First, the angry you is a flippin' hoot! And now... I really appreciate this review. I am one who believes that gratuitously bashing a book is unproductive and can often be too meanspirited. This is a perfect example of it being done right. Oh, you are pissed off and wildly critical *however* you are beautifully specific about why you are ripping the book to shreds. This was such an intelligent, well thought out, and fair review.
Thank you so much! I always strive for a balance between being entertaining and being an actually good critic. I refuse to ever sacrifice my skills as a reviewer for the sake of getting views. Writing a book is hard and I owe it to the author to be exact in why I disliked their work.
I appreciate so many things you said here that can be applied to the way so many influencers talk about gothic. Just because something has “vibes” doesn’t make it gothic (or dark academia) but they’ll have a huge following for anything they post. Drives me nuts.
a hundred thousand agreements with this! I was just explaining this book to my girlfriend, and she said, "It sounds like the author was so enamoured with creating the aesthetics of a book, they forgot to actually put the book part in." And yes. That's it. That's the book.
It's a shame when you hate a book that is so beautiful. I don't want to keep it just because it's pretty, but it's so hard to let it go. Or maybe that's just a me problem
From the that description, it sounds like when a teenager tries to write older characters and situations, but their only reference points are tropes and bits from media they like.
This has to be the GREATEST REVIEW EVER!! 🙌🏼😂🙏🏻 I’ve never heard of this book. But I hate being so excited for a book and end wasting money and time on awful books. Thank you for your passionate and absolute honesty!! Bravo!!! 💙🙏🏻☮️
I would say I'm sorry you hated the book, but we got a masterpiece of a review video about it. The main character is part of an underclass "because she told us so," and here you are telling us in detail exactly why it's so bad. You made the opposite of the book you're reviewing. Incredible.
omg YES, THANK YOU! i finished this book only yesterday and i completely agree with everything you said!! every aspect of this book felt so half-baked and lazy and random, i got genuinely mad reading this 😂😂such a dissapointment because I really wanted to love it! glad to hear i'm not alone😂
This is your best rant video since you made the video about how bad 1Q84 is. Also I had no idea this book had so much hype around it. I now kind of believe the fact that I conpletely forgot it was on my 'want to read' shelf was a sign that I wouldn't have liked it. 😅😂
Every time I see someone mention this book I get it confused with a book that's actually on my TBR--A Dark and Rising Tide, Lovecraftian horror novel by Debra Castaneda, that was published last year. I've heard enough things about Saft's book that I've already avowed to stay away from it (plus the cover art for the US Del Ray release irks me terribly).
Nooo I saw this in the bookstore and thought the cover was sooo pretty. ;-; Sometimes it feels like they deliberately make lackluster books beautiful so people overlook the contents (*cough* Heart of the Sun Warrior)
I am HERE for pissed off Willow! I hated The Silent Patient this much (that's not even remotely how psychiatry works) but hate-finished it so I could eviscerate it in a review, but nowhere near as entertainingly as this. 🤣😠🤣😠🤣
This happens quite often. Recently it was The Piano tuner which my country's asian lit fans praised to high heavens. It was such a shallow and pompous little book.
I finished this book and it actually got way worse. It ended up being weirdly pro imperialist (everyone decides to work with the king in the end, even though he maybe wants to start more wars to "unite the kingdom"??). It seems like every other character is Nazi coded and even the "good" characters just shrug it away. And while I understand Lorelei's bitterness she seems to take weird pleasure in hurting other people and other creatures and she doesn't ever seem to grow from it. She hurts the one she's supposed to love in multiple ways and it's just shrugged off. And I couldn't see what made the two characters love each other at all.
@@WillowTalksBooks Maybe it’s an AI attempt at an allegory for contemporary United States politics? The next two weeks will be agonizing. Why shouldn’t the book be insufferable? 😺✌️
I like the oppressor allegory in Ember Blade (jewish and romani parallels) It starts from the perspective of a recently un-brainwashed teen. We get a lot of backstory about how the protagonist isnt very nice to these outsiders in a teenage bullying kind of way. But as the story becomes more high stakes it switches from bullying to systematic mass murder.
