 And we are live on night two of the TBR Swap Bonanza. I am joined by the lovely Book Born, who was forced to read books not of her choosing. Would you like to introduce yourself? Yes, hello. I am Book Born from the channel Book Born. And I do adult fantasy, mostly, actually all adult fantasies sometimes sci-fi. And Six of Crows. Well, yes, I did read Six of Crows because I liked the show enough to read it. But tonight I've got the four books Leanna gave me. I have them all with me as well. And yours are a lot nicer condition and I'm going to talk about that as a part of this live. Because you're a monster. We had the Declaration of the Rights of Magicians. We had Strange the Dreamer, which I think is my warbreaker, basically of the evening. Everyone's the most interested in that one. The Bear and the Nightingale. And A Madness So Discreet. Yeah, those are the books I picked. Which there, three of them are YA and one adult is how I would classify it. I mean, only two are YA. Which one's not considered YA? I mean, Declaration of Rights for sure isn't. And Bear and the Nightingale's an adult. Oh, Bear and the Nightingale's adult. I couldn't tell. I couldn't tell. It walked the line for me in that regard. Yeah, it's adult. Okay, so what we did last night, I think worked really well. So we're going to do the exact same thing. You don't have to watch it. This is literally going to be word for word, the same. Yeah, I'm just going to repeat all the opinions Liana had. Yeah, just insert my warbreaker opinion for Strangestreamer. It doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense. Just copy-paste. But so what we did last night for anyone that didn't see, and if you didn't see it, go watch it after we're done here tonight. Go watch previously on TBR Swap. Previously on. So you have to watch, you know, the season in order, but we talked about each of the books non-spoiler. We gathered predictions and guesses from the chat before the final answer was provided by the reader. And then after we had discussed as non-spoilery as possible, all four books, then we dove into the spicy spoilers. So I don't, what order do we want to talk about these books? I'll let you choose. Last night, I chose the order for you. So you're good to choose. Which one are we doing first? Let's start with The Bear and the Nightingale. I think that's a good start. So The Bear and the Nightingale. All right, folks. I think, well, again, we kind of talked, or like you talked about last night, like why you picked each book. So if you would like to put in your guesses for how she felt about Bear and the Nightingale, I will explain why I chose The Bear and the Nightingale. It is, I think it's a really, really good book. The main character, I remember being blown away by her being like a great female character, which is even nowadays like sadly rare to see. And it is sort of like folklore, fairy tale, retelling type of thing, which I know can be a hit if it's done well, you know, Madeleine Miller. And I just, yeah, I thought, I think that one specifically, I think you had read something and posted about it. And I immediately was like, oh, if you haven't read Bear and the Nightingale, then I'll pick Bear and the Nightingale. So I was like, have you read Bear and the Nightingale? I don't remember what it was though, but it was probably like a mythology retelling or something. Yeah. Or something Russian. I don't know. But yeah, so like all of that combined, I was like, I think this would be a hit with Hillary. So what people are saying that... They all think I loved it. They think you loved it. I think that it was okay. Evie's nervous. Loved it. Hope you loved it. Hope you loved it. I mean, also like, I think a lot of, well, I shouldn't say everyone who watches my channel agrees with me, but I feel like this is a channel that is like a safe space for lovers of the winter night trilogy. And I feel like I talk about this series a lot. So there's probably a lot of fans in the chat. I think a positive review. Because of how you felt about Gods of Jade and Shadow, I guess you don't like that book. Oh, Gods of Jade and Shadow was a three star for me. I didn't dislike it. I just also didn't love it. It was right. It was fine. It was right. Oh, all right. Drum roll. What did you really liked this book? Yay. I gave it a four stars. Now, if you're not familiar, like I don't give five stars out that often. A five star book really has to like, feel like it changes me in some way. And even some books that have profoundly changed me. I'm like, well, I have to take a half star off for this. So four stars really good. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. The strongest part was the writing for me. Like, yes, it was very beautiful writing. And I love a story that really. Like commits to its fairy tale origin. And like, I did feel like I was reading. Like a fairy tale for adults in that it's longer and, you know, more complicated or whatever. Nine of stars. I know I'm sorry. I know people are going to be disappointed by four, but I feel like you shouldn't be disappointed because I liked it. You know, like, I really loved the main character. And I do have to like sort of talk. So this one when you said you gave it to me, I just have to give a little spoilers because it would ignite my feminine rage. And I'll talk about that later, but this is the book that really did that. And this is like the perfect example of something I talk about a lot with like, it was a sexist society, but the book wasn't sexist like that. It's the perfect example of that where like our main character has to deal with so much sexism. And for me, it was just so realistic. Like it again, it wasn't that over the top sexism. It was like very what I call practical sexism for the time. Like, well, you need to go get married because you need someone to take care of you. Like things that they would be said. And so it actually made me more upset and frustrated and angry in a good way. So yeah, I really like that. I love, I did love the main character. You said I was going to love. I really loved her so much. And on paper, I don't think she sounds that interesting, but the way she is written is very interesting. I think to also like, I guess technically Vasya is not like other girls, but she's not written as like a, I'm not like other girls, you know? Yeah. And I think the important thing whenever you have a not like other girls character is that your other female characters aren't looked down upon. I think the other female characters in the story, if they weren't villains and even, and even the villains, you know, I pitied a lot. Like without spoilers, there was, you know, a female villain in the story that I, I pitied because she was just as mistreated, you know, as, as Vasya in different ways in her life. I hated one character. Male. Lots of like fist clenched, like. So much in a good way in the way where you're like, Oh, I'm invested because I hate this character. You're like Michael Scott when he's talking about Toby. And he's like, I hate so many of the things about what you choose. And why it wasn't like five stars for me. It definitely, this is, I always get embarrassed when I say this, but like, it was a little bit of a slow burn, like not a ton happens. And so you really have to be in the story and accept that, which I enjoyed. But yeah, there was just something about that wasn't like quite all the way five stars for me, but I really liked it. Am I going to read the rest of the trilogy? Um, probably maybe just not like necessarily something I feel like I had to do right away. I feel like the first book ends in a pretty. Yeah, I thought when I read it when it came out and I thought it was a standalone. And then when everyone was like, Oh, girl in the tower. And I was like, what? There's another one. And like, I understand, like, you know, people say that about the first Mistborn and then it obviously expands way behind that. So I'm sure there's ways that this expands, but like, because it has such like an ending, it's, I don't necessarily feel like rushed to go. Yeah. I put off reading girl in the tower for a long, long time. So long that I had to reread Bear the Nightingale because it had been too long. And girl in the tower, I was like, I, for some reason, even though I liked Bear the Nightingale, I think maybe because the cover is very, very pink. And I also didn't think there would be a second book. And I was like, I just, what? No. So then I finally, finally read it. And it's my favorite in the trilogy. So. Okay. That's good to know. Okay. I'm going to start with a slow-paced book. I mean, I read Grace of Kings. Like I've read slow books. I read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, which is like perhaps the slowest pace book on the planet. And I love that. So I didn't think the slow pacing was a bad thing. It was just not necessarily what I was expecting. Going in. And I don't know. Like there was just something held me back. I did really like it though. I enjoyed it. I loved the writing and the vibe. I was into the vibe of the whole thing. And I always love it when there's folklore that I don't get exposed to a bunch like Russian. I was going to ask like how familiar are you with Russian fairy tales? And I'm really not that familiar. So that's always really nice to like, it feels very fresh, you know, versus more English fairy tale structure that I'm used to. So. Wasn't there a Russian fairy tale that you were reading like to your kid or something? The snow child. It made me think that you'd like better than I can get. Yes. Yes. The snow child is a Russian fairy tale. And then someone wrote a full length novel on it that I really liked. That's why I thought of it. Yeah. I was going to say, because someone was saying I didn't like God of Jade and Shadows. I think that was Alyssia. This is very different than that. I don't know if you've read God of Jade and Shadows, but because I did actually like the myth that was a Mayan myth. Oh, correct me if I'm wrong. And I love that part of it. I just thought the main character was extremely boring and it has the opposite of Asya. Yeah. Well, yeah, it was just, yeah. Anyway, the other thing I'd say about it is kind of a spoiler. So. Yeah. I need to probably go get my computer because I wrote other stuff about it and I forgot to bring my computer in here. But I did really get taken up in that and the writing. And just the characters and. Yeah. I liked the little, I don't know what they call them, but they're little like not demons. You know, she thinks they're demons, but like the little helpers. Oh, yeah. The. What are they called? I know. Damn, but. Yeah. They're. You know what I'm talking about though. I do. It's like on the tip of my mind. I also appreciate it again. Like it was another thing where like the sexism made more sense because also not every male character was like, ha, ha, ha evil. Like there was a lot of supportive male characters and even a male character like her father, who was the driver of a lot of the problems was also a very understandable character. Yeah. I mean, I really liked a lot of her relationship with all of her siblings too. Yes. I did as well. And so yeah, I really enjoyed it. Like it was a good book. I definitely would recommend it to people. And yes, it's the check you. Yes. Yes. There we go. Yeah. So I enjoyed it. It was a very interesting. Remind me a little bit of the last unicorn. Have you read that? I've always meant to. Yeah. In that. I mean, they're nothing alike, but that I didn't expect. Like it's very, the last unicorn is a soup. Like it's a long fairy tale and it's just like a different pacing when it's, when you're reading a fairy tale, you know, but yeah, I liked it. And I agree. Yeah. The characters were complex. Which I mean, I feel like for like a more arms length fairy tale type story, then I don't usually associate that with like it being very character driven, but it is. Yeah. I agree. I think that is its strong point. That it is able to figure out a way to go deeply into that. Character even on the surface of a fairy tale. So. Yeah. And I also like that, you know, some things were a little familiar. Like, you know, the, some of it did still elements did still familiar in a fairy tale way, even though it was Russian. So yeah, I really enjoyed it. And say it's almost at times cause like she continues obviously to draw on Russian fairy tales throughout the next books. And it is like, if you know Russian folklore, then it's almost, I guess it's spoilery in so far as like, well, you know how the myth goes. So you don't know if she's going to twist it or if she's going to go with how the myth goes. And you're like, I think I know where this is going unless you change it. And that can be fun though. I mean, like I always say, I mean, we read half sick of status to fill, but there is like a, a skill that Madeleine Miller does extremely well. No one can get where you know the ending. I know how Achilles then like, I know the ending of that story, but she writes it in a way that it doesn't matter, you know the ending because it's interesting regardless. And I think this would fall into that even though I don't know. So it doesn't matter. I feel like it would be interesting regardless if it's like a, in general, like with retellings, like that's, I don't know. I mean, that's what also were like throughout your like, I, if this goes the way the original goes, then I, then I, you're still like, I don't know how it's going to end because I don't know if it's going to end the way that it usually does or if it's not going to end that way. So it's like still a mystery, like it's still a question. Yeah. Well, I feel like with those kind of, I mean, yeah, with when you know the end, it, it, it's like a journey before destination. Yeah. You're welcome. Um, yes. And in some ways it can contribute to the heartache. Um, like, well, at least for song of Achilles, I