32.6K
Downloads
122
Episodes
A book review podcast where we discuss how authors treat and traumatize their characters. Part of the Certain Point of View network.
Episodes
Monday Aug 24, 2020
Monday Aug 24, 2020
This fortnight we’re discussing “Uglies” by Scott Westerfeld, the first book in the Uglies Quartet (shout-out to anyone who remembers when this was officially a trilogy).
Topic 1: David - Loss of home. Begins at (1:25), CW for loss of parents, loss of home.
Topic 2: Tally - Self Esteem. Begins at (11:26), CW for surgery, lack of self-esteem based on looks, intentionally cruel nicknames, systemic cruelty.
Topic 3: Tally - Consent. Begins at (25:51), CW for surgery, coercion, lack of consent.
Promo for Midwest Meltdown; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (43:55).
---
If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon.
You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn.
Find all our links on our Carrd.
Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.
Monday Aug 10, 2020
Monday Aug 10, 2020
This fortnight we’re discussing “Virtual Vandals” by Diane Duane. This is book one of the series "Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers".
Topic 1: Stunted emotional growth. Begins at (1:30), CW for discussion of classism and classist perspectives.
Topic 2: Threat of physical harm. Begins at (16:44), CW for vehicular manslaughter, threats of murder.
Topic 3: Neurological damage. Begins at (25:32), CW for physical danger, shock, and brain damage.
Promo for Garrett Talks to Himself; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (36:06).
---
If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive the bonus Epilogue episode for this book.
You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn.
Find all our links on our Carrd.
Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.
Friday Jul 31, 2020
Friday Jul 31, 2020
Please enjoy the spoiler-free (or at least spoiler-light) portion of our interview with author Shaina Krevat. Timestamps are marked for the interview questions.
Introductions (0:00)
Brief description of books written by Shaina Krevat (Tales of Mundane Magic). (0:15)
Can you talk a little about the way trauma works in your writing? (2:10)
Do you plan traumatic events ahead of time for your characters or do they just unfold as you write the story? (3:17)
Do you ever put in traumas for representations sake, to work through things you've experienced or to "flesh out" a character? (4:40)
Has a traumatic event in your books ever changed your perception of a character? (7:55)
Do you have a good example of a marginalized culture in your books? (9:20)
What is your approach to incorporating visible characters of color? (12:05)
Have you ever had a character surprise you with an aspect of their identity after you started writing? (16:08)
(Building on the last question) Have you ever had that happen with appearance or with racial or cultural identity? (17:58)
When building your characters’ identities, what aspects did you intentionally include? (20:00)
Do you consider your character’s body image when depicting them and their traumas? (22:10)
Bridget has one mundane eye and one eye that only sees magic. Is there a difference in how she navigates the world when she's in mundane areas vs areas with concentrated magic? (26:42)
Do you tend to write disabilities based on a specific set of references (either that exists in our world or under specific rules in your world)? (29:30)
What is your favorite non-traumatic thing in any of your published books? (36:20)
Do you have a favorite book written by someone else, and if so what makes it your favorite? (37:55)
What types of books are you interested in reading more of? (39:18)
Pluggables and Outro (40:00)
---
Check out Shaina Krevat's website for more info about her writing, Tales of Mundane Magic also has a website. You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr, or check out her Goodreads profile.
Major works by Shaina Krevat discussed in this interview: "Tales of Mundane Magic: Volume One", "Tales of Mundane Magic: Volume Two", "Tales of Mundane Magic: Volume Three".
---
If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive part two of this two-part interview.
You can find Robin's written reviews of Tales of Mundane Magic; Part One; Part Two; and Part Three at Reviews that Burn.
Find all our links on our Carrd.
Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.
Monday Jul 27, 2020
Monday Jul 27, 2020
This fortnight we’re discussing “Long Way Down” by Jason Reynolds. Robin has been looking forward to this episode all year, ever since it was recommended to them by a very helpful librarian when they went home for Christmas 2019. We're pleased to report that the book was as good as they were told, and we're excited to share our discussion with you.
Topic 1: Mom - Death of family members. Begins at (1:30), CW for self-harm, gun violence, murder, revenge killings, death of family members.
Topic 2: Will - Premeditation of murder. Begins at (11:30), CW for ideation about death and violence.
Topic 3: Will - Cycle of violence: Revenge edition. Begins at (22:00), CW for gun violence, revenge killing, trauma on readers.
Promo for Infectious Groove; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (32:10).
---
If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive the bonus Epilogue episode for this book.
You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn.
Find all our links on our Carrd.
Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.
Tuesday Jul 14, 2020
Tuesday Jul 14, 2020
Welcome to our first discussion episode, the topic is J. K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series. Please read the CWs in the show notes below before proceeding with the episode. Take care of yourselves, and we understand if you need to skip this one.
This episode is mainly for people who are currently unaware of or just learning about J. K. Rowling's problematic nature and rampant transphobia. When we recorded this, in early July 2020, JKR had been putting out at least one transphobic tweet for almost a month and a half and doesn't show any sign of stopping. We focused our discussion on portrayals of bigotry and trauma in the main Harry Potter series, with some discussion of the contents of her recent tweets.
