This is a minus 15 on my scale of minus 15 to plus 5.
I must visit the YouTuber before I begin.. This is made possible by Doctor Who/They Break My Heart, National Centre for Military Intelligence, Red Glasgow, Keffals, Gingers are Black, LuckyBlackCat, Anark, Dark Side of Russia, Welcome to Ukraine, Amie's Literary Empire, ScaredKetchup, Philosophy Tube, Viva La Dirt League, Cruising the Cut, Candid with Lubna, Seizure Girl,
Ukraine Matters, Silicon Curtain, Sanctioned Ivan, UATV English, The Leftist Cooks, Emma Thorne. Fit 2B Read, NFKRZ, Shades of Orange, Welcome to Ukraine, Ben and Emily, Bobbing Along, Cruising Crafts, Reads With Rachel, Kyiv Independent, ThePrimeChronus, Guard the Leaf.
Kathy's Flog from France, Cruising Alba, Boat Time, Just in Time Worldbuilding, Haylo Hayley, NiNi Music, Captured in Words, Tom Nicholas, Times Radio, NerdForge, Living Anachronism, Kelly Loves Physics and History, Sailing Melody, Bryony Claire, Books N Cats, Haropones, Leena Norms, JohnTheDuncan, Lily Simpson, Reese Waters, The British Museum, The Enemy from Within, Ship Happens,
History of Everything, Not Even Emily, Meghan Sandor, Gutsick Gibbon, Planarwalker, Ben G Thomas, Dr Becky, Megalithhunter, The Cosy Creative, Geo Girl, Books & Borders, SciFi Scavenger, OrangeRiver, Jen the Librarian, Sumatha Reads Books, Atun Shei Films, Anda Kent, Jessie Gender, Fun Size Reader, BobbyBroccoli, Kaz Rowe, Caelan Conrad, Riverboat Jack, Lily Alexandre, Dark Brandon.
I recently saw one Village Idiot who whilst insulting an essayist I reference, complain to her that I list other trans channel creators.
After the last US election, I no longer question the nastiness of Snowflakes (demented, poorly socialised US baby-men). A trigger warning then.
The channels which I list include the economist, miniatures painter, cis, French, mathematician, sewist, marine biologist, asexual, homesteader, blond, fashion historian, physicist, bi, pensioner, Pakistani, socialist, language historian, lumber yard worker, trans, redhaired, primatologist, military boardgamer, WOC, intersex, New Zealander, mathematician, artist, miniatures builder, writer, queer, boat restorer, tall, farmer, journalist, engineer, het, Canadian, space exploration historian, camper van, archaeologist and other creators known as Women.
Almost as threatening are channels which include the communist, neurodivergent, Kenyan, paleontologist, other BIPOC, philosopher, miniatures landscape builder, other boardgamer, film critic, Cornish, logician, other LGBTQI+, ginger, chess theorist, game historian, Australian, chemist, wood worker, short, anarchist, anthropologist, tailor, military analyst, chemist, science communicator, other fashion historian, miniatures wargamer, Ukrainian, game historian, boater and other crewtors known (outside the US) as Human Beings.
If the voices insist, I urge that you seek emergency pastoral counselling and/or the nearest Shinto temple and/or learn a new language, English perhaps.
My feelings towards these failed adults mirrors those of the 13 Ukrainian marines defending Snake Island, when the Russian navy demanded their surrender. Their response was "Russian warship, go f@ck yourself". Glory to Ukraine. Glory to the Heroes. Crimea is Ukraine.
Unto the book, dear friends. This is typical low fantasy or perhaps bad romance with werewolf, vampire and other supernatural characters. I dropped the book at 10%.
There was no trace of personality anywhere on the page.
The misogyny began with the heroine on page one or two moaning about being dumped by her handsome boyfriend for a bigger breasted, man stealer. Her ex-boyfriend is only described as hotness and body build. Her view of relationships and/or women is problematic.
The woman hating women is a staple in these books and at best lazy writing which also reinforces identity self-hate. That is unpleasant story writing for me but it might work for the target audience. In any case, I feel that it is unhealthy practice.
When I read her meeting a thug-like "Alpha" werewolf with less grace than a sport hooligan, I was burned out. This exhibited the closest thing to real feelings in the book up to that point. I do not know if there was a plot.
