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marissa

31 | Canada. šŸ’ fantasy, romance, thriller, horror 🪩 book admirer, cozy enthusiast, cat lover

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Summer 2025 Readalong
Reading...Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
My Taste
Blooms of Darkness (The Broken Prophecy, #1)
Spark of the Everflame (Kindred's Curse, #1)
The Hollow Places
When in Rome (When in Rome, #1)
Carrie Soto Is Back

Post from the Project Hail Mary forum

3h
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary Movie Trailer PSA!

    If you’re wanting to read the book before the movie releases, I highly, highly recommend to not watch the Project Hail Mary movie trailer. It reveals way too much. In the book, things are revealed slowly and with great suspense. The trailer will spoil everything. I definitely recommend you read the book! Listening to the audiobook is great as well.

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  • marissa commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

    4h
  • on Tomes(tm) ((books that are 600 pages or more)) and which is your favorite?

    so i feel like most readers probably don't read really long books super often. i'm sure there are people that prefer them or read them a lot but big books are pretty intimidating and risky, at least to me. i like the IDEA of a long book and having so much story to sink my teeth into but it's a bit scary because that means that's a loooong time the book has to keep me interested. however i've found that a lot of people seem to have one Super Long book that just really clicks with them and they love, sometimes in spite of, their length. for me, it's The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard. i read this at the end of 2024 and i am STILL a little confused as to how this book hooked me so deeply and so quickly. not only is it almost 1000 pages it's also very slow-paced (which i almost always dislike) and very character-focused on the whole with not very much action-focused plot. it's such a beautiful study of culture and relationships and family and friendship and AHHH. it's amazing and i love it and it absolutely breaks my "long book intimidating" feeling i get even for rereads (Priory of the Orange Tree is giving me the stinkeye from my bookshelf i can feel it) so i wanted to know what are your guys' favorite tomes?? just big long books that you're obsessed with that you think other people should take the plunge on? or just tomes that you love for specific reasons and maybe wouldn't recommend but would like to gush about anyway?

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  • marissa commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

    4h
  • Ebook or physical books?

    Hello, I was wondering if you all prefer ebook or physical book and which you use most. I have a kindle but barely use it, I recognise it is pretty convenient, especially when travelling, but I simply can’t get into it. Any advices?

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  • marissa commented on Anyajulchen's update

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    5h
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    marissa commented on a post

    4h
  • A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
    Thoughts from 57% - End of Chapter 22
    spoilers

    View spoiler

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  • marissa commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

    4h
  • Audiobooks: Multitasking

    Hey pagebounders šŸ‘‹ just curious to know what some of you do when listening to audiobooks?

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  • marissa commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

    4h
  • Even the Reviews Are AI too 🫩

    I usually go and read reviews of my completed books, sometimes to see if I missed anything themewise/plotwise, but mostly for the fun of it. Now I can't even get through some of the recent reviews without visibly CRINGING at the blatant AI. Can we just have one thing that is not touched by AI in this hobby??? I've seen it on here. I've seen it on GR. I've even seen it bookstagram captions. I mean, is it really that serious???? I get it, I find it hard to articulate everything I felt about a book in a few paragraphs. But the idea of using AI to do so just fills me with secondhand embarrassment. I would rather write a corny ahh statement like ā€œI couldn't put this down!ā€ rather than resort to asking chat to write a review?? The tone is always so unbearably positive, and the sentences all follow the same formulaic wording, it is nauseating. Even if all the points brought up are good, just reading those generated reviews takes away any joy I had in reading. I wish people who did use it knew how obvious it is to spot an AI post. I mean, you are posting this review to be read by people who love to read? You don't think we can recogbise wack ahh AI slop when we see it?? Embarrazzing.

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  • Post from the Blackthorn forum

    9h
  • Blackthorn
    Thoughts from 7% - Chapter 3
    spoilers

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  • marissa started reading...

    12h
    Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

    Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

    Sarah Wynn-Williams

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    marissa commented on a post

    1d
  • Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History (Maus, #1)
    Thoughts from 2% (page 3)

    I feel like there is too many graphic details and text on each page, and it is kind of hard to read

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  • marissa wrote a review...

