"While Justice Sleeps" by Stacey Abrams with Blake Opper

So avery is it's not said, but it's implied, is what we're getting at.

Big titties.

The big titties are implied in this book.

Yeah, they just like they just kissed at one point, and it's like, oh, okay, well we didn't develop that, but that's fine.

Chess grips its exponent? What does it mean?

Like I can't just tell everyone I had this information. I had to do it in a different confusing way.

Like, yeah, what's he do?

You? Like?

Yeah, fight someone off with.

The carndishes, he holds up the old dying man holds up a cane.

Test like the game grips its exponent exponents?

What does it?

Oh, this is so crazy. This character's so crazy. It's like, nah, that crazy. That character's kind of boring compared to what is happening in real life.

It just it somehow feels like pages get added as you read, Like no matter how much progress you make, there's always four hundred and fifteen pages to go.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this season finale of Mean Book Club, where we read While Justice Sleeps by Stacy Abrams. But she's there, okay, as always, we are your house. I'm Sarah Burton, I'm.

Clara Morris, Jonas Gravius, Sabrina and b and Jordan, and.

Okay, I guess, yeah, at.

This is this is pretty bold, Sabrina, but I guess, go ahead, go ahead and introduce.

I think she was queuing up someone else, but it wasn't.

Well I was, and I wasn't.

I mean, I am the producer of the episode, so I did feel as though it was my territory.

Then you paused for a long time.

Here's what I think is going on.

I think I think she doesn't know how to say Blake's last night, and she is desperate for someone else to swep.

Oh my god, that literally didn't even cross my mind. Okay, all right in the guests, Okay, I will, But I want to give a precursor that I asked Blake for a bio, and I had written in exactly what he told me to write in, and somebody I saw who came in here and changed it up. So if you have issues with this bio, Blake, you can look right over it. Jona Scrabis, whose last name I do know how to pronounce, so we'll see if I know how to.

Pronounce your bio. I feel like it needed some.

Literally, he was like, just say that I'm the editor of the podcast that I Actually I had jushed it by saying that he's Editor extraordinari of NBC.

So anyway.

Hailing from Houston, Texas, Blake isn't a accomplished saxophonist, a member of Goldbloom, the Brooklyn based alternative jazz trio that wants to be your new favorite garage band. The trio began playing together while attending the News School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and soon after cultivated a musical sensibility that combines the hard hitting and visceral nature of a rock band with the high technical skill of a top shelf jazz trio. Blake is a hilarious comedian and improviser

And Furious franchise. Please welcome Blake.

Copper. Ah, Hi, Blake, did she do it? Did she do your name right?

Yeah? Well it's sober, but other than that, it was great.

That feels so funny.

To you to say yes first and then yes there's the correction.

No, Wow, there's two peas like, we are so happy to have you. Say Blake's also druds of the social media. I feel like we should also mention that he does so much more. But Blake, I didn't know about you in your background jazz. I got to introduced you to my uncle. You is a jazz pianist, and every time I'm with him, he.

Read jazz Penis.

Yeah, jazz Penis, and he references a bunch of uncle musicians that I don't know, but I feel like you would know them.

It is.

We went to an Airbnb one time and they had like a coffee table book that was just pictures of jazz musicians and we just went through two hundred pages that I just named everyone that I could.

So you would this, You would get along really well with my uncle Blake.

Does this happen a lot where you say you're a jazz music musician and then someone is like, oh, do you know my cousin's daughter listened to she listens to blues? That's really similar?

Yeah, it's that or just like a vague I have gay friends, Yeah, a lot of.

Just Oh John John, that saxophone player, John Coltrain him that one.

Yeah. Can I also asked is it I was not a saxophonist?

Whoa I think?

Is it that saxophonist or saxophonist?

I would go saxophone, that's real question.

I never heard Johnny's pronunciation, but I don't know. They all need to know.

Well, I too was a saxophonist.

Apparently you could also you could also just say saxist apparently, which is far funny.

Oh, I was a saxist. I mine was limited to.

School, like, you know, middle school, but I did oh in elementary school. I joined playing the saxophone because my President, Bill Clinton played the saxophone and I wanted to be like him.

I don't know what John is talking about, by the way, I just looked it up and they just said saxophonists. So I don't know what about John's pronunciation. Maybe it's British.

Well I want to hear it from the professional in the room.

Oh okay, go ahead.

I've heard it that way, but I don't know what the proper way is. And Sabrina Bakland easily the most influential saxophone player of our generation, so very understandable.

Not Kenny G.

You know, Kenny G is like the most loved to hate saxophone player of all time?

And doesn't Kenny g play the soprano sacks?

Yeah, it's like a weird sex right. I mean, I'm sure you can play anything.

What do you do? You know what I mean? I don't know what it is.

It is like a claric tenor and an alto sax player.

I played the mellophone, so like, are like tenor sax players sort of the losers of the saxers?

How dare Barry saxophones the losers of the saxes?

Yeah?

Easily, easily. But what I'm learning from Claris that, like all jazz instrumentalists, names could just be turned into inappropriate jokes.

Penist saxist, penis sexy. Yeah, there you go. There's something there that you can bring your comedy and the jazz together. And you've got a full bit cooking there. I know you do. Blake, Sabrina, do you want to tell us why we're reading this book While Justice Sleeps Again? By Stacy Abrams who will get into it, but you know her, and uh we'll talk about her, but go ahead, Sabri.

Oh, So we are reading this book because we received an email from a mysterious Patreon, who I don't know who she is, but she sounds beautiful and smart. Okay, she said, hi, longtime fan and Patreon exclamation point of the cast.

I have a great recommendation.

And the person made a mistake and said when Justice Sleeps by Stacy Abrams, which did lead to some confusion for me personally. But anyway, when Justice Sleeps by Stacy Abrams otherwise known as Wild Justice Sleeps by Stacy Abrams. My coworker recommended this to me, and I think I would probably love it. Me loving a book is usually a good recipe for it being a great pick for the MBC hotties.

While she complimented you.

Us, she's only ever heard her voices exactly.

Maybe she went to a live show. Have I mentioned how beautiful you all are?

Question Mark?

Well, she goes on really long. I think we can edit this down a little bit.

I think here is a description and a link to prove it was a New York Times bestseller.

Okay, we love that.

Please read this book and make my dreams of successfully recommending an NBC book come true. And then there is a little description of the book which I'll read. Avery Keene, a young brilliant Supreme Court clerk gets the surprise of her life when she walks into chambers one morning and here's that the increasingly paranoid justice she works for has slipped into a coma and she's been unexpectedly granted his power of attorney.

Wow, doesn't that just make you want to fall asleep and never read again? Yeah?

Course, definitely want that.

It was an amazing recommendation and we had to pick it.

Apparently, Sabrina, who did the recommend her leave a name or email or anything.

No, it was. It just came from a blank email address.

I don't even know how they did it, probably through genius.

Was it you? Was it? Did you send the email?

I received this email?

Okay?

I received it?

Interesting anyway, Well that's fine.

We don't know who sent it, and make me.

That's not a lie.

I did receive this femail.

She sent it to herself and then she sent it to us and she made us read the book. But the fact is she has a Patreon she's been paying us. Yeah, so season one.

Also, I'll just say you, guys, I did take the LSADS, so I do consider myself the expert on all in this book. Yeah. So, Uh, if you guys have any questions or need anything like clarified, like, you know, you can refer to me as the take the l s at.

Last week college.

Wow, Sarah, you're impressed. I took a test. I did nothing after that.

You're basically a lawyer, but I am.

Basically I agree. It is basically me being.

Yeah, that's like the bar.

It is. It's the same thing. Yeah, I think the same. They're very like, they're very different. Yes, exactly, Claire, Yeah, I think so.

No, the bar is like the medical boards.

Wow, and they're very good.

