New Books Hitting Shelves This Week

[inkstainedlips]

Comments

[squirrels_oh_no]

I am going to copy and paste my comment re: Onyx Storm I made in the FFA.

Yesterday I felt so creative, but today, I stupidly went to Reddit to see all the book channels talking about Onyx Storm, so I spoiled myself since I haven't read any of them more than a few pages (not my cup of tea) but seeing everyone OBSESSING over the books and the ~twists~ (some of which seemed contrived and just twists for the sake of twists) and the special edition covers... I mean, is it bad I'm jealous? I know publishing is 90% luck sometimes, 9% connections, and 1% talent, but man, to see that sort of series be the new HP in terms of release parties, people lining up at Target for hours, people scalping books on ebay for $250 or more, it makes me so jealous. I'd rather be motivated rather than jealous, but I can't help it, I want that success so badly but seeing it just makes me so self-conscious of my own skills, so jealous of that ability to get people OBSESSED, etc.

But man, that publisher SUCKS re: shitty contracts and obsession with style over

[squirrels_oh_no]

I should also add I know exactly why people love those books and why they are compulsively readable, hence another aspect of my jealousy.

[inkstainedlips]

I grew up reading the Dragonriders of Pern books and I still have them all (except the ones she wrote with her son), they have such a special place in my heart.

Fourth Wing did remind me of the Pern books a little bit, which is part of why I enjoyed the first book, but I do enjoy this series for what it is.

[crispycreamy]

I'm also jealous of her success and authors who can get people obsessed with their works. It's part of why GRRM frustrates me so much. ASOIAF fans are so devoted to deciphering the clues Martin put in his work, they love his lore & worldbuilding, they've created an entire wikipedia, etc...and yet, he still can't be bothered to finish the series. Like, dude, you're living my dream but you don't appreciate it at all lol.

[inkstainedlips]

I went to Target at 8:30 this morning to get Onyx Storm but all the copies were sold out.

I am currently rereading The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks, which is a very good personal development book. I'm also reading Mother of Rome and In Charm's Way, both are good so far.

[lurkymclurkson]

oh no, did you end up finding it in the end?

[inkstainedlips]

No, but apparently Target will restock their exclusive edition in Feb. On reddit multiple people said their stores only got four copies, idk what they were thinking.

[lurkymclurkson]

wow what a mess! hopefully you'll be able to get the edition you want.

I just got the normal soft cover while my sister got a hardcover. I don't think there was any kind of store-exclusive edition here in Australia.

[la_petite_singe]

I said in some other post that I didn't want to really go in on Better Hate Than Never on Goodreads because I didn't want to be mean where the author could actually see it -- but we had a bit of a hate-fest in my ace book club and it was such a relief, lol. Put simply, it is not a good depiction of demisexuality, and was actually a weirdly conservative romance dressed up as *~progressive. 👎

I finally picked up Men, Women and Chainsaws after wanting to read it for AGES...and I had to DNF after 50 pages bc the writing was just SO dry and academic, and it was sadly really outdated, as it was first published in 1992. I was very sad. So I switched to It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror and I'm really enjoying that. Also listening to Talia Lavin's Wild Faith audiobook, and lmao wow these insane Christians really want everyone dead 🙃 or married and pregnant by 12, that's fine!

[squirrels_oh_no]

I looked up Better Hate than Never and why are some of the reviews calling out the fact she's 27 and a virgin like it's a bad thing? I mean, it's a personal decision! I'm not gonna touch the demisexuality thing since I haven't read it, but if a woman wants to be a virgin until a later-than-normal age, that's normal. I think the reviewer had an issue with the guy being a manwhore until he met a virgin, but like, why mention she's a virgin like it's a sin?

[la_petite_singe]

I totally agree it's not a bad thing on its own, but my issue was that [Spoiler (click to open)]firstly, the portrayal of demi/ace people as timid virgins is a little tired, plus the fact it basically turns into him having to "teach" her how to do everything in a way I found really gross and infantilizing. Plus there's a whole weird thing where they have a few sex(ual) scenes where she's totally into it, but then when it comes to actual P in V she's like "I've never done this before, I'm so lost and confused!" as if that's the only kind of 'real' sex...? It just came off as a weird male fantasy, this tough and independent woman who's actually a shy, hot virgin dying to be taught everything by the hunkiest man alive. And of course they both have like 15 orgasms each every time, and of course they're both traditionally hot/slim/white, etc. It's all just very annoying.

[squirrels_oh_no]

Oh yeah, that would be an issue. That's disappointing and does indeed come off as some weird conservative take on fixing demisexuality - all you need is a good teacher.

[noodlecookie]

I've had a flop week for books - I started with Ice Planet Barbarians because I was told it'd be funny. It wasn't. I moved onto Wake Up and Open Your Eyes and gave up after the writer started writing about women in a creepy (not horror-creepy but perverted-creepy) way. Also I was expecting much smarter satire but the political metaphors were so heavy-handed and oversimplistic.

[helyanwe89]

I have some friends who love IPB and read multiple books of the series. They are not for me at all. A number of them just read Bull Moon Rising (her new series) and said it does have more worldbuilding but I'm convinced I'd like it so I skipped it.

[noodlecookie]

Yeah the writer’s style is just so clumsy that I can’t be bothered trying again with any of their other books.

[nrllaless]

I couldn’t with Wake Up and Open Your Eyes either.

[crispycreamy]

I see a lot of people say they know the Fourth Wing series is poorly written but they "turn their brain off" and enjoy it anyway. How? I tried doing that and I still couldn't enjoy it. The writing was so bad and the world-building made no sense. I felt like I was wasting precious time on earth with every page I read lol. I DNF'd it and have accepted it's not for me, but, as an aspiring writer, I still wanna know how people enjoy it.

[squirrels_oh_no]

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/01/13/did-a-best-selling-romantasy-novelist-steal-another-writers-story The publisher who helped propel Fourth Wing to popularity actually talks about why books like Fourth Wing are popular - it focuses on action rather than world-building or character development, so it's just propelled by scene after scene of action and twists and reveals that are there to hook you and keep you reading, and written simply so that it appeals to a broader audience who might not like "literary" fiction/styles of writing.

“The problem with traditional publishing is that they just let writers write whatever they want,” Entangled’s CEO Liz Pelletier is quoted as saying, “and they don’t even think about what the TikTok hashtag is going to be.”

https://countercraft.substack.com/p/art-in-the-age-of-slop

[kittenmittons]

“they don’t even think about what the tiktok hashtag is going to be” 🤢

[tifag]

It honestly reminded me of formula fiction, you know what you are getting into it’s nothing really new but recognizable enough to be an easy read. It wasn’t for me but I completely understand why people love it.