r/BadReads • u/none_so_bile • 3d ago
Amazon "I don't like when authors make race an issue"
Not my screenshot, this was making the rounds on Threads. It's actually annoying as fuck that people refuse to question the power dynamics of the world they live in for even a second.
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u/willowzam 3d ago
"I don't like when things are political" but political just means Black, queer, or disabled
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u/ConsultJimMoriarty 3d ago
Remember when games weren’t all political? I want good ole fashioned non political games, like Bioshock.
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u/A_WILD_SLUT_APPEARS 3d ago
It’s just like music. I hate how every musician seems to be political these days. Why can’t we have non political music, like NWA
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u/ConsultJimMoriarty 3d ago
And movies too! Why can’t we have non political movies, like multiple Oscar winner JFK?
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u/Gaelenmyr 3d ago
Two races, white and political
Two genders, male and political
Two sexualities, hetero and political
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u/cwningen95 2d ago
White is the default to them and they're mad they now need to picture a character who isn't
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u/aspenscribblings 3d ago
Ah, the two races, white and political.
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u/ConsultJimMoriarty 3d ago
Imagine if this person reading The Hate U Give. “Why is she describing so many people as black or white?”
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u/SVINTGATSBY 3d ago
people like this are the same people who get mad when characters clearly described as being non-white are cast non-white in movies/shows. they like to read books and unconsciously or consciously make all the characters white in their mind, so when there’s casting that challenges that phenomenon (most people imagine literary characters as being their own race, regardless of descriptions to the contrary). people are still mad that Amandla Stenberg played Rue in Hunger Games.
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u/wroammin 3d ago
I was working as a cashier when the Hunger Games movie came out and I had a mockingjay pin on my name tag lanyard. A customer noticed it and we were chatting about the movie when she said, “I can’t believe they made Rue black, she’s supposed to be an innocent little girl.” It was so fucking vile.
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u/PM_ME_BATMAN_PORN 2d ago
The way this shit just slips out of some people's mouths and they don't realize what they sound like to reasonable humans... Christ alive.
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u/talor_swib 2d ago
That is despicable. What did you say??
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u/wroammin 2d ago
I was so taken aback I just froze and didn’t say anything, and then proceeded to not say anything for the rest of the transaction. If it happened today there is a good chance I would lose my job lol.
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u/ConsultJimMoriarty 3d ago
What baffled me most about that whole controversy is that the book is clear Rue and Thresh are black - and so is their whole district.
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u/everythingbagel1 2d ago edited 2d ago
You know what’s funny is I, a POC, default everyone to being white unless otherwise stated. You said most people imagine literary characters as their own race and I guess I didn’t realize I was un common on that front
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u/futhermuckinghero 2d ago
You're not. I'm pretty sure most POC also default to white because that's been the majority of published books in Western culture. In my experience, the people who default it to their own race (who aren't white) are unicorns
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u/IRetainKarma 2d ago
I'm a woman and I've read a few books where the character is either genderless or the gender is never explicitly stated. I always default to male. I think, unfortunately, in the US, if there is no other description of the character, we default to white, able-bodied male, because white, able-bodied male is the norm.
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u/Resident_Buyer_1390 2d ago
You are definitely not alone. It's the exposure to Hollywood, not to mention internalized colonization as well.
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u/MichelangeloCzech 2d ago
Isn't it normal to default everyone to the majority race of the setting that the story takes place in? If I'm reading a book that takes place in China, I'm going to assume that everyone is Chinese unless it is stated otherwise.
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u/everythingbagel1 2d ago
Oh yes of in that’s sense, but if it’s set in the us/canada/europe/australia, a fictional or fantastical world, or outer space, I tend to assume they’re white until I’ve been told otherwise.
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u/Watchhistory 2d ago
I remain vastly admiring of the actor who accepted to take on the role of the Inspector in Station 4 of Murdoch Mysteries, when Brackenreid got promoted. Inspector Choi is of Korean background, and immediately so many viewers complained that the shows two last seasons went to hell. Choi appeared in season 18. So far here in the US we've had 19 seasons.