mean, I preferred Seer say, but at least with the song of Achilles, it actually in some ways made it sadder. So I was like, well, I know where this is going to end. So like it's almost sadder. Um, Well, people always say, you know, say that tongue of Achilles is going to make you cry. Yeah. And I was like, I don't think so. I don't think I'm going to cry. And then I definitely, I definitely cried. I did too. Because again, it's pretty hard not to during that one part at the end. Yeah. Like it's the very end, but you're like, okay. Well, I was so like, I mean, like I do cry in books, but I was like most of the way through. And I was like, uh, it's sad, but I don't, I'm not going to, I was like bawling. And I was like, okay. I mean, I was the same way, especially because I'm not, I don't care about romances, but then I was like, okay, well, this is really sad. Yeah. I mean, I can't say because it's a big spoiler. I feel like how it happens, but that one part where like the person is talking from anyway. Well, like I said, like a lot of it, like even when you know the ending in it about being the journey, but even then when you get to an ending, um, the, it's, it's often not what has happened. It's like how they describe what has happened that like that's what gets you like there's, um, um, it's like to be super, super, I think everyone knows I cried when I read wisdom of crowds the last first love of the last age of Madness book. Um, and like the thing, like the scene, the thing that makes me cry, like the thing that happens, like might, I don't know, might make me cry. I don't know. But it was just like the lines surrounding it, like how those were phrased. I was like, why'd you have to, why'd you have to say that? Yeah. That's exactly how the song of Achilles is. Like it's not the event. It's more how it's said. That's so sad. Yeah. Exactly. I'll do this too with you. Okay. What should we do next? Um, well, if we're mirroring the, uh, the pattern of yesterday and then I think we have to do strange the dreamer next. So tell us about the lovely condition. Oh yeah. Let's talk about that when you guys guess. I'm sorry. I'm having terrible allergies and like my nose is a little bit rude off right now. Okay. So Leanna and I got to meet to exchange these in person. So we got to hang out for any evening. Wait, but chat while she's telling the story, give us your guesses for what she, what she thinks of this. That's how I felt about strange the dreamer. This is the anticipated ones. I want to hear it. Um, oh my gosh. I'm having such allergies. Okay. So, um, when I went to Disneyland, um, with my family, me and Leanna met up one night to exchange books. And what's important in this story is that I have to pack these books in my suitcase. And I need you guys to understand that I'm usually so careful with liquids. Like I always bring separate bags for like any liquid makeup. My daughter bought a bubble wand at Disneyland. And I didn't put it in a plastic bag. And when I got home, strange the dreamer is the one that took the hit. Actually, you can't really tell as much. Well, you can see that's all warped right there. Like warped. But it's also discolored. You made it sound like it was a lot worse. Like I expected it to be destroyed. Well, it's not destroyed, but it is very warped in the back. Um, but then that's not the end of the story. The story keeps going. Um, Um, Oh, thank you. People listen to my life and then it bring me tissues when in my family. I mean, I can explain why I picked it for you. If you would like to take care of your I'm going now. Um, then I, when I read this, we were going on a trip to, uh, like a, to Arizona. So I was like, Oh, I'll bring a stranger's dreamer with me. So I shoved it in my purse because whatever. It's a paperback. And so then it got ripped, um, in the front and the spine is like, I'll come out now. You might be like, okay, what's the big deal because Hillary, you just sometimes don't take care of your book. Well, on the way back from Arizona, I was like, Hey, I'm going to sign this book for like three weeks. I'm looking something up at the beginning when I'm like three fourths of the way through. And all of a sudden I notice that this book is signed. And so then I'm like, at the end I'm messaging Leanna like, did you sign the book? Did you know it was signed? You were seeing, I think Batman, because I was like, why aren't you responding to me right now? Um, I mean, I was very bewildered by, because you hadn't explained that you had destroyed it. You were just very angry that it was a signed book and how dare I, and I was like, I'm sorry. And well, I couldn't believe you gave me a signed book and then you didn't tell me. And so then I had to tell her and then you were like, I didn't think you were going to destroy it. Like I'm sorry. Next time I'll let you know. So anyway, um, that's my funny strange, the dreamer story that's destroyed, but signed. So. Oh well. Okay. Now you can tell me why you picked it for me. Tell them, I guess. Well, I picked it because I mean, just like with all of these, like we picked books that we like. So like, I love strange, the dreamer. Um, and I do think the writing is really, really beautiful. And I do think that it is, um, I echoing, I feel like I'm echoing. I don't hear an echo. Okay. Um, but, uh, it, it's really, and then I, um, like I, I get why, like you don't want to read a lot of YA. I don't read a lot of YA anymore either for similar reasons. I just have like a slightly higher tolerance for it. Um, but, and then like I previously read, I feel like most of the why I like came out. I'm definitely echoing. Are you? I hear it. So I'll put my headphones on anyway though. Okay. Well, um, I mean, anyway, I, uh, I think that the writing is really beautiful. And, um, Can you hear me? Okay. Um, and I think that, uh, I like basically having YA books that I can show to people, be like, see, haha YA can be great. Sometimes it's amazing. Um, so like that. And then I, I thought that if there was anyone that would feel exactly the same way that I do about this book, that it would be Hillary. So I was like, maybe not. Maybe she'll hate it, but we're going to give it a go. I mean, you've muted yourself. So anyway, strange streamer. No, we can't hear you. Did it switch your mic to like, um, something else? Well, I, uh, I don't know what else to say about the book to entertain everybody. Um, Alan strikes again. Yes, we can blame Alan again. I think that's valid. I mean, I'm definitely not echoing now. So yes. Okay. It might not be as good. My microphone just completely went out. Like it said it got unplugged, but it's still very much plugged in. So I don't know that you guys can hear me at least a little bit. Okay. Okay. It might be bad audio and I feel bad. I don't know what's going on there. Um, it doesn't sound too bad. Like it doesn't sound quite as good, but it sounds fine. It sounds fine. Okay. Um, strange to the dreamer. So we did do this on purpose to build suspense. Yes. Um, clearly. So here's the deal was strange to dreamer. Um, before you freak out, just gotta listen to everything I have to say. Yes. This was the book I was talking about when I said it was my most disappointing read of the year. It was this book. It was, it was. Um, it was my most disappointing read of the year. But here's why. So the first three fourths of this book was like, mind-blowingly good. Like. I was researching fancy copies of it before I was done. Kind of. That was also because you destroyed this one. So you were like, I need to replace me. Yes. Also. Um, I was like, I need like a hardback version of this. I want like a leathery version, like a leather bound version. Like this is. Um, um, um, um, um, by laszlo and I was so taken by, um, the writing, like the writing and, um, particularly like I loved this idea of someone being able to steal a dream. Like I was just so on board, like five stars. I was like, this is going to be my favorite read of the year. And then the last fourth of the book happened. And everything came crashing down around me. And, you know, all I think people said about like, oh, it's super slow, wasn't slow for me at all. Like I was like totally into it until actually the end of the book. And yeah, it betrayed me. The book betrayed me in a way that I'm still, I haven't recovered from. And it's a spoiler, so I can't really talk about it. But you will talk about it. Yeah, right now, I mean, I can't talk about it right now. Yeah. So, yeah. So like I was frankly delighted by both your reaction to the beginning and your reaction to the end. So I wasn't like, oh, no, you're like, you didn't like the end. I was like, yeah, the end. The worst. Well, what's so funny is we were trying to keep a kind of secret from each other, but this was definitely the one. I tried that hard. No, we didn't try that hard. But this was so funny because I read it. I finished it late at night and we'll sort of like, like I was in bed and I put it down. And I was like, I need to go talk to Leanna. I was like, what are you doing? I'm like, I just leave it. I need to go talk to Leanna like this second about what just happened. And I did. I voiced this. So much. So I can't say why now because it's a spoiler. But yeah. So overall, like I knocked it a whole star. So it is a four star. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it's just the biggest disappointment because the high was so high. Like, you know, it was just like, I thought it was going to be this thing and now I can't even consider it. One of my top five votes just because. Being on brand. I think I messaged you an Abercrombie quote that was like, you can't hate a man. You can't truly hate a man unless you've loved him. Exactly. You can't really be disappointed by a book unless you loved it. And so that, that was a bummer for me. I will say though, like, I have no regrets for reading it. And I would still recommend it to people. Like it was good enough in the beginning that I still think it is a good book. It's just the ending broke my heart. But I'm just so glad to have people now that feel that the way that I do that the beginning of the book is great is possibly the best part. Because so many people are like, it's slow. You know, you just got to push through the beginning and then like, once you get through like maybe to the halfway point, then it really kicks off and it's really good. And by the end, it's amazing. And I'm like the literal opposite of that is true. And that's how I felt. It's like someone messaged me. I think it was Michael Kniff. I was like, this is like the slowest book I've ever read. And I was like, first of all, you clearly haven't read Johnson, Stranger, Mr. Norrell or Grace of Kings book books that I love canonically. But it didn't feel slow at all to me. I will say it because a lot of people think it's because of the romance and it's not, I will say that it's not the romance because what I did find the romance incredibly cheesy. It was so obvious to me that it was going to happen. Like this is a white book. It's so obvious. I was ready to just be like, whatever, that's fine. So it's not the romance that made me drop it a star. But will you read book two? What? Eventually. Eventually. Yeah. So I was telling Leanna, like, I don't even care about reading book two now and you'll know why once we talk about that. But Leanna convinced me that book two is really good. And even though she felt the same way I did about the first one. That's how you know you can trust me. But I just told you, I'm still too hurt right now. So will I read music nightmares? Yes. Probably even this year, maybe like at the end of the year. But I need time to lick my wounds from the end. Well, I mean, like I told you too, like I read them like as they came out. So like I had like a year between to kind of like get over my anger and my upset. And then also, I think Strange the Dreamer, just because when you said you might read Music Nightmare, Strange the Dreamer I think is a very summery book because of like the desert and the city of Weep. And book two has a lot of things that are wintery. Okay. So it'll be better to read in the end of the year. Yeah. Winter vibes. And you know, you'll have Christmas spirit to help you to be like happier. To get through it. Yeah. To forgive. Okay. So, but less yet, less yet, I'm sorry if I'm saying that wrong. It doesn't matter. That's not the full story. The thing that broke my heart in the end cannot be fixed by full story. Well, and like I said, like going into book two, like I couldn't be freshly upset by this thing that like, okay, like I have to accept that that is true. And we're moving on. And I do know that like while I still feel exactly the same way about book one, I also know that book two is not possible without the thing that I dislike about book one being there. So I'm like, okay, like I would, I still want book one to somehow not be the way that it was. Yes. But also I get why it needed to be that way. Also just FYI, if anyone is interested in the most gorgeous strange, the dreamer fan art in the world, Lesia has the most gorgeous strange, the dreamer fan art in the world. So is that the one you sent me? Oh, no, I just sent you one that like my like personal friend did. I'll have to check these out. I do love the honor. So yeah, there it is. That's you guys got worked up. I was teasing you. I'm going to be honest. I was making you think I hated it. I did it. I just was brokenhearted. I was it. It hurt my feelings. We have never agreed more. Yeah. I feel good when you're like, okay, yes. You're like, oh, well, I was like, Leanna, I didn't like the ending. You're like, well, why did you like the ending? I told you, I was like, I was betrayed. And then I felt so justified to when you felt the same way. I'm about it. But I do understand why people would like it as well. But yeah, it's just. Yeah. Everyone else is wrong. Everyone else is wrong. But