The cartoon book covers and the YA label are very dangerous. Adult erotica being marketed to pre or early teens as example of normal behaviour is worrying.
I saw disturbing literacy numbers for the US. 52% of US readers between 16 and 74 years of age read BELOW the sixth grade level which I think is 11 or 12 years old. The US romance genre has an average eleven year old reading level, which makes sense now. Sadly the mass of speculative fiction seems written at the nine to ten year old level, which also makes sense.
That 11 or 12 year level marks the beginnings of critical thought.
I have earned a mental reset on the YouTube. This next is courtesy of Doctor Who/Without Reward, Puddles Pity Party, Combat Veteran News, The Gaze, Girls Rock Asia, Ship Happens, Mythology and Fiction Explained, Hej Sokoly, Anna from Ukraine, Asturia Quartet, Verilybitchie, The Ritual Kitchen with Laura May,
Tanya Fiona, Library Ladder, Terrible Writing Advice, Belle Teresa, Annamarie Forcino, Nikki Carreon, Raw News and Politics, Hoots, Delamer, Maggie Mae Fish, NerdForge, Interior Design Hub, Answer in Progress, Dami Lee, Jay Exci, Read With Cindy, Dan Davis History,
Strange Aeons, Mythic Concepts, Just in Time Worldbuilding, Veritas et Caritas, Cover in French, No Justice, Patrick(H)Willem, Narrowboat Pirate, Tank Encyclopedia, Broken Peach, Library of a Viking, Lily Simpson, SciFi Odyssey,
Amanda the Jedi, Drama Kween, Spacedock, D'Angelo, Rebecca Watson, Bitchuation Room, Belle of the Ranch, Northern Narrowboaters, Widebeam and Wellingtons, fig tree, Benn Jordan,
LydLoves, AllShorts, Neida Teresa, Wednesday Addams -Paint it Black, Sanctioned Ivan, Joe Blogs, Unlearning Economics, The New Enlightenment with Ashley, The Bands of HM Royal Marines, HBomberGuy, League of STEAM, Aid Thompsin, Hardcover Podcast,
Jake Broe, Kris Atomic, Bobbing Along, Ben and Emily, Agro Squirrel Narrates, Fantasy and World Music by the Fletchers, Classics with Damien Walter, Paleo Analysis, Natasha's Adventures, Invicta, JuLingo, Geo Girl, Media is Fay, Shar Henley,
Darkest Hour Reads, JingXuan, Daily Soak, Not Even Emily, Engineering with Rosie, Xiran Jay Zhao, Kings and Generals, Tale Foundry, Ember Green, Haropones, ScFi Odyssey, Leena Norms, Kozak Muzon, ATP Geopolitics, Hello Future Me, JammiDodger.
Consider treating this as a hostile site. 🤔
Goodreads discourse does not exist. As example, I wrote a short negative review of Powers of the Earth written by Travis Corcoran which was formerly touted on Kindle as similar to the "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress". Powers is a poor retelling of "Atlas Shrugged" set on the moon. It is so far different to Heinlein as to convince me that Kindle/Goodreads staff are functionally illiterate.
Travis self-described as libertarian (now anarcho capitalist without millions), veteran, advocate for the return of chattel slavery (popular US stance with new forced labour prisons for the homeless, van and RV residents being completed to no outcry and US history suggests generational servitude is on the cards), employee of an unnamed US agency and avid admirer of Putin (popular with MAGA and the current government).
The book's plot is the tale of a courageous newly rich twat attempting overthrow of the US government with the aid of the military in order that he not pay taxes. Despite being a popular libertarian fantasy in Unlimited, my communist opinion was/is that these books are dangerous, unhealthy and now prophetic.
My opinion incensed the writer and six fellow "patriots", who went mental over a year.
There were pages of comments, none which discussed the book's quality. The same was true of the favourable reviews, when I was Allowed to read them.
I was gifted a new understanding of the social good that is slavery, chided for the display of narcissism inherent in my lack of response, instructed in the correct form of review, my intellectual deficiency and more of the typical.
If they had delivered an informed opinion of the problem of galaxies appearing older than cosmology is able to explain, reading those might have been worth time. They did not and it was not. The irony involved was painful.
