The “been there done that” of books is so bizarre. Some books get a complete pass for hitting all the same points we’ve seen before (or even get absolutely raved about) and others get dinged for it. Just completely random.

“I’ve been putting together a video that’s going to be very very long” LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Totally agree with your ATLA take on the romance! I do love what they did with the antagonist at the end (trying to stay ambiguous 😅), I felt like that romance actually made sense and wasn’t cliche. I’m really tired of the badass female lead who’s only badass because it’s trendy. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good female warrior (I myself love learning about combat and even own swords and a bow). It can be done well, but too often this character’s sole purpose seems to be to make a point, which takes away from their substance and complexity. There’s so many fascinating female perspectives that can be written or added to these characters, but aren’t touched lately. Also dying for some good, upstanding fathers again ❤️

I totally get the frustration over the doormat love interest but I'd still take it over the brooding, rude, kinda toxic male love interests. :D And those characters don't have a lot of personality to speak of either beyond being tall, having dark hair and being possessive.

You're right : don't read Crescent City ! I loved the first book at first (less on re-read) but then it goes down hill FAST ! And the books are so long it's even more infurating ! It really feels like the author as become a parody of herself :/

Drama queen book Howl > movie Howl

Love the new video series idea! Hope you include urban fantasy, a very underappreciated genre and my favorite to read from :) As for the Howl's Moving Castle opinion, I can't agree. I've read and reread the book several times, and it seems to me infinitely better, with flawed, well-fleshed out characters (especially Howl). I think it's fair to say that the book and the movie are 2 completely different stories which don't really have much in common except for some story beats. That's how I treat them at least

Hahaha I agree with so much, but Howl’s?? The book has so much more depth! That being said, I totally read it first and most people watched it first lol. That makes a HUGE difference.

We are opposites on the Howl's Moving Castle thing, but I don't blame you. The movie has such great music and visuals and it's very atmospheric. I watched it before I read the book so that I would go into it without expectations, and I'm glad I did, because I love it still. I simply consider them two very different things (and occasionally complain about Michael's name change). I am of the unpopular opinion that Crescent City was better than ACOTAR. I enjoyed the worldbuilding there more, at least. While all the ACOTAR girlies were complaining about how book 3 of CC was bad (because they were hoping for an ACOTAR-heavy book for spoiler reasons), I was just like "but it was fine??"

My jaw dropped at "it made me miss fourth wing" knowing how you feel about it. Never has a book review been so efficient in making sure I steer clear away!

I am here for the tea❤ Now I am morbidly curious about When the Moon is Hatched. Can we get a video about it. Adored your Fourth Wing one

I'm with you on When The Moon Hatched and Fireborne Blade.

For fantasy romance, I really enjoyed The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater. Oh, and for murder mystery, I love the Lord Edgington Investigates series by Dan Brown. They are light-hearted and funny and the perfect palette cleanser between dense fantasy books. 🙂

Love your videos! I did have a very different reading experience with When the Moon Hatched though. I really liked it. Much more than Fourth Wing. Maybe because I just started reading fantasy this year and just don’t know my better 🤷🏻‍♀️.

I love unpopular opinions, and this was a fun video! We all get to like what we like, and that’s a good thing!

I’ve been obsessed with the Thursday Murder Club! Especially as a fantasy first girlie and someone who struggles with thrillers. I think you’d like all the plot points and how people connect through all the books.

I agree with the doormat comment. But I do think when an important secondary character is cardboard, if you go back and reassess the protag, frequently they are no great shakes either. Having plot relevance and agency can disguise weak character work.

Agree completely on Ponyo, it's one of the few Ghibli movies that I've watched and just do not get the love for. Everyone's obviously free to love whatever they want, but I do not understand. 😂 Also agree on Howl's Moving Castle, although I think for me there's a particular element in the book (kind of spoilery so I won't mention it) that really ruined the appeal. I also appreciate how well the movie weaves in the themes around war.

