a degree in the conflict, I have a pretty decent sense of what has happened and what is happening, from people directly on-the-ground.
- ‘Calling someone who is generally pro-Israel does not make them a bad person’. There is a very clear distinction that needs to be made here. I didn’t call her a bad person BECAUSE she is pro-Israel. I called her a bad person because she refused to endorse the notion of a ceasefire, which would protect thousands of lives. This is where I get very frustrated in this debate, because as soon as anyone says anything remotely in defence of Palestinian lives, it is assumed that they are anti-Israel. I am not anti-Israel. I never have been and I never will be. I spoke out against what happened when Hamas raided the concert and they murdered innocent Israelis, and I will speak out when the Israeli government is murdering innocent Palestinian civilians. I only mentioned this side of it because this is specifically relevant to Yarros.
- As an addition to the above, she has also said herself she is anti-war/a pacifist. This doesn’t, much like her writing, make sense. The definition of pacifism ‘is the belief that war and violence are unjustifiable and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means.’ She claims Israel has the right to defend itself, how is this pacifism? Definitions don’t work like that. They don’t change to suit one’s personal agenda.
Anyway, I’ll stop here. Thanks again for your comment.
Hi candydust,
about your last point, the genocide happening in Gaza rn isn’t really an “extremely complex issue” when you put history in context. not to start a whole debate, but the existence of Israel only really depends on public amnesia and ahistorical contexts. i think if you read the history of zionism, antisemitism in the west, the U.S’s history in the global south, and how Israel came to be founded, you’ll get a pretty good idea about what’s happening rn. it’s also pretty interesting to see how language and stereotypes have led to this point. (also, can you point me to reliable experts/scholars that have differing opinions? it’s really interesting to see what experts from both sides are saying/have said.)
Hamas has been firing rockets at Israel for years which is why they need the Iron Dome, yet no one accuses Hamas of committing genocide, yet after having over a thousand civilians brutally massacred, Israel is accused of committing genocide because they don't want that to ever happen again. The double standards against Israel is staggering, as is the ignorance of the average person commenting on this conflict.@@oceantides
Yarros thing doesn’t shock me to be honest. There’s been other authors who said some similar Pro Israeli stances like how it has the right to defend itself etc (not going to name them or anything just in case I’m misinformed) so yeah Yarros definitely not the first. On the flip side, there’s also plenty of authors actually supporting peace so not all hope is lost. it’s just disappointing to see authors of anti war and anti oppression stories being kinda hypocrites at times. I’m just going to hope it just comes from a place of ignorance rather than pure hatred/dehumanizing a certain group
Btw an hour long video dedicated to a book you hate?! I could never survive doing that so I applaud your efforts (but I still not going to read the book 😅)
Yeah, definitely not all hope is lost. I totally agree with you on the hypocrisy.
Haha thanks for the applause. I don’t mind doing these critiques, though this one did hurt a bit 😂