    2d
  • When the Wolf Comes Home
    marissa
    Jun 28, 2025
    4.5
    Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 4.5Characters: 4.0Plot: 4.5
    🐺
    🩸
    šŸ’”

    It’s hard to talk about When the Wolf Comes Home without just yelling ā€œREAD ITā€ and shoving it into people’s hands. It’s that good. And not just ā€œoh wow this is a fun, spooky readā€ good, it’s emotionally bruising, deeply unsettling, unexpectedly moving, and somehow also a love letter to old-school horror paperbacks and 80s thrillers. This is one of those stories where the less you know going in, the better. What starts as a tense, mysterious moment, our main character Jess coming home from a brutal shift to find a little boy hiding in her bushes, quickly spirals into something far more dangerous, strange, and heartbreaking than you can imagine. From there, it becomes a breakneck, emotionally loaded, horror-laced chase novel with layers upon layers beneath the surface. Cassidy takes familiar tropes like the runaway kid, the dangerous dad, and the woman on the run then flips them all inside out in the most unexpected ways. There’s a ton of horror here, sure (some of it stomach-dropping), but what really did it for me was the emotional weight. This isn’t just a story meant to scare you (though I think it will do that) it’s also about fear itself, how it evolves as we age, what we carry from childhood, and how we cope with what we’ve survived. Jess is such a layered protagonist. She's vulnerable but funny, fierce, deeply human and watching her unravel and push forward at the same time is mesmerizing. And the kid at the centre of the story? Somehow terrifying and heartbreaking all at once. I truly didn’t know whether I wanted to hug him or run away screaming. Cassidy’s writing is on another level. The pacing is relentless in the best way. You’re constantly tense, constantly waiting for the next beat to drop, but it never sacrifices character or emotional payoff for cheap scares. He manages to pull off huge genre swings without it ever feeling chaotic. The ending completely gutted me in the way where you sit there in stunned silence, like your soul just got cracked open a little. I don’t say that lightly. It was the kind of reading experience that sticks with you, burrows in deep, and leaves you thinking long after you’ve finished. Cassidy has already proven himself with Mary and Nestlings, but When the Wolf Comes Home is something else entirely. It’s brutal, bizarre, raw, and cathartic. It’s horror with a soul. Cassidy is abdsolutly cementing himself as a must-read horror author. This is perfect for those who are a fan of horror that dares to be tender, weird, and devastating all at once. Also, just as a quick note, don’t skip the afterword. Cassidy always writes incredible author notes, and this one gives you such an incredible glimpse into the personal history and emotional depth behind the story. It adds so much meaning to what you’ve just read. If you're listening to the audiobook, Cassidy himself pops in for the afterword (which made it feel even more personal).

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  • marissa wrote a review...

    2d
  • Heir of Illusion: A fast-paced fantasy romance with gods and fae
    marissa
    Jun 28, 2025
    4.5
    Enjoyment: 4.5Quality: 4.0Characters: 4.5Plot: 5.0
    šŸ‘‘
    šŸ°
    šŸ‘Æā€ā™€ļø

    You ever pick up a book and immediately know it’s going to be an amazing time for you? That was Heir of Illusion for me. From the very first chapter, I was hooked like eyes-glued-to-the-page, ā€œjust one more chapterā€ until suddenly it’s 2 a.m. kind of hooked. It’s fast-paced, emotionally intense, wildly entertaining, and packed with everything I personally look for in a fantasy romance. The story centres on Ivy, a fierce and clever vigilante with a traumatic past, who’s magically bound to a cruel king. She’s not just trying to survive, she’s trying to fight back, and her strength and snark had me rooting for her from the jump. And then… enter Thorne. A brooding, deadly shadow of a man with secrets and sharp edges, who somehow still manages to fall first and fall hard. Their dynamic? I absolutely love it. The banter is bantering, the tension is off-the-charts, and yes, we’ve got that amazing ā€œtouch her and dieā€ energy in full force. Madeline Taylor’s writing is stunning. It's so vivid, so immersive, and so detailed which is just the writing I like to read. The world she’s built is full of Gods, fae (but different kinds, our FMC is a wraith!), enchantments, illusions, and power plays, yet nothing feels overwhelming. She weaves in lore, magic, and plot twists with a natural flow that keeps the pace flying without sacrificing depth. The magic system itself is so refreshing and unique. Actually, it all feels new and like something I haven't read a million times before, which is pretty rare in fantasy these days. Honestly, really great for a debut book. If you're into morally grey love interests, resilient heroines, dark magic, enemies to lovers, reluctant alliances, deadly touches, and genuinely great banter, run to this book. It gave me all the good fantasy romance vibes in the best possible way, but with its own fresh voice and fire. Honestly, I think it even helped pull me out of a reading slump, and now I want to reread it just to relive the chaos and chemistry all over again. Madeline Taylor, whatever you write next, I’m already there.

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