ranting about all the things i hate in books 💢

welcome to christea's ranty corner 🤣
i didn't mean for this to turn into a rant video, but somehow that happened!!!
very very slight, super minor spoilers for:
serpent & dove 6:53 - 7:36
red rising 10:54 - 11:12
1:28 instalove
5:07 fake dating
10:05 fridging
11:31 girl hate
13:14 weird sex things
18:10 preachy
19:44 first person, dual pov, present tense
books mentioned:
clockwork angel / clockwork-angel
serpent & dove / serpent-dove
the love hypothesis / the-love-hypothesis
red rising / red-rising
traitor's blade / traitor-s-blade
iron widow / iron-widow
project hail mary / project-hail-mary
mickey7 / mickey7
the humans / the-humans
defy the night / defy-the-night
twisted love / twisted-love
socials
📖 goodreads / christea
📚 storygraph app.thestorygraph.com/profile...
🐦 twitter / anyoneforbread
📷 instagram / peachcremerie

[@sarah.ever.after84]

I think the girl hate in iron widow definitely ruined the feminine rage. I couldn’t quite articulate why that book didn’t work for me and I think you might have solved that mystery. On the other hand, I’m reading Sword of Kaigon right now and it’s definitely delivering some feminine rage that I can get down with.

[@christeascozycorner]

right!!! which is so confusing because it goes against everything the book is trying to portray. but YESSS SWORD OF KAIGEN is feminine rage done right!!! and i love misaki's friendships too 🥰

[@SamusStories]

Hard agree on all of these! I can't think of a singular good reason for fake dating ESPECIALLY if the characters are adults. Marriages of convenience only work for me in specific historical romances or in arranged marriages.

[@christeascozycorner]

historical just hits so different 💘

[@viktoriabazyk8193]

i will never understand the appeal of fake dating bc i don't care what other people think of me and can't imagine a scenario where i would force myself to do it because something something. it just feels so performative which is a total turn off. don't have the same problem with arranged marriage cause, you know, it was a thing in the past

[@christeascozycorner]

for me i am just incapable of TOO much suspension of disbelief 😂 but that's why arranged marriages (particularly if they're political marriages in a fantasy!) can work for me because it actually makes sense~

[@luna-bubbleguppies]

ive already commented on this video lol but my only exception to fake dating is Mr. Peeta “if it weren’t for the baby” Mellark 😭

[@christeascozycorner]

oooh this is so true! i think this is one of the few times i liked it too because it actually MADE SENSE

[@luna-bubbleguppies]

@@christeascozycorner fr bc it was genuinely integral to the plot and katniss had to do it to survive! like not all fake dating stories have to have THAT high of stakes but there still has to be a purpose

[@BooksToAshes]

I really hate how popular tropes are so pushed on us, especially when the tropes aren't even in the book. Enemies to lovers is the biggest one for this. I like the trope personally BUT only when it's done well. If the characters bicker for one chapter then start to date that's not hate to love. Give me trying to off each other with swords and daggers and THEN fall in love, not a few snide remarks. Ugh I hate that 😂 I also don't think I'll ever read the Love Hypothesis, I've heard enough to know I don't think I'd like it haha

[@BooksToAshes]

13:25 Oh also adding, YES to this. I read older books written by men sometimes and have to roll my eyes when this happens, ESPECIALLY with Stephen King, the man can't help himself from writing woman in a weird way. I enjoy his books but I can't get over those unnecessary descriptions of the women (and I read The Martian and yeah he does it a bit in that book too. I didn't like that book haha so there's that)

[@christeascozycorner]

totally agree 💯!!! enemies to lovers is just a marketing tool at this point. sometimes it just feels like authors write books to fit the tropes, rather than tell a cohesive and good story. and ugh yeah those things i've heard about stephen king is exactly why i never want to read his books 🤣

[@mk-yt8og]

on that note, do you have examples of books where enemies slowly (!) develop their relationship while getting to know each other? enemies to lovers really got bastardized over the past few years and the hostility in thle beginning is so short and not believable at all

[@lemoncultgames]

Yesss agreed with the comment above, I would love recs for great enemies to lovers like you’re describing! So many of the enemies to lovers books I’ve read are NOT it

[@annikania2682]

@@mk-yt8ogi would say Gideon and Harrow in the locked tomb series. They start out hating each other to the extend that they probably would actually kill each other if they had the chance.

[@b.a.hazard6787]

Have to give my present tense a HARD defend 😤. Personally I am the opposite. Past tense has always sounded super off-putting to me and I’m so glad more books are being written in the present now a days.

