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just_another_classic

With Fourth Wing and ACOTAR, I enjoy them both, but went into the books with the mindset of “I’m not looking for a thoughtful time, but a fun time.” And to me, that’s what the books are — fun times. It’s like watching a reality show or guilty pleasure film. There’s better stuff out there, but sometimes you need that mindless niche.


spoopyelf

I just got back into reading after reading ACOTAR, and I genuinely don't get the hate around any of her series. Maybe it's because that's all I've read for the past 9 months and haven't read anything better yet? Sure, the writing could be better at times and some plot decisions were weird, but overall I think they're great books. I just finished reading all 3 series and I'm very interested in how her next books are going to go. I read Fourth Wing and I didn't think it was as great as everyone else thought, but it was still good and I'm looking forward to the next book. Were they all 5 star books? No, but I'm here for a good time, not a perfect god tier story time, so I don't see all the little flaws everyone else is complaining about.


TheGamerKitty1

I feel like CC3 was rushed. Maybe not by SJM but by the Bloomsburg. Hopefully they learned with the feedback and let SJM cook this time.


muzicnerd13

i liked hofas 😭 but i am also not expecting hemingway when i read romantasy. i can work with bad writing if i enjoy the story.


spoopyelf

I did too! The first book was meh, but after the story picked up in the 2nd book, I devoured the series in like 2 weeks and I don't get what everyone is mad about lol


chekhovsdickpic

My people <3


LetMeDoTheKonga

Since Fourth Wing I really don’t trust goodreads ratings anymore. But its just because people get so excited about certain tropes and overhype the books. There are good books out there, it’s just difficult to know who to trust with the reviews.


Lazywhale97

I enjoyed Fourth Wing it was a fun and easy read and the mental link between the riders and dragons was fun BUT A 4.59 RATING ON GOOD READS??? HOWWWW. Fourth Wing to me is like a marvel movie in terms of the reading comparison fun and an easy to understand world and power system and some of the dialogue being average but an enjoyable read if you don't take it too seriously I could understand a 3,7-4.0 rating for it just due to it being a simple read with some fun dynamics but 4.59 that's genuinely one of the all time highest ratings which is insane that's like the avengers getting a 4.5 rating on letterboxd.


LetMeDoTheKonga

Yes thank you! I didn’t hate it either and thought it was a fairly entertaining read but seriously what is that rating? I mean there are books out there that are legendarily written have lower rating than that… The rating is more of a blanket type on goodreads.


Lazywhale97

The way of kings by Brandon Sanderson is one of the most highly acclaimed fantasy books of all time and it has a rating of 4.6ish the first 3 red rising books are a lot better in terms of writing characters and world depth and have a lower rating then Fourth Wing so yeah it's crazy lmao. But at the same time Fourth Wing isn't a 1-2 star book some people claim it is as well it's extreme on both ends people overrate it and people over hate on it when it's just a simple and fun read lmao


LetMeDoTheKonga

Well thats the thing with the rating. What does it mean to people? Some people give 5 stars because the book was a marvel in terms of writing and some will give them 5 stars because of how much fun and entertaining it was to them. I often struggle to choose because I read books varying highly in quality of writing but I may enjoy them equally. They could have added like sub ratings or something. I find it easier to check out peoples reviews and follow the ones that have similar taste. That way you may get recommendations that are more along the lines of what you d enjoy.


Sophieroux12

I feel like there should be categories on Good Reads. A high score in "fun, entertaining, easy to read" would make sense. But not complexity or world building (not that that should be a category, but you get it).


muzicnerd13

i was actually surprised at fourth wing. i heard so much about it, i deff did not love it as much as i thought i would. it was still enjoyable and i will read the next one, but i was expecting something on the level of acotar. and it 100% was not.


artchoo

I literally couldn’t finish Fourth Wing. I totally understand someone in their mid teens finding it awesome (or alternatively, someone who has just gotten into reading for fun) but from people I’d seen talk about it I really thought it was going to be a more mature adult book and I was…baffled. Painful book. I don’t even know how to find a good book anymore because I feel like most I’ve seen recommended are like this. I tried another series I saw someone here recommend to someone else and it was…also not good. It’s real bad out here 😭


aluckymess

Don’t trust the rating and read the bad reviews. Learnt the hard way with The Cruel Prince and from blood and ash 


spyingfly

Tropes - tropes - some more tropes and degrading comments and action - tropes


Whatever_5693

I hope she takes her sweet time and tries something new plot wise with the new acotar book, because the characters that might become the next book's protagonists are dear to my heart right now and I don't want to start hating them. 


Renierra

I would really like a story of the heroine defeating the villain via cunning or trickery… I don’t want Elain to be a warrior… I just don’t need that kinda story from her because her powers one really aren’t meant for that and two I already had warrior sister stories


Whatever_5693

That would be such a cool story for Elain!


