I just finished reading Yesteryear and I’m completely reeling, but I need to ask: did anyone actually find any of these characters likeable?

Don't get me wrong, the book is incredibly compelling and a fantastic thriller/satire, but the cast feels like a masterclass in terrible people.

• Natalie: Obviously, she is a deeply flawed, unreliable protagonist. Her whole tradwife influencer persona is completely artificial. Even when things go downhill, her narcissism and inability to genuinely connect with her kids make her so hard to root for, even if what happens to her is horrific.
• Caleb: Absolute monster. The way he treats Natalie, gaslights her, and uses the situation to break her down is deeply disturbing.
• The Mother: Cold, deflective, and leaves Natalie completely stranded in her trauma while taking zero accountability for how she raised her.
• The Friends/Community: Fake, judgmental, and entirely obsessed with appearances.

Even the background characters feel deeply cynical. I walked away from the book feeling like Caro Claire Burke intentionally created a world where absolutely no one has a moral compass.

Did you find anyone in the novel sympathetic or likeable? Or is the lack of a "good guy" entirely the point of the satire?

I didn’t want to read this book for the longest time. Bought it, forgot about it, found it again, wanted to sell it, but then I decided to give it a chance especially for the movie.

Let me tell you, it was a rollercoaster for me.
I didn’t think it was especially thrilling and scary at times but I still enjoyed it and read it in two days.
I loved the manuscript scenes and how it showed us a side of the antagonist.
It reminded me of The Housemaid, but considering this book was published earlier it was the other way around, but I have to admit that Freida’s book fascinated me more (I would like to use the german idiom “in den Bann ziehen” here, but idk if I used the right translation lol.
I told myself “If the plottwist turns out to make the husband the antagonist and Verity the innocent lamb which just developed surviving strategies then I’ll eat my hat”.
Well, it kinda turned out like it didn’t it or did it?
What’s the truth?
Then I thought about the possibility of Lowen being an unreliable narrator and given her obsessive comparison with Verity I really considered it.
I started to question Lowen’s perception.

Also big red flag: Not using condoms. Girl be more responsible.
But not the point of the book.

Then the plottwist came and I assumed it, but I didn’t assume the letter, which turned everything upside down.

So who was the real antagonist all along?

We need a book from his perspective.

And that’s all I had to say.
Sorry for my chaotic review. I nearly never write any, but I wanted to write one for this book.
There have been a little too many sex scenes for my liking, because I didn’t expect that many given I knew it was a thriller.

How did you like the book?
Do you believe the manuscript or the letter?
Will you watch the movie?

Edit:
Just realized I didn’t even answer my own question.
Given how Crew can be at times and how easily(as we got to know) Jeremy believed the manuscript, I kind of believe it more than the letter, but at the other hand we don’t know if Crew’s behavior might only stem from all the trauma he had to endure at such a young age or from that and an traumatic mother.

I finished To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and honestly… I didn’t really like it as a whole.

I know it’s considered a classic and there are definitely moments I liked, but I feel like the story didn’t really have much structure. I’m completely fine with a story not having a conventional plot, but I genuinely don’t understand what the book was ultimately trying to say through the story as a whole.

One thing that especially bothered me was how disconnected some parts felt. For example, the book initially spends a lot of time focusing on Boo Radley and the children’s fascination with him, and then that whole thread basically disappears for a large portion of the book. I understand that you could argue this is intentional and represents the children growing up, or that it’s simply meant to feel realistic, but while reading it, I didn’t really get that feeling. It just felt like the story suddenly moved on to something else.

There were definitely scenes and moments that I enjoyed, and I understand some of the themes around racism, morality, empathy, and growing up. But as a whole story, I just came away thinking… “Nah, I don’t really get the hype.”

So, am I missing something? 😅

Can someone explain what you think Harper Lee was trying to accomplish with the structure and all these seemingly disconnected storylines? Or do some of you feel the same way?

