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* Rebel Robin, the Stranger Things tie in novel that I've heard a lot of good things about
Overall, really liked it and glad I picked it up. It really nails both the era and also being stuck in a place where you can't see a future and feel fundamentally different from everyone else. I don't read YA so maybe this isn't all that remarkable, but I've never seen anything nail that feeling so well. In stories I read The Hero then leaves the place rather than being stuck there, so even if a story starts on that misfit note it doesn't stay there and explore it.
Actually with how common starting in media res is in modern novels, a lot of books start after the person had left and they may just briefly tell about what home was like rather than show.
The problem is that it's a prequel tie in. They can't do much. She can't leave. They can't even really commit to her bonding with her friends again and opening up to them. So the ending fizzles out and the book's climax feels very odd. It's not the books fault. Overall, flawed but I am glad I picked it up.
Also, the author got into Stranger Things because she has a shaved head and kept being mistaken for an Eleven cosplayer at cons, which I find highly amusing.
* Legends & Lattes
A mixed bag, but I picked it up more out of genre research than really expecting to like it.
Honestly, I was surprised. RPG-style fantasy setting but with coffee, chocolate and what is clearly meant to be electric guitar music? To me, this is the oldest and stalest joke ever... but also I am old and haven't read much current fantasy. It's possible he's bringing something back that hasn't been done in a while or hasn't been done as well.
It was very well written. I am a slow reader these days and I read it in almost one sitting. At the end I realized I couldn't comment on the nuts and bolts of the actual writing, because it was so smooth I didn't even thing about it. But also it was a fast read because it's 250 pages exactly, it shows as more pages on Amazon because they included an additional short story in the book.
Lots of people are going nuts for this book, but it's basically a coffee shop AU? Coming from fanfic, seeing this talked about as a fresh new thing is, again, confusing.
I don't want to talk down the book. I wasn't expecting it to be my sort of thing. I was just curious about the 'cozy fantasy' that went viral and it just didn't click for me. I felt like something was missing from the character interactions. But again, I am probably just not the target audience for this. I guess this is some guy's Nano project that went viral and good for him! Might check back with him in a few books
Overall, really liked it and glad I picked it up. It really nails both the era and also being stuck in a place where you can't see a future and feel fundamentally different from everyone else. I don't read YA so maybe this isn't all that remarkable, but I've never seen anything nail that feeling so well. In stories I read The Hero then leaves the place rather than being stuck there, so even if a story starts on that misfit note it doesn't stay there and explore it.
Actually with how common starting in media res is in modern novels, a lot of books start after the person had left and they may just briefly tell about what home was like rather than show.
The problem is that it's a prequel tie in. They can't do much. She can't leave. They can't even really commit to her bonding with her friends again and opening up to them. So the ending fizzles out and the book's climax feels very odd. It's not the books fault. Overall, flawed but I am glad I picked it up.
Also, the author got into Stranger Things because she has a shaved head and kept being mistaken for an Eleven cosplayer at cons, which I find highly amusing.
* Legends & Lattes
A mixed bag, but I picked it up more out of genre research than really expecting to like it.
Honestly, I was surprised. RPG-style fantasy setting but with coffee, chocolate and what is clearly meant to be electric guitar music? To me, this is the oldest and stalest joke ever... but also I am old and haven't read much current fantasy. It's possible he's bringing something back that hasn't been done in a while or hasn't been done as well.
It was very well written. I am a slow reader these days and I read it in almost one sitting. At the end I realized I couldn't comment on the nuts and bolts of the actual writing, because it was so smooth I didn't even thing about it. But also it was a fast read because it's 250 pages exactly, it shows as more pages on Amazon because they included an additional short story in the book.
Lots of people are going nuts for this book, but it's basically a coffee shop AU? Coming from fanfic, seeing this talked about as a fresh new thing is, again, confusing.
I don't want to talk down the book. I wasn't expecting it to be my sort of thing. I was just curious about the 'cozy fantasy' that went viral and it just didn't click for me. I felt like something was missing from the character interactions. But again, I am probably just not the target audience for this. I guess this is some guy's Nano project that went viral and good for him! Might check back with him in a few books
no subject
Date: 2023-04-17 05:46 am (UTC)From:Prequel stories are hard, because they are so limited in what they're able to do. The endpoint is a given, because we know where the character is in the already-existing canon. Sometimes the character stuff is worth it, and it sounds like it captured the setting well!
I've seen Legends and Lattes recced all over the place, and I haven't been able to decide if I wanted to give it a go or not. I feel very conflicted about "cozy fantasy" in general... I do like some of those vibes, and there are a handful of things that fall into that category that I love... yet a lot of the things I see recced in the genre wind up feeling super boring to me. (Not a comment on this specific book at all, because I haven't read it! Just about the type of recc in general.)
no subject
Date: 2023-04-17 10:03 am (UTC)From:I held off on Legends & Lattes because... lesbians written by a guy. Not sure if want. The romance did not work for me, but I am not into sapphic stuff typically.
Cozy is a complicated genre. Maybe complicated is the wrong word, but it's something difficult to make work without being twee or running into a number of problems. I was just curious what was working for so many people.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-18 05:21 am (UTC)From:I like sapphic stuff well enough... sometimes. It really does depend how it's written and whether I click with the characters and their chemistry. I find that a lot more often in m/m, or in various gender combos written by specific authors I know I like. (Does that say something about me? Maybe! Or just how f/f stuff is more often written.)
Yeah, complicated feels like a weird word to use, but my feelings for it as a genre definitely are. I *like* the cute cottagecore aesthetic that goes with a lot of the genre, and love when I read something or watch something that really leaves me with that cozy feeling. Studio Ghibli films are probably the perfect example... but a lot of things that seem to try to capture those vibes DO absolutely run into twee at best, bland and without meaningful conflict or character arcs more likely, and "yikes, tradwife fantasy" if they're really clumsy.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-18 10:19 am (UTC)From:Yeah, there are a lot of pitfalls to cozy and ways it can go wrong. Cottagecore can also go wrong in a lot of ways. But in those genres if anything feels forced, or in making sure you avoid tradwife stuff you remind the readers of it's existence, kinda ruins the vibes.
I see a lot about restoring things, restoring cottages or wastelands, as a cozy things. It's a current trend I think? Anyway, Stranger Things would be great for this as the town is destroyed. I have some ideas, but they need a lot of refinement, but also not focusing on that right now as I have current projects to finish
no subject
Date: 2023-04-19 04:48 am (UTC)From:I think you're right, that that's a lot of it, too. Stuff tries so hard to reassure you that they aren't writing "yikes tradwife shit" that it instead tries to like... lampshade it, or throw in some forced aside to make sure you know that isn't what the story is. And yeah, that sort of reminder breaks the immersion and kills the vibe immediately.
Yeah, the act of restoration, of building or rebuilding something to make it a home, the very personal connection with the work being done... all of that is extremely excellent cozy vibes *even when it's not pure fluff*, because there is some sort of background danger or darkness or cataclysm survived.
I think a post-series (or post S04) Stranger Things fic with those vibes could be very excellent, but I understand having plenty to work on as it is!
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Date: 2023-04-19 06:26 am (UTC)From:Yeah, I want to keep the Stranger Things ideas ticking over but mostly for practice... I hope. I've got a lot to finish.
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Date: 2023-04-21 04:52 am (UTC)From:Her videos on tumbly tend to be good. She had a good video on the legacy of Just Girly Things
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Date: 2023-04-22 04:04 am (UTC)From:no subject
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Date: 2023-04-23 03:12 am (UTC)From: