Powerless by Lauren Roberts

Look.

I mean, would I watch like some sort of sort of life and death trials of citizens?

I probably would, but I would want to see it live.

I don't want the clip show.

There are three trials. The first one is camping, the second one is hiking, and the third one is Amaze. It's so stupid. It's always the most obvious stuff.

It was like the man was wearing a party hat and his his shirt had a pin on it that said lordie, lordie, look who's forty.

When the reveal was that his full name was Malachi, I did instantly find him hotter.

And I can't explain.

I am so tired of the female protagonist that the male needs to feed because.

Otherthwise she's going to starve.

It's like being poor, being poor.

Amazed, Powerless, Powerless, Powerless, Hello everyone, and welcome back to Me book Club. This week we read Powerless by Lauren Roberts.

Ooh, power Less a pick me female protagonist.

Can you believe we're doing a female.

Protect this podcast? Is this a book we've read before? Perhaps?

Anyway, we are literally And I was like, I'd believe it.

Yeah, I know it's you understand it's going to happen and probably soon yeah episode we release.

It and then people one's like wait, yeah, so it's like you like, none of us catch it on?

None of us. Remember, we read so many of these it is hard to keep track. Anyway. We are mean book Club read New York Times bestsellers that you want us to whine about. As always, I'm Sarah Burton, I'm Jonas.

Grabis, and I'm Sabrina b.

Jordan, and Clara is perhaps joining, perhaps not doing her mysterious thing, but let's keep going. Powerless again by Lauren Roberts. My goodness, why are we reading this book? It's because Sarah b No, not me, Sarah Bigger Staff. She's wrote to us and said, I love your show, and having just discovered it recently, I'm enjoining binge listening to it. I regularly burst out laughing at the gym or walking my dog as I listened and attract some funny looks.

Can I say what I love most about this is she felt like she needed to defend.

She's like, I know.

You've already done a lot of these and you're probably not gonna want to do another.

It's like, oh, Sarah, we want to do enough.

Sarah, Now, that's right up our alley. You didn't need this.

I kept thinking, what a good wreck.

Sarah are Sarah B.

I just want to say I'm proud at you, proud of you for skipping over the greeting, which was Hi Sarah, Clara, Sabrina, and Johanna. I just I feel like that was it was an would have been an easy attack, and it will be remembered during a little fucker.

Okay, oh I thought you met you were coming after other Sarah bid.

Yeah, she's at the top.

What you meant is I need to do something even more chivalrous than Sarah has just done set up.

Oh wow, oh wow, chivalry.

A gentleman like we had in this book.

But like Kai, so I just I pulled a Kai. Well, real low bar for Kai, real low bar for me. So, how did you guys read this book?

You know what I did?

Yeah?

You know it was I did three point five three point five times audio.

You gotta do it with a seventeen hour audio book.

It's so long.

Unnecessarily, I started this with audio, and I switched to reading it in like on my phone because it was so much faster, because you can skim this baby real good.

Yeah, I know this book is powerless, but I never feel as powerful as when I can listen and retain at three point five time speed.

I feel superhuman when I do it.

And there is a lot of repetition in this book. There was a lot of the same conversation happening again and again.

So a lot of twitching mouths and quivering.

Lips yes, and blinking blue eyes. I want to say I.

Ended up with three copies of this book, and two of them have been safely returned to the public library.

Were any of them like the original? Because you know, like this was self published originally, so like we're any of them, like no first edition.

They all looked the same as the audiobook that I ended up listening to in desperation at the last minute.

Okay, I couldn't.

Get through the hardbacks.

All right, fair, fair fair Okay. Also reading, switching from the audio to reading, it was really funny to me because the reveal of how you spell the name Peyton was really good for me.

Yeah, across the spelling of it. But I came across this. I think it might have been in like the the description of the audiobook, which I just had not looked at. And then at the very end, I was like, what this he's a E.

D y N.

Is that what we're sorry?

Yeah, don't name your child that. Don't do that to a person.

Oh, I just can't can't wait to give you a little more info.

Oh boy, And I say that, Look, I say that as a Johanna. And by the way, no, I meant no malage towards Sarah B. You're You're right, I'm the one that has the name. You and the rest of the world are right.

And so I'm just saying, as a person with a strange name, don't do it to a child.

Just let them be a Sarah, Let them be a Kate. Let them if you want to add a little flavor, a little color, let them.

Be a Sabrino's.

It's just actually, I love all sabrina.

I know it's about to say, there's some pretty famous Sobrina's. Okay, guys are ready to do Sarah name first? Yes, okay, it's a tab. I don't know. This is a new thing. Do you notice that there's a tab? No?

A tab?

You see the document? There's a document tab? No?

What do you mean a document to the side.

Oh no, this is really going to mess them up, isn't it?

Just? Okay idea?

But this is a really annoying way to do this. Why didn't you just put it on the outline.

Because I wanted to do it this way.

I don't like this.

It was easier for me.

You're back on the chopping plot.

This is so much better. Okay, sorry, I'm just realizing this is really just a conversation between Okay, so basically this summary Lauren Roberts, the writer. She basically went live on TikTok to talk about her idea for this book. And so this is just this is what I imagine happened when she went live. Okay, this is the year twenty twenty two. Yeah, I should give you roles? Uh Sabrina? Do you want to be Lauren Roberts? Okay? Lauren?

Sure?

And JOHNA. Would you like to be all the randos? Great?

I would love to wait.

Sorry, who was my who was my second one?

You're just Lauren, just Lauren Roberts, the author belong?

And who else was? I?

Nobody? Felt like nobody else? Okay, what's happening?

Saverna, revealing she has never heard of the author's name before, and I'm now doubting she has even.

Knowed this book. She's clicking around looking really confused, like I see lights flashing.

It's just the.

No, I don't know what you're talking about.

She's in a panic.

Why did you guys? You were at the tap, you found the tab and now.

I found the tab?

Oh?

Okay, all right, okay, you guys, are we ready? Okay, I'll just say this again. I'll set in the scene. Lauren Roberts goes live on TikTok in the year twenty twenty two.

Hey, girlies, I just got an idea for a book, and I want to spitball with it with y'all.

What if there.

Was this homeless eighteen year old and she has to pretend to have magic powers because.

Okay, in her world, people don't have magic powers.

Those people are called ordinary or like diseased. They get shunned. I'm still working on that. But anyway, this girl, she gets selected for this, like, let's just rip from the Hunger Games, a Hunger Games thing and all because she saved one of the prince's lives.

Lauren, big fan, Can the prince also compete in the Hunger Games thing?

Does that make sense? Doesn't matter?

Okay, yes, yes, because then they can beat the shit out of each other.

And then almost take out a bunch Yeah. Nah, enemies to lovers, baby?

Oh is there a resistance like the Ordinaries they're trying to take down the king?

Oh my god, I love that she can find out about that, Like halfway through the book. She really know about it before because she was too busy being homeless and stealing honey buns and pickpocketing and anyway, okay, so this girl has she's already infiltrated the castle and.

Then since they stay there to compete in the trials.

Yeah.

Yeah, and then she walks around and she hangs out with both the hot bad boy prince who she's competing with, and then the other like golden retriever prince who will one day be king.

Uh Lauren, random fan number three here, I just want to pop in to say love try and go with air and despair. I absolutely love it.

Right, Oh my god, that's such a good way to describe it. Okay, so she's like so hot and they're both of us ass but okay, get this, it's it's complicated because the king killed her dad, like she remembers, it hasn't that's right. In this world, there's an orcer who's supposed to be killing.

Baddies, but also the king did the killing himself.

Also, the king.

Lets this girl, the daughter who trader Be killed, stay in his castle and eat his food and dance with his sons and flirt with them shamelessly. You know, literally, there is no one watching her and no.

Rules, and it does not matter. Just know that even though he's like a chill dad, he is a bad.

King, Lauren, this is Stanley from Cleveland, Illinois.

Can we talk more about that hot bad boy prince?

Oh? Absolutely fucking lonely.