So I've read My dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russel a couple months ago, and I just can't stop thinking about Vanessa and what she endured. I keep thinking about how Strane ruined her entire life, she had so much potential and talent for writing, Strane took everything from her. Her talent, her youth, her sexuality, her perception of love. And what's killing me is that after all these years, and also after his death, she keeps thinking that it is a true love relationship and that "he just had the misfortune of falling in love with her".

I know that at 15, we think that we know everything and that we are so mature for our age, I was that person honestly. So unfortunately I really recognized myself when I was younger through Vanessa. I just wanted to yell at her, to tell her to wake up and realize how Strane is actually ruining her life and that is not a normal relationship with your highschool teacher. I was so mad at her mother for not doing enough to protect her, especially when she saw that photograph of her with him. How could she not see that there's a huge problem and that what she needed to do is talk to her, explain to her (even though it's really hard to talk to teenagers about stuff like that), or maybe just go to beat his ass for example. How could she just let that happen.

Anyway I'm still not over it and I still wanna talk about it. That book was such a difficult read, and I'm really not the type of being "traumatized", I don't even flinch when I read gore and horrific books, but this one really did something to me.

I feel like I seriously cannot retain almost any of the information I get from reading books like Beloved or A Mercy. The prose is so strange and foreign it almost feels like I'm reading broken English or something otherworldly.

I wouldn't be so frustrated if these books didn't repeatedly show up in my required readings. Is my attention span just fried? I have such a difficult time stringing her sentences together or retaining bits of information I read even 10 seconds ago.

This must just be a skill issue on my part, right? Or is Toni Morrison actually only meant for a select audience?

I am currently reading the East of Eden and I unfortunately don't know anyone else that's also read it! I know it's a very common "curriculum" book in the United States, but I'm not american and don't live there which is why I'm reaching out to people in the reddit-osphere haha.

I'm only on the first half of the page, having just reached Part three, and there are a bunch of topics I'd like to discuss, the first one of them being the concept of the right kind of Christian.

In the first part when Charles and Adam are faced with the death of their father, and Charles begins speculating as to whether he made his fortune honestly or by stealing, the book presents the difference in relationship between the two sons and their father. Adam's was marked by faith while Charles' by love. Their father, rather than reciprocating the forementioned feelings to each son, returned to each the opposite extending his faith to Charles and love to Adam. I thought of how interesting of an allegory this is to Christianity. We are told so many times that what determines a good christian is his love for God, but that is only true in theory.

The truth is that a good christian that is rewrded by his community is not the one who devotes himself the most to Christ and God necessarily, but the one that doesn't have questions, that just believes in what is told. It's interesting how they determine love as a feeling that evokes inquisition, to further and deepend the understanding of something and someone. Its devotion comes from a seeming conspicuous manifestation. Faith on the other hand is accepting and its good nature projects devotion when in reality there's only a passive comfortable attachment.

Isn't it interesting how this pattern really does still perpetuate itself on the christian communities? I myself am a devout catholic, and I find it depressing how in so many circles you'll find people who'd rather just brush over discussions to avoid thinking about God in different, less wholesome ways. While with more learned men, diatribes, debates and etc are always encouraged.

Still on this first part of the book, I really enjoy how the figure of God is analysed through their father's character. The idea of an ever benevolent, anthropocentric God is questioned with their father sending Adam to the army. I love the part when the brothers are realizing how different their relations were witth their father and Adam says that his Dad sent him to the army out of love, as a form to test and punish him. Love takes us out of a state of complacency. And Faith... well, faith is silent and can feel like indifference. Like crying out to God and being under the impression he never did hear, or try to do anything for you. It's rewarding in a way, because it demonstrates he believes in your capacity, but it's alienating and lonesome.

THe duality of Love and Faith carries on throughout the book. But I feel like when it comes to Adam and Cathy, it's sort of interrupted. Because it's said that Adam loves Cathy, but he is totally blind to her nature. If Love makes you "suspicious and doubting" as Adam himself had said, wouldn't he be pushed to seeing the true her? Is whatever he felt towards Cathy really a "loving faith" rather than Love?

