Rocky Mountain Disney World (derogatory)
Added 2024-05-08 21:05:37 +0000 UTCHello friends, welcome to baby's first Patreon-exclusive recent reading wrap-up. (It's me, I'm baby.)
Books discussed: Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno, A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant
Other books mentioned: Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield, A Gentleman Undone by Cecilia Grant
Comments
ahh thank you for the kind words, this is exactly my goal
Mel Thomas
2024-07-01 13:59:49 +0000 UTCOne of the things I most appreciate about your reviews is how you take every individual work seriously without any preconceived notions or assumptions. I feel like most people would see a swooning woman on a cover and assume the book sucks. I appreciate the nuanced takes; it's refreshing. Also nice to not have to keep TikTok installed to hear your reviews!
Laura DeSantis
2024-07-01 05:00:44 +0000 UTCI haven't really read much straight historical romance (like, the just recent straight romance I read was by KJ Charles), but I may have to check out A Lady Awakened, with such a review!
Sarah French
2024-06-12 07:34:54 +0000 UTCI could listen to you all day, talking about anything. Love these chatty reading wrap ups and would love to see more. I would also love for you to do videos of thematic breakdowns which you often naturally do anyway. So how classism, or grief, or parent-child relationships are explored in different books or pieces of media/ how the lens thru which they carry out these explorations impacted the messages and final conclusions.
Demi
2024-06-09 21:47:13 +0000 UTClove your howl takes, im very fond of hmc and it's so interesting to see so many new romance/fantasy books cropping up claiming to have a howl-esque love interest! i think in addition to what you said, some of them also miss the mark for me because i feel they don't give their 'hero' as interesting or equally complicated a protagonist to play against as sophie is to howl... i think emily wilde's encyclopedia of faeries has come closest to being similarly compelling to me, but maybe i just like a grumpy woman main character haha!
juno
2024-06-06 00:40:08 +0000 UTCYeah, I'd be interested to know your hot takes!
Rachel McGuire
2024-06-02 15:25:16 +0000 UTCHahaha, I totally agree
Mel Thomas
2024-05-30 21:30:55 +0000 UTCTbh I think that patreon might be better suited to hot takes than tiktok is, specifically because you've got an inherently smaller audience on patreon that's already (probably) bought into the particular kind of thinking about books that you have...less likely to get people totally unfamiliar with The Vibes to stumble in, take something in bad faith, and start fights. Or at least the kind of fights that no one wants to have...I love a back and forth conversation about Themes, but tiktok is just not great for it. So yes, I'd like to hear the omegaverse hot takes!
Gabie
2024-05-30 20:46:33 +0000 UTCAhh I'm so glad!
Mel Thomas
2024-05-23 15:34:36 +0000 UTCRead A lady awakened and loved it!!!!!
Snophysh
2024-05-23 12:46:56 +0000 UTCOh my god yes the Estes Park reference would immediately take me out of it! I have to image the author saw a photo of just the mountains and assumed it was quiet 😆
Megan Hahn
2024-05-20 17:16:25 +0000 UTCI'd love more fan fic takes and others have mentioned the a/b/o as transgender speculative fiction topic. Always happy to hear more of your thoughts on romance as a genre as it's so maligned in other "intellectual" spaces. But mostly here because I'm happy to support you having a creative space with more freedom to say things that are more comfortable in smaller settings behind pay walls. So any rambling and pedantry is fine
Muireann McGlynn
2024-05-18 22:51:43 +0000 UTCYes on the Howl thing, the only character I’ve read that actually gave me strong Howl vibes was Brambleby from Emily Wilds Encyclopedia of fairies! Great reviews and definitely gonna check out A lady awakened. 😆
Snophysh
2024-05-15 22:13:16 +0000 UTCThis confirms why I've always felt Howl gives off Blanche Devereaux vibes. So excited for your content - I'd love to see fanfic recs as well!
Heather Whitsett
2024-05-15 03:36:49 +0000 UTCNarrative utility of sex scenes!! Narrative! Utility! Of! Sex!!!!!! Yes please.
Tesla
2024-05-14 13:06:56 +0000 UTCI'm so excited for this patreon! Insightful takes as always--I feel like I learn so much from listening to you talk about the books you're reading. I'd be super interested to hear more of your thoughts about omegaverse as trans speculative fiction, since I think you mentioned it once on tiktok but understandably didn't want to delve into it there.