This book contains specific spoilers for the first book, and general spoilers for the full Harry Potter series.
- Discussion topics/CWs:
- Fatphobia (linking large body sizes with laziness and cruelty)
- Child abuse (food restriction and malnourishment, denying meals to a minor, locking a minor in a confined space as punishment)
- Racism (anti-Black and anti-Asian racism, specifically)
- Antisemitism (portrayal of Gringotts Goblins)
- Slavery (House Elves)
- Betrayal (implications of JKR's actions)
---
If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon.
Find all our links on our Carrd.
Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.
Monday Jul 13, 2020
Monday Jul 13, 2020
This fortnight we’re discussing “The Kingdom of Gods”, book three of The Inheritance Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin.
Topic 1: Kahl - Abandonment. Begins at (0:50), CW for abandonment.
Topic 2: Sieh - Loss of Innocence. Begins at (17:00), CW for loss of innocence.
Topic 3: The Arameri - Cycle of Violence: Colonialism Edition. Begins at (27:20), CW for slavery, colonialism.
Promo for Too Many Captains; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (39:25).
---
If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive the bonus Epilogue episode for this series.
You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn.
Find all our links on our Carrd.
Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.
Monday Jun 29, 2020
Monday Jun 29, 2020
This fortnight we're discussing "The Broken Kingdoms", book two of "The Inheritance Trilogy" by N. K. Jemisin.
Book TW for body horror, massacre, genocide.
Topic 1: Shiny - Suicidal Tendencies. Begins at (0:50), CW for suicide, self-harm, mention of cutting, death, murder.
Topic 2: Oree - Kidnapping. Begins at (12:08), CW for kidnapping, ableism, indoctrination, threat of murder, loss of autonomy.
Topic 3: Oree - Guilt / Body as a weapon. Begins at (25:03), CW for weapons, mention of sex, death, loss of autonomy, guilt.
Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (39:07).
---
If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive the bonus Epilogue episode for this series.
You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn.
Find all our links on our Carrd.
Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.
Monday Jun 15, 2020
Monday Jun 15, 2020
This fortnight we bring you “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms”, book one of "The Inheritance Trilogy" by N. K. Jemisin.
Topic 1: Enslavement and Constraint. Begins at (1:30), CW for enslavement, incest mention, "one drop rule" mention, torture, death, description of magical disembowelment, visceral description of physical torture.
Topic 2: Yeine - Ostracization, Isolation. Begins at (24:00), CW for ostracization, death, abandonment.
Topic 3: Yeine - Atmosphere of Cruelty. Begins at (34:45), CW for description of physical magical disembowelment, animal cruelty example, murder.
Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (46:00).
---
If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive the bonus Epilogue episode for this series.
You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn.
Find all our links on our Carrd.
Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.
Friday Jun 12, 2020
Friday Jun 12, 2020
Please enjoy the spoiler-free (or at least spoiler-light) portion of our interview with author M. D. Neu. Timestamps are marked for the interview questions.
- Introductions (0:10)
- Personal history and brief overview of books written by M. D. Neu. (1:10)
- Do you consider your character’s physical description when writing how other characters treat them? (8:25)
- What is your approach to incorporating visible characters of color in your work?
- What do you do to make it go beyond social coding, or not? (10:15)
- When depicting types of queerness that are not your identity, do run them by members of those communities? (20:00)
- How does setting influence depictions of disabilities in your stories? (26:08)
- Do you have a favorite book written by someone else, and if so what makes it your favorite? (31:35)
- What is your favorite non-traumatic thing in any of your books? (34:00)
- Do you have any queer authors or authors of color whose work you’d like to shout out? (37:35)
- Where can our audience find you? (39:10)
Outro (44:30)
---
Check out M. D. Neu's website for more info about his writing. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, look up his Youtube channel, or check out his Goodreads profile.
Major works by M. D. Neu discussed in this interview: "Contact", "Conviction", "TAD".
---
If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive part two of this two-part interview.
You can find Robin's written reviews of Contact, Conviction, and TAD at Reviews that Burn.
Find all our links on our Carrd.
Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.
Monday Jun 01, 2020
Monday Jun 01, 2020
This fortnight we bring you our discussion of "Salamandastron", our highlight episode from the "Redwall" series by Brian Jacques.
*Book TW for viral outbreak and quarantine, with fever.
Topic 1: Epidemic - Dryditch Fever. Begins at (1:30), CW for plague, fear of death, child in danger, sickness, death.
Topic 2: False accusation. Begins at (14:45), CW for child punishment, false accusation, murder, terrorizing others, threat of physical violence, weapons.
Topic 3: Parent/child relationships. Begins at (24:30), CW for threats of murder, child abuse, verbal abuse, rage, descriptions of violence.
Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (38:45).
---
If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive the bonus Epilogue episode for this book.
You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn.
Find all our links on our Carrd.
Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.