The show itself, bless its heart, tackle the reaction head on even before it happened -- how can someone of his background be the head of a Toronto police station in 1911 - 12, and so on and so forth. Not attention paid to how courageous the character is to do this -- he's also an American, not a Canadian. No attention paid to how interesting the character of Choi is, and his range from being tough and strong, to being comic too, or how well he integrates with Murdoch and his scientific-technical skill and invention.
INstead they yell, "show wants to be woke, writers lazy, unbelievable, blahblahblah." For some reason these people also hate Dr. Ogden, determined to find something to make the other viewers join in a circle hate session.
It's infuriating. And really disgusting.
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u/BrashUnspecialist 3d ago
While we’re here, I want everyone to read Jackal by Erin A. Adams. It’s a horror book that directly deals with how the world doesn’t care about what happens to black girls.
It’s really good as a horror novel. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to read at some parts. I cannot recommend it enough.
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u/Rainierstranger 3d ago
Jackal looks truly terrifying, I’ll be picking that up! Do you know if that’s the book the review above is referring to?
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u/de_pizan23 3d ago
They named the book in a follow-up on Threads, its Stained in Blood by Ava Tenney.
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u/BrashUnspecialist 3d ago
Thanks for this. I always love to add books to my Halloween list. Especially ones that make me consider a perspective not my own.
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u/BrashUnspecialist 3d ago
Probably not. Jackal is set in Pennsylvania. But tbf the Appalachians are in both areas so spooky
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u/BelaFarinRod 3d ago
I loved that book! And while it is and should be political it’s also a fantastic read. I absolutely recommend it also.
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u/EquivalentButterfly6 3d ago
I feel like some people, including that reviewer, prefer books where the protagonists have NO explicit physical qualities so they can just put themselves into the story. Unfortunately most books follow actual characters and not RPG self-inserts.
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u/Thezanlynxer 3d ago
Guarantee they have no issue when a character is described as having pale skin.
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u/SelkieEye 3d ago
And of course the problem with that is it leads to the whole controversy over Amandla Stenberg being cast as Rue in the first hunger games movie
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u/whyihatepink 2d ago
When Rue is even described in line with a Black or at least non-white child.
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u/SarkastiCat 1d ago
For anyone curious, here is first description of Rue and second one right before we get her name
"And most hauntingly, a twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that, she’s very like Prim in size and demeanor."
"She’s the twelve-year-old, the one who reminded me so of Prim in stature. Up close she looks about ten. She has bright, dark, eyes and satiny brown skin and stands tilted up on her toes with her arms slightly extended to her sides, as if ready to take wing at the slightest sound. It’s impossible not to think of a bird."
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u/gamingjerker 3d ago
What's crazy about this time is I play so many RPGs and the best part is playing a character that is nothing like you because that makes for interesting stories. You're supposed to treat them like a stolen cars.
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u/johjo_has_opinions 3d ago
Lol I adore this comparison
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u/gamingjerker 3d ago
I double checked it was originally used to refer to how you should handle NPCs in Monster Hearts (great game) but I've heard a lot of people say it for player characters as well
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u/wroammin 3d ago
Yeah, I get why people like to make self-inserts in RPGs but that is so boring to me.
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u/Ae3qe27u 3d ago
That, or people think someone is being political or making some kind of point when that person is just talking about their day and their life.
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u/juliagenet 3d ago
It is sad, it is as though they are saying “no I dont want to see perspective from a different person or another life… I only want my own experience and pov reflected back to me” which reminds me of how algorithms have impacted other media consumption, degrading the experience, in my opinion
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u/Clear_Classroom_9347 3d ago
Yes, I hate when books discuss serious issues. Actually, I hate when they discuss anything at all, I don't need to actually read what's happening... I can read between the lines!
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u/AggravatingBox2421 3d ago
Lmao, the implication that it’s the AUTHOR making racial tensions an issue and not just the society they live in
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u/HoaryPuffleg 3d ago
How dare an author have their society reflected in their books! This reminds me of when I went on a food tour in Memphis and the tour guide talked about the “unpaid plantation workers” and I said “you mean enslaved people?” And she explained she didn’t like using that term because it makes people uncomfortable. I complained to the management afterwards.