it is funny that it's like tonight's war bake war breaker slot was filled by strange, the dreamer, which we completely agree about. Yes. I just felt like that was ironic. I think that's why people thought I was going to hate it so much because of the war breaker thing. And because of you tricking them. Oh, radiant reads heartbroken because I didn't like something that happened. Not because it was sad. Like I think it's a bad story telling choice in fairness. There is also a reason to possibly be the other kind of heartbroken at the end, but I think you and I are too upset by the other thing to pay any attention to the thing that is actually heartbreaking. It made me so grumpy that the thing that was heartbreaking, I was like, I don't even care. I was like, we are at strange, the dreamer, but we are about to move on from strange, the dreamer. Thank you. I haven't hated anything yet. You could rewatch it to find out what I thought about there at night and go and strange the dreamer. What are we doing next? Because I want to get to strange dreamer spoilers to talk about that more later. Yeah. Um, let's, um, let's be madness. So discreet next. Madness so discreet. So I guess, and you tell me why you came. Oh, yes. I was going to go straight into it. Um, so yeah, give us your guesses chat. Um, and then for the people who don't know what this is about, which I think would be a lot. Cause like this isn't strange. The dreamer is like, oh, very, very well known book. Um, this one is less. So which is like one of the reasons too, that I think I loved it so much and was like, really, when I read it like five years ago, um, like no one was reading it. No one was talking about it. And I was like, this is way better than like 90%. Of like what I'm, what else I've read. So I was like, what the heck? Um, and it's, it's not, uh, it's not fantasy. It's historical fiction, but it's YA. And it's about a young woman who is in an insane asylum in, I think it's in Boston, right? This was the first one I read. Sure. Boston. Um, what, in any case, it's in like, um, old timey America. Um, but she's like, um, somewhat from a somewhat privileged family and like, like was done at the time. If like a woman did something she wasn't supposed to do, got herself in trouble in some kind of way, was something that the family didn't want. You could just institutionalize them. You could just chuck them in an insane asylum. Um, and so this book, um, like I said, um, when I gave this to Hillary that like it wouldn't ignite your like feminist rage because like it's from the perspective of someone who's had this happen to them. And like the fact that you're already not taken a seriously as a female in this time and place. And then when someone puts the label of like mad, of insane on you, then it doesn't matter what you say, like that you are voiceless, like, you know, metaphorically because like no matter, there is nothing you can say because you will not be believed because you are mad, like that. And like the, the maddening frustration of that is like, that's enough to drive you mad. Um, and then it's also like, is a, a murder mystery. So that part was like, I thought pretty good, like interesting and well done. And so like all around I read this and I was like, oh, I'm very angry. And that was so good. Everyone thinks I hated it. So, uh, more, uh, oh no, that was about strange. The dreamer thought it was fine. Haven't read it, hated it, hated. That mystery. So I'm going to guess that you liked it. Um, um, yeah. I'm glad you enjoyed. Um, also I'd just like to say, like, it's really hard to find hard covers now, but the hard cover, I would have gotten you one because like, Oh, it's very pretty. And then that's how I felt about Time War. Um, no, I did not hate this book. It was just okay. Like I, I read this one in my head three stars. Um, I just felt like fine about it. Um, it was, yeah, it was just fine. Um, I always have a hard time with historical fiction because when I read it, I just kind of want the nonfiction version of it. So like when I read this, I was like, Oh, this is really interesting and terrible that people were put into insane. Well, women were put into insane assignments like this, but I also just like the real version of that versus like the YA fictionalized version of it. Um, so I think that's like for me, that's just like a personal thing that I feel about a lot of historical fiction, like regardless of it being this or not. Um, yeah. I felt just like a little YA to me in some of the ways that I don't really love YA at the little simple. Um, and there was just some things that I just never felt like a concrete answer on like the guy she meets in the basement. I won't say what you find out that he's been doing. Cause that's like a spoiler. Do you know who I'm talking about though? Oh, you're muted. Honestly, no. Cause it's been a very long time since I read this. Well, she remember the basement, but I don't remember a guy. Well, the guy, like she, in the insane silence, she meets someone who's been like relegated to the basement. And she finds out later if he's there for doing something. Okay. Like I do remember there being a guy, but I don't remember when he's actually finds out. When we get to the spoiler section. Um, I was just like, it gets dropped and then never addressed. And I was like, well, that is a very interesting thing this person has done. And I would really like to know more about that. Well, so I honestly, um, I considered like one of the, like books on my list, um, to possibly give you. Um, and then I had some long books for you already. So like this book is, would have been a lot longer. Um, but if you've, I don't know if you've ever read alias grace by Margaret Atwood. Cause that's, um, I made a picture. I've only read her most famous. Oh, handmade steel, which I do love. Um, alias grace is a fictionalized version of the true story of, um, a murderess who was institutionalized. Um, and it's like, um, it's pieced together partly from, you know, like actual primary sources. And then also just Margaret Atwood's speculation about, cause it's all sort of like, you get a lot of like grace's internal thoughts, which like you wouldn't obviously know what she was thinking. That sounds amazing. It's really, that really sounds amazing. I will put that on my list. I'm seeing that was like, so there's nothing I just liked about it. I also just, I guess this is the one we do have talks about. Is that the ending is like, I just, the way she deals with the murder mystery. I mean, that is true, Matt. Um, I was just like, okay, sure. I was just like, okay. And I felt like her relationship with the doctor was really weird and also never addressed. So there was just like a lot. I was just like mostly just kind of confused about, um, but like, yeah, I didn't dislike everybody quick. Um, the bright spot for me, and I did write this down, but now I can't remember was the like Irish chick. No, is that her name now? Don't ask me what the name is. You're the one that just read it. She's the one. I know that's a spoiler. Okay. We need to talk spoilers, but like the way she gets revenge on the people in her life who treated her poorly. I was kind of, I was rooting for her. Um, but we can talk about that in spoilers. But yeah, for whatever reason, this one didn't, it got my rage as much because of the way it was written for some way. I didn't connect in the same way that I did with Vassia. And that was probably the problem. Like I wasn't connected super with character, even though like clearly what was happening was terrible. And I know it did happen for life. Something about just the way it was written. I just had a hard time like connecting to it was my biggest issue. I think, but I didn't like, I didn't feel like I wasted my time. It just like, was it? Okay. So just kidding. I don't want to pick Madness, so to speak anymore. I'm going to pick alias grace. This one doesn't count. I'm going to read that. And then we're going to come and refilm this part. And it's like, that's the one I chose. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like with the Star Wars movies, the way that they like put in scenes and put in aliens that weren't there the first time, which everyone agrees made them worse. So I guess this will make our life worse doing that. But sure, we can commit to it. I am the all tour and I've decided it will make it better. Yeah. Yeah. But that checks out. Yeah. Yeah, but like, I don't, I mean, I honestly didn't hate anything you gave me. I wasn't going to come on here and like trash anything. Yeah. I feel like I did. I did a book like I did to you that I thought you were going to hate like you only hated the book that I gave you that I thought you were going to hate. So it's like a little unfair to you. But also like, we kind of before like off off camera off the live, um, we're kind of saying that Madison is great. Like the way strange of the dreamer fills the war breaker slot for this. which is like slightly more recently, but like same. And like, I think probably like, I had not read a lot of books that had like a good, like representation of this like horrible thing that had been going on with like females. And I was like, heck, what the heck? So like, it definitely enraged me, but like if I reread it now, sort of like with bad feminists, and you're like, if you read it now, like you've seen it more and better. And I probably still think this was good, but yeah. Yeah, and especially when you read as many books as you do, like five years is a lot of books. Like it's a lot of exposure. So like, that's really big. It's not like you're reading a few books a year, you know what I mean? So yeah, like, yeah, no, I don't hate it. It's just like, meh, you know, perfectly fine. Well, that brings us to the final book, which is the only one that's not blue. I know. Declaration of the Rights of Magicians. All of mine were, except for Warbreaker, were like white though, right? I mean, Time War is like pale blue, but it's like closer to white than blue. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, the Declaration of the Rights of Magicians. All right, Chat, you know the drill by now. You can give us your guesses about what you thought of Declaration of the Rights of Magicians. In the meantime, I picked this kind of because I think that you wanted me to. Oh, I was very excited you picked it because this is definitely what I was going to read. Like this, of all the books that I actually, I probably wouldn't have read any of the other books even though I heard about them, but this was the book that I was like, I'm gonna read. So this fits the Paper Menagerie slot? Because I would have read Paper Menagerie anyway. Yes, but now I just read it sooner. But I wasn't really excited about this. And it's also like a book that we talked about a lot. We're like, ended up talking about, or I ended up talking about it a lot because of us talking about both our love for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and our hatred for Half-Sick of Shadows. And so Declaration of the Rights of Magicians felt like, I would have been very shocked if you like loathed and despised it. So you can go ahead and shock me if that was the case. But you did say you didn't hate any of the books, so I'm pretty sane. And so like if for anyone that hasn't read Jonathan Strange or Half-Sick of Shadows, Jonathan Strange is like a slow and patiently like crafted book where the author put a lot of time and care into both like the creative part of it and like magic and character building, but also like researching Napoleonic War era and like making this feel like an authentically magical version of that era. And so Half-Sick of Shadows on the other end, the other end of that spectrum put zero attention, like zero effort into like making it feel like our theory in England. And then also like wasn't a very good story. So I think the note that I wrote on Declaration of Rights and Magicians was like, if there is an opposite to Half-Sick of Shadows, this is it. Yeah, I saw your sticking out to them. I like seeing them. So yeah, because the Declaration of Rights and Magicians is similar again to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norwell's a similar era. It is the Napoleonic War era or like French Revolution into Napoleon. And it is a magical version of that. It is an alternate history. So it is still England and France and where the characters themselves, which is even more historical. I mean, Jonathan Strange doesn't exist, whereas the characters in Declaration are still in figures. Yeah, William Pitt, Robespierre, Toussaint-le-Vartour. And so she's like thoroughly researched this period of history. And then it was like, what if it was also magical? And like reframed like arguments of the times to do with like the rights of people, the rights of the common man, but like the right to use magic. So I thought you would appreciate all of that attention to detail. And everyone thinks that's my favorite for the most part. Loved it. So I mean, anyone who's there, I feel like a lot of, this book wasn't really well received. Like I feel like it wasn't well reviewed generally, like when it came out. And so I had, I was like excited for it when it came out, it sounded good. And then all of these like low reviews came out. And I was like, I still want to read it though. And I loved it, but I can see that it's like a bit dry anyway. But so like I've been high, I think at a lot. So I feel like a lot of people who are like on my channel also like it. So loved it, loved it. Like they just loved it. Loved it, but four stars. It was okay. It will take first place. So what did you think? So this has a relation to Warbreaker in that I just don't know what to rate it. Like I feel my feelings on it are so complicated that even after this live, I don't think I'm ever going to sign a rating or I have to still think about it. Maybe we'll