You know that wasn't me. That wasn't me. That was Sabrina talking. Sabrina, I think you're forgetting I'm the expert here. All right, let's continue. So how did everyone read it?

I read it as an audiobook from the library. And something I've never done in my life is us as sleep timer on TV or whatever. But I used the sleep timer with this and it was awesome. It worked so well. I could set up fifteen minute sleep timer with this book and be asleep before the end. I can't fall asleep, but I guess out.

This book also nice because if you didn't set the timer. Clarre it would have just kept playing and playing.

Great.

That's happened to me a couple of times with our books, and it's happened to me with TV shows and stuff.

And that's really fun.

So it's kind of cool. I like the Sleep Timer.

I did the audiobook and from Audible, and I really just want to say, this isn't a book too. If you're considering this book, I wouldn't do audio of this. I think it's why. It just feels like one of those books that you got to look at and read and reread the page fifty times, so like you know what I mean.

She'd be like what the fuck the what did they just say?

Or like, oh, here's a clue. Let me trying to have fun and figure out this clue by looking at it longer. You can't do that with an audiobook. It just goes in one you aren't out the other, and you're not trying. There's but I mean, i'd love to hear how you everyone else consumed this book. Yeah.

I did the audio book, and you know it was on two point six speed, because with three I felt like I was just like you look away for one second and then all of a sudden you're in a noon chapter.

I don't know how it happened.

I yeah, that happened on any.

Speed, any speed.

I did. I did the book, and it just it somehow feels like pages get added as you read, just get added to. No matter how much progress you make, there's always four hundred and fifteen pages to go. And what made it worse for me was I didn't have a bookmark, so I kept closing it and being like, remember, Johnna, you're on page sixty. Crazy, And I would open it and I couldn't even find where I was on that page. I have to like go back and read a few pages before.

Johnna, it's insane that you were trying to remember the number. Well you just.

You've stopped reading and you go remember sixty, And then the next day you were.

So you thought you were pretty much like Avery in this book. The main character just rip a little corner of the page. I would like, how did you consume this book?

Like I consume the unabridged audio book and it was a mistake.

Fair fair clarification. I also did unabridge.

Yeah, it was I was traveling throughout listening to it and felt like I was actively having a fever dream the entire time. It was incredible, but not a recommended experience.

Like ayahuasca. It's like, Wow, you did it, you survived, but there's a lot of shitting and vomiting. Honestly, I just have to say, like I the very first page of this book is a quote, and I had to read it twelve times and I still don't understand what it means. I suppose that it's attributed to Albert Einstein, and it really set the tone for me to be like,

Anybody.

But I don't know. I don't know. I can't I can only I can't only remember one word you just said, I agreed.

It's exponent. What does it mean chest or chess like Game grips, it's ex exponent.

Exponent or expo. What does it that mean in the context. I don't know. I don't know. How fun Clara, I feel like Clara sometimes gives points to books that make her feel smart. This definitely I agree with you, Johnna, complete opposite. It just felt like it was trying to make me feel like a big dumb idiot the entire book, and I didn't appreciate it. But we'll get into it more. Uh, Sabrina, do you want to sum it up for us? A?

Absolutely? Okay, there is a little summary. I think we have two roles.

Does anyone want to volunteer for one of the roles? I mean, of course, Okay, does anyone want to volunteer for the other role?

I th gu you should give it to Blake. Yeah, I'll do it.

Oh my gosh, Okay, Blake, you read the bold lines. Okay, And Johanna you read the non bold lines.

Great?

All right?

Action.

What happens when you're already juggling a chaotic job and a messy personal life someone decides to dump the fate of the nation on you? Duh.

Meet Avery Keene, a law clerk who's just trying to survive her high pressure job at the Supreme Court, her frustrating family drama with her junkie mom, and the occasional Katheene shortage loll. The things take a turn for the Rye Doncus, a brilliant yet unpredictable Supreme Court Justice Howard Winn certainly falls into a coma.

Congrats girl, you're now his legal guardian.

Waait?

What?

Not only is Avery left in charge of Justice Winn's life, but she also discovers he's roped her into unraveling a conspiracy so complicated it might as well come with a flow chart. And through there are cryptic chess moves, shady pharmaceutical companies, and just enough legal jargon to make her

Oh and did we mention the assassins.

As Avery dodges shadowy figures and tries to decode Wins trail of clues, which again are just for her, not for you, she realizes that she's not just solving a puzzle. She's trying to stop an international crisis. It's like a egal thriller, a spy movie, and a scavenger hunt. Had a very stressful baby.

Will she survive? Will justice prevail? Will this girl ever get a nap?

Find out in while Justice sleeps? The thriller coming to your mind screen? And probably only there?

Really nice, really nice writing?

What is min.

What is so other than the parts that were obviously me? I had a friend help me write this. It was chatchy bt.

Okay, love it love a chatgybt. What does mind screen mean?

I don't know, but that one was chat.

It does it actually is perfect because it feels like the way the characters talk in the book, where instead of just saying something clearly, like saying like I thought about it, the character will be like to ask what he meant on my screen? You're just like, so it's it's perfect. The chat gy bt read this book.

Yeah, well.

I also asked chatchy bt to like remind me of the list of the characters, and it listed one of the characters and I was like, this is Avery's best friend. I was like, no, it's not. And then it was like Raphael, her ex boyfriend who shows up in the middle.

Of the book and complicates things.

And then I was like, chatchy, bet, was Rafael really a character in this book?

And he said, sorry, no, to come up with.

Like that's good, other fun things that could happen.

Literally, yes, yes, yeah.

I feel like chat GBT is trying to give me the book. I wanted this to.

Be yeah, yes, absolutely, she's supporting us.

All right, Joanna, Johnna's jugs. What do you got for us?

Okay? So, oh shoot, I closed the tab.

I've been waiting to crack that.

Okay, it's john is jugs. So, folks, tonight we're drinking whiskey and I'm having in a hot tea. So there was nothing to crack you idiots.

Who was the idiots, the listeners or us?

I don't know.

I think it's just me because I was the one who cracked.

No, you can crack everyone.

I thought it was like crack the code. I thought you were referencing the book, idiots.

Okay, So there is a scene in the book where Justice Wins says, and bring me some winky with my death pills, which is what he calls just like the pills that keep him alive. Ironically, the very next scene, he has try to take his own life with the whiskey and death pills. So it's not like the most jovial.

Drink we could have, but it's one of the only drinks mentioned in the book.

And even if they hadn't mentioned the Justice Whind drinks whiskey like he does, you can just tell the man's The man is an old judge. He's not in great health. So I don't know what kind of whiskey I'm having. It's some of the kind of Matt's special bottle. He says. It's never to be mixed with things. You're just supposed to drink it. It's a nice whiskey. But the only way that I drink whiskey is.

Mixing it up with little course of course.

So this is a little tea, honey and whiskey.

It's very nice.

It's very nice, calm, and I highly.

Recommend that sounds good.

Talk amongst yourselves, right, He said that with a dismissive way.

I guess, I guess, well, we're not going to because it's just time for Sabrina to talk. I believe Sabrina is going to just about the book and author. So go ahead, Sabri my dream.

Also, if you have additional information you want to chime in, Sarah sounded like you had good dirt on Stacy.

Sorry that was misleading.

I have nothing, okay, So our author, Stacy Abrams was born into a family that really likes public service.

She has her j d from a Yale Yeah it doesn't mean just that, but you mean that she hasn't passed the bomb. She worked as a tax attorney, she co founded SEP Businesses, and she served as deputy City Attorney for Atlanta. Then how you may all know her. She was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in two thousand and six. She was the first woman to lead either party in the Georgia General Assembly and the first African American to lead in the House of Representatives

Under the pen name Selina Montgomery. So this book.

Why didn't we do one of those? I don't know.

The beautiful stranger who wrote in just wrote about this one.

Didn't know about those books until probably about ten minutes ago.

It was like an hour ago, thank you, okay, okay. She conceived of.