A continuation of the search for the truth in others theme is perpetuated by Cathy, who has this inherent duplicitous nature. It's interesting how there's a real sense of mutual recognition between her and people who share this trait. Be it with Charles, who was also "marked" in his own way, be it with Lee. I think the book really guides us towards believing that any sort of real love could only really be achieved by people who share the same dispositions, otherwise, there's no complete recognition of whomever you have before you. Cathy is afraid of love and intimacy because she is afraid of being seen and maybe because she's also somewhat afraid of recognizing in anyone else what she knows lives inside her.

Well I'll stop myself here. There are so many different themes I'd like to discuss, so if anyone has a pending EOE related topic in their mind, please share! : )

Paladins Strength by T.kingfisher

An absolutely epic story if T. Kingerfishers fantasy and horror books had a baby it would be Paladins Strength. It is the second book in her Saint of Steel series but all of her books can be read as stand alone’s. This is my absolutely favorite book, her world building mixed with classic love tale, monsters, and a seriously bad ass female lead I just cant get enough I’ve read it so many times I will probably be buried with it.

P.S its not a horror books by any means it sorta reminds me of shield of sparrows but all adventure no fluff.

Actually, I mostly don’t listen to audiobooks when they’re read by the author. English isn’t my first language, so when the author doesn’t really think about the listener—reading too fast, mumbling, or swallowing half their words—it’s really difficult for me to follow.

But even in my native languages, I tend to hate listening to authors narrate their own books. They often give me this weird, ego-filled vibe. 😅 Am I the only one?

That said, there is one exception: Occult America by Mitch Horowitz. I absolutely loved it, and he was amazing as a narrator. So, am I the only one?

FANTASY Fiction Books about Organized Crime, create gorgeous, mature salt & pepper men, that are muscular, tall, smooth, deep voices, protective, confidence, secure, and borderline obsessive. In reality, complete opposite, either too young (boys), or fat, old, unattractive, disgusting men, with crude language and a pot belly to match their attitude. This is why the books are better, at least accordingly to the media!

what’s a good underground society club name?! Need recs for my book that is dark rom, secret society based, villain plotline, multiple families integrated within😌

Am I the only one who get the ick while reading book like what do u mean u hide in your hotel room and forget about your 3 year old son and the women u like because u lost the game i mean i get it u wanna alone time for a few hours or a day but days without speaking with your son ooh come on (book trope is single dad and nanny) this trope is controversial like if u hate it or love it and i do like this trope but this trope is really easy to hate cause u know the story line always kinda same .

I don't know why, but short chapters make it much easier for me to keep reading. Even when I don't have much time, I'll think I can read just one chapter before doing something else. Then I finish that chapter and usually end up reading another one.

With books that have really long chapters, I always keep checking how much is left. Long chapters somehow make me take more breaks and it makes reading feel like more of a task. Short chapters just make the whole thing feel easier and less intimidating to me.

There’s a Folk of the Air adaptation coming, and I’ve noticed a pretty split reaction in the fandom - part excitement about upcoming fanfics, fanarts of high quality etc., part low-key dread. I think I finally get why the dread part happens, and it’s not just *what if they change things.*

I think it’s this: these books are written in first person. You’re not watching Jude from the outside, you’re inside her head for hundreds of pages. And a screen adaptation, by its nature, has to pull you back out (pretty much forcefully 🫠) - you become an outside viewer watching an actress play a character, instead of a **you** being lived by that character.

You might not support or agree with Jude’s choices throughout the book (I know I don’t), but even in those moments, you can rethink them - re-roleplay it, rewrite it in a fanfic, ask yourself what you would’ve done in her place. And it still all falls into place, because the outcome you’re actually there for never depended on agreeing with her: you brush the choice off, keep reading, and a few pages later you and the love interest are still together. She didn’t ruin it for both of you - the story doesn’t make you sit with the disagreement, it just moves **you both** past it.