figure it out. So like on the positive side, I'm blown away by the work that Perry did. Like blown away the way that she uses, is she? Yeah, it's a shame. It's a shame. Any time it's initials, it's a shame. It's a shame in adult fantasy for sure. Like the research, the way, like at one point, I mean I knew some of the historical figures. I was like, was this person historical too? Because it just was so seamless. Like the way she put magic into the French Revolution was honestly just really impressive. Like the work that went into this, like wow. And the events that happened, I was like, wow, that's so interesting. But with all of that, I don't know if I enjoyed the process of actually reading it. So it's like one of those weird things where like I appreciate so much about it. I think it's brilliant. I think it's so incredible when I think about it. But when I think of my actual experience reading the pages, it was like kind of tough to get through in a way that Jonathan Strange wasn't, which is ironic, since like that's so much longer. I almost weirdly wish this would have been longer too. I didn't love how it ended. I know this is a series, but I wanted it to end in a more definitive spot versus like I felt like I read half a book. Like I know that's insane, but- Do you plan to read the second one? Probably not, because I didn't really enjoy reading the first one. And like that's the thing- But how will you know what happens? Even though I appreciate that the writing was good, the attention to detail was so mind-blowing. So like I didn't dislike it. I didn't. But I also like didn't enjoy reading it. So like- Aren't you curious about this Napoleon guy? Like what's his deal? It seems like he'll be important. You know? And so yeah. And it was one of those things that was reading this and I told my husband, I was like, I wonder if this is the thing like I discovered. Remember? And I was like, oh, I guess I like rimmed art. And then I realized, no, I just like Joe Abercrombie. This is like, oh, I love really detailed, historical fantasy. Oh, I just like Susanna Clark. Like that was kind of the realization. Like, oh, I just think Clark did it in a way. Brilliant, but unreadable. I mean, that is kind of how I felt, except it wasn't unreadable. And I did tell you, I had told you this, I marked it, let me find it. I will say- It's too dramatic reading for your favorite page. There was like, this is such a good page in this book. I don't know that the sticky fallout, let me see if I can find it. Still like, you found it? Yeah, you go first. I was just gonna say like for me, like I don't know if it would have worked for me as well if I hadn't really, really connected to the friendship between William Pitt and Wilbur Force. And that was the best part. It was like the emotional through line that I really connected to. And that was the best part. And then the problem was it was like, I just wanted more of it because then, I mean, in the end, Rob is Pierre. I mean, his whole story is just like crazy. So I really liked that, but there were times where it went to characters and I was like, I just don't care about you. I wanna go back to Pitt. I wanna go back to Rob's Pierre, you know, like the more interesting things. And I think that's where I struggled as well because, and I do struggle in books where like, if I'm not equally invested in all the storylines, then it really drags for me when I'm stuck, stuck in that other storyline. Cause like for sure I enjoyed Pitt and what's the other guy's name again? Wilbur Force. Wilbur Force. I love them the most for sure. And it's really, you know, why I won't spoil it. I give it, I guess, you know, history, but anyway, still. That's the tricky thing about something like that. We were like, I mean, like history is a big spoiler. But here's the page. It's near the very end, but again, this is like all history, so I don't feel bad, but it starts with this sentence. Friends needed corpses. Many of them, strong ones and quickly, the people were happy to oblige. And this is like right when they're beheading everybody. And it was just, that's such a good line. The people were happy to oblige. I was like, what a good line. And then the next paragraph is about Mary. I wanna add. You grinning about corpses. I love the visual of that. Well, it was chilly. It was, I will say like one thing I love, they really, the French Revolution was intense. And I did, again, felt like this book captured. Like, that's a spoiler. Well, we can talk spoilers very shortly because like this is the last book. And then we can start with spoilers for this one. I'm gonna go into spoilers, but I don't think it spoils the book necessarily. Like if you're gonna read, I don't think this would like ruin the book. But like- I'll put my hand up while you're talking spoilers if anyone wants to do it. Yes, just a quick spoiler. Me, okay. It was brilliant to show the horrors by turning them into zombies, essentially. I mean, they're not zombies. They're, you know, like resurrected, whatever. But like the way that showed the horror of how many people were killed during the French Revolution was just so brilliant. Like I just, it was brilliant. That's all I'll say. You can, there we go. Now we're good. Okay, good to go. No more spoilers. And then, you know, it talks about Mary Antonette when she died. And I'm sorry, said to him the last word, she would ever speak. I didn't mean to do it. And he changed, or she changed the word slightly to what Mary Antonette said. And it just fit it perfectly in like the contrast on this page of like, the people were happy to apply to the corpses and the Mary Antonette being like, I didn't mean to. It was just, oh, and then the page, or this page is perfect. Then the page ends with Robby Spear saying, anyone who trembles is guilty. That is a perfect page of literature. Like I'd mark that like it is a perfect page of literature from beginning to end. And I think if more of the book had been like that. Well, also like that page is a good, even though it's like the fantasy version, that page is a good, like in a nutshell, that's the French Revolution. Yeah, that's why I'm like on so many levels that page works, it works within the story. And it also was a great summary of the French Revolution. It's creepy. Like it was so good. And by that point in the book, I will say like, and I think that was the other problem. How many pages of this? I remember thinking like, yeah, 500. So I think it took to like page 400 for me to feel that way. And then page 400 to 550 was like, wild ride, I was reading it. But I got to 400 pages first to get there. Correct. Well, I also felt like it did a good job where like the magic sort of like amplified the existing kind of like bloodlust and like frenzy. So like magic like was used to kind of just like, exaggerate and heighten that, but like, or to explain it. So like when people were behaving in ways that were just like really extreme. And so like in this book is sort of like, there is a slight magical like elements to like why this frenzy would be the way that it is. Because it only almost like in real life, you're like, except there wasn't magic. Like there's no explanation for why people behaved like this. Yes. And exactly. That was great. And it also did a good job of making you understand where our villains in history, how they got to that point. Like you have a sympathies maybe too strong, but maybe you do have like, of this person getting used. And that's not how it happened in real life. But it is interesting how she took that tact in here. Yeah. So like again, me talking about it like, wow, it sounds amazing. And so for that side of it, I want to give it like a super good rating. The other side of it, I have to remember the experience of reading it, which just like wasn't that great for me. So I'm confused. I don't really want to give it a three because that doesn't feel like justify its brilliance. But then like also giving it a four or a five doesn't take into like how I felt reading that. So I just don't. Which like when I was like hyping it after I finished it, I was like, okay, like I think it's great. So like I want to give it a high rating, but like I now understand why the ratings are so low for it. Because this is not like a book that would have like mass appeal. Like you have to be kind of like a history nerd to be wanting a bunch of like dry history. Like if you're not into that, you're going to be like. And I mean, yeah, I feel like I wish it got more attention just for like the pure, you know, effort and brilliance that it really is. The idea is, but I do think it's weird. It needed, it's one of those books and I say this a lot about some books. Like it needed to be shorter and longer. Like I needed one of the other. Like it needed to be shorter or it needed to be twice as long. It is twice as long. There is a second book. I understand, but like, oh, I don't know. Well, the changes to your mind at all, Matt, feels that the second book is faster. And also Kyle, I did not spend the whole time comparing it to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Narell because I already knew that nothing was going to top that. Like I love Susanna Clark, but if the book is trying to attempt something similar because it is, I enjoyed the process of reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Narell just more. And I wish, and this is like a book, it's almost one of those books I'm like, I wish I liked it more. Like I wish I was cool enough and smart enough and like fancy enough to like this book more. Like you. Like you, you know, I'm just not, you know what? I'm just not smart enough for this type of book, Lanna. I did appreciate it and I did, you know, it did make me hate Half-Sake of Shadows even more because it reminded me of something like what that could have been because this again had so many good elements. It just like didn't quite come together in the same way. I think that's how I would say it. And I mean, I do think it is drier than Jonathan Strange and Mr. Narell. Which is why- Which is weird. It doesn't feel like it should be drier, but it kind of was. But I think it also doesn't, because I mean like I said, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Narell is taking place in a historic era that's been messed with to make it fantasy, but like it is also telling the stories of a bunch of made up people. Whereas like this is constrained by like, even though she takes liberties with that, it's constrained by, okay, but this there is a real person named William Pitt. There's a real person named Robespierre. And they did- Who was here at this time? You know, it's all accurate. I even Googled to make sure Mary Antoinette actually died then. And it was to the month of the year, you know? So when you're constraining yourself that much that does make it like a little bit more difficult. So yeah, definitely far from hated it, just confused mostly all my feelings. Grinning about corpses. You have to admit that's a good page. Like that's a good page of literature. And I will give it that. Like I'm keeping that posted and I want to remember that page. When you go to rate the book, just rate it, rate that page. I'm going to rate it and be like, I don't know what page it was now, but like and page 4142 is the best page of literature I've ever read. Three stars. Get somebody like get a good read's admin to create an entry for, not the book for the page. The single page. And then you'll rate that. Maybe this is what will get me on good reads. If you can get them to create, I will get five stars for that single page. So yeah, confused. Well, shall we dive into spoilers then? Yeah. All of the things. Yeah, let's just really quickly because I think people care the least about this one. I've got the guy in the basement. This is a spoiler everybody. He was eating the livers of cancer patients. That's, yep, that rings a bell. And that's all you find out about that. And they're like, that's why they put him into an insane asylum. And I'm like, okay, I'd like some more details. Like I just, I'd like some more. Like that is such a wild thing. Like would just like some more detail. And you never get to see that character again. So it was just like, why did you even tell me? Like I just could not let that go. Like I was just like, I need more details. But and then now she's the one who gets syphilis from that terrible person. It was her first time ever. And then as revenge, she gets syphilis to everybody in that entire family, everyone in the male line. I was, I was on board for that, to be honest. Really? I was like, okay, you go now. Like I don't not condone this. Yes, like bad, but also hilarious in the best way. So like, no, for sure was my favorite character. And I actually was legitimately sad by her ending. But yeah, I just really needed more details about the whole eating livers thing. Like I wasn't ready for that. And it just never got me. I don't think there is an explanation for something like that. You know, sometimes. Don't get it in your notebook. It's just, you know, giving you some idea of what's going on in an insane asylum. Some people really are a little off their rocker. Well, yeah, anyway. So I was just like, I just never got over it. And then her going out and like killing the murder herself. I just, I don't know. Yeah, I was just like, okay. I just, I don't know. I just, it was fine. I just, I struggled with some of those details. I was like, okay. Anyway, Stranger Dreamer. So just to be clear, everybody, we are about to talk about the ending of Stranger the Dreamer. If you have not read it and you want to read it in which case, and I recommend you do read it. We both recommend. I recommend you read this book. But I also recommend you read this book. So please do not listen. It will ruin the novel. This is a major spoiler. Well, it'll prepare you for what we were not prepared for. I also, so like, now