User blog:7GSTF/PB’s latest Nadir - first half of 2023.

Sigh, I really didn’t want to write this one at all. It depresses me no end. I started writing this on the 27th of June, 2023, with the upcoming lifeline of COP 2 on the horizon. That book should mercifully end the onslaught of terrible books by PB. That does not forgive the fact that PB’s writing in the first half of the year was a complete disappointment. They disappointed everyone involved. Their long time readers - which includes me, were appalled by the lacklustre books doled out to us. It became crystal clear to the new readers as well, that the company wasn’t doing very well. Almost every book in the first half of the year featured sex crazed MCs, and even more sex crazed LIs. Worse still - every book in this half of the year was a gender locked book, restricting its appeal even further.

These books also had some of the most tone deaf MCs and LIs of all time, many of them who could barely understand basic human behaviour and were simply unable to be decent people. Sex was on their mind all the time. If this wasn’t the case, then, we had some of the worst characters in humanity being given to us as MCs.

I shall consider each of the books separately. Let us look at Roommates with Benefits first. This book is terrible. I mean, the roommate that we have is one of the most sex addicted characters of all time. It is actually insane. Their behaviour is that of a creep or a stalker. In addition, the dialogue is extremely disappointing in its quality. The juvenile nickname of ‘baby bird’ for the MC is a particular sticking point. I am fine with sexualisation to an extent, however, this LI takes it to a whole new level. Every action, everything that he says or does is an extreme sexualisation of the MC. Almost every dialogue he utters can be mistaken for / is innuendo. It is mind numbingly boring, and very annoying. The LI seems more like a seasoned stalker trying to kill their prey, and the kind of nonsense that the MC puts up with and is even attracted to, is insane. The fact that they let loose in college without any sense of responsibility whatsoever is hard to watch. The glorification of the frat boy culture is out of this world. The entire book is a celebration of hedonism, with little to no consequences for the brats who regularly bend / break the rules according to their whims and fancies. The only sane character in this book is the original friend of the MC whom she discards like a used toilet paper roll! The callous treatment of good people and the full on embracing of the hedonists is very much front and centre. None of the characters are worth rooting for here. The MC believes that this freeing of her inhibitions in such a huge manner is actually a good thing. She also completely forgets about her studies. Her primary goal in college, she feels, is to party, drink, sleep around and give in completely to the pursuit of pleasure and pleasure alone. This entire book is extremely off putting. After all of the ‘woke’ nonsense which PB does every single year - which is extremely annoying for me and many fans of the app, I am sure, we are subjected to the opposite, some of the worst ‘not woke’ characters who cannot even be rooted for. I get the feeling that they are telling us - “See, we can’t write good characters who aren’t woke. Therefore, let us keep writing MAH reruns (MAH feels like a woke struggle session at times with the kind of talking points it supports) as our ‘good’ books. Our insane fancies and ‘normal’/ not woke writing, we shall confine that to our slutty, sex crazed hedonistic messes. It ends up disappointing everyone and ensuring that both the old and new fanbase is very upset with their quality of writing.

The next book we shall consider is - ‘Getaway Girls’. This book isn’t as sex crazed as the aforementioned one. It has its share of faults, no doubt, but it isn’t obsessed and has a semblance of a plot. However, its characters aren’t great, and I wasn’t able to empathise or form a connection with any of them. Each of the characters is unlikable for various reasons. MC is very controlling, the party-obsessed sister has no sense of responsibility whatsoever, the model is narcissistic beyond measure and the last one has so many trust issues that she is a walking red flag herself. It is insane. This book had no moments which registered for me, and it was frustrating to read. The characters are so indecisive and so addicted to drama that it was a taxing read through for me. It felt like a TV soap opera at times, honestly. This book lost me pretty quickly. I felt more pity for the love interests, they don’t deserve to be tied up to these chaps. But, such is the case with PB’s writing these days. Pitifully bad is what is usually on show.

If RWB was bad, then First Comes Love was a whole lot worse. PB encourages infidelity and adulterous behaviour in this book. It is sickening. It is a story about a lady who is unable to move beyond her college friend and his promise to her. She is fixated on him to an unhealthy level, and remarkably enough, is obsessed enough to resort to toxic behaviour and ensure that his developing relationship with his new girlfriend is sent into the garbage bin as soon as possible. Even more astonishing is the inclusion of a toxic best friend, who feels that it is his duty to ensure that this long lost pair of college get together at any cost. I have a feeling that, if the LI was married, this dude would have tried to get them divorced in order to get the MC and the LI together. He is more enthusiastic about this than the MC herself. The only sane member of this group is the lady friend of the MC who is very realistic about the whole situation and warns the MC against creating terrible situations when none exist. The book is so terrible, that I stopped reading it after a point of time. In my opinion, when two people are giving it a go in a relationship, it is very stupid to try to break them up. This entire book reeks of desperation, and the two main characters are quite the melodramatic pairing. To compound the toxic MC, there is an indecisive LI. This guy cannot make up his mind. It doesn’t matter what the situation is, he keeps lying to himself. He keeps including the MC in activities that are clearly for a couple but seems to completely forget that he is in a relationship at the same time. It is pretty amazing as to how easily he brushes off his relationship, and not cleanly breaking up with her either. The MC and the LI have clearly taken some inspiration from Rachel and Ross of Friends, as they cannot decide on a damn thing, and this cat and mouse, which frustrates the reader carries on for some time. PB has written far superior love stories to this rotten mess. As an example, Freshman is pretty decent, TRR’s first trilogy is reasonable and Endless Summer delivers some scintillating romances without even aiming to be a romantic tale. This is a story of two of the most toxic, indecisive people I have ever had the displeasure of being acquainted with. No thanks, I’d rather read something else. This was a terrible book.

More misery awaited in the form of the book known as - The Duchess Affair. This book had more of the same, terrible plot and characters, no plot whatsoever, adultery and extramarital affairs all around, a complete lack of any loyalty, morality or self control - all in the pursuit of one thing only - hedonism. Much like the other books discussed here, this was also a book made entirely for monetary reasons alone. They had already told us before of their financial issues - telling us that thanks to the Nanny Affair trilogy, they were able to take risks with better stories. However, that doesn’t mean I should keep reading their crocks of shit. With a heavy heart but with a decisive mind, I am declaring here and now that I am only reading COP 2 and BOLAS 2 for the foreseeable future. With the diamond problem being completely solved, I have no real reason to keep logging on to the app either. I will read the two aforementioned books, sure, but nothing more. It is a testament to how much these new books have worn me down. If 2022 had bad books, 2023’s first half was even worse. I might come back and diamond mine and finish Bloodbound and Distant Shores, which are still on my to do list. I will also seriously consider diamond mining and finishing the Elementalists as well, which also remains unfinished. But as far as the new books are concerned, they are making my decision to not read them very easy indeed. They inspire nobody and they are filled with some of the most horrific writing that you will ever have the misfortune of reading. I hope PB gets the hint and gives us something better for next year. Their present books do not inspire any confidence whatsoever. I hope for better days, but I am not holding my breath.

Yours,

An extremely disappointed and jaded reader,

7GSTF.