The catchphrase “That’s a shame. It sounds kind of neat,” progressively getting louder and louder as it sounds more frustrated is the cherry on top of this video lmao
I was kinda zoned out until I picked up the sentence "people who can control metal are called magnetrons" magnetron means microwave in my language so for a minute I thought a part of this worldbuidlinh was having a group of people called microwaves
31:24 I'm not even halfway through the video, and I'm already shocked by the sheer amount of "shame, because that sounds really cool"s. So, so many missed opportunities.
>Sees notification and reads title without being able to see video length. >assume I wont need to find another video to watch til nearly lunchtime. *>not disappointed.*
A member of a sub caste called Reds with a protaganist that belongs to that cast whos last name ends with "arrow" that is working to overthrow the ruling class that is likend to a precious metal? This sounds very similar to a certain book published in 2014...
Honestly really happy to see a video about this series, I loved these books until like after the 3rd book when I got tired of wsiting for the books to come out
I have to say, "magnetron" is such a dumb name, I couldn't believe it at first but then you said it again and I had to take it. Now, if you don't have one, you need it - a shirt that says "OK. Whatever", your catchphrase. I hope you get around to doing the rewrite video, I am a sucker for fix-it. Edit: Because of Twilight, I thought for sure the main character here would also be able to nulify powers (perhaps be the only one with that power). So... I guess I had one surprise in the story lol
Fun fact, after I finished reading this book (which was years ago), I threw it against the wall because that's how frustrated I was with it (and I was only around 12 years old so that's saying something). I never picked up the sequels after that so thanks for making this video lmao
First of your vids I've watched in a long long time, excellent breakdown at the end of the video on the state of media literacy and the consequences of fandom on creative expression!
This video has great editing and great commentary on the books. I just love the chaotic vibes. Edit: also, (almost done with my second watch through this video) this is one of the only YA rebellion stories that acknowledges the messiness of revolution and shifting alliances. I like that
"Rather than doing a long review with a bunch of harsh analysis...this time I'll stand in front of a white board..and summarize the plot..." *looks at length of video" Dude...
Man I was really expecting a Fourth Wing video, I want to hear your take on that shit show. Still great video, you marthyr, saved me the time and money on picking up this one
1:05:18 I can just see the Ryan George pitch meeting for this part... Script writer guy: So the Scarlet Guard says "we should take this stronghold, it would really send a message!" But Cal says it's suicide! Producer guy: Wow, so what does Cal wanna do? Script writer guy: He just kinda goes along with doing the attack anyway. Producer guy: Wow, it's gonna be really difficult taking this stronghold if it's suicide, there's going to be lots of death and Cal might die too! Script writer guy: Actually it's gonna be super easy, barely an inconvenience 😁 Producer guy: Oh really? Script writer guy: Yeah they do it off screen essentially. Producer guy: Off screen?? But... it's suicide, and it sounds like it would be a really exciting thing to watch! Script writer guy: Yeah I'm gonna have it be off screen. See I leave it up to people's imagination, because I don't actually have any idea how they could pull that off, it's complete suicide to attack that stronghold. Producer guy: So how did they do it?! How many soldiers died to take it?! Script writer guy: Listen, I'm gonna need you to get ALL THE WAY OFF MY BACK about this stronghold. Producer guy: Oh-kay lemme get off of that thing! 😁 Script writer guy: So anyway, after they've taken this impossibly impenetrable stronghold--
I read the first book years ago and was so mad when Maven turned out to be bad that I never picked it up again. I knew he would be bad, I thought it would have been an excellent subversion to make him good.
Wow. I remember reading this series years ago but couldn’t recall anything interesting except basic plot points and that evagaline samos was gay. Thanks for the recap
I like to call Mare “Bone Marrow” that’s what her name has always looked like to me, plus it’s fitting because a big part of the world building is about blood.
A RUclipsr I haven’t seen before talking about a book series I have never heard of for close to two hours? Why, yes. I will enjoy the video and subscribe
When their blood dries is it like when silver tarnishes… there are so many weird implications of this. What color are their blood veins through their skin??
@@luxill0s I read this series a a middle schooler so I may not remember right, but I think they did have silver veins. I think they mentioned their skin looking silvery and having to do Mare’s makeup to hide the pink undertone of her skin.
@@luxill0sWhen Silvers blush it’s usually described as them going pale or turning a bit gray. I also recall spilled Silver blood pooled in large quantities appearing a lot darker, basically black. It’s a bit weird but we need something for the ✨aesthetic✨ I guess
Something I hate about these "class is bad" kind of books is that most of them create a real difference between the ruler and the ruled, almost justifying the oppression, as if billionaires have some cool and awesome power aside of having bloodstained money. This was, in fact, my major contention point in Final Empire (along with the "inherited power" that also is kinda shitty that this book series also have). Bottom line, this kind of world building hurts your real-world message, which, presumably, is that we should eat the rich or something
Idk I think it could be interesting to look at a fictional world where there was a tangible physical difference between the rich and poor and still explore the negatives of class and poverty as long as it's written pretty good
Unless the writer is really based and goes "well these differences are neither biologically determined nor morally significant" and the point is actually that a class system based on superpowers is still wrong. Something something Brandon Sanderson.
You can say the same with race analogies. Fantasy is especially bad at this. Like, racism is terrible but fantasy races have bigger differences between them than IRL human ethnicities. Unless that's somehow no big deal in-universe (except it usually is, anyway), it sort of justifies being fearful of a race if they can liquidate you with magic or in some cases are explicitly always evil.
@@uggachugga760 Yes, Scifi also does this pretty badly overall too, using aliens as stand-ins for non-white people, or worse, robots. Of course, abuse and violence shouldn't be justifiable even if the ruling class is a collection of god-like creatures, but it is based on this kind of discourse that we idolize dumbasses like Elon Musk
Speaking of arbitrary groups, I once wrote a story with an online friend about two tribes fighting and the literal only difference between them was that one of them has red eyes and one of them has green eyes. It's really just a plot device.
The fact that the Stilt people have hair that turns pale towards the ends because of stress implies that their hair grows continually from the tip like a plant rather than from the follicle. I'm not sure what the world building implications of this are
hearing that made me laugh so hard. I've had hair turn grey from stress, and it doesnt look like a cute dip-dye ombre, its either an entire strand or from folicle to tip. That sounds like something she could have just... looked up
Tbh, this is not too far off. Hair frequently "washes out" when it grows. For example my own hair which is dark brown at the roots turns a very light brown once its past my waist. This is super normal. So if in stilt there would be some wild chemicals it's not too far off
Cities disappearing as a royal court moves isn't weird. This is how a few of the rotating Persian capitals worked. They were basically only a palace structure with foundations for tent cities to be built up nearby.
@@雷-t3jSome of the Persian capitals were actual cities. Like Babylon, Ecbatana, and Susa. But these were pre-existing cities that came under Persian rule. The Emperor actually typically ruled from the major city of Babylon. Ones like Persepolis and Pasargadae were more ceremonial. Let’s just think of them as sort of like summer homes that the Emperor visits from time to time. The only important thing is the presence of the King of Kings itself and whatever other ceremonial function the buildings served.