we can talk about how you didn't tell me that paper menagerie would make you cry because you didn't know. And I told you what I had been told or like the impression that I had been given of Stranger the Dreamer, which fed into the feelings of betrayal. Well, I passed that along too as well. You passed that on because Liana told me Lanny Taylor or Lanny Taylor wrote this as an ode to fantasy readers. That's what she said she did. And when I started reading it and I was like, oh my gosh, Lazlo is all of us. And even in your sticky, you said like, we are Lazlo, Lazlo is us. And so I went into it. Well, she says that I'm Lazlo. And then it was like, I'm Lazlo. And I was like so committed. Like this is an ode to fantasy readers. And then Lazlo is God spawn. And my whole entire life came crumbling down around me. Lazlo being God spawn is the reason this book lost an entire star. It's a betrayal. It is a betrayal. It's an utter betrayal. And I actually, next week I'm putting up a review. I already filmed it up this book because it made me so upset. I had to like film a whole video about it. The reason it's upsetting to me, and it's funny because I think of all people, I tend to be more okay with overpowered characters. Like in general, I'm okay with the chosen one trope. I'm okay with the like powerful characters, which is something that bothers people. I'm not. So it wasn't like that, but it was like, this whole time Lazlo cared about weed and researched all of this and accomplished everything despite the fact that he was nobody. And we'll talk about this. We'll talk about that. Besides the fact that he's a nobody and how this special connection that he's felt because he is a dreamer. The whole point is like fantasy readers, he puts value on things that no one else puts value on. Fairy tales and fantasy stories. And then at the end it's like, cause it was genetic. Because it was him all along. He was a special boy. And it's just like ruins the whole metaphor of the entire novel because fantasy readers aren't a special boy. So like, and it just cheapened the whole thing. I wanted the ending honestly to be like, he didn't solve it. Or if he did it's because literally he just loved it more than everybody else, but it wasn't because he was special. And I just feel so betrayed. Yeah. The whole time I was reading it, I was like, the point of Lazlo is that like dreaming is a superpower. Like being a dreamer is what makes him special. Not that he's actually special. And I knew something bad was happening when his fingers changed when he touched it. But what I thought it was because they had talked about what happened on the other God spawn and if it's been 200 years. So I thought he was like a descendant perhaps. I thought maybe he was like, the great, great, great, great, great grandson of one. So then he only had like a 16th of the blood in him. He couldn't really manipulate it, but it was enough for him to understand it. That I would have been okay with because he still wasn't like a super special boy. Cause not only was he God spawn, but he had the most special powers, which like was even more of an insult to me. And then after that, it all just kept going downhill. Like I cannot explain to you how much I did not care when the Muse of Niners died because of this. And then when, what's his name? Because Lazlo had died already to me. No, I didn't care. When Minya was like, I'm keeping your girlfriend's ghost hostage. I was like, could not care less, could not care. Like, great, good for you guys. I was not going to read the second books. It sounds so born stupid. It just, it went from me being like, this is what YA should be. It's so smart and magical. And like, it doesn't talk down to being like, oh, so it just ended like a typical YA that I don't want to read anymore. So typical YA would not make you feel this angry. You're right. But like when I first read it, you know, like when Lazlo is blue and the people of wheat, they say, No, but I mean, like when they realize that he's God's bond at the end, like when the people of wheat, but he's been like the Tizer cane, but he's been hanging out with and they see that he's blue, like they're Lazlo, that he's blue and they're horrified. And I was like, I feel exactly the same that my Lazlo is blue. What? Who are you? What is this? And in the beginning, I know that like, he's gray in the beginning, but like I literally was just like, oh, cause he was almost dead. Like it just didn't even cross my mind that he would be a special boy. So I just, and that's one of my favorite lines and I'm going to get printed on something, you know? When a library steals a boy, we let it keep him. Like what a good line. Like I love that line so much. It was full of that. I'm not a quote person, which Kyle, you're still here. That's why he thought I loved it. It's like, it was a quote and I never gave a quote, which was true. Well, I always loved the idea that he was literally shaped by reading because his nose was broken by a fallen book of fairy tales. I was like, that's what makes you magic. And it feels so bad. Like I just never hit it someone more than when what's his face steals and pretends to be him. Thion Hero. Thion is like, I remember when Weep was stolen from my brain and I dream about it. I was so angry. But then it's like- This is the language of unseen to impress Aeryl Thane. And you're like, that's not yours. You can't do that. But then like, it ruins it. It ruins it. Yes, correct. And so many good lines. And the whole thing, one of my favorite parts actually was when she has all of like at the beginning of each part she has like the God descriptions. You know, Seresta now when a dream comes true but not for the dreamer. Excellent. And I don't know where the other parts are but the other ones are just as good and it always is the theme of the part. There's one that's like the exact point on the spectrum where like wonder becomes horror and horror becomes wonder. Yes. Like they're so good. They're so like profound and they are such a good segue into what each part is about without being in an interweb. And they also just like, they sound very pretty. Like she's good at making up words that sound beautiful. And so all that was so amazing. It was just so hard for me to rectify this idea that like him being obsessed with weed wasn't because he was a dreamer. It's because he was God spawn. It just completely ruined it for me. And so... We have never been more same. No. And so, you know, someone's saying, oh, they thought that this was by far my favorite still of the four. Like the highs were high enough to be my favorite but it was the most disappointing because it just dashed me to pieces at the end. So anyway, first, second, so we're gonna go third. Fingered. Fourth. That's what I've guessed. Yeah. That's my order because brilliant and unreadable is still brilliant, you know? So I love that line. Everybody said that. I'm gonna use that brilliant but unreadable. Okay. But we're not just... Lainey Taylor literally said what I had said to Hillary that she said that she wrote Laszlo as an ode to fantasy readers, which is like, that's a lot of what his story is is that he's special because he takes an interest in these stories, that he has collected every piece of information he can find about these stories that he plays Mink believe that he dreams. Like that's his whole vibe for like most of the book until... And here's what I'll say to you. I got mad at the ending and it was one of the things I got mad about that I don't expect a lot of other people to be mad about. Like this is a book that I think there is probably a significant portion for very excited that he is God spawn. Well, I said most until now because I feel so seen by you're feeling the same until now everyone was like, the beginning is slow then the once we get to weep once we see us to rye in the God spawn then it's interesting and like the ending is like really great and makes you like wanna read the next book. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, so I think it is an unpopular opinion that we hold but like nothing anyone says is gonna convince me out of it because it's not about the expectation even. I think I would have had that even without you telling me that like I do not think you telling me that is the reason I disliked it in any way. I immediately read it and... I just didn't help. You didn't help. But I immediately read it and understood what it was trying to do. And that set a certain expectation for me whether or not it was intended like Lesia is saying like it doesn't matter because it's what my expectation was. And no one will convince me to like it. I also understand that I think most people probably love that he's God spawn. And that's fine. Good for you guys. I mean, in Muse of Nightmare it's not only him being God spawn but him being like you said that he has like the power that Minnie always wished that she had. But he has that. So he's able to do things in book two. So like book two isn't possible if Laszlo can't do that. Right, obviously. And you know what? I trust you. I trust you. I trust you. I will read it eventually but I'm just still really hurt. I need some time with my wounded soul. I mean, like I guess I read it when it came out and I'm still angry about it. But there are also fortunately enough other things I think in the book that are also really good and they are not changed by the revelation. So like who Minnie is and like what she represents as a villain and like her situation and the whole situation between like who's right and who's wrong between the God spawn and the people of Weep and how there's been too much like heartache and hurt, yeah. And then the relationship between Errol Fane and his wife, I love them so much. And then Thion Nero, I think is also really well written. Like you really hate him but like he's not just like a flat villain. Like he's also a really interesting character and his dynamic with Laszlo is interesting. And- Is this the second book where you're talking about the first book? The first book. Oh yeah, that's right. Yeah, all those things were great too. Like all of those things. I was like like the most boring part to me which I know we agree on is actually what's her face? Me as a writer. So right. Most boring parts for me were her parts. I liked her as an idea. Like I liked the contrast, you know, strange to dream of music nightmares like what a great contrast but her and herself was the most boring story. Like that guy and his wife, such an interesting story, like so interesting. Again, Thion, I hated them but also very interested by him the whole time. So. And I mean, like I was about Sarai too, like it's, I mean, her powers are interesting but also like again, like the, what she represents in the story, like the situation that she is in is interesting. But like what she's been, what she has been seeing, what she has caused, what she wishes she could do differently. Like it's an impossible situation that she's in. So like that is interesting. She herself, so boring. Yes. Her situation is still interesting. Yeah, I agree with that. And yeah, the cheesy romance was so cheesy it was good enough for that when it mattered. That just gets wrapped up into it. And then even then, like for cheesy and still lovey romances, I think Laney Dealer does it better than most. Like it's like the way that the two of them have been so deprived of human affection, the way that they would latch on to each other like that. Like it. The romance totally makes sense. So it's not anything about that. It's just the cheesiness with which it is written. But I find most romances cheesy. So like. But they're also like, they're so young. And they're so, and they're particularly inexperienced. Like they haven't ever like done anything. So like they are kind of like sweet and like nervous and. Well, I prefer that to other things. It's not that it's just, it was still cheesy. Like it was still just cheesy. Like I appreciate that it was so innocent. Like that was great. It was just still cheesy. Like I just can't. But like I love the attention also like to detail with Laney Taylor. It's like she wrote this guy that kind of like his, we don't know obviously that he's God's bomb, but just like his dreams are like the dreamiest dreams that like when Sarai is like, this is weep. But it is weep in sunlight, which he could never have seen, but it's like fully realized. I've never been in a dream like this, that he can like dream anything, but he can't dream a cake. He's never tasted. And so when they're having tea together, like neither of them really knows what a cake which is like so little. Yeah, that part was great. And so it's like gross. Yeah. There was, there was a lot of good parts in there, which made it like fine. You know, and the part where the cloud comes, and they both see each other as the opposite, like very interesting, you know, he wishes he were powerful, she wishes he were normal, you know? Yeah, like there was so many good, that's why I could forgive it. Like I can forgive a cheese ball moment in a YA, you know, when the other stuff is good. It was really, and everyone's like, I get it. Everyone's making great points in the comments. I just don't care. Like I'm betrayed and nothing will change how I felt when I found out. Yeah. I get it. I mean, that is true. It's more just like, what is the message of your book? Like Lazlo himself, like he's fine. It's not his fault. He's whatever. Like that's, yeah, he's a nice person. But like as the writer, like the takeaway from a book like this, I thought was being a dreamer is enough. Being like enamored of stories is enough. That makes you special. Like I thought that was her point. And so the fact that that's not her point, I personally feel attacked. I know, maybe the big problem is like, I mean, I felt like being told we're not special. Well, it's not, I mean, like I'm used to not being