i read the most viral books on booktok and booktube 📚 should we believe the hype?
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charli d'amelio or charli d'ameliNO? let's find out
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😭 what happened to your intro? it got copyrighted ://///
🤠 how old are you? 25!
📆 when is your birthday? 18th october 1998 (libra)
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💼 what is your job? book critic
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Words cannot describe bow happy I am that there wasn't a Colleen Hoover book on this list
nature is healing
@@jack_edwards King of proving his bad book taste
@@books_addict1674😭😭😭
@@books_addict1674lol someone is pissed cause world doesn't like his fav author collen Hoover's book *cough* Wattpad shity story books. Womp womp. Stop projecting weird creature ☺️
@@books_addict1674aww someone is pissed cause half of the world doesn't like her fav author's book which are basically Wattpad stories with red flag male leads. Another high schooler with no sense here. Stop projecting weird creature ☺️😏
I had the EXACT same thought reading Fourth Wing: WHY ARE THEY ALLOWED TO KILL EACH OTHER? HOW IS THIS AT ALL EFFECTIVE IN WAR??
I think if there was a little more logic, they wouldn't have lethal force in the challenges. Just get demoted to the infantry quadrant or something.
At worst, if they are not cut out for military couldn’t they be of use somewhere else in society??? Like they are doing the enemies job for them lol
It's a decently common trope in sort of magic school/assassin school type books and it NEVER makes sense. Why is anybody going to a school where there's a 70% chance of dying? Are the lower performing students really so low value to the faculty that they're better off dead? And, like, what if you've got a really promising student who just kinda gets unlucky in a life-or-death situation? It's just lazy worldbuilding tbh
what's weirder is that yarros is familiar with the military and knows people in the military (i think her husband is in the military?) so she should have had all the sources and references she needed to make a functional dragon military but just decided not to?
Thank you! That premise never made sense to me
Fourth wing got me out of a reading slump and Iron Flame put me back in one. 😂
It goes to show some books shouldn't be a sequel.
It goes to show some books shouldn't be a sequel.
I couldn´t put it into words before I read this, but yep!
Yeah honestly … like what WAS iron flame😭 it was so poorly constructed
omg same
When Jack is your comfort human >>>>
I felt this on a mitochondrial levl
Yes!❤
He is ❤
Litchrally. His voice and articulation is so soothing to me. We have very different tastes in books but I don’t ever miss a video because this whole channel is like a warm hug.
I'm so sorry you got death threats from fellow readers 😢 a lot of book reviewers I watch often have different opinions on books I enjoyed but I still enjoy hearing them talk about it!
For real. I love that he is being honest and gives valuable criticism! I do share a pretty similar book taste with Jack and I know that if he likes a book I'll probably like it as well.
@@yousername16right? like if jack gives a book 5 stars, i’ll KNOW it’s good and add it to my tbr right away 🤣 i always agree with him somehow!
@@hannahrepollosame 😭
Exactly, we all have different book tastes.
Critique is IMPORTANT and VALUABLE! Especially educated and constructive critique. If art only ever receives praise, then authors and the industry will never improve! Besides, people are allowed to have different opinions and preferences. I don't understand why some people don't get this. 😬
"all that work and where did it get me?" 😭😭 the reference
IMO the issue with R. F. Kuang's books is that she is very, very heavy-handed in her themes, to the point where the characters voices are often lost, and what is left is purely the author's voice moralising directly to the reader. And it breaks immersion, or at least it did for me, specifically with Babel. I think this "style" may be effective to some people but for me I like a more subtle approach, exploring the themes entirely through the characters themselves. Edit: You mentioned she "doubted the intelligence of the reader" and I agree, I think Kuang needs to have a little more trust in the intelligence of her readers to make their own conclusions on the "moral of the story" indirectly through her characters and the situation they are in, instead of spelling it out as she tends to do. With that said, I saw an interview she did in Daniel Green's channel with Evan Winter and it was utterly fascinating, Highly recommend.
this exactly! I loved parts of Babel and thought the premise was so interesting, but the characters felt less like fleshed out people and more just vessels for R.F Kuang’s message. I haven’t read yellowface yet but I just don’t think her writing is for me from the reviews i’ve seen
Agreed, that’s exactly how I felt about Babel. Brilliant premise, so much potential, overly heavy-handed in its execution.
I agree 100%
I've never read RF Kuang before but I've seen a couple of people say that they think she should be writing non fiction instead of fiction and your comment reminded me of that. It sounds like she has great potential and just needs to hone her craft more or else give nonfiction a go instead
This. I decided against Yellowface after reading The Poppy War and Babel because I need good characters to enjoy a story and I just don't think she's a good character writer (yet).