@@雷-t3jeasier to move with the seasons in places where heat scorches and fertility changes, especially when their architecture was relatively light enough to move. Would also be strategically good to keep the Royal family alive and thriving in case enemies start invading, just lift your things and get the good horses
One thing that always bothered me about this series was when Cal and Mare have sex, she gets a birth control pill because no one knows if Silvers and Reds can cross-breed. And when I heard that, I nearly spit my teeth out of my skull. You're telling me that Silvers have had Red servants for hundreds of years and there are no affairs between them? No forbidden romances? No bribing poor Red girls
Hi! So I'm pretty sure she took the pill because she was 18 and didn't want to get pregnant, the thought of the cross breeding was there but I think she mostly took it for her own sake. I think the other reply makes a lot of sense though and that newbloods had distant silver lineage
A lot of the missed opportunities I didn’t really think about when I read the series. But the one about Maven’s character and trauma being explored and him being healed was something I genuinely thought the book was leading into
It sounds so silly, but in one of his POV episodes he complimented Mare's hair and the way he said it was just super sweet. Like, yeah he tortured her and tried to kill her, but he complimented her hair!
I remember trying to read Red Queen for the first time. I accidentally imagined Mare as being older than she actually is and misinterpreted her anger for exhaustion. I was disappointed to learn she is just another generic YA protagonist. That would be kind of meta to write a YA protagonist who is just exhausted by everything that happens. Though I am not sure how compelling that would be in practice.
I think a story like that wouldn't really be YA, since it would get increasingly more appealing the less Y those A's are. But I for sure would read it lol
try Jill Bearup! she did something like this and handled the meta of it really well. the book is still a WIP, but her channel is a goldmine for anyone that enjoys media analysis. also, swords c:
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi are romp with an infamous pirate forced out of her retirement (you know, assembling the team for "one last job") if you're looking for a non-teen/ non-inexperienced protagonist to read about.
I feel like Percy Jackson is kinda like that as the series go on (especially in Blood of Olympus), and Magnus Chase Celaena Sardothien is realistically a child victim of war, slavery and oppression though Throne of Glass too, so despite being young you can feel her dreading the steps she takes forward when she has to face her reality, more on Heir of Fire (in which she regains a bit of inner strength through recovery), but she never stops hating war and trying to bring an end to it through gritted teeth (despite having the façade of a charismatic character when she deals with important people, which is entertaining). It’s one of my faves, tbh
"Normally the heroes of this kind of book would get everyone to work together through the power of friendship. But, I guess, the power of geopolitics and extreme violence is stronger." I LAUGHED FOR HOURS
I recently reread this whole series and as silly as it may be at times, it is such a guilty pleasure 😭I hated Mare at first but I honestly quite like her now? #1 Kilorn hater though--he reminds me of Gale Hawthorne too much!!!! Also putting Gerard way as the photo for Maven is so funny omg
For a lot of the series, I had no idea that Farely was this young girl because it was mentioned briefly in her introduction, but then my brain just never understood that for some reason, because like you said, how could this girl supposed to be in her early 20s, be in charge of the biggest rebellion around. So when her relationship with Shade was revealed, I was so weirded out because I thought this woman in like her 30s or 40s was with this young guy, until I went onto the wiki page and realised, oh yeah this lady is actually around his age what the hell, she just seemed like that lady from Wreck-It-Ralph who kills bugs.
I don't like it when the rebellion group is led by people in their late teens to early twenties. It makes the rebellion feel flimsy because it must be if the leaders are like eighteen. At least with characters like Katniss, she's a soldier and a figure head, not the head.
@@moonstarstories1298she was also forced into that role by the real people in charge. She's just a symbol people could put their hopes into, not the one calling the shots.
I remember reading this book series in high school and absolutely loving it, and then trying to re-read it the summer after my freshman year of college and being incredibly disappointed. It was almost like a sign that my childhood was over and it was time to move away from YA dystopia.
The weird names, setting and storyline really take you away from reality so hard that it's difficult to remember this is a future post-apocalyptic version of Earth. Like my immersion was fully suspended and then I hear "these are the ruins of New York" and it just snapped me out of it fully lol
it so is, it seems like the typical vaguely medieval western europe setting that fantasies are often set in then every once in a while you get the literary equivalent of a slap in the face with events like the remnants of the overthrown aristocracy attacking the nation they once ruled to try and re-establish their hold on the fledgling democracy...on motorbikes
34:27 Also didn't they already imply with Mare's case that giving the Reds the illusion of upward social mobility would be a massive PR blow to the rebellion and improve the public's perception of the aristocracy? Like it's very easy for a people to unite against such a culturally and politically distinct enemy. But if you theoretically have a chance, no matter how slim and unrealistic, to join the aristocracy, that's gonna make a small but significant percentage of people far less likely to rebel. Also if someone's brother's neighbour's boyfriend's sister-in-law is a Countess, they might think twice about categorically chopping off all the noble's heads.
Honestly, when the possibility of a red having similar powers to the silvers was discovered, I expected the whole silver blood thing was just an illusion created to fool the lower class into thinking they were an inherently inferior race. Considering that, it wouldn't make much sense to proceed by publically announcing some reds could actually become equals to the silvers.
yeah it is what happens in hunger games ahaha people still have some hope bc of the chances of winning the game and becoming rich and why they are mad when victors also get screwed over ... someone wrote a rebellion book better than someone else ahaha
That's pretty much how things work in America nowadays. "I'm not gonna vote for rules that help the poor cause I'm sure if I grind hard enough I won't always be poor so it won't help ME, and I'm not gonna vote for rules that tax and punish the rich because the it'll affect me when I'M rich!!!" instead of going for a system that helps and supports everyone.
I follow the author on social media and she is so sweet, which is why I'm sad that I just can't get into her books. I tried reading Red Queen twice and Blade Breaker once but I just can't bring myself to care about the characters and story. So, thank you for summing it up:) I love these kinds of videos
I love the books and tv series format of iconic multihour breakdowns. We should make a (play)list of girlboss summaries. Feel free to copy and add your sugesstions. - Vampire diaries (Jenny Nicolson) - Pretty Little Liars etc. (Mike's Mic) - ACOTAR (Cari can read) - (shitty book club) - Once upon a time (Ava's Reads)
@@jito7377 does the recap of Twisted Love by "lexi aka newlynova" count? I haven't read it so idk if it's girlboss (I'm pretty sure it actually isn't lol) but the video is really entertaining.
@@M24071The fact that the cliche bully character ended up being my favorite aside from the main antagonist just shows how awful Mare was as a protagonist. The author is really good at making me root for the villains of her books.