He's the spare, sure, but unlike Harry, he gets a cool job in Orser, so he gets tortured all his life so that he can be like, this job isn't so bad.

So what I wrapped up your fingernails? My dad did that to me all that time.

Oh did that really fuck him up? Make him twisted like a silent killer? No?

I mean not.

Really like Okay, even though he had been physically and mentally tortured since he was a young child, he's still like a good heart because he does let an.

Ordinary kid lave the kingdom instead of killing him.

So that is where we're gonna see growth in this character.

He's also cocky and of course uffler. Oh and his power.

Is just it's just like, you know what, we don't want to limit It's gonna be everyone's power whatever he wants.

He can sense.

Powers a friend and found on the sixth Here Wait, what didn't that mean? He could sense immediately that that orphan girl doesn't have powers.

Yeah, but but she's hot, so he like totally buys her bullshit about her power just.

Being like a little well does she even look out?

Well? Does she have a friend.

Yeah, a total bestie, and she'll probably be too busy flirting and fighting to talk to her most of the book until.

Until her bestie dies, which is.

Gonna be so sad of course, but we yeah it's pretty sad because we're gonna like all know her really well, y'all?

Does she have to deal with a lot of sexism during her trials, like people not thinking she can do things just because she's a girl.

Oh no, No, just like our world, feminism and internalized misogyny don't exist because.

Everything's equal and there's like never.

Any conflict regender and sex.

And all that.

Also, who cares anyway, because she's not like the other girls.

She's just like hanging.

Out with the guys better because they get her.

You know.

So what do you guys think?

Everyone always thinks my name is Peyton, but it's really Peyton. Can you give her my name so people can start spelling my name? Right?

I need help?

Yeah?

And see that was a word for word from that TikTok live. It's a really long TikTok live. I'm so sorry.

What she is Sarah is joking? Sarah wrote this.

I did sorry.

I was distracted for a minute I guess I let down my smart.

Well.

That last part really was from the TikTok Live that there was a girl on there who was like, this is my name? Can you use my name? Really? Okay?

So that was the kindness.

That was good. Get it out there. I really would love for a.

Johanna to blow up, either positively or negatively, like we can have a negatively.

You really want to put that out there.

I just want the name known. I don't care it.

All, does it okay? I wouldn't.

You're right, you don't want to wish and ate off on yourself. You don't want to wish of Karen on yourself. But at least nobody's saying Karne. Everybody's saying Karen. They know they know your name. Nobody was saying it's true. I'm happy for Peyden. Yeah that was great, Sarah, really funny.

It was really tight. Tight.

Yeah, I wouldn't. I wouldn't cut a word in the future.

No perfect looks some of us. You know we did it, So let's let'll just stick with that. Johanna, do you have a Johanna's jugs a wine pairing for this book?

So I did forget until this moment. Actually, I know that seems crazy, like how.

Could something that happen? It's my only job, Like it's like literally finished the book.

Log on and then bring a wine. I will say a little funny anecdote. We had Matt's parents visited this weekend and we all. Matt was like, here, I got a bottle of red wine. And I was like, you know what, I haven't been drinking recently. Whatever I'm cracking into, gonna indulge in this red wine. And he pours us all the glass and we all took a sip and.

Everyone silently had like a moment of just like panic, and then one by one everyone was like, there's something wrong with the wine, so.

Sad, and we were all like everyone was like jumping, like I don't think I could drink this.

Yeah, it's really bad.

And Matt's mom was like, where did you get it? And I was like, I don't know.

I just someone must have brought it to our house. And I looked at the bottle. It was an alcohol removed wine. It wasn't I know, it's crazy not alcoholic wine that you have. It was alcohol removed. I mean it's literally just tasted like red wine.

Vinegar, I say, don't do that, And I don't think this is so that works that.

I know for this, Yeah, I guess, you know. I just think, like, enjoy a soda, you know, I don't have to do. You don't have to subject yourself to something.

I have a de alcoholized wine in my fridge that I was actually pretty excited about from act.

I mean you were excited to try it?

Or yeah, I'm surprised Johnny yourself. Yeah, because don't you like beer that's no alcoholic, Like, aren't you like alcoholic.

Beer is very good?

Or was that you?

Oh?

Okay, sometimes I have to drink it?

All right, all right, fair, fair, I mean you don't have to drink it. This is my point is that you don't have to. You can just have something else that doesn't have alcohol in its true true.

I'm just saying, if you're abstaining, I will I would say a non alcoholic beer ten times over a non alcoholic wine.

Okay, sure?

And that soda did you drain it or did you drink it?

Oh my god, we threw it away.

And I am sorry Mike and Dan, because you are the people gave me that wine. I specifically remember now I apologize.

Yeah, it went down the sink.

And just like this book in some ways, what are you trying to read back to the book where in which I prepared for Yeah, and it's it's supposed to have something to do with the book.

I think, Well, like you said, my thought was ya, it's a non alcoholic wine.

Okay, that was your thought?

Yeah, okay if I yeah, all right, So.

Yeah, you Janna, I agree with you that that was your thought, and I really support you.

Thank you, Sabrina.

Oh my god, hap should I call you Kai?

Oh my god?

MALICKI, oh my god, this book.

When the reveal his full name was malik Ki, I did instantly find him hotter.

And I can't explain that.

Because it's a bad boy name.

No, it's just a hot name.

But the brother is Kip right, it's kit kit kit okay, well like.

Kit Kit Ridge the American girl doll.

Okay. But did he have a short as well? Was it a short for something?

Maybe it should be, but I don't know if maybe it isn't.

So you can name the king, the person's gonna be king. It's just like we're gonna call him kit. And then the other brother gets to be.

Mad King Kit.

That King Kit Wow, based on some of the other characters' names in this book, Like I feel like there's a Braxton.

I think there's a Blair yeah over the place. When is this book set? I don't know.

Can't talk.

I mean two thousand and eight in Christian Girl Autumn, I don't.

I don't know all right this book. Let me give you some background on the book before we dive in. This is a New York Times bestseller. It was on the list for at least nineteen weeks after publication when it came out in twenty twenty three, and was self published actually before that, before it was acquired by Simon and Schuster. But this book is the first debut novel of the author, Lauren Roberts, who is a little mysterious

So didn't have many nice things to say about it.

Yeah, she was like eighteen and she started this, and she said she was juggling job a job. She was scrubbing toilets at a cleaning company. But then I also heard her say that she was working at a library in a separate interview. So I'm like, I don't know what she was doing, but she wasn't doing it for very long because you know, she self published right when she turned nineteen, and then like a few months later it got it was doing well enough to get picked up by Simon and Schuster.

So I have you guys googled a picture of her?

No, yeah, I've seen. I've seen her.

She's very hot.

Yeah, she's she's she's maybe twenty three now, she's a hot young lady.

She's I just imagined someone more bookish for such a long book.

Yeah. I have to say though, because I did listen to some interviews and watch some YouTube interviews with her, it is hard for me. I was realizing, like, oh, this is me very much so feeling like a millennial right now because I'm having a lot of trouble listening to her talk. Interesting, she sounds she's so whatever generation is, what is it? Whatever? I don't know where are we I am en Z? Are she's gen Z right year old?

I think so, I think gen Z.

But it's then the one belows she's not a Genalphia.

She's gen Z, but she like our genuine children.

Those are genuine children.

A child for me, she apparently to Sarah sounds like a genuine child.

So we don't really know, do we know? She's into knitting, laser tag hammocking word searchers, and coloring.

Oh god, she's a child.

She's very active on Instagram and TikTok, and that's she was always sharing, writing updates and engaging with readers. And I think that's really how she was able to build such like a fandom and momentum, Like she really used TikTok. She also is a cat named Mango, and she got the tattoo up to forget Me not Flower on the chapter pages.

Oh my god, I know about that named Mango.

Serna used to have a.

Listener off the pod.