"All the subtlety of a reversing dump-truck." Jack Edwards with the one-liners, everybody.
He took this quote from a fantastically British scene from come dine with me…look up come dine with me you won Jane for the whole fantastic monologue
booktok recommendation survivor
1:56 Love how the book is looking at Jack while he is talking about it 😄
This is the cutest observation 😭
Lol nice
god must protect our strongest soldier
okay I'm an Emily Henry girlie and I loved Book Lovers but never ever would I think it's okay to send someone death threats over not liking a book I liked?! These people are actually insane and don't deserve to call themselves real fans 🙄
Girl Dinner 👐🏻📚
Having read Babel... yeah, Rebecca Kuang has a real problem with subtlety and trusting her readers. Her prose is so didactic it comes off preachy even when you agree with the points.
“i actually wouldn’t mind if she fell off that dragon” *chuckles* I LOVE YOU HAHAHAHAHAHAH
truly one of my BIGGEST gripe with reading the fourth wing was the way the students were allowed to die even when it was stressed in the first few chapters that there was a shortage of fighters 😭 all sense just completely out the window my god. the only redeeming quality of the book was the relationship of the riders with their dragons. tairn singlehandedly got me through that novel
The way that I KNEW you wouldn’t let me down with your opinion on Fourth Wing. If nobody else, Jack Edwards Will Not let me down. The ENTIRE time I was thinking “why is this book’s pacing so odd? Why is every moment treated like a climax?” It was like that Incredibles quote: if every moment is a climax, then no moment is
comparing RF Kuang to Beyonce is EXACTLY why im subscribed to you. 🤝 you get us gals.
1:19 Yellowface by R.F. Kuang 7:09 Happy Place by Emily Henry 10:54 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 14:47 Fourth Wing/Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
you're a savior!
I'm so relieved you loved Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Every time I hear someone talk about it, I get nervous because it feels so precious to me! I just want everyone to have an equally precious experience with it
I feel like emily henry is so skilled at writing different personalities and story arcs that relate to people - but specific people. I loved book lovers because i understood the MC, where i didnt feel connected to happy place because i didnt fully understand Harriet. Idk ill be interested to see what she does with funny story, because i cant help but notice a trend in her books where most people either die for it or feel mediocre about it
Agree, I feel the same but switched 😂
I agree, I loved Book Lovers and found Happy Place’s MC was not my cup of tea.
Agree!!! I lovee lovee Book Lovers so much but I feel pretty mediocre about Happy Place
omg i felt the opposite, i think i liked the chemistry and dynamic between the main characters in Happy Place a lot more than in Book Lovers
Interesting take, I really connected to Beach Read characters but not Book Lovers (only two I've read so far...)
finally, someone who didn't vibe with BookLovers and loved Happy Place! i was starting to feel that i was alone on that one.
I dnf'd book lovers as my first Emily Henry and I'm scared to try others 😂
me too!!!
Yes! @sacid1 Me too! I thought I was alone on that!!
I might have to finally read Happy Place after being on a bit of an Emily Henry hiatus. I absolutely LOVED Beach Read, then enjoyed Vacation, then wasn't impressed by Book Lovers (for some reason I just didn't care about the characters or the plot and it didn't stick with me at all). But maybe Happy Place will hit the spot again.
@@charlottesreadingwebI recommend Beach Read. It was my first Emily Henry book and became one of my all time faves. I didn't like Book Lovers either.
I like how the first two books rhyme
THAT PART in T & T & T was truly devastating, but it was so so beautiful. i was so heartbroken but there was an odd comfort there as well. even in the face of the worst possible things, we move forward. it feels impossible, but man, somehow we continue 🩵
RIP TOH
So true 🐦🍓🌞
I like the fact you always try different genres and don’t judge them. You see the skill of writing no matter the genre! Plus I like when you don’t like a book you don’t make people who do like it feel stupid for liking it ❤️
I love your video’s because i discover so many new books i’ve never heard about. But your commentary on hyped books is also so funny 🥰
watching jack talk about reading while reading and watching a show is superior
I study English literature at uni and I loooved Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. It just felt like a nice summer vacation in comparison to all the super serious classics and got me into reading "fun" books again. I get what you're saying but I skillfully ignored all of the plotholes and just focused on having fun while reading. Reading such a fast paced and exciting book was such a gamechanger for me, I fell in love with reading all over again 🥰
Another lit student here! And damn I really agree. I think i just needed the fun as well so therefore didnt feel too mad at the plotholes and at times cringey scenes. The fast pace and high stakes made it like a movie more than a book lol. It made me both laugh and cry and i needed a simple fix like that!