@britt6184 yeah her villains are more likeable and interesting than the main character I absolutely hated both cal and mare in the last two books they just kept getting more and more annoying
@notreal9214 Yeah she is gay, but also maybe maevn too it is never cleared if he is gay or bisexual since his first love was a boy he accidentally killed and he does have conflicting feelings towards mare
While there are a lot of flaws to overall series I actually found Maven to be a really compelling villain character. Yes his mind was broken by his mother, but he continually chooses to bad decisions going against our heroes. There really was no "fixing" him and that made me quite sad, I would love to read more from his perspective
I was so excited about seeing that he got a few POV chapters before they killed him, and I was completely ready for the author to go into more depth with his character, expose his vulnerabilities more and more, and then it just didn’t happen. When I was beginning to get bored of reading War Storm, his POV chapters saved me from giving up on the book. While I’m happy with what we did get, I would have loved more from his perspective.
I remember discovering the first book right after it came out and I got super into the series and was eagerly awaiting each subsequent release. Then I read King's Cage and it killed my love of YA fiction, which for a high schooler with very little standards is a pretty impressive thing to do.
I love this and I am ashamed that in the folly of my youth I wrote fanfiction for this desperately trying to salvage the story and failed miserably. Also the Colonel is impeccably the correct choice for this representation. Edit: I must clarify, the story I was not fond of, tis the video essay I love. Although Shade was an OP Gary Stu, I did like and hate the fact he died, he was honestly the only remotely interesting character in a world of interchangeable pieces.
Somehow the video gets better with every "No" Edit: should also give some love to the other running jokes, especially james pointing out the title drops
I completely forgot that Farley isn't 30. There's no way she was meant to be a teenager. Also how much filler there is in here, although I do remember taking nearly a month to read War Storm.
It kills me when fantasy or dystopian books use a malformed version of the US in the future as their world setting but this is the worst example I've seen. Going from ALBANY to ALBANUS and just naming a country after what had been a chunk of Texas and surrounding states? And of course the midwest is just a whole other country called the Prairie, and AHA the Great Lakes are now the Lakelands. Spent a good bit chuckling at all that geography.
Early in the video but the profession thing seems so odd. Why wouldn't he just become the fisherman after what happened to his former teacher, why would you be a theif without a cover job or plan if turning 18 means automatic conscription? 1:19:30 Would it be that strange? We've all seen Biden blast.
I read the book years ago, and I thought it was overall very boring. I heard the author had a great deal of connections with the publishing industry, and she basically didn’t have to do anything to become a published NYT best selling author 🥱 I mean, her writing style is fine, but I truly think the story is just… bland. Most likely due to everyone wanting to copy off of SJM 🤷🏾♀️
Man if I had a PENNY for every time they said silver in this series I'd a be BILLIONAIRE I HATE that color now Sadly, I was expecting WAY too much going into the series and I was hoping they're gonna break all the trends, And actually stick to the themes of the first book. Anyone can betray anyone. For instance the metal bender I was HOPING going to be a spy For the good guys posing as her nemesis But no, this series COULD have been so good could have been game of thrones for superheros and again just crappy ya book sigh
about evil teleporters, i legit only have a singular clue about them, and its how a lot of the newbloods seem to be, like, juiced up versions of silver powers, like cameron doesn’t just stop powers, she stops hearts too (so edgy), so i just kind of assumed that the teleporters were better versions of the super fast guys? Still no idea but just my (probably dumb) thoughts
The fact that I read the three books but I cannot recall anything apart form Mare being extremely annoying and victimized, Maven having a dog kink with her and everyone betraying everyone for no reason.
On the teleporter question: to the best of my knowledge, the newblood powers sre designed to be Silver powers, turned up to 10. I.E. Mare is like a storm, but much more precise and just with lightning. The gravity ones are like the telekinetic Silvers. Cameron is a boosted up Silence. John is a deus-ex-machina Eyes. Following this logic, Shade and the other teleporters seem to be boosted up swifts/speedsters. So, that might be the answer to why there are no evil teleporters.
No need for multiple perspectives is a bold statement. I get its hard to do, but some of my favorite series do it. The Expanse, GoT, stormlight, etc. Just cause crappy YA authors can't pull it off doesnt mean its a bad writing practice.
I think (could be wrong though?) James was talking specifically about series that start out with a single 1st person POV, but then can't keep it up because they insist on getting their MCs trapped in places they can't see the story happening from, so they have to introduce new POV characters just to stop the story from grinding to a halt. Except then they misuse it and fluff it out with a bunch of filler anyway.
18:43 never read or heard of the series but itd be interesting if reds had powers just maybe less often than silvers do and the government was just making them "disappear" for medical experiments similar to Unit 731.
That's basically what Mare is, they call them "new bloods" but really, it's just red blooded people with powers. But they don't do experiments, just kill them off whenever they're found out by the military
I read only Red Queen and Glass Sword-- I really liked Maven in the first book and what happened genuinely made me feel betrayed as well!!! But Maven in the second book... 💀He was so cartoonishly evil it gave me 2nd hand embarrassment at times. I'm not really an avid reader (I finish like 2 books per year LOL) but I found the second book to be so, SO draining. If it wasn't the slow plot, just everything BAD happening sucked the life out of me. I didn't even want to read the third book because the title was just. too embarrassing. for me. to read. LOL. And to all who got this far... please give me book recommendations... I am so picky with what books I pick out and read but if someone tells me to read it, I WILL READ IT (that's how I got so far into the Red Queen series lol)
what kind of books are you looking for? more (better) YA fantasy? adult fantasy? social realism? romance? non-fiction? i’d be happy to recommend something, but i don’t know what to base my recommendation on :) i will say that i’ve recently started reading “this is how you lose the time war”, and if you’re looking for what seems like a somewhat loose narrative with a lot of really beautiful poetic descriptions, that book is *amazing*
@@esobelisk3110 Thank you for replying to my comment!!! I'd love some more YA book recommendations, preferably without too many explicit scenes. In the past, I really enjoyed sci-fi books as well as mystery/thriller, so any recommendations around those genres are welcome :3 I don't read that much romance, but if you know a romance book that's something cute like friends-to-lovers and such I'd love to read it ALSOO I will definitely check out the book you said you were reading! I really enjoyed a short story I read for class that had poetic descriptions and sort of a loose narrative, so I think I might like this book !! TY :D
For YA, if you haven't read the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, I highly recommend them, especially the first five books (he has 2 other series of books set in the same universe but the first five are the best). Also, A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwabb was recommended to me once and I really love the book! There are 3 more books in that series and they are all awesome too. As for mystery/thriller books, The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens are both recent favorites of mine but they're not YA books. If you want YA books that also fall under the mystery/thriller genre, One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus is also good. There are two sequels to the book but I haven't finished the third book yet. I really enjoyed the first two, though. Another YA series that has mystery/thriller elements that I like is The Inheritance Games trilogy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Those books were real page-turners!
Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard are in the same world as Percy Jackson. If you don't want to read the whole dam universe, choose either Percy Jackson and The Olympians>Heroes of Olympus>Trials of Apollo,or if you want Percy's story to be finished with no add-ons, just read Kanes and Magnus Chase.
Maven and Evangeline are like the most interesting thing in the books, the second book it's very boring, I can't remember the third but the fourth is quite nice. We have some Maven's pov and they're the best part imo
I have no idea what this is but I'm less than 20 seconds in and the picture of Gerard Way has me interested in where the heck this could possibly be going
No one will understand how much middle school me was obsessed with this series. Is it good? NO! But it meant so much to me back then, thank you for this.
