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The Odyssey
Homer Homer
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An eerie little story. The second person threw me off at first but was easy to get used to. A bit predictable. Perhaps I should have tried to read it in the original language.
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Aura
Carlos Fuentes
Penumbra13 commented on Jake99's review of The Salt Grows Heavy
I have no words (I heard the author used them all), but I loved it 💁♂️
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Spring 2026 Readalong
Read all books in the Spring 2026 Readalong.
Penumbra13 wrote a review...
A visceral tale to be devoured.
This book stitches together beautiful prose, gruesome imagery, and fairy tale elements to bring to life a brutal, otherworldly story about agency, violence, myth, and deep connection. I enjoyed its take on gender, female rage, and 'monstrous' entities, and the compelling dynamic between characters that were allowed to be grotesque. The lyrical and evocative writing, which might have been out of place in other genres, helped craft a refreshingly dark and rich atmosphere. While the dense prose might not be for everyone, and it did occasionally toe the line of too much, I found it did not hinder the story from going down smoothly.
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The Salt Grows Heavy
Cassandra Khaw
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Fever Dreams & Strange Realities 👁🗝😵
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Reality is overrated! These surreal and absurd fiction books remove logic to reveal their truths. Here the impossible is inevitable, the strange is necessary, and Kafkaesque is only the beginning.
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The Monstrous Feminine 🫀🪞🔪
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Embracing the body and reclaiming otherness, these books use horror to redefine notions of womanhood and monstrosity.
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Love in the Big City 🏙️🍸💋
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Fast-paced lives. Crowded streets. Late nights. Ambition, longing, and messy, magnetic love—all happening in real time.
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The Werewolf Within 🐺🌕🦴
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Awooo! The full moon is calling, do you answer? The characters within these books do. Welcome to Pagebound Pack, I hope you stay awhile!
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Poetic Stories 🕊️🪶📜
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From wine-dark seas to sun-filled cities, these stories explore complex experiences, mythologies, and emotions through narrative poetry and epic verse.
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The River Has Roots
Amal El-Mohtar
Penumbra13 commented on NotACoolNerd's review of A Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe, #1)
I enjoyed this book like an action movie. It was fun, fast paced, a spectacle. The ‘visuals’ were stunning. Fatma’s suits and decopunk Cairo described in decadent detail.
The side characters were brilliant and full of life. Fatma however was flat. It didn’t add up either how this brilliant woman, one of a handful on the force, kept missing obvious clues to move the plot along. Which I get is a feature of the genre, but I think it went too far here. This woman is supposed to be exceptional, otherwise she wouldn’t get away with half of the things she does.
There was nothing about the plot that will stay with me. It was a fun mystery adventure. Towards the end it felt a bit like they had to shoehorn in higher and higher stakes and more and more moving parts. Ultimately though it was a fun read.
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The Odyssey Effect: How Homer's Epic Poem Shaped the World
Erica Stevenson