Fwiw, I think that's typical of all Austen novels. Emma is probably the only one that doesn't feel rushed to me, and even then, once the love confession happens it's just a matter of tying up loose ends.

I've always read Eleanor's sudden marriage as another element of satire. We're told the whole book that Catherine is not exactly a classic heroine, and right at the end Austen is kind of like "you just read a whole-ass book about our quaint and naive little heroine who imagined she was in a Gothic story, but all along Eleanor would have fit the mould of a classical heroine what with her tragic romance so much better lol".

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I purchased Dune around when the movie was coming out and it had a sticker on it advertising it. I removed the sticker thinking that there would be nothing under it but oh I was so wrong.

Turns out not only did the book have that sticker but under it was the same advertisement but printed on the cover. I have no idea why they added that sticker if it was already on the cover but it gave false hope.

The problem is that it hints at romance, which colours everything, especially when there is so much toxicity. It makes many men self conscious about it rather than just be natural.

It technically, officially is supposed to mean platonic, probably. The problem is the undertones. Many men avoid a "bromance" because of the label. It makes them uncomfortable because there are certain groups that obsess about homosexuality or anything vaguely resembling it.

For example, in Britain having actors in casual drag (eg Monty Python) is completely no big deal, while in America you'll get lynched in some places.

I think it’s not only not wanting to be labeled, but recategorizing the meaning of the behavior in general. Even if you live in a liberal area and nobody would think less of you for it, you maybe don’t want to give a false impression about yourself/your friendships—least of all to your friends who now might worry you’re coming on to them or crossing boundaries if you try to hold hands or something!

If ever you visit Galveston, there is an impressive show about the storm. It features writings of survivors and photos.

absolutely and well put.

Holden was me in highschool. so so angry at the world. I was probably somewhat annoying too. Holden is traumatized and actively going through more trauma. he’s just a kid. I have a lot of sympathy for him.

Yeah I agree, I think our problem is that in our culture (by which I mean modern American) we read all physical affection as sexual, therefore people tend to avoid physical affection in relationships that aren’t sexual. That’s actually not great for psychological health though, and not the norm globally/historically.

Although, I’ve always understood “bromance” as platonic, just a shorthand for “male friendship story,” and so to me the coinage is a positive thing because it recognizes that these relationships have value and are worth depicting in media. (I wish we had a similar word for women.) If it was actually meant as gay I think it would just be called a “gay romance” rather than suggesting that they are each other’s bro.

I knew one of the author's nieces for years, she was a bit embarrassed about the movie coming out and drawing more attention to her family. One thing I can say for sure after hearing her stories is that the book is not wildly embellished.

I loved the games, and the Netflix series. But the Witcher books man, I read the first one and for me it was just slog. The wiring style was just hard to get into. I didn't continue either

I am not saying anything at all negative about the Paperwhite. I have great respect for eReaders. It's simply a different experience using your phone.

I started reading on a 7" tablet. I found that I preferred my small smartphone. Everyone prefers different things. It's good to find out what you prefer. I'm glad you found your device!

He left the foils on the goddam subway…

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I wasn't talking about homosexuality. That wasn't the topic of this post. It was about men being able to hug or show affection towards one another, which has absolutely nothing at all to do about homosexuality.

That's the problem. If you have two male friends, they talk about it being a "bromance". As if "romance" is a factor. Bloody hell, how stupid is that. There's no wonder to many are so toxic.

It's not about sex. It's about affection and emotion. Not homosexuality.

I know a guy who knows a guy that does. I think I heard about another guy, as well.

A boy and his dog at the end of the world. It's a bit of a coming off she story set in a post apocalyptic world and honestly it's brutality surprised me. However I really loved the story and I'm sucker for anything with dogs lol

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Okay, I thought that you were thinking that the problematic themes needed to be there I misunderstood your intent with the first comment. To answer your second question, take Japan for example, manga is ver popular there which almost all are told about teenagers. When citizens of Japan and writers of Manga were talked to about why they said they like to have young protagonists to relive their childhood days or to feel young again while reading even if it is fantasy they relate to the characters and their young problems.

I'm looking for recommendations on books that have lesbian vampires, ideally with some horror/psychological aspect to the story. Does not have to be romance or with a happy ending. Adult is better than YA but I welcome all recs! Books I liked which may be similar are Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir and When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carrol.

Idk. I only read unfilmable books.

I have a copy of "soon to be a major motion picture" Dune. 🫠

I'm okay with advertising that fact because, hey, it does draw sales. I just hate it when it's literally part of the cover art so it can't even be peeled away.

Again, there are no shortage of adult fiction books without "dark themes". There is quite literally tens of thousands of books outside of the extremely narrow YA genre. If you think you need YA books for a carefree and enjoyable story, you're just wrong. Try Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, for example. One of the most popular goofy and lighthearted stories in the past 50 years. Yet still clearly written for an audience outside of 12-18 year olds lmao. The dark themes and problematic topics you're getting all hung up on are not a requirement. It's purely about who the author is writing the book for. YA books primarily feature teenage protagonists in order to relate to the experiences of their intended audience. Why adults are so obsessed with reading books meant to appeal to teenagers and the growing pains they are facing is very strange to me.

Yes, but they didn't want to be seen as being part of that group, because it was culturally unacceptable. It was perceived as perverse. Which resulted in death, or jail, or being ostracized. If being gay was always accepted, and demonized, or treated as a perversion. Then men wouldn't have an issue with same-sex affection. Because being seen as gay wouldn't be a bad behaviour in society.

Fret less about the cover and more about the contents. I may admire a particular cover, but I don't buy a book for looking at the single outside page. I buy it for what's inside. Slap whatever you want on the cover that helps the book sell. Or don't. It would be impossible for me to care less about it. The cover is not the story being told. It's a sales device. Sometimes artistic, sometimes not.

That’s one I need to revisit. I remember enjoying it and the constant stream of weird things bf s happening but I know I missed a ton