A loveless marriage, a disillusioned child, and a disastrous war story, oh my! The Sword of Kaigen is a highly rated self-published book that begs us to venture into territory heretofore unexplored on the pod: into the wild, wild world of epic fantasy. Will we survive our foray into the passages of long exposition, or will we be defeated by the descriptions of unnecessary backstory? Whatever happens, our girl Misaki will be there to guide us through her story of heartbreak, tragedy, and empowerm...
Jun 20, 2025•1 hr 57 min
It's the 20th anniversary of the 2005 movie adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice! In honor of the occasion, we watched the movie and compared it to its popular cousin, the BBC's 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries. What did each adaptation bring to the table? Why do we love the immaculate vibes of the 2005, and which Mr. Darcy is the definitive Mr. Darcy? Join us to find out!
May 28, 2025•1 hr 42 min
A classic Homeric poem turned love story, The Song of Achilles will have you sighing, groaning, and maybe even weeping for our two star-crossed lovebirds. But the real question is . . . on a scale of Feyre to Bella Swan, how passive a protagonist is Patroclus? Join us to find out!
Apr 25, 2025•1 hr 44 min
Funny Story may not make you laugh but it will have you asking a lot of big questions, like is sex in a shared eating space okay if it's with your roommate? Is Michigan an actual beach vacation destination? Or, are they still a 10 if they moan when they eat? We get into it with Emily Henry's Funny Story.
Mar 01, 2025•1 hr 44 min
When a two besties turned coding geniuses decide to program their next game together, they can't dream of where their efforts would take them . . . just like we couldn't dream of where our thoughts were going to land with Gabrielle Zevin's book, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Did we enjoy the books (as gamers (TM))? Did we sympathize with Sadie or Sam more? Tune in to find out.
Feb 01, 2025•1 hr 51 min
Video games are getting more and more mainstream as people find their favorite niches, and in preparation of our read of Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, we gather 'round to chat about video games and our experience with them! Join us for an informal discussion that ranges from our shared love and thoughts about Zelda to the troubles of other people judging you for video games and being a woman to mmorpgs, video game romances, and anything else we can think of.
Dec 01, 2024•1 hr 44 min
I think the only joke we can make about this book is that its full title is Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence : An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution. This book is for people who hate nonfiction but are interested in history and need a narrative structure with fantasy candy coating to make the medicine go down. And boy did it go DOWN. We get into it, y'all.
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 58 min
Another romantasy book that has been popular on booktok, Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross is a World War 1-esque, enemies-to-lovers story that isn't quite as ~spicy~ as some of the other books in the genre. Did we enjoy this tamer entry? Did we buy the enemies-to-lovers arc? Come along with us as we discuss journalism, war propaganda, and writing styles in our newest episode!
Sep 03, 2024•1 hr 34 min
SURPRISE! Like TSwift herself, we had so much to say about The Tortured Poets Department album (which was really an Anthology), that we split this episode into a two-parter.
Jul 30, 2024•1 hr 29 min
We're millennials so of course we're gonna talk about our lady, Taylor Swift. In this episode we dig into the meaty lyrics and synthy, sorrowful vibes of Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department - THE break up album from the queen of break up albums. Oh boy do we get into it.
Jul 30, 2024•1 hr 40 min
Lesbians in spaaaaace! Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is one of Nikkita's favorite books, but what did Kaitlyn think of the gothic vibes? Did Mackenzie appreciate the incredible descriptions of gore? Listen in to hear our thoughts on the incredible triumph that is Muir's debut novel.
Jun 25, 2024•1 hr 28 min
We've rebranded! Welcome to The Mary Sue Squad, where we play, read, and watch all sorts of media and chat about it. Come have fun with us!
Jun 25, 2024•7 min
Fourth Wing, the 2023 Winner for Best Romantasy, Goodreads Choice Award aaaaaand the worst book we read in 2023. Listen, we respect the hustle, but this one wasn't for us. Still we had so many laughs, so laugh with us!
Apr 01, 2024•1 hr 39 min
Get into the hit Crescent City series by Sarah J. Maas by listening to our hot takes about sexy fairy alphaholes and special golden girls in our episode about House of Earth and Blood.
