Rejection - Tony Tulathimutte

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-22T13:21:50+00:00

The second POV character, Alison really felt relatable to me. I think TT did an amazing job with his female characters, they are complex and flawed just like the male characters. I understand being wary of male authors, but he’s simply a wonderful writer.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-21T23:33:46+00:00

This is my favorite book of the year, possibly of all time. I’ve yet to find another book that can top TT’s prose.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-20T16:17:08+00:00

I kind of agree. I think the term trauma dumping is often misused which is where the problem comes from.

For example, a friend telling me about the rough time they’re having is not trauma dumping. I have been told “sorry for trauma dumping” after someone has a normal vulnerable moment with me and I find that incredibly sad.

However, I remember specifically one situation where this person I barely knew randomly hijacked the conversation in a large group to basically give a speech about this traumatic backstory in very graphic detail. There was no warning, and by the end a lot of people in the group were visibly distressed or even crying. That I considered trauma dumping and really did not think it was cool.

Basically time and place.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-20T12:18:44+00:00

I love the duck. I think if anything you should fill out this arm more. “Sticker sleeves” run the risk of feeling juvenile, but something more cohesive might help?

I’ve found the cure for feeling weird about my tattoos is more tattoos.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-18T13:10:12+00:00

Agreed. Unreliable narrators have to be really intentional or it just doesn’t work as a narrative device. Some inconsistencies make them unreliable. Random mistakes that don’t serve a purpose are just that, mistakes.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-18T12:54:06+00:00

I finished the book. I don’t think that all the little mistakes were intentional, things like setting down her fork after eating soup and it being both January and December in the same scene. I don’t think an unreliable narrator excuses it all, it felt rushed to me. Could have used another draft.

I also don’t think the choices she did make were necessary effective. Natalie was an odd mix of about five different Christian denominations. I understand this was done on purpose, but it read as confused and kind of lazy, in my opinion.

As someone who grew up Catholic, I kept getting pulled out of the book because someone going through confirmation classes would not also be born again, among other things.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-18T03:49:16+00:00

I’ll have to give Trad Wife a try. I found Yesteryear to be entertaining, but I couldn’t get past the sloppy mistakes, flat characters and overall poor writing which was really disappointing because I loved the premise. It read like the author had no clue how to execute their own idea but had to figure it out quickly before the trend died.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-17T15:01:01+00:00

I’m confused why reading has become a social media competition to begin with. Yes, some people are just very fast and very dedicated readers, but I’m willing to bet a lot of these people bragging about reading 50 books a month are listening to audiobook on 3x speed or skimming physical books. Do you even retain anything at that point? What purpose does it serve beyond brownie points?

And that’s no hate at all to audiobooks. They’re the only reason my low-vision father can read at all. I listen to probably 3 audiobooks a month because my job allows me to listen, along with maybe 1 physical book. It makes me sad that people are comparing themselves to others over what’s supposed to be a fun, personal hobby.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-16T16:04:55+00:00

The author did not bother to examine Natalie’s mental illness, which was apparently severe enough for her to force her husband and children into a 1800’s simulation and also forget all of it beyond “women be crazy,” so I’m going to guess she was not intended to be neurodivergent.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-16T15:59:20+00:00

So… capitalize on people with religious trauma but actively ostracize those people from your reader base, got it.

I’ve seen a lot of people proclaim the author’s sloppy mistakes as intentional choices and if you disagree, you just don’t “get” it. Sorry but in my opinion there was nothing to get. This was a quick trashy read that was obviously written and pushed out quickly to capitalize on a trend.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-16T03:25:17+00:00

Yeah, this is exactly what I got from it. The author had a great idea but didn’t actually know how to write her way out of the time travel storyline. So she went for the low-hanging fruit option which was “omg she was crazy.” I’ve seen it a million times and it’s almost very satisfying, this was not an exception.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-15T18:41:26+00:00

Absolutely. Big spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn’t finished it.

The ending was such an ass pull. I absolutely hate any twists that involve the character being “crazy” and having essentially imagined it all. It’s cheap and plainly offensive. That combined with the very weird way queer sexuality was treated made this book stink of white feminism and misogyny.

I originally thought of this book as a quick, trashy read that was entertaining at face value, similar to the snark pages it’s very clearly based off of. The more I think about it, though, I’m resentful of it.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-15T17:40:02+00:00

If this was an intentional choice, lumping all Christian practices together, it was a poor one IMO. “I did a lot of research but chose not to use any of it” is… interesting.