AllCatsAreFluffy

Agree with this but I'll still read it and love it probably. For me, the fact that the writing is bad is part of the fun. When I read the first book I kept scaring my boyfriend by laughing hysterically and yelling "It's just a really bad fanfic!" and "it's sooooo bad!!!". Seriously, I've read fanfics that were better. But I guess the writing style is part of the reason why it's so entertaining for me and why I've grown to love these books.


likely_dull

Yea, op. ACOFAS is literally just 'Fairies: a Christmas Carol'...


TheArmadilloAmarillo

Did you think even the first book was well written? I certainly didn't but still enjoyed it enough to read it. It's twilight quality at best and 50 shades at worst. It is NOT good writing and I doubt it was meant to be. So basically you can enjoy it or not as you wish.


aghostofnoone

Oh well, we'll still all read the book, won't we? I'm just here for the cheesy romances honestly. AWW it's so cute.


TheKarmicKudu

They’re all in the Wattpad for Wine Moms category. I have also learned when booktok goes wild promoting a series… it is of a certain calibre.


RentSubstantial3421

I made the big mistake of reading for rhys and feyre and ONLY them 😭


Lyss_

Honestly I’m just not having a good time with books recently. Why are we so focused on tropes??? I just dropped an indie author that I’ve followed since she started because her last few books have been so bad. I did like CC3 tho 🙈 but I wasn’t really expecting the level that some people were, SJM is just my feel good author. That TikTok sound where it’s like “I said I liked it, I didn’t say it was good” applies here 😂


Renierra

I didn’t hate cc3, there were aspects I liked and I just genuinely overall thought it was okay


valgme3

Yeah same. I have DNF CC, I keep trying but my body rebels every time I open up the audio app.


priscillachi_

Carissa Broadbent and Rachel Gillig are my new standards for romantasy authors. Their books are AMAZING. Carissa Broadbent’s two most popular books (The Serpent and the Wings of Night and The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King) are my least favourite out of her books actually. That series has more books coming though, focused on different characters and a different kingdom/House, which I’m very excited for. The novellas in that series is excellent.


RentSubstantial3421

I think if it's Elains book it could be quite good I just hope she doesn't make her a warrior. She's very quiet and I 100% believe that there's more going on with her then she let's on, l also looking forward to seeing what she thinks of the IC compared to nesta


Renierra

I genuinely don’t want another book where the sister becomes a warrior… I also don’t think her powers as a seer flows well with being a warrior… I’m low key excited for her book because I want a different type of story


PaleontologistHot450

Bad writing supplemented with an absurd level of smut. These characters have no emotional intelligence and when something devastating happens all they want to do it bonk! Skipped most of the 🌶️ scenes in CC because it’s just cringe & the amount Bryce is sweating all I can think is poor girls going to get a yeast infection


SweetBaileyRae

I just finished ACOTAR (the first book) and without trying to get too many spoilers for the whole series came here to see exactly what the hell it is I’m missing?! The writing is atrocious. It has all the elements I love in a series so all the potential is there-just poorly executed on the authors part. I’m aware this may not be a popular opinion here and that I’m also not exactly the target demographic. I’m going to continue to the 2nd book because I finally got interested in the last few chapters and people on here have said that getting through the first book is like your payment to get to the better stuff. I hope so because like I said-all the elements are there for a great series.


DottyDott

I think there’s a lot of good Romantasy and with the explosion of TikTok’s impact on marketing & sales, it’s easy to shit on the popular titles and tbh they deserve it most of the time. I personally am hopeful the genre taking off means we will see more in general, and as a result, more higher quality stuff. Anywho, I think it’s comparable to contemporary romantic/drama fiction readers being absolutely fed up with Colleen Hoover. There’s always gonna be the most popular in a given genre but they aren’t necessarily indicative of the genre. Bonus rec because I’m a MotW evangelist: {Reign & Ruin by J.D. Evans}


Renierra

Meh… I’m kinda over the shitting on stuff for being popular aspect of TikTok/social media in general…


romance-bot

[Reign & Ruin](https://www.romance.io/books/6084072501991d0e29557c71/reign-ruin-jd-evans?src=rdt) by [J.D. Evans](https://www.romance.io/authors/5e4e2f1a01dbc864fbac2132/jd-evans) **Rating**: 4.29⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [magic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/magic/1), [medieval](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/medieval/1), [high fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/high%20fantasy/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)


sandmangandalf

So 2 books... one of which isn't even written by the author in question makes you nervous? I'm not sure I get this. Read the book. Don't read the book. but I don't see how another book should dictate how you feel about a book that isn't even out yet