DNF'S AND UNHAUL 👋🏻 

LISA FRANK SHE MEANS LISA FRANK 😅

Yeah, Anne Frank was definitely not the one with fuzzy unicorns. I laughed, and now I feel bad🫣🙃

Donkeys are very hardworking and love to laugh. Sounds like a pretty good spirit animal.

Cassie Clare does love having the old CW/WB style show vibe where everyone is hot and into each other lmao

I love when people have a video style of making it seem like friends talking to one another. And you are one of those people, even though you can’t hear me.

The fuzzy unicorn stickers are Lisa Frank! It took me a second to think of the name too. Blast from the past.

"The story was great" yeah, probably because she lifted the plot from somewhere else 😂

Aussie here Definitely break out in American and UK accents randomly. Usually UK to sound posh. The American accent usually shows up when I'm quoting lines from a show or a movie so the accent changes depending on who said the quote originally.

*_hype for libraries!_* As a volunteer, I so wish people were more aware of all the services (& community) available there. It would be so much easier to get support from voters & politicians if folks realized how much all the wonderful professionals there make possible.

Donkeys are a wonderful spirit animal. I’ve worked with a lot of animals, and donkeys are the smartest, and cleverest. They have options…they’ll run from a predator, or they’ll fight. They’ll mooch your lunch. They’re not afraid to greet you enthusiastically. And they have a reputation for being stubborn because they have their own opinion about your dumb human agenda. 😆 Sure, the big cats are flashy, but donkeys are way more cool.

I am Mexican living in Mexico and we do make Spain Spanish accent and Colombian and Chilean randomly at my house 😂

Your description of The Sword Catcher made me think of Throne of Glass, everyone is just hot for everyone all the time 🤣

My Dad used to do a donkey bray and he sounded exactly like a donkey, he had the whistle down and everything. So everyone associated him with donkeys. He would collect donkeys as well. So I have a soft spot in my heart for them. As far as A Tempest of Tea, I definitely felt like you at first, but I became more invested I went on. There were undertones in interactions that definitely hinted to more going on that later led to some big reveals. It wasn't a perfect book, but I did enjoy it.

Omg, when you did your southern twang I laughed so hard. Yes, I randomly speak in a British accent and a southern accent and a Minnesotan accent, and I am from Missouri. ;-) lol

I love my local library! I do get some books physically from them since I love physical books, but I made a spreadsheet for my TBR and out of the 400-something books on there almost all of them are free on either Libby, Hoopla, or Cloud Library which are the ones my Library uses. I also have Kindle and Audible on my sheet to see which ones are on Kindle Unlimited or Aubible Plus for free, and then to help me look for things during sales or getting the best value out of my Audible credits.

I'm Irish and the accents that i break into a lot are British, Scottish, Australian, Southern American and Russian lmao I also have personal beef with Cassandra Clare over her weird siblings thing so I'll never be picking up a book of hers 😭

I think those musicals where they sing everything with no spoken dialogue are called opera. 😆

I sort of wanted more CW drama from Sword Catcher than I got 😅 but I also felt like it was a choice naming a character Kel who has a similar role to a Kel in another popular fantasy series. Like someone on her team had to have made that connection

Cassandra Clare most definitely has this thing where everyone is in love/has the hots for someone. In the latest series I read of hers - the last hours - it got really out of hand and reached a lever that was just too much 😅

I wish I had DNF'd Sword Catcher 😑 I struggled through to the end hoping it would pick up with some action or political intrigue but was sorely disappointed. I finished the audiobook and immediately looked up rant reviews hoping I wasn't alone in that experience 😅

I love my local libraries!!! Except it's really sad how many ppl with no manners there are these days, who are just loud and making unnecessary noises... and some hobo-y people. Also, it's so hard to DNF books after you're like 50-100 pages in (at least for me). Props for doing it properly!

My miniature donkey's name is Bows. And she would love to be read to! I have a pretty obvious southern accent that doesn't allow me to break into another accent even if I wanted to. However, the strength of it changes depending on who I'm talking to as do some of the words I use.

