The Prospects was a favorite for me too, so under-hyped! I also listened to the audio and loved it. ❤️

We share a lot of the same thoughts. I didnt have huge expectations due to debut stsrus. But I felt disappointed in the emotional beats since it often felt more tell than show. I needed to see the flips, the switches. Not just the after effects. Especially for some of the generals and city dwellers. Kolo and Amero were the most important characters in her royal life but the first 60% really dragged in the world building. And I love workd building on the whole but not at the expense of major developments build up.

My favorite reads I totally recommend these My song harry bellefonte was a actor musician and activist if you're interested in old Hollywood check out his book Be my baby by ronnie spector memoir she was once married to music producer phil spector and was a talented singer The true love experiment by christina Lauren Just for the summer by abby Jimenez Blackwood farm by Anne rice the vampire chronicles is truly a series worth trying it does have its ups and downs

Here's what I read The true love experiment by christina Lauren My song by harry bellefonte memoir Be my baby by ronnie spector memoir Blackwood farm by Anne rice book 8 in the vampire chronicles Only for the holidays by abiola bello Resurrection walk by Michael Connelly Just for the summer by abby Jimenez Wild eyes by elsie silver Real love by alexis hall A second chance in new port Stephen by tj Alexander

I just finished this show. I loved it. I'm a huge history fan to boot and it was fun. It didn't take itself seriously enough for the historical inaccuracies to stand out as much. To me, it made the changes in the story easier to go along with, the narrator had me laughing every episode. The fantasy/politics switch was a pleasant twist to the story, the actors comedic timing..etc. Im pretty bummed there won't be a season 2. It feel like they ended it in a good enough place for it to be sort of a long movie, lol.

My brother travels to Chicago often for work. I had the DISpleasure of trying Milort because he kept talking about it. I had to try it for myself 😂

Ooooo yes to Save Our Souls! I did read Dante Club in high school 😂 I am also intrigued by Water Moon!

I did not like the ending and actually found it a bit insulting to readers. "Instead of concluding the story in a manner even remotely keeping with the trajectory of its characters and action, here's some dark action to make it all feel pointless with a DEEP MORAL about how YOU, the READER, can make better choices." Wut? No thanks.

I just found your channel, I love the way you broke down A House with Good Bones! I agreed with so many of your points. I really appreciate that T Kingfisher writes protagonists that are older, like Swordheart, and the details you pointed out resonated with me as well.

Feels weird saying it, but I enjoyed, "The Warm Hands of Ghosts. " I need to read the Amari books. My favorite from this year was, "Twenty-four Seconds From Now, " by Jason Reynolds. Happy Reading in 2025💜💜💜

Here's my worst books Sex lies and sensibility by nikki Payne it's a modern take on sense and sensibility Taming 7 by chloe Walsh Flying solo by linda Holmes The love song for ricki wilde by tia Williams Memnoch the devil by Anne rice book 5 in the vampire chronicles Same time next summer by annabel Monaghan It happened one summer by tessa bailey Steelstriker by marie lu How to end a love story by yulin kaung

Here's my 10 Tales of the body thief by Anne rice book 4 in the vampire chronicles Clytemnestra by constanza casanti Queen of the damned by Anne rice book 3 in the vampire chronicles Good luck with that by kristan Higgins Her too by bonnie kistler This could be us by Kennedy Ryan Stars in your eyes by kacen callender Miss memory lane by colton Haynes memoir The wild truth by carine mccandless memoir The violence by delilah s dawson Honorable mentions Glitterland by alexis hall The hurricane wars by thea guanzon Pack up the moon by kristan Higgins Be my baby by ronnie spector memoir Just for the summer by abby Jimenez Funny story by Emily Henry

Hey! Your videos are so fun and unique! I’d love to help you post more often. I’m a video editor and thumbnail designer who can handle everything. Send me your videos and channel info, and I’ll take care of the rest. Let’s chat tomorrow?

My B&N now has a “mass market” section that is a mix of genres, as well as half an aisle of mass market romance and Harlequin. I’m in a medium size suburb in PA.

There was just too little of their so called friendship for their relationship to really hit in the end. In the first 2 seasons they just interact and chat once or twice. But it's not clear how close they actually are. They send each other letters and it's just him going on about his travels apparently. Season 3, they're a little friendlier as he's helping her find a suitor, but at the same time, the lessons lasted maybe 1 or 2 episodes and only a couple of minutes. So what did she even learn?😅 Some of the big moments like the balloon scene didn't quite hit because you just don't know exactly what they're looking at. Are they seeing each other or merely glancing towards each other's direction? With Anyhony, when he looked at Kate there were these slow motion moments and the camera focuses closer on Kate giving you the viewer his point of view. When she talks to Lord Basilio and the guy in the wheelchair, idk if he's looking because he's concerned for her or because he's actually jealous. To this day, I have no idea. I also, know nothing about Colin. He's still a complete mystery and i was hoping we'd get more of him considering he was the lead

I understand wanting to do Feature Fridays with new books to help the authors, but I think it’s totally fine to do backlist titles! Especially true if it’s part of a series with a new release, or if the author has a new release out. I know I personally tend to actually make purchases when recommended a backlist title vs a new release. I think it’s the lower price point, I’m more willing to take the risk. I’ve found several new favorite authors that way and ended up buying several other books by them over time, including new releases. Authors I’ve done this with: Jess Kidd, Robin Hobb, Lois McMaster Bujold, Christopher Buehlman, Leigh Bardugo, Katherine Addison, T Kingfisher, Brandon Sanderson.