JJ
2024-05-14 00:18:26 +0000 UTCMy mom is a fan of Diana Wynne Jones and when the movie was announced in 2004 she was dead set on reading the book to my brother and me beforehand. I remember being 10 years old and camping at Red River Gorge when she read the majority of it aloud to us because anytime we complained about bugs and sleeping on the ground she told us we were acting like Howl 🤡
Bronwyn Kuehler
2024-05-12 23:46:30 +0000 UTCVery well said about Howl! I also read the book before watching the movie. Everyone wants Howl as their love interest but nobody is brave enough to make him a pathetic, slutty bitch (affectionate). Would love to see a "fanfic corner" segment (speaking of: thoughts on RWRB movie sequel announcement? lol). Definitely don't be scared of experimental/specific/controversial content. I've noticed many new-to-Patreon creators get (understandably, but unnecessarily) nervous about posting High Quality Content here. The truth is that anyone willing to become a Patron in the first place will generally be happy with anything.
stummyhort
2024-05-12 20:25:01 +0000 UTCI did in fact read Howl’s Moving Castle as an adult last year before seeing the film so you’re not alone! I also felt like the film sort of stifled his diva-ness but still worth the watch.
Eli
2024-05-12 12:33:15 +0000 UTCSo happy to join you here! Love the format and ready for hot takes!
Michael
2024-05-11 22:03:45 +0000 UTCYes to chatty wrap-ups, yes to hot takes. I'd love some recommendation videos too-- super specific categories or just general faves or whatever.
ali_cat
2024-05-11 19:50:41 +0000 UTCI never seem to enjoy a romance where the sex comes too early and feels unearned, so I'm super intrigued by A Lady Awakened. Absolutely checking that out.
ali_cat
2024-05-11 19:40:02 +0000 UTCyay thanks for being here!!!
Mel Thomas
2024-05-11 17:31:32 +0000 UTCthis is SO spot-on—I think cardan is very much dark!howl, i see that influence for SURE
Mel Thomas
2024-05-11 17:30:56 +0000 UTCahh oh my gosh hello! your approach to patreon is SO smart (and i really appreciate the advice—i barely know what i'm doing here). i really love that yours feels kinda like how reading personal book blogs used to feel (in a good way, of course). and yeah, I'm definitely gonna repost all my public stuff here too. I really like the idea of using this page as a hub.
Mel Thomas
2024-05-11 17:29:47 +0000 UTCyeah i think YoMT is really more of a portrait of a marriage than anything, so you reading it on your honeymoon makes sense to me!! but i do have somewhat macabre sensibilities, haha. and you're so right about charles and pacat. charles even writes bad-on-purpose sex scenes sometimes! and pacat's are SO understated and romantic.
Mel Thomas
2024-05-11 17:26:26 +0000 UTCoh my god you're a genius, this is the perfect way to put it
Mel Thomas
2024-05-11 17:23:43 +0000 UTChe's SO whiny, i love it
Mel Thomas
2024-05-11 17:23:10 +0000 UTChowl is more powerful than cardan, but cardan is meaner, so i think it would even out. then jude and sophie can get together and form a ruthlessly pragmatic power couple
Mel Thomas
2024-05-11 17:22:54 +0000 UTCokay but I love this pairing?!!!
Mel Thomas
2024-05-11 17:22:02 +0000 UTCYessss I'm thinking of adding a "fanfic corner" to some of these vids, haha. Will probably have some RWRB recs in the next one. And I'm so glad you liked Concordia—I read that whole thing in a crazy two-day fever dream.
Mel Thomas
2024-05-11 17:21:09 +0000 UTCYeah, I didn't love it either, although there are things I really liked ABOUT it. It had the episodic structure of the middle grade novels I used to read when I was a kid, which isn't a bad thing, but it did throw me off a bit, and it made it a bit harder to appreciate as an adult. I think partly I went in with the wrong expectations.
Mel Thomas
2024-05-11 17:17:38 +0000 UTCI’m super hopeful that you’ll talk about omegaverse/ a/b/o as trans lit here behind a paywall. I totally understood when you said you didn’t want to on TikTok but i was so bummed! In general, I’m so stoked you have a patreon now and looking forward to the hot takes and pedantry and less TikTok/YT friendly content lol. Would also be down for a fanfic roundup every now and then. Never read any Captive Prince fic before but that hockey one you recommended was actually so good!
h
2024-05-11 10:59:09 +0000 UTCCalling the sex “car crash sex” is such an amazing selling point, I’m definitely gonna read the bad sex book. What’s your opinion of howls moving castle? My (seemingly most controversial) hot take is that I..didn’t..love HMC, the book. For me, that definitely comes from loving the movie as much as i do, but i don’t think that’s entirely it
h
2024-05-11 10:55:23 +0000 UTCSo excited to be here! I love your takes on howl and will definitely be picking up the bad sex book. I love unique takes on intimacy! Loyal fan and can’t wait to see more of your stuff!
Claire Larvin
2024-05-11 02:57:25 +0000 UTChot takesss 🔥🔥
suchmeow
2024-05-11 01:12:59 +0000 UTCDefinitely here for some hot takes!
Evie
2024-05-10 21:24:04 +0000 UTCI think reading the book first is probably best, I did it the other way and had a hard time enjoying the book on its own merits. They have significant differences though, so you're not really spoiling yourself either way.
