I read "Caraval" by Stephanie Garber...

[@ReadswithRachel]

“Online friends or whatever” as if we don’t have each others numbers “Rachel I don’t know if you watch my videos” SIR IM SITTING RIGHT HERE

[@Artbyhurricanyounot]

@@ReadswithRachel “what am i? Chopped liver??”

[@autumnmei]

@ReadswithRachel Why did I imagine the "quit telling everyone I'm dead" scene from Brother Bear. Fret: Rachel I don't know if you watch my videos Rachel: I'M SITTING RIGHT HERE! Fret: Sometimes I still hear her voice

[@dontfretreadbooks]

@@autumnmei haha I forgot about that movie!! Now I got evening plans 🍿🥤

[@Carolinemarques8]

My favorites being friends warms my heart ❤

[@Meh_idk__]

Honestly I think flowery writing can be done well (not everyone will like it but that’s a personal preference) but it felt like Stephanie Garber was trying WAY too hard hard to make you mesmerized or make it feel whimsical, it also feels like it tried being the Night Circus (I actually liked that one and thought it did flowery writing and atmosphere much better) (I realized you mentioned the night circus at the end and couldn’t agree more, also her other series once upon a broken heart was even messier and felt like she tried to do howls moving castle and every basic fantasy description you can think of)

[@authorhalierivers]

Congratz ok 5k!! As someone who loves purple, flowery prose…I STILL thought Caraval was trash. And her “seeing scents” got annoying so quickly. I almost wished the sister stayed dead and this turned into a revenge story instead of whatever the heck actually happened. Bc like wdym you BELIEVED your sister unalived herself - saw it yourself - and was like “oh it’s a joke? I’m fine, then”

[@Kennedy_Struggles]

"Words are signposts that point towards meaning" sounds like something one of my communication professors would say

[@dontfretreadbooks]

👨‍🏫

[@jessicadoneganreads]

5K, totally congrats. That's HUGE for a booktube channel so way to go.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Thank you so much!!

[@voicememosforthevoid]

congrats on reaching 5k! condolences for reading this

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Thank you ☺️ and thank you 🥲

[@DarwinRoger893]

My favorite thing is picking up a book about sisters and their bond and only finding it crappy romancss in them

[@cravidana1182]

"I get what you're saying, but I hate that you said it." 😭😭😭 I dead and gone.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

🪦💐

[@ribbonquest]

I hate the name Donatella. Because I'm always going to think of Ninja Turtles.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I am always thinking of the ninja turtles regardless but yeah.

[@xRaiofSunshine]

Sounds like a girl version of the Turtles 😂

[@ribbonquest]

@@xRaiofSunshine I'm imagining gender-swap fanfic where all the turtles have bows on their heads and talk about makeup instead of pizza.

[@ribbonquest]

Yes, I have just spoken the Worst Thing into existence.

[@sereneandcozy]

Congrats on 5K 🎉 I just got done with rachel's review of this so it was funny seeing this at the top of my subs. I think the thing about flowery prose is that it does still need to explain something to me and the sentences in this book sound so nonsensical... even when reading a poem the flowery language does mean something... I also don't understand how Caravel is a game? Like im so confused as to what it actually is or why its marketed like its a circus type game lol I think casual magic can be done well like with legends and lattees, but when its something that's important to the plot it needs explained more than just "who knows" because that's just laziness on the authors part. This feels like it was the first draft where every idea was thrown onto the paper for plot and just to get the book done, rather than plotted out. I'd be interested in seeing a review of the Cartographers by Peng Shepherd by you if you take recommendations because i thought it was such a mess. I'm trying to think of a good book recommendation to offer too but I honestly have been lucking out with all of my recent reads so nothing is coming to mind😭

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I don’t usually take recommendations as in “ask and Yee shall receive” but I do look up most books and see if I’m interested one way or the other.

[@HeyMyian]

Damn I thought I was alone with my opinion on AH's acting. He has like one way of delivering his lines. All his characters are the same!

[@dontfretreadbooks]

There’s at least two of us

[@zvikomboreromukamba3389]

I saw this in my feed. Just came to like and congratulate you. You are awesome. Will come back to see your thoughts. I dnfed thus though... The purple prose was too much and nonsense 😂

[@dontfretreadbooks]

You are awesome too 💕

[@TheVolterra13]

Congrats on 5k! I remember reading this book like maybe 7 years ago and being utterly confused about what the hell was going on. My copy was translated, so I don't really remember the "poetics writing", but hearing some of the phrases out loud made me chuckle a little. Also I remember liking the banter between Scarlett and Julian even though there was definitely a point I fully believe he was one of the "bad ones" and it kinda broke my heart. I was young, okay 😂 Glad I stumbled upon this review before I committed to finishing the series (it finally got fully translated in my country after all these years) - I think I'll pass on this one 👀

[@lenapawlek7295]

Congrats!!! The cake looked delicious!!

[@dontfretreadbooks]

🍰

[@awkwardpotato27]

HECK YEAH! 5k!!!

[@xoPotatoTreexo]

Congrats on 5k! 😊 I remember someone saying in a review -- and it might have been Rachel -- that Garber was going for a synesthesia vibe with the descriptions, and I think it might have worked better if it was left for the relatively big/important events rather than every little thing that needed to be described (which is what it sounds like from your review)

[@darkrandom9947]

Congratulations on the 5k

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Thank you 🙏🏽

[@themazeballet]

Congrats on 5K! The nail varnish is stunning; are we going to be starting a mukbang video or....?

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I don’t think I could stand to watch myself eat for as long as it takes to edit a video.