This idea over a decade before it's publication. I don't know if anybody else had the ability to listen to her forward, but she talked about it a lot, and like nobody wanted this book.

It was not on people's minds.

They were not into it. And then it like finally, with the Supreme Court and the election and everything being crazy, she was like, you know what, I'm going to dust off that old idea, and so that was how it came to be published. But it was inspired by her fascination with the United States Supreme Court and her interest in politics and legal intrigue and quote complex systems.

I actually think it's really cool.

She like identified a weird issue in the Constitution, which is that there is not like something prescribed for what you do when a Supreme Court justice becomes incapacitated, which is true if it's like.

The president or something like that.

And so that was like the premise and what spurred this fun little idea she decided to write this one.

Okay, I was just gonna say, what an insane choice to like think of something fun like that, like a problem, and then to pick the like most banal thing like and then his law clerk gets to do it. You know, I think it could have been a family fight.

You know, you guys.

I also have a question because I think it's a book for nerds.

I just did a Google so cool, and so I did a googie and this is this is Ai. So you know, we all know that sometimes they lie to us. But Raphael, what happens if a Supreme Court justice goes into a coma? And they said, if a Supreme Courts justice goes into a coma, they're considered incapacitated and unable to fulfill their duties, leading to a vacancy on the court. That's not like what happened in the book. Is that? Like you know what I mean?

Like, is that is what happened in the book?

No, it sounds like the last It sounds like Ai is saying it doesn't matter about.

Ay it becomes vacant.

It's vagant because it says it's vacant. So I'm this day again, this day. I have done no further looking into it, but I'm.

Just I'm certainly not pasted this year.

I'm just so much whether the premise even is even actually found.

So we might have uncovered the book is as Claire said, it's it's an even worse book than we knew.

No, I think it is unclear, like there is no prescribed rules of what would happen. So I do think what would happen would be like a fight.

Hmmm. They should probably fix that, because.

Yeah, it's it's actually like kind of hard to amend the Constitution, if you can believe it.

Sarah Sarah, Yeah, no, it's not hard to amend it. I mean like you just have to like do it, you know.

Okay, yeah, just get a little pen.

Yeah, any color writing.

No, No, it should be read. It should be read. Ok. Good, that's a great point. That's a great point.

Not to joke to the.

But I feel like the AI response told us what I've feared was true of the book, is that like the whole plot kind of didn't matter.

Like at the end of the day, like that it just was like, oh, this could have happened a number of ways.

This was so unnecessarily complicated.

Yes, but that's because Justice win was so complicated.

Yes, And why did Justice whind do what he did? I don't think that question is ever answered, Like, wait.

Let me finish the It was published in twenty twenty one. It went to the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list in fiction later that month.

And that's all, Okay, what month?

Sorry? Was this a one week or was it one week May bestseller?

You know?

Like, so I'd like to know it.

I found it during one week. That's not to say that's the only week.

And even can't figure it out.

It feels like we're really relying a lot on chat gpzz.

I actually just discovered chatchy. I've never used well, I tried to use it. Yeah, I just discovered it. I tried to use it.

Once to make a like a baby meld picture of our friends for their baby shower card, and it said it couldn't do that.

And so that was the one experience with chatchip two.

That should be.

Every time you asked chat GPT a question. It's like leaving the lights on for two years? Do you know that?

What?

That's how much energy it uses.

No.

Yeah, so when you said chat GPT, is Raphael really a character? It was like you turned you went into a living room and turn on a light and you left it burning for two years.

That does sound right?

That doesn't sound right. What is it like if I Google a question?

Yeah, it's like nothing.

It's like that can't be accurate.

That can't Okay, it is accurate. Well, let's ask chat GPT right now?

Okay, how much?

I don't know and I don't want.

I just don't understand asking you a question.

Take It's just like a big computer, right that it answers.

All this.

The energy consumption of asking me a question is primarily tied to the energy required to run the servers.

I don't know. This is answers compacts just like Google.

Let's go back to the book. Okay, that's my attempt.

Wh It is about ten to one hundred times more energy than a Google search. Is the world going to explode? Okay, I'm deleting chatcha.

It's just a small amount of energy to start with, So don't worry about it.

Ask if the world's going to explode.

Okay, if you're so worried about energy, use quick why yeah, question, Yeah, what's going on?

Why are you forcing Sabrina to do it? You're complicit here, Johnna, No complicit.

We're waiting to try a cigarette and now I'm making her smoke one hundred one time.

That's right, But that's like proven to be not a good wation to it.

Now I'm addictive, all right, it's very sick. So this book, okay, I'm deleting it.

I'm deleting it. I it's disgusting and gross and I hate it.

Now you learned your lesson.

And also it was wrong on the book.

So also I should say, like I feel like a lot of stuff in this book was just has is out of date, sadly, like there were references to Rob Wade and like some other things that I was like, this is this is this is sad. This is sad.

What a sad thing to say? Yeah, this book's at a date. For example, it references Roe v. Wade being the law, just.

Like it being like horrible for it to be overturned or like something. I was like, well it did it did get over durn. They're like, you know, there's just some stuff. I mean, so much has happened. I don't think this book was considering Trump being elected president again either,

Yeah, the president wasn't so bad in this book, even though he was supposed to be pretty bad.

Oh yeah, they're like, okay, So to ground the readers a little bit, the premise we've described, the Justice goes into this coma, and after a really long time, you find out that the reason that he went into this coma is because he has some kind.

Of brain disease.

And there's a case before the court where two companies are trying to merge and the president's trying.

To step in to stop this merger. And yeah, it is not that gripping.

It's like, oh yeah, monopolies, and like you get little like snippets to the.

Two companies which also mean almost nothing, yea.

But basically like they are able to create the cure for his disease and for his coma that he's put himself into I don't know if that's trying to set it up for another book, but like, we don't.

Sere other books. There are other books, so okay.

Yeah, so that's like the big drum and the judge who's now the justice sorry, who slipped into this coma? He hasn't signed on to the opinion yet, even though they argued the case months ago, and it's like a big mystery, like why hasn't he slipped? Why hasn't he agreed to his opinion? And he usually is a swing vote, so like it's not that crazy. But the reason is, I don't know something to do with he wanted the merger or he didn't, or.

Or what he wanted, why he wouldn't do that? Instead, he puts himself in a coma.

I don't I don't understand.

And cares about justice, which is why he put himself into the coma and gave his law clerk his power of attorney. They're not having sex, I repeat, they are not having sex.

Why does everyone.

Keep asking obviously got big titties, Okay, Avery's god damn big titties.

I didn't pick up on.

That did between the lines with everyone's like, oh, of course she got you slept with him. You know, she must be a hottie. She's a hottie. She's also biracial. I feel like we should mention that. Probably the most interesting thing of the book is that.

It's I did not know that she.

Was, didn't know a thing about her physically.

Pretty sure this is true. I feel like this is mentioned.

I don't know if she's biracial or just not white like, but they talk about her like Carol mil.

She's not like that. She's not white. Okay, so she's different than most of the lead characters. She's different. That is pican brief. She's different, is she?

But still, did we have a moment where she's like, I reach up on my tiptoes to get the staff case files that Justice wind put up there so easily. I teeter on my tiny little.

Feet were making this quota?

Yeah, I don't know, I'm asking.

It could have been anything could have happened in this book.

Getes from.

Sure. There was there was no indication whether she was tall or short, though, So I think there's some hope for you, John, that there's a protagonist you can identify with.

Maybe someday, just like maybe like someone who could model or something.

Oh wow, no mention of red hair. I don't think that's another that she's unique in that way. If we want to, yeah, you know, but anyway, I don't even

That part was me, not chat GBT.

Yeah, well it's true, it was good, great job, CHATB.

It's like me that makes it seem like it's interesting, like complicated riddles that makes it seem interesting, but it's not. It's like, here's a series of numbers that corresponds to constellations painted on the ceiling of the Sun's bedroom, and there's a clue hidden under the bed.

