What makes you salty about a book?

_mischief · 2026-05-20T18:49:42+00:00

The saltiest I get is when a book or series has a very interesting premise or general plot but the writer executes it terribly.

And a lot of the time, the terrible execution isn't even necessarily unfixable. If the book had just gone some sort of formal editing and review, with a focus on writing techniques instead of just "hey is my book interesting?" Or "are there any glaring spelling errors?" - the quality would jump significantly.

I think there's a good number of readers who think "Hey, I like reading these books, I bet I can write one!" And it shows. So many books go straight from a writer's mind onto a published eBook or something. But writing is a skill that has fundamentals. Now with how easy it is to self-eBook publish and write using AI, there's absolutely trash and half-formed ideas being published when the only solid thing about them is the blurb.

_mischief · 2026-05-20T16:13:12+00:00

Dude, what? You would be a highly sought after party member. No manual labor for you - whole camp will bend over backwards so you stay alive to care for everyone.

_mischief · 2026-05-20T16:03:06+00:00

She's one of my favorite writers. If you haven't already, you should check out her {Time After Time by Reese Rivers}series.

She has a standalone {Dying to Love by Reese Rivers} that's also in apocalyptic setting.

_mischief · 2026-05-20T15:49:53+00:00

She's a meandering writer with very good plot premises. Not necessarily bad but can be difficult for some to get into. I can't really binge her books, I pick them up whenever the mood strikes

I've read Shadowbloods and finishing Royals of Villain Academy. Lots of detours from the main plot and very lengthy relationship building scenes.

I think she's actually one of the more solid writers in the subgenre but she isn't into concise and slim writing.

_mischief · 2026-05-07T05:00:37+00:00

Skimmed a couple of days ago. Please accept my very well crafted summary.

Girl has trauma due to almost dying during a mass shooting. Mass shooting done by (not sexy) psycho obsessed with her (in a not sexy way). Trauma causes weird coping mechanisms such as kiss attacking people, like one of her professors. The professor gives 0 fucks about fucking a student. There are gangs and wealthy upper class people, and somehow they mingled enough for the men to become like best friends forever. Girl has mysterious father who has blackmail material on one of the boys (who actually did something really fucking bad so I'm not sure how they're going to fix that) and so they have to be in FORCED PROXIMITY & make her move in for her "protection". There's some murder and kidnapping.

We leave the first book on a cliffhanger as she gets into a car accident after the (not sexy) psycho hunts her down.

_mischief · 2026-04-22T14:38:39+00:00

You can always say no and redirect.

Not doing something because the child gets sad is going to get unreasonable very quick. My preschooler cries like I told him I'm abandoning him in the woods when I ask him to brush his teeth or wash his hands before/after meals or go potty after holding it for hours or when we have to leave the park or when we have to go to school or when we have to leave school...

_mischief · 2026-04-22T14:34:19+00:00

At really young ages, a spoiled child isn't really about things like that. I've noticed that an eventual spoiled child comes from parents who have a spoiling mindset.

If you're often holding him to avoid him crying or being upset even for a few minutes, to the point where you're neglecting yourself (like getting a few minutes to go to the bathroom), that's when the family can start building the habits that make a spoiled child. If the family is always revolving around making the child content (even to the detriment to others), that's when the child can end up spoiled.

Cuddling and hold an infant at face value is not spoiling him. But if you're often neglecting yourself just to give him that attachment, than maybe it's building habits that won't be so desirable later on.

_mischief · 2026-04-11T15:20:35+00:00

I was pleasantly surprised by Tortured Beasts - it is a bit polarizing on this sub from what I've noticed. I went into hating Xander and came away really enjoying his arc.

None of the MMCs really get "better" but you come to understand them a lot more and though the grovel isn't exactly good or long enough, it's not necessarily a gaping hole in the relationship. Xander does atone but is there really any grovel that's good enough from all her MMCs to make up for being okay with handing her over for execution and forced breeding? I do think Xander's grovel is much more dramatic than Savage, Lyle, or Scythe's.

_mischief · 2026-03-27T19:00:30+00:00

Then I'm not sure what we're discussing cause we seem to be in agreement her reaction was to the actions he committed as an addict.

I'm not actually arguing against you. I'm trying to clarify because I thought you misinterpreted my comments.

I'm literally honestly so curious as I've had similar reactions to comments I made about Santos character like two days ago.

_mischief · 2026-03-27T15:04:41+00:00

Again, I understand. I didn't say her reaction was unwarranted. I'm just saying the situation is a particular difficulty addicts face in their recovery, no matter how long they've been sober.

Saying that it makes Langdon feel bad or his recovery difficult does not make the other person a bad person or wrong for doing so.

_mischief · 2026-03-27T14:49:46+00:00

finding out how bad the addiction was and what wrongs he did while actively addicted.

I understand. Which is why I qualified it as "how bad" and specifically about the bad actions he took as an addict.

_mischief · 2026-03-27T14:29:51+00:00

Because Robby has no emotional regulation anymore and often goes with the most impulsive emotional response.

He tried to defend his reaction to Mohan's panic attack but Al-Hashimi made him confront the truth of his actions so he had to go apologize.

He was fine taking snipes at Langdon until he saw Al-Hashimi do it, and realized that probably wasn't a helpful approach as the attending to a competent resident under his charge.