Yeah, I thought that might be a listener. I mean, is the cat okay? Sure? Anyway, so she you If you ask her how did she love published, She's like, I don't know. I googled it and then I just did it and it worked out for her. She won Barnes and Noble Ya Award in twenty twenty three. This got huge on book talk. There are three books. There's Reckless Book two, Fearless Book three. And then she also wrote a bunch of novellas around it that are from

Notes to a book, but it's a whole different book.

Apparently. It's also the Powerful is Adina the Homeless Friends? Else to sew.

Just a character then didn't cadell Dezi, So.

Maybe she is more interested. Maybe it helped because it was like what was going on with that character anyway. According to the publisher Press Reliefs, the series has sold over five point five copies globally across all formats, five point five million million. And uh, there is an adaptation she is for work? Is that Amazon? We'll see what happens.

Oh, I can't wait.

Yeah, yeah from Daphne Ferrero is.

Apparently cast as Malachi.

I don't know.

I assume a fifty year old man because that's the voice of that character. That's how that character is written. And I'm honestly my one takeaway was I was like, there's no way a young person wrote this because of the way this supposedly nineteen year old boy talks.

I was like, I think he's like a little older than that, but like twenty three, maybe I feel he was. He did make Christian Gray vibes like old man. I mean the amount he was just very poetic. It didn't make sense. Gray is not old old, but you know, yeah, he was like twenty nine. Yeah, it didn't make sense. No, none of the characters made sense with like the way they spoke versus their background. It never matched or made any sense, and you just eventually had to roll with it.

The way she was a psychic was I mean, this is how people do cold readings to audiences, right, It's the way true he did.

It was so lucky.

She'd be like the man standing in front of me. I stared at him. I noticed a ring box in his front pocket and his right knee was covered in dirt, and soot I knew he must have just proposed. It was like, yeah, it was always the most like obvious stuff. It was like the man was wearing a party hat and his his shirt had a pin on it that said lordie, lordie, look who's forty?

If he sings.

Together, I since a birthday, I said, yes, he screams mine.

It was so stupid. It was like a little like parlor trick she did, and that it was. People just fell for it, even the person who should have been like, this is obviously bullshit.

Who's never to root these people out and kill them?

And that's ki eric Ka Yeah okay, but hear me out. The power of a hot person is so real.

It is real, so true.

You don't recognize if they're stupid, You don't recognize if they're because it.

Doesn't matter because they are they're just so hot. We did learn, We do learn that she's hot because like, even though she's like, like you know, stealing to survive, she's like, oh my god, wait, I have to find it. I have to find I say, I saved it. Describe what she looks like. She's got silver hair, which is also likes a lot of she's supposed to be pickpocket who doesn't stand out from the crowd, but she used silver hair. I'm confused. I think sure.

Is the message of this book that as long as you're hot, you can never be ordinary?

Is that, like, yes, okay, let's go sweet on the outside.

Yeah, just find your hotness on the outside and you'll be okay.

Yeah, okay here, wait, okay, So this is when they first meet, So this is okay, this is kai Okay. Instinctively, I reach out to study the individual before they fall over from the impact my arms wrapping around their waist. Her waist, the body I'm holding is undoubtedly belongs to a female, though the massive, long silver hair brushing against my arms is proof enough. She's small but strong, leaner

I don't know, But it's because she's skinny but still really muscular. You can tell it's the muscle wasting away, not fat wasting away.

Yeah, thank god, I'm.

So tired of the female protagonist that the male needs to feed because otherwise she's going to starve to death.

In here, it's yeah, she's got to get fed, and it's like it's what I don't like anyway, He's kinda make my girl eat.

Than she even was at the beginning, and remember her, I can tell she had a female waist and that she was very scrawny, scrawny so thin.

Oh my god. Wait, we also didn't talk about there is there is like a tiny amount of background. There's she briefly mentions, sorry, the author briefly mentions that, like how this came to be, even though like it doesn't matter, but she's like everyone used to be ordinary, but then there was a plague, and then from the plague, some people got superpowers, and then they decided that the people who didn't have superpowers were diseased and needed to be

I think it was described in one page.

All yeah, that background, by the way, it was such nonsense and like never everything every explanation of like what's going on in this book, fantasy wise, is like nonsensical. It's just like not quite there.

So if you write a romance to see, by the way, you need to have a really fun phrase that instead of saying like oh damn are oh god, you have to come up with some like oh, cauldron, oh gods.

And in this one it's oh plagues.

Yeah they say it, so, oh.

My plague, thank the plague. And that's really cool and really inventive. Yeah, and that really makes sure it's in your book. So find your fun word that substitutes for god.

And put it in your book.

So we're talking plagues, and so maybe you're thinking, oh plagues. This is like something that takes an all history of stuff that takes place back in like the fifteen hundred. I don't know, you're just like went Middle Ages. No, it's not, because electricity is mentioned several times. There's even a power that uses the electricity, and she talks about the slums not having as much electricity as the other parts of the town. So it's like, what the fuck

It's dystopian but not. Actually, it's just like we've moved away from civilized society.

There's no there's no like this is a certain time where it's the future. It's it doesn't make any sense, but it is. Really. It did really crack me up that, like most and I would I want to talk about this for like a long time. How like some of the powers were just like technology, Like one of the powers is just amplifier, Yes, just like microphone, So somebody has the power of microphone.

You imagine if you got everyone around you start getting powers and they were flying and turning invisible and they could become fire, and yours was not like even just for you to be a microphone, but it's like you get to be a physical microphone.

You could touch someone else and make them louder. Great. Yeah, it was just like and then there was one where they they were just cameras. They just like we're cameras. It's like we're cameras not invented yet, what's going on? Like, I don't, I just can't. Anyway, I want to play a game later where we imagine some other things she could have lied about having.

But okay, as opposed to lying about being a psychic, which was yeah.

Yeah, but let's I guess we can move forward a little bit with what the fuck's in this book? We've done Peyton Gray, Yeah, okay, she's just like sleeping on the cobblestones with her friend a Dina, and she's like stealing thread because she loves to sew.

But remember she's on the cobblestones. But she's like, not that dirty.

She doesn't like she's not you know's We don't.

Know, she's not stinky, she's just.

Yeah. So something happens where Prince Kai he is the enforcer, aka, he's like the executioner. I guess, which is a weird thing to make your prince be. But sure, we'll stick with it. We'll go along with it.

Can I ask a question about this? Because and this could be the three point five time speed, but the way it's described is the King Kai and Kit's father has been training Ki to be an an enforcer, and it's like that's his destiny, his lineage, that's what he'll be. But the king himself has been doing that training. And then the king himself is also training Kit to be the king, Like is there no current enforcer?

Not that we know, and it's wild, it doesn't make sense. We're like, why how do we know that old? No one has been one exactly. No, that's not clear. We don't know about that. I think we barely know the king has a name, so he's just always the king. I think there's a.

Lot of stuff like this that also, it's so many that's like the king the like kingly duties they think of.

Is like he teaches Kit.

To do a lot of paperwork, I as much.

Even though he can or some ship anyway, So yeah, Kit or Kai, he's got a whole back story about being tortured by his dad. But anyway, we see him and he's supposed to be being the enforcer and like making this ordinary child, killing this ordinary child, but he's like such a big heart and instead he sends he banishes them. And then that's why he's in this like what's not the slums? What do we call it?

The sand lands?

Something stupid? Where she where the poor people live? Uh he faction live there. Yeah, she steals from him and that's hot. That's like what I read those little time little moment from that. But then some people try to also rob Kai and they are baddies. But there's also this silencer guy who's like a super scary power because it makes your powers, it makes you become powerless. And so Kai can't fight back because even though it seems like, well why can't he just like physically fight back, but

That in particular makes the twist make really no sense.

It makes no sense.

Can I also say something about Kit, which is when I was listening on three point five time Speed, there is a moment that Kit and Peyden's share together where they're in a garden. Yeah, there's something like a flower crown or I don't know. He's like, it looks good on you, and she's like, it looks better on you? And I thought oh cute. The future king is gay.

Knew that she liked Hi and so like that sister at law.

Yeah, and it took me a really long time to like reground myself and oh, this is maybe a love triangle, this.

