Reacting to my Follower’s Bookish Hot Takes
“Kindle > Physical”
This is definitely a hot take. While I often read on my Kindle, I prefer to have a physical book. However, Kindles are more accessible and give reading to a larger amount of people, and for that I celebrate them. Overall, how one likes to read is their own prerogative and personal preference, and I can’t be too mad about someone preferring a Kindle. I prefer paperback books to hardbacks, and that is a similar hot take.
“Buying multiple editions of the same book is overconsuming and a waste of money”
This one is hard because I am guilty of owning multiple copies of the same book. However recently my thoughts on this have changed to be slightly more in line with the followers. I also think it's overconsumption and a waste of MY money. But I am of the thought that you should do whatever you want with your money. I see the value of having a special edition you won't read, and thus buying another copy to read. I see the value of having two because you couldn’t pick. I also see how having every copy ever made of a book could be fun. Overconsumption is not always a bad thing, and neither is spending money, so while this is a hot take I mostly agree with, I think it's personal.
“not technically unpopular, but a surprise pregnancy will make my rating go down”
100% Same. If it is not advertised as a book with a pregnant main character, and the main character gets pregnant I almost always regret picking the book up. And this goes for fantasy, romance, sci-fi, thriller, etc. I think surprise pregnancy is almost always a cheap shot for some sort of resolution and I hate it.
“Romance is only good in a book up until they get officially together”
This follower obviously enjoys a slow-moving, tension-filled romance. While a personal choice, I disagree. I think romance books' best parts are when the two main characters admit their feelings and start acting like it.
“Punk 57 was not good” and “Don’t enjoy Apprentice to The Villain”
While I have not read Punk 57, I think it sounds like a book I would not enjoy. I believe it has the bully romance trope, which I hate and find disturbing. As for Apprentice to The Villian, it was one of my top reads of 2024 and I love it, so we will have to agree to disagree.
“Cliffhangers are poor writing that are just around to make you buy the next book”
True. If a book is good and has a continuous plot line then it would make sense that it could end on not a cliffhanger and people would still come back for the next book. However since I mostly see it as a marketing tactic I don’t think it's bad writing, and I don’t hate them. I am less likely to read a book that ends in a cliffhanger though - assuming the next book is not out. However, overall I think cliffhangers don’t bother me that much.
“You don’t have to rate or even count all the books you read”
Ah. As a numbers person this hot take is on fire. I would be in shambles if something happened to my Goodreads log or my book journal. I think that rating every book might be bit much for some people, but I enjoy thinking about the book and deciding what to rate it, and I definitely love keeping track of how many I have read. Each book I read and mark off feels like a reward.