Yeah, it's like it is information that like you couldn't know even if you could, even if you could identify that. It's like constellations or chess moves you as the reader. You're grounded in nothing. Yeah, it's like it's not look up to the sky at the constellation. It's like I said, it's know that it's on the Sun's bedroom. That's never been mentioned before.

And they also didn't the clues did not relate to like the Big Bad of like the whole genetic Uh you know, we're trying to make a genetic weapon to kill Muslims in India, Like that was the big bad and it you know, like if you read it, Dan Brown, whatever you say, the clues at least like they are they make you feel smart because and they also like reference the long game of the book, like they're about the bad guy. They're historical in a way that relates

Chess?

Yeah?

I like chess. I didn't find the clues fun or interesting. It was like, go ahead.

One of the clues was like, oh, this is chess notation except some of the letters are wrong and not used in chess. Notation. Right, okay, so why how the fuck does it look like chess notation was using totally different letters, and then one of them is like, let's look it up in different languages. Oh it's chess notation in a different language than the one you speak. Reader of this.

Notation in FARSI? Cool? Okay, how was I going to know that? I mean, I think I got turned off the whole chess thing from the attributed to albert I. Yeah, after that, I was done. I might be done with chess forever. This book might have killed reading from me and a little well internet activity I liked, Thanks Stacey.

Yeah, it was really really felt like it was meant to put chess players on a bit of a pedestal as intellectuals, no more than non chess plays.

Which like, yes, that makes sense and we do and we are.

But you know, oh so you were playing chess anymore?

John?

Yeah?

Well a do you know what I mean?

Can we talk about a.

Weird like symbol slash motif to be the through line in a book?

You know?

It's I don't know, I feel like symbols and motifs are usually not so specific as chests and chess moves.

Yeah, they're like the color blue like yeah, water.

Also when he did, he in his like one of his secret message codes, he kept saying like last bower, which apparently is when you sacrifice two bishops. But for some reason, both Avery and the bad guy like why are you? Why would why is that part of it? Both the President and Avery got that information and quickly where like it means the bishops are being sacrificed, Like why are you telling people that?

How is that deep into chess? Lord, you have to be to know that? Also, right, it's not like it's he didn't say like the queen's gambit or like I still don't.

Understand what it means. They were just like he's the bishop.

It looks like you play chess. Do you know what it means?

What they're referencing? I don't understand. But I think the whole point of setting it up was like we got to find out who's the bishop, Like that's the big mystery. Who's the Oh wait, the judge is actually the bishop. He sacrificed himself, so who's the queen? Like there was so much conversation about the history of pieces, like it has to be a fory.

Right, yeah, it has to be who's the king, is.

The queen his son Jared?

I think the queen.

Got to be the queens?

These characters guys, Okay, yeah, can you run through the characters? Yeah?

So we've got Avery keene ian O or I love or she's the main character, might have big boobs, might not, might be tall, might be short, does have a photographic memory. Is Justice Wins a law clerk. Then we have Jared Wynn, who is Justice Wins's estrange son and I think Avery's love interest.

Though they certainly don't spend enough time that it.

Was It was so funny because it was like, oh, at least they're not doing that trope where they too fall in love. And then all of a sudden it was like, well there, I guess together. Now what the fuck?

Yeah, they just like they just kissed at one point and it's like, oh, okay, well we didn't develop that, but that's fine.

It was just I also and a girl spent some time together.

They had to kiss, and I thought we were gonna get a cool payoff where it's like we found out that the reason that the judge never spoke to Jared after his life was.

To make the off his hand.

Well, no, it was all a long game to make them all long.

No, But I thought I was gonna be like he knew that there was like a target on his back, or like, I don't know, something salacious, but it seems like he was just a bad father.

It did seem like that.

There was a point where I thought they like slept at Avery's apartment, and the way they worded it, I was like, Oh, they slept together, like they had sex, and they didn't elaborate on it at all. And I was like, Oh, that's kind of nice that it just happened and we moved on, and then at the end of the book they kissed it. It was a huge deal, and I was like, I think I mis understood what's happened.

I was supposed to be invested in this.

Also, what a reaction. If I had thought that, like they slept together and there was no details, I would have been pissed off. I would have been like, I agree, Fuck, you are so verbose, stacy, and you're not gonna tell me about you know, his his manhood, you know, straining in a pants. You're not gonna get me anything.

Come on, I agree.

Sounds like you got there in your own.

Create my own.

Uh.

Then we have Noah Fox, who is Justice wins Trust in the States Attorney.

I'd cut him from this editing.

He's the one.

Who CHATCHBT told me was Avery's best friend and so not an advertisement for chat gybt.

But he is a lawyer.

He does help a lot, and he has written Justice wins Will several times. And there's one little mystery where there's a cotta sill that even he doesn't know where it is. Then of course we have Justice win he's the one who's asleep.

Then interesting, is this.

A real character? Justice? Valerie Jorgensen?

Was that a justice.

Something?

I told you? It wasn't Listen.

Jorgensen.

What's Avery's mom? I don't see Ay's mom on this?

Oh yeah, Avery's mom.

I feel like Rita. Rita is a big character and also like, you know, a very one note character. She has an addiction and seems like I just kept thinking, like, can they just kill this character off because she seemed awful the whole time. Didn't ever seem.

To Yeah, she gets kidnapped at some point, it's not that interesting.

I was like, Avery, your mom's your mom sucks? Like there's nothing, there's no redeeming her, like just let her.

Go crack addict who keeps asking for money, And then and we.

And we all see yeah, yeah, we also and we also here within Rita's mind at some point like what is it when they're doing omnipresent narration or whatever the fuck that happened in this book, and you always.

Want everyone was thinking, which was weird.

But like her mom was, you would think like, oh, we're gonna get something revealed, but she was just like my fucking daughter, always looking for never appreciating me, Bye bye bae. It was like, oh, so you're just really evil.

Okay, yeah, it might have been where's my crack.

It's like you're in a fight with someone and what you imagine they're thinking in their heads, I'm a martyr and I'm just pointing out that I did one more thing for you, and it's like the other person's voice is like, well, I'm just a piece of ship just because I knew it. I'll kiss you.

Yeah. Yeah, she was a bad character.

President Brandon Stokes, he's the big baddie who's trying to stop that merger. Oh I didn't include Vance. He's the head of the Department of Defense.

I think, and.

So Vance has he's like a special assistant to the President. Basically, he's like a home he works for Homeland Security Science Department. Oh that's his job, and uh, that's question several times, why is the science department here? What the hell is going on? And he just stands there like a military man.

So it's awesome. Broadcasts like what when when When you found out there was like some sort of science experiments kind of like going on on people, you were like, Okay, Vance is clearly the part of this because they keep talking about how he does. It was never like a surprising reveal when it was like it's Vance.

Yeah, it was kind of like, oh, that's what Vance was doing.

That was wait, I thought we always knew it was Vans.

They made it like it was written like it's a reveal, like oh, in the person, another man walked into the room and she's like, oh, it was it's Vance.

Like.

Spirise, Government Sellience Experimentation, Avery Surprise.

This book was like watching other people do an escape room and you have the answer key, Like you would go see the person and like find out the answer to the riddle, and then you would watch them solve the riddle. And you're like, Okay, they're gonna get there. They're gonna get they're going to figure out that it's medical experiment. They're gonna get Oh, they got it. Great, all right, cut back to Stokes, So he's gonna explain the plot.

Wait that is it's so true And it's also such a funny juxtaposition with like the clues that Avery has to figure out are things we could never possibly know.

So it's like we either have too much information or not enough. There's no situation in which we have just the right amount. As a reader. That's crazy I even think about that. But we have Lee. Also, he's a good boy.

Yeah, we like Lee.

He's the FBI guy.

