LIGHTLARK is all that is wrong with the book community

happy new year i guess
my patrons made me read lightlark and all i have to show you is rage at the mediocrity that is accepted by publishing and the community under the guise of pretty aesthetic tiktoks
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[@melleroy7341]

Side note, but I'd like to point out that the author is a fully grown 27 year old woman, so you can't even chalk it up to her just being young and barely out of highschool...

[@loureadingthings]

She's 27?????? I thought she was like 21 what the fuck

[@futurestoryteller]

Pretty sure "just out of high school" is the default maximum mental age of anyone rich enough to have an entertainment lawyer

[@cryptikkcries]

​@@futurestoryteller maximum mental age in terms of sense of entitlement and thinking the world owes you shit as well

[@futurestoryteller]

@@cryptikkcries Pretty sure that'd just another way of saying what I said

[@ReadswithRachel]

"this is a book that is purely marketing" yes. that. 100%.

[@Arinrine]

I've just graduated on a marketing degree and i can say its 200% , and its not even a good strategy, they got more lucky than anything 😪

[@rainydayjules]

"She lacked so much writing talent that she couldn't even make a Mary Sue properly" incredible

[@NateReadsDiversely]

As a Jewish man, if I wrote about a goldling from the Gold Star Isle who is greedy, has a hooked nose and works in a bank, I would be harming my own people. I'd be confirming those stereotypes within the logic of the world. I don't think Alex understands that that's what she's doing.

[@SrslyTony]

"Idk what race Grim is supposed to be therefore Idk if I should relate to him 😩" 😂

[@NateReadsDiversely]

@@SrslyTony That was actually not my point. I was talking about how Alex Aster is harming her own community by how she portrays the Wildlings. Instead of subverting stereotypes relating to the Latine community, she is perpetuating those ideas.

[@SrslyTony]

@@NateReadsDiversely no that's okay, I was just so blown away with how stereotyped every character was that I could not believe someone could get away with all that 😂 but yeah it is pretty dangerous and these kinds of stereotypes need to be kept out of YA for good...if only that publishing house has editors and beta readers 😬😵

[@NateReadsDiversely]

@@SrslyTony Seriously, I agree. Azul seems to have gotten the worst of it.

[@catlinejade3672]

"the book community is concerned with appearing instead of actually being" 100% on point

[@futurestoryteller]

Isn't she trying to have this both ways; more importantly - aren't we letting her? It seems to be understood that she succeeded because she is a basically a white rich girl, with time and money and entertainment lawyers to burn. Is there ANY proof that this book got published, or succeeded in any way because she was a Latin author? It seems to me that Lou saw this woman say she was Latina and just assumed this was a part of her marketing strategy that paid off because she has a pet peeve about how booktube handles diversity, in her perception. Yet, I haven't seen anyone say anything good about this book in the first place, or anyone talk much about the race of the author, no one said it factored into their decision to read it, and very few people so far seemed to have the same subtextual reading of it in the depiction of the characters. It seems to me like Alex Aster's heritage is a piece of trivia, and it doesn't strike me that anyone else sees it differently. I would also say that interpreting the rise of this book as emblematic of some perverse "virtue quota" without evidence ignores the fact that the popularity of all poorly written books are inherently a threat to the survival of well written ones. Yet Lou placates the demand viewers place on spotlighting them by putting Patreon in charge of her readings list, and here we are - another nearly 40-minute video making the same essembly-line of criticisms about the done-to-death, vapid dumpsterfire that is Lightlark. If this book is everything that is wrong with the book community, then in a strange sort of way this video is a celebration in honor of that fact.

[@CityGirlWriter]

BookTok 🤝 mediocrity with great aesthetics Thank you for suffering through that book so that the rest of us don't have to.

[@danaslitlist1]

110%!!

[@SrslyTony]

Azul fans not existing is literally the author's fault for not doing anything with him. Pro tip for those curious about adding diversity to your book: If you do not have a black character in your story, it's okay. If you do not have a gay character in your story, it's okay! If your black or gay characters aren't in the main cast, this is also okay! Just write them with respect 🙏 If your story has advertised a black gay man being part of the main cast and a ruler of an entire kingdom, who is then consistently pushed off the page and out of the story more than anyone else...you have NOT written that character. Period.