Absolutely adored the donkey story❤❤ You are just wonderful ❤

Two of my favorite contemporary romances (YA) have male perspectives. I'd love to know what you think of them if you've read them! The first is, Frankly in Love by David Yoon, the second is The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon. Both have the same male narrator. I usually stick to YA/soft fantasy books but I loved these so much. I hope you are able to find a romance book with a male perspective that you enjoy!

I didn't finish Sword Catcher either and it was literally for the exact same reason. I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking it. The whole time I was reading it I kept thinking "I've already read this before". It wasn't the most unique of concepts and she didn't do anything to make it stand out on it's own. I've seen the concept done better in other series. I also felt like the story dragged a bit and was taking to long to get to the point. Instead of world building, the first couple chapters just had the characters not really doing anything other then hanging around a brothel. So I ended up losing interest because it shouldn't take so many chapters to get the story started. I do have to say kudos to her though because it must have been hard to make a completely new world and story outside of her shadow hunter series and it's great to see authors branch out into something new.

My cousin Ashlyn used to randomly speak in a British accent lol 😂

My husband and I are British and very much guilty of doing accents - usually in an inappropriately comedic fashion... My best friend from college moved to the US many years ago but the only word she ever says in a US accent is "Sure!" so that's the only time we use a US accent too. But we have a whole range of different British accents we use (Home Counties to be posh, and terrible Northern and South Western accents for comedy value) - we also sometimes dip into French and Spanish...

Re accents, absolutely yes. I'm Australian and I feel like English or Irish accents emerge more naturally than U.S. accents but they definitely do come up

I really enjoyed A Botanical Daughter and I was made aware of it through your channel in a new books video, so thanks! 😊

I think the ending saved Swordcatcher for me (because the info dumping at the beginning was brutal and the middle was a mashup of stuff that's been done), but I am hopeful that there will be a big improvement in the second book. Mostly I want additional POV characters because I think that's what she does best. I think what helped me, though, was that I was avoiding other stuff when I picked it up, which is also how I started the Shadowhunters. Like 5 or 6 books were out and I had midterms my senior year of college, lol.

I've found Hoopla surprisingly useful for books that I didn't expect to find audiobooks for. Both for backlist (Comicbook tie-in novels from the 90s) and more recent, but more niche stuff (Currently working through The Laundry Files, by Charles Stross) I do wish the search function wasn't so bad and I could check out more than 4 things a month.

I'll never recover from the story of you going to read to a miniature donkey for your birthday, that sounds like such a magical time. The library has been my sanctuary since I re-discovered it a couple years ago. If I want to write, draw, work on D&D, that's where I go. For male perspectives in romance, have you read Abby Jiminez' works? She writes wonderful male leads and the perspective shifts between the male and female protagonist regularly. I really enjoyed Yours Truly and Part of your World.

As a person that breaks out random accents on the regular, yes. I am American, living in the south eastern region (less southern, more beachy). I have an accent to pull out at any given time mostly British (proper queens), Irish (peaky blinders mixed with whimsy), Eastern European (Jester from Critical role) and an assortment of American accents. If I hear it and it tickles my ears I have to say it. It’s a compulsive reaction that I am often called out for and aware of but yet it’s there and it happens every time. So I apologize in advance if I mimic your accent and you were offended. 😳💀

Ooh fab video. Also as a scottish person, I do randomly do Valley girl, New Yorker or Southern belles accents spontaneously throughout the day. Also cackled at the Anne Frank/Lisa Frank mixup haha

Hie Elliot! Thanks for doing these videos, I love to listen to your book content. Please could you consider giving a brief synopsis of each book like you do in your older videos so that we don't have to go and search for the descriptions on goodreads. It'd be really nice. Thanks again! Hope you keep putting more content cause we love to see it!

