Goodreads has launched the opening round for their yearly awards for the best books just recently. I skimmed through the categories myself, yet already saw quite mixed reviews about the suggestions for this year’s nominees.
Some categories like poetry and children books were removed (yeah, you can say that children ain’t a target audience for the Goodreads yet this platform always seemed to be well rounded).
Graphic novels is also something that was removed unfortunately. Although these ain’t my cup of tea, I’m almost sure it must be upsetting for a large group of people.
I mean, I’m honestly glad they separated out the romantasy from the fantasy. No other fantasy books will ever be able to compete with the likes of fourth wing and sarah j Maas. It’s still an arbitrary popularity contest but at least the smutty sludge (I say while in the middle of reading said sludge and loving it) is now separated from the well written works of fantasy as opposed to dominating the category.
The choice to remove graphic novels is odd though, as is poetry. I don’t really see why adding a new category would mean they’d need to remove another. Middle grade and children’s has always felt a bit weird though because it’s just adults voting.
At the end of the day it will only blow up the blown up books even more like it does every year. I do like that there’s some indie pub in the romance selection but I do wish it was more diverse.
Fourth Wing was one of the worst books I’ve ever read. I saw it recommend everywhere. The tone, the characters, the story… It was just so bad. It read like a romance novel written by a teenage girl.
I was SO glad that Romantasy was split from Fantasy. It’s the first time I got excited about the awards after seeing that. I have nothing against Romantasy, but it has been a huge bummer to watch the awards always go to Sarah J. Mass (and this year to Fourth Wing) while the really good fantasy books that are coming out just get ignored year after year after year. I’m just glad that some of the fantasy that came out this year actually stands a chance for a change.
If Sanderson has one of his main books come out doesn’t he usually win that year? I recall a lot of wins for him in this category.
Yet they STILL left the new Cassandra Clare in general fantasy. Like… was someone drunk? They specifically made YA fantasy and romantasy for the likes of what she writes, yet she stays in general? WHYYY?
The Spear Cuts Through Water was left out too, which is insane to me.
was that this year? I thought it was on awards lists this year, making it a book that likely came out last year. It is absolutely gorgeous though
Just because an author has written romance heavy YA before doesn’t mean they won’t ever publish anything else.
I am not a Cassie Clare fan at all. I really dislike her books actually. But that book is in the right category. I’m personally hoping Shannon Chakraborty wins the category because I thought Amina al-Sirafi was great.
I’m not a Cassandra Clare reader, but I know Swordcatcher was specifically marketed as her first adult fantasy work. I don’t know about the amount of romance in it (I haven’t read it), but there are plenty of adult fantasy works that have romantic subplots, and that doesn’t immediately make them romantasy.
I agree with you. When i read it, it didn’t feel like it the romance was the main focus. It was definitely a prominent subplot but it wasn’t the main plot/focus.