special and not seeing books that are about special people. So having a book that seems to be about someone, you know, who is not special in the normal, you know, in doesn't have powers is, you know, you feel like, Oh, I actually like relate to that. You know, I'll never be a wizard, but I am a dreamer. And then again, just the fact that, I mean, Lady Taylor is the one that's like, not just in the story, but she herself personally, when she was like, I wrote Lazlo as an ode to fantasy readers. And I'm like, but then you, you just pulled the rug out from under us. I mean, it may be, but I think a lot of people could say like, oh, it's what we wish we could be or something. You know, we wish we'd find out that, but it just wasn't as strong to me as all. Yeah. I just think the story would have been a lot more interesting with him not being special and having that solved in a different way. And I realized that apparently that makes it impossible for me to mine theirs. But yeah, so that's it. It was disappointing, but I did really said, I think, but I'm convinced I would have felt the same way even if you hadn't told me that because you didn't go into it. You weren't like, well, and it's about, I'm not. So if you just, you just said she wrote it as an ode to fantasy readers. I first interpreted that just to be like, oh, there's going to be a lot of fantastical elements. So I separately, like I would have thought that whether or not you told me, like I know I would have because it was clear in my opinion what she was trying to do. So, yeah, at least you agree. Well, I guess it also, like it feels like a betrayal because of like that stated purpose. You know what I mean? Like if I had just read it and I thought I was, yeah, I mean, I would still be annoyed. But if I was like, oh, it's my mistake for reading that into it. But you literally told me that that's what I was supposed to read out of this. Well, I would agree though, like I don't think we were supposed to read that out of it, but we did and here we are. So. Which is like all of the like the quotable quotes that are like on all of the like that people, you know, pulled out to put on bookmarks and whatnot. Like one of my favorites that I like, even after reading it, I was like, I'm just going to pretend the end doesn't exist. Is, you know, it was impossible of course, but when did that ever stop any dreamer from dreaming? Oh, I know. Cause that's your superpower. I know there were so many good lines like that. And that's the end. It was upsetting and no one guessed it. Like that is the one thing like people thought I hated it. People thought I loved it. People thought, oh, you only hated it because you hated the romance. No one gets the real reason which was that was what was going on. So I did keep that secret. I have to tell the story that I told you about me and my dad. Cause he finished Strange the Dreamer before I did. We were both reading it around the same time. And I was, you know, somewhere in the middle of it. And in passing was like, Laszlo is my favorite human. And my dad looked at me really funny. And I was like, what do you not like Laszlo? And he was like, I like Laszlo. And I was like, he was like, did you finish it? And I was like, no, I haven't finished it yet. He was like, okay. And I was like, why does he do something that's like really, he was like, no, just let me know. And he still didn't get it. And then I finished it. And I was like, oh, he's not human. So for all. Well, my dad thought I was like being ironic when I said he's my favorite human. I was like, no, you haven't finished it. Yeah, I'll be interested when I update that or when I get some of my videos cause I really, I can't put that spoiler on Instagram. I'm just curious if anyone else thought that way. How we felt. I'm expecting you so to give. I know I'm expecting you to be like, you're crazy. It was great. I'm so glad you've got spawn. You know what PJ? It's not my fault. I don't take this slander. I'm sorry I like to read. I'm sorry, I bet Laszlo takes books in purses on airplanes if he so saw one. He might not have a bubble wand spill on it but that's not my fault. Yeah, maybe if I love music nightmares I'll still consider buying something special, but anyway. I would be so curious what you thought of her other series, Daughter, Smoke and Bone. I'm not going to read that. You told me enough, I'm not going to read it. Until I make you. Until we do another TBR swap next year and you're like, three of the books are just the series. That's true, if we did four books I could do those four and then Alias Grace and then it would be there, there it is. I don't think I have any other spoilers. If I didn't already tell you this, Daughter, Smoke and Bone is blurbed by Patrick Rothfuss and the blurb is I wish I had written this book. There's a lot of books I think Patrick Rothfuss that she has written. But he doesn't put that blurb on them all. I mean, I'm talking about Thor's Stone. I think that's the, I know it. I want him to release Thor's Stone and the only blurb is from himself. I'm so glad I wrote this book and then I did it. That reminds me of like a couple of months ago and there was like some Twitter prompt that was like name a book like that you would like to see from an author or something like that. Like, you know, wish list kind of thing. And Abercrombie responded to that and said mine because that would mean it was finished. That's exactly right. Same vibe. Yeah, like please, someone write mine for me. And so yeah, it was overall, I enjoyed reading all four of them. It was fun to read different stuff. So like I have no regrets overall about our little TBR swap. I mean, it helps that I didn't choose a book that I thought that you would hate. Do you regret our TBR swap? No, not at all. Okay, see, there you go. And I'm so happy to have a partner in feeling exactly the same way about strange the dreamer. Yeah, my plan worked. I guess like this really does fit the Warbreaker slot though cause like I picked it, no, like hoping slash knowing that you would be angry at the end. And I was like, yes, be angry with me. Yeah, yeah, man. Yeah, if you do another TBR swap, like I am curious to see what you think of Emperor's soul but I wouldn't give it to you because I'm not gonna do that again. We've already passed that and I'm sure in the next year I'll have other books that I didn't give you. Well, in my discord today people were hyping Emperor's soul and telling me how good it is and how they think I would like it. So. Yeah, what I think, I think what happened is is you're, I finally like between your problems, between my problems. Wait, I'm just gonna, between like, I think your problems with Warbreaker helped put into focus your problems with Sanderson. Like I think previously, like I knew your problems with Stormlight and I knew your problems with the end of Mistborn separately but somehow Warbreaker bridged it for me, like understanding, okay, now I get the issue. And I just think that nothing else, I really don't still think you would enjoy anything else except I have a doubt about Emperor's soul. Like I think there, it is like you could enjoy Emperor's soul because it is a novella and it doesn't like explain things in a way I think you might find like enjoyable. But otherwise, I think other than like the Skyward series which we'll probably read, I'll be, you know what? If you read that sequel, I'll be very curious. Well, I've heard such awful things about Scytonic that like I was excited to read on because I like Skyward. I was like, this'll be fun to read. Well, Star Sight is interesting because people like Star Sight, which is the second one. I liked it more than Skyward but a lot of people like Skyward more than Star Sight. So I'd be curious where you fell in that. Like if you would agree with me or them, knowing what I know, I think you will agree with them and not me. And then Scytonic I do think was, everyone hated it. I didn't hate it. I just thought it was so much weaker than the other two. And I think it's because it was split in two. And there's one after that or? Yeah, because Scytonic is supposed to be the last one but I split it in two because it was too long. So Scytonic is actually shorter than all the other ones. And it's- So it's suffering from like Hunger Games, Harry Potteritis. It's suffering like when they put those movies, absolutely like when you split a book in half you can, I almost think, always tell. Because it just, there's not enough of this book but there was too much for two books I think and it just didn't work for me. I mean like to shamelessly promote when me and Alex are gonna talk about Kingdoms of Death later this month which is the fourth book in the Senator series. And it was originally like now there are going to be six books in the series because book four has been split into books four and five. So I knew that obviously going in. And I mean, yeah, I think you can tell. Yeah. I mean, even like when I, because the last two or the last Dandelion Dynasty was split in two and like Liu himself is like, I didn't want to split it and I want people to just read it together. Like I want them just to wait basically. Is that why they're coming out so like close together? I think so. That's, I feel like very fast for like- Super fast. Cause the other one came out in November. I think November. No, no, it got pushed to January. It came out in January. And then this one's coming out in June which is like really close for a double together. But sorry, I got distracted by reading that. But you could totally tell if I'm glad I have an arc of it because like it did just feel like, oh, you cut a story in half. Like, and that's tough. So anyway, I'll be interested to see what you think of the series going forward. They're such fast reads. Like I think it's probably worth your time since you like Skyward, but- Well, I own them. And you own them. One of that ever made you read anything. Well, with those in particular I wanted to, cause like UK hardcovers, like when they go out of print it's like really fast. And then they don't keep printing it. I was in the U.S. like- The UK ones are so much nicer. Yeah. And so like I had the UK Skyward and since I liked it, I was like, well I want to get the UK ones or the other ones. Like while I still can. Cause like that's not gonna be there forever. I won't begrudge you that. Thank you. I have the really ugly U.S. versions back there, so. And it is well known that I hate purple above all things and it is, it's already not great and it's purple. Yeah, I'm really not a fan of them. Especially the first one. I really just don't like the cover of the first one. Purple. It's purple on the face. I just don't like it. I very rarely like faces on covers. Like I never say never, but. I'm okay with sometimes, but no. Not those faces I didn't read. And yeah, sorry, that's why I think you might be interested in that one, but I'm not gonna go down that path again. So you don't need to worry. You'll just pick something else. You'll be like, okay, so it's not Sanderson, but like there's still 80% chance that you're gonna hate this. I'm making you. I mean, as I've said, there is an 80% chance you'll hate anything I give you. I was actually thinking about this last night because we are both known to be like tough, tough on books. Like I, you know, rarely give a five star or whatever, but I think the difference is that you'll go full force in hating a book much easier than I will. I feel like I just give a lot of three stars. Like I met a lot of books. Like it's hard to get out of my mess zone. Well, Mara is the one that pointed this out. And I was like, yeah, that's accurate. But like, I just, I don't feel things halfway. So like, I usually give books like a one or a five. So I'm like, I love this or hate this. And it's like, maybe a three if I feel nothing about this. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think that's the difference. It's like, we're both tough on books, but I just tend to give a lot more like three stars. I'll just be like, whatever, man, three stars. I just, I won't feel about it because I just won't feel anything. So I thought that was, that was funny, but did you get to chapter 21 and the jade war before we stop? I was curious. I was talking to you last night. I haven't read my jade. I'm just really curious about how you feel about chapter 21 and jade war and what you get to it. As we started on time today, I'll have to have time to read tonight. Yeah, that's true. I went back basically to bed. Oh, Daniel, you stopped wild storms. Yeah. Wild storms is so good though. So you should finish. Well, you should finish. Oh, you stopped at wild storms. Oh, okay. Yeah. That was smart, I think. I'm going to start that after jade war. So hopefully it's good. I'm hyped about it. Radiant Reads talked to me about it. So did Kyle. Apparently some people don't feel the way I feel about chapter 21. And so I'm curious if you're hoping that I do. Yes. Well, Kyle feels the way I do. But he was talking about a few other people who didn't. And so I'm hoping you feel the way I feel. Do you think it's likely that I'll feel the way that you do? 50-50. But I'm not going to tell you why. I think that's it's going to spoil it too much, like who it involves or whatever. Okay. This is not to do with anything else, but I just thought of it. If you had it to do over again, what books would you have picked for me? Like hindsight being 2020? Honestly, if I thought about it, I think I would have exchanged Warbreaker for Emperor Soul. Even though I wanted you to read Warbreaker because it's my favorite, I just didn't think about it. And I'm like, I think you had a better chance of liking that one of all of them. So I'd probably switch that out. And I probably, I just didn't think about giving you a non, like a, well, I did give you a nonfiction, but I wanted something lighter. I think I would have done Invisible Women instead of Bat Feminist. So I think you just would have liked that more. I was trying to be like, I felt bad giving you Warbreaker because it's so long. So I was trying to give books that like other books that weren't quite. So like... That's shorter than Way of Kings. Long. I know shorter than Way of Kings, but still for like giving you four books in a month when you had a lot of other commitments, I felt bad. So that's why I thought that way. But otherwise, like I'm still happy. I would have still given you Time War. Like I know you didn't love it, but I still, I think would have given you that and for sure the Paper Monagerie. So I still think I would have given you those two. What's, dude, what's Bad Blood? Oh, I could have given you Bad Blood too. I actually almost did. That was on my short list. Bad Blood is a nonfiction about Elizabeth Holmes, who was the CEO of Theranos. Do you know anything about that? Oh, like not details, but like vaguely. Oh my gosh, okay, but you should read Bad Blood. Oh my gosh. That like started something within me. I've made so many people read that book. It was on my short list. But yeah, I didn't, because I don't know. I just wanted to do something else, but it just felt too random. And I've already talked about it a lot on my channel. So I was like, but, oh, talk about a real villain story. Elizabeth Holmes, she's the female villain we've been waiting for straight up. Insane. She made an entire company straight up on lies, like just lies and got like on the Forbes cover and times and was like. So it's like Catch Me If You Can, only like villain edition. Catch Me If You Can, except she believed she was in the right. Like she believed she was doing the right, like doing stuff that would change the world. Like you have to read it. It's so cool. You have to read it. She could have picked it. It was, I know. Well, it was on my short list. I almost did. I guess like, no, don't watch a Boo-Loo series. I see Matt talking about that. Don't watch the documentary. Read the real thing. You're gonna read the book, Bad Blood, but well, I watched the documentary and it just really didn't go into it. Read Bad Blood by John Kerryry. That is the man. I know the real reason that you like this book. It's because it has the same name as a Taylor Swift song. And obviously one of the deep cuts, the deep cares with cuts. Baby, now we've got Bad Blood. We used to be mad love. Clearly the lyrics that inspired me to like Taylor Swift, the song Bad Blood. You heard it first. John Kerryry was the journalist who broke the story first. And then he went and wrote a story about uncovering it, like the novel. So I think it's really worth it. And I actually listened to that one. And I think nonfiction, for whatever it was easy for me to listen to. So it could be just like a good listen. And I always know this book is good because I will listen to it often with thought headphones when I'm getting ready in the morning. And Zach would be like, oh, so you gonna turn that on? I'm like kind of interested in what's going on there. I was like, yes, because this is like, it reads like a thriller. Anyway, I guess I should have given you that. I really should have. I'm just really good. It is good. Okay, what would you have changed then? Would you have changed something? Well, I already said I would pick Alias Grace instead of Madness O Discreep for sure. Like again, it was like a length thing because it's a lot longer than that. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. The, there is a mini series, like adaptation of Alias Grace that is also really good. And it's for the most part pretty loyal to the book. So I recommend watching it too after you finish the book. And then, I mean, I would keep Strange the Dreamer for sure and Bear the Nightingale for sure. Instead of declaration, not only because it's the same thing or anything, but like the fourth slot, like I might have wanted to give you Angela's Ashes. So what's that? I've never heard of that. Well, it used to be my official favorite book. And now like, I just don't feel like I have an official favorite book because there's like a lot of books that I love. So like, I don't think that's accurate. But I mean, I obviously still love it. And it's nonfiction. It's the memoirs of Frank McCourt and his like extremely impoverished childhood in Ireland. But he like tells it from like the perspective of how he interpreted like events around him as a kid. And so like, obviously like he grew up in like horrible poverty. Like it is a staggering the poverty he grew up in. But like adults don't really explain things to kids and kids have their own logic about it. And it's like a lot of like Irish colloquialisms and Irish Catholic explanations of things and like him being like a precocious kid and asking questions of like trying to put what they've told him together to make sense of it. And so like, it's like very like his storytelling like is really charming and funny even though it's also horribly depressing. I was gonna say, was that to get me back for the paper monotony? You felt like you need to give me the little sadder. No, I just, I mean, I really love it. And I just feel like, I just think that you would really like it too. And it's, you know, it's very, it's, you know, is that like narrative nonfiction or like literary nonfiction? Cause like, you know, it reads like kind of more like a novel cause he's, and it feels like, cause you know, and again, the, I know you don't do audio books but Frank McCourt does the audio book. So in there, his memoirs. So he's like telling you his life story cause he's like already written in a very kind of like I'm telling you my life story kind of way. And it's just like filled with just so much like charming storytelling of like how he thought of things and how he experienced things that like, it is both like one of the most hilarious and therefore like uplifting and enjoyable reads while also being so depressing because of like how awful his childhood was. And that reminds me of In the Shadow of the Banyan, which is one of my, a really beloved book of mine. It's the same way it's like a, it all happened to her but it's kind of like a novelization of what happened to her during the Cambodia genocide. I couldn't give you that though. Not with paper menagerie, too much depressing. I think the like first line of Angela's ashes like it gives you an idea of what the book is. Or I guess it's not, maybe it's not the first line. Where is it? Anyway, this is the cover. So when you go buy it. I'm on a book by Van. Okay, so it's the third paragraph. People everywhere brag and whimper about the woes of their early years, but nothing could compare with the Irish version. The poverty. Oh no, sorry, it's the line before I forget what I just said. When I look back on my childhood, I wonder how I survived it all. It was of course, a miserable childhood. The happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood. And worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. So you're already laughing on page one while he's describing misery. Whenever I'm in the mood to be sad, you know what? I finished Peter Pan today and that felt unfair because like paper monognery, I went in with not the expectation that it would make me sad. Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Tinkerbell, I like wrote on my Instagram. I was like, yeah, I expected to be like, oh, this is so cute. Like reminds me of my childhood, not sitting in my car finishing it, like getting teary eyed, it's like being so upset. I didn't get what I promised for my Mary Martin days. Peter Pan will do that to you. So yeah, I don't need anymore. At least J-Bor won't do that. I don't think I'm gonna cry over J-Bor. But I don't think, I mean, I've read Angela's Ashes a couple of times and I don't think I've ever cried reading it. It's more just like, like the first time I read it years and years ago, because like, obviously like they lived in like, being under like starvation conditions basically. So like, I just remember thinking to myself like, how like eating dinner, just like normal dinner. I was like, oh, what a luxury. I know, those two must do make you appreciate the stuff you have. Yeah, on that note, we're like, yeah, we're pretty lucky. Yeah, okay, I just said here on our booktube, it's fine. I mean in general, I feel like a lot of stories will make me think that I'm pretty lucky, but then there's stories like, I don't know. Angela's Ashes like more than most, like if I watch anybody in like tough circumstances, I'm like, oh, I'm lucky, you know, that I am not in tough circumstances, but like just like the ridiculous level of poverty that it is where like, that like, yeah, it's like a boggles the mind that like, that even what I would consider misfortune would be to them like the best day ever. Yeah, and I'm not ready for that right now. I need some more light, light-hearted reads, but I thought I would like it. Yeah, and it's, you know, for length, I could have picked it because it's not too terribly long. No, it's not too terrible. I'm sure we'll do it again. And it did win, because you're always reading award winners. It did win the Pulitzer. Oh, well, a Pulitzer Prize, a Pulitzer Prize is a little bit different than the Hugo's and the Nebula's, but maybe it's not. Maybe I need to go look into it. Maybe it's a liar. Read every single Pulitzer Prize. No, thank you. I have no interest in that, that's for sure. I've read a couple. Yeah, exactly. I remember that a comedian was talking about like, his childhood versus like the childhoods of like the kids he grew up around and like them being like, I got sent to my room and he was like, you have a room? No. Yeah. And yeah, maybe it'll be like our March thing or something. A March thing? Like a March thing. Like every March we switch TBR. I was on you reading Pulitzer Prize winners and I was like, every March you win. Again, have no interest in reading a Pulitzer Prize. Well, I think we can safely say that we could, I don't think anyone's used this title for like a recurring event. So I think we should call it March Madness. Correct, March Madness. But if we say March Madness, like implies that maybe we need to always pick a book the other person's gonna hate for what they're saying. Maybe next time I will choose violence. Yes, you choose violence. Oh, what? Can you come on top of your head? Daughter of Smokin' Bone. Okay, that would be choosing violence. You could choose violence in a lot of ways. You could need me read Shadow and Bone. Just like a stream of that. Cause like, I think you gave me Warbreaker cause you was like, it's very high odds that she won't like this, but she could. But you don't care about it. Like I don't think you'd like, I mean, Shadow and Bone, like I don't, even I feel kind of met about it. And I feel like you would, like there's, even if you liked it, you would like it in the same way I do, where it's kind of like, okay, that was like... Oh, weird, you know, if you chose violence, you would choose a sort of truth now. Wizards first rule number two. That's what you would choose if you were choosing violence. I would. Yeah, that's it, that's the violence. And it has a magic sword in it. So it's the Warbreaker slot. They're the same thing. Well, okay, I know you didn't watch it, but actually at the end of my review for Warbreaker, I was actually talking about all the ways that like the specific gripes that I have. Oh, actually I didn't bring it up myself. Or I mean, I did, but like I brought it up because actually I have the books here somewhere. The, because I was like holding it while I was talking about it. I looked down and it says on it, for fans of Terry Goodkind and Terry Brooks. And I was like, that is hilarious to me that it says for fans of Terry Goodkind, considering how many Sanderson fans would consider it to be like the offended that you would compare the two. I mean, I'm offended that they compared to Terry Burks too. I mean, I've only read a single Terry Burks book, but it put me off for life. But like that's what made me start to think of the two. And I was like, well, actually, so the things that I've complained about this fair day are the sexism and the colonialism. And I was like, guess who handles sexism and colonialism better, Terry Goodkind. No, it doesn't. Oh my gosh. No, I read Wizards vs. Rural, Liana. That book was sexist as all get out. It's like one of my least favorite parts of that first book. Not though. No, it is. I got it, Liana. I did not understand the book. I got it. It was sexist and I hated that part of it. Anyway, it's fine. We don't need to get into that. The Warbreaker, it would be violence if you made you read that second book. So it would be fair. It would be March Madness. Except the difference would be like, I thought there was a 5% chance you would like Warbreaker, but there's like a 0% chance I would like the second Wizards vs. Rural. Never is they, never. Okay, that's fair. I will not say never. You can choose it for my next star next March. I'm looking forward to it. Got her a smoking bone it is. I got distracted about things happening in my real life. This is real life. Yeah, I know my microphone's not on, you missed it. Zach's watching the live now and is telling me my microphone's not on. We know, we had a whole problem that... Nobody thought that you didn't know though. Anyway, I've lost track. Yes, we can choose violence next time. I won't, you'll get to. You have the violence credit. I have zero violence credit. I'm going to redeem my violence credit. But do we have, do we have any veto power? No, that's not how this works. So there's no power to say like, I refuse to read this. Well, if we say that then you're going to make me read Game of Thrones. Is that what you're thinking? Oh no, I just, I'm trying to establish. What are the rules? I mean, the rules are like, if someone has previously stated, like