I read "The Deer and the Dragon" by Piper CJ so you don't have to.

#booktokbooks #bookreview #fantasybooks #fantasyromancebooks #romance #romancebooks
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[@suzannewdowik]

Hazbin Hotel review series when? Edit: if 20 of y'all like this comment, D is contractually obligated to review Hazbin Hotel 😈 Edit Edit: WE DID IT, LADS!!!!

[@dontfretreadbooks]

If your comment gets 20 likes I’ll make a hazbin hotel reaction/review.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Damn it.

[@theagingmillennialvarietyh7751]

😂😂😂 Amazing

[@ironicallynice]

Aim higher 😂 ​@@dontfretreadbooks

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I hadn’t posted in a minute so I thought the video was gonna bomb.

[@monster-enthusiast]

"Comp titles and trying to compare shit to other media is detrimental to books." Agreed.

[@sourcandyspite]

when i finish writing my novel, im gonna go into the publishing process with the unearned confidence of piper cj and make millions

[@mikachuthunderboltz1298]

@@sourcandyspite , what’s your book about?

[@sourcandyspite]

@@mikachuthunderboltz1298 Mexican folklore and brujería and a princess who gets panic attacks lol

[@mikachuthunderboltz1298]

@@sourcandyspite , nice! Which route are you taking when it comes to publishing? I’m working on a novel myself.

[@sourcandyspite]

@@mikachuthunderboltz1298 i plan on giving traditional publishing a shot, but I'll happily pull back and try indie instead if my book isn't a good fit for whatevers in vogue by the time it's done

[@GothVampiress]

if it's one thing viral disappointing books have taught me, it's that i need to be more confident in my own writing. good luck with your novel journey!

[@weirdandproudofit1]

The way I SCREAMED when you started the song

[@kysariin]

i read piper cj's the night and its moon. was not a fan of how the black character was named nox and essentially a succubus while the palest snow-white character became a badass fighter. i didn't even know she wrote something else. your review further solidifies my plans to not read any more of her books😭

[@asteridshydrangea-jt2hf]

@@kysariin I think I watched the ReadsWithRachel review of the first couple books in that series (or it autoplayed at some point?) and the content sounded like it was very far from my interests. Iirc there’s a point where said white hero sl*t-shames Nox (who was forced into s*x work in said white woman’s place) so I decided to steer clear.

[@equinoxcrow]

This reminds me a lot of Cassandra Clare's work while trying to be edgy adult.

[@mercycunningham2813]

@@equinoxcrow I'm reminded of Fallen.

[@kandibug5303]

The worst things about most comp titles in trad pub is that it is usually the publisher who decides what IPs get chosen to be the comp titles and not the person who is creating the actual work, like with the Spin of Fate author who compared her work more to Naruto than the Avatar the Last Airbender comparison the publisher chose for her. This effectively overtime made the use of comp titles really useless, especially nowadays where getting sales matter more than reaching the right audience for long term growth and survival of a creator and their future works.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Yeah I blamed the publisher in my video. But one of my patrons mentioned the author is a fan of Hazbin hotel so I dunno.

[@captainbaekho]

i havent read her books but i have watched all of rachel's videos reviewing her series (and other reviewers too) and all her main characters are self inserts and they sound UNBEARABLE and awful to be friends with because of how self centered she is. im honestly not surprised at all she and her friends harrassed reviewers into silence 😬 also i know reviewers can't say that she plagiarized anymore because of fear of legal repercussions but i will say it... she plagiarized the witcher and she did it badly on top of that lmao

[@totalknightmare]

I love your nails. Exactly how I paint mine except I leave them matte 😜

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Thank you, I wanted to give it a try 😅 I usually only do one colour.

[@willowingwhispers2612]

I'm so mad this book is compared to Hazbin Hotel. I was genuinely excited for it, but I waited for reviews first and was disappointed when none of them mentioned any similarities to Hazbin Hotel. I'm also sick of books being compared to other well known or popular series and there's nothing similar beyond something so tiny, it's barely noticeable.