@@emmapanvil i love how you put it, it was just like a movie! Couldn't agree more
When you're studying literature everything is fair game. I solely reread (okay slight exaggeration) the same two book series while studying English Lit, I did not have the energy to read new stuff, and certainly not very literary stuff.
Hahaha same and I was a lit major. It's also nice to just read something for fun and not think about it for once. I spend all day at work thinking and strategizing I don't need my books to be complicated and a lot of the most popular books are just uncomplicated and easy to follow.
@@emmapanvil Also i generally think it'll make a good tv show lol
Fourth wing was so fast paced for me and hence has my heart
I agree! Iron Flame felt so so rushed. I did ADORE Tomorrow x3 and Happy Place
love tomorrow(x3) to death. read it twice already. this book is my roman empire. i love how jack ACCURATELY described why this book appeals to everyone. it’s such a beautifully crafted piece of literature yet it does cater to our deranged dopamine-addicted escapist reading trend. it’s a classic.
It's far from a classic. I thought it was pretty awful.
I mean, I'd say people in the 15th century were also obsessed with dopamine and pretty stoked with the invention of print books so they too could escape the plague ;)
I hate that books so boring
I hated the characters and don't get me started on her misuse of German. It's so bad and so totally unnecessary because these words don't need to be in the story and one look in the dictionary would have told her the meaning of words like "Ersatz" or the use of gendered pronouns ... and apparently, there are mistakes in her use of Korean and Japanese too. I really don't understand how this book got published by a major publisher, are editors not a thing anymore?
@@madzmado Agreed. I thought I was the only one who struggled through this book. I did NOT love it.
jack posts. i happy ☺️
Every video on Jack's channel hold me LITERALLY spellbound. I mean, I absolutely enjoy every single moment of them as they are both beneficial and entertaining. I just love them!
i am soooooooo happy you liked Happy Place cause it was my most favourite book of last year, and it just makes me sooo happyy that other people see how special the book is bsjsjsjs
I love the Bookleo and her second channel ❤ Also i am glad that i am not the only one having trouble with the fourth wing saga
Thank you for all the empirical research you do!
Jack was absolutely not held on gun pint to say he liked the Happy place. Really happy that he could get over the bump in their relationship. But I gotta say I was struggling with eating disorders but along with my family and therapist books have been my desired distraction .You have played a great role in this journey with me jack. Thanks for helping!
thank you for making this video, it really helped me decide which books are worth it :)
YESS THIS TYPE OF VIDEO IS BACK
You can really see the extra effort that went into editing this video! Amazing
i wholeheartedly agree with your analysis of fourth wing and iron flame. i felt like iron flame was an even more dramatic example of an extremely high paced story line with no lulls which basically diminished the impact of every high stakes scene! the writing is so sloppy and i was hopeful that it would improve from book one to book two but apparently not. i still enjoyed the overall reading experience because the plot is interesting to me but it could have been executed much more skillfully. i want to keep reading the series purely to see where the story goes lol it’s the fomo for me
I’m so glad that you loved tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, it was the book that got me out of of a reading reading slump at the start of the year because for the first time in a while i felt like i was hooked from the first pages, it’s just so well written.
yayyy i’ve been waiting for this video 🤭did not disappoint 👏🏾
you singlehandedly get me into reading again every time i'm in a reading slump thank you and i'm trying new things because your recommendations make me want to read more, and more different things (i'm excited to read A System So Magnificent It Is Blinding (in german) and i'm obsessed with the cover)
Thank you Jack. I was eyeing up Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow… the synopsis didn’t convince me but you review has. I’ll be starting it today ❤
I love your sincere opinions about those books. Sometimes it seems like you have to like what everybody is reading but in truth, the most important is enjoying what you read. I'll get these recommendations, thanks!
I was so curious to read about your thought on the Fourth wing, and I am so happy about everything you said that I felt so much!!!! Could be amazing, Fourth wing is good but Iron flame was major crash, felt that it was rushed, I have even read that they used IA to be faster to publish the book. There are so many things they could have done, to make it great. This were you realise that world building is major!!! Really sad though, because this is a book series that I wish I would follow and love. It's like a very cheap version of an SJM sagas.
Love the reviews of popular book tube/ tok books! More like this please!