I dini’t understand much except, mumbled mumble rebellion, mumbled mumbling power, mumbled mumbling useless romance. 10/10 will watch again in half a year
I'd really like to hear your take on Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" series. It's the story of a British naval officer in an alternate history where Napoleon Bonaparte had access to dragons (along with the rest of the world leaders). Runs a total of nine titles, most of which I find to be quite fun.
I love this format (I rewatch the Cari Can Read ones regularly lol), and this kinda toned-down comedy variation is gold. I actually laughed out loud several times 😂. Sub!
So Iris’ dad wasn’t the leader of the Lakelands. Her parents are cousins (because royal family) and her mom is more senior in line so the queen is the actual leader while the king was her consort. Their older daughter Tiora would inherit after her mom died regardless of if her father was alive. Hope that makes sense :)
The best parts are you posing questions about interesting future plotlines with a "Nooooooooooooooooo!" at the end. I do not like that the "lesser" son is the evil one.......unless they give him redemption it just seems like a missed opportunity. He was treated badly by his Dad and seems to be the lesser fighter and shit in general. I am only at the 46 min mark, so let´s wait. But Timothee (forgot his character name) seems kinda boring...but then again, so is the main chick....so it propably checks.
There are so many character changes that would make the books so much better. Maybe age Mare up so her grumpiness is more out of years of being in a horrible system rather than edginess and maybe make her less overpowered and give her the same limitations elemental silvers have (I mean creating electricity? Really? What a plot device) and show her struggling with it more, make Cal less toxic and maybe cut out the romance entirely because it’s boring and pointless and unhealthy for all parties within a hundred mile radius, throw a few more red flags with Maven in book 1 so his complete insanity in the later books feels less jarring, and give hints that Evangeline has more nuance earlier on. It needs some polish is what I’m saying I guess but I mostly like it and somewhat detest it
i read this book as a young teen back in its hayday (i wasn’t the biggest fan of YA but had avid reader friends, so i’d read what they read) and all i remember was absolutely hating the magic system lmao. hilariously my recently reading mistborn (and then everything else in the cosmere) reminded me so much of red queen’s magic system, for whatever reason. except it was the shining example of everything my brain hates with magic - i like to know *why* a power works a certain way or why some scenarios aren’t good for it and things like that. honestly can’t remember much else of red queen. just teenage me’s intense hatred of most everything in it lol
I did the rewrite: ruclips.net/video/NjgtOG_E86M/видео.html
I need your reveiw on "The Cruel Prince" series. I absolutely despised it but everyone loved it 😅
The catchphrase “That’s a shame. It sounds kind of neat,” progressively getting louder and louder as it sounds more frustrated is the cherry on top of this video lmao
fax
And a wonderful setup for when something meet finally happens
I was kinda zoned out until I picked up the sentence "people who can control metal are called magnetrons"
magnetron means microwave in my language so for a minute I thought a part of this worldbuidlinh was having a group of people called microwaves
they are now. i will henceforth always call them microwaves
omg I thought exactly the same! have I located another Dutchie?
@@robinvannoortwijk631 wellicht...
shame cause that would have been neat😂
thats hilarious
31:24 I'm not even halfway through the video, and I'm already shocked by the sheer amount of "shame, because that sounds really cool"s. So, so many missed opportunities.
>Sees notification and reads title without being able to see video length.
>assume I wont need to find another video to watch til nearly lunchtime.
*>not disappointed.*
What doesn't make sense: Why are the nobility fighting in an arena for the amusement of the common people like gladiators?
A member of a sub caste called Reds with a protaganist that belongs to that cast whos last name ends with "arrow" that is working to overthrow the ruling class that is likend to a precious metal?
This sounds very similar to a certain book published in 2014...
The funniest part is that Red Rising is also a mediocre YA dystopia (fight me)
What is this, hell?
That take was hot!
A member of a caste called reds working to overthrow the ruling class?
This sounds very similar to a certain revolution…
Honestly really happy to see a video about this series, I loved these books until like after the 3rd book when I got tired of wsiting for the books to come out
I have to say, "magnetron" is such a dumb name, I couldn't believe it at first but then you said it again and I had to take it.
Now, if you don't have one, you need it - a shirt that says "OK. Whatever", your catchphrase.
I hope you get around to doing the rewrite video, I am a sucker for fix-it.
Edit: Because of Twilight, I thought for sure the main character here would also be able to nulify powers (perhaps be the only one with that power). So... I guess I had one surprise in the story lol
Fun fact, after I finished reading this book (which was years ago), I threw it against the wall because that's how frustrated I was with it (and I was only around 12 years old so that's saying something). I never picked up the sequels after that so thanks for making this video lmao
omg I love this kind of video :) also super excited for the rewrite!!!!
i have been waiting for people to do this series so i’m so glad this popped up in my recommended
First of your vids I've watched in a long long time, excellent breakdown at the end of the video on the state of media literacy and the consequences of fandom on creative expression!
39:37
Didn't expect a random mention of my country's ex king in this video 😂
This video has great editing and great commentary on the books. I just love the chaotic vibes.
Edit: also, (almost done with my second watch through this video) this is one of the only YA rebellion stories that acknowledges the messiness of revolution and shifting alliances. I like that
I'm in love with all the "NO" variants 😍
Great video, I was happy to finally find the time to watch it.
I love this because now I don’t have to read the rest of this series😭 the first book had me so uninterested
“What a shame, it could’ve been neat”
Any chance you'll try to rewrite Red Queen like with Throne of Glass?
"Rather than doing a long review with a bunch of harsh analysis...this time I'll stand in front of a white board..and summarize the plot..."
*looks at length of video"
Dude...
Man I was really expecting a Fourth Wing video, I want to hear your take on that shit show. Still great video, you marthyr, saved me the time and money on picking up this one
i love short videos
All of your hypotheticals would’ve been SUCH good plot points too 😂
1:05:18 I can just see the Ryan George pitch meeting for this part...
Script writer guy: So the Scarlet Guard says "we should take this stronghold, it would really send a message!" But Cal says it's suicide!
Producer guy: Wow, so what does Cal wanna do?
Script writer guy: He just kinda goes along with doing the attack anyway.
Producer guy: Wow, it's gonna be really difficult taking this stronghold if it's suicide, there's going to be lots of death and Cal might die too!
Script writer guy: Actually it's gonna be super easy, barely an inconvenience 😁
Producer guy: Oh really?
Script writer guy: Yeah they do it off screen essentially.
Producer guy: Off screen?? But... it's suicide, and it sounds like it would be a really exciting thing to watch!
Script writer guy: Yeah I'm gonna have it be off screen. See I leave it up to people's imagination, because I don't actually have any idea how they could pull that off, it's complete suicide to attack that stronghold.
Producer guy: So how did they do it?! How many soldiers died to take it?!
Script writer guy: Listen, I'm gonna need you to get ALL THE WAY OFF MY BACK about this stronghold.