for moral reasons is the reason I haven't started Game of Thrones. So like I'm going to say you can't make me read it until I've decided to read it. For moral being that it's not finished? No, moral being I don't, well, it's not moral is the wrong word. I just do not like books that have a lot of things centered around sexual assault. I really don't like it. So it's not like a moral value different on the book. And people have been trying to convince me, you, Jimmy and Kyle, that like it's mostly phage black. But I just don't like books where a significant portion of claw lines are going to deal with like sexual abuse and things like of that nature, incest. Like I just, I don't really like that. And so it's not a judgment on, obviously the books are amazing. And like I read the summary when I was doing my bad blurbs thing. So I was like, okay, I'm never going to read this. And I was like, this book sounds pretty great. But like, like it does. I'm like, I get it. I get why people like this. Like it sounds pretty good. But like, I just don't like reading that. Like already Joe Abercrombie is pretty hard. Like I love his work. He doesn't actually have like any sexual assault. He doesn't, which is why I can do it. But like, I have to skip like his, it's too explicit. I just really don't like explicit things of that nature. The only reason Abercrombie is better is because he never is explicit about assault, which is something that's like- Well, I'm pretty sure, I'm sure Kyle and Jimmy have also told you this, that Abercrombie is more explicit in general than- They have, but I think he doesn't go down the, the pathway. But I'm just like really not interested in reading. So it's just, I'm just not interested really in going there. And also like it doesn't, it's not finished. And even though everyone's like, but it was worth the journey, journey before destination. And you've read Kingkiller. It- And technically this is not finished. We're still waiting for a Warbreaker 2. That's a standalone, well, that's a standalone. You never have to write Warbreaker 2 and that's still in the long book. But, what was I gonna say? Oh, Kingkiller when I read it, I read Kingkiller in 2014. Back when it was August 2015 as the Doors of Stone release date and everyone thought that was actually happening. Yeah, actually. So I read it even longer ago than that. And then like my friend bought for me Wise Man's Fear. And I was like, oh, well, I'm planning to like wait to read that until it's closer to the release of Doors of Stone. And then I just went ahead and read it. Cause I was like, I don't think that's happening. Well, yeah. So like reading that in 2014, it's like, yeah, I think one, did Wise and Spirit come out in 2014? No, it must have been 2012. So I think it's been 10 years since it was released. So when I read it, I knew that the release date was August 2015. People still believe that was happening. Like it hadn't been New Jax. I read it in 2014. So it's a little different now and we're pretty positive. Like, not positive, but we have a polar you finished. No, not that. I'm talking about Game of Thrones. Like I just, even like, I saw someone read it and this is kind of my feelings. Like even if you guys get, you guys get Winds of Winter, the chance that you're going to get dances with dragons. I love that you say you guys. If not that we the world get it, but like if you guys over there who are like into it, if you get Winds of Winter. And I had a problem with Wise and Spirit wasn't as good as a first one. Because of Florian. Because of Florian, correct? Sometimes I like to pretend that it was purposeful. That quote is exaggerating, but I did not get that. Unreliable narrator. Yes, that is what I wish. What's my favorite explanation? It is my favorite explanation as well. I enjoy that explanation quite a bit. That's the only thing that makes us okay. Well it was, it was Florian. And then the one, two punch of like the, whatever the society was after. Like wherever he goes to learn and it's like this open society and everything he learned with Florian or whatever. Anyway. Yeah, that's a lot. Anyway, so go back to your earlier point. Nope. No, like we have no say. We don't get to know what they are. We just have to meet in Disneyland and give over four bucks. So that I'm like, I'm glad that Disneyland is also part of this. Yes. In February. I will endeavor to secretly get you a signed copy of something. And not tell me. And then it has to be the book you think I will destroy the most. To keep with, to keep with, you know, tradition. Thank you. That's the word. But said if this is March Madness then we can have brackets. Next time for people to fill out. That should be kind of fun. You have to like, you have to guess the order that we're going to put them in and we'll have a prize. The person gets the most points. We could do that. I'll be fine. I'll be down. I don't have a whole year to plan that. Yeah, we're a whole year to make it work. So might as well. I'll just get on a book buying band now so that maybe I'll have read more of what I own. And then you can actually. Maybe I'll just start saying, I'll send you a Barnes and Noble gift card. I'll be like, here's the $15 for the book you already bought. Go buy a different book and pretend I bought you that book. This is the one I want to give you. That also works. We could do that. We'll see. I might just be less secretive. Like I might just ask you next time if there's a book I'm not sure you own. I might just be like, okay, I want to get this book. So that's how I wanted to keep it secret. I think next time I wouldn't. I asked you if you have ever read Bear and the Nightingale when I was already contemplating books, but like I felt like it was like in the conversation with the other books. So I was like, I think I can ask her and I don't think she'll know why I'm asking. Yeah, I did it. So yeah. And then, you know, we have this year to, you can read Muse of Nightmares and Girl in the Tower and the Radical Act of Free Magic. One of the three of those will happen this year. Radical Act of Free Magic. You guessed it. Do you know? I can't wait to read another brilliant and unreadable book. Yes. Just read it smarter this time and then you'll know. Read it smarter, that's correct. I did, I mean, one last thing before I'm sure we're all done, but I did remember thinking like, I read John Constraint and Mr. Norrell slower because I did finish like another book while I was reading it. And so I did wonder also if I would have enjoyed this little more if I had taken that approach, but it was the last of the books you gave me that I read. And so I really wanted to feel like I was completing my jobs, my tasks for March. So I do wonder if that also hurt a little bit because I did read like a faster pace story in between while I was reading John Constraint. One of the reasons that I read Warbreaker first was because it was the longest one. And I was like, I want to make sure that I've like done that. And then the rest like, you know, I'm obviously going to get to you, but like I'm not that stressed about having time to get through them. To do it. Yeah, I mean you read the last one on March 31st in one day, so. I did not mean to leave it that last minute. And I don't recommend reading Paper Managerie in one day. I did not either. But it's a terrible, terrible idea. Yeah, it's not a great idea, but it was fun for me, so. Watch you. Yeah, I mean, you could read Angela's Ashes all in one day. It would not wreck you. Do not, yeah. The Paper Managerie does. Oh, it's Dream of Spring. I said Dance of the Dragons, I don't remember. We have the Spring as well. Okay, Dance of the Dragons is real, okay, whatever. Real? But speaking of dry, not that you care, because you've just declared that you don't about that universe of books. But like this month, we're reading Fire and Blood, which I don't know if you know anything about Fire and Blood. I do from our adaptations conversation. Okay, yeah. So like, I mean, it reads like a history book. Yes, I would say that. I mean, I messaged Alex and Jimmy when I started it and I was like, I don't think I should have signed up for this graduate level course as an undergrad. Because this reading is too harsh. I can't do this. Crazy. You know, I think if you can write that, I won't just write the thing, but anyway, that's been discussed, I definitely don't need to talk about it. Well, if Sanderson can write four extra books, where's Warbreaker 2? Well, that's because Warbreaker 2 isn't really supposed to exist necessarily. It's like a completely different. Like it has nothing to do really with the first Warbreaker. Like it does, but it doesn't. So it's because it gives away too much of the Cosmere is why it has not been written. It needs to be a late stage book. I see. So this is like Marvel phase five. Yes, that's because a few books that we know we are not going to get to the very end and Warbreaker 2 is because of that. So otherwise, I think you just want to write it in there. Because there's one thing you can say about Sanderson. Yeah, no thanks. I don't have to explain this. Because it's like when you read a history book about an era of history and they just drop a name. But then two seconds later, we're on the Sun or the grandson who has since then ascended to power, that's what we're talking about now. And I'm like, what? Yeah, who is anybody? So yeah, if A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians is like a light, fluffy nonsense read compared to fire and blood. I'm sure it is. Everything I've heard, but that's really terrible. It's impressive that it is this detailed about something that doesn't exist. And it feels like authentically, this could be a history of a place. And the minutiae of the political shenanigans and how people end up allying with each other where you wouldn't necessarily expect that. But it feels genuinely like this complicated historical political thing. And I'm like, I mean, that's impressive. You said about Declaration. You're like, that's impressive. But what is happening? I mean, I tell a lot of people feel about Jared Tolkien's like, similar, I don't know, similar, similar, and yeah, whatever. I hate that word so much where a lot of people are like, look, it's impressive. I just don't want to read it. Like, people feel that way. Well, I used to, I mean, I guess I did feel that way. And then a lot of people specifically said that, no, you will like the Silmarillion. And I was like, I've read excerpts of the Silmarillion that like sound very, very dry. But like, they're convinced that there are parts of the Silmarillion that I will be obsessed with. So I'm like, I'll try it. No, we have any category brilliant for them? Readable. And I'm excited about that. Readable. I feel like that is actually a thing that I'm going to say. Me too. I am. I love that. I feel bad. I don't remember. I'm going to have to go search back through into who said it because I love that phrase. And I'm going to start using it. Wait, I need to get it trademarked. Yeah, I'm brilliant. I think he or she needs to get it trademarked. Anyway, it's a thing now. It's a thing now. So yeah, overall, a much more successful TBR. Yeah. But we knew that because I'm less hard on books than you are. But also as recovery extensively. And I chose violence. And I chose violence as well. OK, fair. You hurt your score on purpose. I hurt my score on purpose. I took one for the team, you know what? So many people messaged me like you're so brave. And I was like, I know, you're welcome. Like they were like, wow, you were so brave to give Leigh-Anne. And I'm like, yeah, I went for it. No result. Is it brave, like because of the fact that you're going to have to listen to me talk about it? It was all of the above. It was all of the above. It was like you're brave to give her a book, to literally tell her you're going to hate this book. It's brave to be like accepting someone just trashing a book you really like. Like it was brave all around. I mean, it's a little bit like the Comedy Central roast that people like agree to participate in. Exactly. Exactly, that's a bravery too. You know, yeah, it was very successful. It was fun. I enjoyed it. And now we're wiser. And we know what to pick better next time. We have grown from this experience. It's so true. It's so true. Well, that, unless you have any final things that you've been wanting and dying to say about any of the books. No, I felt like I went hard on Stranger's Dreamer. So I felt satisfied. I will definitely want to know when you've read Muse of Nightmares because I will want to know what you think. I'm positive I will keep you updated. Like I said, you can't be freshly betrayed. I can't be freshly betrayed. So it will be fine. It will be fine. And it's a purple book. And I like it anyway. That's how much I like it. Terrible, purple, gross. Exactly. How good they, how dear they are. I mean, it's not like the author gets to choose, but. That's true. That is true. And the UK edition of Muse of Nightmares is orange, which is the best color. Maybe worse, but OK. I mean, I have orange sunglasses, but still. Is it, is your favorite color blue? Yeah. Because like the UK edition. Oh, I like this. Yeah, so like that's originally the UK cover. Like the American cover for the hardback doesn't look like that. Oh, I like this cover. Yeah, it is my favorite color. So the UK covers are that blue cover. And then the Muse of Nightmares covers like burnt orange. And instead of a moth on it like that one is, it's a bird. It's like gilded and like looks like that. Oh yeah, I've seen Muse of Nightmares. Yeah, the gilded one. So I would put like the, the duology is like our favorite colors together. Cute. Except that, you know, we both feel exactly the same. I'm about starting to drink. All right. Well, that should do it. Thanks for joining us. And thanks for reading all the books that I made you read. To no.