THE PURGE: Illumicrate Edition Pt. 2 || Read it or Unhaul it Vol. 1 || What even is reading????

[@MeMyshelfAndI]

one thing I've noticed a lot with 2024 releases in particular (and a little bit 2023) is that there's a lot less developmental editing. I feel like publishing lost a lot of senior editors during the pandemic and there weren't junior editors ready to fill their shoes. At the same time TikTok and other marketing was blowing up, so they could make tons of money even if the book isn't very good. So I think we're in a weird period where publishing cares less and invests less in editing... and enough of the older books have been published now that it's really starting to show

[@kimberlyreads]

So I had a friend talking to me about editing and apparently HER friend is an editor and anytime she turns in edits, they don't really change anything so they can push the book out faster, which is SO bizarre. I just don't get that.

[@elizabaum]

This makes me feel good about my current stance of reading books and then just taking the hit on the secondhand market if I want a special edition for a book I really liked. It's likely going to be cheaper in the long run.

[@kimberlyreads]

Honestly that is such a smart take. I feel like my unboxings are all about consumerism and then these are all about de-influencing to balance things out 🤣

[@Lakes-RomantasyReader]

Now I want to watch the Purge movie lol Awesome intro!

[@kimberlyreads]

Thank you! ☺ I literally watched the first one again after making this 🤣

[@karlynmr]

I was so nervous when you got to the Phoenix Keeper because I loved it, I am so glad that you liked it!

[@kimberlyreads]

It was so lovely! I’m excited you liked it too! It was definitely the highlight of the video

[@Ms.SpookyNerd]

Great vlog 📚☕

[@marissahendrickson8489]

Love this series!

[@laurainthewoods9379]

I love this series and am excited for the next one! It was super interesting to hear about your Illumicrate stats. Now please go read some good books for your mental health!! I think a big component of “dark academia “ as opposed to just an academic setting is the pretentiousness and toxicity of academia. Sounds like you would just prefer a school setting.

[@kimberlyreads]

Right. I literally just stared at the ceiling for like 2 days after finishing this vlog. My brain STILL hurts.

[@Kari-G]

Would love to see a vid on your “gist” process for selling books. I sell books too but always love to see how others do it. Do you usually make your money back or do you just bite the bullet and sell for a steal? This is always my conundrum. Then if I have to sell for cheap I’m always like…might as well keep it if I love the design. Ughh. 😅

[@kimberlyreads]

I definitely try to sell any books I don't like even if they're stunning. Most of the books sell for around 10-15$. I do sell the fancier ones for a lot more to make up costs for buying the box as a whole. Since I don't actively work because of chronic health issues, I do try to make a profit with selling books. I DON'T agree with people who just buy things to then resell or buy a million copies and do that. But if you get a book and you don't like it and you want to sell it for $100, that's your prerogative. I know a lot of people disagree, but that's how I feel about it.

[@callieschmidt6260]

I love this serise I cannot wait for you to get to fairyloot.

[@GhostHelwig]

Thank you for including the warning about animals in peril in the “An Academy For Liars” review. I have so much stress whenever an animal is involved in any type of media, because especially after losing my bunny a couple of years ago, I cannot handle thinking about animal death. It’s bugged me since I was a kid but it’s actively upsetting now, so even knowing there are rats who may or may not die in the book lets me know I can’t read it. I’ll try a lot of books, well reviewed or panned, as long as it sounds halfway interesting, so I might have tried reading it if not for your warning. I’m so glad I didn’t. All that said, that percentage of DNFs for Illumicrate is so much worse than I expected. I’m sorry you didn’t find more than one book you liked in this video, although it seems like that’s a trend for this book box. 😅 Hopefully you’ll get a better book in the next one. Also, kudos for The Purge edits in these videos. I love them, and I’ve never even seen that movie. Lol.