Okay, okay, I forgot who he was. Thank you.

I forgot who he was too. I was like, was there a dog in this book?

There are too many characters in this book? Also, we can all agree there are too many charas.

Too many characters. Can we talk about one of my favorite moments in the whole book. Yeah, it's what Stacy Abrams thinks a late night would say. So it's just okay, so this is page three, so it's early on.

Wow.

Yeah, So basically Justice win whispers something into the president's ear, and the late night comedians are all over it, okay, and they have incredible little jokes to follow it up. So not sure what Justice Win whispered there, but I think it's safe to say he won't be endorsing the president. It for re election deadpanned the late night host to Rocus up.

And that was his best one. That was the best joke.

But but that it got raucous was people. It was so funny. People didn't just have laughter, they had clapped her.

Okay.

Then he goes on to say they called Justice Win the voice of the people. But now everyone's wondering if he's the one hearing voices. He's known for riding the subway in DC, but this makes me wonder if he'll be living in the tunnels soon.

I feel like you're choosing all the good ones.

Jonah o Hey the best late night comedian in the country. His best joke for this big political moment.

Was makes you wonder if he's crazy like a homeless person.

At least there's a comparison. How about this one where you know he talks about he has a meltdown at the American University by just Justice Howard Wynn, or perhaps he should just be called Justice. Where the hell am I? That was one.

And then another going crazy.

The next one is they'll give him his own reality show, crazy Justice.

That was just like an insult to my I don't know, Blake, did you feel insulted? You like comedy?

I loved it so much and like it released on a tone for me with the whole book that like one of the first times Avery interacts with another person, the author like testifies why the comebacks in this book are going to be lackluster, just like Avery was too tired to come up with a witty comeback, shut up, Matt. And then every comeback in the whole book was some version of like stop it screw you no more.

That's such a good point. And you know what, the funniest people I know, the more tired they get, the meaner and more insane their little picky comebacks become.

I was gonna say, it reminds me of when my grandfather got dementia. Sorry, it just like starts reverting to like being like sticking out your tongue when somebody says something mean. That's what it felt like, like, you really don't have anything going on?

Wow?

Is Shohna one of those? Or sorry, was Sarah one of those people you were referencing?

I did I did think. I did think, but I tried to hide it. Okay, So what was anything else in this book worth talking about?

Well?

Okay, so there's uh, there is. The first forty one percent of the book is trying to figure out why he chose her. And that's kind of interesting because he chose her because of her photographic memory.

I mean, I guess that's interesting. I guess it's obvious. I would say, I would say maybe obvious, but also like stupid because like, again, why is he doing any of this?

Yeah, it's obvious in a way because it also doesn't make sense that he doesn't just do any it. Why does he have to go and Coleman and have somebody else do it?

Yeah, that never makes We don't ever know why he never know I don't understand.

We don't know honestly anything.

I mean, like, why wouldn't he just make a decision If he's the swing vote, he can get them, he can make he can rule in the exact way.

I mean, I guess it's the president stepping in is the problem?

But like that's that's what they say. I forget the like exact framing of it. Maybe Sarah with her legal background can help us, but say, uh yeah, I think the issue is that if they've just passed the vote, then Stokes will do something to like negate it, so they have to keep it in this weird limbo until they can expose the whole story.

But he's also if he's able to give clues to all the information, it means he has all the information, like all, yeah, like he couldn't expose why.

Can't I guess it felt like it was very confusing because it felt like it was the same reason why Avery later was like I can't just tell everyone I had this information. I have to do it in a different confusing way by this do it is Supreme Court because you're like, oh, nobody will believe me. But it's like I don't know why anybody believes you in that situation versus any other situation. Like also, as we all know, like we live in this current society, like disinformation is everywhere.

I mean, President Brandon. It's just truly so crazy and I don't understand. Also, like the science people are down to share the information.

They feel guilty. They feel a little guilty that they were genociding I guess, or like sure, creating evil weapons not of mass destruction. You know, they're trying to kill all the.

Most new genocide weapons.

Yeah, and then they're like, oopsies, I wish we hadn't done that. And then that's it.

What's so funny is I am like one hundred percent positive based on how much information was in this book. I'm one hundred percent positive that like when Stacy listens to this, she's gonna be like, no, it was explained in that one line about the chest stuff. You guys just missed it. And it's like that's that's the problem.

We all missed it. See that's the problem.

Yeah, maybe I bet it's in there. Clip through some of yeah, some of those words you add for no reason.

Yeah, just clip prune.

Wait.

But also it gets like this book is so crazy, and it's like, Okay, his nurse gets murdered, and of course Avery is on scene, and they're like, oh, pretty suspicious that, Like, your boss is in a coma, his nurse is murdered. All of a sudden, you've got five hundred thousand dollars infused into your account.

Where did that come from?

By the way, I don't recall some other random guy I don't I don't.

Know one of the companies trying to be merged.

Together, the Southern guy from the audio book.

So Avery is fucking people absolutely, and then it's not said, but it's implied.

Is what we're getting at, Big titties.

The big titties are implied in this book.

There are bugs all over her apartment. And when they start to.

Like listening devices, guys, listening device, yeah, yeah, yeah, I just don't want the listeners to think the book started to get cool in someway, like some sort of yeah no, no, no, yeah.

The thing with the listening devices pissed me out so much. It was like she's fidgeting with something and then it falls down and oh, it's a listening device. And she quickly like pretends not to notice it. It's like it's a listening device and you were just fingering the fuck out.

They know, you know, but they didn't sign out.

Said into it. She was like a listening device. But I'll pretend.

But it works because then they'd like say false things in the room and that like tricks the bad guys. I don't know they do.

But then also the book immediately tells you that, So it's not like a cool reveal or anything. It's like I said, I'm going to do X y Z, and then Avery thinks they don't know. I know that they're listening to me. Ha ha ha, Like give us, give us anything to hang on to.

Okay, So I don't understand why he couldn't do it himself, But all right, let's say there's a reason. Why does he have to speak to her and clues? Now, Yeah, why can't the letter he leaves for her or just fucking say.

Yeah, she's like burning a lot of time and almost getting murdered a lot trying to decode these clues.

It is, and she finds these secret files of his, like just put a letter in the file that explains everything.

Yes, he continues, you could just email her.

Oh yeah. He was like, oh he used the disappearit ink and he knew I would figure it out because I, for one semester in college was a chemistry major or some shit like that.

Wait, this is my other biggest beef with the book. So the reason he decides to make Avery his execu what's it called.

Uh guardian power of attorney.

Is because he tries he gives her power of attorney because he does this whole interview process with her where she answers all of his questions correctly. He's like, so tell me what your mother does. Oh yeah, what do you you know think about breaking the law sometimes? And she's just like saying all the right things, all flying colors, and she's maintaining this like cool calm veneer the whole time. And then at the very end of it, he's like,

Literally, what did she sign? Did we ever find out it was.

The thing that made her the gave her the guardian?

Yeah, it's like her to be his power of attorney.

But then wouldn't everybody be like, why is this the surprise you signed this?

Yes, they should have said that. They should have asked that question. Another thing that I think is crazy is like they were like, we need.

To figure out way to really motivate her to care about justice Wynn, who is just her employer, who she is in fact not fucking And so there's like a little flashback to a scene where they're in the Metro and he helps her drug.

Mom, Like, Yeah, what's he do? Is he like fights someone.

Off with the cane he holds up the old.

A man is an evil evil man is like, Oh, you're druggudled mother, I'm gonna go rape her. And like he's like literally saying this to the to avery. He's like, I'm gonna get to the whole Yeah, I'm gonna go take her back here and rape her and you can't do anything about it. Ha ha haa, like just how it would happen. And then yeah, and he appears with a cane.

He uses his old man's strength to wave the cane, and it's very frightening because he is a man. Now a man is appearing, runs.

Away, rapist runs.

