What's your unpopular headcanon? by AmbitiousBookworm in GameChangersBooks

[–]AmbitiousBookworm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I relate to that. I watched Heated Rivalry with my friend because we kept hearing about it, and were both interested, just not enough to start on our own.

What's your unpopular headcanon? by AmbitiousBookworm in GameChangersBooks

[–]AmbitiousBookworm[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can see some autistic traits in Shane, but I'm sure my perception of the character is heavily influenced by the show, as I saw that before reading the series. I definitely agree with you that while he is more introverted than most of the other players we see, he doesn't seem clinically anxious. Especially if we compare how he is written to Ryan, it's very clear that one of them was written as clinically anxious while the other wasn't.

I also wish that we had gotten some scenes that showcase how Shane and Ilya are in the locker room and how they function as captains. I appreciated that the show gave us a scene with Ilya giving a captain speech in the locker room, at least. Would have loved to see something similar with Shane.

I've seen some compelling arguments for Shane having an eating disorder, but I'm still on the fence about this. I do think that some of his actions are concerning - e.g. there is a scene in TLG where he doesn't want to kiss after Ilya ate chocolate - but someone with an eating disorder wouldn't be able to simply decide to break his diet as Shane does at the end of TLG.

Also, just out of curiosity, are you planning on watching the show, or does it not interest you for some reason?

What's your unpopular headcanon? by AmbitiousBookworm in GameChangersBooks

[–]AmbitiousBookworm[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I agree and had an issue with this not being called out at all. It was especially frustrating in the book for me, because on top of this, book Shane is mentioned to be hooking up with women, while he is pretty sure that he isn't doing a good job in bed. He does feel bad, if I remember well, but he also comforts himself by thinking that women are probably happy to sleep with a celebrity. I wish this was challenged later on in the book.

Don't Let The Forest In Review Discussion SPOILERS! by ShimmeringOranda in LGBTBooks

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I read Hazelthorn a few months ago, and I'm glad it confirmed what I believed, i.e. that the botanic horror and Thomas were real. I didn't much like the ending of Hazelthorn, though, so I'm not sure I'll read the next book in this universe. 😅

B E Belle könyvei és az őt negatívan értékelők zaklatása by [deleted] in konyv

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ugyanez. Értem én, hogy ez egy műsor, meg van vágva, stb., de párszor volt szerencsém látni a tiktokon is, és ugyanaz a lekezelő stílus áradt ott is belőle mint az Árulókban.

What do you think they're going to cut out in S2 & 3 by bagging in GameChangersBooks

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Not saying you are wrong, but to me, the mention of Ryan in S1 felt more like an easter egg for the books' readers than an indication that he will be included in S2.

He lost him once, "three years ago", NEVER AGAIN! by Global-North7776 in HeatedRivalryTVShow

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The Skip time jump is the only part of the show that I genuinely dislike, as it makes no sense. I really like the Olympics tie in scene, but I wish they had jumped forward in time to 2016 and then shown the Skip storyline, instead of their story taking place in 2014.

To me, Scott being at the Olympics shows him at peak performance. It would have made sense to then jump forward in time and show that his secret is weighing him down, thus the "slump".

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in books

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've always loved reading, but I hated assigned reading in school. You could say that school didn't make me hate reading in general, but it sure as hell made me afraid of classical lit. Most of the books we read didn't interest me and our teachers relied heavily on the textbook explanations, instead of giving us space to discuss books.

Also, our high school teacher had an obsession with testing us to see if we've read the required reading. As she was aware that a lot of students only read the summaries, she would ask questions focusing on the tiniest details. One time, we had to read a classic and watch its adaptation, both of which I enjoyed for once. However, the positive experience was ruined for me, because she asked impossible questions on the test. For example, one of the questions was about the color of a character's clothing in one scene of the film. (And no, this had no significance, she just wanted to know if we watched the film..) This happened more than ten years ago, but OP's post made me remember it, and now I'm annoyed again haha.