[@jonnie7891]

This is the writing advice we need going into 2023. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@psychicsocial]

100%

[@Mecharnie_Dobbs]

Writers do not control how their stories are advertised.

[@REDACTEDbox]

they eat hearts… but the heart is also an egg… damn, alex really did need a nice egg in this trying time

[@danaslitlist1]

I’m begging authors to at least pretend they care about their “passion projects” even when we know it’s all nepotism and money doing the work😫

[@scoutz0rs]

Alex Aster’s sob story isn’t even consistent and I’m pretty sure she’s misinterpreting a lot of it (she’s given different answers to why her agent “dropped her”), but I don’t believe for a minute that she worked on this book for ten years. I believe she was popular on tiktok and leveraged that with a concept she could turn into tropes and get a quick book deal. Notice how she rarely mentioned her middle grade duology when she started in on Lightlark. It wasn’t trendy enough for tiktok and it didn’t fit the narrative of rejections.

[@lolopoppp]

That’s what I was thinking too. For a books she has had for ten years I would think the plot and world would be more consistent. I’m pretty sure too she made it sound like she never published a book before which wasn’t true because of her duology you mentioned.

[@insertcheesypunhere]

i think she worked on it for ten years, but i do not think it was a consistent ten years. this definitely has vibes of a high school writer's immature ideas, and she's collected tropes and characters and plot hooks and worldbuilding details from various media between then and now, like a snowball careening down a hill covered in muddy slush. this reads like someone who has been writing in short bursts every few months or so every time she saw something cool in fiction that she liked. then, once it was finished, she failed to do any revising or editing that would make her work more cohesive. it's a pinterest board of a book. if you cut it open, you could count the rings of young adult trends like a tree. this is a young adult fantasy any percent speedrun.

[@stationeryfrogdesk]

alex aster spun a wheel each chapter and that’s how she decided the entire plot

[@irispurpurea2616]

“War of hearts by Ruelle on repeat, a MacBook and a dream” 😂

[@rainydayjules]

When I was a kid, I read a book about kids with very strange and specific magical powers, and the main girl's power was that she could make eggs spin by tugging on her ears. That's all I can think of with the floating yolk!

[@luthientinuviel3883]

Omg i love this power

[@voidkid693]

Oh my goodness I loved that book as a kid! I forgot about it until now pfft!

[@insertcheesypunhere]

ive watched so many videos about how bad lightlark is, but i cant get enough

[@deandracarter8468]

Same!

[@justwonder1404]

Thank you, maybe I'm weird but at least I'm not alone

[@allbutperfect]

Same here 😭😭😭

[@deandracarter8468]

@@justwonder1404 let's embrace the weirdness. I like drama and tea. But more than that, I've enjoyed each reviewer's unique analysis and focus on the book, the industry, and the author.

[@ariannay766]

yep same its this borderline obsession for a piece of media i do not like and its surrounding tea

[@ThorWantsAnotherLetter]

I love you so much, I love the way you talk about the ways people skate over writers and just fill their "quota" with just one author

[@loureadingthings]

And i love U SO MUCH

[@bebella9005]

Why would a yolky egg represent life? Like… it’s dead. A chicken isn’t gonna be born out of it. That egg is dead. C’mon now

[@bebella9005]

Also I lost it at “she doesn’t even have enough talent to write a Mary Sue”, because HOW????? Djsidbaidjakdjisdj 💀

[@futurestoryteller]

Tbf this is a little like asking how a heart represents life because "if it's ripped out of a chest that person is dead." I'm kind of amused by the suggestion that all eggs are about chickens too, women, generally speaking, have eggs - I'm not a biologist, but I would gather that the majority of non-plant/fungal life reproduces at least partially through eggs, here it's represented by a bird egg since because of food it's basically the universal symbol for an egg, so it's not, in and of itself a bad representation of life. From what I've heard it's just very poorly set-up, because of mixed-metaphors (the heart is the egg) and because of the inherent phonetic silliness of words like "yolky"

[@REDACTEDbox]

life… is like an egg. has chickens in it sometimes

[@waynesarchives]

I've watched four videos on lightlark so far and I have yet to understand what the book is about

[@loureadingthings]

i read the damn thing and i can't understand either

[@riversrhodell2359]

Crowcaller's video was my favorite for the breakdown of the convoluted setup.