Is fun well, and it was it. I mean, that's another question. It's funny you say that though, because I also up top believed that Peyden was with aDNA and that was she was fully a lesbian. I just though at first the way they were, I don't know, I just I really didn't. I was like, oh, that's gonna be fun because you don't they're gonna be all these guys and you don't expect that. But no, no, that wasn't it at all.

But anyway, just to get the plot going, or I had a confusion too, I just want to oay, okay, share a share chack.

I didn't.

I didn't think Peyden was with a Dina. But she ends a lot of her sentences by saying, isn't that right? A like a green dress?

A and.

That's her nickname for A. Dina is just to call her A. But I thought she was Canadian and like she's a super like old Canadian man, sort of like backwoodsy and it really changed my view of her in the book for.

A long absolutely, Yeah, does that make any sense? A and I would urriage future authors. A is not a good nickname.

There's too much.

If you're listening to the audiobook, some readers are going to go Canada.

Okay, that's very funny, Santa.

Okay. So the other the big plot, Oh my god, now I'm the Purge. The Purge Trials. What the fuck are they called?

Now?

I can't the per They're these these trials that are introduced and barely explained, and they are obviously.

That it's the Hunger Games.

It's the Hunger Games, but like with less explanation. And also it's funny because like the main character seems to not understand what they are or what or I've heard of them before, which seems weird for something that like should seems like it happens a lot, but.

Sure it's it's not supposed to ever have any ordinaries in it, right, It is just the elites that compete in it, right, which is but.

Like it's not all elite elites. Sometimes it's like I guess they're still technical elites, but it's like the blame.

Elites are there too, Like the microphones, Yeah, the microphones are there.

I don't know. I'm like confused, like gals. And the other thing is that like I feel like for Hunger Games, you knew, like only you know, there's only one winner, like that's the big deal. You never fucking understand what the like how many die?

Because I was like, I, you know, I had mapped it onto the Hunger Games, and they didn't seem to ever like be concerned that maybe they wouldn't get to live together at the end.

But I was like, only one of you is coming out a lot.

It seems like nobody needed to die, honestly.

But then also Payden's when she starts, she announces to the whole kingdom. She's like, they're like, what's your what are you gonna do in the purge? And she's like, I'm gonna survive And there's like a hush silence, and everyone's like shocked that she would say something like that. So it is like it's eluded that she's not gonna survive.

Yeah, it's it's very it's it's like they set she sets up stakes, but then they don't. But honestly, you don't feel them at all, because what you get is there's a bunch of balls and it seems way more concerned about what she's gonna wear to.

The Yeah, I forgot actual lot this book was like there's that whole beginning part where there's like the Caesar Flickerman character, Yeah exactly who is like, you know, Stanley Tucci in The Hunger Games and is like interviewing her, and then there's a little question where she charms the audience by poking fun at the king or not the King, the prince, and like all of that kind of goes away, like needing the support of the crowd.

Yeah, we don't. That doesn't affect the games at all, Like it doesn't the Hunger Games. There's nothing like thought out. There's just like it's just basically the only reference later is like this is where people think. It's like people are it's not even saying they're betting. It's just like this is where people think you are in the rankings. The King says it to her as though it's like you'll never get higher than that, but it's like, who cares,

It felt like someone asked, and I know this was before this is pre chat GPT, but it felt like someone asked chat GPT, like give me just a quick like one page on what the Hunger Games is, and then like that's what this book gets without any understanding or any of the fun rules that they had where you could send in you know, you could pick a champion and you could send supplies. It was unclear if

Or like it was like it was being recorded but it wasn't live, and then they just did the clips later and it's like, okay, that's stupid.

Just like reality TV.

I mean, would I watch like some sort of sort of life and death trials of citizens? I probably would, but I would want to see it live.

Also there at the clip show, there are three trials. The first one is camping, the second one is hiking, and the third one is amaze. It's so stupid.

It's like being poor, being poor, amaze, Oh.

My god, I can't believe I was stupid these trials.

So there was also this this really pissed me off. So there's a big ball at the beginning, like like Sorerena and Sarah said, there's just like the thirty chapters out of sixty are like before the trials even started, just like I'm in the castle now.

Yeah, no one's paying attention to her. She's just there.

And they have this big ball where all of the women that come to the ball make this grand entrance. That's their whole thing is like all the men wait in the ball and then the women enter one by one, and all the women wear green. But you know, Pain looks at the rule and there's nothing in the rules that says you have to wear green, and so she just decides she's gonna wear a silver dress.

And wow, she has silver hair.

It's the first time anyone's ever thought to do a different color at the ball.

And like, why would you pick that color that's gonna drown you out? You have silver hair, Like, it doesn't true, it doesn't mean yes, you don't see me wearing yellow.

So yeah, I liked that, like all of the other None of the other women ever thought that, like it'd be fun to stand out and be the one gallon a different.

Color, Like have you heard of a wedding?

Okay, we know about being the only one in a certain color, but we know about it.

It's funny because her whole premise is that she has to hide that she's ordinary, but she like does everything to make herself stand out and like draw attention to herself. It's wild even just talking the way she talks to kind kid, like over and over again, she says something like, yeah, well, maybe the kink should be more for his people, and then her internal monologue is like, I can't believe I just spoke my mind like that. I really need to

It's just like the like the ordinary aren't so bad. Maybe you're standing right in front of one right now, you stupid dick.

Oh peydon, why didn't say that.

I didn't mean it?

Oh my god, but we do.

I like can't believe I like, actually coming into this tonight, forgot about this whole prelude.

It's just so funny because like, honestly, the fantasy part of this book is so so very very bad, and I and there are some things I enjoyed and we can we will get too. It's just like it is crazy how nonsensical fans like even just like Jack's one of the guys fighting. He has the ability to blink. It's called blink, and he can like just move somewhere else, and he like doesn't ever use it to go up the mountain, like he finds out it's like capture the flag or even the maze. It's like you just have

Steal everyone's power. Should just be doing that. He could do that too, steal the blink.

Also, she why she's like fighting these people with all these powers. I'm sorry, there's a girl who can move things with her mind. You're not gonna beat her. I'm sorry, it's ridiculous. This story is a ridiculous. You're not beating her at a fight. You're so sorry, You're.

Definitely gonna beat microphone girl.

You can be microphone girl. But like, also there's there's a little unun little brother who also just I don't was just for some reason, also randomly in the purge. He also like there's never any explanation as to why he was chosen. And then he almost dies and kais.

Like saving guy brother and he's fifteen.

Yeah, and I'm like, and then he kiss like save his life, and but he does, and then like nothing happens, Like nothing else happens with this guy.

I feel like at the top, they make a big deal about how this is the first time that a prince has ever been in the trials or whatever they're called, and I I could be wrong, but I feel like they don't make a big deal out of how the little brother is also in it.

Yeah, later.

Shouldn't shouldn't that count equally and maybe even a little more because he's not the future enforcer.

He's just a weak little child.

Yeah, it's weird. It doesn't like the logic. You're like, why did the king do this? Why did the king? Why did they pick her? Because it's not random, like hunger games. It's like she was chosen by his I don't know the I don't know who picks them. I'm assuming the king, but don't really know. But just because she saved his life. But but again, this is what we also need to realize at this point, the king, this is again the daughter of a trader the king killed.

Yea, he knows, like the king was confused.

And it's not a like I just to figured out who you are from the king. The king always.

Knows and always or did he find out kind of in the middle of the trials, which is how I read it. I was like, I've for some time, and I was like, well, how long is that time?

I feel this always did the length of the book, don't I don't.

There was never a moment described that like was revealing, and so I can only I this is again just like plot holes, like what's going on the way the king acts is so nonsensical, like even just like why is she allowed to wander around and like talk to the he clearly doesn't like her and once he'r dead, but is like letting her flirt endlessly with his two sons, like it doesn't make any sense?

How much do you really know about her?

If you think she's like kind of part of the resistance, a thing she's literally never heard of. True until you let her mingle around your kingdom and people are like.

Hey, hey, my god, we're the resistance.