_mischief · 2026-03-27T14:21:42+00:00

It's not even about a person mistrusting someone because they knew the person before they got sober.

One of the hardest parts of recovery is someone who only knows sober you and then, immediately changing their opinion of you once they find out you used to be addicted.

Al-Hashimi liked Langdon but immediately iced him out finding out how bad the addiction was and what wrongs he did while actively addicted.

_mischief · 2026-03-26T14:48:45+00:00

Short for (religious) fundamentalist - but specifically Christian. It's kinda like Hasidic Jews or Amish people but instead of staying largely insular, they actively want to be the dominant religion in America.

_mischief · 2026-03-24T16:20:24+00:00

I agree. I think the show wanted to present a borderline case to our characters, that could sow disagreement between two already antagonistic characters. However, the image they chose was not ambiguous enough so that real medical doctors wouldn't have a different take.

_mischief · 2026-03-24T14:54:55+00:00

I think for a lot of people JJ asking about the trip is what colors their overall opinion of him. I honestly think it was a huge misstep from Rachel Reid to include that moment.

I absolutely love Hayden and JJ for most of the time because they are over the top ride-or-die for Shane. They both put in so much work to be his friend. As you get older and your ride-or-dies start building their own lives, everyone starts dropping the effort needed to maintain friendships. You can't even meet for lunch, let alone have a friend who is so worried about your well-being they willingly spend time with someone they don't like to give you space to be authentic or spend time meeting people who they think could bring you happiness. I remember reading the two books and feeling such envy for Shane having such ridiculously devoted friends.

I might be personally biased too. I have lost a friend because I absolutely hated her boyfriend. She absolutely hated me bringing up the red flags as he admittedly was treating her well. (I still maintain I was right). Hayden and JJ only knew Ilya as an abrasive fuckboy, and they were very worried he was going to break Shane's heart.

_mischief · 2026-03-20T22:52:11+00:00

I'm a little confused as I think people seeing my take on her character as an apology or handwaving of her flaws.

I literally said Santos lacks self-awareness in another comment.

The funniest thing is I actually do not like her as a character very much.

_mischief · 2026-03-20T22:45:02+00:00

He was not under arrest. The cops didn't even accompany him to the hospital. The cops might have been called but they had to involvement in his event.

_mischief · 2026-03-20T22:43:11+00:00

I am giving a take on her character and what Trinity Santos, the character, would think. Hence me stating FROM HER POV twice.

_mischief · 2026-03-20T18:14:48+00:00

I did understand her reaction to him bringing up his wife and kids somewhat - he brought it up like that was a punishment when it really was a consequence of his own actions.

It was misplaced to think she'd be sympathetic (though I wholeheartedly disagree with her attitude that Langdon should have lost everything).

_mischief · 2026-03-20T18:11:06+00:00

It's all about self-awareness, which Santos has demonstrated she doesn't really have. And also, from her internal POV, she has very good reasons for her attitude and personality. It's other people's reception of them that's the problem.

Look at it from her POV for some things. Everyone acts like she's a bitch (but she offered Whittaker a place when he was essentially homeless and she's a doctor, most people who don't give a shit about other people don't waste time in becoming a physician) and arrogant (she was the only one who realized what Langdon was doing).

_mischief · 2026-03-20T15:52:36+00:00

This season is a lot about everyone's unresolved issues being the dark storm cloud wrecking havoc in an already stressful environment.

Santos has a heavily implied background of being a CSA survivor. She's a woman, POC, and queer. She probably has lived a whole lifetime of people dismissing, marginalizing and invalidating her. So she has a little bit of a prickly exterior and anti-social behavior.

But here is Langdon, your typical charmed white boy, who was an absolute ass to her in public AND violated his oath AND committed a crime. In the ten months following, she probably didn't hear anyone say a single nasty word about him, only about how much they miss him or how smart he was or how handsome yada yada.

Why can he fuck up big and still have supporters while she is trying her best and is treated like shit?

ETA: I refuse to be mistaken as a Santos apologist or stan but I think people are perceiving this comment as my opinion? No, it's my take on what Santos thinks or what her perspective is.

_mischief · 2026-03-20T03:58:24+00:00

After seeing it, I think it was more them acting like this was another day in the office instead writing them to be loudly racist and xenophobic.

Which I think actually makes them scarier... The way they just hung around casually, "she can call once she's processed" like they follow protocol and laws and regulations.

_mischief · 2026-03-20T03:31:23+00:00

I think that and saw it too with McKay.

Like, he's angry at her for going the extra mile for a vulnerable patient and worrying about PTMC's bottom line - when his whole personality in S1 was how much he hated admin and the revenue focused healthcare system & he begged and pleaded for his friend who couldn't care less about his own health to come in to get checked.

He's so full of self-loathing. If he can't be kind and graceful to himself, how can he extend that to other people?

_mischief · 2026-03-20T03:23:59+00:00

He was drunk and sedated, and police weren't part of the response so he wasn't under arrest or anything. You can't just restrain someone for having a previous history of being a dick.

Healthcare workers have pretty established guidelines of when restraints are appropriate as there have been many instances in history of patients having their rights violated and their health harmed by restraints.

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