[@christeascozycorner]

honestly it's quite reassuring to hear when people do love it, so it makes sense why so many books are written that way 😆

[@danielrichardson3946]

I’d lived my whole life never even noticing first person present tense and now I notice right away. I hope you’re happy. 😂

[@christeascozycorner]

yes, very very happy indeed 🥰 IF I HAVE TO SUFFER, SO DO YOU

[@luna-bubbleguppies]

same also hunger games is my fav book series ever written (ive read all of it 14 times now) and i swear the next time i read it that’s all ill notice 😭

[@bardsandbooks]

I agree with all of this, great rant! 😂 feels like I encounter insta-love all too often

[@christeascozycorner]

thank you usman!!! 💕 lol i know it's such a basic one to hate but i can't help it 🤣

[@BooksWithNeen]

I agree with you lol I'm not a fan of instalove or love triangles and 100% do not like fake dating. I just don't understand the appeal

[@christeascozycorner]

🤝🤝🤝 I FEEL LIKE EVERYONE ALWAYS LOVES FAKE DATING, i'm glad i'm not alone!!!

[@strawberrylime33]

The instalove is always written with undeniable outward beauty. Strong shoulders, tousled hair, yada yada yada. 🙄

[@christeascozycorner]

dark hair, blue eyes, YAWN

[@arlissbunny]

Thank the Worldhoppers Newbie episode for getting me to you. I’m laughing out loud and agreeing with every word. Thank you!!

[@christeascozycorner]

HAHA I'M GLAD YOU FEEL THE SAME

[@katieroman9619]

I want to see fake dating/marriage where they never fall in love and just part friends at the end. I was so hyped for Iron Widow and ugh no. It was definitely a sign on the road I was over YA fantasy. I don't even remember if I got to the girl hate, but that would have made me rage.

[@christeascozycorner]

kiss her once for me by alison cochrun did this where the person she was fake-engaged to wasn't the real love interest! but sadly the relationship with the actual love interest didn't work for me either haha ugh same, iron widow was one of my most anticipated releases the year it came out! i was so disappointed 😭

[@NerdyNatReads]

I'm the same with fake dating and marriage of convenience! My issue is more the lack of communication once they're a couple and it's so incredibly obvious they have feelings for each other but both keep making excuses about it. I just feel like the pining always ends up dragging out too long. Well Matched by Jen DeLuca is the only fake dating book I can think of where I didn't mind the trope. My god, yes, the girl hate!!! It's so tired. Omg-- I'd blocked that moment from Project Hail Mary but yeah, that was so awkward!

[@christeascozycorner]

ooh i've read well met but haven't continued with the rest of the series. i always love a good pining but it does get annoying if it stretches for longer than necessary 😂 i wish i could bleach that project hail mary scene from my brain

[@luna-bubbleguppies]

i really agree with most of these! but mannnn hunger games is my fav book series ever written (ive read all of it 14 times now) and i swear the next time i read it that’s all ill notice is the first person present tense choppy dramatic sentences. 😭😭

[@christeascozycorner]

WAIT HUNGER GAMES IS IN PRESENT TENSE? 😂 NOOOOO!!! haha it's been so long since i've read it that i forgot. or this was back when i never noticed it before. well damn LOL

[@luna-bubbleguppies]

@@christeascozycorner IT ISSS 😭 it was my first serious book series i ever read and i read it so many times to begin with at the beginning of middle school that now i have a serious present tense problem when it comes to writing essays in school 😭 but i never really thought about it till you brought it up in this video.

[@christeascozycorner]

​@@luna-bubbleguppiesi am so sorry 🫠

[@luna-bubbleguppies]

@@christeascozycorner 💀

[@rumpelRAINS]

Great video!

[@khaosreads1785]

I dnfed The Greatcoats after finishing book two. I hated the constant reminding of how his wife died, the weird inner thoughts of him almost blaming his wife for her own death, and the awful torture that he suffered in book two about his wife's death?!!! Like, no, thank you. Literally find something else to torture this main character with. It ruined it for me, lmao

[@christeascozycorner]

honestly, i can't even blame you 🤣 i hate that part about the series too, so it's like, you can either overlook it, or you can't. that torture scene in the second book was also so unnecessary

[@einejulie]

fake dating only works for me when they don’t end up together and they need an good reason for the fake dating. Maybe they both need to hide the fact that their gay from their family who is very demanding and wouldn’t accept them. The story would then focus more on the friendship and support for each other they develop

[@christeascozycorner]

oooo i would like that too!!!

[@IamMe11200]

Oh man girl hate in iron widow?? I’ve been thinking about reading it but now I really don’t want to because I hate girl hate, especially from women to women?? Makes no sense 😢

[@christeascozycorner]

TRULY, especially since the whole message of their book is female rage and empowerment and girls supporting girls. the evidence does not match the thesis

[@Shellesspace]

Uh-Oh! You may not like Serpent and the Wings of Night. (First person, dual pov, present tense) I personally don't like that style either, but sometimes I can ignore it if I like the story enough. Ugh! Fridging and girl hate are the worse!!!