[@kimberlyreads]

Yeah I wasn't expecting that level of animal distress in Academy for Liars and it was actively making me so uncomfortable. I was not a fan at all. I love that you still enjoy The Purge edits even though you've never seen the movie! I was hoping for that

[@ZoeForeverReading]

I loved The Phoenix Keeper. I struggled with a lot of the others since The Phoenix Keeper (my subscription started on that one). I skipped the evernight one as knew wasn’t my cup of tea. Until we shatter, a dark and drowning tide and Mistress of lies I had 2 attempts of reading them but had to DNF. I have to say I’m loving the December pick. I started it this morning and already 130 pages in x

[@kimberlyreads]

I’m glad I’m not alone with struggling with the others. I’ve heard a lot of positivity about the Phoenix Keeper which is awesome. I saw the book design for December and am kind of regretting not getting it. 😭

[@ChrislynReadsWithPugs]

I’m a subscriber to Illumicrate and have been so disappointed in their picks! The ones I did get I haven’t kept otherwise I’ve just been skipping like crazy! I’m holding out that things will get better in the new year but I’ve already skipped January so there’s that! 🤦🏻‍♀️ I appreciate this video so much because it’s opened my eyes to my own subscriptions and now I’m asking myself… is it worth it??? 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@kimberlyreads]

2025 is definitely going to be a make or break year for a lot of my book boxes! I'm glad I'm not the only one struggling with book box picks, especially Illumicrate. It seems like most people aren't happy with the choices.

[@nataliebaker918]

I have only ever been subscribed to OC. I am a mood reader and so have not read every book I have received from them. In time...I will. It sucks that Illumicrate's book picks are so bad. That is a lot of money to just throw away. Enjoyed the video... usually I can't sit still for an hour...but I was eager to hear your thoughts 😊

[@kimberlyreads]

Aww thanks! I'm currently working on the Owlcrate purge videos so be ready! 😄

[@veronicarodriguez1697]

I’m glad I’m not the only one thinking Illumicrate isn’t picking good books. I’ve skipped almost half the year with how bad their choices have been. Debating canceling in 2025….

[@kimberlyreads]

Apparently the person choosing the books is changing in 2025, so HOPEFULLY the picks get better. If not, I'll probably cancel too..

[@Arallara]

Do you put the purge books on Pango or anything so we have help support your efforts in another way?

[@dolphinsrock09]

I want to go back to who was picking like book eaters which I think is about a year or two

[@kimberlyreads]

YES

[@Brooksie603]

I read The Phoenix Keeper in September and gave it a 3.5 which is still pretty good for me. I don't remember how it got on my radar to read but it looked interesting and did enjoy it even thought it started off very slow. If some people pick it up thinking it's going to be about romance I think they will be very disappointed. Labeling it as an adult romance was a stretch. I've read YA that had more adult content than that book had. Judy Bloom's book Forever for instance had more in it than that book does and it's YA. I'm at a loss as to why it was labeled adult. If anyone knows and I just forgot something in it that would justify it let me know. To have a subscription for books and not liking a large majority of them is disheartening. They aren't cheap and they put so much into making them special, but if the readers who subscribe to get them are going to do not like them also, they could lose subscribers. I don't have a subscription to Illumicrate because I was put on a waitlist but even if I get off that I don't think I'm going to subscribe. I was finally out on the Evernight subscription but the only book that I liked was The Evocations and I wasn't getting them yet when that released. I sold the one with the Eyeballs all over it. I can't remember the name of that book but it grossed me out just looking at it so it went on Mercari quickly. I might be canceling it soon. I need to look at my subscriptions and decide which ones to keep and which ones to stop. I have awful fomo and if I cancel then see a book that I would have bought at the store I will be so mad. Example, last December I skipped both the YA and Adult Owlcrate boxes because money was tight and I wanted to spend that money on Christmas gifts and they had The Serpent and the Wings of Night. I was so mad because I liked that book and then they didn't sell it on it's own after because they didn't even have enough for what they sold in the boxes apparently. Now I have to keep watching the resale sites to see if someone sells it at a reasonable price. I have yet to see it at a price I am willing to pay. Some time next year I need to go through all my books and do a purge. Only keep the books I really liked and sell the rest. It's getting out of control and I keeping all of them just because they are pretty isn't practical for me.

[@dorkphoenixrising]

I really enjoyed the Principle of Moments - I think I'm more interested in IC's sci-fi picks than their romantasy and will be switching to their sci-fi sub when it launches and ditch the main sub. The romance does play an important factor in the climax, but I enjoyed that era in the story less because of the commentary on race/colonialism. I met the author a few months back and she's really nice. The sequel will be a must-read for me when it's out.

[@kimberlyreads]

I love hearing that you enjoyed Principle of Moments. I struggled so hard with deciding whether I liked it or not so I'm glad there are other people enjoying it.

[@dolphinsrock09]

I am not getting a illumicrate book until March

[@laurawessels2490]

I only subscribed to illumicrate because they occasionally do scifi and I want some pretty scifi books bit their picks have been so disappointing. I am looking forward to owlcrate starting its sci fi subscription.