You have to get some key off of kit.

And then she can do all these things super easily. Everything she could do is she can do it all so easily. Also so funny the resistance. Guess where the resistance meets at her house? She had a house whole time. It's so funny.

What but she is living.

I think she literally describes it as like I live in a trash pile. Yeah, she describes her house as But then for some reason, there's a house and she goes back there one day. She's like, I'm gonna go back to my house. I'm gonna just check it out, head on back, see if my dad's chair is still there.

It's like, did her dad. I'm trying to make sense of it, Okay, I'm trying to do the legwork that Lauren Roberts did not do. And I'm like, perhaps the dad left the house to the resistance in and she's not in his will. I don't know that's fucked up.

So she can't make that bad debt before he died, right, but what happened?

Yeah? But like also did they.

Watch him get murdered?

Murdered and in the last minute quickly struck her out as well? She doesn't get the house. I want her to live in a trash pile.

I've been training her all her life to be a pickpocket, and now this is the chance. I don't know, it's very.

Very your father, you might have to live in a trash pile.

I think she didn't know that her dad was like a big deal part of the resistance.

No, she doesn't know that either.

Why did she think the king himself would have murdered just some random dad?

Good question. Well, doesn't seem like she didn't seem to think about that. She didn't really, And this is why, I mean, this is the same for all the characters. The characters don't really think at all, like not at all, not even the leaders of the resistance. They're not like, oh, maybe this plan. Our plan is to basically like sneak up so we can show up at the third trial and like surprise everyone, and then we're just gonna be like, please be nice. To us, we're ordinaries, Like what was

You don't we know that?

Yeah, he's also like the second key that the Resistance needs her to like find to get from Kit. It's like Kit just Sue Spontee is like, yeah, there's this really important key that I hide on my person and it's like, why would you tell a basic stranger that gigantic security detail.

He's horny for her, and that's so this gets back to this this three this love triangle, which is unfortunately when this was introduced, I was like, oh, I see potential like brother brother, Oh you know, there's the hot one, but like he's the king, so it's gonna like, look, he's going to have to start. I there was, but there really wasn't anything like she's never liked Kit like it would have been.

If she probably did, probably but if she was actually but instead she just shamelessly flirts for him throughout the book and then at one point they're like, also, your mission is to flirt with him, and she's like easy because she's been doing it for no reason, Like it's.

Just a moment of conflict where it's like, I haven't been doing this the whole book. It will be weird and it will be a challenge I need to undertake.

No, she just it's just the way she is. She's just like, this is how she talks to me. She's just naturally flirty. And yeah, I guess that's okay. So there's that set up, and then we have this like enemies to lovers thing, I guess, But it's like she doesn't seem to really see herself as an enemy with Kai,

I think in the universe, right there's like a there should be a montague and capulate situation to them, except that Kai has no idea who she actually is, and neither does she.

Right, so she doesn't know her dad is the leader of the resistance exactly right.

It's like, where is the conflict?

Do you are?

Just?

But yeah, it seems fine. I actually the I the thing I know. It's why A but a little amount of hurting and touching they did with each other. These are eighteen year old and twenty something, Like, there's no way these people haven't fucked, like, aren't fucking kissing making

So they didn't kiss right like there was no no.

There was like a peck, maybe there was nothing nothing.

There was that moment where he chased her out of the ball and the rain and he held his jacket over his head to keep her dry, and she was like, I'm already wet, yeah.

And he's like, I know, and then his lips quivered with a smile and his dimpy's dimppy simpled and her eyes traveled to his mouth.

I was also having so much fun reading this and imagining like fifteen to seventeen year old kids taking this as their template for like how to talk to people, like and how to flirt, like how to talk to girls because.

A lot of Naggine.

There's this one line where she gets hurt and kus like who did this to you?

And of course, because we're trying to play the enemy's celeveris trope, she's like, why do you care? And he goes because I don't like my toys to be played with.

Yes, I was dying.

It's ridiculous sixteen year old trying to flirt and being like I don't like my toys. I want young people to use this as their template.

It just take us to whatever time. This is Oh my god, the constant use of the word darling. It was like way too much. Oh, and they like knife at your throat, I'm gonna kill you. And they have this.

Refrain too that you could tell the author thinks is like so impactful. Which is the truth then and then they would respond the truth always. I think that came up three or four times.

Oh yeah. And then there's the like funny so many funny to the like dancing where he's like, I have to teach you how to dance because you have to dance with my brother, and then they're like in the middle of the night together dancing. I'm like, what is this. There are no rules. I don't want to get on here. I thought this character was gay. See all the pieces are lighting up.

It's like, I have to teach you to.

Will be pissed if you can't dance.

He yeah, he's like he's very particular.

He's good.

He did four years of ballroom, like.

He's gonna something.

Yeah, totally, you're right. He never made like a huge move on her. He just like there were like two conversations maybe between Kit and Kai, who also kind of seemed gay together. Now that you say that like they were always like they kept being shown. I don't know, like they had more Yeah, they had more kind of chemistry than Kitten I.

I did not pick up on the brotherly I think.

But they also don't talk like there's like some vague where She's like, you know, Kid's like, oh, she's interesting, I want to know more, and Kuy's like yeah, and then they don't like neither of them talk about really how they're feeling.

I don't know, there's just boy stuff, you know, I guess it is.

I guess it's total boy stuff. Kai's total boy stuff because he's like, uh, I just like kill people. My daddy tells me too, And I never like think about it too much, like I.

Don't know, like he just I'm just this is the way it is, and.

La la la, like he it's so funny because he does not have a like a single complex thought.

No, he literally.

Except in his mind poetry for her.

Sure, but like the things he says out loud to himself are not things that one says to themselves, Like I don't sit there in my mind and think, Sabrina, you were raised to be this job and you don't care about anything other than this job, because that is how you were raised. Like, no, you have complex thoughts about who you are in your life, and you aren't also aren't constantly thinking about it.

I I want to ask you guys, how much of your day, as people is spent going like, why.

The fuck did I just do that? I something such an idiot, I'm so embarrassed.

Never that's also the funny thing to be that. I'm like, if she's a character who like speaks her mind a lot, she's probably most of the time just gonna do it. I don't know, like not going to constantly be like because if she's anxious about her.

I was asking, for real, how often do you guys think that? Because I think that all day long? Oh yeah, this is what I mean.

I mean if I feel like I never think that.

I don't never think it. It is rare that I think it. But once I do, I think about that thing for a week.

Okay, Yeah, I choose not to because I will spiral. I kind of a Sabrina here. I will spiral. And I have realized that it doesn't doesn't not helpful to me to do that.

I'm just trying to figure out what other people's in her monologues are I guess Serena got me thinking that, Like, you know, I don't think about my job what I was raised to do, but I guess I do think often about like that.

It's such a stupid thing to say.

Fix and fixes, but she doesn't fix it.

She just is like, yeah, whoopsies, she goes whoops, and then she flashes her silver hair and she cinches her little waist.

Yeah it's a little anemic waist, but strong but still yeah, she's still very strong and like feisty. Okay, here, I want to read a little quote. This is obviously Kai talking about our girl. Everything beautiful, everything bold, everything breathtaking. This is what I feel in her gaze. That and terrified, terrified of what she's doing to me. She is a vision, a nightmare, a dream, a grim reaper clad in black,

Oh my god, I crack.

Don't you feel like she wrote that like really early, Like it doesn't really fit, do you know what I mean? I'm like, bees still get the beauty. He never thinks that. He's never like I'm not hot.

He All he thinks about is how hot he is and says.

It, Yeah, it doesn't make any sense. And also, there was never really concerned that kit was going to win her, Like that would have been interesting, but that was never really there.

Dweem brother who does paperwork, absolutely not.

The slame future king.

This man is trying to like speak in like thinking so poetically. I guess it's so, but it's also like cheesy. Sorry, I gotta read one more Kai thing. I never thought about what my favorite color was. It never seemed important. Oh my god. Sorry. They asked each other their favorite colors, and neither of them had a favorite color. So stupid. Okay, she goes, he goes. Not until I looked into a pair of ocean blue eyes and realized that perhaps drowning

Are they sky blue or are they fire blue?