[@mcjordie]

"Can I offer you an egg in this trying time?" 😆

[@mcjordie]

As always, so many great points & discussion about books & publishing & the world. I'm so glad we're getting videos from you again 💜

[@ArtyTheNinthYT]

The thing is that there is a valid way for mixed latina people to want to connect with their heritage, there will be stumbles and maybe not an connection to their culture that is culturally sensitive, but the way Aster intentionally writes her latina coded characters as monsters and the one main one isn't ''like the others'' really does speak volumes for how she feels about her heritage. PERSONALLY I blame sjm for all of this, bc of her racist and sexist portrayals in her books people like Aster or JLA do this kind of shit and its considered so 'diverse' and 'fresh' and I hate it.

[@farhanasafran8124]

the "demonstrations" sounds like the evaluations tributes had to go through in front of the gamemasters in suzanne collins' hunger games but in lightlark it's here just for the sake of showing off the cool powers the characters have to the readers, no real point to it in the actual storyline, not even for advancing the plot or whatever.

[@nicoler5713]

Yep. Pretty sure part of how she sold the concept was "THG meets ACOTAR". And so she does one of my biggest pet peeves - using elements from books she liked (specifically THG here because that's what I am familiar enough with to say she definitely did) without understanding WHY those elements are in the original work, or understanding her own work enough to realise that THEY DO NOT MAKE SENSE HERE. The evaluations in THG were pretty cool, yeah, but there were REASONS for that beyond "show off how cool my characters are!"

[@Tamaki742]

Me after watching every video about this book : WORLDBUILDING MFER, DO YOU SPEAK IT Like what is it with some authors just not caring to build up the world in the way that makes sense for their stories? Especially when the world around the characters matter for the story they are in.

[@grimreads]

5:43 "If this book doesn't make you want to start a socialist revolution, I don't know what else will?" So, basically it is hunger games without the neoliberal agenta and a 5/5 read? PS: Imho, books like Lightlurk only exist because people who never outgrew Harry Potter want to have "important conversations" about books.

[@loureadingthings]

But stupider

[@jojobookish9529]

The yolky thing line was an attempted foreshadowing? Oh... Oh no....😬

[@-0-000]

Wait that was foreshadowing ? I thought it was just because Isla was starving from receiving hearts for dinner all the time so she just started seeing everything as food 🤣

[@ReadswithRachel]

THE TABLET APPEARS

[@jojol.2630]

I like writing stories that are just kind of there for people to enjoy, not really anything deep and I know that, but I feel like even if that’s all you want to write at least make it good

[@futurestoryteller]

Does make you wonder how you decide what is frivolous but good

[@lucyamclarenauthor]

This is so frustrating for me as a debut author trying to get my book out there. I’m not saying my book is amazing (that’s for readers to decide!) but when books explode overnight and I see multiple reviews about their average-ness/mediocrity it’s… hard to know how to make myself and my book known above all the noise and excitement about such books. And I’m white. Like you mentioned, authors who are Latinx (or any other ethnic minority group) have it SO MUCH harder.

[@Rainyrachreads]

Hi! Can I ask what your book is? I wanna read it:)

[@melaradark1319]

Same. I have a fantasy that I'm hoping comes out this year, and I get so torn about this stuff. Like, on the one hand, it's 'holy cow, I've got a shot because if books THIS bad are getting praise and I can write better crap in my sleep, mine'll definitely be a hit!' then on the other, it's 'so many really genuinely good books are getting ignored for THIS trash?' Ugh.

[@futurestoryteller]

Since y'all settle here to talk about your stories, I'll throw in. You know how most writers won't say their idea because they're afraid someone will steal it? Well I'm going to tell you guys the (hopefully short) story that I'm writing especially because it's not an original idea at all, although I am sure it's transformative enough not to be plagiarism. I didn't like Quentin Tarantino's movie _The Hateful Eight._ I don't feel like it had good points to make (that I could glean) and he marketed it as a kind of "Agatha Christie mystery" but I thought the reveal was boring. If you don't know the synopsis for the original movie there's always the Wikipedia page. The things I changed in the hopes of making it more interesting are: 1. The woman being watched by the Bounty hunter is black, in addition to being in a gang she is initially accused of killing her white husband (married illegally) because he was abusive. 2. It takes place during the American Civil War, but the blizzard triggers a kind of ceasefire between two opposing units who hide out in this cramped cabin. 3. There is more of a legitimate murder mystery element. 4. More things than not are not as they seem. The most important element is the characters all have their own perspectives. In addition to multiple race-related angles. Some of the men are just offended by the thought of a woman who would have the nerve to kill her husband, others can't abide the thought of a woman being executed for anything regardless of her skin color. This means that whether the other occupants are on this woman's side, or against her, there's a high probability that they are motivated by prejudice. It also makes it harder to pinpoint who's doing what when things start getting out of hand because there are so many possible motives on one side or the other. Ultimately the chained woman is the protagonist, unlike in Tarantino's film where she is very clearly intended to be the antagonist. It becomes a story about people objectifying this woman as a symbol or scapegoat for their ideals, when ultimately she has her own goals driven by her own motives, and I think there are a couple of hopefully pretty good twists that really demonstrate this

[@lucyamclarenauthor]

@@melaradark1319 it’s so frustrating! I’m going to keep pushing my book, and I think you should keep going with yours too! 🙂

[@lucyamclarenauthor]

@@Rainyrachreads hey, I thought I’d replied to this but maybe not!? (I can’t see my comment anyway). My book is Awakening: The Commune’s Curse Book 1, it’s a multi-POV, character focused dark fantasy and it’s available from all good booksellers now 🙂

[@victoriabryer4710]

Am I the only one thinking, did Lou take the trash out?

[@loureadingthings]

I didn't actually 🤡

[@chava5074]

23:17 “I like to read and I don’t like to mingle” 💀 😂

[@Emilyrkissinger]

*deep sigh* time to add a paragraph about Lightlark to my thesis...

[@M.I.N.A.]

What are you writing about? 👀

[@maddysbookopinions]

For reference Caleb Azumah Nelson who is around the same age as Alex Aster wrote one of the most gorgeous books I’ve ever read. While working at apple. With no family funding. The thing is money and nepotism and a list of tropes cannot buy talent and that’ll always be proven in the quality of work. I truely believe this.

[@KatrinaEames]

I've never been really good at the ✨ aesthetics ✨ part of the book community - and i'm beginning to think that's okay

[@catlinejade3672]

Sally J Mistakes 💀💀 Iconic

[@BelleChanson0717]

"aesthetics over content" YES

[@noxreads9340]

Yeah when everyone was talking about how she's a new author who has never had a chance I was like... SHE PUBLISHED TWO OTHER BOOKS! I HAD THE ARCS FOR THEM! Lightlark had sooooo many issues. I honestly think it could have been good but... so many issues

[@stormystohelit6256]

The different writing styles for me is the one thing that lends credence to the fact it was written over the course of 10 years, because I know if I go back to look at my old stuff that my writing style is vastly different.

[@ashleybroome170]

You have become one of my favorites! I love seeing when you and Rachel have update ❤

[@MayBarros]

THE EGG IS THE CLIMAX???? WAT

[@Deej210]

I'm so glad I got recommended this video because 7 minutes in and I am ENCHANTED with your humor, nuanced takes, presentation and everything else. Can't wait for more

[@ihaveaname699]

this is so funny when you've seen Rachel's bad book video

[@qlipothian]

A lot of the book felt like it was made up on the spot with no planning.