[@magicmoonbunz]

I didn't like Of Jade and Dragons either. I read the back and thought it sounded almost a little to much like the Mulan Disney movie and since I love the movie so much. I really couldn't stop judging the book because it just felt like a badly done knockoff. The only difference is that the died dies in the beginning and their not in a war. Otherwise all the tropes and plot points are the same. I've been hardcore putting off reading Until We Shatter because I've heard mixed reviews about it. I'm honestly pretty weary of subscription boxes now or any book that looks nice and has sprayed edges. They've all mostly been terrible reads, for me at least.

[@MeganAlissa24]

This has to be so disappointing! To spend that much money on a book and not ending up wanting to read most of them is so sad!

[@kimberlyreads]

It was so disappointing 😭

[@annelivalgma2098]

Uhh, that was hard to watch. So sorry you had to DNF that many books. I've been putting off and dreading to read Illumicrate book choises and this video did not help LOL. I need to read exeptionally dry and awful, long documents for work and any book is better than these. So I know how to push through a text and I've not DNFd a lot of books. Maybe I should though... Out of your DNFs I did enjoy The Marvellous Light and the whole series actually. The books got better and better. I was shooocked how much I liked MM romance in the third book. Quite different from your usual fantacy and this is why I've stuck with Illumicrate. To make myself read different books. Looking forward to your mood-reading video :)

[@CathenaReads]

I've unsubbed from Illumicrate and honestly it was the best thing I've done. Their monthly picks are overall meh/bad books and most of the times you can find them for same price/cheaper on Vinted or websites like that They should definitely revise their website where it says "Receive a newly released hardback book, picked by professional bookworms every month.", because those "professional bookworms" are slacking and have been for a hot minute lol

[@MeMyshelfAndI]

Dark Academia is probably my favourite subgenre, but man did An Academy For Liars suck.

[@kimberlyreads]

I don't think I've seen a single person say a good thing about An Academy for Liars.

[@bee5624]

Aren't they changing who picks the books next year? So maybe it gets better again in 2025 😅

[@kimberlyreads]

They better or I'm rioting 🤣🤣

[@jcehaan]

I think that a bookbox for an author can go either way. You can get a jem you never heard of and gaan fans but you can also get a book that isnt your bag and you would never buy otherwise but then you give it a go and dnf after 39% and then leave a low review wich tanks the ratings. I alwas try and give stuff that sounds good to me a go. But if i dnf wich is rare i dont leave a review because i dont think its fair to review a book i dnf. Illumicrates picks are sooooo diverse its too much hitt and mis they should make more specific subs so the books go to the right readerpool.

[@magicmoonbunz]

I always leave a review when dnfing a book. It's perfectly fair to review a book you did not enjoy and got to a point that you felt like you needed to put it down. I always give a reason and explanation as to why I stopped. That way other readers may see that review and save themselves sometime and money if they think they might have the same problem reading it. I just always start off the review by saying I didn't finish it and the review was just based off what I did read. I don't see it as being any different then rating anything else.

[@jcehaan]

@magicmoonbunz I do'nt for i do'nt think its fair to review a book i dnfed for i dind'nt read it so what do i realy know about the story or the writing. But then again i do'nt dnf a lot. In general i think people dnf to quickly. I also read epic fantasy and it takes a lot of worldbuilding before a story realy kics of. I always give a book at least 30% before i dnf and by then i generale pick up what the writer is putting down and have found what i enjoy about a book instead of just what i do'nt. Or i'm sure the storyline/ writing is not what i thought it was and i made a mistake picking up this book. I have seen people dnf after 30 pages and leave a review. Personaly i think thats rediculous. Its fine if the book is'nt for you and it is not your genre or your writing style. You can even say so by leaving a rateless review, if you want to spend more time on a book you did not like. Personaly i do'nt bother. I also do'nt think rating a book 1 or 2 stars after 30 pages is productive for other readers. They are not going to look for why someone dnfed in 14.000 reviews they just see the low rating and do'nt bother to read it and could miss a book they could enjoy. I see too much negativity in the raitings and i just do'nt want to be part of it so i do'nt. I read the synopsis and try not to get distracted by the raiting while forming my own opinion, If the premmise sounds like someting i want to read. Does that mean i never leave a low rated review no, occationaly i do, but then i have read the entire book.

[@magicmoonbunz]

@@jcehaan That's fair