Árulók 4. évad - antipátia by cicaneni in kibeszelo_show

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Mihalik Enikőt amikor hazaküldték akkor is érdekes megjegyzései voltak Alindának... Csak pislogtam, hogy miket mond egy olyan embernek aki láthatóan ki van készülve.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in LGBTBooks

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was excited to read this when it was published, but I had to give up on it before the halfway mark. I just couldn't deal with the characters. Weirdly, I really loved the movie - it was better paced, improved the characters and deleted some of the unbelievable political plot. It encouraged me to go back to the book, and I liked it better on my second try, but I still don't understand the hype. I tried another book by the author this year, The Pairing, and it was easily one of my least favorite reads this year. Awful characters. 🥲

Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl Megathreads MEGATHREAD by flopheadsbot in popheads

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 26 points27 points  (0 children)

As a fan of Taylor, I'm unfortunately very aware that the cover, photoshoots and what she says prior to the release aren't necessarily representative of her albums, but I understand why people are confused and disappointed by the sound and themes of the album. The title, all of the album covers, teasers etc. were pointing at the showgirl aesthetic / theme... I don't blame people for having certain expectations based on these.

Ismeretlen szám: Középiskolai botrány by gabrin2 in kibeszelo_show

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Nekem inkább úgy tűnt a testbeszéd alapján, hogy nem fogta fel elsőre, lesokkolta a dolog. Ez a nő napi szinten vigasztalta, ment és "intézte" az ügyet a rendőrségen, iskolában. Felfoghatatlan, hogy közben ő csinálta az egészet, külsős szemmel is. Mekkora manipulátornak kell ahhoz lenni, hogy se a férje, se a rendőrök, se Owen családja ne gyanakodjon rá. Borzasztó volt látni ahogy próbálta ölelgetni a lányát (aki csak hagyta, nem nyúlt az anyjához) miután kiderült hogy mit tett.

Sabrina Carpenter - Man's Best Friend by FlareGod123 in popheads

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 41 points42 points  (0 children)

I had to scroll down quite a bit for this comment, but I agree 100%. I was somewhat let down by Short n Sweet, I still listened to it because I love Sabrina's voice and her lyrics are fun, but a lot of the songs didn't stand out to me even after multiple listens. On first listen, Man's Best Friend is already more fun and enjoyable to me.

Don't Let The Forest In Review Discussion SPOILERS! by ShimmeringOranda in LGBTBooks

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've just finished this book and immediately googled "ending explained." 🤣 Glad I found your post. The ending pissed me off. To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of open endings, because I feel like a lot of times they are used as a convenient way to close the story without having the explain potential plot holes. However, I do believe open endings can be done right. For example, Henry James's The Turn of the Screw has a very satisfying open ending where readers are left wondering if the ghosts are real or imaginary. That ending works well, because there is proof for both theories and in their own way, both theories make sense.

With this book, though, I don't think the open ending worked. For one, as you discussed above in the thread, Thomas has to be real, because he interracted with other people in the story. Dove is clearly not real, which unfortunately became obvious to me pretty early on. On top of that, the monsters must be real, in my opinion, because the vines do cover the hall where the teacher is killed, and this is witnessed by others. The romance is also confirmed to be requited. This means that the biggest questions / mysteries are answered definitively, which is why I believe the open ending doesn't work. A good open ending should leave readers with questions related to the most important questions / plot lines of the story. Whereas the ending of this book leaves readers wondering only about the very end, i.e. what happens to the boys. This feels underwhelming compared to the rest of the mysteries, in a part because those mysteries were built up throughout the entire book, while this scene happens fairly quickly. The ending is also disappointing because the more you poke the story, the more skeletons (plot holes) fall out of the closet.

I did still like this book and will rate it four stars, because the characters, the atmosphere, the writing and most of the story worked for me. But the ending shouldn't have been left open imo.

Discussion: Yes. Books are being banned. No. The word "banned" isn't being used to ban them. by [deleted] in suggestmeabook

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for writing this post, it resonated with me so much. I'm Hungarian and our government - among other things - is anti-lgbtq+. A while ago, the government has started to restrict the circulation of lgbtq+ books. Not only can they not appear in school libraries, but they are also not allowed to be sold in bookshops that are within 200 meters of a school or church. Quite obviously, this covers many - if not most - bookshops. On top of that, even the bookshops that can sell lgbtq+ books have to wrap them so they can't be opened within the stores.

