Get This Book Away From Kids | A Darker Mischief

[@llbearll]

6:51 if you think that trigger warnings "spoil the book"...just don't read it?? if you know you don't have any triggers then you can just skip to chapter 1. it's honestly ableist to not include trigger warnings in books (especially being published by scholastic)

[@Curto971]

Actually so real. I'm so sick of people acting like shit like this ruins the experience. If you do not need a trigger warning literally flip the page and do not read it. People complain just to complain. It makes me so mad.

[@vainpiers]

I picked up "She's always hungry" and at the front it had a page telling you where to find trigger warnings at the back of the book.

[@llbearll]

@@vainpiers i think that's a great way to accommodate everyone without spoiling things for people who don't have triggers, good on them!

[@jessedcampbell4411]

As someone who primarily writes YA, I really REALLY appreciate your breakdowns. I try my hardest to reflect on what I'm trying to say--or indirectly saying--to a younger audience; knowing my own life experiences are reflected in my work. It's certainly upsetting to see content like this--having gone through the review and approval of multiple people in a trad pub setting--make it into the world without trigger warnings, at the very least. Thank you for taking the time to review books like these and bring more awareness to these shortcomings!

[@chellyfishing]

This is such a weird book? All edge and no point? Like I don’t understand what the author thinks he’s doing here, but whatever it is, I’m pretty sure he’s not doing it. What does he think “horror” means???? And the lack of trigger warnings is soooo irresponsible. I also saw the unedited 13 Reasons Why and I don’t understand why we keep doing these things that actual health care professionals say are bad and dangerous. I really hope your next book is a winner. We’re all going through it enough as it is.

[@elizabethperry2622]

That show I swear. I was so thankful I ran into reviews who flat out spoiled it by letting us know “sooo first season we have ultimate self harm portrayed exactly contrary to the way every mental health professional urges people to talk about this topic, then second season we double down on the idea of this act as some kind of revenge the victim can lurk around and enjoy as a ghost and also a teen gets brutally assaulted with an object by his peers” and never saw it

[@northofdakota]

It's really sad that as a writer who plans on traditional publishing one day, I'm constantly stressing myself out and worrying that I'm gonna have to change and fix the most simplest plotlines and characters in my story but then there are stories like this that went through multiple rounds of revisions and editing (assuming it did) but it was still given the green light 😕 It doesn't demotivate me from publishing but it just makes me feel even more sad and disappointed at the current state of publishing. Regardless, I appreciate the review and now I know to definitely avoid this book! 👍🏾

[@muerteporbibliografia6748]

I cannot understand how a book like this doesn't even have trigger warnings. YA books can deal with dark and serious topics, but they must be represented with care and understanding of the message the author's trying to convey. I haven't read it, but a lot of what you're describing seems shocking just for the sake of being shocking and in a horror book. 33:11 Oral herpes' symptoms are usually mild (unless you have a weak immune system) and the risk of infection is lower (some even say nonexistent but I've seen conflicted information about that) if the person doesn't have blisters. However, writing Luke's lack of care about being infected as romantic is really weird. Just wait till there aren't any blisters, jesus christ. Like why would you risk getting infected when you can just wait a few days 😭😭😭? Even if it's not the worst illness of the world, it's still quite annoying, isn't curable and you could get complications. About YA books talking about sex, I recently read Confessions of an Alleged Good Girl by Joya Goffney. It's about a preacher's daughter who broke up with her boyfriend because they weren't able to have sex after many tries and he was "tired of waiting for her". Then she discovers she has a condition called vaginismus and what that means. It talks about the misogyny and lack of sexual education common in evangelical upbringings. I think it tackles sex naturally without being explicit.

[@wonktonk185]

This author literally just heard of the concept of chimera DNA and did not do anymore research on it. People with this condition have some cells with one set of DNA from their genome and some cells with have another set of DNA from a different genome. You still have DNA, 1 + 1 does not equal 0. You have two distict sets of DNA. If he did not have DNA he literally would not be alive. Also this condition isn't even that rare and neither is absorbing a twin in the womb. As someone suffering through my genetics course this just irked me so bad.

[@avsambart]

I will admit, I had a paragraph ready to rant against what I assumed you were going to say, but we ended up having the exact same opinion of: having these topics in YA is fine but the execution (not being too explicit and being informative so teenagers can learn) is important.