I checked this book out from the library, read about 15 pages or so...? and DNFd .. I just wasn't immediately pulled in and had a feeling the characters were going to annoy me lol. Plus I had a bunch of other books I REALLY wanted to read.. I dunno, maybe I'll be in the mood later.... edit: ok maybe not 😂
Controversial opinion but this is currently me with Salem’s Lot… I don’t want to dnf it because I am still (😢) half-way through but damn, this book is slow! I couldn’t care less for the characters either and I think I will have to add Stephen King to my writers blacklist for a while after (if!) I finish it.
Well, this was thoroughly entertaining (unlike the book itself lol). I've found that soo many of these super hyped up books often have very little substance. It's almost like the publishers realize this and so have to go overboard hyping it up to create buzz and sell the book hmmm 🤔 For whatever reason, this seems to be particularly true of a lot of YA Fantasy. When I see book reviewers raving ("omg sooo good") about a clearly subpar book, I lose a ton of trust in them. Love that you clearly articulate why you feel the writing and such was subpar (or amazing)!
I totally understand you i just read memnoch the devil by Anne rice book 5 in the vampire chronicles i knew how most fans felt about this book being not good but i hoped i would like it boy i was wrong it's my least favorite
I had this with Nettle & Bone from T. Kingfisher it was recommendations alot to me as this great book for Autumn but this book had some good part were the author just rush through and some of the other parts just take so long it bored me to tears. I keep reading to find out were all the hype was about but I still have no clue.
Ironically, Nettle & Bone was the one book that pulled me out of a violent reading slump xD I've had that issue with The Cruel Prince. It was soooo bad omg like... T_T
I DNFed only 1 book this year, also one of hers, "A Far Wilder Magic". The storytelling is so YA/fanfictiony and the characters are BLAND...waste of time & money 🙄
It is disappointing that this was sold as an exploration of sapphic jewish people in central-eastern europe, but ignores the rich culture that came from the (unjustly) dense population centers that jewish people inhabited in that time. it feels like emptiness is a concession that was made to better fit a gothic atmosphere, which it doesnt do well, and urban gothic is popular enough that it makes the whole thing feel pointless. I can MAYBE understand if she simply didnt feel like depicting the real world conditions that her main characters story is allegedly meant to parallel, because nobody is obligated to talk about generational trauma for book sales, but then don't try to make it seem like a parallel....
I read Sense and Sensibility first and that book is very flat and bland. Pride and Prejudice is a wonderfully witty and energetic novel by comparison. I honestly laughed out loud at everything Lizzie’s parents ever said
@@WillowTalksBooks Sense & Sensibility was assigned to our class in college. I found it so dull I never read anything else by Jane Austen. I do love the various adaptations of Pride & Prejudice though.
It took me three times to get through Pride and Prejudice (although I adore the Colin Firth movie). Austen seems to be better suited to the screen than the page.
All of these should have worked out for me, because favourite genres: Apologies, but "His Dark Materials" (P. Pullman): Authors trying to write strong female characters but ending up writing egotistic, uncaring b*+$§s make me angry. "The Name of the Wind" (P. Rothfuss): Kvothe is a piece of $='+. "The Circle" (D. Eggers): May getting together with that bundle of red flags gave me such an ick, my vasnooch rolled itself up like a hedgehog. "The Grace of Kings" (K. Liu): That's just bad writing. Sorry! Thanks for letting us rant! 🤗❤🩹
I read A Far Wilder Magic by Saft, because the blurb was compelling, I'd seen some good reviews, and the cover was gorgeous. I did finish it but it was a slog, and overall I was underwhelmed. Again, because of the premise and the gorgeous cover, I was thinking about giving Saft another read, but I guess I pass... 🫣
First, the angry you is a flippin' hoot! And now... I really appreciate this review. I am one who believes that gratuitously bashing a book is unproductive and can often be too meanspirited. This is a perfect example of it being done right. Oh, you are pissed off and wildly critical *however* you are beautifully specific about why you are ripping the book to shreds. This was such an intelligent, well thought out, and fair review.