Producer guy: Oh-kay lemme get off of that thing! 😁
Script writer guy: So anyway, after they've taken this impossibly impenetrable stronghold--
Found this randomly and you're cute so I'm gonna watch it
Shame, that would've been kind of neat:
1. 9:27 - 9:54
2. 13:14 - 14:14
3. 17:43 - 18:34
4. 28:04 - 28:38
5. 30:56 - 31:25
(Will edit this comment to include rest as I go)
46:24 53:57 1:02:32 1:07:15 1:18:49
I wish more BookTubers who make these kinds of videos made picture choices like yours 😂
i'm nominating this video for the oscars, i think it's one of your best ever!!
I read the first book years ago and was so mad when Maven turned out to be bad that I never picked it up again. I knew he would be bad, I thought it would have been an excellent subversion to make him good.
Wow. I remember reading this series years ago but couldn’t recall anything interesting except basic plot points and that evagaline samos was gay. Thanks for the recap
even after all these years i CANNOT get over how absurd all of the characters' names are. mare molly barrow still haunts me
I like to call Mare “Bone Marrow” that’s what her name has always looked like to me, plus it’s fitting because a big part of the world building is about blood.
Mare's name gives me the same feeling as Millie Bobby Brown
@@candacescorner3141that would be kinda cool ngl 😂 stupidly edgy but it does have a nice sound to it
13 yo me had no idea how to pronounce ptolemy 😭
When names confuse or annoy me I always just give them a new name. So I called Maya Barrows
i love when people passionately explain a series for multiple hours with the aid of an unhinged stringboard
please tell me you watch The Book Leo
The idea of torture when you have people able to read memories is extra sick and twisted.
The implication is scary, but most likely the writer forgot lol.
@@YasmeenteaI think there’s a lot of scenes about it in one of the books (I read the books a while ago so I’m not 100% sure)
@@yourlocalToeMuncherthird book I’m pretty sure
It's not about the secret info, it's about the shits and giggles
@@Yasmeentea
*waterboarding a prisoner*
“Wait, can’t you read minds?”
“i forgor”
A RUclipsr I haven’t seen before talking about a book series I have never heard of for close to two hours?
Why, yes. I will enjoy the video and subscribe
Why is this so fr???
one of my kind?
There is a 7 hour review of lightlark out there.
@@shunyah6318 OH MY GOD I DEVOURED THAT VIDEO
I just found this guy. I'm about to binge a ton of his vids.
Damn it, now I’m thinking about having silver periods
When their blood dries is it like when silver tarnishes… there are so many weird implications of this. What color are their blood veins through their skin??
@@luxill0s I read this series a a middle schooler so I may not remember right, but I think they did have silver veins. I think they mentioned their skin looking silvery and having to do Mare’s makeup to hide the pink undertone of her skin.
@@imperfectwaffles5688 i remember the silvers going pale when they're blushing 😂 kinda funny
@@luxill0sWhen Silvers blush it’s usually described as them going pale or turning a bit gray. I also recall spilled Silver blood pooled in large quantities appearing a lot darker, basically black. It’s a bit weird but we need something for the ✨aesthetic✨ I guess
I always imagined it looking like Mercury (the metal not the planet)
Something I hate about these "class is bad" kind of books is that most of them create a real difference between the ruler and the ruled, almost justifying the oppression, as if billionaires have some cool and awesome power aside of having bloodstained money.
This was, in fact, my major contention point in Final Empire (along with the "inherited power" that also is kinda shitty that this book series also have).
Bottom line, this kind of world building hurts your real-world message, which, presumably, is that we should eat the rich or something
Idk I think it could be interesting to look at a fictional world where there was a tangible physical difference between the rich and poor and still explore the negatives of class and poverty as long as it's written pretty good
Unless the writer is really based and goes "well these differences are neither biologically determined nor morally significant" and the point is actually that a class system based on superpowers is still wrong. Something something Brandon Sanderson.
@@slitherthewizardofwither6959 Imo the Red Rising series does this pretty well
You can say the same with race analogies. Fantasy is especially bad at this. Like, racism is terrible but fantasy races have bigger differences between them than IRL human ethnicities. Unless that's somehow no big deal in-universe (except it usually is, anyway), it sort of justifies being fearful of a race if they can liquidate you with magic or in some cases are explicitly always evil.
@@uggachugga760 Yes, Scifi also does this pretty badly overall too, using aliens as stand-ins for non-white people, or worse, robots.
Of course, abuse and violence shouldn't be justifiable even if the ruling class is a collection of god-like creatures, but it is based on this kind of discourse that we idolize dumbasses like Elon Musk
YA fiction and people being divided into arbitrary groups name a better duo.
YA fiction and post-apocalyptic settings lol
I was gonna say, I got major Divergent vibes from the premise alone.
reds and communism
Speaking of arbitrary groups, I once wrote a story with an online friend about two tribes fighting and the literal only difference between them was that one of them has red eyes and one of them has green eyes. It's really just a plot device.
The fact that the Stilt people have hair that turns pale towards the ends because of stress implies that their hair grows continually from the tip like a plant rather than from the follicle. I'm not sure what the world building implications of this are
hearing that made me laugh so hard. I've had hair turn grey from stress, and it doesnt look like a cute dip-dye ombre, its either an entire strand or from folicle to tip. That sounds like something she could have just... looked up
they're so stressed they can't properly dye the entirety of their hair and give up midway through making it one colour 😓
They could have had it turn pale toward the roots. Still wouldn't have been accurate, but it would have been closer.
Are haircuts permanent then?
Tbh, this is not too far off. Hair frequently "washes out" when it grows. For example my own hair which is dark brown at the roots turns a very light brown once its past my waist. This is super normal. So if in stilt there would be some wild chemicals it's not too far off
Cities disappearing as a royal court moves isn't weird. This is how a few of the rotating Persian capitals worked. They were basically only a palace structure with foundations for tent cities to be built up nearby.
but if it's moving to the same place every time, why not just build a city?
@@雷-t3jSome of the Persian capitals were actual cities. Like Babylon, Ecbatana, and Susa. But these were pre-existing cities that came under Persian rule. The Emperor actually typically ruled from the major city of Babylon. Ones like Persepolis and Pasargadae were more ceremonial. Let’s just think of them as sort of like summer homes that the Emperor visits from time to time. The only important thing is the presence of the King of Kings itself and whatever other ceremonial function the buildings served.
@@雷-t3jFrom what I understand, they did? Like, there's physically a city there, it's just empty when the court isn't there.
@@雷-t3jeasier to move with the seasons in places where heat scorches and fertility changes, especially when their architecture was relatively light enough to move. Would also be strategically good to keep the Royal family alive and thriving in case enemies start invading, just lift your things and get the good horses
read that as parisian and was confused lol
One thing that always bothered me about this series was when Cal and Mare have sex, she gets a birth control pill because no one knows if Silvers and Reds can cross-breed. And when I heard that, I nearly spit my teeth out of my skull.
You're telling me that Silvers have had Red servants for hundreds of years and there are no affairs between them? No forbidden romances? No bribing poor Red girls
*with money? That's some ludicrous nonsense.
