1 Star Reviews for my Favorite Books of the Quarter!

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[@dianaayt]

oh that cardigan looks so good on you!

[@neondemon5137]

bro

[@dianaayt]

@@neondemon5137 ?

[@zwcook]

@@neondemon5137 I get the feeling that @dianaayt is a woman. You're the one being weird.

[@dianaayt]

@@zwcook and i mean even if i was a man that cardigan would still look pretty on her 🤫

[@zacharyrome3432]

Indeed !

[@moby517839]

I think you are right about Vandermeer overusing colonize. He should switch to Undulate

[@thefriesofLockeLamora]

Ooh this reminds me of your game with Daniel where he guessed books based on 1star reviews. I hope you're able to do that again

[@ghjong001]

1-star for favorites are always interesting for the different perspectives. I can perfectly understand slogging through multiple books of a popular series you don't like, though, because I'm one of those people that hates, hates, hates the Wheel of Time, but nevertheless slogged through seven or eight books wondering if I was just weird or if it would all start to come together. I finally stopped before the one everyone hates.

[@s.miklaski2286]

I also hated WoT, unfortunately I did finish it. Spent waaaay too much time trying to figure out what people find so great about it. I think I finished it solely to be sure I wasn’t missing a totally cool twist or hidden meaning or brilliant ending, nope, just not for me at all.

[@kacie-jobradford2632]

One can liken the pronunciation of the word *lichen* to the word *liken.* Here to help. 🙌

[@pauloid76]

I appreciate your search for opposing viewpoints

[@GrandSol]

I think the thing with VanderMeer is that he does a good job of fitting his prose to the story he’s writing. It always feels VanderMeer but also feels different. If you like the VanderMeer side of it then the shifts don’t bother you. Also on the topic of him using colonize so much might have to do with the fact that Ambergris is a city founded through colonization itself.

[@merphynapierreviews]

BUT HE USES IT A TON IN AREA X TOOOOOO

[@GrandSol]

@@merphynapierreviews shhhhhhhhhhh, we can just ignore that part for me point

[@ldillaway89]

Ishiguro is my favorite author and I always think of him as a master of subtlety. And I think a lot of people don’t appreciate or want a lot of subtlety in their novels.

[@avsambart]

5:37 "The moss collanised the steps" Ohhhhh I am going to like his writing style then cos that line is delicious! I need to move him up my TBR a bit more.

[@rebekahrichert4277]

I agree with that reviewer that Changes is kind of a reboot book, but I'm also of the opinion that you just can't keep a series going this long without a big shake-up. I got caught up a few weeks ago and as much as I would love another monster-of-the-week book, I'm also very invested in how things keep getting bigger and bigger.

[@katehh9396]

I've read the whole series, and it does feel like Changes is a dividing line. Stuff gets Weird after Changes and you start to see how different parts of the world really relate to each other

[@crowdsourcedlife]

That's the sneaky trick Jim pulled on us. We thought we were reading a monster of the week series. In actuality it is Epic Fantasy Chosen One series, and Harry and the reader are kept in the dark about it.

[@chokog2446]

@@katehh9396 Changes in an uncomfortable, but really awesome way!😀

[@BooksWithBenghisKahn]

Fun vid! And elegantly said about how anybody might view or pick up on flaws differently with any given book!

[@Waywoah]

You should really look up the show Scavenger’s Reign. I think it would scratch that VanderMeer itch

[@banaa9463]

Added all three of these to my TBR because of you

[@rashkavar]

Dresden Files' logical shark jumping point is the concluding action sequence of book 7. It's very much the kind of set piece action that is either "I am totally here for this, this is amazing" or "ok this is just silly. Stop." I'm very firmly in the former camp, but I fully understand that there are people who would not be. And yeah, the whole writing of women thing can be a bit much. They tend to be fairly one-note - Murph is *the* badass chick cop, Charity is *the* mom, Molly is *the* teenager (for the section that she's young enough to be), Lara is *the* competent and sexy schemer. For some of them it works, for some it doesn't. And yeah, the reception Harry gets from most of them is a little too generous.