Thank you so much! I always strive for a balance between being entertaining and being an actually good critic. I refuse to ever sacrifice my skills as a reviewer for the sake of getting views. Writing a book is hard and I owe it to the author to be exact in why I disliked their work.
I appreciate so many things you said here that can be applied to the way so many influencers talk about gothic. Just because something has “vibes” doesn’t make it gothic (or dark academia) but they’ll have a huge following for anything they post. Drives me nuts.
I agree; it feels like these genres are being diluted down to vibes and it is exhausting!
a hundred thousand agreements with this! I was just explaining this book to my girlfriend, and she said, "It sounds like the author was so enamoured with creating the aesthetics of a book, they forgot to actually put the book part in." And yes. That's it. That's the book.
What a fantastic summary!!
“Waste of time! Subscribe for books 🙁” Perfect outro 😂 Hope the reading slump is short lived!
You certainly don't sit on the fence.. awesome review as always Willow
"This is not a book to be set aside lightly. It is to be thrown away with great force."
It's a shame when you hate a book that is so beautiful. I don't want to keep it just because it's pretty, but it's so hard to let it go. Or maybe that's just a me problem
No, I get it! We forget that cover art is still art in its own right and it is beautiful!
Cut out the cover and frame it.
Too much? 😅
From the that description, it sounds like when a teenager tries to write older characters and situations, but their only reference points are tropes and bits from media they like.
This has to be the GREATEST REVIEW EVER!! 🙌🏼😂🙏🏻
I’ve never heard of this book. But I hate being so excited for a book and end wasting money and time on awful books.
Thank you for your passionate and absolute honesty!!
Bravo!!! 💙🙏🏻☮️
I would say I'm sorry you hated the book, but we got a masterpiece of a review video about it. The main character is part of an underclass "because she told us so," and here you are telling us in detail exactly why it's so bad. You made the opposite of the book you're reviewing. Incredible.
You flatter me, thank you 🥹💜
omg YES, THANK YOU! i finished this book only yesterday and i completely agree with everything you said!! every aspect of this book felt so half-baked and lazy and random, i got genuinely mad reading this 😂😂such a dissapointment because I really wanted to love it! glad to hear i'm not alone😂
Buy a book with a 'Floral Gothic' (you heard it here first) jacket design and you get what you'd expect.....
I’m glad you reviewed this book. It was on my TBR- past tense of course now.
I agree! I was so excited but DNFed at 162 pgs. I wanted to DNF earlier but I kept up hope it would get better, but it never did, such a let down....
Next time I'm in a bookshop I'm going to look for a copy of this and pick a random page to read to see how quickly it annoys me
I really trust your reviews, Willow. You're always honest, you always say what you liked and didn't like about a book.
This book can be summarised as:
1. there’s a king
2. there’s a bunch of nobles
The end. 😂
UGH. No, thank you.
This sounds like why I had issues with A Fragile Enchantment. I honestly wanted to love it
Love a good rant review 👏
This is your best rant video since you made the video about how bad 1Q84 is. Also I had no idea this book had so much hype around it. I now kind of believe the fact that I conpletely forgot it was on my 'want to read' shelf was a sign that I wouldn't have liked it. 😅😂
Every time I see someone mention this book I get it confused with a book that's actually on my TBR--A Dark and Rising Tide, Lovecraftian horror novel by Debra Castaneda, that was published last year. I've heard enough things about Saft's book that I've already avowed to stay away from it (plus the cover art for the US Del Ray release irks me terribly).