A final comment was written by Claes Rees Jr aka cgr710 now ka Clayton R Jesse Jr. He after referencing the contents of my last Goodreads message exchange with a friend, declared that They had "won" (?).
It seems that They and many allies managed to attack every female creator of channels which I mentioned. it continues still.
The physicist, early teen boater and her mother, primatologist, astrophysicist among other female creators were neither impressed nor charmed by the attentions of Snowflakes (arrogantly ignorant, proudly misogynistic US baby-men).
On balance, the world's overabundance of unpleasantness was certainly increased and They did deliver a wonderful self-portrait of the snowflake (poorly educated, poorly socialised US man-child) to a multinational audience. This was Victory.
Goodreads discourse, while exciting may not be to your liking. Fortunately there are BookTubers to direct the reader to safer, saner and more useful reader forums.
Another stepaway earned. The following made possible by YouTube's Doctor Who\ Never Cruel or Cowardly, Claus Kellerman POV, Owen Jones, Jess Owens, Red Viburnam Song, Rebecca Romney, Amie's Literary Empire, Charlie Angus, The Cosy Creative, The Gaze, Leeja Miller, Biz, Tom Nicholas, Camily Balbo, Philosophy Tube, Munecat, The Closet Historian, Shannon Makes, Weir on the Move, Global Updates with Sosan,
The Authentic Observer, Kady2.0, The Researcher, Caerhl Irey, Lisa McLeod, Scallydandling About the Books, Acollierastro, Lynn Saga, Ellie Dashwood, Bernadette Banner, Shannon Makes, Break and Remake, Kirkpattiecake, Sabine Hossenfelder, Books and Things, Clouds and Sky, Parkrose Permaculture, Belinda Strnad, Carl Duncan, Esther Natakunda, FAFO.
Ominous Music begins. 😊 A scan of comments to negative reviews in the Goodreads speculative fiction space should demonstrate the prevalence of the comment gangs. From certain of the better BookTubers (Authors Behaving Badly, for example), a sense of the same is seen in romance and romantasy.
Their activities include the doxxing, stalking, threatening, hacking and more. Amazon do not acknowledge incidents, discipline mad members, punish writers who encourage Them or dismiss the employees who enable either. They do however label criticism of ableist, racist, misogynistic or other anti-human elements in books "Hate Speech". It is become the US definition.
The attack streams against my formerly mild, disappointed reviews began within the first six months on the site. It required more than two years to realise what was happening and why. The above stream was fairly standard for mine and other negative reviews until the Australian Intervention.
Kindle/Goodreads gave my meagre message history over to these deranged members. The result was a request through Pine Gap Centre of Australian Intelligence to interrogate the one friend whom I occasionally messaged.
The attempt at my history failed. This criminal action bothered Amazon not at all until we began publicising the event. No acknowledgement, instead my page format and options were returned to normal, all lurkers whom I had not been Permitted to remove were disappeared and other Goodreads\Kindle harassment reversed or ended.
Reads with Rachel wrote a solid criticism of a book's problematic elements. Goodreads deleted the review as "Hate Speech" and threatened her membership. I had the sane experience years ago and was incentivised to gift the site with much hate speech.
She simply uploaded the review to her channel. She after, received her first Goodreads standard comment. It was that she "should die". Goodreads literary discourse is a wonder.
Fit Danielle Reads also experienced special Amazon customer service. She contacted Anazon about an obvious double billing mistake. After being handled badly, she referred to Amex with at that point was fraudulent billing.
Reluctantly bending to Amex reimbursement request, Amazon closed cloud access to her library and Kindle internet access in retaliation. They then demanded that she supply a second payment option. Amazon have great respect for customers.
A seventh ex-employee of EBay was sentenced for the harassment of a couple whose small ecommerce channel was deemed unkind to EBay. The couple were awarded millions of pounds and that ex-employee had been the EBay Chief of EBay Global Security or some such.
Almost all the incidents above occurred before the newly increased protection afforded US data firms by the US government. These are things to consider.
These precautions may make you safer. Remove all personal information from Goodreads profile and avoid messaging. Remove the lurkers, those friends who never post. They are likely gang monitors or employee dummies, neither harmless nor admirers.