[@ManEatingTeddyBear]

I actually DNF'd this pretty earlier on because I wasn't vibing with the writing style--like, the prologue was intense, but everything after that felt pretty... dull?--so hearing all about the stuff that happens after I DNF'd is WILD.

[@sunshineeee]

I feel like half this book’s issues(plot wise) would just be solved if the themes were about propaganda and indocrination, not by the Society, but by the larger force of Arky/Archie/Arci(??) on younger children. Like even dumb stuff the like island or necklace could be just psychological torture(making them think theyre in danger just to save them and laugh), and the buildings thing could be to seek people out, specifically those who they could make feel smart by having them figure out these pretty inane and easy puzzles, etc etc. Molding kids to be what they want as adults

[@ah-sh9dw]

32:26 rant on herpes because this video seems to scaremonger about it. I dont mean this as an attack on the channel, this is something people seem to do a lot, but this just sounds like exageration based on herpes being stigmatized as an STI. There are two types of the herpes simplex virus, type one and type two. I'm guessing the type in the book is type one since type two isnt spread by kissing and it rarely effects the mouth Over 50% of people have herpes type 1 and because of how mild the symptoms are, and recurrence not being super common, a lot of those people wont even know they have it Unlike type 2, type 1 herpes isn't usually considered an STI. Usually, people get it as a kid, through non sexual means. You can spread it through oral sex, but that isnt common Herpes does not get worse with time, its not dangerous, I suppose its incurable in that you can't completely erase the virus from your body, but its completely treatable. Theres medicine to clear up any infection and if someone is prone to recurrence, theres medicine to prevent that too All it being permanent means is that after beating the acute phase, a tiny amount of the virus just hides away where the immune system can't get it, and remains dormant. If the immune system is weakened, it could potentially start replicating and turn into an active infection, but maybe it wont, maybe it'll never come back, maybe it'll never cause another symptom Chickenpox is pretty similar, its also a kind of herpes and it stays in the body too, but I dont see people talk about needing to ponder the severity of getting a permanent disease at just 16, when it's chickenpox. They just tell you to get the shingles vaccine. That boy probably already had it, and if he didnt, then it still wont alter his life, it just means you should probably keep some coldsore cream in your medicine cabinet. If you apply the cream before it starts crusting, it'll be gone fast. I dont even know if i have it, but as a hypochondriac i keep coldsore cream and use it whenever theres a lump or tingling, just in case. I be living the life of an infected person despite having no idea if I am.

[@StarSquishie]

Slightly agree and slightly disagree - you're right that oral HS1 is very common (est. 50-80% of the American population has it, 68% worldwide) and generally doesn't affect day to day life. However, putting your mouth on someone's no-no zone during an outbreak of H2 OR H1 can give them no-no H, which is no fun at all and can be much more disruptive. Is it as big a threat as the video makes it out to be? No. Is it romantic that two characters take this risk with no forethought? Also no. Do I trust that if spicy scenes happen, the author will consider the risks and have the characters proceed with caution, especially considering that m/m hanky panky is very risky when it comes to STIs already because of the, ah, trauma to the area? Hellllll no.

[@Listen2Kristen_]

Thank you for providing this context! I should’ve expanded a bit more in the video and I truly apologize for fear mongering but the reason I was concerned about this in the book is because Cal’s symptoms are pretty serious. He experiences an intense fever and hallucinations as a result of this illness and it gets very graphic about the sores in his mouth. In my opinion that book was too flippant about how serious herpes CAN be. I felt like it took the stance of “oh yeah a lot of people have this disease so therefore it’s not that big of a deal” without acknowledging the other type which we associate with sex. Herpes is a very manageable disease and with the right precautions you could never transmit it to someone else. But my fear is that since this book is targeted at TEENAGERS that they might now know the different kinds of herpes and will think that contracting it (oral or otherwise) is not that big of a deal. I feel like if the doctor in the book warned Cal about how much worse it could’ve been for him and really stressed the potential risks then I would not have a problem with it. I have hope that readers won’t take this book as a “guide to herpes” but I also know that there is a chance that someone would take this book at face value and that is where my concern lies. Again, THANK YOU for providing this context and starting this conversation 🫶🫶

[@ah-sh9dw]

@@Listen2Kristen_ really appreciate you being open to my thoughts and I definitely agree with everything you said there. You definitely wouldn't want this to be a kids first time hearing about herpes The books description sounds really weird. Sounds like it tried to invent a new type of herpes by combining type 1, type 2, and herpes simplex encephalitis, or something. Weird stuff

[@ah-sh9dw]

@@StarSquishie yeah, I probably downplayed it a little there.