Did you talk more about The Botanical Daughter DNF? 💜 Or just the library saves part

Southern accents are hard to get correct in written dialogue, even for authors who are native speakers of said accent. There has to be a happy medium between common vernacular and local dialect for it to really work. It's a lot like writing a bilingual character. Idk. I have mixed feelings on it. I think a lot of us in the south spent so long being told to "speak right" that when we go full banjo it can def be jarring. I get the author being proud of their accent, but I also agree with what you are saying.

I love The Echoes Saga. Great classic fantasy series. They are all available on Kindle Unlimited. Just FYI. I too prefer physical copies.

Cassandra Clare does have an infamous history of plagiarism, so you might not be that far off there!

Pairing people up is absolutely a Cassandra Clare thing (fan fiction influence probably). I read The Infernal Devices after reading only the very first Shadowhunter book and I understood it fine. But I'm not an expert on the other series, I checked out of reading CC books after this (ok I read a a couple Magnus Bane stories because he's a great character). Her stuff just doesn't appeal to me. The character from Swordcatcher sounds soo similar to Shades of Magic, for an author known for being accused of plagiarism it's an odd choice. :D

It's ok i once i asked my friend if i can borrow her 'Lisa frank diary'

Saudi here, I do break out in American and British and sometimes French accents. Would do more if I knew how

I really enjoy epistolary novels, but in A Letter to the Luminous Deep I kept getting confused on who was writing to who and if it was from before the people disappeared or after. I DNFed as well. (Not a spoiler, very start of the book you find out they disappear.)

Out of curiosity, why did you end up DNFing A Botanical Daughter? I might have missed it but I didn't see it in the video.

I love her this hair style 🎉🎉❤ hope she knows it to keep putting it on .

I live in the US. Yes, I do random accents all the time. Sometimes Southern, usually Georgia. I'll do Australia or English (no idea where), Scottish... it's really whatever comes out. I'm not sure if I always have control of it at this point.

As a Brit, I definitely do an american accent randomly. Especially whenever I say "It's hot" or oh mah gawd. And sometimes I say water as wahderrr lol

Sucks so much for a botanical daughter, it’s such a pretty cover

I absolutely love my Libby app!

Wow you live in AZ as well. Hope to see you book hunting someday.

I understand I completely agree with you with Loyalty Luke I felt the same way 📖📖📚📚📖📙📙📙📖📙📙📖📖📖📙📖📚📚📖📖📙📖📚📙📙📖📖📖🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

DId I miss why you DNF'd Botanical Daughter? You said you'd explain but I dont think you did? It's one I was interested in reading so now I'm curious lol.

Something tells me Anne Frank wasnt painting sparkly unicorns 😂

I felt very similarly with sword catcher

I totally understand not vibing with a letter to the luminous deep. I love that book 😂. The platonic and romantic letters between the characters ❤❤❤

I haven’t read a Cassandra Clare book for a long time, just after the Shadowhunters tv show she just seemed, like not a nice person, but isn’t she also known for plagiarism?

I'm in Tucson and while it's too hot right now, I'm so curious which library yall went to cause I absolutely want to read to a donkey the next chance I get!

I hate musicals where everything is sang too 😂 I need a breather between songs, otherwise I feel overwhelmed.

YES! Subscribed just for the library shout out!

YES!! All Cassandra Clare does is set up love triangles and every single person just HAS to be INLOVE within 3 chapters. Like nobody is ever single. It’s soooooooo boring and predictable

A letter to the luminous deep love this book and the cover is gorgeous sorry it didn’t work out for you 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞📚📙📙📚📚📙📚📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📚📙📙📙📙📙📖📖📖

I read Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky and really liked it. Was a shorter book and was the first thing I read from him. I think he is like Kingfisher in the respect that you may not like one book but a different one you might enjoy. All that to say, I hope you try something else of his and like it 😊

If ur looking for books that have six of crows vibe i recommend reading there will come a darkness series trilogy. Idk if u have read it yet but not a lot of people seems to talk about it

as somemone coming from the harry potter fandom of 00s hearing somebody not, not accuse cassandra clare of plagiarism is the funniest thing I've heard in the year 2024