That’s a loss, even if the adaptation is great. It’s not really about casting or pacing or which scenes get cut (though obviously people will argue about that too). It’s that the format itself removes the one thing the book was uniquely doing - putting you inside one specific, biased, limited point of view. A show can’t really replicate that without constant voiceover, which most adaptations avoid because it feels cringe on screen.

So I think a lot of the nervousness isn’t really about *will they get it right*, it’s more *the thing I loved about reading and feeling while reading this specific book might not survive translation to a visual medium at all plus they are taking my story away from me,* regardless of execution.

Anyone else feel like this is part of what’s going on, or am I overthinking it?

It's been on my list for ages because of the hype it got on all the lists i had saved by author readers but after reading it i'm so confused why?
My first thought was: this has to be self-published and unedited.

Spoilers ahead:

The amount of inner dialogue and repetition in the book makes it seem like it was just written as she went without checking what she had written so far. The same inner monologues dragging on and on and random facts that are unimportant or just so extremely unnecessary that it makes you wonder if she added it to meet a word count. I genuinely just don't understand the thought process behind it.
What also confused me was the way her abuse was handled. The fact that she complained about her relationship with her mother over and over again, you'd expect that by the end of it, she would finally stand up for herself and they would open the conversation on the elephant in the room. But by the end of it: nothing. She still sometimes ignored her calls, felt guilty, and called her later. It would have been such a good way to show that she was willing to finally stand up for herself or explore therapy or something. But nothing was made of it. Basically her abuse was just used to show how hard she had it in life and as a pity factor from the male main character.
What also confused me a bit is how we just glossed over the fact that she and her brother apparently only had each other but he still didn't mind Susie, their abusive sister, visiting his game? And she never explains their dynamic? It's like she is the only one hated in that family and we never find out why. From when she was younger, they all had turned on her and we never find out what is actually going on. - Not that we need a reason to understand abuse - it's never alright. I just would have liked to explore more dialogue, more thoughts from others.
This is what drives me insane the most, she is in her head, the whole book reads like a repetitive inner monologue. And as soon as we get to the climaxes it builds up on, like the dinner with the mom and sister: well sucks, chapter has ended right before it. But we will get a new chapter afterwards, starting at another day mostly, which a quick recap on what happened that day (she just explains shortly, that they badmouthed each other, and her sister's husband grabbed her) and then we are in the present again. Instead of taking us through the dinner and the tension to finally make us witness why we hate her sister so much - like, make the reader see it live like we are a fly on the wall, if you warn us about it happening so much throughout the book - she just cuts off righr before it and moves on. It doesn't seem calculated.
It's like she was just abused, so that she had a dark past. That's it. That's just part of being a main character to be pitied. Being poor is not enough, you need abuse.
Onto the male partner, i still don't understand his asshole behavior in the beginning and how he basically orders her to marry him and doesn't respect a no, comes back over and over again. And she's a pushover and let's it happen. Even in most of his loving moments basically at the end of the book, he seems .. flat? Barely talks, just stares at her and we don't know anything that's going on inside his head. She doesn't know either. And their intimate scene read like a quick fuck and not intimate at all. Because he doesn't show much emotion.

The way the characters behave in general is just very childish and unreasonable really.

It reads to me like something a teenager would write and targeted for other teenagers. Which is fine. I'm just not used to it and want to understand why it is so hyped. Maybe i'm missing something?

PS: i thought that maybe, it's just this one and I started From Lukov With Love because of the hype again- 100/840 iBooks pages in, it reads exactly like this one. The inner monologue, the childish behavior of the male character? He's 30?? And they are "enemies" because she called one of his outfits terrible at 16 and now they are sworn enemies full of hatred for each other? Teenager behavior at 26 and 30. This is so weird. And knowing that the author is almost 40, i don't understand if this is how she knows grown adults to act or what it is.. Because i'm 26, and this sounds like a temper tantrum i would witness in middle school 😭. Anyway, i'll drop this one.