[@ah-sh9dw]

6:17 why dont they just have a note at the front that says there's a section at the end of the book that lists the trigger warnings. Like, they are a mild spoiler and i can see why someone would be annoyed if they accidentally read it, but there are work arounds

[@Jadef0xxxx]

As someone who has experienced extensive abuse and trauma as a child, child sexual abuse, sexual abuse in my teen relationships, and domestic violence in my current relationships; and someone who had been diagnosed with PTSD and suspected ASD (currently on a waiting list and family history) I have tried to limit my exposure to certain media. I’ve noticed over the past two years I can’t handle violent and sexual abusive media anymore I get thoroughly triggered. I know most movies lack trigger warnings, especially older ones which I tend to gravitate to more, but with books you can put those warnings front and center. Ive been writing and world building for my fantasy novels for years now, and my stories do contain touchy subjects, but even when I used to post my work on Wattpad I ALWAYS gave trigger warning at the beginning AND on the chapter that contained the triggering content. That’s because I have actual care and have empathy for other people and their experiences, something I wish more people would show towards me.

[@Mel-me9sw]

I can understand why you had to take a break. I almost cried listening to this review.

[@diawolf8125]

You can have trigger warnings and if someone doesn’t want to get “spoiled” they don’t have to read it.

[@DarrianChamblee]

I read a lot of YA, not necessarily YA horror and I think it's interesting that this book is tagged as a YA horror. I would be interested to see it compared to other books in the genre. Edit: I’m adding this because I don’t want anyone to misconstrue my comment. I was saying this as a thought experiment like how does its themes compare to others in the genre

[@ДарьяБеличенко-я2и]

Not a dig at you but at the video - some people see a book categorised as horror and still need a trigger warning? Its horror, bad things happen there. Horror is not for everyone and it doesn't have to be for everyone.

[@ДарьяБеличенко-я2и]

Yea i was wrong, if YA is for kids it should be age appropriate

[@redlikeroses1062]

⁠@@ДарьяБеличенко-я2иWell horror is such a wide genre that it would be foolish not to do a trigger warning. Also I refuse to read about SA, and to say that every horror book will have SA in it would be wrong of course. I honestly think horror needs trigger warning more than most genres. You shouldn’t have to blindly walk into any book, let alone a genre that tends to rely on violence against women as a crutch to make things scary and tense.

[@tyler-df3wy]

Tbf as anticlimactic as it seems, I could totally see a bunch of history nerds making a super edgy mysterious secret society purely to get more people into history. Like that is such an Academic™️ thing to do Just… with some extra added sadism

[@Lilthecat-lj7qo]

Yeah fuck not having trigger warnings.

[@danebirbhaha7520]

Why do some people insist on publishing in YA when Adult would be way more fitting and give them more leeway??? it's mind boggling (are the advances that much better??)

[@giraffewhiskers2045]

Personally I’m not sure if a little life has the trigger warnings in its front pages, I have the kindle version and getting the physical version soon I do think they should’ve had trigger warnings, at the same personally I alwahs think it’s best to check if they have any trigger warnings online and if I can find a preview of the book before actually buying it While being bad that, please please don’t force yourself to finish a book if it is causing you any type of mental distress! If you need to leave it for a day or forever then do what you must! Parents/adults before these books go to your kids or library READ IT! And if you are 18 or older please again read/listen and check trigger warnings before making a decision to buy!

[@jacobneale5844]

This review definitely wasn’t negatively but definitely a review that was needed, thank you for informing us & booktube, as a gay reader who tries to keep an eye out for LGBT+ books I now know to avoid this one.

[@roguechemist2529]

ok but isnt this pinkie guy an adult and luke a high school student...... or am i misinterpreting it

[@Listen2Kristen_]

Pinky is a senior (18) and Luke starts at 15 but turns 16 in the book. Me personally I hated this age gap between them and it makes it even worse but idk

[@snowfire321]

i've never seen this channel before but based on the intro i'm hyped

[@meganlopez5884]

hi what is the word she says at 30:10--30:11 I'm trying to get better at english and I've never heard this word before

[@alexandrapurdy2513]

"Luke doesn't look present in the moment. He has a blank halogen stare." As a native English speaker, the phrase 'blank halogen stare' doesn't make sense. Most people would probably think of halogen lights, which give off a bright, warm glow. It's not an image people would associate with a blank, dissociative stare. It's an odd phrase.

[@meganlopez5884]

@alexandrapurdy2513 thank you so much!

[@milk.8781]

@@alexandrapurdy2513Halogen light are often used for car headlights and direct lighting such as spotlights. I thought she was referring to the shape some halogen lights. I’m specifically thinking about the almost lamp shaped ones.

[@laviestbelle3760]

This review made me think of another YA Gay Horror book, it's called Don't Let The Forest In by C.G. Drews, I haven't read it yet but it has had a lot of hype and is nominated for the Goodreads awards. What made me relate it to this book is that it doesn't have a trigger warnings page either, so I searched on Google and these are the ones that appeared: bullying, blood and gore, body horror, death, disordered eating, grief, homophobia, self- harm and violence. I think it is a very important issue that these types of books have these warnings. Now, as I said, I haven't read this book and I don't know if it handles these issues properly but I think that a warning page is something very simple to do that can help many people.

[@mangographics225]

Love your reviews!! Especially the ones you have found in tasteful or personally objectionable. You Go Girl - we're adults here. Thanks!

[@robinronin]

This does not sound like a YA book at all, but I have to admit, the premise does remind me of a lot of adult Reverse Harem prep school books that I was obsessed with for a few years. I understand why the author and publisher put this out in the world, because that premise (used to) sell like hotcakes. It's absurdly expensive, though, so I won't buy it 😅😭

[@equinoxcrow]

Sadly, this type of YA is what MfL can point to, claim all LGBTQA+ are like this, and should have them all band.

[@ljslibrary]

at 12:50 i thought you were going to say something very different lmao

[@Bonnie-cu5hx]

I really agree with you reasoning for giving a book a true review and helping parents to monitor what young adults read. Thank you so much 🦋💜

[@zoomzoom103]

I had to pause this video multiple times cause I was so shocked that this is written to be a YA book. Like, WHAT!?!? I don't understand why in the heck the author would want to be so flippant and careless with all the things he's putting in this book for kids! Like, this is just playing into conservative bigotry and conspiracy theories that queer books aimed at kids are all inappropriate and need to be banned.

[@IonIsFalling7217]

52:50 /SCREAMS in biology nerd. If you don’t have DNA you are a ROCK.

[@Selfconchas-m1r]

Thank you for your message in the beginning ❤

[@susan-7865]

I wanted to write YA horror novel. I write science fiction screenplay, paranormal fantasy YA books

[@yiannis5972]

It's a shame because I really like the cover of this book

[@susan-7865]

Books should give trigger warnings before buying the book, some things might be offensive to children

[@ion6708]

Respectfully, this wouldn’t be a problem if people didn’t dumb down the label of “YA” to be for young teenagers and not for ACTUAL YOUNG ADULTS 18-25!!! Use a different label for books that are intended for minors!! Thanks!

[@leonis5664]

YA was historically a label created for teenagers .... It was always meant for the 12-18 demographics, what you're describing seems to be New Adult label, sadly this seems to not have stuck because I rarely see books labeled like that

[@PhoebeTheFairy56]

YA _is_ the label for books intended for teenagers. You are the one using it incorrectly here.

[@KristenReviews]

Hello fellow Kristen! Came across your channel and this is a great review!

[@GaryNac]

Many people say that if you got nothing nice to say then you shouldn't say anything at all some people might say that if you ain't got anything to add to the conversation which is positive then you shouldn't say anything at all but yet again that's not exactly the type of additude or spirit which sells or gets attention whether it be on you tube social media or whatever but if somebody wants to sell and if somebody wants to get a little bit of attention then I don't necessarily judge and more power to them I suppose.

[@marinaamz]

What is going where you sre mourning with us? Im lost??