Also, this could explain the Newbloods. They're just Reds with some distant Silver blood in them.
Hi! So I'm pretty sure she took the pill because she was 18 and didn't want to get pregnant, the thought of the cross breeding was there but I think she mostly took it for her own sake. I think the other reply makes a lot of sense though and that newbloods had distant silver lineage
@@karinabreyer9832yea. She took the pill right after they broke up iirc? The breakup was bad... Like bro still wanted the throne
“Can we cross bred”
“Definitely pretty boy 😏”
-Every single master and servant for thousands of years in history
There's no need for the menacing knife James, you know we will happily watch any new video 😂
Two uploads in a row too, oh boy he's getting desperate! 😂
A lot of the missed opportunities I didn’t really think about when I read the series.
But the one about Maven’s character and trauma being explored and him being healed was something I genuinely thought the book was leading into
The series had the potential to be game of thrones with superheroes but no they squandered it
@@timfrank7461Actually, I think I remember hearing this series described as Game of Thrones meets Divergent. So you are not far off.
Makes me feel like Maven should've been the MC, he actually had an internal conflict and potential character arc.
It sounds so silly, but in one of his POV episodes he complimented Mare's hair and the way he said it was just super sweet. Like, yeah he tortured her and tried to kill her, but he complimented her hair!
I remember trying to read Red Queen for the first time. I accidentally imagined Mare as being older than she actually is and misinterpreted her anger for exhaustion. I was disappointed to learn she is just another generic YA protagonist.
That would be kind of meta to write a YA protagonist who is just exhausted by everything that happens. Though I am not sure how compelling that would be in practice.
I think a story like that wouldn't really be YA, since it would get increasingly more appealing the less Y those A's are. But I for sure would read it lol
try Jill Bearup! she did something like this and handled the meta of it really well. the book is still a WIP, but her channel is a goldmine for anyone that enjoys media analysis. also, swords c:
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi are romp with an infamous pirate forced out of her retirement (you know, assembling the team for "one last job") if you're looking for a non-teen/ non-inexperienced protagonist to read about.
not a YA but that's kind of the plot of Tales of vesperia. the first few hours anyway
I feel like Percy Jackson is kinda like that as the series go on (especially in Blood of Olympus), and Magnus Chase
Celaena Sardothien is realistically a child victim of war, slavery and oppression though Throne of Glass too, so despite being young you can feel her dreading the steps she takes forward when she has to face her reality, more on Heir of Fire (in which she regains a bit of inner strength through recovery), but she never stops hating war and trying to bring an end to it through gritted teeth (despite having the façade of a charismatic character when she deals with important people, which is entertaining). It’s one of my faves, tbh
"Normally the heroes of this kind of book would get everyone to work together through the power of friendship. But, I guess, the power of geopolitics and extreme violence is stronger." I LAUGHED FOR HOURS
I recently reread this whole series and as silly as it may be at times, it is such a guilty pleasure 😭I hated Mare at first but I honestly quite like her now? #1 Kilorn hater though--he reminds me of Gale Hawthorne too much!!!! Also putting Gerard way as the photo for Maven is so funny omg
i love jame’s vidéos so i’m gonna watch it but i’m so worried because this is my favourite guilty pleasure book 😭😭
@@rainbow_bug_lady noooo I was so worried too ngl but like his criticism is fair 😭😭 also he made some really funny points
For a lot of the series, I had no idea that Farely was this young girl because it was mentioned briefly in her introduction, but then my brain just never understood that for some reason, because like you said, how could this girl supposed to be in her early 20s, be in charge of the biggest rebellion around. So when her relationship with Shade was revealed, I was so weirded out because I thought this woman in like her 30s or 40s was with this young guy, until I went onto the wiki page and realised, oh yeah this lady is actually around his age what the hell, she just seemed like that lady from Wreck-It-Ralph who kills bugs.
I don't like it when the rebellion group is led by people in their late teens to early twenties. It makes the rebellion feel flimsy because it must be if the leaders are like eighteen. At least with characters like Katniss, she's a soldier and a figure head, not the head.
@@moonstarstories1298she was also forced into that role by the real people in charge. She's just a symbol people could put their hopes into, not the one calling the shots.
@@zoeb3573 I was definitely not talking about Mare, btw. Her role makes sense. I was talking about Farley.
....how old is farley wh
I remember reading this book series in high school and absolutely loving it, and then trying to re-read it the summer after my freshman year of college and being incredibly disappointed. It was almost like a sign that my childhood was over and it was time to move away from YA dystopia.
I feel the same thing. My stadards are higher than ten years ago, and a lot of books that were "good" are now barely readable.
The weird names, setting and storyline really take you away from reality so hard that it's difficult to remember this is a future post-apocalyptic version of Earth. Like my immersion was fully suspended and then I hear "these are the ruins of New York" and it just snapped me out of it fully lol
it so is, it seems like the typical vaguely medieval western europe setting that fantasies are often set in then every once in a while you get the literary equivalent of a slap in the face with events like the remnants of the overthrown aristocracy attacking the nation they once ruled to try and re-establish their hold on the fledgling democracy...on motorbikes
The Algorithm broke him, King's in his blank wall and knife gesturing era. I will always be ready for the content keep it up king
the algorithm broke him like *glass*. he's holding a knife which is kinda like a *sword*. huh, i guess you could say that james is a *glass swo- *
34:27 Also didn't they already imply with Mare's case that giving the Reds the illusion of upward social mobility would be a massive PR blow to the rebellion and improve the public's perception of the aristocracy?
Like it's very easy for a people to unite against such a culturally and politically distinct enemy. But if you theoretically have a chance, no matter how slim and unrealistic, to join the aristocracy, that's gonna make a small but significant percentage of people far less likely to rebel. Also if someone's brother's neighbour's boyfriend's sister-in-law is a Countess, they might think twice about categorically chopping off all the noble's heads.
Honestly, when the possibility of a red having similar powers to the silvers was discovered, I expected the whole silver blood thing was just an illusion created to fool the lower class into thinking they were an inherently inferior race.
Considering that, it wouldn't make much sense to proceed by publically announcing some reds could actually become equals to the silvers.
yeah it is what happens in hunger games ahaha people still have some hope bc of the chances of winning the game and becoming rich and why they are mad when victors also get screwed over ... someone wrote a rebellion book better than someone else ahaha
for one, I'm pretty sure it's not implied
That's pretty much how things work in America nowadays. "I'm not gonna vote for rules that help the poor cause I'm sure if I grind hard enough I won't always be poor so it won't help ME, and I'm not gonna vote for rules that tax and punish the rich because the it'll affect me when I'M rich!!!" instead of going for a system that helps and supports everyone.
The absolute travesty of naming the magnet power people "magnetrons" instead of "ferros"
I follow the author on social media and she is so sweet, which is why I'm sad that I just can't get into her books. I tried reading Red Queen twice and Blade Breaker once but I just can't bring myself to care about the characters and story. So, thank you for summing it up:) I love these kinds of videos
It is possible - and quite usual, I believe - to be an overall nice person without necessarily being good at ones profession.