And so now she's like, I'm really you have no idea what he's done for me.

So I will risk my enthigher reputation and career and actual life in order to maybe figure out this very complex series of clues that.

Are all based on one singular conversation that we had where he showed me how he plays Chess Dynamo on his.

Desktop at work.

Yeah, it's a bad book, you guys.

Wait, but the resolution we can't leave you all hanging.

Is yeah, we can. No one cares.

They are hanging on our everything.

And again I don't know why this had to happen in this manner, but there's a lot of pressure for her to resign his post so that President's jokes can put a new person on the court and they can quickly get this case out of it.

He's gonna do it secretly during recess, and that's gonna be sneaky of him, which I didn't look into if that could happen. But I'll say it can't happen. I'm saying that sounds not like nonsense.

It would feel crazy for her to have gotten that wrong, but crazier things have happened, like this book being in existence.

But so she.

Resigns publicly and then the next day maybe truly so that like President Jokes is satisfied. Vance the evil guy is satisfied blah blah blah.

And oh also Vance he.

Had kidnapped her mother and he was gonna kill both her mother and her because family should stay together.

But then she challenges in court.

The resignation that she submitted, and then she has like, I don't know if she's admitted. Oh, they also are like the Justice made sure that she got admitted to practice before the Supreme Court because he felt like she should, so she is authorized to argue before the Supreme Court.

And that I.

Was gonna be upset because if I was gonna say, if she wasn't authorized and she was before the Super Court, I would have pissed off. I'd been like, she's not authorized. I would have definitely caught that.

Like that is also like it's such a crazy thing to put in there.

Who was going to be like, I bet she is not certified to argue before the Supreme Court. She is just a clerk. But yeah, I mean, was there more to the end of that. It's just like she challenges it and the world's like, you go.

Girl, and then she reveals she uses the opportunity like the court case to like with their last five minutes or I don't even know. She's like, oh, by the rebuttal with the rebuttal like this is he's the president's doing all this bad ship. And then the president like corners her, or does the president or is Advance one of them corners her?

And then like so the President's just like, no, I didn't do Advance did at all. I didn't do it. And then she's she's like alone in an office and Vance comes and points a gun at her.

And it's like, here's all the information.

Here's everything he needed, and also here's a video of the current president killing a former president, so that should take care of that.

And his justification was because the president threw him under the bus, and he was like I was on his side, but I do not care for being betrayed.

He forgot that I have a video of coming.

One of those things. You know, it just s loves your mind and it's not.

Don't there was nothing earlier in the book about the former president dying. There there was Okay.

I don't remember, I don't remember. I don't remember it. I don't remember that at all.

All Right, Well, it wasn't a mystery President cod or something like that. I don't care.

No, agreed, don't care. Well, there's another book, and I'm sure she figures it out.

My god, I got to read the next book.

Actually, I heard from the person who recommended it to our recommender.

Well, it's okay.

What happened was that the recommender communicated with me that the person who recommended the book to them said that.

The subsequent books are impossible to follow.

Was surprised.

Yeah, this one was why would you lest someone film it?

That's nuts Prepostero. I guess it's really not.

How many copies are there?

Also, what was in codicil twenty seven, that's the missing codicil to the will? Was it the resignation?

So it was something where she was like, I will kill myself if you don't do it before the end of term. It was something that made a time limit to what was happening. That made it be like, oh, we have to do it now. I don't remember exactly what it was.

Oh yeah, his second wife was going to get in given custody. There's maybe fifteen important characters that we have not even named, and I'm so happy we've just important.

I would argue with you on that the why judges. Why was she important?

Why she was the whole reason there was a time limit on the thing. There was in Darna, who was one of the scientists who knew about the genocide but was still a good guy. But we cut to her perspective multiple times for no reason. There was Annie the science.

She had a really very thick Indian accent in the audio book, which.

I would say is not.

Yeah, I thought it. I definitely immediately wrote it because it also referred to like the fact that everyone there like could speak perfect English, and then the audiobook reader in a bad any accent. I was like, Yeah, weird, that's a weird choice. That's a weird choice.

It was wild. Oh there's the FBI agent or the Homeland Security agent what's her name, Papolio that we cut to her. Remember we cut to her perspective, like seventy five percent into the book, and then she died in the same chapter. It's like, we introducing.

Because that's funny. That is funny, But I don't remember. I don't remember that at all.

The name is familiar.

I'm like, did I have the abridge?

Oh?

It was also so funny that all this shit happened. And then it was like, I need to get some sleep. It's been such a day, Like it takes place over such a few amount of days. It's like less than a week. All this fucking shit happens.

I think it's Stacey AB's got advice. It's like talk about a moment, yeah, than a long period of time. And she was like, all right, it's gonna be a lot to.

Screak this one day.

If that's the writing strategy, that's the strategy.

Oh my god.

There was also.

The main character's roommate who was a hacker or something convenient for the plot.

A doctor. I think a doctor is like a doctor.

Actually like could do graphic design.

I'm you sure, why not? You know why not? Oh? Yeah?

There was something where they needed to find some contact, and so they're like, well, buy internet.

They're Internet ASTs.

And it was what I liked about it was they really went into like cost pertion and the specifics of how to get in to stream and you know what six nine and before k they talked about file exports. It was like really interesting.

It was like and it's it was it'll be for people to search for chess online.

Yeah, oh yeah, because oh that's wow.

You're so right, Like there are so many characters that like we haven't even mentioned. There was this guy who was playing chess against win and they were like.

Searching for him for a really long time.

Oh yeah, there's something so funny about their chess game didn't have a chat. And then they copy and pasted the u ur L for the chat like into a different window, and that's decoded it somehow.

There was they looked at the history. I'm sure that was simple. You go ahead to be clear.

One of the clues in the book was they were looking at it online chess game and they said, it's really strange that there's no chat history. Yes, let's put it into a different window.

Oh, they really copied and pasted it. They didn't go like look at the coach see history or look at the code. They copied and pasted.

This book is so funny.

I feel like Stacy Abrams is very smart. She just can't see the forest for the trees on this.

Book, maybe spreading herself a little thin. Yeah, and you can pick one career.

I have to tell you, this book made me even question her politically because there's this one moment where she describes a house where the nurse lived. The murdered nurse, Jamie Lewis lived in one of those buildings where the middle class clung by its fingernails, unable to afford a house, but too proud to move deeper into Maryland.

Do you think I'm.

Too proud to move further away from the city where I work and that's the public or do you think it might be that I can't I can't afford to live here, but I also can't afford to live two hours away. It really I was like, that's what you think it is. The housing crisis is.

Tied to my pride. Pride, Yeah, that's why.

I won't buy a house. Stacy.

Yeah, I don't know.

She did not win me as a fan.

That's so funny.

Yeah, the judges politics were so confusing to me because he was like so anti science and like railing against the modern world. But then at the end he's like, anyway, this corporate merger should happen, and I'm all for it. But that's a Republican. Don't like him, and you're just like, what the fuck? What is your take?

And that's why he's the swing vote baby, so because he doesn't make any sense.

Well, but also when things impact you, you can shift your whole belief system in order to make that line up.

And that's what a judge's job.

Yeah, man, I have Jared.

I just realized your judge's name is Jared. Sorry, it's just really funny to me to imagine, like a Supreme Court judge Jared.

Oh no, that's his son. That's his son. His name was Howard.

Okay, okay, a little better, a little bit.

Another when your name and your kids, guys think about they might have a career. Are you really going to have a Cocoa? And she's give you a judge, I don't know, you see, yeah, you know that's a name. I like it's a name. I'm considering.

Coco.

I asked myself.

I like it.

I think it's cute.

I like it.

Chat to pick from Oka.

It is a dog's name, but it is cute.

Yeah, but so is Abby and there's plenty of human abby's.

Yeah, that's true.

I think Abby was a human name. First, it's it's morphed into dog.

I don't think that's right.