Didn't everyone have a Helen Keller phase? I'm a good decade older than you and I distinctly remember having one myself LOL.

Wait till Bader blows loads of middle fingers to Amazon LMAOOO. She can use anything as a middle finger. Lip balms, (______). Free speech matters

i just finished natural beauty last night... what a whirlwind... you concretized many of the muddled thoughts i had post-reading!

I got my sister this book for Christmas. Heard it was really good and she’s way smarter than me haha

I'm looking forward to reading Wicked, I've seen a lot of negative reviews but still they were so interesting that they made me really eager to read the book

Amazon is is the place to buy HR I buy all books in Amazon and eBay and online.

The problem of HR is that only is based in the nobility of England. Historical Romance begins in the colonial times in United States in the South civil war slavery, in Louisiana, in the the Caribbean and pirates. It was not limited to a United States, including the war in the independence a Bri. Also thexpansion to the west and including the Arabs Middle East and including what is to Turkey.

Great video! I definitely feel like the rest of the Carry On series is not worth reading. I thought the first book was pretty good and the third book felt so unnecessary!

Love a good unhaul! It feels like distilling my bookshelves down into something even more fundamentally “me”.

I’ve read all the fever series, though it did take me a few years to pick up the next book after the four horsemen cliffhanger and again when the main character changed to Dani, I feel the series is very 2000s. Definitely going to pick this book up though, I too curious not to

Thank you for doing the review on this! I was such a huge KMM fan when I was in my 20s - her Highlander series are some of my all-time favorite romances! But, like you, when I revisited them in my 30s the nostalgia was there, but I didn’t love them as much as I did before. So I’m really excited to try something newer from her. I’m interested to find out how this new world feels to me I’ll keep you posted.!

Can’t wait for his next book

Here's what I read The extraordinary life of an ordinary man by paul Newman memoir The Graham effect by elle Kennedy Icebreaker by hannah grace The Christmas swap by Maggie knox Love holly by Emily stone Bring me your midnight by Rachel Griffin Long after we are gone by terah shelton Harris Twisted love by ana Huang Scythe by neal shustermen

I do wish Eloise became the villain instead of Cressida.

Hi there! I'm looking forward to hearing about all bookish things you want to share with us. From an oldie content creator to a newbie, welcome aboard. We're so glad to have you here!

Have you read any Mary Balogh?

Heyy, Just dropping by to say keep doing you! 💖 I am sure the engagement going up and down would be difficult to deal with and the KZbin algorithm definitely does not help~ buttt, I love hearing your thoughts on books and adaptations, especially! I am also turning 30 next year and so I appreciate your calm and more "adult" approach to reviews! I feel like Booktubers can skew younger and as I no longer feel like a young adult either, its nice to hear perspectives closer to my age! I wish you nothing but the best! Hang in there- this is a special corner of the Internet and you are a standout in it! 🤗 AND- more adaptation reviews & romance & mystery thriller recommendations plssss

Such a great conversation and something I’ve been watching/thinking/talking about with historical romance reader friends for the past few years as well.

An excellent comparison - you deserve a lot more viewers and comments for your insights! Sadly, I can’t comment on the novel as I’ve not read it yet. I found the TV series interesting, especially the idea of the metaphorical serpent representing a range of different things to different characters. The cinematography throughout was marvellous, especially the shots of the Essex marshes, which looked like an alien landscape. But I very much agree that they overdid the contrast between the two worlds - the Essex community and their homes looked more like something from the 17th than the late 19th century, as if they were trying to suggest a primitive-minded witch-burning community like Salem. What I liked least, despite moments of subtlety, was how the story and direction developed. It became less and less subtle, even occasionally trashy eg I found the sudden frenzied sex scene between Will and Cora right out in the open, as well as the scene when she destroyed her home in anger completely OTT, and really disappointing for a director of the calibre of Clio Barnard. I’ve seen scenes like that so often in these Hollywood-lite Apple and Netflix series they’re really boring now. I realise this is a mass market commercial series and she will have had to cater to more popular tastes, but I much prefer her social realist films like Dark River or Ali & Ava.