[@themazeballet]

literally never done this before, let me live: first

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I’m honoured to be your first first

[@ascontralto]

The way my ears heard phantom xylophone while you were playing guitar tho lmao (Edit) okay now that I've listened through the whole video lol I can enjoy some flavors of purple prose, but my biggest gripe is that SO MUCH of the way people try to write purple is like... saying things that sound pretty in a vague individual-word way, but there's literally NO unifying concept tying any of it together. Like they don't even bother thinking of what a thing Literally Is before diving straight for a ✨️pretty✨️ description. Which might be on purpose for Piper, bc iirc she had a LOT of very anachronistic terminology when saying stuff like "adrenaline filled my body", when THAT would be the perfect opportunity to describe the physical sensation of adrenaline?? No anchoring of abstract thought, no abstraction of bland concrete descriptions, just vacillating wildly between two extremes I also dont really like the (similar feeling) lack of unification between different mashups of flavors of fantasy tropes/species cropping up in the fantasy romance space. Like, they just import a Fantasy Thing with all the affiliated surface tropes with no regard for how any of them would actually interplay on a narrative or thematic level. Like playing a videogame where all the assets have clearly just been flipped from a dozen unmatching free resources with no effort to make them look good or cohesive. It CAN be done, but the effort it takes to integrate them meaningfully is multiplicative, not additive. And its a shame if this is her effort trying to flex her degree, because (as someone who doesn't have a degree but does have a passion for folklore etc), it kind of just feels like she’s playing spot-the-creature bingo with all of the actually interesting parts scraped off the top ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@ironwolf5802]

Wait, no dragons in it? Welp, my hopes are up.

[@ZEROHEROFOREVER]

I own this book and I’m in by a couple chapters. It’s kinda weird and no way comparable to hazbin hotel to me.

[@vvitch-mist20]

You have a great singing voice lol. I'm sorry you hated this book, but at least you can sing.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Thank you ☺️

[@vvitch-mist20]

@@dontfretreadbooks also maybe it's just because this is my craft so I grade other writers more harshly, but from how you've described it. CJ Piper is cosplaying a writer and just ad libed a career with whatever the Booktok girlies want. It's probably very marketable, but no substance.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I think some content creators can gain a lot of clout and publishers see them blow up, and see dollar signs 🤑. If you’re a big creator, a book is an easy cash grab for everyone involved. Not to say these content creators didn’t want to be writers. But I get the sense a lot of them didn’t grind and hone their craft like you and many of my other subscribers. I think they romanticized being a writer as opposed romanticizing writing itself. So their works can ring hollow to a lot of folks who read while using their critical thinking skills.

[@vvitch-mist20]

@@dontfretreadbooks I agree 100%. And it's a little disheartening as a writer who has skills, but no market but here's these people with their millions not providing anything.

[@sciencefantastic]

Having seen several reviews of this book I'm confident to say my gender flipped Beauty and the Beast story is better than anything CJ has ever written XD

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I mean…”gender flipped Beauty and the Beast” is an amazing pitch 👀

[@sciencefantastic]

@@dontfretreadbooks Oh thank you XD It involves a tall anthropomorphic raven lady and a palace trapped in an eternal winter's night And there's a reverse shadow daddy situation. A shadow mommy if you will haha Except this is a romance that... is actually sweet and sensitive.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

@sciencefantastic is it out yet?

[@sciencefantastic]

@@dontfretreadbooks Nope still working on drafting it, but I’m very close to being done. Thinking of querying when I’m finished. Been working on it for a few years so hoping it’s any good haha I take it ur interested

[@dontfretreadbooks]

@@sciencefantastic yeah, it sounds really cool!

[@TheAdarkerglow]

Growth or development? But she'd have to not start perfect for that.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

You make an excellent point

[@76kilosofshade81]

I think the only thing I like about Piper CJ's writing is how their (author) name is structured.

[@kandibug5303]

Don't worry, I chose all the IPs as my comp titles for my original work to make sure it covers all genres and audiences such as: The Hunger Games, A Court of Thorn and Roses, Handbook for Mortals, Star Wars, Star Trek, 50 Shades of Grey, Twilight, Misery, The Shining, Steven Universe, He-Man, Dragon Ball Z, Bleach, Demon Slayer, Sailor Moon, Mass Effect, Baldur's Gate 3, Mega Man, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, The Simpsons, Black Panther, X-Men, Avengers, DDR, Guitar Hero, and The Room.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Yo you had me at Mega Man 👀

[@chickenapplepie3141]

I don't really watch much book content on KZbin and I don't really read books like this anymore so I don't know how this ended up in my recommended but I'm very happy it did lol! You have a wonderful way of speaking and explaining your perspective. I also never would've expected a book review to start with a song and my expectations are now sky high 😌 Will be checking out all your other stuff!

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Ayy thank you for watching!