The NPC Chapter in t&t&t literally had me sobbing😯
thanks for the skill share code jack 💗
Sorry to hear that people send you death threats it's horrible that you can't have your own opinion without being hated on or recieving threats
My favourite creator on You tube is A Clockwork reader. I love that channel because she (the creator) has an impeccable taste and also, my favourite books has come from her recommendations.
Jack Edwards is probably the only Booktuber whose recommendations I take seriously. That said, we're all different, and I DNF'd Happy Place while loving Beach Reads. Looking forward to trying out the #1 from this vid, Tomorrow and Tomorrow etc. Jack, how about a Matt Haig review? You could do a time travel video. There are several upmarket ones around now.
god i miss this forma of this book so much . jack is really back .
this video is EXACTLY what I was itching for king 😌
I really wanted to love Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow but I just felt like I was missing something. The main characters were horrible to each other. I understand it is supposed to be depicting friendship in a more “real” way, and not all light and fluffy. But if I had someone in my life that acted the way Sam and Sadie acted toward each other, I most certainly wouldn’t consider them a friend.
Totally agree. And somehow despite all the intricacies of their relationships, the characters feel so static, they barely grow in the 15 years we spend with them. I liked how messy and flawed they were because it gave them the potential to feel *real* but then somehow they were never fleshed out enough for that to happen.
idk why but i found myself nodding to jack's sentiments as if he could see me like speak ur truth king👏
This and the last video are examples of why I love your content. You go into every book with good faith, even those that are controversial and get a lot of hate, like Fourth Wing. I personally didn’t mind FW, although I can see the criticisms. And it’s not shocking to me that Iron Flame has been a miss even for others who liked FW. But I’m glad you had a few wins…I knew you’d like Yellowface, and I’m surprised to hear that Happy Place worked so well, given that one was quite polarizing with others I follow.
I loved Yellowface, am currently reading Fourth Wing (i dont like the genre so lets see how it goes), Happy Place is on my shelf and Tomorrow x3 is on my mental tbr 😊 truly a targeted video 😂❤
The icon Jack posts again (: the day immediately gets better❤
On KZhead i really love The Hexed Library, shes constantly giving me new spooky / witchy books to check out XD 🎃
I was so nervous to get to the part about T3 because I adore that book and could be sensitive about it. But then you gave such a smart and insightful review and ranked it #1 🤩 I agree so much with everything you said! Lovely review. I shouldn't have worried 😄
This video made me feel so validated! I’m obsessed with Happy Place but Iron & Flame was a drag! Nobody agrees but you 🙌🏻🙌🏻😂
Your videos make me so happy. You've inspired me to become an author when im older. You're my comfort youtuber and watching your videos helped me cope with my cats death. I want to have a book collection as big as yours one day. ❤
Very good points. I enjoy these reviews :)
I'm SO happy that you liked Happy Place 😭
i'm SO HAPPY you enjoyed tomorrow tomorrow and tomorrow. this was my last read of 2023 and i was desperate to end it just so i could say it was the last one lol, i ended up rushing through it, giving it 3.5 stars and then becoming obsessed with it only months later, when i realized the themes or specific moments just wouldn't come off my mind. i too have a deep connection with ms. pacman now...
bro's sense of humour istg
is brilliant (if you didn't get it)
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow is such a good book!! I'm at the middle and I love it ❤
The heavy-handedness and lack of subtlety was what I really disliked about Babel, and the reason I didn't pick up Yellowface
i loved tomorrow (3x) and i remember not being able to stop thinking about it. the characters and these relationships are insanely entertaining and so real. the plot is not led by love nor the friendship or games, it's a beautiful combination of how to love tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and the urge to view "love" as a verbe and TO love rather than a lone word. honestly considering it's big popularity, sooooo worth it!
I love how you use words :)
Watching Jack Edwards' review's is therapy
I'm guessing you haven't tried Emily Henry's Beach Read? That's the first one I read and I really enjoyed it. On the surface, it's about two authors who end up in summer lake homes next door to each other - one a woman who writes romance and the other a man who writes "serious" fiction. The thing is ... they have history and ultimately decide to creatively trade places. However, it's about so much more, especially in regard to the woman writer, January. She's mourning a parent who was hiding secrets. I've also read her People We Meet On Vacation and that's the one I didn't care as much for. I have Book Lovers and Happy Place and hope to read them soon.
it’s like he knew i was about to eat
“I actually wouldn’t mind if you fell off that dragon.” SPILLING FACTS 👏
I completely agree. I couldn't stand Fourth Wing so I won't be trying Iron Flame
yellow face is suuuuuuch a good discussion book. agree with your thoughts on it !