[@orangepeelqueen2787]

Oh wow... awful. *adds to amazon wishlist*

[@ДарьяБеличенко-я2и]

I think raitings are better than trigger warnings because they give the general idea of the books contents and whether there are going to be heavy topics, without spoiling the book

[@cascharles3838]

I understand why people wouldn't want to read the trigger warnings to avoid spoilers but I'll never understand why people can't just, not read them? Like skip the page?

[@ДарьяБеличенко-я2и]

@@cascharles3838 oh good idea!

[@smoore121294]

I will always prefer trigger warnings. I read a lot of horror and can read a lot of things but the moment there's sexual assault I will be unable to keep reading. It has ruined my entire week before. Same with movies, so I always check content warnings.

[@EnPlaysGames]

Ratings are too subjective. With content warnings you know exactly what it has while with ratings some parents and kids will have a different understanding for what's appropriate for different age ranges. As someone else stated people could just skip the page if they're uninterested and if it was an actual spoiler the author could do "possible spoiler triggers:" or something and list those out so that people who don't want to be spoiled aren't. In my opinion if you write a good book, knowing spoilers should not drastically lessen the readers enjoyment. If the entire book is built up for this one twist and knowing that twist makes the entire thing fall apart then it's quite frankly not a good book.

[@ah-sh9dw]

Trigger warnings are for warning about triggers. There are many different triggers and you can't combine them into some general rating

[@jacobneale5844]

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[@Heothbremel]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@ДарьяБеличенко-я2и]

I understand your good intentions but YA is not for kids. Its age group is 18-26 and it literally has "adult" in the name "young adult"

[@TheXamem]

YA is for kids. The intended age range is 13-18. You’re thinking of new adult which sometimes get pushed down ti YA because it isn’t a common label yet.

[@arawin25]

YA has been for 13-18 age group for the last 25 years or so. If someone is going to arbitrarily change the age group that YA represents, then they will have have to take that up with the entire literary world and every country in it.

[@ДарьяБеличенко-я2и]

I looked it up just now and multiple sources say its 18-25 and 18-26 My bad that i got confused by these sources and the name of the genre (why does children's literature has "adult" in the name lol)

[@eliward]

Stop lying, I just googled and everything is saying 12 to 18. Are you the author or something?

[@Disgrace_917]

@@ДарьяБеличенко-я2иyou’re confusing the literary age category YA with a term used to describe adolescents in general. In publishing YA is meant for teenagers/young adolescents(13-18 or 12-19 for a broader range). Looking at human development stages, young adults are just that, any adult between 20 and 40, after that you’re middle aged (although colloquially it’s used more for those aged 18-26 or 18-36 depending on the demographic you’re trying to reach). *addition: late adolescent stage is mid/late teens to mid/late twenties depending on the source.

[@lotorsempire90]

You know as an older queer not everyone is going to constantly hold your hand. Trigger warnings are nice but never expect them. Can young adults not handle reading darker themes? It's not a book for kindergarteners. Half the time people don't even read the back of the book. Life is not all sunshine and rainbows 🌈.

[@LynnHermione]

And yall wonder why kids are all young nzs, yall want to purify and censor everything they consume. It is parents job to parent, not artists. Write whatever you want!

[@yoyohayli]

No one is saying the book shouldn't be written. Literally did you pay attention at all?

[@Grace-n-gosts_No.1fan]

okay but in a book for kids it is the author’s responsibility to be sensitive and add warnings for people 12-18 ❤️

[@Evelyn_Okay]

Just an Idea @listen2kristen, based on your attention to detail and ability to point out sensitive issues handled poorly, you could do critical reviews as a side-hustle for writers with unpublished manuscripts who want a sensitivity reader. You could easily charge $100-$200 per manuscript, based on word count

[@ДарьяБеличенко-я2и]

Imagine paying someone $100-$200 to make your book toothless

[@ДарьяБеличенко-я2и]

Eh i didn't need to be rude. I don't need my literature to be rid of all problematic and heavy topics, but if theres a good market for soft clean unproblematic books (including horror) you should go for it.

[@Evelyn_Okay]

@@ДарьяБеличенко-я2и I mean ... spend 10 seconds googling the word "irony." It's gonna change your perspective of the world

[@Grace-n-gosts_No.1fan]

@@ДарьяБеличенко-я2и or yk for 12-18 year olds like the genera says 😛