It's Abby Abby, But we're talking meaning Alfie. I'm confused about this.

No, no, we're talking about we're.

Talking about we're talking about dog name.

But I like what humans use.

I like what you're doing. I like what you do.

Just moving it into a conversation about Alphie.

Yeah, he's so sweet, sweet.

He would have found the bad guy immediately, he would have.

I hear him.

Now listeners, you can't see it, but Clara was just overcome with glee.

It was very cute.

Yeah, I don't know.

I wouldn't say that was like as much of an impression of Alfie as it was just like as though I were like, I'm gonna do it an impression of the president, and then I was just like.

No, that's not true.

Okay, I'm just saying I think when we do it, when we do impressions of dogs barking, I think what were it's like offensive nonsense that's actually coming out of our mouths.

I think that dogs would be offended. Yes, yes, okay, I see I see, yes, yes, dogs would be like that's Chinese.

That's not what I say. Yes, yes, they would be like that is it's not a word. You're making sounds like a bark, but you're not saying any words, and it's offensive to my culture.

Though it had a nice viciousness to it.

Yeah, I think I could do a willow, but it would be silent, so I wouldn't really translate for the listeners.

But it's kind of like for me, it's kind of like, is.

That because is that because John a dog's vocal cords? Is that what? No? But he's just like Gary.

She very good, Serena.

Do you want to describe what she's doing.

She's doing it.

She is doing little head tilts where she is showing us that she's extremely concerned and attentive to what is happening, and she does think something could go wrong at any moment, or it could go really right at any moment, and she just heard something outside in the other room that might need her full attention. Yeah, great, it was very good.

It was very correct, And that's kind of like how.

Sort of sing a different tune.

It didn't make my heart sore.

And that's kind of like how Stacy Abrams writes, you know, like, oh, something that happened, took a second happened. But she's gonna it's going to take her, you know, twenty five seconds to a minute to explain what that what that action was. Yes, but are we stupid?

Like have the other books just addled our brains and now we can't read.

Like this is a really good book and we don't understand read anymore.

One of the ones that's hurting our brains.

I'm just worried. Maybe we need to like read some like test do Uberville or something and just like read a real book to make sure we still can't.

You know what, we could throw that in next season if you want to.

I think I don't really want to.

But I would read a real book that is not long?

Fair you have any short?

We already did Old Man in the same way that book blows.

We got to do one next season. I'm just worried. I'm worried I'm becoming demented.

Yeah yeah, yeah, that that is that is that's fair. Maybe we can recommend some palate cleansers at some point, but do we have I don't know, do we anything else? Or you're going to go to good Reads?

I think I want to ask, do you have any more big points to hit anything?

Oh?

At some point, his lawyer referred to him as mister Justice, and I just referred to him as that, which is really fun. I also fully thought that his attorney and Noah were two separate characters, and that no just appeared at some point in the book, and I was like, I'm not going to go back and figure out where that happened.

Yeah, I believe that.

Yeah, a lot of times with mean book club books, I just refuse to go back, even if I am confused. You just can't give them that.

Yeah, Yeah, it's not worth the time.

I've given you that five minutes of my life already you're not getting Yeah, you had an opportunity. Well I think we should move on because I'm I forgot if you've prepared it or not. But Blake did have a fun little segment he brought up wanting.

To do Yeah, it's pretty quick, but it's tied into little Fuckers. So if we want to do hate rates first, maybe.

Reads first, let's do good Reads hate rates, and then we'll do this new segment.

Yeah, sound good, good.

Here's a few five star reviews from Goodreads. Matt said me on November sixth, twenty twenty a Stacy Abrams novel It could be the word vote for eighty thousand words and it gets five stars from me. Me in March twenty twenty one when I read the book. It turns out Stacy Abrams can write a damn good legal medical thriller. This is a story about Supreme Court with a swing vote, a judge in a coma, and a law clerk turned legal guardian who has left to solve mystery that can

All right, Well he admitted a bias.

Yeah up front?

Did he did?

He did?

I would have much preferred a book that was vote over and over and over.

There there was a lot more of the one star reviews or two star reviews of people being like I picked this up because I like Stacy Abrams. But now I'm like, Stacy, please stop stop.

It's such a shame. It's such a shame when you learn more about someone and you're just like, I wish I didn't know this about you. No, I don't like you.

I don't not like.

I don't think I like.

It makes it harder.

All right, you guys want to do your hate rates, one good reason do it. I mean I had other ones, but I'm just looked at them and I was like, now worth speaking them. Let's move on. Yeah, yeah, I.

Can go five out of five. I've never said that.

Well Justice sleep so well.

That's good. That's good.

That's good. I like that.

Okay, I'm going to give it a five out of five because I read it a lot these last few weeks while.

I've been traveling for the holiday for Thanksgiving, and it like extended my time on vacation because it every second you spend with the book feels like an hour.

So I was able to feel like I got more of a holiday in because time stands still.

When you read, you see kind of a stressful holiday.

I don't know why you would want to extend it. All right, I'm gonna give this a one out of five because I'm the only real person, you know, because I just like, honestly going into like a legal thriller, I was like, oh this, I went back when, you know, when I took my l SAT and I was like, I love blah and political science and Supreme Court and stuff. I was like, this sounds like something that would like be totally up my alley and like blah blah blah. But it was like, oh god, no, oh god, no,

I'm and just I think it's clear what she meant readers, but that was it gets a point because of that, not it's a one star because.

It gets the point. It earned a point for doing something good, which was not casting a classical main character, so they had some diversity. So there, thank you for letting me clarify that.

Non white character. Hate it, No, I am gonna give it.

I think I'm gonna have to give it a five out of five because what is wrong? I really, I just felt a connection to the person who rerack mended it to us, and I want that person to circle back a little more. I might advise that person to talk to the friend who recommended it and let that person know that there are other books that you can read that are better. But for the connection with the beautiful and brilliant recommender, it's going to get a five out of five.

So for your own little bit, all right, giving your own little bit of five.

Sure know what you're talking about?

All right? Great? Great? Great? All right, Blake, please talk some sense.

Yeah. I think for me, much like the term mind screen. At first I thought it was deep and interesting, and then it just turned out to be a bunch of nonsense. So it's a one out of five for me. This gave me a panic attack while I was on vacation. This is crazy fun for.

Parts, well, I guess majority rules and that makes it a five out of five.

So that's not I mean, if you're taking the media and yes, you're right, that's what. Yeah, yeah, in the mean, that's no, not the mean.

Oh I'm sorry, I meant the mode.

I meant the mode.

It's the mode.

This is this kind of bullshit. I would have had a long conversation about all.

Right, all right, I want to hear Blake, what's what's what do you have?

Okay? So I have gone through every season of Mean book Club episodes that's.

Insane, and I.

Have tallied I listened to the ends because I was I had a specific goal. I have tallied every vote for little Fucker.

Crazy.

So I have in front of me statistically, who is currently the little of the podcast. Now, before I get to the main event, I just want to some honorable mentions. These are guests little fuckers. We had Maggie Bowery, Joey Price, Brad Einstein, Amy Ludkin, Kelly mccadams, Ernest Hemingway was little fucker of the podcast.

You as.

The kids in high school who tried to take valedictorian from Sabrina were a little fucker of the podcast. And uh, I'm sure you'll remember when Sarah and her mom were voted little fucker on the podcast on the same episode.

My mom was there. Yeah, it wasn't even like, you know, she couldn't hear she was yeah, yeah, it was Oh my god.

Classic. So this is this is I'm going to go from Lois ran little.

Can we guess?

You can totally guess. Do you want to guess who's who's the top little fucker? Do you want to go one by one?

I want to go one by one the time?

Are we starting with the lowest to the most?

What are we were starting with Lois?

Okay, okay, I think Clara, Clara is least little fucker.

Yeah, I'm the most beloved.

Okay, that's not why I think it's I.