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u/KittenBalerion 3d ago
ffs, "unpaid" makes them sound like volunteers! I hope they took your complaint seriously.
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u/HoaryPuffleg 3d ago
They didn’t. The south is still quite proud of their racism and covering up the truth of what happened there.
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u/SVINTGATSBY 3d ago
I read “I like books that don’t make me feel stupid or bad about myself—or critically think in any way—and my discomfort is your problem.”
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u/TwilightReader100 Yes, I really DO need all these books 🇨🇦 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ 2d ago
Oh, but it makes her feel icky to have to think about the marginalized. We can't have her feeling icky. /s
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u/MikaelAdolfsson 2d ago
This is like the definition of White Privilige.
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u/TheNeuroLizard 1d ago
“Please don’t describe minority races in a book, it keeps me from imagining myself as the main character, and while I can relate to magical wizards and talking animals, relating to a black woman is a bridge too far”
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u/Independent-Bee4565 3d ago
"Not uncommon for police to turn a blind eye" is a wild fucking way to describe what they're referring to. It makes it sound like cops are kindly letting the woman disappear without her having to deal with a whole big fuss over it rather than not caring to catch whoever has harmed her. "Sometimes the police are a bit more informal about firing their guns around black people" too I guess.
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u/colliding-parallels 2d ago
It probably is what they mean in this case. The books about vampires but it's not a great out of context quote
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u/dingdong3452 3d ago
"books that specifically describe race" usually means books where the main character is not white, because some white readers assume white is the default setting and that it doesn't need to be stated. Same goes for some white authors, who never borher to describe the character's skin tone or ethnicity and only describes skin tones when the characters aren't white. We need to stop treating whiteness as a default
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u/none_so_bile 3d ago
Maybe i'm cynical but I honestly think this person was mad because they wanted to imagine the characters as white but the narration kept reminding them they weren't
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u/dingdong3452 3d ago
Oh yeah that's definitely what I got from it. I just meant this more in general
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u/KittenBalerion 3d ago
isn't there a book where only the characters who aren't Black have their race described? I want to say it's by Zadie Smith.
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u/ConsultJimMoriarty 3d ago
I assumed Nick in the Stand was black (I have no idea why, I was like 14) and was absolutely shocked when he was played by Rob Lowe.
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u/AntedeluvianEmpires 2d ago
Bitch, race IS an issue.
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u/Additional_Gene_211 2d ago
Yeah but if she chooses not to think about it it's no longer an issue. It's the icky authors fault for making her thin about it
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u/menderash_ 2d ago
She is absolutely mad when race gets described because it means she can't reasonably picture the entire cast as white in her head for no reason.
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u/LeenyMagic 3d ago
Curious what book it is...sounds like something I started reading but it got a bit too bogged down in detail for me (and no race was NOT one of the boggy ones!).
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u/Elegant_Ad7744 2d ago
that review made me want to read that shit. anyone know the book?
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u/yeahnototallycool 2d ago
Surprising the someone like this reads at all. Someone who gets ARCs no less.
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u/InteractionAware8990 2d ago
So many of the ARC reviews I see, the person was just genuinely not fit to review the book. It seems like a terrible way to promote books
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u/sagittariums 2d ago
I feel like I see this for ARC reviews often enough that I just assume they order stuff they know they won't like just to have the opportunity to give it a bad review
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u/notabagofteeth 3d ago
"I don't like to be reminded that inequality exists." Just go watch Bridgerton then.
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u/carlitospig 3d ago
Ha, Bridgerton just had a class based plotline this last season.
(Don’t judge me, it’s soothing to listen to when I’m cleaning. I can only listen to Derry Girls so many times.)
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u/LePetitToast 3d ago
“My character is a slave in the American south, but let’s not make this political or about race.”
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u/racoongirl0 3d ago
The only way to keep politics out of a story is to make the character white or make it a fantasy book. Other races don’t have the luxury of turning off the news and not being affected
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u/xXpixiebitchXx 3d ago
Did they “make race political” or did they express something that happens in real life and it made you uncomfortable? Right..