I was saving A Botanical Daughter for spooky season but I'm bummed to hear you DNF'd

I'm from the UK and from Somerset (in the South West) me and my friends don't slip into an American accent for jokes or things but we tend to put on an accent from a different part of the UK, usually Northern/Yorkshire or a Bristol accent as we're so close to there but I have a stronger Somerset accent so sometimes they jokingly put on a strong accent like mine

I’m American but break into an Australian accent from time to time lol. I just really like how they sound, and there’s so many British accents that I don’t even bother 🤣

Loyally Luke is the third in a companion series so you may have benefited from reading the others first and seeing more of his personality.

Re the accents, I'm in New Zealand and can confirm among peers there is a lot of breaking out in foreign accents, mostly British or USA Southern. A lot of ALLO GUVNA or YALL COME BACK NOW

I’m from Norway and sometimes we break out in Swedish accents for no reason 😅

yep u sayin u just did not care i knew instantly which book it was.. bc i felt same way when i was reading the last hours trilogy. i have sword catcher special edition from indigo but a few days ago i needed the money so i put it up for sale but it still hasnt sold..bc i bet even tho its adult and not a shadowhunter book i bet that im just not gonna care much about the characters etc and i bet its similarly written to her other YA shadowhunter books which im over with. plus this is a big book and i bet its gonna be a trilogy of big books so dont even wanna bother readin the first.. and yes she does that like u said it seems like she sets up multiple characters to have the hots for multiple characters, like that the 2 guys are both her potential love interest.. yep she does that on the shadowhunter books ughh

❤❤❤

As far as contemporary romances go I think an author who writes the male perspective well is Abby Jimenez, my favorite being Yours Truly.

I read A Letter to the Luminous Deep (NetGalley e-ARC) and it disappointed me. There are other epistolary books that I truly enjoyed, but either they mixed letters and traditional narrative or they were a lot shorter (novella-length, basically). I agree that the different characters were difficult to distinguish because their writing styles were the same. Also, in trying to avoid traditional narration, the author wrote letters that felt forced (e.g. 2 characters meet, but we only hear the details in letters they wrote to each other afterwards). Ultimately, I gave it 3 stars, but I actually think it's more like a 2.5/5. Too bad. I was excited to read speculative fiction taking place in an underwater world.

I also diskiked sword catcher. The entire book was kinda blah until the very end where a specific scene just mad me so freaking angry that I refuse to read anymore of the series

As a born and raised Southerner, when people imitate a Southern accent, it normally turns into mocking real fast. It's put on when they want to sound incompetent or backwards. I'm not a fan of that, despite not having the accent myself as my parents spent most of their lives in southern California. I tend to shy away from any lit about the South unless it's written by a Southerner who won't look down us and our country ways. lol

I’m British and definitely don’t break out 8k to an American accent lol 😂

Lisa Frank? :-)

american here: multiple times throughout the day i'll just randomly say out loud to no one "g'day mate!" someone please tell me you do this as well because my family is starting to become concerned.

Donkeys everywhere? Sounds like my dating life! I remember thinking that City of Stardust felt too YA, and that it made no sense for the MC to have no information when everyone else her age does. And the other world didn’t seem worth saving. Letter to the Luminous Deep is a “cozy fantasy” that I think just had pacing problems. And the way the author tried to cram every single identity into four characters felt offensive after a while, especially because it made it hard to track how anyone was getting together and having kids, without that information/world building given. (This is becoming a trope in other genres that’s hard to talk about, but right now there are a lot of books with queer characters and then a lot of 11th hour tap dancing to explain why so many queer women still had babies with hetero men. I love diversity in my reading, but not when authors cynically check boxes this way, especially in these low-edit paperback-only releases.)

i'm not american i;m from the Balkans and i do randomly do southern and briitsh accents lol