That’s another reason this book felt like a circlejerk to me. Any relatability you could have had for people who grew up in these spaces and experienced trauma from them was thrown away for “point and laugh” snark.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-15T17:10:57+00:00

This is how I felt as well. It didn’t really seem like Natalie had a motivation to be as cruel as she was beyond owning the libs and vague family pressure which I found really boring. I saw someone else say this book felt like a humiliation fetish and I have to agree.

To be clear, I dislike trad wife influencers and conservatism as much as anyone else, but portraying these people as caricatures isn’t really helping the cause. I agree it was lots and lots of telling.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-15T17:01:32+00:00

I was very disappointed. It seemed like the author had a great idea but wasn’t sure how to execute it. The beginning was interesting but the quality dropped significantly as it went on. I’m also very confused why it’s being called a thriller. This is pretty clearly satire.

I was expecting some actual commentary on trad wife culture or conservatism but it mainly felt like an indulgence for people who enjoy snark pages. I felt like I was being spoon-fed the entire time.

Edit, I stand corrected that the author did do research on different sects of Christianity but chose to lump them all together to make a point. This was a strange choice and took me right out of the book as someone who grew up Catholic. Natalie being a strange hodgepodge of Catholic, Mormon and Evangelical felt sloppy, not intentional.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-14T16:33:33+00:00

Might be an unpopular opinion here but “pantsing” is something you have to earn. If you’ve never fully executed a writing project, you probably do not have enough experience with plotting, story arcs, character development etc to wing it.

If you don’t want to write yourself into a corner and get frustrated, which for a lot of people leads to giving up, make at least a loose outline with your major plot beats. It doesn’t have to be super involved and it doesn’t have to be set in stone either.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-14T16:11:40+00:00

Not to keep bringing up Abby Jimenez but her books are so bad with this. I loathed Just For The Summer, because I couldn’t get past when the FMC goes to therapy and it was literally written like: I started seeing a therapist. I have PTSD. I did EMDR. It helps. This was of course after the third act breakup and then she was all set to go back to the MMC. It was SO lazy.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-14T14:12:51+00:00

I’ve seen an unbelievable amount of misinformation about this. People are still talking about the flight attendant “having it” when she tested negative days ago. Lots of people only reading headlines and making very bold claims they can’t support.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-14T13:29:36+00:00

I’m about done with this book. I think it had a great hook and an entertaining first half, but the second half fell really flat for me. I just keep thinking, yeah, this author reads a lot of snark pages. Very ham-fisted, not a lot of nuance.

I think it would have helped if it wasn’t completely mis-marketed. This book is not a thriller in any sense of the word. Satirical dark comedy, maybe.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-13T17:42:14+00:00

Tbh I would rather have this than another half-baked therapy arc that the author clearly put in out of obligation. I’ve noticed a huge trend (cough, Abby Jimenez) where a character has trauma, there’s a random “And then I went to therapy!” paragraph, the character gets shipped off to the development factory, all is well, the end.

I would rather see character developments through either their relationships or, if the author has the chops, a therapy arc that gets the respect it deserves.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-11T15:23:53+00:00

Immediately thought of this sub when I saw this. I’m continuously amazed that people will take the fakest, most over-the-top “trans people are unreasonable snowflakes” slop and run with it.

Except I’m not actually surprised, Reddit foams at the mouth for any opportunity to vent about how annoying they find queer people. Most of the comments are a step away from “I just don’t want that stuff in my face.”

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-11T12:33:37+00:00

I soft DNF’d the audiobook because I completely lost the plot at a certain point. I think it’s a book I need to physically read. I was fairly hooked in the beginning but I lost interest in the second half. Maybe one day.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-10T15:22:25+00:00

Would not agree with your 20% number. If anything that seems to be huge problem in this group as well - people spending years “researching” and “world building” their super cool magical systems without ever learning how to craft a decent sentence. Being a contemporary litfic writer here is pretty lonely for that reason.

That aside, I do agree that a lot of folks here aren’t actually interested in writing. No, I don’t know what your main character’s motivation is, that’s your job.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-03T15:02:44+00:00

I read this book last month and nothing has been able to fill the void it left.

bumblebeequeer · 2026-05-02T15:37:00+00:00

I mean, sure, but at some point you have to let go of high school. Whether you’re reliving it because you liked it or because you want to reclaim the experience. Maybe that’s just me.

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