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u/Obvious-Structure-58 3d ago
"I like to pretend that society has no issues and I don't like to be reminded of the fact that it does"
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u/SpokenDivinity 3d ago
These reviews are always so frustrating because they're so close to getting the point. It's supposed to make you uncomfortable and it's okay that it does that. Some topics make us uncomfortable. It's okay to not want to read a book that covers a topic that makes us feel that way. Reading is meant to be an escape for many people, so it's understandable that being uncomfortable puts it on the DNF list.
It's not okay to write a borderline racist review portraying that uncomfortableness with social inequality negatively. If you're going to write the review, at least mention that they portrayed it well enough that it's reflective of it being a social issue. Not this garbage.
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u/carlitospig 3d ago
And the crazy thing is that there are absolutely recent titles out there that go ‘race description’ agnostic so that the reader can apply their own head canon. And I totally get why that’s an inclusive choice. But that only works if your plot isn’t at all about race relations which it sounds like this was about.
Actually makes me want to read it! 🤓
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u/SpokenDivinity 3d ago
If you hadn't figured out the book, it's "Stained in Blood" by Ava Tenney. I just added it to my wishlist.
It's also availiable through Kindle Unlimited.
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u/cardboardtube_knight 2d ago
This is like one of those people who is on tiktok whining about people trying to make the books political and all they read are books where women who look like them become the saviors of the whole world and have four men lusting after them just while being an average girl from a small village.
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u/therealbananabottom 3d ago
'Wah, I don't like reading about things that make me sad. I get a tummy ache when anyone mentions race in any way!'
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u/PurseFullofNotebooks 2d ago
You 1000% know this person defaults to thinking all characters are white unless it is explicitly said otherwise. But they don't want an author to say otherwise
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u/samsamsamsammys 2d ago
"I only like books that keep politics out of the story" mf this means you can't like ANY books. all art is political
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u/kmontreux 1d ago
"I don't like books that have politics" is also a hot take. I don't think there is a single book on the planet that does not have a political bias/influence.
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u/jacoberu 1d ago
"i dont like it when words make me think. or feel."
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u/Idustriousraccoon 1d ago
Look up Ohio state’s new SB 1 law. It quite literally legislates the hurt feelings of straight white men. This timeline is the worse.
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u/foxscribbles 1d ago
"I like it when I can imagine everyone is white!"
People like that numpty are why publishers tell authors to make characters white or 'ambiguous.' And told they can only have one 'diverse' character. (AKA, gotta choose between the black or the gay in the friend group. And heaven forbid the black friend is the gay friend! The horror!)
These people are a cancer on creativity and storytelling.
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u/sylendar 6h ago
And heaven forbid the black friend is the gay friend! The horror!
Publishers aren't the ones trying to discourage you from writing gay black characters.
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u/TheNeuroLizard 1d ago
“I don’t need superfluous things about a black southern woman character like her interactions with the police”
If you’re so good at reading between the lines, maybe try it in real life
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u/Fair-Chemist187 3d ago
"some parts of the book WAS overly descriptive" now English is not my first language but that’s just wrong. Also really doubting the "gen read between the lines" part…
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u/CrazyinLull 2d ago
How much hate you have to have in your heart do you have to want to review the book to know that you are going to do this?
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u/Cactus_Thorn_Pub I eat people who ban books. 18h ago
"I don't like books where there are too many black people in them. Roots: The Saga of an American Family written by Alex Haley didn't have enough lily white women in it. The floggings were so-so."
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u/Pleasant-Discount-75 3d ago
Listen I am reading speculative fiction by a black author, if she decides to tackle issues of race I am here to fucking listen.
I don't like it when authors try to write uncontroversial bullshit.
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u/Watchhistory 2d ago
Gawds what a creep and cringe person is the person who writes/thinks this. Glad not to know her.
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u/Fluffy-Bluebird 1d ago
Best not read anything written by women.
Even twilight featured the vampire police and government
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u/Street-Poetry 20h ago
same mfs who will praise modern retellings of female characters from greek mythology through the lens of ✨️white feminism✨️ (lore olympus i'm looking at you)
Black characters in fiction is where i draw the line tho, that's too woke and political /s
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u/Due-Base9449 19h ago
Wat. Its set in America of course the race will come about eventually. If it's set in Japan or China we can accept they are Japanese or Chinese even with blue hair and saucer sized eyes.
