Ariel Bissett. Canadian booktuber.

[Guest]

On a completely superficial note, what the hell happened to her hair?? It used to be so thick and full but ever since she had it cut it's been so lank and kind of dirty looking. Is she doing it on purpose?

[Bloopina_]

Does anyone think Ariel gives English majors/scholars a bad rap? I mean I'm biased, I'm an English major but Ariel constantly paints her professors and classmates as pretentious assholes only interested in """classics""". My experience is totally different than Ariel's I go to a pretty affordable public school in NYC but I've never had professors who look down on their students as much as Ariel's seem too. Literally had a class today where we ranted about Percy Jackson in relation to reading the Odyssey?

While it's great that you've had such a lovely and open experience with your department, I have to say that English departments, like art departments, are filled with insufferable and pretentious hipsters. They don't even discuss famous classics that much; just extremely odd contomperory novels and obscure classics.


It's kind of a stereotype.

[oceaaanly]

I actually studied in the same program, and at the same school and can confirm that there are some amazing professors at the university that make even the most boring of topics interesting. Obviously it's necessary to study the classics, but on top of that there's a lot of variety for class choices - Children's Literature, Literature and Psychology, Literature and Film, even Graphic Novels, just to name a few among MANY. They cater towards almost every possible interest. She's definitely giving the English department a bad rep, unfortunately. I know everyone experiences education differently, and for sure there are some courses that can be uninteresting, but 9/10 of the professors I've had are very flexible about finding ways to incorporate your own literary interests within the context of the course. I'm just surprised about how openly she's discussed the program, down to the professors and students, before she's even graduated. I'd at least hold my thoughts until the end before posting it on Youtube. Especially since she's so vocal about her Youtube in the first place.

[liz72]

I actually studied in the same program, and at the same school and can confirm that there are some amazing professors at the university that make even the most boring of topics interesting. Obviously it's necessary to study the classics, but on top of that there's a lot of variety for class choices - Children's Literature, Literature and Psychology, Literature and Film, even Graphic Novels, just to name a few among MANY. They cater towards almost every possible interest. She's definitely giving the English department a bad rep, unfortunately. I know everyone experiences education differently, and for sure there are some courses that can be uninteresting, but 9/10 of the professors I've had are very flexible about finding ways to incorporate your own literary interests within the context of the course. I'm just surprised about how openly she's discussed the program, down to the professors and students, before she's even graduated. I'd at least hold my thoughts until the end before posting it on Youtube. Especially since she's so vocal about her Youtube in the first place.

Wow I didn't even think about her professors and classmates watching her videos! Looks like she didn't either lol. I'm surprised she hasn't taken/talked about some of these kind of classes. I'd watch a video where she talked about graphic novels.

[baldguy101]

i gave up with her years ago, seh comes across as a know it all

[Mindylahiri94]

I only follow her on insta - does she literally ever wear a bra?!

[getinmymachine]

I only follow her on insta - does she literally ever wear a bra?!

She said in a video last year that she stopped wearing bras.

[Mindylahiri94]

I only follow her on insta - does she literally ever wear a bra?!

She said in a video last year that she stopped wearing bras.

Feel bad but that is not a good look for her! Fair enough if that's how she's comfortable though

[Bananana2]

Her new video is a FORTY minute haul. FORTY.
To quote living legend sweet Brown ‘ain’t nobody got time for that.’

Edited to add: looking at the comments, it appears to be a bit of a takedown on the traditional bookhauls, which I appreciate, but it’s still soooo long.

[holb93]

She is living in another reality. At the end of her latest haul she talks about how her Master's has taught her that she doesn't want "this kind of a life" where she's stressed and seemingly has a lot of work on her plate. Reminds me of the time she said her ONE WEEK internship taught her that she didn't want a 9-5 job. Wake up, Ariel.

[Eva]

If she doesn't want to work a *regular job* or even, if she doesn't want to work at all, and if at the same time she can afford her lifestyle regardless, that means she was already quite well off and she was never like the rest of us commoners therefore not relatable in the first place. Anyway, good for her. If I didn't have to work, I wouldn't either, to be honest. However, at the same time, if she won't be working a 9-5 job or any job that is perceived as stressful, her viewers can also expect better and richer content. Maybe on Patreon she is putting up something with more substance to it, I wouldn't know.

Regarding her last book haul, renamed so subtly as a bunch of books I haven't read, it is still the same type of content as plenty of other booktubers, only presenting you the cover (commenting on the aesthetic aspect, the usual "oh so beautiful", hardcover vs paperback, etc.) and eventually the synopsis that you could read on your own on any promo material or back-cover.
Of course, she does some kind of disclaimer at the beginning, almost crying out loud that if you have to read every time a book before making a video, it isn't sustainable as a YouTube channel. When will they learn? I am sure a lot of us prefer quality over quantity.