[@Gcherry64]

I read Klara and the Sun just slightly before you and I thought it was so shocking how much you loved it so I appreciate this video and your reactions to others who felt closer to me lol. I think its cause when you pick up a sci-fi novel/show/movie often we expect adventure/thriller/horror and Klara is not that. I really enjoyed the introspection of Klara, but I wished some big thriller twist happened or something. I think that's why so many people feel "nothing happened." It was a meh, okay book for me because I wanted something to "happen"

[@KierTheScrivener]

I love Klara and The Sun (and it was my second Ishiguro book after hating The Buried Giant multiple years before). But soo good with so much sun, sun, sun, sun

[@victoriazeccola]

I think I fall in line with you when it comes to the rep of women in Dresden. Definitely down the middle on it. I have my issues with it, but I also think there are many great female characters in the series

[@MagillanicaLouM]

Initially read thumbnail as "I star my favs", was thinking you got a lead role in some adaptations for a second

[@merphynapierreviews]

😂

[@thefriesofLockeLamora]

She does bear a striking resemblance to Linda Cardellini

[@katherinep1010]

I've got Klara and the Sun on my end table, but I haven't started it yet. I didn't like Never Let Me Go, so I'm a little hesitant on this one and keep picking up other things instead. It'll probably have to go back to the library before I work up the coursge to try it.

[@merphynapierreviews]

I'm super curious how you find it. I've heard Never Let Me Go is more of a fan favorite and Klara has more mixed reviews

[@NimmelTheGreat]

Bit of a tangent but I feel like we've lost the meaning of objectification, or maybe I've never understood what it meant. I'd taken it to mean that a character or person is viewed exclusively in a similar way as one would view an object. Essentially "how can this benefit me/different character." or something like that. Most of the time I see it used though, it seems to refer to any time a male character is attracted to anything physical about a female character, which is definitely a criticism if that's the only thing the female character seems to be there for but I don't get that from Dresden Files at all. Doesn't really matter, nonsense labels are nonsense labels, just one of those words that whenever someone uses it I feel like I have to stop them and get them to explain what they specifically mean by it because it's gotten to vague and overused.

[@s.miklaski2286]

100% agree

[@TheRedHaze3]

No, you're right. It really is just a way to demonise male sexuality these days.

[@badfaith4u]

I love this series.

[@corydharma]

Some people just don't like change(s) ;-P

[@zwcook]

I think you're thinking of Dead Beat as a possible "jump the shark" moment. It's one of my favs though

[@merphynapierreviews]

mine too

[@Montie-Adkins]

I just started Dresden Files #7, Dead Beat. I intend to keep going all the way through, for now. My comic store proprietor has also read Dresden so when I mentioned it today he got happy. In his enthusiasm he spoiled me for something I was actually hoping for: SPOILER > > > > > > > > > > > There will be an encounter with Santa!

[@LightningRaven42]

It's definitely not what you'll be expecting. Don't worry too much about it.

[@katehh9396]

Butcher pretty much grabs any supernatural thing he's ever heard of from any culture and sticks it in the Dresden Files somewhere.

[@Montie-Adkins]

@@katehh9396 It is a bit kitchen sink but I'm good with it.

[@bmike3000]

Lichen! ITS LICKEN MERPHY! iTS PRONOUNCED "Like-in"

[@GideonCyn]

I hate to be that person - but it tickled my brain when you said it - but lichen is pronounced as liken 😅

[@Foobymaster1]

I have all the VanderMeer books on my kindle (im gonna read annihilation first) and have klara and the sun waiting in libby

[@matthewschwoebel8247]

If people are still reading Dresden Files at book 12 and giving one-star reviews... Are they hate reading?

[@notrixamoris3318]

Each to our own...

[@xNik]

can you please also do a list for your favourite audiobooks of the year/quarter

[@dresdenwarlock7978]

Let me tell ya, as a long time Dresden files fan and reader, when Changes came out there were people who said they threw their book across the room or threw it away and have given up on it entirely.

[@JayGTheAwkwardBookworm]

Poor Harry 😂

[@evanflynn4680]

Sorry, I can't help it. Lichen is pronounced "lie-ken" because English is weird

[@Verlopil]

This is why I read up to Changes then stopped: There have always been problems with these books, but they were, to me, a low level of irritation. At changes it all suddenly bloomed. Everything I liked seemed lesser, and everything I disliked seemed to to increased to the point where I no longer had tolerance. That how someone can say the series jumped the shark this late in the game. Butcher changed the way he was writing this series, and I just don't want to read it anymore. Butcher uses women and their deaths and pain to give Harry motivation, except for Molly. I still think he's doing everything he can to give Harry a reason to "reluctantly" have sex with Molly, so she'll probably be the last one standing.

[@katehh9396]

That's a really good point, and you made the right choice stopping here. I so strongly identify with Karrin that it probably saves a lot of the series for me. I'm also a small woman and want SO BADLY to be strong and excel at physical combat, and I haven't seen a ton of characters like her.

[@MetalMattGaming]

VanderMeer sounds really interesting to me but I'm not sure where to start. Any recommendations?