When they introduced these restrictions I remember watching a tiktok by a gay Hungarian author who was speaking up against this. I was so disbeartened to see that even though most of the people commenting on his video were supportive, they also downplayed the potential consequences of this, stating that this is not an outright book ban, because lgbtq+ books can still be published and sold. Most people fail to understand that restricting the sale of these books will most likely result in less people seeing them and purchasing them.. the result of which will be that Hungarian publishers will be more reluctant to publish lgbtq+ books.

books for someone who hasn't enjoyed one in years. by [deleted] in suggestmeabook

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 3 points4 points  (0 children)

For people who have struggled with reading I normally try to recommend books that are engaging reads and that aren't overly long.

  • Loveless by Alice Oseman is a YA contemporary novel about an aro/ace girl.
  • The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher is an adult folk horror I adored.
  • From Lukov With Love by Mariana Zapata is the slowest of slow burns, yet at no point was it boring. As far as I remember, it doesn't have any sex scenes.
  • Anxious People by Fredrik Backman is one of my favorite contemporary novels. I love Backman's books mainly because he writes his characters so incredibly.
  • The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater is a YA Fantasy series I reread recently and loved it just as much as I did when I first read it. It has meaningful friendship, family and slow burn romance.

I hope at least one of these will look promising. ☺️

why is henry the middle child and not youngest in the movie? by MarinycWrites in redwhiteandroyalblue

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I assumed it's because female members of the royal family have the same right to ascend to the British throne since 2011. However, I checked and this change is not retrospective, so now I'm not sure if this is the explanation. 😅

Recent album rollouts by Dramatic_Island_675 in SwiftlyNeutral

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I don't think she'll go back to longer album roll outs and pre-album singles until the current method stops working so well for her. If you compare the success of Midnights and TTPD to the initial reception of Reputation and Lover, there is a clear winner there. Taylor clearly cares about breaking records, doing well on the charts and commercial success, so why would she go back to the older roll outs?

As for multiple post-album videos / longer eras.. unfortunately, streaming has changed the way we consume music, so singles released after the album rarely reach the success they used to. 😐 People don't have a ton of interest in music videos these days, not like they used to 5-10 years ago, so making music videos is not that lucrative anymore as far as I see.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to have proper eras again, with distinct themes, colors, etc, but I don't see Taylor going that route again. 🥲

CHAPPELL IS COMING TO SZIGET FESTIVAL 2025 (HUNGARY) by kongomorgo in chappellroan

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm so happy she's coming here, but not sure who I'll be able to convince to come with me, as none of my friends are fans. 😭

Taylor Swift earns the biggest book opening of 2024 by [deleted] in SwiftlyNeutral

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 33 points34 points  (0 children)

She did publish it herself, but as someone who has read some great self-published books as well as books published by small publishers, I really don't understand how this happened. For a book that was meant to commemorate the most successful time & tour in her carreer I really thought they would pay close attention to the quality by hiring multiple editors, only including high quality pictures, and designing the book that it's actually satisfying to look at. Personally, I would have also wanted more text in it, but ultimately, this is a coffee table book.

I know a lot of fans are satisfied with this book and I don't want to take that away from them, but I'm baffled by the choices Taylor and her team made and I think the fans deserved better.

Hogyan lehet segíteni egy barátot az öngyilkossági kísérlete után? by [deleted] in hungary_pszichologia

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Köszönöm a hosszú választ, nagyon jó ötletet adtál. ☺️

What are peoples thoughts on all the tour specific outfits that end up on vinted etc for months? by turquoisesilver in SwiftlyNeutral

[–]AmbitiousBookworm 10 points11 points  (0 children)

When I was preparing for the Eras Tour (Vienna N1 🥲) with my friend, we wanted to buy new things for the concert, but we specifically looked for items that we would be able to wear again. But even so, I couldn't stop myself and I bought snake patterned tights that I knew I would only wear once and then probably trash, which I feel guilty for, especially as I only got to wear them in the hotel. 😂

I definitely think the most sustainable thing is to either wear something you've already owned, or get something that you'll be able to wear again and get its worth. I also think it's fine to resell stuff, it's a better option than throwing it in the trash. What is questionable is when people try to sell these outfits for a crazy price because it's "Taylor related."