[@GalelAMedina]

I cried laughing, thank you. Lmfao I also want to point out that so many people have backtracked on their negative comments because she only uses her identity as shield. When I saw people saying she was also indigenous I narrowed my eyes, like I knew her ass was a white latina pulling the "we're mixed card"--lol she can say she still believes in the blood quantum and spare us the embarassment . I checked the wiki entry and lol yeah that "fact" has been removed. I need US-tinos to Not appropriate and use identities like *aesthetic*. Also did she legit name her main character "isla" bc the story takes place on an island? Ha ha ha ha capitalism kills art and makes literature on conveyor belts to be mass produced *cries in anarcho-socialist* . Thank for your videos and much needed critique of publishing and the titoktification of literature.

[@eriklonnrot3578]

I agree with the sentiment you express in this video. However, Lightlark is but one (illuminating!) example of much bigger, systemic problems in the entire US literary ecosystem, from the publishing industry, to professional literary criticism, to MFA programs. Would recommend anyone interested to read Patrick Nathan’s critiques of some of these problems. His book _Image Control: Art, Fascism, and the Right to Resist_ deals most directly with imagery and spectacle, but gets at the deterioration of public literature indirectly, in the manifold ways we have reduced reading to aesthetics, marketing, and branding. For those that don’t want to read a whole book, his essays “Connectivity Error” and “An Irrelevance of Talent” are also v. good, tackle this topic directly, and are on his substack, *Entertainment, Weakly*

[@futurestoryteller]

So it's like a book about the economics of Sturgeon's Law?

[@eriklonnrot3578]

@@futurestoryteller Not really ...? The book is more a work of criticism that unpacks the way we make and consume images nowadays, when social media reigns. It's not commentary on quality per se, but what is obfuscated or omitted in the presentation of an image absent context.

[@sugarbunify]

....A YOLK? 😭😭😭😭

[@ariannay766]

"will I get the Cassie Clare lovers in my comments? maybe. i don't really care though." XD tis I, the Cassie Clare lovers. Tbh my feelings about the Shadowhunters series can be summarized by something my friend once said: "they're not the best books, but we love them". They're messy subplot hell, and I like a book with a lot going on and a lot of main characters- especially when some of those characters are really cool. you can love or hate that in a book idc overall they have a lot of flaws and Cassie needs to stop writing incest , both real and fake. yeah, she's not liek " you should do incest" but she needs to STOP WRITING IT IN GENERAL she did write Simon and Clary's friendship so perfectly, to be 100% honest that is my favorite part of the Mortal Instruments. the Infernal Devices is better magisterium is peak Cassandra Clare though Edit: oh my god I paused the video to write this comment and as soon as I unpaused it you went right to talking about the fucking incest XD yeah. yeah. it;s... ew. um thats all I can say

[@Viteaification]

the island is flaking into the ocean like a pastry? her prose is like watching a 3 yr old scribble outside the lines with random crayons

[@arjay1016]

I'm trying to imagine it, but instead of a flaky croissant, all I'm seeing is a mushy wet pastry sitting in the ocean.

[@hex_gurl2389]

thank you for using “latine” it made my latina heart happy 💜💜💜

[@user-be3iu9vz4s]

todes tarades

[@MsKakay12]

oh i've been WAITING for this!!

[@midnight5163]

I discovered your channel very recently and I am so so happy!! You're so funny

[@paige8556]

her tiktoks are so smug they drive me crazy i had to block

[@zooer64]

Glad I'm not the only one who felt like that. All she does is brag and restate the sales pitch for her book over and over.

[@catnokyatto]

I am so glad Read with Rachel shared one of your videos. 😂 You're amazing!

[@-0-000]

Thank you for validating the amount of pain I dealt with while reading this book , literally everything you said is spot on . This book had my eyes rolling to the back of my head so hard they got stuck there so I couldn’t finish it 🤣🤣🤣

[@MrRorosuri]

I was eagerly anticipating this video 😆

[@HipsterBeauty07]

the way i knew what book it was from the thumbnail alone says enough🍳

[@sparksstillfly3857]

Ohmygod the bit about books being inherently revolutionary is a WORD!!!!!!! You are such a breath of fresh air

[@UnicornHunterbooks]

Lightlark is really terrible. The whole book makes no sense. The worldbuilding makes no sense, the characters’ motivations make no sense, and there are so many plot holes. Also, Isla is the only one with a last name. So where did her last name come from? Did Isla Crown just sound cool?

