Sarah > Status Update

Yea it sucks that reading has turned into a minefield lately! Most people read to have a fun escape, and it’s not so fun when you’ve got to be so cautious.

Agree with both of you. Almost all of my DNFs this year has been due to OP related issues. The problem was.. on many books, it wasn't even supposed to be there but there it was?! So there was no way for me to know that there were such problems. Unless one of my GR friends read it, then i'd know for sure cuz they always include that info.

It made me anxious to pick up a new book. So mostly i've been rereading stuff that i KNOW are safe and familiar to me.

Lola wrote: "Yea it sucks that reading has turned into a minefield lately! Most people read to have a fun escape, and it’s not so fun when you’ve got to be so cautious."

Lola, it feels like a needle in a haystack to find a good book with no AI or OP but have impactful story. And yes, I agree that lately reading has not been fun as it supposed to. Alas😮‍💨

Sao Reads wrote: "Agree with both of you. Almost all of my DNFs this year has been due to OP related issues. The problem was.. on many books, it wasn't even supposed to be there but there it was?! So there was no wa..."

Sao, I agree with you. Like 99% of OP scenes in books can be omitted without affecting the plot at all🙄 I'm also lucky and grateful that I have a group of GR friends who include these info in their reviews. But if they didn't read a certain book, I literally spend time navigating GR reviews, but not all readers care about these stuff so I end up surprised when reading.

Same, I've been rereading books that I love to fill the void.

I'm so annoyed we seem to be circling back to the 'a virile man can't keep in in his pants' thing. Completely unnecessary sex stuff with OP is everywhere! And sometimes when it makes sense plotwise, it's still way too explicit, when a mention would have sufficed. Some authors even manage to make the sex scenes with the non-LI hotter than the ones with the actual LI. 😫

And don't come at me with 'realism', these romances are so damn silly fantasies, why is it necessary to shoved in this aspect to "bring realism". Which it even doesn't, because the OP stuff often feels OOC too.

I don't want to even start with the AI slop. If I see an AI cover, I'm already out.

Kassu wrote: "I'm so annoyed we seem to be circling back to the 'a virile man can't keep in in his pants' thing. Completely unnecessary sex stuff with OP is everywhere! And sometimes when it makes sense plotwise..."

Kassu, I agree with everything you said. The OP stuff is getting really OTT and VERY unnecessary and super icky. Like why do I have to read a long detailed sex scene with non LI that are full of dirty talk and choking/spanking/tying up?!! If to make the book more spicy, then just do that scene between the actual LI. And we need to stop saying MC is obsessed and yearning when they can't keep it in their pants🙄
Screw realism cus don't we read to escape reality?!😐 Why can't they let us enjoy pure romance that we know it is hard to exist in real life. Like I know it might not be real but why can't my MC stay celibate when separated from LI, even if for years? it's fiction, so why my fiction can't be dreamy?! Alas😮‍💨
For AI, it's like a plague with books these days😒

Me too Sarah. The OP stuff almost never is needed either, it's gratuitous, doesn't develop story, evolve character, just..thrown in for shock value? To say Ha ha to the readers? I don't understand it. And AI...just...🤯😱🤯😱🤯. I'm with you. Hugs.

It’s rough out here!!! Thanks so much to all those that include safety in their review because like a few of you said, if our GR friends don’t have it, we have to search through tons of reviews just to see if it’s safe enough for us!

Sandy wrote: "Me too Sarah. The OP stuff almost never is needed either, it's gratuitous, doesn't develop story, evolve character, just..thrown in for shock value? To say Ha ha to the readers? I don't understand ..."

Sandy, it has to be shock value cus color me shocked every single time🙄 Honestly, I don't understand it either and I gave up on trying to. The problem though that we are seeing it more. Alas😮‍💨 We (anti-OP/anti-AI people) will get through these difficult times together🩷💖

Paige wrote: "It’s rough out here!!! Thanks so much to all those that include safety in their review because like a few of you said, if our GR friends don’t have it, we have to search through tons of reviews jus..."

I agree Paige. Super grateful for the readers who include safety info in their reviews as they are very helpful and important for some of us!

@Sarah agree with you on this as well. i'm also lucky to have some GR friends who mention OP info so i always first check if they've read the book or not. If not, then i'm in hot trouble. Bcuz not a single person mentions OP problem. That's why i do my best to mention OP info too, to help people if they ever wanna pick a book up. People should know exactly what they're getting into when it comes to triggering stuff, right?

A recent case was the book Doppelbanger. i was very interested in it. But if it wasn't for a single review by a person i follow, i would've never known how prevalent the ex is in the story. 😬 Turn out all of WH Lockwood's book are just that. OP drama.