[@lenapawlek7295]

Lol the intro cracked me up

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I’m so relieved 😅

[@oddbunny4482]

I'm a bit late to the video, but I like what you did here ! I've been following you since almost the beginning of your channel. Here, you sound more confident with your voice and the way you talk, and you have more fun with the video editing and the audience. It makes your content even more enjoyable to watch. Continue like this !

[@sava-smth]

I thought at first she had a price on the cover €1 😂

[@dontfretreadbooks]

😂😂☠️

[@macdaniels9887]

OMG I JUST REALIZED THATS HILARIOUS DONT F R E T

[@HungryEyes-sl3mu]

This book sounds like the Walmart version of American Gods.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I’ll take your word for it. I’ve never read that.

[@Angelica_Rodriguez39]

I spent this whole video going "...huh? ... What? ... HUH?"

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Yes. That was my reading experience.

[@redroose531]

I literally said HELL YEAH when you brought out the guitar 😂😂 also love this song

[@applebonker141]

Hazbin Hotel as a comp title? Maybe I'm wrong but to me, this book would be better compared to "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman 🤷‍♀️

[@beaniebaby485]

Always love the song intros!

[@dontfretreadbooks]

🙏🏽🎶

[@frostrider3704]

Loved the intro, but was so surprised hearing the song, I had to check I'd clicked on the right video. I've watched a lot of your shorts where you do cool little raps and stuff, but I've been away from BookTube for a bit and didn't think you were going to pull out a whole ass guitar on me. I really like where you're going with this channel, keep it up. But don't hurt yourself too much with all these awful books. Treat yourself once in a while.

[@mercycunningham2813]

I'm at about 22 minutes in and I hate to admit it but that devil-reincarnation-plot is eeeriiily familiar. Were have I heard that one before? Wait - processing data. I've read that in the 2010s - The Fallen Series by Lauren Kate.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I’ve heard that a couple times now. Very strange.

[@mercycunningham2813]

@@dontfretreadbooks I'd normaly shrug it off. But unfortunately it's not the first time a get a feeling of deja-vu while listening to a book summary of one of pipers books.

[@kandibug5303]

But we need to ask the important question. Was it better than 4th Wing and/or Gothikana?

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I’m pretty sure it’s worse than fourth wing and on par with Gothikana

[@peggyluwhoreads]

Thanks for the song. I really appreciate you taking one for the team with that.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

It would’ve been better on piano 🎹

[@peggyluwhoreads]

@@dontfretreadbooks Maybe, but I'm not making more work for you.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

@peggyluwhoreads thank you 🙏🏽

[@jasminv8653]

Please find some nice mystery novel for a change or something, the agony is getting to be so much 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@dontfretreadbooks]

I have a book I’m actually really excited to read, I just haven’t started it yet.

[@ToCoziesAndBeyond]

I can’t wait to hear about what you are excited to read!!

[@Alittlefruitgoesalongway]

I love your nails! also, song intro is great as ever

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Thank you 💅🏽🎶

[@jo_helaci]

Great singing 😊

[@cravidana1182]

I know people who liked this and said there were interesting thoughts on religion, etc, so I gave it a shot. The writing was hard to get into it. For a second I thought I was the problem because English isn't my first language, but then, I realized that she just tries too hard to be purple and deep and flowery when simple descriptions would be more than enough.

[@samantha.donovan]

The way you said they find each other in every life cause they’re soulmates is very Fallen by Lauren Kate coded which feels fitting for this author as it’s a very bad (but nostalgic for me) series

[@dontfretreadbooks]

That series name has come up a couple times in relation to this book

[@ribbonquest]

The premise reminds me of the Fallen series, except instead of fallen angel stuff it's devil stuff.

[@kir-is-here]

19:35 she’s TWENTY SIX?? 💀💀 bye

[@jasminv8653]

12:57 i felt that

[@TiffReadsBooks]

The intro got me 😂

[@JessCsBooks]

"There, you happy now?!" Yes.

[@dontfretreadbooks]

Glad you’re happy 🩷

[@DebErelene]

Great opening 😂 Worth it.

[@awkwardpotato27]

Please. I beg. Read a book to cleanse your soul 😂

[@dontfretreadbooks]

My soul is damned.

[@zvikomboreromukamba3389]

😂What they said that books gives Hazbin Hotel? Ah no. I saw the pilot snd even that just no wiyh the way the book sounds

[@Noona_needs_a_nap]

❤

[@Heothbremel]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@Srbthmlnsmth]

Ugh…… this bookz