Yeah? These are different color blues. Ocean blue, that's kind of a greeny blue, I would say, I don't know what. Yeah, we're just so fucking stupid, just the way he thinks and talks like. I guess, you know what, maybe it was nice. I actually don't know if I liked being in his brain, because I guess it just like he was obsessed with her full throttle the whole time, and I would have liked to, like, not know that.

I think they're okay, and if we can like a little bit toward the end too, I think being in his brain, I can't decide. I think like there was some fun of it, But there is a thing that, like the King says at the end, which could have been a really dramatic moment, but wasn't because we were in Kai's mind the whole time, and basically it's like, there's this last trial, and you, well, the last trial

Are the people who fight for him? Where are they? I don't know?

But then he was like, jokes on you.

The whole point has been for Kai to kill you, and he likes to play with his prey. And I was just like, no, that's not what Kai is. Like, we would know if Kai was angling to kill her right now.

Now.

Incidentally, the book does shift into that being where it goes, but it's like that wasn't a preexisting motivation.

Of Ky, right, and I nor do I actually believe it at the end. But yeah, So she fights the king who has powers, and somehow beats him using her I don't even actually sheer strength. I don't even know how she does. It doesn't just because she's so strong and she trips him.

I don't fu uses her of hot, that's all.

And then we find I guess At some point before he dies, the King reveals that Kai is actually the one who killed her dad, and she's even though we've heard her say a bunch of times it was definitely the king. Now she has to backtrack and be like, oh, I don't know why I thought that.

Also, it's like I let them confused how young does the king look and or how old does Kyle?

Also it doesn't make sense because he keeps talking about how similar Kit looks to the king, and so it's also like, Okay, wait, what's happening?

But now you also do they all look the same?

Like?

And it was going on first killed, so it was like several years ago, like he he must have actually been a child, and you thought that was a full blown king, Yeah.

Because she was thirteen I think at the time. Also like but also Ki, Ki, You're like, Ki, that was your first kill. You must have remembered your first kill, certainly.

Right, everybody remembers that.

You're not going to bring up It's just seems crazy to me that you they wouldn't be like, oh, I just recognize her. That that would have been some sort of internal something that came up Like that would have been more interesting. I think if he was fighting that internally, like realizing, but no, you wouldn't have any of that. We couldn't have any of that because we needed him to just be like super cocky.

We couldn't have that because we needed to have a conversation where they both go, yeah, I don't have a favorite color and then the other person goes yeah, oh okay, which is one of those thoughts you just you keep inside you don't need.

To ever voice that, or or like have you ever played thumb Wars And she's like no. Then they play And that's something that happened when they were camping in the first trial.

But I'm dancing too had room for that.

They also did dancing. I don't know why that was happening.

I thought, so the maze the like twist, I guess was also the King said to Kai that maybe he was going to get to kill Peyden in the next trials, and.

I was like, are we killing people?

And then it was like, okay, at the center of the maze, once you get there, there's going to be an ordinary waiting for you that.

You have to kill.

And so I was like, first I was like, oh my god, Peydon is going to be trapped right there, and then Kai is gonna have to kill her. No, she gets to start at the start line like the other people competing. And then I thought, maybe her father isn't really dead and he's going to be the person there.

Also No, but it was it her, It was her DNA.

It was a again again so funny. We didn't even mention this. She's there at the beginning and then I don't know, halfway through the book. Literally these are thoughts that uh, Peyton has, Oh, I forgot about my friend. She likes to sew, maybe she can make my dress. And then she has her coming to make her dresses and talks to her about nothing else, not about Ki, not about Kit, not about residenting, nothing and.

Author is I got to rest. The plot.

Shows up and she's but also like I was confused because she didn't have to kill her. She was like already dying or something like what happened she was and she was like I'm sorry, and I'm like I don't know what you did. You were just so in some dresses. I'll fucking No.

We find out and powerful we need or maybe a novella.

Yeah, yeah, the Powerful, Yeah that is the one that would, I guess tell us.

It's us for just writing one book and expecting to be able to understand the book by.

Reading the book. Yeah, yeah, we needed the whole compendium.

Stupid girls, stupid fucking book.

All right, let's can we talk a little bit. I mean, there's so much to make fun of, it's almost endless. But did you guys like Kai and Peyton, did you like their flirting scenes?

Well, okay, that's a loaded question, because overall I was looking forward to those scenes.

Yeah, I.

Do feel as though I didn't get the return on my investment sure listening to them. Yes, would I venture through the next four books to perhaps get another taste, Yes I would.

Yeah, I think I might agree with you there, Sabri. I hated it at the beginning, and then once I think I gave up on trying to make sense of anybody, or like the lot, like I just gave up on the logic of everything, or the fact that like this Chai character, the way he talks doesn't make any sense given his background. I then I was able to just enjoy that they are. They're like just super flirty and they're just looking for reasons to like touch each other.

I think what you both are describing is that this book nagged you both, and it was so mean to you, and it ignored your needs as readers for so long that finally, when it turned a tiny little bit of its light on you and had a little bit of fun, flirty banter, you both snapped.

At it like, yeah, I was like good enough. At the hook, we.

Were like, oh my god, thank you for paying attention to my.

Need book, and I have for giving me strategy here.

To give so little to your reader that the crumb that you throw out of flirtation will be thought of as good.

Yeah. I think that's accurate.

Yes, I honestly I don't. I don't have any criticism on your commentary.

Yeah, it's true, Chris. It was what got me at all continuing to read the book. I mean, other than we had too for this podcast.

Yeah, other than it's our jobs.

But look, did the book did the book end with setting up that? That's setting up that the Kai Kit is now the king and Kai has to go find her and bring her back. So do am I excited for that? Yes? Because I it's just going to be forced proximity all over again. We're sing zero again, and it's going to be more of an end, like this is going to be the true enemies, because like, you killed my dad, well, you killed my dad, well your dad sucked well.

Well, I think the best thing that could have happened was that she killed his dad, because now, like it'd be pretty tough to forgive someone for killing your father, right, Yes, you've also there.

Yeah and now so now it's even now, there's evens Now they're the one person in the world that can understand you.

You have something in common because we know you don't have colors in common.

We know that.

We didn't talk about TV, so I don't know what else they have.

Really, there were books. There was a mention of books existing in her room when she came to the castle, but no, she didn't read any of them as far as I know.

But cool that in theory this main character can read that is not Romantay books the main character sometimes and that's hot too.

Yeah, I don't know there, I can't. Like there were other characters, but it's like barely worth mentioning them. Blair Archer. I guess she was the other mean girl, but like their immediately rival, like it was just I don't know. I thought it was just stupid that it's like Blair, she's walking in there with her tits up. She's probably trying to impress Kai and Kit. It's like, maybe, no, she wasn't. She was just like a girl. She's known them since she was kids, and now she's fighting.

Like sorry, she has perky tits.

Yeah. I feel like Peyton was like pretty bitchy to her. She's not very feminist. She's a she's not a gal's girl. She loves to flirt. I don't, I don't nothing bad, Like, okay, nothing bad. That's not fair. Her dad does die.

But it's not like an action and her story.

Everything's really coming up Payde Like she's got a task. She does it, she's got to fight, she wins it.

I do feel bad for her that her nickname in the book is gray, even though her hair is silver.

Kai likes to call her gray.

It's his cute we name.

Her last name is girl.

It was her last name.

It's her last name. What's also stupid? Her name's Peyton Gray.

I missed that. Well, it's understandable because because of the color of her hair.

Yeah, I think that would was is funnier and fair, but no, it's it's even stupider than that. It's the her last name is the color of her hair.

Okay, so honestly killed her dad? Then for sure? You know, for sure.

I'm sure he doesn't know the name.

Like, oh, there was a little girl with still like gray hair, and then I killed her dad. You don't know who that is. You know who it is, you know who the fuck it is.