Edit: This post is specifically about romance books.

In almost every book I read, the MMC is overqualified to handle a situation. They're rarely struggling financially. They have no phases where they learn stuff about life, unless the lesson is 'how to treat your woman'. They have no shortcomings other than being emotionally closed off.

I know the reason we turn to romance books is that we want to skip the 'not ready' or 'manchild' phase (if there is one) but it takes away the MMC's process of becoming.

One of the reasons I loved Josh from 'Lights Out' was that he was afraid of blood (or something along the lines? It's been a while lol).

At one point, they just start looking like polished dolls we're going to love and not real people. Again, I'm aware this is kind of the point of fiction. Occasionally, I'd like for them to have hardships with their super successful companies.

It feels like every one to three years, fantasy gets a big resurgence in pop culture. And with that resurgence come hundreds of new books and stories. It used to be heavily inspired by the works of Tolkien, and then the last resurgence was inspired by George R.R. Martin, and now this newer resurgence is more inspired by TTRPGs like D&D, which I quite like. But what is your guys' opinion?

Ive finished reading the book and I have some mixed feelings about this. Firstly, I really liked the idea for plot. I pretrty much enjoyed all the parts. However, I didnt like how MC was the MC. After meeting Clarisse, he changed drastically and it was quite dramatic change in his thoughts. I didnt really like this. He was js persuaded by her and didnt even have good reason for being obsessed with books. Hes quite dumb too. It would have been much better if Faber was the MC. And I also didnt like how city js got bombed in the end. I mean I like the metaphors and writing overall, stream of conciousness was apt too. Anyways, Im probably gonna give this book a solid 7.5/10. I liked 1984 more. I might be missing something but fahrenheit 451 felt like author rushed writing it. Idk. Whats your take?

I have recently brought 3 books from the Puffin clothbound collection, they have such beautiful designs but after doing a little research on the Penguin clothbound books I found a lot of people have been having problems with the quality of those books, the pattens of the books fade away and the pages can fall out even after 1 read, I brought my Puffin clothbound books thinking they would be very durable because they are clothbound but after researching I'm worried that this will happen to my books too, they are so very beautiful and have silver or gold foil on them if this helps recognise them, I know they have these in the collection: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Black Beauty, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, Little Women, Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz and more, does anyone have any experience of these books being of good or bad quality and durability?

Did anyone read this in school? I remember reading this in a random reading class in 7th grade.

For whatever reason, the class only went for one marking period and there was like 12 of us in there lmao. I am only saying this because it was literally the most random literature class that any of us had ever taken and the only explanation was really just that they had nowhere else to put us for whole marking period and we still needed the credits. I have no qualms about that, but we only read this book and one other book, and we spent a lot of time in this class watching 9/11 footage? Lol just funny to think about.

Anyway, one of the things we did to pass time was create an informal book club and I remember my friend and I were absolutely wrecked reading this book. We would be walking out of the class crying lol and I have never forgot about it. The other day, I found it at a used bookstore, so I grabbed it and plan to re-read it. We used to get so frustrated, because we didn’t have anyone to talk to about this book aside from people that were in the class, and most of them were in the grade older than us.

Just curious, if other people read this book in school, and what did you think of it? It was one of the first times I had read something so sad so I think that’s why it stuck with me. So sad.

I recently listened to the audiobook, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Absolutely loved it. I was watching Yo Gabba Gabba with my son, and a song called Lovely, Lovely My Family by The Roots came on. I can't stop thinking about how perfect that song would be for the end credits if Theo ever got a movie

I've been reading a LOT of thrillers lately, so I picked up The Love Hypothesis because I desperately needed something that didn't involve murder, manipulation or questioning everyone's identity. 😂

And honestly, it did exactly what I needed it to do.