From the title I thought you were going to be speaking about a Richard Laymon or Shaun Hutson novel!
I don’t know who they are :)
@@WillowTalksBooks Think of the trashiest straight to video horror movies from the 80's but still not fun or well written in book form.
You're breaking my heart, I had such high hopes for this book 😭😭😭
"where is everyone?" haha
sorry to see you disappointed /
love your ranting videos. 😅
I felt very similarly about “An education in Malice” and so did my sibling 😅
I actually really enjoyed that one! It got mid reviews but I had fun with it
Nooo I saw this in the bookstore and thought the cover was sooo pretty. ;-; Sometimes it feels like they deliberately make lackluster books beautiful so people overlook the contents (*cough* Heart of the Sun Warrior)
Absolutely 💯. I just commented that it feels like publishers also go way overboard hyping up subpar books for this same reason.
Thanks for this review. I appreciate your 'rant' side because is very articulate
I am HERE for pissed off Willow! I hated The Silent Patient this much (that's not even remotely how psychiatry works) but hate-finished it so I could eviscerate it in a review, but nowhere near as entertainingly as this. 🤣😠🤣😠🤣
You haven't sold me on this book... set in an empty world...
This happens quite often. Recently it was The Piano tuner which my country's asian lit fans praised to high heavens. It was such a shallow and pompous little book.
Oh noooo I was so excited to read it 😭 we usually have the same taste so I trust you with my LIFE
I finished this book and it actually got way worse. It ended up being weirdly pro imperialist (everyone decides to work with the king in the end, even though he maybe wants to start more wars to "unite the kingdom"??). It seems like every other character is Nazi coded and even the "good" characters just shrug it away. And while I understand Lorelei's bitterness she seems to take weird pleasure in hurting other people and other creatures and she doesn't ever seem to grow from it. She hurts the one she's supposed to love in multiple ways and it's just shrugged off.
And I couldn't see what made the two characters love each other at all.
Oh hell 😬😬😬
@@WillowTalksBooks
Maybe it’s an AI attempt at an allegory for contemporary United States politics?
The next two weeks will be agonizing. Why shouldn’t the book be insufferable?
😺✌️
Can you make a video about your favorite Dark Academia books, especially ones that might be lesser-known?
Here you go! It’s an older video so excuse the dysphoria. And I might do an updated one soon :)
ruclips.net/video/ukgsfvrW2jM/видео.html
Oh no, when you spoke of what the book is about in the beginning, i thought "uuuh, this actually sounds pretty nice!" 😬😅
I like the oppressor allegory in Ember Blade (jewish and romani parallels) It starts from the perspective of a recently un-brainwashed teen. We get a lot of backstory about how the protagonist isnt very nice to these outsiders in a teenage bullying kind of way. But as the story becomes more high stakes it switches from bullying to systematic mass murder.
How disappointing, I wonder what exactly happened to the editor of the book. Don’t they spot problems and make suggestions to polish the story?
I believe your review is more entertaining than the book! Thank you!
I checked this book out from the library, read about 15 pages or so...? and DNFd .. I just wasn't immediately pulled in and had a feeling the characters were going to annoy me lol. Plus I had a bunch of other books I REALLY wanted to read.. I dunno, maybe I'll be in the mood later....
edit: ok maybe not 😂
this book is so bad ... i wanted to like it so bad, but never made it past page 100
Controversial opinion but this is currently me with Salem’s Lot… I don’t want to dnf it because I am still (😢) half-way through but damn, this book is slow! I couldn’t care less for the characters either and I think I will have to add Stephen King to my writers blacklist for a while after (if!) I finish it.
Well, this was thoroughly entertaining (unlike the book itself lol). I've found that soo many of these super hyped up books often have very little substance. It's almost like the publishers realize this and so have to go overboard hyping it up to create buzz and sell the book hmmm 🤔 For whatever reason, this seems to be particularly true of a lot of YA Fantasy. When I see book reviewers raving ("omg sooo good") about a clearly subpar book, I lose a ton of trust in them. Love that you clearly articulate why you feel the writing and such was subpar (or amazing)!