[@christeascozycorner]

i'm reading serpent and the wings of night right now actually, and uhhh 🤣 yeah not loving it HAHA!!! i would dnf but i'm almost done 🥲 omg where have you seen that happen? 😬 what a bizarre choice

[@Shellesspace]

@@christeascozycorner Hahaha aw! That's too bad you don't like it. Honestly, I like the 2nd book better. But I'm halfway through and I'm already losing interest. Too Maas-like for my taste. Oh, I can make a whole list when that has happened 😮‍💨

[@annina7786]

Omg. I hated the humans exactly for those reasons!

[@christeascozycorner]

THANK YOU 🤝🤝

[@sarahburke9254]

Peep the farseer books in the back 👀👀👀 they don't get enough love so as soon as I saw them on ur shelf I subscribed

[@christeascozycorner]

yessss!!! it's one of my all-time favorites 🥰

[@isabellarobinson7894]

Can someone please just tell me what “that scene” is in Traitor’s Blade? I don’t care about spoilers, I just want to know!!

[@christeascozycorner]

traitor's blade spoilers . . . . in chapter 22, falcio is injured and gets nursed back to health by a sister of a convent (they are prostitutes), and she has sex with him while he is in this weakened state even though he tells her to stop

[@isabellarobinson7894]

@@christeascozycorner ah! Thank you! I’ve had the book on my physical TBR for years but have been worried about the scene everyone talks about.

[@christeascozycorner]

@@isabellarobinson7894 haha yeah it's definitely a very 😬 yikes scene lol! hence why i understand why everyone always wants to warn others about it beforehand. but everything else about the series is so good 🥲

[@filipasfantasy]

Ugh, I also hate instalove. I'd rather read that than a romance that has insta-lust, which is even worse, but both suck 😬 Funny enough, I'm one of the people who really likes dual POV in romances. It drives me crazy not to know what the love interest feels haha but I will say it's a double-edged sword, because I agree with you, depending on how the character is written, I end up not liking the love interest anymore. They become less swoony, sometimes. But it depends on execution!

[@christeascozycorner]

exactly, it all depends on the execution!!! and unfortunately most of the instances i've read have just not been done well 🥲

[@jyjaeskz]

I don't really understand what's wrong with present tense. Like I know if I read a lot of present or past tense then the other starts feeling a bit weird, but that's just about getting used to it

[@christeascozycorner]

it's all individual preference, and i personally just find it very unnatural-sounding. like when you're telling a story to someone about something that happened, it feels and sounds most natural for it to be in the past tense

[@jyjaeskz]

@@christeascozycorner But a book can be a story about something that is happening. I like writing in present tense because it allows for better immersion in the moment, when it's not just something that already happened

[@fttoma]

I feel the same about every single trope, but especially about fake dating 😒 I feel is kinda insulting to the readers intelligent because I know these two going to be together at the end so what the hell are you doing all these convoluted and it's big waste of my time and I'm not going to write off these trope maybe one day I'm going to find someone who do it to taste 😔🙏

[@christeascozycorner]

🤣🤣🤣 if you ever do find one, please let me know!!!

[@fttoma]

@@christeascozycorner of course 🥰🥰

[@twocupstravels]

So refreshing to see someone else bring out the problematic female interactions in Iron Widow

[@christeascozycorner]

i really wonder if i read the same book as everyone else when i see people praise it so highly 😅

[@twocupstravels]

I read it for a book club and everyone acted like I was crazy for feeling that way.

[@einejulie]

Something I don’t like in books, are books about royalty or when in soso many fantasy stories a monarchy is the only form of government writers can come up with. But I especially dislike it when we read it from the perspective from someone on the royalty. Sometimes they even question it in a few sentences but nothing ever comes from it.

[@christeascozycorner]

i agree, it gets really old, especially when it's the typical eurocentric kind of setting. i'm glad to see publishing start to pick up more books from other cultures now and showing different structures!

[@sw3dge]

Artemis is waaaaay worse.

[@christeascozycorner]

LMAO OH NO okay staying away from that one then

[@sw3dge]

@@christeascozycorner I couldn’t finish it. The main (female) character’s whole thing is that she sleeps with who she wants.

[@sw3dge]

I should probably elaborate. It’s a topic all the time and everyone talks about it constantly, especially the guys who are obsessed.

[@christeascozycorner]

this is what i've heard too, how it's pretty much her entire personality 😂 like promiscuity is fine, but you gotta have more going for the character!!! why andy why

[@bookedbykay]

omg noo i love fake dating 🥲 it gives me butterflies everytime

[@christeascozycorner]

i want to like it so bad 😭 but i've been burned too many times