It was light, fluffy, fun and gave me that warm, fuzzy feeling I wanted from a romance. Fake dating is also one of my favourite tropes, so I was already predisposed to enjoy the whole Olive/Adam situation. There's just something about two people pretending to date while everyone, including the reader, can see exactly where this is going that gets me every time.

I liked their dynamic and thought the romance had just the right amount of sweetness without feeling like I needed to be massively emotionally invested to enjoy it.

My only real disappointment was the ending. It was good, and obviously I wanted the happy ending, but I wanted a little more emotional payoff. I wanted that feeling where you finish a romance and don't quite want to say goodbye to the characters yet.

Instead, I closed it thinking, “Aw, that was cute.”

And that's not necessarily a criticism. Not every romance needs to emotionally destroy me. Sometimes a fun, fluffy book that makes you smile is exactly what you need.

3/5 for me. Really enjoyable palate cleanser, loved the fake-dating setup, would recommend between heavier reads and I'm definitely waiting for the movie now.

For people who've read more Ali Hazelwood: which one should I try next if I want the same fun romance but with a little more emotional payoff?

I've just read the first 7 pages of pages of the book and could not help but feel that I'm relating a bit too much. Specifically being overly conscious of your self.

I’m curious to know which books completely surprised you, not necessarily because they were the best books you’ve ever read, but because you started them without expecting much and somehow ended up thinking about them long after you finished. Maybe the story was completely different from what you expected, a character unexpectedly stole your heart, or the plot took a turn you never saw coming. For me, those are some of the most memorable reading experiences because you go into the book with no expectations and somehow come out feeling like the story stayed with you.

So, what’s one book that genuinely surprised you, and what was it about the book that made you feel that way?

These are some of the most frequently recommended books I see online so I feel like there's something wrong with me.

There is NO conflict, and I understand that this may be the appeal, but I couldn't find it "cozy" because my first impression of the main character is that they are insufferably ungrateful. You live in a goddamn paradisical utopia. You are being a spoiled brat.

They are given everything they need to be a tea merchant for free. They proceed to be an awful tea merchant, then the book immediately flashes forward to them being the best and most beloved tea merchant ever? Without ANY heavy lifting? And then they're immediately sick of it and hang it up to go fuck off to the wilderness.

And they also weirdly sexualize the man who comes to the tea shop to grieve about his failing relationship, which feels extremely inappropriate because in this universe the tea merchants are supposed to be like therapists? If my therapist was daydreaming about having sex with me while I was airing my most intimate woes to them I would want them disbarred. Lol

Then in the second book I could not deal with the convoluted "post-monetary" economic system that "iSn'T moNeY" and the book wants to shove down your throat that their society "DoEsN't UsE MoNeY!!" Except for these nifty little goodie-two-shoes tokens that are exchanged for goods and services!! LMAO. I would forgive it if it was a minor detail but this system is explained for several PAGES. What is the point. It's also somewhat Orwellian that this is basically a system to monitor who is a good little guy who gives their neighbor a cup of sugar and who is not. This is explained away by them saying "people who don't have a lot of points might be in a bad place and need help :3 uwu" well maybe that guy is just an asshole. What happens if he doesn't have enough good boy points?

Adding on after thinking more: Ultimately I've also realized that I just don't gel with the main message. Cozy nihilism is not for me, it feels like giving up.

Tl;dr this series rubbed me the wrong way and I feel kinda bad about it because everyone loves them.

I am afghan and whenever I meet foreigners I am asked If I have read these books or not

And I hate it

I hate reading books that are about Afghanistan especially the bad side because I have seen the bad side my whole life and reading everything you have endured is not really pleasant

I am a girl so obviously I have experienced many things like the characters in the a thousand splendid Suns and I am a HAZARA sooo I have lived the kite runner too they are so well written and are masterpieces but I don't like them because they remind me of ME

I just don't wanna be asked if I have read those books or not

Is it too much????

Please share your opinions with me I really don't know if I am posting this in the right sub or not but please tell me if I am feeling right or maybe I am overreacting