Hello readers! Today I wanted to make a post that I’ve thought about for a long time. I’ve seen SO MANY topics floating around the book community that I decided to put them all into one post and let you guys know my opinions.
Feel free to let me know your opinions in the comments!
AUDIOBOOKS ARE NOT REAL READING
I am SOOO tired of this opinion. First of all, I don’t know why some people have to gatekeep reading. It’s literally a hobby that we all do for fun. The “audiobooks are not real reading” crowd are the pick mes of the book community. You don’t get a reward for reading the book with your eyes.
Secondly, it’s extremely ableist to say this. What about blind people? Are they saying blind people can’t read? They listen to audiobooks and read braille with their fingers. Is braille not real reading?
Also, there are people out there with dyslexia who listen to audiobooks because they struggle to read.
PIRATING BOOKS
I get people’s opinions on pirating books to a certain extent. I’ve never done it in my life, but heck, I used Limewire as a kid for music. So, I do get it.
BUT, can we not do it to struggling Indie authors? I really hate seeing Indie authors saying their brand new debut novel is on pirating sites. Some of them don’t even make 100 dollars a month writing books and are doing it as a second or third job.
Also, when books are pirated that are exclusively on Kindle Unlimited, Amazon will punish the author in two ways. ONE, they will ban that book from KU until the pirated copies are gone. AND TWO, they will take away what little revenue they made for the month.
I saw Vera Valentine say her book Unhinged is constantly pirated online despite it being listed at 99 cents on Amazon (and it’s on KU). I mean, that is the cheapest a book can be besides free.
NEGATIVE REVIEWS ON ARCS
Man, is this a controversial one in the Indie author space. I’ve had them block me on Tiktok for this opinion, but I’ve also seen MANY readers say this, too.
They are saying that it hurts Indie books when a negative review is left on their ARC. Some authors on Booktok will require readers to leave a 3 star or above to even get the ARC. I just ignore that.
I’m not going to lie to other people about a book. If I don’t like it, I will ALWAYS let you guys know. And, I think negative reviews can be positive for books.
I get suspicious when I go to read a book and it has no negative reviews, but also someone could complain about something I like. If someone says they don’t like a book because it has spice, a lack of spice, or even a love triangle, that will not deter me from reading the book.
Some of these authors read every review, negative or positive, and they really shouldn’t do that to themselves. 100% of people aren’t going to like anything,
SMUT IS PORN ADDICTION
The toxic men really think they got us on this one. Those toxic men out there cannot fathom that someone would enjoy smut or romance because the men in the books respect women. They can’t fathom a world where women are respected and valued by their partners.
If the people reading romance wanted porn, they would watch it. I mean, dang. The smut is 20% or less of most books and it takes 5+ hours to read a book when it takes no time to watch something.
ADULT BOOKS WITH CARTOON COVERS
This one really annoys the heck out of me. I mean, some people have to take some accountability for their own kids. It isn’t the book’s fault that kids are reading them.
This whole thing started with Icebreaker. First of all, there are adults on the cover. Also, the description says they are in college.
The parents could also ask an employee or simply google this.
To say there should be a ban on cartoon covers is insane. There are adult cartoons such as Family Guy. And, parents know not to let their kids watch that.
I know the stores can sometimes put ACOTAR in the YA section. So, I have another way to keep these books out of kid’s hands.
Every major publisher has specific publishers for different age groups and genres. Harper Collins has Harper Teen, Macmillan has Wednesday Books, Penguin Random House has Penguin Teen, and so on.
A really safe choice would be Hyperion, owned by Disney, or even Scholastic.
Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating is a really good example of a romance that has teens on it. Icebreaker has full blown adults. It also mentions in the description that they are in school, and Icebreaker says they are going to college.
I’m just so tired of people blaming the books for the kids reading them, and not the people who are giving the kids access to said books.
This post was created by Allison Wolfe for www.allithebookgiraffe.com and is not permitted to be posted anywhere else.
Where to find me: https://linktr.ee/Allithebookgiraffe
Add this user on Goodreads for all your trigger warning needs: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/86920464-trigger-warning-database
Alli the Book Giraffe 
Leave a comment