[@BoReads]

It's so wholesome that you and other booktuber I like are friends.

[@demitwice]

por algum motivo eu senti uma vibe brasileira em ti e depois vi tua tatuagem em português, mulher tua pronúncia em inglês é perfeita eu não ia ter nem notado que era tua segunda língua se tu não tivesse falado

[@africaobi3576]

The egg story finished me. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@danferrusquia2819]

When you said “I’M LATINA” at 7:17 I got ptsd flashbacks to Lele Pons

[@xarph]

egg

[@sentientstarz]

so obsessed with this video that i have to subscribe immediately

[@pixelsbykris5494]

I CACKLED at "Sarah J. Mistake"

[@eliselapuce]

Are there mbmbambinos here, because that egg thing was very "Imagine an egg". Or Julia from Drawfee egg bits.

[@rainydayjules]

alex aster: one egg, please!

[@jrthepinwitch1911]

This is in Latine book rec lists? 🤮

[@jrthepinwitch1911]

It hurts something so selfloathing is the most Lat exposure so people will get.

[@loureadingthings]

Unfortunately

[@lifeisgouda2602]

SALAD J MISTAKES sent me 💀💀💀

[@xTheRainFallsx]

what type of tablet is that? good video btw

[@loureadingthings]

Samsung tab A8!

[@JDris08]

She has a movie deal, that explains the entertainment lawyer

[@jusagosi]

vi a rachel recomendando o seu vídeo e ri largada quando vc pegou a brahma kkkk

[@loureadingthings]

acredita que sobrou de quando o brasil pipocou pra croácia até hj

[@eattheventrue]

"é de cair o cú da bunda" blindsided me, not gonna lie

[@loureadingthings]

A wild Brazilian appears

[@eattheventrue]

@@loureadingthings *wild Pokémon encounter theme intensifies*

[@africaobi3576]

I wonder how the editors missed all these issues. Maybe they felt no amount of editing could fix the issues. Or maybe it was not even edited.

[@guilhermesarmento3149]

Ótimo video, camarada!!! P.S: Your english 10000/10

[@PamsShenanigans]

not your video making me so so curious about lightlark because of how AWFUL it sounds 😭 (mostly because i wanna inflict pain to myself)

[@estherelle8]

a book filed with tropes, fantasy clichés and such lazy writing that the villain got a multi page monologue on why and how they did their betrayal.

[@nicholewarren4229]

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on Paolo Friere's works as a Latinx Marxist/communist!!! I go back to pedagogy of the oppressed really often and id be curious to hear yr perspective on it!! (Im a new viewer so if youve already done so i may have missed it lmao)

[@annsh.6487]

А какие песни вы знаете, собственно?)

[@monalyssa0102]

One last thing to the people who didn’t read Lightlark yet and are only typing negative things about this book and the author after hearing about it in rent videos, review videos, and seeing passages of the book, without actually understanding why that word or specific sentence was used and in which context, please read the book beforehand. Please. Just because someone else didn’t enjoy it doesn’t mean you won’t. And that gives you no right to go around social media telling everyone that it’s horrible. To the people who have read it and dropped it, if possible, I recommend you read atleast until the plotwists part. It’s really twist after twist every page, the last few chapters had me hooked. My honest opinion on this book? It’s a good book. Not the best fantasy novel ever written and maybe slightly overhyped with some confusing elements to it, but it’s a good read. I won’t sugarcoat it, it’s not extraordinary and will not leave you crying for days or think about it all the time, but it was definitely worth my money and I enjoyed it in the end. I’ve even ordered Nightbane. Whether other ppl have a different opinion is their problem and I’m not trying to convince anyone that it’s the best book ever or anything like that. I’m just giving my own opinion on the book, hoping ppl who haven’t read it yet won’t be so influenced by all the negative hate comments on this book before reading it. And I basically rented about how I’m tired of hearing about this book’s controversy. Thanks to anyone who’s read this comment to the end! I’d actually want to hear all your reviews and thoughts on this book in the replies if anyone wants to share :3

[@africaobi3576]

She is currently busy writing book 2. I think you should read it too when it is released.🤐

[@Marie45610]

I'm a glutton for punishment, and have morbid curiosity about this book and have been thinking of getting it from the library. (I will not spend my own money on this book)

[@Ashley-gq9xy]

This book is why booktok needs to be stopped. Her stupid tiktok all "would you read a book about..." went viral so then publishers thought it would sell well. Imo, that's the *only* reason this thing was published lmfao.