Mar 11, 2024•1 hr 47 min
We revisit Suzanne Collins's Panem in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to discover the story of President Snow's descent into tyranny--with mixed results. Did we like being in a dictator's head for an entire book? Listen in to find out.
Feb 29, 2024•1 hr 40 min
We did something a little different this episode** and wanted to share our love for Taylor Swift, the modern poet and lyricist herself, by sharing our thoughts about her most recently released *new* album, "Midnights." Now this episode was recorded in December 2022, before her record-breaking eras tour and before her breakup with longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn. Our thoughts about her love life and our opinions of her songs have changed somewhat since we recorded, but we will always love our girl T...
Oct 21, 2023•1 hr 28 min
We're back to the Twilight story, but this time we are in our main emo man's head: Edward! Is he a better character now that we are in his perspective? The jury's out.
Sep 22, 2023•1 hr 20 min
This book is why none of us can go for walks in the woods with our earphones in anymore. Thanks Holly.
Mar 10, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Twilight reduxe. We go back to where it all began: would we befriend Bella, or leave her to the werewolves? Was Edward’s sleeveless shirt a fashion don’t? (It was.)
Mar 10, 2023•1 hr 14 min
Mr.Darcy: is he worth the hype? In this episode we discuss Shannon Hale’s 2007 classic Austenland. We talk romance as a traditionally feminine genre, how portrayals of dating have changed, and why Martin had a fridge stocked with root beer, of all things. We definitely talk about the movie way too much in this episode but how can you not talk about Jennifer Coolidge??
Aug 12, 2022•56 min
When you're just trying to get away from that one annoying guy but you can't because you're tethered by the red string of fate. In the spirit world. Beneath the sea. It's Axie Oh's The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, and we're talking dragons, sleeping gods, and inconvenient soul mates. Don't worry - we get into it.
Jun 09, 2022•1 hr 18 min
A hardened criminal stalks the streets of Ketterdam with his crew, and he just so happens to shop at Hot Topic. In this episode, we dig into Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows and discuss real MVP Inej, Nina x Matthias, and how deep our love for Jesper runs (real deep). Don't worry - we get into it.
Mar 28, 2022•1 hr 3 min
For many of us, college is a cringey coming of age and a stress-fueled reality check. Fangirl manages to represent this perfectly, albeit more charmingly. Heads up: there’s a lot of discussion of fanfic - hope you know your Omegaverse, because we get into it.
Jan 28, 2022•1 hr 40 min
Oh, Nannerl. History did you dirty, but fortunately Marie Lu's fantasy novel, The Kingdom of Back, is here to put you centerstage where you should've been all along. In this episode, we discuss Wolfgang's lesser-known sister, the child-prodigy Anne Marie, and the fantasy world they created together as we struggle to pronounce German. Don't worry - we get into it.
May 14, 2021•1 hr 35 min
A kick-ass heroine with hair that gets curlier the more magical she becomes, an enemies-to-lovers romance, West African-inspired magic, and giant, rideable cats: this book is so friggin awesome it's unfair to ask us to sum it up with a pithy description. In this episode, we review Tomi Adeyemi's critical triumph Children of Blood and Bone. We discuss representations of violence in YA, the real-world implications of fantasy, and anger as a feminine virtue. Don't worry—we get into it....
Mar 31, 2021•1 hr 29 min
It's all fun and games until someone grows a second spine. In this episode, we take a walk on the wild side of YA literature with Rory Power's novel Wilder Girls . We talk body horror, female representation in survivalist novels, and whether or not the dinghy has sailed on Hetty and Reese's relationship—don't worry, we get it into it.
Jan 13, 2021•1 hr 33 min
Welcome to the sexiest court of the fey! We dissect the journey of the main protagonist, Feyre, as she navigates the magical (and terrifying) world of Fairy. We discuss depictions of sexuality in the YA genre, gendered power dynamics in fantasy, and whether or not Tamlin was worth the effort. Don't worry - we get into it.
Dec 08, 2020•1 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Is The Hunger Games a feminist novel? Three twenty-somethings weigh in on dystopian tropes in YA, Katniss's issues with her mother, and how perfectly (or imperfectly) cast the movie was. Don't worry—we get into it.
Nov 09, 2020•1 hr 50 min•Season 1Ep. 1