Oh the fact that I litteraly received this book today, damn it :')
I totally understand you i just read memnoch the devil by Anne rice book 5 in the vampire chronicles i knew how most fans felt about this book being not good but i hoped i would like it boy i was wrong it's my least favorite
I felt similarly about Rouge by Mona Awad, I don't understand why people recommend it saying it's a modern gothic.
I loved Bunny and picked up Rouge immediately. Then people started giving it very middling reviews so I’ve never actually read my copy 💔
Haven’t read a book that I hate yet
Have you read Effi Briest by Theodor Fontanes? I hated it and I was forced by school to read it.
nooo I just bought this book!
Some books are so bad, they need a COVID like hype to justify those who love them needing some kind of a drug therapy. Thanks for your view man!
I had this with Nettle & Bone from T. Kingfisher it was recommendations alot to me as this great book for Autumn but this book had some good part were the author just rush through and some of the other parts just take so long it bored me to tears. I keep reading to find out were all the hype was about but I still have no clue.
Omg not one of my favourite books by one of my favourite authors 😭😭
@@WillowTalksBooks I'm sorry It was just not my cup of tea.
Ironically, Nettle & Bone was the one book that pulled me out of a violent reading slump xD I've had that issue with The Cruel Prince. It was soooo bad omg like... T_T
I DNFed only 1 book this year, also one of hers, "A Far Wilder Magic". The storytelling is so YA/fanfictiony and the characters are BLAND...waste of time & money 🙄
It is disappointing that this was sold as an exploration of sapphic jewish people in central-eastern europe, but ignores the rich culture that came from the (unjustly) dense population centers that jewish people inhabited in that time. it feels like emptiness is a concession that was made to better fit a gothic atmosphere, which it doesnt do well, and urban gothic is popular enough that it makes the whole thing feel pointless. I can MAYBE understand if she simply didnt feel like depicting the real world conditions that her main characters story is allegedly meant to parallel, because nobody is obligated to talk about generational trauma for book sales, but then don't try to make it seem like a parallel....
🤔 hmm I have a feeling you dislike this book 😂
Insert joke about subtext and a picture of Garth Marenghi
Nothing’s disappointed me more than Pride and Prejudice. Who am I, lol!
I read Sense and Sensibility first and that book is very flat and bland. Pride and Prejudice is a wonderfully witty and energetic novel by comparison. I honestly laughed out loud at everything Lizzie’s parents ever said
@@WillowTalksBooks Sense & Sensibility was assigned to our class in college. I found it so dull I never read anything else by Jane Austen. I do love the various adaptations of Pride & Prejudice though.
It took me three times to get through Pride and Prejudice (although I adore the Colin Firth movie). Austen seems to be better suited to the screen than the page.
All of these should have worked out for me, because favourite genres:
Apologies, but "His Dark Materials" (P. Pullman): Authors trying to write strong female characters but ending up writing egotistic, uncaring b*+$§s make me angry.
"The Name of the Wind" (P. Rothfuss): Kvothe is a piece of $='+.
"The Circle" (D. Eggers): May getting together with that bundle of red flags gave me such an ick, my vasnooch rolled itself up like a hedgehog.
"The Grace of Kings" (K. Liu): That's just bad writing.
Sorry! Thanks for letting us rant! 🤗❤🩹
I read A Far Wilder Magic by Saft, because the blurb was compelling, I'd seen some good reviews, and the cover was gorgeous. I did finish it but it was a slog, and overall I was underwhelmed. Again, because of the premise and the gorgeous cover, I was thinking about giving Saft another read, but I guess I pass... 🫣
A far wilder magic was actually really beautiful, despite being YA. It's the reason why I had such I hope for this book.