For your new series, if you're still looking for more fantasy romance, I *highly* recommend the Kindred's Curse Saga, the first being Spark of the Everflame. It's amazing, and balances the fantasy plot and romance so well, imo!

will you watch the legend of korra?

SJM is an author I can't get into. I started with Throne of Glass then ACOTAR and DNFed both of them.

I remember someone talking about how, when you're new to something, you can a tropey book (it was about movies, but same-same) amazing and fresh (because it is fresh *to you*), and someone who has read a lot of them will think it's meh and will want and love something different and new, but it'll be too weird for people who are newer to the genre. I'm paraphrasing very badly, but I hope it makes sense ^^' I thought it was such an interesting point of view, and I wonder if that might explain some of your "unpopular" opinions.

Really like the honesty - and stay away from the Crescent City - you are not missing out!

Hi Elliot, I've been really enjoying your content after I recently discovered it. I also don't understand the obsession with When the Moon Hatched... I don't feel like much happened, there's interesting concepts and ideas but they all just fell a little flat and formulaic somehow? Also didn't help that by flipping to the glossary at the back (it's in the back in my edition), I had to GO PAST A SPOILER also in the appendix, and ruined the ending for myself. Good job, publisher!

I love "unpopular opinions", it always make for more positive content. since it kinda gives people licence to tell what they like, instead of the usual "what you don't like"

I found When the Moon Hatched on Goodreads and thought it sounded interesting but I haven’t heard good things so I ended up removing it from my list. Seeing how thick it is validated that decision for me since I don’t want to have to go through the process of getting it and being disappointed. Plus I know the feeling of “this makes me miss [insert trash book]” all too well lmao

A book that i think is around 50-50/60-40 fantasy-to-romance, that you might like bc i think it has pretty big Howls Moving Castle Vibes, is Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries. It does, obv, have faeries in it, but it approaches it in a more classical "inhuman tricksy creature" sense than the "might as well be a werewolf/big dick humanoid" style that's so common in the wake of SJM. It does have a framing device of "woman's annotated notes as she goes on a research trip" that some readers find a bit dry or oddly formatted, but it's exactly my kind of cheese (and reads very well in audiobook, imo).

Love the new video idea! I'm generally a cozy romance reader but recently got into The Expanse series (Sci Fi). I'm enjoying it so much, although I have to take breaks from the seriousness of the themes lol. It is NOT cozy. I'm challenging myself to get out of my reading comfort zone this year, so I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on new genres or subgenres. I have not had any luck with romantasy yet either. Completely agree with Howl's Moving Castle. That book was so random that I had trouble following it lol. The movie is weird but I love it. The book is weirder. I donated it cause I won't be reading it again. I'm having the same problem with Once Upon a Broken Heart. I wonder if whimsy isn't my thing.

Please try or think about trying “ A Curious Beginning” by Deanna Raybourn. I just read the first book in the Veronica Speedwell series absolutely loved it! It is a mystery novel. Personally, I think it’s a great place to start.

Came from watching a couple of your Dear Writers videos, and if you're taking recs for subgenres, read both the Mercy Thompson and Kate Daniels urban fantasy series. And, oh boy, October Daye! If you branch into thriller/mystery and you don't mind a dash of horror, the Charlie Parker series by John Connolly is fantastic! The Dear Writers is relevant because these series don't do the things you dislike and do the vast majority of the things you seem to want to read. 😊

You had mentioned Throne of Glass, which i love, i love the journey of everything and all the different storylines but i wanted to ask since you said you had read a few of the books, im looking for books that have witches written in a similar way. I loved the witches, they were terrifying with the iron teeth and nails and their utter brutality, also with the inner battle of humanity, it was fascinating and i never read witches like that and i cant find anything with witches written in such a way. Any books you could recommend? Also, the thing with the spiders being sentient and how they bargained for time with their spidersilk, anything like that? Thanks and i enjoyed this video very much!!

Thank you for the videos, I have picked up so many great recommendations from you. Did you ever do a review on Faebound by Saar el-Arift?

Great Video!

