So I regularly read SBTB, several other romance blogs, romance substacks, and listen to romance podcasts, yet I had no idea what Fourth Wing was, and I've never heard of Yarros, or seen her recommended or even mentioned at any of the places I frequent. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I was just having a very similar conversation with Vicky, Charlotte, and Hannah on Saturday while we discussed our most recent Romance History Project selection, Playing the Odds by Nora Roberts. None of us liked it, to put it mildly. But it was Nora's first bestseller and she's basically been a bestseller ever since. So clearly readers were responding to something in that book! We all wish we knew more about what else was popular at that time.
On the other hand, I keep going back to how I feel about today's bestsellers, most of which are not my cup of tea. They seem more for people who don't read all that much and maybe don't know that other, better books exist. (I feel so snobby saying this!) The page-turner element and simpler prose has to be a large part of the appeal, whether we're discussing Nora Roberts, SJM, or Colleen Hoover.
“Did we spend 20+ minutes trying to make sense of one framing choice on page 1? Yes. Yes, we did.” Hahaha! #AlwaysRemember
P.S. I am still trying to make sense of it
So I regularly read SBTB, several other romance blogs, romance substacks, and listen to romance podcasts, yet I had no idea what Fourth Wing was, and I've never heard of Yarros, or seen her recommended or even mentioned at any of the places I frequent. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I was just having a very similar conversation with Vicky, Charlotte, and Hannah on Saturday while we discussed our most recent Romance History Project selection, Playing the Odds by Nora Roberts. None of us liked it, to put it mildly. But it was Nora's first bestseller and she's basically been a bestseller ever since. So clearly readers were responding to something in that book! We all wish we knew more about what else was popular at that time.
On the other hand, I keep going back to how I feel about today's bestsellers, most of which are not my cup of tea. They seem more for people who don't read all that much and maybe don't know that other, better books exist. (I feel so snobby saying this!) The page-turner element and simpler prose has to be a large part of the appeal, whether we're discussing Nora Roberts, SJM, or Colleen Hoover.