Also, there are many different ways to speak about books and a video format should allow for certain creativity. Maybe even a certain level of mise en scène, short movies/video clips about some books, especially when it comes to fiction. It doesn't have to be a literal interpretation, it could be a more abstract interpretation for example. Instead of speaking solely about plots, it could be more focused on themes and symbolism, use of language, author vs narrator, comparisons with other books from the same author or with other authors, placing the book in its historical context, etc... The sky is the limit. And this goes for the majority of big booktubers out there who are making minimum effort videos while they could do so much more, not solely Ariel.
Now speaking about different possibilities, it reminds me of a French author I read when I was waaay waaay younger, more than 15 years ago, Maxime Chattam. He would put a playlist at the beginning or at the end (I can't remember) of his book, stuff he was listening to while writing. It gave you even more a sense of atmosphere. Not only I would discover some new albums and artist, but I remember I would also try to link certain passages or chapters to the albums on the list. Until now, anything that links music and books, as far as I've seen on YouTube, it was only done as a Musically type of video.

And for someone who is about to get their master's degree in English Lit, I am a bit disappointed by Ariel's limited vocabulary and lack of eloquence. Then again, I know that for some people there is a huge difference between how they come across in oral conversations and how they are expressing themselves in writing.
Did she write any essays or dissertations that are available online? I am genuinely interested in reading something of hers that isn't only poetry.

[holb93]

If she doesn't want to work a *regular job* or even, if she doesn't want to work at all, and if at the same time she can afford her lifestyle regardless, that means she was already quite well off and she was never like the rest of us commoners therefore not relatable in the first place. Anyway, good for her. If I didn't have to work, I wouldn't either, to be honest. However, at the same time, if she won't be working a 9-5 job or any job that is perceived as stressful, her viewers can also expect better and richer content. Maybe on Patreon she is putting up something with more substance to it, I wouldn't know.

Did she write any essays or dissertations that are available online? I am genuinely interested in reading something of hers that isn't only poetry.

I understand what you're saying. More power to Ariel for admitting that a traditional office job isn't for her. I think what bothered me most, however, was her saying that she didn't want to be "stressed" in her future role. I mean, who <i>does</i> want to be stressed? It's not something we aim for! She just came across as incredibly privileged and entitled when she said that and it rubbed me the wrong way. I'm not taking anything away from her achievement, but no one forced her to do this Master's.

Agreed about wanting to read some of her work. She's obviously talented since she got a scholarship for her MA.

[getinmymachine]

It looks like she has learned from last year's Booktubeathon. No sponsored brand new release this time that you have to buy and review to win a prize, just some fun challenges.

[lylalou]

She didn't learn that much - Have you seen abookolive's tweets about the challenges Ariel set for booktubeathon? That 'Wear a hat' one in particular.

Every year there's always one dumb challenge that has something to do with how you read and it completely disregards people with disabilities, heatwave, etc. I saw one girl tweeting that she has sensory problems because she's Autistic so there's no way she can wear a hat.

Most of these challenges seem lazy and not at all well thought out anyway. Typical Ariel.

[loxtwo]

She didn't learn that much - Have you seen abookolive's tweets about the challenges Ariel set for booktubeathon? That 'Wear a hat' one in particular.

Every year there's always one dumb challenge that has something to do with how you read and it completely disregards people with disabilities, heatwave, etc. I saw one girl tweeting that she has sensory problems because she's Autistic so there's no way she can wear a hat.

Most of these challenges seem lazy and not at all well thought out anyway. Typical Ariel.

I totally agree, the challenges did not seem thought out and just felt lazy to me. I also don't feel as if they're very challenging. it would have been better if the challenges pushed readers to read out of their comfort zone. Maybe have them read a book out of their normal genres that they read or something.

[loxtwo]

The challenge about wearing a hat I wasn't really surprised by, I mean it's something I would totally expect of Ariel at this point, the thing that really annoyed me about it though was how much she was laughing when she announced that challenge. Like literally she couldn't say it for a few seconds because she was laughing so much, as if it's the funniest thing ever. Like really? It just made me cringe but like a car crash I couldn't look away

Oh my gosh, I know!!! Like she was laughing so hard and thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I mean seriously????

[Seraphina]

Just watched her life update, basically to sum it up: she's still entitled, priveliged af, delusional about the real world and work shy.

[wildestdreams144]

So Ariel has started a Patreon so she doesn't have to get a proper job, all she is offering is early access and bonus content and she has already got $725 per month! (which is more than i earn a month)

[getinmymachine]

So Ariel has started a Patreon so she doesn't have to get a proper job, all she is offering is early access and bonus content and she has already got $725 per month! (which is more than i earn a month)

I'm so skeptical of all these booktubers suddenly getting Patreon. Some are handling it quite well, like Jean has a book club I think and Jen does personalised book recs, but others just don't seem to do anything with it.

And Ariel of all people. At 150k subscribers, if she simply did regular haul/TBR/wrap up videos each month she'd be getting so much ad money. Maybe it does get a little repetitive, but people still like watching those videos. I know I do. Instead her current content is either about how work is not for her, or some patronising "you probably haven't even heard of these books" rambly videos because she needs to be quirky and artsy and different.

[wildestdreams144]

She now wants $1000 per month! to make a mini-documentary about why do authors ask you to pre-order books? Really?!? if someone really wanted to know they can just google it.