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u/carlitospig 3d ago
Your typical white liberal reviewer, everyone.
(Don’t even at me, white reviewers. I’m white, a leftie, and a reviewer. Some of yall are fucking exhausting.)
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u/vlladonxxx 2d ago
Somebody's rating is based on whatever they feel like. Somebody will give it 5 stars because it does mention race. You can't police how somebody leaves ratings or how they feel in general. If this was an option, the minorities would be the ones to be policed that way and the society would never bother with inclusivity. That's not something I'm advocating for, but it would happen that way if controlling people was an option. You can shame or otherwise manipulate somebody into doing what you want them to, but you have to have empathy for them to be able to do that.
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u/temporalguilt 2d ago
Why do we need to have empathy for conservatives, racists, and the “I don’t see color” crowd? Which is a sub group of group two, as opposed to blatant racism— because that’s who those ppl are btw. And notice how this is a sub for critiquing reviews? That’s what’s happening in here. No empathy required.
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u/LynnHell 2d ago
Why do we have to have sympathy of Americans. You managed to have one of the biggest population and have the 99.9% being dumb af. Like do you study for it?
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u/Technical-Form8994 3d ago
While I can agree that this reviewer is in the wrong, I can miiiiiildy understand the take in current day literature. Last two time I stepped into powell books in Oregon, every space of every floor had books front and center that all had something to do with race, race experience, racism in history, race theory, advertising based on the author being back, so on and so on.
But, ultimately, if the book is upfront with what the story is about, you can't complain like you were blind sided
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u/Unfriendlyblkwriter 3d ago
Being that it was illegal at one point for Black people to even enter the state of Oregon, I think that what Powell Books is doing is great.
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u/raven-of-the-sea 3d ago
I mean, Powell’s is clearly aware of what’s happening in the world and that race is a big issue. We tried not talking about it, that didn’t work. So maybe talking about it more will do something. Also, it’s Powell’s. The selection is bigger than that. If you can’t find a book that fits your criteria, ask them to order it.
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u/SAKISANOBASHI07 1d ago
Race has been exploited and nauseum since 2016 to the point of parody, when I write a character that is a particular race in my mind I rarely ever blatantly state it unless it's relative to the story (which it is hardly ever as locations of a person's background and their personalities play a bigger part.)
Also, I have a feeling the reader was put off because this book takes place in modern day? If so then the statement of police not taking a missing black woman seriously is absurd, because there will be plenty of racial grifters pressuring them in the hopes that their diasapearence is racially motivated.
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u/kitcachoo 1d ago
What the fuck
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u/SAKISANOBASHI07 1d ago
This is why ai is going to replace people, that comment adds nothing to the conversation.
Learn to articulate yourself better for the good of humanity.
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u/kitcachoo 1d ago
Learn to write better lol
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u/Both_Resort4080 1d ago
They should learn to BE better.
I'll never know because all this is a well deserved block for u/SAKISANOBASHI07
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u/Atlas90137 1d ago
Tldr, guy didn't like how the fact that they are black was over highlighted in the prose and author took it as "you don't like black people"
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u/BIGGUS_DICKUS_569 1d ago
“I don’t like being reminded about the black experience even though I’m reading a black author’s black characters; this doesn’t make me racist bc I just want normal peoples experiences.”
Yeah whether intentional or not that’s pretty fuckin racist.
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u/Both_Resort4080 1d ago
Why do I have to go to the profile to block? Feels like it should be really easy to do it from the actual comment.
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u/Turbulent-Section340 3h ago
"I like books that keep race and politics out of their stories"... but you just know that if she read "and her skin was white. White like a cup of unpasteurized milk fresh from the teat of an unvaccinated cow, like Jesus our lord and savior intended" she would not have a problem with that.
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u/Disastrous-Wing699 3d ago
I think some people just request any and all ARCs without looking. My book has 'doomsday' in the title, and the description specifies that it takes place after the climate collapse, and I still had DNFs with 1 star reviews saying the book was 'a downer' or 'too dark'.