[@76kilosofshade81]

Keeping me company as I walk to the lake to write my novel 🫡

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Ayy good luck writing

[@76kilosofshade81]

@@dontfretreadbooks thanks - over 2000 words today and a solid dose of nature 😄

[@YasminBook1]

Congratulations on 5000 subscribers!

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Thank you so much 😀

[@foxymochakitten]

5K is a big deal!! You should be really proud of what you've made here

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Ayy thank you. I am pretty proud of myself for sticking with it. I am also very appreciative of my viewers, patrons, and the lil community forming around the channel.

[@talbrun]

I feel I would overlook the air being thick as soup in a better book with a better plot and if it was said differently, I remember reading this book around hs and I just glossed over/ ignored all the weird smell things bc they just make no sense and it was a nothing of a book to me. happy 5k!

[@Leo-rp1cw]

you mean thiccc?

[@chantristrammell6088]

Congrats for 5k subscribers! So Hobbs and Shaw had 1 corny guy? Which one is it because they're both corny. I mean, i enjoy them both but if you say one is corny, I couldn't choose.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I think the Rock is corny and find Jason Statham is genuinely funny. But that’s a personal opinion and not a hill I’m willing to die on.

[@chantristrammell6088]

@@dontfretreadbooks I agree. Just didn't know which way you were going with that.

[@Artbyhurricanyounot]

Let me guess… was the cake Carvel brand? Similar enough names 🤣🤣

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Haha no I’ve never heard of that brand. It’s just from my local grocery store.

[@Nagchampa765]

I have love for this book because it got me back into reading in my late teen years, but i tried reading it again as well as some of her other books and sheeeeesh I mean for like a 13 year old i think it’s good but i do not understand the people my age loving it 😭 im glad they like it i just don’t get it

[@redlikeroses1062]

Congrats on 5000! My best friend loves trash books and unironically thinks they are amazing, like that fourth wing is a literary masterpiece. She picked up this book and told me it was the worst thing she’s ever read. I just wonder how horribly you have to write for that to happen.

[@paingwen1235]

It honestly sounds like I would've liked this abstract bartering system. Your voice, your greatest fear, your greatest desire. Sounds cool. Like making a deal with the devil. But it doesn't fit... here. Especially with this writing.

[@stolen_stardust]

wooooo congrats on 5k! here’s to 5k more! 🎉 also, thoughts on the book - i’m annoyed that the blurb for this is so interesting to me and every review i’ve come across has made it just sound disappointing! like okay - i LOVE me a magical carnaval/circus/etc. run by a mysterious yet charming individual. shoutout to circus mirandus, which hasn’t left my head since i read it at age 12. i should reread it lol. caraval seems like it could be a pretty interesting spin on that concept- something whimsical to viewers and those experiencing it on the outside, yet secretly sinister on the inside that gets away with it by how well they convince the audience it’s all for their entertainment. y’know the théâtre des vampires from IWTV? yeah, do that but with a funky circus/mystical carnival. instead caraval’s just come off as so Meh from what i’ve heard. nobody i’ve watched a review of has liked the characters either which immediately tells me i wouldn’t enjoy reading it, as characters will make-or-break a book (or any media) for me. … i had more thoughts but the entire time i was writing this i was thinking how much i want to reread circus mirandus a decade later so i’m off to do that instead lol.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

5k more would be amazing 🥲 thank you for sharing! enjoy your reread ☮️💟

[@autumnmei]

Congrats on the 5K! 🎉 How was the cake?

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Thank you!! It was good. There’s too much for just me though so now it’s stale and hard as a rock.

[@autumnmei]

@@dontfretreadbooks It preserved itself for future display 🤣

[@chellyfishing]

Is it toxicity if the thing is just bad??

[@schexylady]

I read this book and gave it 3 stars. You’re right; the magic system was not explained; it was meh for me.

[@Jasmyne241]

I read OUABH and it was soo good until the random twilight crossover. So much lost potential and I don’t get how people like these kinds of books. They make no sense

[@dontfretreadbooks]

It took me way too long to know what that acronym was 😭

[@Evelyn_Okay]

To me, this book reads like a mash of Alice in Wonderland and Howls Moving Castle, but written by someone who only watched the movie trailers and got their writing degree at a community college. Congrats on 5K 🎉

[@angryotter9129]

I agree but the community college slander was uncalled for.

[@storieswithskye]

I guess Stephanie Garber said she wasn't using Alice in Wonderland as inspiration for this, but that's all I could think while I read this. Now, I actually loved Caraval and found it really really fun, but I know everyone has different tastes. Alice in Wonderland is one of my obsessions, I've read and reread it many times and absorb anything I can get my hands on that has the same "vibes" to me and this really hit the mark for me personally, whether intentional or not 😂

[@Evelyn_Okay]

@@angryotter9129 oh, sorry! I didnt mean to offend. I was memeing that some ppl think they can master a creative art within 2 years. I actually have an associates degree from my local community college 😅

[@Heothbremel]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@zvikomboreromukamba3389]

Please tell us the podcast🙏

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I’ve mentioned it before it’s called Infatuated. Two Scottish women talking about books they really like. It’s super chill.

[@suzannewdowik]

Do you think your opinion on what prose is supposed to be is partly influenced by the fact you gravitate towards self help books and nonfiction? I feel like clarity is so much more important for those genres than for a lot of fiction genres.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

If I’ve ever said prose is “supposed to be” a certain type of way. I’ve misspoken. I would never want to position myself as an authority on anything or tell anyone what something is supposed to be. I have an opinion on what I like in prose and I like to know what’s going on. If I don’t know what the author means when they are describing something I can’t picture it in my head and then I’m lost and then I’d rather not read at all. There’s confusing prose in self-help (which I actually don’t read much of) and nonfiction as well.