I have read both of those books and agree with your take. I also read a lot of queer fiction in general.

I have noticed a trend that newer books with cover blurbs that invoke catchphrases like "gender-swapped" or "queer retelling" or "sapphic __ meets __" may lean strongly on their LGBTQIA+ representation to "carry" the story. Then, we end up with a mediocre or poor-quality story that's neither well plotted nor well written, but it satisfies the criteria of the cover blurb. Bummer.

Put aside more time in your day to read, is all I can think of. I’m a verrrrry slow reader — especially when the book isn’t my favorite. I’ve been reading a 208pg book for 10+ days… it’s a struggle being a slow reader 😭

With any luck, you will never be able to read all the books you want.

"These clowns in congress have done it again. What a bunch of clowns!"

I just read and loved Miss Iceland by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir and now I want to read everything she’s written

> Do you think the high concept queer fantasy novels you've been reviewing are by relatively inexperienced authors?

That's very possible. I mentioned the titles of the two traditionally published ones in another comment, In Deeper Waters by FT Lukens and House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson. I'm not sure about Lukens but Henderson has an earlier novel that I've generally heard good things about. House of Hunger I'll also say was the most passable of the books I'm talking about. By the writing quality alone it feels like a final draft but I really struggled to understand a number of plot/pacing decisions and the main characters actions were entirely unmotivated and nonsensical to me

I would like to clarify because this same post was removed in r/romancebooks..

I am not discriminating against him based on disability, I’m literally mentally disabled myself.

I do not care that he is clearly underdeveloped in some form mentally/emotionally, or that he can’t speak, what I’m saying is that he is no where near independent or mentally okay enough for a relationship.

Personally I feel that the FMC took advantage of him in a way, even if it wasn’t her intention.

He acted like a child in many ways, and regardless of whether or not he was ready for a relationship or whether or not he was codependent, he was certainly not at all in a good space to start a sexual relationship.

[deleted]

Yup, very sure they were final published editions, both of them were checked out from my local library. It's just very disappointing bc I WANT to like these books so much, but they just don't feel finished. I actually went back and rewatched my review of the first of the books and hearing myself talk about how much I wanted to like it and how disappointing it was to have gotten a final product that just didn't feel finished... It really sucks.

I hate to say this but a lot of crap gets published. Look into mysteries, thrillers, and the pulp end of SFF. There is a lot of WTF in a lot of bestselling work.

Just the turn to college age guy going on sexcapede with multiple immortal women including a goddess not to mention general mary sue issues. It's either Rothfuss is amazing and the next book will be someone in the corner calling the storyteller on his BS or it's just the utter male fantasy it appears to be. There has been a lot of talk about which way it will end up being on r/fantasy if you care to search for it.

I've gone back and forth about giving the titles. I know there are people who enjoy them, so I will name the two traditionally published ones at least: In Deeper Waters by FT Lukens and House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson.

From my review of In Deeper Waters: "I didn't dislike it ... I would have liked it if it had just gone through one or two more rounds of editing ... I read a lot of fanfiction so I'm used to this level of writing, but since this was published by an imprint of Simon & Schuster I would have expected it to be publication ready and frankly it's just not"

From my review of House of Hunger: "[quotes a scene that I thought was really well-written] am I crazy for thinking that scene deserved a better book, that had set it up so I believed the characters felt that way? ... It feels like this was written to the end but the book itself didn't lead to the end ... It was disappointing honestly."

I have heard about these books and I am so appalled that 13-14 year olds are such heavy readers of this author. Now, I was allowed to read anything I wanted as a kid. Really anything. (King Rat at age 11). But there’s so much of this authors books around (of course I thought Twilight was problematic for teens too for similar but less graphic content: He wants to kill her, she wants to die to be with him. I’m so sorry to learn the Hoover books are as bad as I thought.