Given the Goodreads penchant for Alteration of customer pages, the screenshot of the odd, ugly and threatening are invaluable. This should suffice.
Kindle are a more serious exposure. Do Not use Kindle Files, Calendar, Contacts or Email. Amazon employees Sign Into customer email without notice or permission. Make of that what you will.
Do Not "purchase" Amazon e-books (a mistake I made). You own only your device and if a Kindle that is conditional. Your purchases are a lease as it were, subject to Amazon whim. There are BooKTubers to direct the reader to alternative ebook and tablet vendors or alternatives to ebook purchase altogether.
All Silk searches should be innocuous and non-critical.
It might be useful to visit US political or social channels for an insight into what is now considered acceptable in Speech and Action. These men and women lack sanity, healthy socialisation or recognisable morality but They are the proud US patriot. Ominous music ends. 😊
Be safe and may we all enjoy good reading. 🤗
Some of my favourite channels.
National Centre for Military Intelligence, Russian Media Monitor, Ben and Emily, Bobbing Along, UATV, Nicole Chilaka-Ukpo, Gingers are Black, Double Down News, Tom Powell Jr, Professor Tim Wilson, Gresham College, Abney Park, The Shogunate, The Gaze, RFU News, Legendary Tactics, Bernadette Banner, The Hat Historian,
Historical Fashion, Book Chats with Shelley, Planet D, Times Radio, Sumatha Reads, Mrs Betty Bowers, According to Alina, Cass Ellis, Summer Gayle, Tom Nicholas, Lily Simpson, May, Chris and Shell, Randy Rainbow, TVP News, Weirdo Book Club, The Tank Museum, Our Shiny Days Battle Music,
Read & Knit with Cheryl, Cossack and Caucasus Sword Dance, Doxie Carter, Plant Based Bride, The Brothers Gwynne, The Amber Ruffin Show, Petrik Leo, Kirkpattiecake, Council of Geeks, H Quinn's Ideas, Some More News, Read Rant Review, Yoyomi, Reads with Rachel, Sabine Hossenfelder, Songs Sped Up, Broken Peach, Prime of Midlife, AllShorts, Ukrainian Jenny,
Steve Shives, The Shitty Book Club, Red Pen, Silicon Curtain, BobbyBroccoli, Kat Blacque, Kathy's Flog in France, Fraser Cain, Ukraine News TV, Coffee and Tales, Leah Nicole, Raya, Lexi aka NewlyNova, Up and Atom,, The Welsh Viking, The Book Leo, Riverboat Jack, Octopus Lady,
Lady of the Library, Renegade Cut, Skip Intro, The Juice Media, Hailey Hughes, Miniminuteman, Patrick(H)Willem, Evie Lupine, Mom on the Spectrum, France 24, Mandy, What Vivi did next, Expert Book Smuggler, It's Black Friday, Anda Kent, PageMelt. Nate Hagens, Historical Fiction, Orbital Array,
Kiko1006, BritMonkey, The Kavernacle, Anka Daily News, Wera, Verilybitchie, Nicole Raflee, Caelan Conrad, Ponderful, Matriarchetype, Veritas et Caritas, Fundie Fridays, Olive's Book Nook, Secret Sauce of StoryCraft, Gabi Belle, Ashley Embers, Hollie Rose, Killing Time, Beck Leavesly,
tHBomberGuy, Megan's Reading Revelations, Natalie MP4, Tiff Reads Books, Tanya Fiona, IMY2, Haropones, Wurld, Sara Elisabeth, Honestly Sophie, Supertanskiii, Swell Entertainment, Anya Taylor Joy, Nursena Yener, Jordaline Reads, RobWords, Brooke's Moon, The Queer Kiwi, OliSunvia, Diemmi Reads, Roughest Drafts, Elvira Bary, Opus Elanae, Serena Skybourne, Christine Talks, Katy Montgomerie, The Miracle Aligner, Boat Time, Reads with Rachel, Anton Petrov, TallGirl6234, Linguoer Mechanic.
I wish you a splendid morning, a wonderful afternoon, a cosy evening, a glorious night and may we all continue learning.
Committed Evil is often Cowardly.
An observation