i just noticed that volkova chose to identify their texts not just through the use of italics, but by the way they text! lili texts with all lowercase, little punctuation. it's very clear she is a young person and she is a young person through and through!! aleksandr texts with proper full sentences and grammar and punctuation etc because he's a proper man or something along those lines and he's older. it's such a fun little detail i love it so much!

I feel like quests have become just like lists and there is no real difference between the two except for who can make them and the rewards. The quests have become so long that they are overwhelming and discouraging. It is more of a 'if I need a recommendation list,' but I thought that was what lists were for. I thought lists were basically a place to go for recommendations and to list what you wanted to get through. Quests to me were something to work towards, but they are so long now that I have no hope in finishing any of them. Or I was close, and then they updated and now I'm at 17 percent. Quests was one of the things that drew me to PageBound and I still love it, but I have avoided that part of it because it is so discouraging and overwhelming to look at. Even Side Quests are a little daunting. If I compared this to an RPG, the quests would be more like achievements, and side quests would equal main quests. I'd love to hear thoughts.

Edit: Thank you for all the thoughts and comments. First of all, I didn't realize that main quest badges were given based on number of books read and the final badge was not based on reading 100 percent of the books. This makes me feel more like I can reach some of the higher badges. (Maybe 😅)

Second: I am a completionist and am focusing more on the percentage than the badges. I just want something to be completed! It lowers my anxiety. 🙃

So far this is so much like Rock, Paper, Scissors by this author (read for the pagebound winter readalong) - the remote Scottish setting, the writer protagonist, the eery troubled marriage, a famous writer's getaway cabin... major deja vu.

Is anyone else having issues with the 2026 summer badge?

I finished a book on this year’s summer reading quest but the badge hasn’t popped up in my badges or feed and it’s been a couple of days. No notification on it either. Is there a fix for this?

“No, yeah, my favorite movie is The Wolf of Wall Street, it’s such a blunt, unflinching portrayal—Scorsese really just looks into the American soul, you know?”

Wincing, Lili drains her drink.

If she has to start her Friday night listening to second-year analysts mansplain derivatives and trading options, she’s within her rights to fleece them of outrageously expensive cocktails and consider it retributive justice for the subprime mortgage crisis and credit discrimination on behalf of the proletariat.

AHHHHHHHH THEY DIDNT COMPLETELY CUT THE ORIGINAL OPENING!! This is such a palpable, iconic grouping of lines. I’ve been OBSESSED. It’s so fucking relatable, but also hilarious.

I have so rarely come across works that capture so well what it feels to have politics and social justice invade literally every part of how you think about and interact with the world, and Volkova does such a good job of capturing the vibe. I love! Uhg!