This is why i've been very anxious to pick up new books this year cuz the amount of OP i had to tread through (old & new books), was difficult. i only picked them if im familiar with the author and their writing style. i still have a few book i've picked up but... it's just sitting there cuz im so afraid of what i'll find. That's no way to read a book, right? :(

Sao Reads wrote: "@Sarah agree with you on this as well. i'm also lucky to have some GR friends who mention OP info so i always first check if they've read the book or not. If not, then i'm in hot trouble. Bcuz not ..."

And here I was loving Doppelbänger myself. 😅

I totally get hating OP drama even without OP sex, but that book was pure humour, and the dude was funny as hell. (And no threat to the couple.) Really worked for me. Definitely would have hated it in a more serious book, though. And I actually did mention the douchebag ex trope in my review.

I'm now interested in the couple posts on your "don't read" post for that book w OP action in the final 30%. The outraged one entirely missed the point. When we warn ourself and others see it, it prevents 1-star reviews from readers who would hate that and see it as cheating (on us). You didn't rate the book, you offered a warning for those who would be seriously upset by that move. I don't want to be slapped in the face with OP action once I'm invested in a couple. There are almost no scenarios, no matter how "beautifully written" they are, that would not upset me if I'm invested/rooting for a couple. And I stand by our absolute right to avoid them.

Sandy wrote: "I'm now interested in the couple posts on your "don't read" post for that book w OP action in the final 30%. The outraged one entirely missed the point. When we warn ourself and others see it, it p..."

It feels like projection, really. If someone says something negative or "not interested because x" about something I like, I scroll past (or tell I liked it anyway 😉). They seem to be reading some nefarious intent into it, which makes me wonder what their intentions are when they are saying something not-positive.

Sandy wrote: "I'm now interested in the couple posts on your "don't read" post for that book w OP action in the final 30%. The outraged one entirely missed the point. When we warn ourself and others see it, it p..."

Sandy, I'm not the only one being attacked as they are attacking @Duda as well😒 and yes, they are totally missing the point. Some of us cannot tolerate OP no matter the circumstance; and we have every right to be warned. As I said in my reply to them, the author will be harmed if sensitive readers like us didn't know and end up giving lower ratings.
Like there are many books with 1 star reviews that I read and their problems with the book don't affect me, so I end up reading the book. This is the same for people who don't mind OP, then my little note won't affect them.

Sao Reads wrote: "@Sarah agree with you on this as well. i'm also lucky to have some GR friends who mention OP info so i always first check if they've read the book or not. If not, then i'm in hot trouble. Bcuz not ..."

I completely agree with mentioning the OP info cus it's very helpful for sensitive reader like ourselves.
I haven't read Doppelgänger, but I read Sinful Crimes duet by this author and the OP amount is off-putting. I hated that MMC so much.
For reading new books, I've been noticing authors who were considered safe that are now drifting toward OP. So, yeah reading is like walking in a mine field 😮‍💨

I love to read these warnings from people who have stronger nopes that I do. It gives me the perfect picture to decide if it's actually something I would be okay with. I'm a living example of a person who reads these books despite the warnings. And sometimes the warning is good so I don't need to leave a fuming review. 😫

Sarah wrote: "Sandy wrote: "I'm now interested in the couple posts on your "don't read" post for that book w OP action in the final 30%. The outraged one entirely missed the point. When we warn ourself and other..."

EXACTLY. And so often I have to research lower rated reviews to even find my personal trigger info. They help so much, if someone DNFs or low-rates for my reasons. Doesn't impact people loving the book, and I have read/loved some that were handled in a way that could have triggered me but didn't. I do my research and make up my own mind and APPRECIATE friends with similar issues who post info like this.

To me, this "sex with old friend during separation" would make me not even want the heroes get back together. If the MC enjoys sex-for-comfort with someone else, and that's what he needs to heal/for his mental health/recovery, why would I root for him to get back together with the other hero, who isn't the person he needs/who doesn't help him? No thanks. Sounds like a fiction book/love story. Beautifully written, great, but, still not for me.

Sarah wrote: "Sandy wrote: "I'm now interested in the couple posts on your "don't read" post for that book w OP action in the final 30%. The outraged one entirely missed the point. When we warn ourself and other..."

Also...attacking Duda??? Duda READ THE BOOK AND REACTED! WTF?!

Kassu wrote: "I love to read these warnings from people who have stronger nopes that I do. It gives me the perfect picture to decide if it's actually something I would be okay with. I'm a living example of a per..."

Kassu, that's why I do a full investigation before picking up a book. I do tend to read 1 star and 2 star reviews first to see the reason behind their rating and if their hangups align with mine. In the case where their issues don't affect me, I end up reading the book. GR exists for us to express our personal opinion on books. Not all opinions are the same and not all our tastes the same. I just don't understand the need for people to attack/bully others just for their opinion.