Evie
2024-05-10 21:22:11 +0000 UTCoh I would love a sex scene discourse video, especially with A Lady Awakened, which I have described as "a slow burn where they are having sex the whole time."
Emma Kearney
2024-05-10 20:37:13 +0000 UTCI read The Year of Magical Thinking last year- Very strangely, I read it on my honeymoon (I re-read On Keeping a Notebook every couple of years and wanted to read more Didion, a friend got me YoMT as a gift, not knowing what it was about, and I decided to go for it anyway lol) so that definitely informed my reading experience, but I did find a really strong instinct to put an emotional guard up when reading, and also found that Didion's writing is particularly adept at breaking through that guard. Weirdly I think it was good(?) to read at the beginning of a marriage, my favorite part was really the perspective she had on such a long and complex relationship at it’s sudden conclusion. It’s romantic in a different way than almost anything else I’ve read! Also! You totally sold me on A Lady Awaked! Would love a longer video on Sex Scene Discourse- KJ Charles and CS Pacat are two authors that come to mind who write great sex scenes that are also always /doing/ a lot for the characters and relationships and story arcs.
Melissa Meyer
2024-05-10 19:54:41 +0000 UTCI have never subscribed to anything faster! Haha. I’ll be excited to hear your thoughts on anything- hot takes and wrap ups or whenever else.
Melissa Meyer
2024-05-10 19:44:27 +0000 UTC100% here for hot takes and pedantry! Also very motivating to finish Howl’s Moving Castle, he’s such a beautiful whiny lad
Mairéad Swyney
2024-05-10 18:42:10 +0000 UTCMore pedantic reviews! More hot takes! Also, what if Howl Pendragon and Cardan Greenbriar were in love? I need to maybe read Howl's Moving Castle First, but I think I may be onto something here . . .
mall0rie666
2024-05-10 18:17:58 +0000 UTCon the subject of “howl energy”, one example that comes to my mind is Cardan. Like, he is very much a flawed drama queen and people still adore the guy (myself included). I think it speaks a lot to the way Holly Black approaches her characters and their development in the books. A lot of the time in straight romances, the author wants to portray a “sensitive guy that is not scared of crying!” but seems repulsed at the thought of a man actually crying. Give us tears! Give us flaws! Give us SOMETHING!
Ratos e pratos
2024-05-10 17:27:50 +0000 UTCI’m here for all of it! I’d love to get some Pagemelt hot takes, and I’m excited for the long form videos! A+!
KrustyFrank27
2024-05-09 01:44:39 +0000 UTCi always assumed "howl energy" referred to movie howl because book howl is SO goofy. the movie toned him down a lot. like everyone else i cannot stress enough how different it is! it's got a strong anti-war theme for one
alliwag
2024-05-09 01:13:39 +0000 UTCWelcome to patreon! Glad to have you here! Really enjoyed your intro book thoughts video. I'm extremely here for the same kind of content you generally make for tiktok but slightly longer, and also maybe some of the more pedantic/hot takes thoughts you might otherwise withhold (but of course only share to your comfortable level). You could also consider re-posting videos as you make them for tiktok here as free posts for people who have left tiktok (like me). I've been running a patreon for 8 or so years and I've built up a following of both paid and unpaid subscribers by reposting some content from other platforms for free- for example, I copy all of the book reviews I write during the month on Goodreads and Storygraph into a single free patreon end of month wrap-up and many people have told me it's some of their favorite of my posts.
Maia Kobabe
2024-05-09 00:45:04 +0000 UTCOmg hi buddy 🥰
Mel Thomas
2024-05-08 23:39:36 +0000 UTCYou're not the only one because there's also me
Haley Stewart
2024-05-08 23:36:57 +0000 UTCOoh I didn't realize how long it had been since Grant had published something!! Sometimes the real GOATs only have a couple in 'em, smh 😔
Mel Thomas
2024-05-08 23:18:49 +0000 UTCYeah, I think that's a fair concern, tbh! I didn't looove reading the book, but also didn't have trouble getting through it, and I enjoy it more in hindsight, I think. I was mostly surprised by how young it read! I think I was expecting more of a general audiences vibe, but it really leans more toward kids.
Mel Thomas
2024-05-08 23:16:16 +0000 UTCAt 37 I've not read Howl's Moving Castle the book or seen the adaption but I do plan to do both at some point. I'm not sure which is the best order but I will probably read the book first. I'm worried the hype is too high.
Megan
2024-05-08 23:09:35 +0000 UTCAlso, it's been three years since I first read it, and I'm still so mad at Cecilia Grant for writing the EXQUISITE Blackshear series and then apparently mic dropping forever and ever. I respect the hell out of it, but also... I'm still holding out hope for discovering more work by Grant somewhere, maybe under a (different?) pen name
Shelby
2024-05-08 22:51:53 +0000 UTCI'm here for the hot takes! Maybe even more of that "um actually" pedantry 🙋♀️
Shelby
2024-05-08 22:49:28 +0000 UTC