Maybe it was really okay?

Then yeah, maybe somehow it was really Kit who killed her father.

That would make more sense to me, But also, like none of it makes to me. If we if I take another step forward, do you know what I mean? What if she.

Killed her dad and this has all been her subconscience playing an elaborate game to protect her.

This is the wild West, and I believe that anything could happen in these next four books, including that.

And I believe that you're going to find out.

I believe that as well. What are our next five books of this season? Is it these books?

Yeah? We're just doing all these? Yeah? Also, why was where were there was like flicking each other's nose or like paid and would flick Kays and I was like, why are we flicky noses? That kept happening?

No one should ever touch my nose, I understand.

I was like, is that cute? Yeah?

Well I remember in super Bad when they're like, boop boop.

I mean, I guess that was Michael Sarah and Jonah Hill and not a flirt, but it was very sweet.

Did you know that? Uh, there's a serial killer test that involves booping a nose.

I think it's no.

If you boop a why is it that my reaction is I want to pass as a serial killer.

No.

Um, if you boop a serial killer's nose too many times, they'll freak out. But a normal person will just have a normal reaction. I guess you could google nose boop test serial killer.

All right, I'll get right on that.

I did, and the first thing twenty three physical abnormalities of serial killers. And then you know how sometimes I'll be like missing from your search, missing booping.

All right, guys, can.

We go back to the powers? Can we talk powers?

Okay? Yeah, okay, here's some powers just to give you to remember. Amplifier, the ability of voice projection, bronni, the ability of strength, cloner, the ability of clone creation. Uh flash, the ability of enhanced speed gus, the ability to control air and wind.

Do you think do you think amplifier ever accidentally left her amplifier on and then was talking about someone and that was getting amplified and.

She absolutely.

Or like flushed the toilet backstage?

Oh my, oh my god. Hyper the ability of enhanced senses is apparently one, although we that just sounds unpleasant. Shimmer the ability to maybe a light. Oh my god, so there is one that's just a light bulb. I knew it. I knew there would be. There's a whole stage crew.

It's like some of the people. You've got your lighting, who's got sound?

Is there one whose skill is backdrop? You can become any background that everybody needs to put on any production.

The ability to give air conditioning.

There's site, the ability to record and project.

We saw those people walking around.

There's there's that sucks where you can tell if something's level by laying across it. Your body reads delirium if you're laying on his level.

There's gotta be one that's like GPS. Right, Oh yeah, what if there what is there like a trash man one? Do you think or they just have to remove waste. I just feel like she could have come like she went with psychic, but I've just now like seen so many. I'm like, just pick one that like no one's gonna ask you to show them, like like yeah, I'm like I have like toilet power, and no one's gonna be like, show me.

I can wipe my butt without any paper.

It just seems like that's where we were going.

Ability to surf anywhere.

You know, she like, what these are so stupid? The veil, which is invisibility, volt ability of electricity, manipulation.

Oh my god, you could have one that's like humor ability to make anybody funny and then you just laugh at what they said.

Yeah, yeah, I mean.

You should have done that. You should have done that. That would have been a really good one for her because it would have made it like it would have fed into her being charming. God, I mean, I guess she did. People are stupid, though, I just think it's so funny the like just idea that it's like we in this world which is set not Middle Ages, I don't really know, but like we all have technology because

Ye mobile hot, anyone can connect to you, up to four people can connect to you at any moment.

Cool power.

Bless you know what.

And we never really understand why the king is like getting rid of the Ordinaries or like other than he like makes up a lie that they're disease, but like why, like it doesn't it's not.

King is ordinary and he wants to he.

Had some powers. He was fighting her with some powers.

It's just it's not clear, like what benefit to the kingdom it provides to get rid of ordinaries.

I guess like it, it doesn't make it. It really doesn't make it doesn't make sense. I needed like a lot more explanation for that. It's not like a you know, or historically the Ordinaries were you know, really cruel to the people with abilities and called them free like there could.

Have been any easy bat around X man sort of thing like yeah, and called them freaks.

And then you're like, okay, well now they got the power and this is them getting you know, but no, we don't have any ammimations.

I guess it could just be like Darwinism slash elitism.

It's like you're weak, we don't want you.

Bye.

Yeah. But then like, why don't you just do something? We were like, uh, we'll just make it so you can't have babies.

I don't fucking know, Like, yeah, it seems so extreme, make them Munichsa think you could have a career in politics.

You're incredible the way you think on your feet, you find solutions.

Yeah, like, look, we can do these things. Oh my god, this book is so stupid. I don't know. I mean, I feel like there's definitely probably random things that we could talk about, but I don't even there are other characters. Lenny was a redhead who worked as a guard, but he was like bad at his job and he was never there. But then was he revealed to be in the resistance or am I just making that up?

I don't recall, all.

Right, fair doesn't matter. It just was like it seemed weird, seemed weird that she could do whatever she wanted.

I've never heard anyone used the phrase I do not recall unless they've been asked to testify in front of a judge.

So I really appreciate that I do not recall.

It sounds like, uh yeah, you just want to get it right, you want to be accurate.

I always do.

I think we've you know, look, yes, could we make this a two and a half hour podcast.

About the flaws of this book?

Yes, but.

I feel like we've covered you know, the big stuff.

Yeah, I think so. I guess the other thing I'll say, because we talked about Hunger Games, there's another book called The Red Queen, which is apparently very very similar, and I believe the author even said has actually said Red Queen is one of her favorite books, and she described this as Red Queen meets Hunger Games. And then like if you look up Red Queen, you're like, oh it,

She's gonna chance with her. Huh.

She said that, how does that make you feel worried?

I guess we'll never release this episode.

I mean it's okay. I feel like she's doing really well. Yeah, so it's still okay.

Yeah, And you know what, that is what I always have to remind myself as we are punching.

Up and and honestly, good on her for writing such a flawed book and for it to become so like and putting it out there, because I feel like the problem with I think I'm assuming a lot of people craziest, well so fresh. It's hard savage being so precious about things and then never putting them out there. And it's like, I feel like this is an example of like, yeah, just put it out there. People sometimes don't give a fuck about the flaws.

Perfect is the enemy of fine in this case.

Yeah, yeah, she was brave.

Enough to say it's fine and look, there's clearly some magic here. There is some sprinkle magic. I enjoyed listening to this book for a lot of it. I did a lot of a.

Lot of you know, a big chunk of the middle.

Bad writ hour through but no, no, not a bad writer at all. But look to compare it, I know you are all against me, but to compare it to last week Ninth House that was so innovative and imaginative and had so many creative moments, this felt so derivative of other stuff.

I just feel like I was. I was not on last week's episode. However, I did read the book.

You loved it.

That book, No, God, damn it.

Really, I well what I'll say about that book, And I was really sad to have read it and not to be able to be at the report.

That's truly my nightmare.

But I have never been able to pay attention to a book less than that book, so I would have had very little little to contribute.

It was fine. We we talked, We talked that book out. We don't we don't need to return to it. But I see, Johanna, that I see what you're saying. There's a lot more information I guess in that book.

I was saying.

It wasn't simply saying that the book had more information.

I wasn't say.

I'll say about the comment you were making, which is sure this book is derivative of other things.

But like you know, it's derivative of things that I really like. So it made me like it pull that for a pool.

Quote on the cover of the book is a derivative, yes, but is it of things that I like?

Also?

Yes?

I mean god, what she did. She wrote it like booking at TikTok and knowing book talk and then like being like, here the tropes people want, and she was like, I'm going to shove as many of them as in as I can. And it was it was it worked out for her. You can't deny it.

I was gonna hear this.

Sorry. Well, then let's listen to some good Reads five star reviews, shall we again? This is this is one of those books. Over one hundred and twenty nine thousand reviews, over nine hundred and seventy three thousand ratings, four point one five, So it's pretty high that many ratings. That's a that's an overall high average. So let's get some of these five stars out. Sloan said the banter, the tension, not one kiss, the ebilogue five stars. Now, Hannah gave

Elli. Yeah.

Also, his real name is Malachi e I agree.

