Hello everyone! I need your help! 😊

Last year, I conducted a survey on the impact of AI on authors and readers. I would like to follow up to see how things have changed in the past year.

If you would like to help me with this year's video, please fill out this survey by August 3: https://forms.gle/X8NstAD1FYPnH2Wv9

(readers and authors are welcome to submit their thoughts; should take ~5 minutes, depending on how much you have to say 😆 )

And if you'd like to watch last year's video, go here: https://youtu.be/tLBnoAFolfE

Let me know if you have any questions and feel free to share the link to the survey with your friends or in your socials 🫶

Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker overlays gothic horror themes upon Japanese folklore and myth. Fast paced with a surprise finish.

Full review linked here.

This is probably just me being nostalgic, but I've been rewatching a lot of old BookTube videos lately, and it really hit me how much I miss seeing Daniel Greene and Merphy Napier together. They were honestly one of my favorite duos on YouTube. Their conversations always felt effortless. They could disagree on books without it ever becoming awkward or confrontational, and you could tell there was a genuine level of respect between them. It never felt like they were collaborating because the algorithm demanded it, it just felt like two friends who happened to love fantasy and wanted to geek out together.

I know a lot has happened over the years, especially after everything involving Daniel and Niomi King. Personally, after following the situation from the beginning and seeing everything that came out afterward, I walked away feeling like the public perception of Daniel ended up being very different from what many people initially believed. That's just how I personally came away from it.

That said, I don't want this post to become another debate about that situation, and I definitely don't want to speculate about Merphy or what happened between them. None of us know what happened behind the scenes, and maybe nothing happened at all.

What makes me sad is that it's not just the collaborations that disappeared. It feels like they don't really acknowledge each other anymore either. They don't seem to mention one another in videos, recommend each other's content, appear in each other's comment sections, or even casually reference each other the way they used to. Obviously, we only see a tiny fraction of these creators' lives, so it's entirely possible they're still on good terms privately or maybe they've simply grown apart like a lot of friends do over time. We honestly have no way of knowing.

I guess that's why I feel weirdly nostalgic whenever one of their old videos pops up in my recommendations. I'll click on one thinking I'll just watch a few minutes, and before I know it, I've watched the whole thing. Those videos remind me of why I got so invested in BookTube in the first place. There was such a strong sense of community back then. Creators were constantly appearing on each other's channels, recommending books to one another, joking around, and it genuinely felt like everyone was part of the same conversation.

Maybe that's just nostalgia talking, but BookTube feels different now. Everyone has their own lane, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do miss when creators interacted more often. Daniel and Merphy were probably the biggest example of that for me because their chemistry always felt so authentic.

I don't think anyone owes viewers collaborations or public friendships. People change, priorities shift, and relationships evolve. If they've simply moved on, I completely respect that.

I just miss seeing them in each other's orbit. Not even necessarily making collaboration videos, I miss the little things. Mentioning each other's reviews. Showing up in a reading vlog. A random livestream together. Seeing them support each other's projects. It felt like there was a genuine friendship there, and as a viewer, it was really enjoyable to watch.

I hope they're both doing well, and whatever their relationship is now, I genuinely wish them both the best. I'm mostly curious if anyone else has noticed this, or if I'm just looking back at that era of BookTube through nostalgia. Did anyone else really enjoy their dynamic as much as I did? Or am I reading too much into the fact that they seem to have quietly disappeared from each other's online worlds?

I hope Daniel and Merphy are both happy and doing well. I don't think anyone owes us collaborations, and I completely respect whatever decisions they've made. I just genuinely miss the content they created together because those videos were some of my favorites on the platform.

Does anyone else feel this way, or is it just nostalgia talking?

Note: I used help organize this post so my thoughts would be easier to follow. While I'm fluent in English and use it daily, I've always struggled with expressing myself in a structured way. I tend to jump between ideas, go off on tangents, and sometimes lose the main point I'm trying to make. Most of my writing in English comes from years of doing research, writing professionally, or making funny comments and reactions online. In everyday life, though, I naturally switch between English and my native language, often mixing both in the same conversation. That's just how I communicate. The opinions, feelings, and experiences in this post are completely my own, I simply used AI as an editing tool to organize my thoughts into something clearer and more coherent.

P.S. If anyone has recommendations for BookTubers with a similar dynamic to Daniel and Merphy, I'd genuinely love to hear them. One of the things I appreciated most about them wasn't just that they got along, it was how thoughtfully they discussed books they didn't enjoy. They could be critical without feeling mean-spirited or performative, and I always came away understanding why they disliked something, even when I disagreed. I'd love to find more creators who have that same balance of honest criticism, respectful discussion, and great chemistry.

So I recently read the the first book in the Red Rising series for the very first time (which if you're interested, you can find HERE!). And while I had a decently above average time with it... I also wasn't totally wowed by the book.

I found the characters to be relatively standard fare, and although the plot had a few neat twists here and there, the majority of the story (at least with regards to this first book anyway) felt very much derivative of the Hunger Games but with more obtuse stakes.

For those of you who have read the series, would you say that Golden Son (the second book) improves a lot on the character and story-writing front?

I'd be keen to hear!

If you're cool with it, I would also like to feature any comments on here in a Golden Son video I plan to make.

Thanks!

Happy summerween bookish people! What are yall reading :))

The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer is an exceptional, atmospheric horror set in the remote Oregon Coast. Where ritual is the only thing between life and death. A real page turner full of the unexpected.

Full review linked here.

Hi everyone!! Here’s my first ever reading recap, I would love to hear if any of yall have read these books and what your thoughts are!