@Sarah OH YES Holy hit. So.. Alice Winter's new book is out, yeah? Guess what? It has heavy OP issue!!! i wasn't surprised though, bcuz i've come across another book of hers (very old) which had even worse one so i DNF-ed. But i generally would never consider her book in this vein. Welp...

@Kassu hey, can you explain a bit about the ex's situation in the book? If so, then i'll pick it up again. Thanks!!
It's not that i hate OP drama strictly, cuz some of my fav books have them. It's more about the quality and they play a part in the story. For eg, in Hired by Nora Phoenix, the character of seb continues to hook up with men even after having feelings for Hadley. When Hadley had proposed he'd be okay with sleeping with him, seb still went out to fuck someone else. In fact, Hadley even helped him "hook up" with a guy on a dating app. It's these sort of things.

Or say in one of A Hazard's books where the Russian guy went to have sex with a woman 70-80% into the story while he was already in a relationship with the other mc. Though he didn't follow through with it, but he fully intended to!! While also professing his love for the other MC?! Ew. Just No.

Sao Reads wrote: "@Kassu hey, can you explain a bit about the ex's situation in the book? If so, then i'll pick it up again. Thanks!! "

He does play quite a bit part in the story. They eventually have like this ragtag crew of people trying to keep the multiverse from collapsing and he's part of that group too. He's also a BIG part of the humour. I started the story loving to hate him, he is a ridiculously obnoxious character. But eventually I started to even like him, though never for August, obviously. If you have big hangups on exes just being in the picture hanging around, it certainly could be too much. I don't automatically mind an ex in the picture myself, but if it all wasn't so humorous, I'would have been super annoyed by this douche too.

(view spoiler)[He was horrible to August when they were together, coercing him into an open relationship, stringing him along, standing him up constantly, a total trash person. He's selfish and pompous, and still keeps trying to get into August's pants, and also the other August's pants (preferrably at the same time), and he is being totally obnoxious about it. But there's no real chance, it's all him making himself an ass, though the other August is a jealous anyway, especially in the beginning. (hide spoiler)] Eventually he has some decent person moments too, or at least something close to it. 😆 It's just super ridiculous and I couldn't feel threatened by him at all, I don't think I was even annoyed by his lame antics.

I believe the Augusts do consider him physically attractive still, and the one who was actually with him probably did have some passing early moments where he was afraid he might get pulled in again, and I think there was a kiss there too in those early parts (the ex pretty much forcing it). But honestly, I was still just laughing at him. I still am, could read again. But if you're not dying for the OTT humour and the whole concept of selfcest, not sure it'll be as much of a banger as it was for me.

The bottom line is that it doesn't take very long for the two Augusts to be totally, let's-blow-the-world in, and the ex is just comic relief.

(And your examples are clear dealbreakers for me too. I'd feel disgusted.)

Sao Reads wrote: "@Sarah OH YES Holy hit. So.. Alice Winter's new book is out, yeah? Guess what? It has heavy OP issue!!! i wasn't surprised though, bcuz i've come across another book of hers (very old) which had ev..."

Ohh, I haven't read anything by that author but good to know.

Kassu wrote: "Sao Reads wrote: "@Kassu hey, can you explain a bit about the ex's situation in the book? If so, then i'll pick it up again. Thanks!! "

He does play quite a bit part in the story. They eventually ..."

Thank you for all the info Kassu. Did you listen to the audiobook?

Yes, the narrator was very good. It also means I don't have the book and couldn't verify the kiss and other things, just going by memory.

@Kassu thank you for the spoiler and info!! Oh so he was that kind of an ex. Had they been mutually & consensually in that kind of relationship, i wouldn't have minded at all. But i hate people who force that on others. 😬 i don't think i have the patience to deal with him. Not redeemable to me. Appreciate you for helping me decide!💙


@Sarah just a heads up, Alice Winters in my auto buy author, i highly recommend checking out some of her books. Even this new one with it's OP issues, i ended up liking it bcuz i felt like it was very much needed. But the ending effed it up which is why i won't rate it higher.

Sao Reads wrote: "@Kassu thank you for the spoiler and info!! Oh so he was that kind of an ex. Had they been mutually & consensually in that kind of relationship, i wouldn't have minded at all. But i hate people who..."

Oh yeah, he is quite irredeemable for sure. Only showing little glimpses of decency, but that's sort of the point. A flamboyant asshole. I can enjoy him because he is NOT the love interest. Never would tolerate that from a MC. But yeah, not only does he try to squirm back in August's favour, his groupies are along the ride too: (view spoiler)[they all slept with him, and it's a weird dysfunctional family dynamic, but the others are actually pretty nice people, and it doesn't feel that bad now that August doesn't want to be with the ex anymore. (hide spoiler)]

@Kassu Big Oof. i'm humbly turning my hat in my friend, i don't need to read it. 🙃 Truly thank you for the run down.💙 i would've been so mad if i had to find this out on my own.