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Okay so, to clear this up from the beginning, I am not a snob-know-it-all-Dostoyevski-fan (i love Fiodor but that does not make me insufferable), etc. I do enjoy classical literature, as well as philosophy and political works, but that does not prevent me from enjoying young adult stories like The Hunger Games (which tbh is way too much for that label), Harry Potter, or Percy Jackson. Hell, I even used to be an avid Wattpad/AO3 consumer.
With this, I'm clarifying that I don't judge a book by its premise or tropes, especially when it comes to romantic books which is the topic I'm here to rant about. Corny love? please. Enemies to lovers? ALL THE WAY. Clichès? Sure, just don't overuse it. Smut? I get the hype but it's not my thing.
What's the problem then? Why does this make me feel so uncomfortable? Well, since my Tiktok algorithm began recommending me books like "Haunting Adelaine", or Colleen Hoover shit I've been EXTREMELY IRRITATED by the support comments those books get. At first, I thought "Nah it's not that bad, isn't it? But then I read (BECAUSE YES I read those shitty stories) some of them AND HELL NAH. Like what is the appeal? After, A través de mi ventana, Culpa Mía, It ends with us, a twisted story about Peter Pan being a rapist (the fandom of this book swear that is not abuse, but I think otherwise) which I couldn't even finish, and manyyy more are the perfect example of what is wrong with current writers. Why are they trying to romanticize violence and non-consensual acts? Why are they obsessed with such large age gaps that in some cases are even illegal? WHY EVERYTHING HAS TO REVOLVE AROUND SMUT? Like I get it sex is cool but like is there anything else your story is offering or is that all? What makes my blood boil is that little girls are the ones reading this stuff and in their minds, it's the best thing ever😍😍!!!
There are no intricate stories, the "bad-ass women" are always the same repetitive "im-not-like-other-girls", and the male leads are just attractive and "vulnerable" (they are not, these people don't even know how vulnerability works).
The last thing I'll mention is the TROPES, everything revolves around tropes and they are not even well-written. I love tropes, is that clear? Almost every book falls into a trope, which is not a bad thing. The problem is when the story is solely focused on developing tropes and mixing them like a milkshake except it ends up tasting awful.
So yes, that's all I guess. There are many more things that make me uncomfortable but meh.
A1: Before publishing this, I'd like to address two things. First, I'm not a prude. I don't think that sex and smut should be banned from literature, it can work but that will depend on how the writers present it. As for the sexual violence these books contain, the problem with that is the way they write it. I won't get into detail, but considering it is a sensitive topic, writers should know how to portray it. That's one of the reasons why I still can't conceive ASOIAF as a good representation, it lacks self-consciousness.
Second, there are good books in the romance, non sci-fi, and sci-fi genres. But booktok community recommends pure trash and no one can convince me otherwise.
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爪卂ㄒ
this isn't a new phenomenon, sadly. 10 years ago, when i was avid user of tumblr (oh god, no! old! ew ew!) this rise in awful writing already started... books with repetitive tropes, lack of depth or too much of it (yeah, that can happen. even the bible doesn't elaborate on it's analogies). People generally live on different grounds and levels of art production and appericiation. sadly that is the truth. as long as we as a society make art, there will be items that are objectively bad and low effort, and even those will be enjoyed and famed by some.
This also has to do with the extremely low level of grammar (native) english speakers are having at this time. books like colleen hoovers are easy to read away and understand, compared to classical literature such as the great gatsby and the picture of dorian gay. And even translated works that you mentioned, like from fyodor dostoevsky, don't have any ''recent'' translations, especially none that do the book any justice, so these are completely unapproachable for the average person that reads book for personal pleasure.
social media such as tiktok only amplifies the effects listed above, it's a shame, but it cannot be helped.
Fanto
nah, i agree so much
Azrael
so glad people agree with this because although i'm not especially on booktok i will come across videos of bikers and all the comments will be middle aged women saying "don't let booktok find you". it's gotten so bad that I saw these types of comments on the video of a 15 year old biker and a bunch of booktokers were commenting things like "the baby of booktok" or "guys we have to protect his innocence" as well as recommending books like haunting adeline to this CHILD. it's honestly so gross
StaticDeathTrip
Beyond based take
I'm so tired of the current state of literature
noot
soooo real, the only books on booktok that I see get popular are those kinds of trashy books that romanticize those dangerous topics. its so sad, cause I used to LOVE reading, but now I cant find any good books anymore..... also I feel you with the colleen hoover, absolutely shit. my moms a fan and its sooo annoying :/ like didn't her son literally SAd someone and she tried to cover it up or something?? ToT
mitty
agreed so hard man.
not personally a booktok user but heres hoping itll broaden peoples horizons into some actually very good books. obviously youre allowed to read whatever you want and have fun with it, but at the same time there are so many good books people are passing up for no reason!!!! 9 year old me read watership down and it was beautiful and impactful. rampantly consuming whatever an algorithm tells you has gotta get boring when its all faux-dystopian romance sludge (no hate to the romance genre whatsoever). rifle through the book section of your local charity shop and dig out whatever looks the best because theyre cheap and pre-loved and usually pretty decent anyways.
also books with smut in shouldnt be labelled young adult. oh my god stop labelling them young adult novels.
sorry for the tangent but also USE YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY. stop buying a new book every 5 minutes. yes its nice to own things but your library card is literally your best friend tuck it in at night and care for it like a child. if you dont have a library card open library is a godsend.
(or if you are too impatient to wait for popular books to be avaliable in your library.... sail the high internet seas with 'read free online' and the only redeeming google feature of the built in pdf reader!!!)
by mitty; ; Report
Emma
Anti-intellectualism have reached people who read books. They think that terribly writing is the same as straight forward, ordinary writing. Bridge to Terabithia has a simple, easy-to-read writing. Penelope Douglas doesn't know how to write. Red Queen is easy to read, Crave by Tracy Wolff is just bad written. Terribly bad, I would say. Even Twilight is a better book than anything Tracy Wolff and Penelope Douglas have ever and will ever write. Romanticizing rape, psychological torture and physical torture being debatable because it's the "genre" it's fucking sickening and makes me want to vomit all my organs and bleed through my eyes.
The way women, especially and specifically straight women, are reading porn scripts and trying to argue it's not as bad as actual porn for the mind of an individual is crazy to me. The way smut books are written is male fantasy but marketed as something women like. I didn't want to be the one saying this, but no, I don't think it's sexy to be bullied and raped, even if it's fiction. Porn is also fiction. Fiction can also be damaging to the mind, even they can't realize or accept.
And let's not even mention the fact the book says it is for adults, but is marketed to teenagers, has a cover that is misleading and attract teenagers, has tropes that only teenagers like, and is written badly enough to teenagers think it's good.
by Emma; ; Report
Aya
The effect of those books is extremely dangerous, like most of the booktok community members don't even think for themselves, they just think that the male leads in their favorite books are the "standard" and everyone else trying to wake them up and tell them that this is NOT love are the villains. Worst part is when you state your opinion about it they'll just say you're pressed and trying to be quirky by disliking a popular book. I hope they'll somehow mature one day and realize what they read. I mostly blame the writers though, they know their target audience and still romanticize serious topics under the name of love, brainwashing those poor 12 year olds
REALL
by StaticDeathTrip; ; Report
NeverNcolor_13
sex sells! we’re all degenerates on the inside… i’m selective with the people i surround myself with so i don’t have to deal with things like this cuz it irritates the fuck outta me too
especially among horny teenagers aaaaaa
by beibimbap; ; Report
Zowiee_mamaxd
BASEDDDDDDDDDDD