@@pRahvi0 This is also probably what publicist were pushing for. Generic YA super awesome female protagonist revolution love tringle story.
Same actually. I read this series a while back but never finished because I got bored 😭😭
love the recent influx of multihour videos explaining books likes this (or movies. or anything)
I love the books and tv series format of iconic multihour breakdowns. We should make a (play)list of girlboss summaries. Feel free to copy and add your sugesstions.
- Vampire diaries (Jenny Nicolson)
- Pretty Little Liars etc. (Mike's Mic)
- ACOTAR (Cari can read)
- (shitty book club)
- Once upon a time (Ava's Reads)
@@jito7377I absolutely love mikes mic breakdowns in shows I don’t care about
ive got a huge collection but vital are quinton reviews and keyan carlile
Cari can read is amazing
@@jito7377 does the recap of Twisted Love by "lexi aka newlynova" count? I haven't read it so idk if it's girlboss (I'm pretty sure it actually isn't lol) but the video is really entertaining.
Evangeline gaslit, gatekept, and girlbossed throughout the entire series and that’s why i’ve been her stan since the first book.
And giving zero fucks i liked her more in later books cause mare just becomes insufferable
@@M24071The fact that the cliche bully character ended up being my favorite aside from the main antagonist just shows how awful Mare was as a protagonist.
The author is really good at making me root for the villains of her books.
@britt6184 yeah her villains are more likeable and interesting than the main character I absolutely hated both cal and mare in the last two books they just kept getting more and more annoying
wait is evangeline the gay one? She was the only tolerable one closer to the end bc I hated all those mfers but at least she was real
@notreal9214 Yeah she is gay, but also maybe maevn too it is never cleared if he is gay or bisexual since his first love was a boy he accidentally killed and he does have conflicting feelings towards mare
While there are a lot of flaws to overall series I actually found Maven to be a really compelling villain character. Yes his mind was broken by his mother, but he continually chooses to bad decisions going against our heroes. There really was no "fixing" him and that made me quite sad, I would love to read more from his perspective
I was so excited about seeing that he got a few POV chapters before they killed him, and I was completely ready for the author to go into more depth with his character, expose his vulnerabilities more and more, and then it just didn’t happen. When I was beginning to get bored of reading War Storm, his POV chapters saved me from giving up on the book. While I’m happy with what we did get, I would have loved more from his perspective.
I remember discovering the first book right after it came out and I got super into the series and was eagerly awaiting each subsequent release. Then I read King's Cage and it killed my love of YA fiction, which for a high schooler with very little standards is a pretty impressive thing to do.
Holy shit that is exactly what happened to me and on the same book!
Shoutout to The Sister for passing on her books to you and providing the opportunity for this incredible video to exist!
James Tullos with a knife is my favorite sub-genre of James Tullos videos
"Shame, because that sounds really neat!" might have to become my new catchphrase
I love this and I am ashamed that in the folly of my youth I wrote fanfiction for this desperately trying to salvage the story and failed miserably.
Also the Colonel is impeccably the correct choice for this representation.
Edit: I must clarify, the story I was not fond of, tis the video essay I love. Although Shade was an OP Gary Stu, I did like and hate the fact he died, he was honestly the only remotely interesting character in a world of interchangeable pieces.
The Nepali king is just the most unexpected reference, not weird, just unexpected.
It's one of my favorite recent historical events because the official story is so obviously fake yet we all have to pretend that's how it happened.
@@JamesTullos Well he had the formality to declare the brother the formal king first, hooray legitimate rulers
20:20 "Which means that she had never bled" Soooo are Silver's periods.... sliver? Ooor?
Somehow the video gets better with every "No"
Edit: should also give some love to the other running jokes, especially james pointing out the title drops
the "youtuber gets cut off before being able to finish the punchline" jokes are genuinely always hilarious to me, loved it here
I completely forgot that Farley isn't 30. There's no way she was meant to be a teenager. Also how much filler there is in here, although I do remember taking nearly a month to read War Storm.
the part it was mentioned that she's a teenager i just snapped HOW, she literally acts and talks like a 30 year old
It kills me when fantasy or dystopian books use a malformed version of the US in the future as their world setting but this is the worst example I've seen. Going from ALBANY to ALBANUS and just naming a country after what had been a chunk of Texas and surrounding states? And of course the midwest is just a whole other country called the Prairie, and AHA the Great Lakes are now the Lakelands. Spent a good bit chuckling at all that geography.
Early in the video but the profession thing seems so odd. Why wouldn't he just become the fisherman after what happened to his former teacher, why would you be a theif without a cover job or plan if turning 18 means automatic conscription?
1:19:30 Would it be that strange? We've all seen Biden blast.
listening to this as a podcast and looking up an hour and a half later to see GERARD WAY was so jarring
You can’t convince me that the beginning of the third book wasn’t just for fetish
it was very kincky and weird
I read the book years ago, and I thought it was overall very boring. I heard the author had a great deal of connections with the publishing industry, and she basically didn’t have to do anything to become a published NYT best selling author 🥱 I mean, her writing style is fine, but I truly think the story is just… bland. Most likely due to everyone wanting to copy off of SJM 🤷🏾♀️
Which is so sad cuz the idea is so cool superhero game of thrones sounds bad ass
Man if I had a PENNY for every time they said silver in this series I'd a be BILLIONAIRE I HATE that color now
Sadly, I was expecting WAY too much going into the series and I was hoping they're gonna break all the trends, And actually stick to the themes of the first book.
Anyone can betray anyone.
For instance the metal bender I was HOPING going to be a spy For the good guys posing as her nemesis
But no,
this series COULD have been so good could have been game of thrones for superheros and again just crappy ya book sigh
about evil teleporters, i legit only have a singular clue about them, and its how a lot of the newbloods seem to be, like, juiced up versions of silver powers, like cameron doesn’t just stop powers, she stops hearts too (so edgy), so i just kind of assumed that the teleporters were better versions of the super fast guys? Still no idea but just my (probably dumb) thoughts
The fact that I read the three books but I cannot recall anything apart form Mare being extremely annoying and victimized, Maven having a dog kink with her and everyone betraying everyone for no reason.
don't forget the monologuing in every damn page about her being the lighting girl and being so strong
I forced finished Red Queen and started Glass Sword but had to dnf. So thanks for this summary. I was mildly curious about how the series wrapped up.
I never managed to get past the first book, so I'm very excited for this! Thanks, James!!
On the teleporter question: to the best of my knowledge, the newblood powers sre designed to be Silver powers, turned up to 10. I.E. Mare is like a storm, but much more precise and just with lightning. The gravity ones are like the telekinetic Silvers. Cameron is a boosted up Silence. John is a deus-ex-machina Eyes. Following this logic, Shade and the other teleporters seem to be boosted up swifts/speedsters. So, that might be the answer to why there are no evil teleporters.
The actor you chose is too skinny to be Cal. You could’ve just used the Thor actor as Cal, and the Loki actor as Maven 😁
No need for multiple perspectives is a bold statement. I get its hard to do, but some of my favorite series do it. The Expanse, GoT, stormlight, etc. Just cause crappy YA authors can't pull it off doesnt mean its a bad writing practice.
