Post from the Katabasis forum
“…letting cities collapse so they could rub their bits on someone else.” Designating Alice as ace-spectrum from this sentence fragment alone
Post from the Orpheus Builds a Girl forum
There’s been other hints about the deliberate misremembering or misinterpreting of events but this is the most blatant so far and the most chilling with how it’s being portrayed. The power imbalance, the age difference, the societal structure…
Magp13 commented on a post
Don’t ever try to tell me that social media doesn’t influence you, all of the bookstagram jokes about Kaz/the crew in this series doing the Louvre heist has finally made me want to give this book a try.
I’ve heard conflicting opinions about reading SaB first…thoughts?
Magp13 commented on bookbunny96's update
Magp13 started reading...

Orpheus Builds a Girl
Heather Parry
Magp13 wrote a review...
Thank you to BookSirens and the author for the ARC. Sadly, this book fell flat for me as it speeds through any chance of a mysterious or haunting atmosphere within the first twenty percent or so.
Charlotte is a confused FMC, although part of this is the setting she’s in. It’s vaguely historical with strong patriarchal overtones in that women are restricted from weapons and trousers and expected to marry strong men, but then there are exceptions that don’t seem to be notable in that society in any way (Pari, the lesbian marriage in the other kingdom). Without the groundwork, it’s exclusionary for the sake of being ‘not like other girls’ which does Charlotte no favours in being a likeable or consistent character.
Even the setting suffers from this lack of clarity, is Kilthorne a country? There’s mention of a king so probably not. A city, a town, a province, an estate? It’s unclear.
The plot is jumbled, with any chance of a good gothic mystery destroyed in the first few chapters. Sebastien’s identity is revealed, the cause of Charlotte’s haunting is revealed, even the mystery of the vampires is revealed, and nothing is left until later. The plot that follows is the threads of a mystery that is mostly a refrain of Sebastian Big, Charlotte squeamish around blood and the most ineffectual villain ever with his motive the only thing obscured and that’s because it doesn’t make any sense.
There’s a twenty-odd age gap introduced between the MMC and the FMC through this motive which isn’t addressed in the slightest. The romance was piecemeal and not compelling between Sebastian and Charlotte as her side of it is giving poor choices and even poorer reactions.
All in all, the premise was incredibly compelling but the writing failed to follow through with any of it.
Magp13 finished a book

Kilthorne
Elizabeth Vaunt
Post from the Kilthorne forum
Again, very patriarchal society in what women are allowed to do and the expectations of marriage etc and no mention of surprise at a lesbian marriage from the FMC?
Magp13 commented on a post
Wasn’t expecting the old English but it does make a very nice change
Magp13 commented on luci_bitters's update
luci_bitters earned a badge

Fall 2025 Readalong
Read at least 1 book in the Fall 2025 Readalong.
Magp13 commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
List your favourite trope.
If your trope is more niche, feel free to define it so others can know more about it! Can be common or niche tropes!
Beneath it, put your favourite book recommendations for that trope!
Let's see what tropes are the most popular on this platform!!!
Magp13 commented on thehobbit's update
Post from the Katabasis forum
That is such an interesting interpretation of Hell, that it shapes itself around what people expect it to be… and then coming into that off the back of an intense wash of secondhand embarrassment is wilder still
Magp13 commented on a post
“Don’t mark the pages,” says Ethram, because he might not know what manner of creature Ky is, but there’s little he’ll not defend his books against.
Love a grumpy scholar type character
Magp13 finished reading and wrote a review...
Thank you to the author for this ARC of such an exceptionally sweet and spicy novella!
It’s wondrously inclusive with a plus-sized sex worker FMC, a trans MMC with chronic pain, and an aromantic MMC whose identity is so carefully explored within the text. The storyline is a tad fantastical, but it’s grounded in careful consent and deliberate boundaries which is so wholesome to see in an explicitly spicy story of this set up. However, the characters are where the story really shines.
It’s a novella which by the nature of it has a limited page count but every one of those pages are used to their full potential. We get the backstory for Bryce and Rory, an overview of a type of aromanticism and how that could fit into a relationship, and several well-written gloriously sweet and varied spicy scenes. Honestly, full kudos to the author, this was fantastic.