I'm totally agree with you about Howl' moving castle 😍

Ponyo is awesome! My nickname for my wife's butt has been "ham" for over 16 years. Even my kids scream it 😆

ooooohhhh yea i heard not great things about that romantasy book. looking forward to your video on it! 🤣

I remember reading the sample of Fourth Wing on Amazon when it blew up and I ended up wondering like why is this popular? The writing was way too mundane for me.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that didn't love When the Moon Hatched 😂. I liked the world building of it, but it felt like a waste of work for the plot we were given. I struggled to finish it so much. I told someone it was better than fourth wing just cause I felt that the world building was more interesting and coherent, but if I had to choose one or the other to re read I think I have to agree that I rather re read fourth wing than when the moon hatched 🙈

If you do A Fantasy Reader Reads Mystery, may I suggest A Morbid Taste for Bones, by Ellis Peters. It's set in England in the 1100s, and the main character is a monk. So it has that medieval setting that so much fantasy is related to. It's not long, it's quite well written, and it's the beginning of a series (so there's more if you like it) but doesn't end with any kinds of cliffhangers or loose threads (so it's still good by itself). It might also be considered cozy? I'm not sure what the parameters are for that, but there's definitely a wholesome vibe. My other suggestion would be The Bigger They Come, by Erle Stanley Gardner (writing as A.A. Fair at the time). That's the guy who wrote the Perry Mason novels, but I think this series is more fun because of the antagonistic relationship between the main characters, and that Lam always has the odds stacked so much against him. It also stands on its own. I always enjoy your opinions, popular or not.

After FFX there is very few quality romance fantasies. FFX has changed me for the better. 🤣🥰

Currently reading The Emperor's Blade by Brian Staveley (it's his debut I think?) and loving it so so much so far! It's my first book back into high/epic fantasy after a long long while and it's really refreshing! Honestly was thinking I could never go back to ya fantasy after reading this. Okay but I digressed, I mainly wanted to recommend this book if you haven't read it because I think it has a pretty good thriller/mystery element to it! And I'm slightly more than halfway through but I'm really curious and excited to see how all the plots will weave in together.

Had the same experience with 'when the moon hatched'. Thankfully, fourth wing burned me so much that I'm now always suspicious of books that are hyped, and I ended up reading the preview before buying it. It was immediately clear to me that I won't enjoy it.

I agree. Ponyo was the worst. All she did was yell HAM the whole movie. 😩

I agree about Howl’s Moving Castle!! I was honestly so disappointed when I read the book, I remember the drama with the sister was so frustrating to me lmao

I LOVED The Fireborne Blade!!

Cruel Prince is my fav romantasy it’s the perfect balance

I love Crescent City, it is one of my favorites.

There's Luna showing off her manicured paw...🤣

My answer to movies better than books is always The Hunger Games because we get a wider perspective and I think they choices the filmmakers made really brought the books to life more than I experienced with the very narrow focus in the text (though I think the books are great too!).

I'm not sure if you've talked about One Dark Window (by Rachel Gillig) before, but I'd love to hear your thoughts!

So agreeing with you about Avatar...

There’s a trilogy no one talks about, called “Villains and Virtues” by A.K. Caggiano and it’s so much fun!

I agree with everything you said about Ghibli films😂. Ponyo is one of my least favourite Studio Ghibli movies, another being Arriety.

Now I'm wondering who you didn't like from Stormlight. I'm just hoping it's not Kaladin or Lift. 😅 I totally get your point about the romances in Avatar. It's easy to forget how young everyone is. Plus, when the first romance occurs, there's a bit of an age gap, at least maturity wise, between the characters who end up together.

Tbh you were selling when the moon hatched to me haha What made 4th wing hard to read for me was the constant horniness and everyone saying she is soooo smart but she never showed she was except for remembering stuff. Also it could've been 200 pages shorter and the characters felt younger than 21. So in what way is when the moon hatched not a good read? Is it just the tropes?

the doormat love interest is literally the "polycule" (i don't consider it one myself lmao.) from iron widow

Oh no, "When the Moon Hatched" looked so beautiful I was almost tempted to buy it! But in this case I'm sure the things that didn't work for you would also not work for me.