Hannah, Hannah, come on, You're better than this.

Malachi has a really hot name.

It is not I don't. It feels like it's the name of a demon from hell. To me, that's what I think. I guess one of Satan's minions. Sort of.

Maybe the only name angel.

Hotter than Malachi is Makhaie mackay.

It sounds like macau, like a parrot.

No, No, Malachi.

Is angel. It's an angel.

I think a fallen angel.

Oh perhaps, but.

I'm looking at up. I wrote Maliki, look up.

My serial killer boop think.

Niehas she said not to be dramatic, but lives were changed five stars, so a lot of people loving it. I don't know, but what about how did we feel? How did we feel? What is the hate rate coming in for this one?

I'm ready, Okay, go ahead, I'm going to give it a four out of five. I do think there were a number of areas for improvement. One would have given at least a kiss come on. Two maybe would have tied the beginning of the book into the end of the book a.

Little bitter.

For future books.

That's for future books, sure, but also it was inspiring to me of like kind of along the lines of Sarah's savage statement of like, good on you for putting it out there, like, also good on you for finishing it.

Yeah, like yeah, the reason I haven't written a book or.

Had a book published, this guy won't write a book, and in my mind, I want to.

And you did it.

Yeah, and then you wrote a bunch more and then you wrote little side novellas.

And also.

You're so much more achieved than I am at half my age.

Congratulations.

Maybe I'm knocking down the ranking because I'm mad at her.

Now okay, oh, you talked yourself, you talked yourself down.

I got mad she's so young and so successful. You know, I'm very happy about it.

It is hard, It is hard to support that sometimes.

Yeah, oh like yeah, good for you.

I wish I knew more about her background too. I hated how like little we knew about just like from Michigan. It's like, come on, give me a story.

Lauren Roberts actually sounds like a super made up name to me.

Also, yeah, it does sound very generic, very maybe yeah, we'll see what she will see what she keeps. Maybe, you know, in ten years I'll be like absolutely devouring Lauren Roberts books. It's just possible the y A version of her is not the author for me.

Like years, she's going to be like it was me, John Grisham.

I just oh no, I don't know I've seen her interviews.

Or did she see someone pretending to be La pretending to.

Be here perhaps or an AI person. She is very beautiful.

Yep. Yeah, I'm going to give this a God this is hard. I'm going to say three out of five because I almost want to give it a higher reading because I just think this was a great book for the cast, Like it was a perfect book for the cast. There was so much in this to make fun of. There was so much of it was funny, but it also like wasn't hard to read, it wasn't painful to read. Like like I said, I could get through this one. I got through this one really fast fast, especially when

Happens to the third book, but like you know, you know, there was going to be a tease the whole times. And I still love that. That's true, that's true.

I just I feel like for me, what made this compare to The Hunger Games, which I found compelling plot wise? This did was not compelling plot wise. The world she created was not compelling. So the only thing that was going for it was the flirtation between the two main characters, and so for them to not fuck is like a problem for me. So that's gonna have to go down to three for me. Three o five.

Okay, I'm really okay with them not fucking. That's fine. I really I like the build up. I like the flirtation. Okay, So how do I rate this? Knowing that the author is listening right now? You know where I go in my mind is, Look, we playfully made fun of it, and honestly we started, I think on a real high when we said that she was super hot. I think if it were me, that would booy me for the rest of the episode. I would I would take everything

I think it was a really fun book for the cast.

It was a great book for the cast, But like, yeah, it's no Ninth Out, you know, it's so Stephen King, it's no Hemingway, it's.

It's no The Secret. And yet it's no malice. I ended up at three.

That's what malice. That's what I was really comparing to Ninth House.

Now, I was just gonna say, if we're if we're ready for little Fucker, I have I have just like a statement in advance, and then I have my vote. I prepared something, and the statement I prepared is John, I would love for you to remember who brought up that she was hot, and that was me, and so I really helped put her in this this good mood and that good tone.

So anyway, that's my just statement I'm going to start. I'm gonna say, and then my my vote is for Sarah because told me that.

There's only one kiss that of the second book and then maybe nothing in the third book. And so now I can't go and read them because I read that what happens.

I just feel like I just want to prepare because that would be very That was very disappointing for me to find out.

Yeah, I don't know, well, and maybe I'm lashing out at the information and you're just the target of my.

Okay, Well, it's interesting because I was going to vote for you, Sabrina. And you know why, It's because right now you're looking at us. You've got this like cunty little bob. You've got these little glasses you're really serving and I'm like you and I don't know why, but it's like it's it's pissing me off.

So wow, John, if you wanted to vote for me for the same reason, I'd really like it.

To say, okay the phrase you've got a cunty little bob. But also, Sarah has the same haircut right now? Is this same length as Sabrina's?

It is you you are blind. It's not to get myself out of.

Mine's above the shoulder, right below the shoulder.

It's not below it's what there's a one inch difference, but you both have long bobs.

What's not at all? Okay?

I first of all, I was gonna vote for Sabrina for her whole little First, I have a statement to make which I thought was gonna be related to little fucker, and then it was just like it is. It was just a statement to say, like do we all just get like.

No, it was why it was something that saved you throughout the podcast, and I just wanted you to remember who saved you.

I see.

It felt like just as like I think I was.

I felt like it was like, now a personal statement. I want everyone to know that I've begun taking hot yoga.

Right now?

Why right? It feels like it.

The whole podcast is your chance to just talk and talk and talk about whatever you want. You'd have to wait for now to make a statement, Okay, I understand now, So I'm gonna it's really hard to choose between the two of you with your cunty little reactions to me comparing your haircuts, Like, honestly, it's really you.

Weren't You weren't using it in the same way Sarah.

Yeah, you did use it differently.

You used it with a hard set.

You used it the way Kai would use it and not the way Kit would use it. Yeah.

I feel attacked by both of you.

All I can do at this point is I just feel like it has I have to split my vote. It's both of you, and I don't like this little duo.

Wow has that ever been done? I don't. I don't care. It is it's both of you. You're attacking me.

Came out of nowhere, and your rage.

Over me comparing your your haircuts, I don't And then that I use the hard seed, but you both are using a soft sea.

I don't I don't know. I don't like it.

I don't like how I don't like who you are right now. Wow. Wow, that's very funny. So I guess I half vote for each of you. I guess so Sabrina and I are the little fuckers of the cast County little fuckers.

I love it, one and a half to one and a half.

Great, great, great great. Okay, what are we doing? So? Guys? If you like this, please mean book club on the socials, Please join our patreon, become a patron of the main arts. What are we reading next week?

Oh my gosh, I've been reading it already.

I'm so excited. I'm like a quarter of the way through. And give yourselves time, you guys, it's a long.

While, Oh it is.

Why have we picked so many ways?

I don't know? This was this seventeen hour audio book. We didn't do your diligence this season at all.

I feel like I and I missed the meeting because I feel like it just happened and was really sprung in a way that it was given no notice. I agree, but I'm very vigilant about checking.

Well next time, beyond it.

I feel, you know, I well, it was just like we're was it the day you guys met with Blake? And yeah it was, and it just like it was like, hey, we already have a meeting setup, can you join?

And I could not because I was gonna be out of town.

And and then I feel like you've.

Book any of these?

No, well, it was once there was a booklest what was I going to do go in and say.

Oh, look, okay, But you have to understand there was also outcome Alchemized, which was a thirty six hour audio book length, So like anything next to that seemed pretty sure.

You got to throw in like a nine, got to.

Throw in a nine. The Secret of Secrets is slow going.

So are you really expressed being very excited about it.

I'm reading like for tonight.

And you're going to get through it.

But I can't wait to get to my reading. It makes me so excited.

But I mean, and we have a special guest too for this.

Guys will be joining us again. He wanted to do this book. He requested it, so we said.

Please come back, we'll do the book, we'll have some fun. So from last season he's coming back.

Wow, No, time. No wait, no wait, come back already all right. Well, I guess we'll see the rest of y'all later.

Bye bye. Follow us on all the socials