This is the issue here, exactly. Not that she writes about these toxic relationships but that they're normalised and even romanticised. Imagine reading her books as an impressionable young teenager and thinking that's how relationships work, that it's oh-so-dreamy when a guy loves you SO much he flies into a jealous rage of another man so much as glances at you.

There are absolutely real life consequences to this kind of book being popularised and hyped as much as CoHo's are.

All of those books you have were originally released at full size, then later, smaller, cheaper versions were released. If you want to be able to read a book when it first comes out and still have matching sets, then buy the larger version of already released books in the series, even if a smaller one exists.

They release the larger versions first because they make more money on them, simple as that.

The real horror is the 9 to 5

I'm not getting it, which place are you referring to?

Yes, they were. It was common for male friends to kiss upon meeting and parting, and to walk around holding hands or with arms around each others waists. It was considered perfectly normal and acceptable in society, even after homosexuality had been made illegal. It was only after Oscar Wildes trial and imprisonment that men began to fear this kind of behaviour would be viewed as homosexual, and it very rapidly fell out of favour.

Funny you said that because the one person who recommended CoHo to me (she said it’s her fav author) is in an incredibly abusive and controlling relationship.

There are real life consequences when you portray abuse and manipulation as romantic.

OP - has questions and repeats that they don't really understand something but asks for opinions on the subject to gain a better understanding

Average redditor - "Well you are really stupid and dumb and very not smart, but I am much big brain because I do understand, also you big dumb dumb!" Sniffs own fart

Noooooooooo. Although saying that, she DOES have some YA books apparently. I've only ever read her adult ones though so I couldn't comment on what kind of relationships they portray but I think I'll go with: probably also toxic and problematic 🙃

[deleted]

Thanks for the recommendation bro, i will definitely check Neil Gaiman's books.

And also one more question. I was thinking about reading "The Untethered Soul" what do you think ?

I watch all of my films on my Television which is a good size for watching films but film makers insist on releasing them at the cinema on bigger screens first and I have to wait like six months for them. Ugh!

I prefer hardbacks. The only paperbacks in my personal library are books that I was gifted.

I found it horrifying when I saw CoHo in the YA section of my local bookstore.

"If anything it just reduces potential profit on release for the new books."

So you think that publishers that have been in the business for many decades don't know how to optimize profits? It is reasonable to have an opinion but basing it on others being stupid is interesting.

If you think everyone is stupid, perhaps you should consider who is really the stupid one here.

I wouldn't defend most isekai (and I actively avoid most of them, other than villainess isekai), but I find them interesting as a phenomenon. One cultural aspect that I think is interesting is that Western readers spend a lot of time trying to decode the secret meaning of the stuff they read, while in East Asia they mostly don't really give a shit. If dudes want to read 30 identical light novels about a dude who is immediately overpowered and has four waifus, they will produce 30 of these novels and then give them 30 anime adaptations until the money runs out. Chinese fantasy novels sound the most extreme -- you'll see plots where a dude kills literally millions while having a harem of twenty. (Killing every member of a clan because one of them wronged them is a common reason for mass murder.) Thinking that your leisure consumption needs to be virtuous seems like a Western virtue.

FWIW, the female-led isekai have the same age gap dynamic with the genders reversed. You don't usually get actual harems (because that would be slutty, I guess) but you do get five guys who pine after the female lead because she's just so wonderful. This the level of self-indulgence that gets Western audiences to complain "she's a Mary Sue". But the core audience doesn't give a shit. Of course she's a Mary Sue -- that's what they're paying for.

This leads to a lot of garbage (most isekai, for example), but it leads to a big pulp fiction market that doesn't really exist in the West anymore. The closest is YA, but even the discussion around YA has a lot of anxiety about whether it's virtuous. You also have many other fringe genres like Western litrpg, but that is a pretty small publishing market. Re:Zero or Reincarnated as a Slime are closer to Harry Potter in their cultural prominence in Japan than they are to Western litrpg.

Mushoku Tensei has a weird vibe around it that makes it seem extra-sleazy (the author feels like he's indulging in something), but in a way if you are going to tell a reincarnation story you're stuck with it. What's the alternative? The lead who is in a 17-year-old body dates a 40-year-old? That usually ends up worse -- that's you end up with the "it's okay that she looks 12 because she's a 1000 year old demon" characters.

The only light novel I've read directly is Tearmoon Empire, which is basically "the French Revolution, but a comedy". The main character is basically Marie Antoinette, and after getting beheaded she gets a chance to go back and redo it to avert her fate. It avoid all of the tropes. Otherwise I only know them from their anime adaptations. The Executioner and Her Way of Life is about someone who's job it is to murder isekai protagonists, so it's less trope-y. The light novel for Oregairu, which isn't a fantasy at all but instead about high school, is supposed to be very good.

So no one ever buys the hardback versions and feels exactly like you do and wants to keep their sets looking similar?

Hardback are more profit and sturdy/lasting. There are a large number of people who want books as soon as they come out, desire first editions etc and will pay the premium. You choose not to.... but you are not the main character in the publishing world.

>I don't understand why publishers do this.

Really? Perhaps a book on critical thinking should be your next trade paperback purchase.

I'll definitely give it a read!

This is true about Carrie. It's one of my tops too. Desperation is my fave King novel though. It's one of the scariest books I've read and it often gets overlooked.

I agree. Except for The Stand(extended) and Misery. Both are perfection(for me).

The paperback edition is supposed to be the standard version and the pocket edition is the cheaper mass product. It's a good and historical way to extend the life of a book by having several release dates.

Hardbacks are more expensive hence profit. They want you to give in to getting the more expensive book now rather than waiting for the paperback.

I have fallen for the trap many times and then I got frustrated and just bought it on kindle.

I worry for young people posting that kinda thing tbh like... you really think Miles from Ugly Love or whatever his name is from November 9 are "goals"? Please, seek help.

It’s possible you’re not their only customer.

I have read both the Chinese version (back when it was the only version) and then a few years later the English translation.

It felt like a lot of a nuance was gone, and some of it really feels impossible to translate for some reason. I definitely think the translator could have done a better job.

I wouldn’t have enjoyed the story as much if I started off with the English version. It’s a shame because it is such a great epic story.

That's frighteningly bleak but seems all too real.

I want the Star Trek future. The computer could do just about anything but it needed the right input and for the crew to ask the right questions. In the meantime, they spent their free time exploring their creative outlets.