y’all really recommend books like: title, there are gay characters, enemies to lovers, young adult, written by poc
not once do i ever see a summary
What more info do you need?
A SUMMARY
WHAT DO U MENA SUMMARY WHAT ELSE MATTERS ITS GAY POC AND ENEMIES TO LOVERS HOW OFTEN DO U CONE ACROSS THAT
i want to know what its about mainly. is it a romance? is there plot besides the romance? is it realistic fiction? sci fi? fantasy? historical? future? alternate history? whats the tone? what are the themes? what are the main characters’ NAMES?
I- it’s gay the gay
i value queer characters too. but i also want to know WHAT THE BOOK I’M READING IS ABOUT.
“GAY AND/OR RACIALLY DIVERSE” IS NOT A GENRE. nor is it an indicator of quality
do you know how many times I’ve been recommended a book solely because “it’s queer fantasy!”
do you know how many times those books have been so poorly written that I couldn’t finish them
Mostly, I want to know the tone. A 19th century war story isn’t gonna do it for me when I’m in the mood for a lighthearted austenesque romance - and those are both historical. A star warsy space romp isn’t gonna do it if I want to read about interplanetary political negotiations - and those are both sci fi. A fun gratuitious don’t-think-about-it-too-hard action story is not the same as a dark and complicated mob drama. A suspenseful thriller will bore me if I’m looking for a fast paced spy novel.
not providing a summary literally just shows how you treat marginalized people and their representation as this token woke thing that you can show off like a shiny trophy. no, people aren’t going to read something just because it has representation! that’s not how it works!
Artist bio by Anna Daliza
When people say “summary”, what they want is that paragraph or two from the back cover of the book (or the flap of the dust jacket, or the description from the book’s page on a bookstore’s website) that says something like….
“Jane Maincharacter had never thought she could do hero stuff. But when plot event happens and Jane’s most beloved place/thing/way of life/vibes is threatened by Bob Antagonist, Jane picks up a giant magic sword and vows to obliterate him from existence and save everything she has ever loved. The only problem is, she’s been kidnapped by a pack of sexy kobolds.”
You are allowed to just copy-and-paste the back-cover summary when you are telling people about the book! You don’t even have to come up with a summary yourself! The cover-copy (fancy industry term for “summary on the back of the book”) has already been specifically handcrafted and engineered for the purposes of telling people what the book is about. By all means point out other highlights that speak to you, such as the representation in the book (“Jane is trans and all the sexy kobolds are bisexual!”), your favorite trope (“It’s got enemies-to-lovers and only one bed!”), your favorite line or character or vibe (“The sexiest kobold guard is SO FUNNY, he makes a ‘hi hungry i’m kobold’ joke that had me on the floor laughing”) or scene (“The scene at the beginning where Jane goes into the attic and unearths her grandfather’s giant magical hero sword…. ahhh i won’t post spoilers but I was screaming and cheering, SO GOOD”). But if people are like, “WHAT IS THE BOOK ABOUT” just give them the back-cover summary! Copy and paste that shit! That’s literally what it is for!
This is why I hate that ad going around that’s like “trans heroines! Sapphic romance! Blah blah blah please buy our content we are pandering to you faggots and dykes just ignore the fact that we’re only doing this because you freaks are the only people still buying books these days”