[@jo_helaci]

Damn good review 😄👍

[@chloesantos8637]

YASS QUEEN YOU TELL HER (the 27 year old women who tiktoked her way into publishing)

[@giulendo3371]

Oiê . Acabei de achar seu canal aqui e amei 🥰🫰

[@Keter9793]

"... the very basis of life. An egg." So does it means that humans in this book are egg laying mammals? Are they even mammals? 🤔

[@Meimisaki2001]

While I love eggs, this is a bit much 😂

[@theothermorgan]

Accepting a sugar daddy as an economic proposition is a feminist decision. Certain behavior is exchanged for certain rewards. It's really only telling one's self and internalizing the message that "being kept is my only option as a woman" that is antifeminist. Making choices is central to the idea of feminism as I understand it. Making choices also includes the choice of accepting a sugar daddy if it is the most viable economic proposition on offer.

[@AD-cy4vj]

The thumbnail?

[@saturnash]

Salad J Mistakes 😂😂😂

[@lissette5523]

Plugged in all those author names to get people to buy it and market it lol it’s just sad and also the writing should be studied in a what not to do in a book

[@M.I.N.A.]

Filling your diversity quotas with mediocre to actually terrible books upholds white supremacy. Even if it's unintentional. I sadly don't read much anymore so when I do the book has to be good. I'm doing a lot of my own reasearch into authors of colour and trying to find the better ones. It's worth it cause yeah there's a lot of aesthetics going into this and not skill.

[@pandoricaofbooks]

and is being publisher by ROCCO here in BR... WHY GOD WHY????

[@theturtlemoves9171]

can HarperCollins stop union busting so we can talk about Babel 😭😭

[@tascharahernandez5867]

I'm pretty sure that the protagonist's name is just the Spanish word for island.

[@trapadvisor]

For a couple years McDonald’s did breakfast all day… then Covid happened and you started seeing it at less and less locations :(

[@GregPrice-ep2dk]

As an aside: it's pronounced "Eesla" (Long e sound as in "see")

[@CBSP_]

Brahma é mancada 😂😂

[@loureadingthings]

Aquela dorzinha de barriga de leves

[@ZainabZehra786]

A great review and a decolonize Palestine link…..You’ve got a new sub!

[@ladylark10884]

as someone who's name translates to "lark", i deeply apologize 💀

[@Amedyr]

É DE CAIR O CU DA BUNDA KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

[@moustik31]

Bragging about not liking Babel isnt the flex these wg think it is. Little do they know, they are part of the problem, not the solution. 🙄 NB: this isnt to say that Babel cant be criticised or disliked btw.

[@ariannay766]

yeah i get it haven't read babel yet but the reasons many people dislike seem to be uh.... -racism -white guilt distilled into defensiveness distilled into racism there are valid reasons to dislike any book but those are... not not valid

[@LilyEvans1996]

The demonstrations were because they need to choose one line to die but because all of the realms bring something to the table they are trying to choose the realm that would have the lease negative impact when it dies

[@loureadingthings]

Respectfully that makes no sense

[@LilyEvans1996]

@@loureadingthings no worries, I can try better. :) It’s like having to choose between 6 animals to decide which one needs to go extinct. They all bring something to an ecosystem. So which one would be the least harmful to the ecosystem if it dies off.

[@loureadingthings]

@@LilyEvans1996 they should all know this beforehand. it would make more narrative sense to know which one is considered weak beforehand and work towards eliminating that common goal. the demonstrations are not tied to the specific powers nor to the curses, which come off as a way to show off, and don't add anything of substance to the story. it's not you that is not making sense, her story makes no sense, because there's no rational reason for things to happen the way they did. it's convoluted and not at all intuitive

[@LilyEvans1996]

@@loureadingthings oh I see. Sorry, I thought my explanation is bad. 😅