I think (could be wrong though?) James was talking specifically about series that start out with a single 1st person POV, but then can't keep it up because they insist on getting their MCs trapped in places they can't see the story happening from, so they have to introduce new POV characters just to stop the story from grinding to a halt. Except then they misuse it and fluff it out with a bunch of filler anyway.
@@sarahpowell671 That makes sense.
Good things here:
- new James video
- long video on something I will never read
- wall
[ everything is good, am well fed and happy watching this ]
you mentioning the amount of missed opportunities is my favourite thing about this video ajsdjhsdk
Lol the pictures you picked for every character were fantastic!! I was laughing every time
cant believe you held out thirty minutes for the communism joke. that's impressive
18:43 never read or heard of the series but itd be interesting if reds had powers just maybe less often than silvers do and the government was just making them "disappear" for medical experiments similar to Unit 731.
That's basically what Mare is, they call them "new bloods" but really, it's just red blooded people with powers. But they don't do experiments, just kill them off whenever they're found out by the military
4:58 "since she's largely devoid of personality and really only there to project onto i'm going to represent her with this picture" lmfaoooooo
that's so true her brother dies and her reaction is "yes yes that's very sad, anyways i have a war to start"
I read only Red Queen and Glass Sword-- I really liked Maven in the first book and what happened genuinely made me feel betrayed as well!!! But Maven in the second book... 💀He was so cartoonishly evil it gave me 2nd hand embarrassment at times.
I'm not really an avid reader (I finish like 2 books per year LOL) but I found the second book to be so, SO draining. If it wasn't the slow plot, just everything BAD happening sucked the life out of me. I didn't even want to read the third book because the title was just. too embarrassing. for me. to read. LOL.
And to all who got this far... please give me book recommendations... I am so picky with what books I pick out and read but if someone tells me to read it, I WILL READ IT (that's how I got so far into the Red Queen series lol)
what kind of books are you looking for? more (better) YA fantasy? adult fantasy? social realism? romance? non-fiction? i’d be happy to recommend something, but i don’t know what to base my recommendation on :)
i will say that i’ve recently started reading “this is how you lose the time war”, and if you’re looking for what seems like a somewhat loose narrative with a lot of really beautiful poetic descriptions, that book is *amazing*
@@esobelisk3110 Thank you for replying to my comment!!! I'd love some more YA book recommendations, preferably without too many explicit scenes. In the past, I really enjoyed sci-fi books as well as mystery/thriller, so any recommendations around those genres are welcome :3
I don't read that much romance, but if you know a romance book that's something cute like friends-to-lovers and such I'd love to read it
ALSOO I will definitely check out the book you said you were reading! I really enjoyed a short story I read for class that had poetic descriptions and sort of a loose narrative, so I think I might like this book !! TY :D
For YA, if you haven't read the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, I highly recommend them, especially the first five books (he has 2 other series of books set in the same universe but the first five are the best). Also, A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwabb was recommended to me once and I really love the book! There are 3 more books in that series and they are all awesome too.
As for mystery/thriller books, The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens are both recent favorites of mine but they're not YA books. If you want YA books that also fall under the mystery/thriller genre, One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus is also good. There are two sequels to the book but I haven't finished the third book yet. I really enjoyed the first two, though.
Another YA series that has mystery/thriller elements that I like is The Inheritance Games trilogy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Those books were real page-turners!
Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard are in the same world as Percy Jackson.
If you don't want to read the whole dam universe, choose either Percy Jackson and The Olympians>Heroes of Olympus>Trials of Apollo,or if you want Percy's story to be finished with no add-ons, just read Kanes and Magnus Chase.
Maven and Evangeline are like the most interesting thing in the books, the second book it's very boring, I can't remember the third but the fourth is quite nice. We have some Maven's pov and they're the best part imo
I have no idea what this is but I'm less than 20 seconds in and the picture of Gerard Way has me interested in where the heck this could possibly be going
i love your wattpad casting for this
No one will understand how much middle school me was obsessed with this series. Is it good? NO! But it meant so much to me back then, thank you for this.
I dini’t understand much except, mumbled mumble rebellion, mumbled mumbling power, mumbled mumbling useless romance.
10/10 will watch again in half a year
I'd really like to hear your take on Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" series. It's the story of a British naval officer in an alternate history where Napoleon Bonaparte had access to dragons (along with the rest of the world leaders). Runs a total of nine titles, most of which I find to be quite fun.
God i loved those books in secondary😂 Only made it to book five tho :/ couldn't find the rest in my country😢
I love this format (I rewatch the Cari Can Read ones regularly lol), and this kinda toned-down comedy variation is gold. I actually laughed out loud several times 😂. Sub!
Well, I only took a twenty minute break to read about the Nepalese Royal Massacre and I think old Gyanendra did it.
That’s a really cool format I like the summary thing i get to watch a lot of funny James humour and avoid reading a boring book.
I remember reading red queen cuz the cover was cool
So Iris’ dad wasn’t the leader of the Lakelands. Her parents are cousins (because royal family) and her mom is more senior in line so the queen is the actual leader while the king was her consort. Their older daughter Tiora would inherit after her mom died regardless of if her father was alive. Hope that makes sense :)
The best parts are you posing questions about interesting future plotlines with a "Nooooooooooooooooo!" at the end.
I do not like that the "lesser" son is the evil one.......unless they give him redemption it just seems like a missed opportunity. He was treated badly by his Dad and seems to be the lesser fighter and shit in general.
I am only at the 46 min mark, so let´s wait. But Timothee (forgot his character name) seems kinda boring...but then again, so is the main chick....so it propably checks.
I love this series despite its flaws lmao. It’s like Cassandra Clare such a guilty pleasure
I haven’t finished yet, so I’m curious if the explanation of Kings Cage is just going to be “Literally nothing happens, moving along.”
There are so many character changes that would make the books so much better. Maybe age Mare up so her grumpiness is more out of years of being in a horrible system rather than edginess and maybe make her less overpowered and give her the same limitations elemental silvers have (I mean creating electricity? Really? What a plot device) and show her struggling with it more, make Cal less toxic and maybe cut out the romance entirely because it’s boring and pointless and unhealthy for all parties within a hundred mile radius, throw a few more red flags with Maven in book 1 so his complete insanity in the later books feels less jarring, and give hints that Evangeline has more nuance earlier on. It needs some polish is what I’m saying I guess but I mostly like it and somewhat detest it
i read this book as a young teen back in its hayday (i wasn’t the biggest fan of YA but had avid reader friends, so i’d read what they read) and all i remember was absolutely hating the magic system lmao. hilariously my recently reading mistborn (and then everything else in the cosmere) reminded me so much of red queen’s magic system, for whatever reason. except it was the shining example of everything my brain hates with magic - i like to know *why* a power works a certain way or why some scenarios aren’t good for it and things like that. honestly can’t remember much else of red queen. just teenage me’s intense hatred of most everything in it lol
The cosmere is truely a gift to fantasy readers who like hard magic systems