I think A and C from your list are very important in books, and D supports A imo. I can do without super sophisticated world building (even a little inconsistency) as long as it doesn't detract from the story. No, I don't think those standards are too high, although I guess it might always be clear cut what is coherent/cohesive enough to pass muster.

Personally I would also add that the book should be well paced. I've read some novels recently that felt rushed at the beginning (not enough exposition) or at the end (not enough resolution), which made the whole thing feel half baked.

Do you think maybe the high concept queer fantasy novels you've been reviewing are written by relatively inexperienced authors? Since it is an emerging genre I'd expect the authorship to be on the young side, which means the writing may not be polished.

Clear and Coherent Writing: Readers expect a book to be well-written, with clear and coherent prose that conveys the ideas of the author effectively.

Engaging Content: Books should be engaging and interesting, holding the reader's attention throughout. Whether it is fiction or non-fiction, readers expect a book to be enjoyable to read.

Accuracy and Authenticity: For non-fiction books, readers expect the content to be accurate and based on sound research. For fiction books, readers expect the author to create an authentic and believable world and characters.

Good Editing and Proofreading: Readers expect books to be free of errors such as typos, grammatical mistakes, and inconsistencies. Good editing and proofreading are essential for a book to be taken seriously.

Unique Perspective or Ideas: Readers expect a book to offer something new, whether it's a unique perspective on a familiar topic or original ideas that challenge conventional thinking.

Value for Money: Readers expect a book to provide value for money, with a reasonable price in relation to its length and quality.

Overall, readers expect a published book to be a polished and professional product that is worth their time and money.

Most of the books I read are published within the last ten years and most don't have these kinds of issues though. Like even taking my favorite and least favorite books of last year (The Fifth Season and My Year of Rest and Relaxation) were published within the past ten years and felt like final and complete drafts

People like puzzles, violence and intrigue. While it's unfortunate for the victims of the actual crime to have their life-altering event to be seen in this way, those elements are the hooks of true crime for most people, probably even moreso than the justice factor.

And you're definitely reading published works, not ARCs? I know I've read several ARCs that still needed major editing(one even went through revision) and that's part of the thing with ARCs. You end up being a bit of a test case. I mean if it's not good in your opinion, then you just may not like it. And that's okay. But also okay to not review especially if you felt like the book didn't meet the expectations you created for it. I know there have been books I just skipped a review for because it wasn't for me and leaving a poor review would not bring about any meaningful change.

[deleted]

[deleted]

Why does it matter? Just read the books you enjoy and maybe some you find challenging, no need to compare yourself with others.

I learned my lesson. Never again.

I mean I did review the two traditionally published ones at least, I just didn't feel very comfortable doing it. And those reviews basically it boiled down to: "this book needed at least one more developmental and/or copy edit pass but it didn't have it, the book didn't feel publication ready, and it was super disappointing"

I only noticed the trend when I found myself writing that for the third time and that point I had question it especially since the only common denominator besides the sub-genre is me

Which books are you talking about? I guess I probably haven't heard of them anyway but there's different publishers that I'd have vastly different expectations from.

Like, a book published by a major publisher is not going to be in the same category as a relatively unpopular book being translated on the cheap. For the former I'd expect it to be written in a way that may not exactly be easy to read, but is at least intentional.

For the latter I'll be happy if there's no obvious translation errors, and if it happens to flow a little strangely that's just a natural consequence of a rushed translation. If a number is 99 but should obviously be 9, or 10,000 but should be 100,000, then I'm more happy that I could catch the error than I am annoyed that it exists.

I would absolutely review those books and offer your opinion based on your stated criteria. When I write a review, I figure someone is trying to figure out if they want to read it. I would find the information you have given here to be relevant for my decision. I'm not sure I would use the criteria of whether or not they were "publication ready", because that's going to be a pretty subjective opinion. Nor would I worry about the state of the genre. I would just state what you thought of it and maybe add why you think that. When I read reviews, I just want to know, is this a book I will probably enjoy.