I think that fantasy and sci-fi as genres both often face the tension of "what is explicitly possible due to the established laws of the author's world" vs "what we're just going to let pass because it's fantasy."
In a book or series that puts particular effort and focus into world-building, the evolution and establishment of different types of creatures, cultural groups, and races is often a part of the story, and it serves to better explain the fictional universe. This is absolutely not any type of justification for a book in which every character is euro-centric. But it does help explain the grievances that consumers have when a world with specific limitations on travel and cultural fusion (pre-industrialized, we'll say) features isolated villages with a set of characters that look like a college brochure.
That being said, I would be interested in more examples of this type of reaction for an actual book series rather than an Amazon or Netflix adaptation, because I imagine you're mostly referencing the latter.

It was a rare DNF for me, but that's mostly because I have a very specific and acute pet peeve of authors that center a story around children and cannot write children well. I had a really difficult time getting past that. I do know other people that loved it, though.

My guilty pleasure is buying more books when I have unread ones sitting on my shelf.

Welp, this thread is definitely going to make me feel old.

Despite the fact that all three of those books utilize suicide as a major character point, I didn't feel like the tone of any of those books was particularly dark. In fact, there were more moments in those books that felt downright saccharine to me. I think that an author's writing style and ability to convey the realities of human emotion are key when it comes to my own emotional experience with a book. I've read other books with less overtly "dark" subject matter that left me feeling far more morose.

This is one of those (audio)books I rented from Libby on the spur of the moment because it happened to be available, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it and how thought-provoking it was. I read it around the time that I was also working a side job at a nursing home, so all of that combined made for an intriguing read.

There's a reason people tend to pace while talking on the phone. I believe that there's a connection between kinetic movement and our ability to focus and think. I certainly feel that way for myself. Listening to audiobooks while I walk my dog has been a great way for me to be able to enjoy more "reading" during my day.
That being said, I would definitely advise against reading a paper book/ipad while walking outside, only because I'd be worried for your safety! But the treadmill on a walking speed sounds like a decent idea.

I full agree. It's not the subject matter as much as the manner in which it's written. Rape is a good example of a subject that has been handled appropriately by many authors and really grossly by many others.

I love Sylvia Plath and I love the Bell Jar, but reading it always puts me in a really weird place. It's all just way too uncomfortably relatable for me.