I mainly read fantasy fiction but I also read some literary fiction. My favorite fantasy booktube creators are Philip Chase and A Critical Dragon (A.P. Canavan). Philips channel is devoted to fantasy where A.P. Canavan focusses more broadly on narrative and sometimes his videos are about film or tv. Fantasy literature is heavily represented on his channel because that is his academic background. For people who have read or want to read Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series, A.P.'s channel is a must. For literay fiction, I really like TheBookChemist. Favorite book recommendation: I was catching up on some of The BookChemist's older videos and watched his review of Thomas Pynchon's The Bleeding Edge and it inspired me to pick up the book. I read it last month and I absolutely loved it. While Against the Day remains my favorite Pynchon, Bleeding Edge is a close second.
absolute favourite bookish content creators: haley pham, sunny kim, destiny sidwell, sara carrolli, rachel catherine, clockwork reader, and thisstoryaintover
Pretty much the same!
Unrelated but for a week I've been reading some parts of the books from 'The song of ice and fire' and started reading 'Fire and blood' today and I was just thinking what will be his take on these books. Hope he reviews it in the future! And as always great content!!! (He's literally now my unpaid therapist)
Unfortunately Jack’s not much of a fantasy reader so I don’t think he would ever take on something like ASOIAF
I’m so sorry you got death threats. For a community that can be so wonderful, that is truly appalling. How ridiculously insecure in your opinion do you need to be that you attack someone for having a different opinion in such a horrible way? Disgusting. But I’m so sorry Jack! And we still absolutely love your content x
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow made me feel all possible feelings following the main characters.
You're so brave for your review on Fourth Wing (i completely agree with you)
Legit saw a girl on tiktok saying “fourth wing is the best book I’ve ever read”… is it also the only one?😭 thanks for the video
it’s something called preference
I loved Happy Place! I know it's pretty divisive but it's definitely one of my all time faves!
Agree with everything you said on each book- hit the nail on the head
Jack you're a genius and i absolutely loveeeee your reviews on books I lovedd happy place and yellowface and am gonna definitely read tomorrow*3
I loved these reviews! I totally agree on Fourth Wing. I kinda want to read Iron Flame just to find out what happens, but I’m not sure. It’s definitely not a priority. Tomorrow x3 is one of my favorites.😊
I love your videos! It easier to listen them when you use a microphone
Ahh I just read Happy Place and I loved it too! 💕
I totally agree with Fourth Wing. Im in the middle of it now-the audible version. Its so intense and the narrator is overly dramatic so i just feel exhausted after a short session of listening. Like how many times can the main character almost d1e?
i was mostly a romance reader since highschool and get recommendations from creators like Haley, Steph Bohrer, Larry, Sunny Kim, Sara Carolli. now im sort of exploring other genres and tbh just get inspired by your recs.
Ideas for next videos: -Zendaya Book recs -Books that made me have faith that my literature degree was worth it -Visiting locations of favourite books that take place in Manhattan Vlog
I knew you’d love Happy Place ❤
tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow was easily one of the best books i read last year. one of the only books that really hit that were booktok recommended
Thank you! I’m feeling relieved that I haven’t missed out on anything by not reading fourth wing 😊
I read Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Fourth Wing out of the 5 books you've reviewed in this video, and I'm extremely glad to share the opinion that Zevin's book is way better than Yarros' one. I wish it could make its way towards readers just as the dragons book did (though I can't say I didn't enjoy it). And I will be aiming to read The Babel by Kuang, and I put pretty high expectations on it~
Here are some books that I recommend you Farewell My Concubine by Lilian Lee The Dream of Red Chamber a.k.a. The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin To The Sky Kingdom by Tang Qi We Children From Bahnhof Zoo by Christiane F. Cat Country by Lao She Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami Norwegian Woods by Haruki Murakami
The one thing I heard about the problems with Iron Flame is that: It was put out 6 months after book 1's release, with this it got highly doubted that the book received any editing. So many people called out that the book could of been better with 200+ pages removed which further doubt that editors did anything. Also its publisher is mainly pushing, according to some articles, the ideas of limited-time special editions over quality books. There were so many publishing issues with Iron flame, with typos, sprayed edges patchy, the spines being wrong (someone got a special edition Iron Flame that said fourth wing on the spine), among other typos. Also recently she put out that it's no longer a trilogy but going to be 5 books long...