I totally respect your opinion but I just want to mention I feel like crescent city (the first two books) are so worth it! They’re my absolute favorites by SJM

I have a feeling, I'm probably alone, but Brandon Sanderson, I'm not a fan of his works, and I've tried soooo hard!

Thinking about the mystery genre? You should give Agatha Christie a try definitely.

I'm torn on the love interest discussion, to be honest, because I LOVE characters who feel like real humans. I think it's important in a story, especially if that story is romance, to spend time exploring who the love interest is, even if just through the eyes of the main character. I definitely prefer stories where the characters aren't caricatures or so ridiculously perfect, they're boring. But...Sometimes, I think it's fine if we don't get stalker level details on the love interest. Sometimes a love interest IS chill and mature and aloof, and I like that. I think this sometimes gets conflated with not having a personality just because the main love interest isn't a raging possessive alpha type. Or loud. Or kinky. Or overly confident. Or fond of bantering. Or wearing their emotions on their sleeves. Plenty of characters can have "personality" and be boring, in my opinion. I feel like I've seen the same love interest over and over again in romantasy...to the point where a lot of those books are a struggle for me. Because I'm older now and no longer find arrogant jerks who banter sarcastically and have a damaged past HOT. Give me that quiet librarian type with endearing quirks, who snorts when they laugh and is adorable...but moonlights in a motorcycle gang or something. There can be magic in mundane traits, too. I feel like so many books are afraid of showing that characters can be MORE THAN ONE THING, personality wise. I miss characters with nuance and diversity in traits.

I can't say one was better than the other, but Coraline the book and the move I think were as good as each other.

Time for a new "Funny One Star Reviews" video.

When you get into Mystery/Thriller books, give "The Naturalist" by Andrew Mayne a shot. It was a fun read. If you delve into Urban Fantasy, give books by Craig Schaefer a try ( Faust Series or Harmony Black series).

When the Moon Hatched broke my brain. I am glad I'm not the only one that didn't like this book.

Okay, yes! When the Moon Hatched was such a disappointment to me! I found it so repetitive and irritating 😅 I was beginning to think I needed to try it again because everyone I see LOVES it.

For fantasy romance, I really enjoyed Court of Tricksters by S.L.Prater, it's the first book of fae trickster series, all of the books are entertaining I highly recommend.

9:00 omg, I thought I was the only one that didn’t like ponyo. To me it could have been amazing but it wasn’t. It felt lazy or they ran out of ideas.

Unrelated maybe but man I would love a mystery/thriller/crime in a fantasy setting! If anyone has any recs, please let me know!

Im listening to ACOTAR right now but I’m only on chapter 5. I know everyone is like obsessed with it but I’m not a huge romance reader. I have a feeling I know where the romance is going trope wise but I’m holding out hope that maybe I’ll like it. My friend recommended it to me so I feel like I owe it to him since I DNF Red Rising which him and my husband absolutely love lol.

I’ve been “reading” crescent city for MONTHS now and can’t get through it lol

Crescent City, ugh, so many hours I wish I had back. It lacks in many ways. The first book is worth the read for the last 250 pages but my god, it is not an easy book to get into.

100% agree on the ships in ATLA

If you ever do "a fantasy reader reads steampunk" I'd recommend an indie book, "The Streets of Whirly" by AM Rodgers.

dragon slaying is to cope with ILYENA my child the only species and soul in the magma core died in 2 minutes do to "tom cruise " and then it happened about 2 months ago

I'm annoyed because I spent money on a physical AND audiobook of When The Moon Hatched and everyone I trust is saying it's poo. I don't think I'm going to like it but that sunk cost is going to kill me.

Ponyo is a unique retelling of The Little Mermaid but just isn’t as engaging as the other Ghibli movies. Howl is much more interesting and engaging in the book (I love how he razzes Sophie, Ms. Nose); there is just so much more depth to the characters in the book, but the movie is a masterpiece, that’s why both book and movie are top favs of mine.