[@Starlesslight]

You probably wouldn't one star RA Salvatore's Forgotten Realms books about Drizzt if you read them :)

[@niikolo_x]

I give this video ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@igorgoliney9494]

I haven't read any of these books, but I've read the first book in The Dresden Files and finished there. People say however that the first book was a dud, so who knows? Maybe I'm wrong?

[@merphynapierreviews]

personally, I still liked book 1 well enough, book 2 was the dud for me, but book 3 was great

[@dannygarland6366]

One is pretty good, two was a step down. Three is when the roller coaster rides starts and just doesn't stop.

[@StarvingArtist600]

Dresden book 17 actually does jump the shark, I think they just put the review on the wrong book. Changes was amazing... Battle Ground was garbage.

[@keravnos2231]

350 pages but yet people want to cut it down shorter and even says it isnt going anywhere, yikes 😂! The ishiguro reviews are brutal

[@rachelspencer9456]

🧡📚🧡📚🧡📚🧡

[@HurricaneDDragon]

I’m sorry, but I’ll say it… Merphy is beautiful. 😍

[@blckbirdoftrees6218]

I have only read to book 7 of dresden files. However I have yet to notice Harry objectify women. He has sexualized women to the point where I do not want to continue. He has not to my knowledge objectified them. The distinction between the two is how Harry views the person he is looking at. Does he recognize that the women in question is a human being with her own wants and desires or does she exist solely for his pleasure.

[@chokog2446]

I am kind of tired of people putting down good series because of "the male gaze"! Have they read anything written by women? Female written romances not only have "Female gaze" but are down right exploitive of the male romantic interests... I have had guy friends read Romantasies and they feel very uncomfortable of how forward and blunt the sexual content tends to be... Let's have some acceptance that we are all human and attraction is part of our daily experience. Some authors are just a tad worse at being subtle about it 😊

[@telynns8490]

Plus, as has been mentioned, you are literally riding around in the guys head. Guess what? People notice attractive people! It's a problem when someone acts it out in a prevy fashion. But there is zero chance Dresden is doing that or Murphy, Michael, Butters or Billy would not be his friends.

[@zacharyrome3432]

Sex is a part of life and most people crave and enjoy it , pretending otherwise is weird .

[@chokog2446]

@@telynns8490 Exactly! He is even wholesome in my eyes! I am reading a SJ Mass book right now, who knows why, but in the first chapter, a young woman is being dragged out of a slave salt mine, and her thoughts are about how attractive her captors are! And how the one is pretty, but the Captain of the Guard is ruggedly handsome!!!! And we all know how her fans never even mention anything about her objectifying the men around her... I guess there is a double standard...

[@chokog2446]

@@zacharyrome3432 Completely agree. I am not against it, I just feel that if we are downing the male authors for doing it, we should definitely call out the females as well 😎

[@Page_max]

Hey Merphy. We as your disciples deserve good things. For example we deserve some hxh content from you. Please

[@lathspell87]

Anytime I hear the phrase "the male gaze", I immediately roll my eyes and disregard anything else I hear. Newsflash: men are physically attracted to women. We take notice of all physical aspects of women. Making note of a woman's physical traits is not in and of itself objectifying. I just think there's a big difference between noticing a woman and sexualizing her.

[@1zebbe3]

Yeah sometime I wonder how these people want their characters described. If the character finds another character attractive that might even be some sort of personality trait.

[@neondemon5137]

These 1 star reviewers are probably too busy watching real housewives and fboy island.

[@brutalusgaming8809]

Klara and the Sun was written for book groups of people that have not read much Science Fiction and drawn in by the Authors name/fame/reputation. The story has been done before over and over again in dozens (hundreds?) of long and short forms for decades. My wife and her book group liked it a lot. I got half way through and stopped as I had already read this story multiple times and in far more interesting and smart versions.

[@Dunybrook]

Changes killed many of the things I liked about Dresden. Since then the novels have been disappointing in varying degrees and Harry is becoming more sexist and problematic instead of the reverse. He really loves his stereotypical views on gender roles like the absurd one aboout women being able to communicate on 5 levels compared to good old stupid men who are confined to one or at least the "real men" like him are. Harry's attitudes towards gay men was also downright painfully tone-deaf. The lack of representation and stereotypical portrayals is getting increasingly hard to ignore. The only reason I keep reading the series is for some of the other excellent characters whose days may well be numbered. The short story collections, however, have been great since they benefit from different editors and writers.

[@Safiislam-r9i]

Hi Dear, Do you need a professional youtube thumbnail designer,?

[@xrcvbn]

Why do you Indians always do this, you’re not getting a job lmao