Think it could be me, but maybe I'm second low if I.

See the thing.

Okay, it is in fact, Clara, you're the least little fucker.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Like me, what's her number? What's her number?

So she has a total of sixty three votes and a total of twenty four wins?

Wow, more wins? Okay?

Yeah, yea, I'm gonna say Serena is next.

Okay, Yeah, I don't know if she me, but.

It could be Sarah.

Sometimes I I.

The wrong way sometime to.

Be a little fucker.

But I think I think I've been little fucker zero times when I didn't.

Look were the two and three is the only things we're not sure about. We all know who's number. Yeah, this is this is what will the real reveals.

So third least fuck or like third most fucker whatever, second least is Sarah with sixty seven votes and twenty six wins.

Wow close, We're quite close.

Yeah, wow, Okay, it's gonna be such a blowout. Okay, what are Sabrina?

Really close?

Sixty four to sixty seven and twenty four to twenty twenty six.

So the next person, yeah, I will say yeah. The next person had seventy nine votes and twenty seven wins.

Also very close, really close, more votes and more Wow, I say the name that I think we all know is coming with ninety six votes and thirty seven wins.

The only person to ever get five votes.

On a single episode, The only person to ever get unanimously voted little fucker because she had food poisoning, the only person to bribe a vote for an entire season with chocolate colored strawberries.

I think this sums it up best of all. A quote from Clara quote when I said people should go get COVID tests, Jona said I was boring. You are the little fucker of the podcast.

Wow, I hate out close. They all are like little friends down there sometimes vote for somebody else.

Yeah, it's so funny. It's just like Clara, I mean, like Johna just always is asking for it, like she's always campaigning so strong.

Welllake, I really appreciate you doing this because I think it gives everybody something to think about and reflect on. You know, it's like clearly a wrong has been done and now we know and it's right there.

It's weird that the rest of us are so close. I thought I add more of a safety net. Really, so I get think That's.

What I'm saying is like we see that there's an imbalance, we see that someone is targeted.

Yeah.

I maybe shouldn't have said that's what Johna thinks that I should just say, that's what little fun.

Wow, we should record.

One.

Oh, this is so fun. I'm having her. Are we doing a little fuck her now or we just are we doing an actual one for this episode?

Yeah?

Yeah, let's do it, Okay, Because I was at first going to vote, I mean quite obvious. I was going to vote quite obviously for Sabrina for this one obvious read this.

But yeah, and that whole little thing with the email that's so obviously her.

Yeah, there's a lot of good reasons.

For her into it. She was hostile early on, just to you just hey, but people don't like like that.

Then I was like thinking about how funny it is how Johnna is always a little fucker and Claire me that really good joke, and it makes me want to vote for Johnna again. So I'm like a little bit struggling here. I don't know if anybody wants to go before.

Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and vote for Johnna.

Okay, okay, okay, okay, as much fuck.

Oh, I have a lot of people I want to vote for. Serena was way high for dragging out that little oh who recommended the book. I won't say a name. I'm gonna read this recommendation. It was her all episode.

She really was.

Claire, I haven't appreciated how much you've reveled in being the least little fucker by a hair. You're all the same.

You're all, okay, ridiculous.

Well, the person that really pissed me off was you're reading this little list of names, Blake, and then you say, before I get to the person whose name we all know, how I'm gonna say it just knows what I'm saying. You know, you really twisted the knife and you didn't need to. You could have acted sad about it. You could have acted like it was wrong or maybe yeah, maybe maybe said something like I had to count twice because I thought I miscounted.

But.

Yeah, I had to go back and listen to every episode of Mean Book Club again.

My little fucker is Blake.

I like the way I bet you it.

Was perfect one for john on one for Blake.

I'm I'm ready to vote, and I will say first and foremost.

I know that to the naked eyes, And it might.

Not seem like second most little fucker or third least little fucker is a place of honor because it's kind of in the middle, but it actually really is quite a place of honor because it means that I get a lot of attention when I watched Open.

No.

But it's just like Johnna, like she like throws herself on the mat to be a little fucker, and.

I don't really do that.

It's just okay, is for locking it.

This was my time and I was thinking about who I was going to vote for, but you interrupted my time. But I'm going to stick and then I'm gonna stick to it. I've got to vote for Joanna, not because it's funny, but because she told me that chatchbut is like leaving a light on for two years straight and I'll never unknow that. And now I can never use chatchy bet again.

So or you just leave lights on, it's not a big deal. That's also a takeaway you.

I can't do both.

Question and then you could turn off the light that you use every day and never use that light again.

Reason Well, I'm gonna run out in four days.

I got like four loves, four questions, then better make them count.

What's this ring camera?

Do?

I gotta turn it off? Which I don't know why I was told to buy a ring camera.

No one else is doing it.

Blake, who's your little fucker?

My little fucker, Sabrina for that, for that whole thing that just happened. I was gonna vote for her for the book. Yeah, but I've switched my rationale to whatever that was. Just now that's what I'm voting for.

That's right.

Yeah, twenty eight baby?

Did you ever thought it for Sabrina?

Yeah?

So do we have? Wait, so we have.

It's two for Jona, two for Sabrina.

Yeah, one for Blake.

Yeah, there is two for Joanna, two for Thrien. All right, well I guess that's a tie. Congratulations, you're both little fucker. Wait what's the other one for? It was for Blake?

Johna, Oh, Blake, Johanna.

I could change it to Sabrina, is it?

No?

You can't change you can when you hear the result, make.

Me not.

Blake could have done at that moment is vote for you?

Yeah, It's just I just feel like he, you know, screwed me twice. Here. Now here's my little fucker. If he wasn't already, he certainly is now by me voting for tricking me into voting for him, thus making me the little fucker is complete?

All right, what chess game? All right?

Guys, my last.

Do we have? This is our final episode of the cast again of the season, of the season, so patreons, thank you so much. Please, if you're listening, and you're still listening to this, please become a Patreon. You'll get episodes without commercials, how special for you, and probably some other stuff. Does anybody have any plugs? Blake specifically, you are our guest. What would you like to plug?

Yeah, I want to plug the Patreon. We've had free episodes and more content coming, so go go pay money for that. We love it. And uh yeah, my band Goldbloom put out a record this year called for Money and Power, so you can check that out on Spotify or bandkip wherever you get music.

We'll link to that in the notes.

That's awesome putting that album.

Thank you, Blake. Please remember to link to that in the notes.

And also we've had Blake. I'm just gonna tell you first that I know we've had a ton of technical difficulties this episode. Some of them have even affected Blake's own audio, not through his fault, in our fault. And so when when you're editing this, I guess just like I'm sorry. And if you're listening to this, just know that he worked a lot of magic whatever he did to make it sound like it does.

It parts all right, but my God will miss you. Guys. Please email us, send us your rex for next season, because we're immediately going to start figuring those out and get right on that. So please send us a link with the New York Times bestseller because we do not want to do the research.

Please immediately. We'll take a break.

Forgot's say, we need a break.

I'm just trying to pretend that we like do this is like important to us.

It is important to us.

It's very important, and that's why I want to come in fresh my self.

Care Yeah, oh my god, you know what, Well, I don't know.

I'm going to sleep without a bad book.

Well, so if I'm probably next. I'm reading the Maris Presley's memoir right now and it's not well written, but it's interesting. Did you talk about this last week? Did I tell you guys last No, there's one part in the book she's she's musician herself, and she was doing concerts and people were showing up to her concerts dressed

Say.

Just one little detail from the book, which is like, yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, imagine of your performance, so there's just five people that look like your dead dad standing in front of you.

Yeah, But also like, why is she getting to do that performance? That's because of her dead dad. So I don't know and.

Had a hard life. I mean, if you read the memoir, you'd know some of us haven't.

Yeah, okay, all right everyone, we'll see you you wish she.

Could change your We'll see you all soon.

Love you, Go see Wicked.

We got it in