For romance fantasy books, I don't like the fast relationships in the first chapter.

I'm... sort of the opposite with When the Moon Hatched and Fourth Wing. I did not like Fourth Wing one bit and the more time passes, the less I like the book. I read When the Moon Hatched, and I'll completely agree that it's a lot of the same old same old, not great writing, pretty much only focused on how hot the MC finds the MMC, how she's basically a copy paste of Celaena (1000% agree), the plot needs some work, etc. Would not rate that book higher than 2.5 stars, and most of the time it's sitting closer to 2 stars for me. I wouldn't say that it was good or that I was wow'd by it, but I liked it better than Fourth Wing. Fourth Wing just made me angry. 😅 But, yes. Agreed that WtMH is basically just Celaena/Rhysand in a more modern fantasy world.

I don't like Ponyo the movie. The story is just too childish to be Ghibli. One of the few Ghibli films I dislike. Alongside the ridiculously confusing The Boy and the Heron. Don't understand the hype at all 😂.

oh the AUTHORIAL LEGENDS are still getting the long "30yeartrip huh YESe."

Another movie better than the book? Michael Mann's "The Keep". I love the movie. I hate the book.

The movie better than the book for me has to be Practical Magic. I hated the book, and I DNF'd the prequel. I love this question so much!!

I love Ponyo! We recently lost our 19 year old kitty Shippo and she loved ham, so we used to always say "Shippo Loves Ham!"

Lmao if something made you miss fourth wing that’s just……..

I watched ATLA for the first time as an adult as well, and the romance did NOT do it for me. It's not well written and they're all so young. I have a hard time believing they'd stay together permanently lol

I prefer Throne Breaker over Wild Hunt, but its still a good game.

❤

I hate Ponyo!!!!😂😂😂

I don't luv when the moon hatched 😂 It is pretty awful !

I recommend the plot summary videos by Cari Can Read for Crescent City, they are great. I didnt expect much of the books, but I had a fun time with them. It's like a solid 3/5 probably, dont have anything really good or bad to say about them, other than it's just wild and all over the place.

I agree with the Avatar thing, I don't mind the canon pairing but I don't love it either. The story could've done without it. I still prefer that ship to the popular fan ship, not my vibe. But also many people who are huge Avatar fans watched it when it was airing so they were around the characters' age. So it makes sense why so many are invested in the ships.

Grishams A Time to Kill is a better movie than book. A good number of Kings books are better as movies. Sin City graphic novels were better as movies.

The only Sarah J Mass book I've read is the first Crescent City book. I wasn't a fan of the romance parts, it's WAY too long (needed a firm edit), and the beginning was a confusing mess. But overall I was kind of blown away? I felt like it was a very ambitious book and I admire SJM for being ballsy enough to publish it. That being said, I'm not gonna bother continuing the series 😅 I hate Fae so I will never read ACOTAR. Throne of Glass I'm on the fence about trying.

Movie better than book? John Carpenter's "The Thing" is infinitely better than John W. Campbell's "Who Goes There?" which is considered a sci-fi classic and for the love of god, don't ask me why. The dialogue is excruciatingly bad. It's a cool concept wrapped in a terrible execution.

I was thinking about Howl's Moving Castle right as you said it! The adaptation adds & removes significant plot & character elements to make it a more cohesive story, while still preserving the feel of the book. I enjoyed the book, but I feel like it needed more editing.

I despise the doormat love interests with no backbone.

Ah bummer, Crescent City is my fave series!

god I hate fantasy romance, you can literally bring people back from the dead and you still got to worry about who you're dating. If I write a fantasy romance about an immortal he or she would not give a fuck about romance, imagine being immortal and all powerful romance would be the last thing to worry about

I screamed when the answer to the last question was Howls Moving Castle - until I remembered it was unpopular opinions XD For me it's Altered Carbon (at least the first season). The book is complete trash and I don't think I have ever hated a book with so much passion. But the series was actually nice.