Liz Caryle I think that is her name move to other genre and Mary J. Pitney to romance fantasy but is historical too.

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Thank you for your detailed analysis of the Historical Romance genre and the publishing industry. I'm late to the party as I've only been reading published romance for the past two and 1/2 years and Historical Romance is my favorite romance sub genre. (Long time fanfiction reader) I have such a long backlist of authors to read that I haven't really noticed the lack of new entries that many long time readers have been pointing out.

great video, truly

This is so interesting to me. I've not finished the video yet but I'm french and I've seen two people recently in the train, openly reading Julia Quinn, which I've never seen before. The french covers are more apealing for the general audience but one of them was reading their hardback edition (which are special editions here in France). I also think Sarah MacLean (I think it was her but maybe also Lisa Kleypas) was also republished with new covers similar to Julia Quinn's. This is so refreshing to see historical romances getting their moment here (even tho romance in general is having its moment). I need to look more into how historical romance is doing here at the moment and what they plan to publish next or if they'll stick to Julia Quinn and the big ones. I've also notices the shift and it makes me sad. It makes no sense to me with how popular Bridgerton is that publishers are not pushing more to ride that wave. I can't really support new releases in the shop because they've basically disappeared (when they were even stocked). I have to order online and the four I've preordered recently and the past year never came at the release date because they didn't have them in stock. I had to wait a month or so to get it. I wonder if they're enough copies printed for the release date.

Love the title, "A Sunny Place for Shady People," so sharp. I cannot narrow down my favorites just yet. I did enjoy, "On the Roof Top," by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton. Thank you for the video 💜💜💜

Thank you for these Wallflower recs. I have read, "Romancing Mister Bridgeton," 4 times and I was just starting to think I really need to find a new comfort read. Thank you 💜💜💜

For me I don't mind a third act conflict in a romance. I just don't like it when there isn't adequate time/space for the resolution. Like if we discover we have trust issues, did we get to a clear understanding of how these issues have arisen, what are the steps we are working through to repair the trust. In general I enjoy Emily Henry's stories. I think i would have enjoyed , "Funny Story," better as a movie. I think I got too invested in the drama at the start of the book and I wanted more interactions between the couples, more akwardness etc. I wanted to see that wedding built on the rubble of broken relationships play out in full chaos and I only wanted a very messy HEA at the last hour. Part of me thinks i was never going to actually buy this particular love story, because it just seems like too much drama to overcome to really have a clean start. Maybe a small spark while trying to save face, but i guess i needed the romance to be just hinted at as a future possibility. Thank you for the video 💜💜💜

My Favorite part of the Uglies series is the technology. I think some of the action sequences were fun to watch as well. I read the series as an adult so my view was informed by so many complex thoughts on the beauty industry and the media. I wanted Westerfelds work to probe so much deeper. I enjoyed seeing the technology come to life on screen in the film. As a adaptation I think the film definitely had higher stakes being a visual medium. When the word ugly is used to describe what in Hollywood is essentially acceptable I think it cheapens the narrative. Even the entire concept of normals and specials might be to limited for visual story telling especially when larger questions of race, gender, and fat phobia have so much complexity in our current climate. I do think there is space to discuss fitting in, beauty standards, pretty privilege, coming of age in social media, but it may be too much for this film to tackle in the scope of how this story is told. Thank you for the video 💜💜💜

Hello Melody, I also tried to stop doom scrolling in bed by reading on my kindle. I found that I do fall asleep quickly if i read, the problem is i really just do not like doing it. Currently i listen to an audiobook 40 minutes before bed and then i doom scroll. I might have to really force the reading in. We can also keep trying. Hope you have better luck with your sleep hygiene reading habit. Happy Reading 📚.

My brain definitely reads differently for books i need to discuss. The first major difference is mandatory note taking. I have read a book for fun and ended up taking notes, but i do not normally take notes unless i am preparing a discussion. I used to sign up for Arcs, but i found it difficult, because i didn't like forcing myself to read and review books especially when i wasn't enjoying the books as much. Thank you for this interesting topic. 💜💜💜

I definitely want tp explore some Alexis Henderson writing. Glad you have been enjoying all of these works. Looking forward to reading Henderson soon. Thank you for your video review. 💜💜💜

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic! It's been weighing on me heavily for the last little while because historical romance is my favorite genre and the vast majority of what I read, so seeing the new releases in trad publishing waning like this is so upsetting. Thank goodness for indie and small press authors, and I hope the historical romance authors that are being pressured to change direction consider indie publishing at least until the market shifts. I definitely don't think this genre is dying anytime soon because there is a dedicated readership, but I'd love to see it shine in the trad publishing space again.

Historical romance is in trouble? I mean, I just read JA McAvoy, Courtney Milan and the new Suzanne Allaine book. But yeah, publishing is in trouble because like everyone else, they like to overwork the staff and underpay everyone.