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underwaterreads

forever learning to write ✨ education psych enjoyer ✨ aroace and disabled

821 points

0% overlap
Level 4
My Taste
Fight + Flight
The Miller's Daughter: Will she be forever destined to the workhouse?
Extraordinary
Brave, Not Perfect: Fear Less, Fail More, and Live Bolder
All In (The Naturals, #3)
Reading...
The Year of the Rat
40%

Post from the Pagebound Club forum

18h
  • Recommend me a series with a strong cast

    I’m looking for a binge-able series with a strong cast. I mean one with very 3D characters and character dynamics (found family is a strong plus, and if they have messy un/healthy dynamics). I prefer books with

    • character development (as opposed to static characters in a changing plot)
    • a female MC or mixed gender multiple MCs
    • disability and/or queer rep
    • middle grade and up

    Some examples (books):

    • The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
    • Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
    • NERDS by Michael Buckley

    (they dont need to be spies or detectives, these are just the ones off the top of my head)

    Thanks!

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  • underwaterreads made progress on...

    1d
    The Year of the Rat

    The Year of the Rat

    Clare Furniss

    40%
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    underwaterreads wrote a review...

    1d
  • Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses
    underwaterreads
    Mar 21, 2026
    4.5
    Enjoyment: 4.5Quality: 4.0Characters: 3.5Plot: 4.5
    🤒
    🐺
    👭

    An easy but thoughtful, quinessentially millenial/gen z read

    The ability to balance a big supporting cast with varying subplots and represented experiences is artful, though the main characters maybe could have been more complex. Overall, very enjoyable and touching, without being overly positive.

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  • underwaterreads finished a book

    3w
    Halfway Normal

    Halfway Normal

    Barbara Dee

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    underwaterreads wrote a review...

    3w
  • Orphan Sisters
    underwaterreads
    Feb 24, 2026
    4.5
    Enjoyment: 4.5Quality: 4.5Characters: 4.5Plot: 4.0
    👭🏾
    🇬🇧
    💌

    A beautiful story about the values of holding on and letting go

    The book follows sisters from early childhood to young adulthood, and their complex contradicting traits, in a way that feels fluid and endearing. There was a chapter that felt too tell-not-show, but generally a well-paced and hooking read with many ups and downs.

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  • underwaterreads commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

    4w
  • Combating mood reading??

    How do you guys push through when you’re losing your mood for a genre? I have a couple more romance books I want to read for February, but now that Valentine’s Day is over, I’m slowly checking out!! Should I just wait until next year lol?

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  • underwaterreads commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

    4w
  • What is that long series you really want to read but are intimidated by?

    I’m curious whether others have this dilemma too 😂 does anyone else have series on their radars that they’re super interested in starting, but haven’t simply because of the length of the books/series? If so, what are they? For me it’s the Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown. I’m a pretty slow reader who likes to finish a series without too many other books in between, so I suppose I am intimidated by the idea of diving into a long time commitment lol

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  • Post from the Pagebound Club forum

    4w
  • What do you call this genre/style?

    Been reading a lot of British fiction books by and (largely) about women where

    1. the POV is 1st person limited (but changes POV characters throughout)
    2. [CW: upsetting topics] Doesn't shy away from scandals, including vivid sexual assault scenes or extreme parentification of young POV children
    3. It often follows characters over the course of years, maybe decades. There are some "close up" scenes where they focus on the dialouge of a moment, but there's relatively little detailed description. like they're recapping historic events, almost. like "Martha wasn't sure about that, but Annie agreed. Anyway, they were running out of luck, and they did by the end of that week, when Mr. Nel did ... "
    4. Takes place in historical times, often right after WWII, but perhaps in the 1970s ish

    Examples: The Miller's Daughter by Elizabeth Gills, Orphan Sisters by Lola Jaye, Lovely Lane Series by Nadine Dorries

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  • underwaterreads commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

    4w
  • Medical book recs

    Hi everyone, I really enjoyed Emotional Female by Yumiko Kadota and When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. I'm looking for some more medical book recs (memoir-style or fiction) to try if you have any suggestions 🩺 .

    I've also read You Went to Emergency for What?, A Little Unwell and This is Going to Hurt. Thanks!

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  • underwaterreads commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

    4w
  • 🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQIA+ Books For Kids 🏳️‍⚧️

    Hey lovely people!

    I'm starting up an informal LGBTQIA+ loan library for the kids in my local homeschool community and I'd really love some recommendations for fiction and non-fiction books that have been released in the last 5 years or so that include LGBTQIA+ themes and/or information.

    Book recommendations (picture books, graphic novels, paperbacks) suitable for babies through to seventeen year olds welcome.

    Thank you!

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  • Stacey's Emergency (The Baby-Sitters Club, #43)
    on time context & disability rep

    was cautios going into this book because of mixed takes i've seen on the quality of t1d rep, but reading on the history of t1d care and terms (nt 100% sure) but this seems quite good for learning about 80s/90s t1d (?)

    makes me appreciate the progress of modern medicine, too

    ps. i love the dynamic between stacy and kristy

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  • Post from the Orphan Sisters forum

    4w
  • Orphan Sisters
    Thoughts from 50%
    spoilers

    View spoiler

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  • underwaterreads made progress on...

    4w
    Orphan Sisters

    Orphan Sisters

    Lola Jaye

    50%
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