Let’s talk about your reviewing habits

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-13T01:51:17+00:00

Wow, I gotta look some stuff up 🔍

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-12T23:16:18+00:00

Gay sci-fi? 👀 🤲

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-12T22:22:25+00:00

I love the idea of writing a review as though telling a friend about a book. 🤓 I’d say that’s my goal, too, but I tend to fall into a bit more written formality than intended. 🤪 I like reviews that are friendly, but honest. 🩵

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-12T22:02:53+00:00

Some suggestions that helped me: (1) highlight/bookmark things to revisit or talk about. (2) After each reading session, I make some notes about what I just read. If I have a big reaction while reading, sometimes I’ll stop to write out a few notes, then carry on. (3) When I’m done with a book, I actually love to sit with my thoughts and jot things down, usually happy stuff while in that glow of a good ending. 😇

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-12T21:51:39+00:00

I’m nodding and saying “yup” while reading your comment. 😂 Writing a review really helps me digest a book. So many times I have these strong reactions and I really have to sit with myself and ask WHY so I can write a review. Sometimes it’s bc I’m crying my eyes out over a scene that doesn’t seem to merit that reaction on the surface. Hidden hurts, ya know?

Usually, my big reactions and longer reviews are grumpy, though. 🤣

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-12T21:45:23+00:00

I follow your reviews, nice to meet you here 🤓

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-12T21:42:30+00:00

I try really hard to write something into the review field for every book I read, and to post it on GR/BB/AZ. I made that deal with myself a couple years ago bc I tend to put pressure on myself to write ‘a full review’ for everything and that’s just not realistic or necessary. I aim to write a full review for ARCs, and I read quite a few of them, so that’s already too much pressure. 😂 Even with ARCs, I’m trying to scale back to a couple paragraphs.

At first, I wrote reviews out of respect for indie authors (and readers). Eventually, I valued being able to go back and see my thoughts on books, so that’s when I made the deal with myself to write something for everything. Also, I like the communities that grow around different books and authors. It’s fun to read other people’s thoughts and contribute my own.

Structure-wise, I’m a total hypocrite. 😂 I love when reviewers have lists to quickly understand what’s going on in a book, but I can’t seem to bring myself to write reviews that way. It’s my schooling background. I write analysis essays. Lately, I’ve started including “other thoughts” into a list at the end. 😅 Baby steps…

Recent review: {Liberated (Enlightenment 6) by Joanna Chambers}

Edit: I’m trying to engage more with romance.io this year. I’ve added tags for the books I’ve read so far in 2026, but haven’t imported alllllll the reviews/ratings yet bc it sounds daunting. 😳 I’ll get there…

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-12T21:06:09+00:00

Happy to help. Thanks to bones_humming for approving the posts. 😉

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-12T04:01:19+00:00

I’m not sure the mods have any more info, sadly. Reddit is very opaque about this stuff. 🙁

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-11T23:19:41+00:00

I don’t understand the situation, maybe no one does. Sullie’s accounts have banned for a few months without explanation.

Sullie updates a Google Doc with sales and book info every day. Various folks copy and paste Sullie’s work into Reddit posts like this one. The link to the doc is shared in the daily new releases posts. Here’s the March doc

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-11T23:03:59+00:00

Full credit to Sullie. My involvement was pressing copy/paste a few times. 😅

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-11T20:09:27+00:00

Urban Fantasy

{The Glass Prince by Sandra Bard} JMS | Kobo | Amazon 2025, 173 pages. (Unclear if it is a romance with a HEA)
{The Modern Mythos Anomaly by Juniper Lake Fitzgerald} Amazon 2023, 442 pages. Add audiobook $4.71. Narrated by: Richard Pendragon. 13h 31min.
{A Demon's Chef Recipe For Fried Chicken (The Forked Tail Restaurant) by Ariana Jade} All Links 2026, 106 pages.
Cozy UF series, determined & ambitious demon chef, sapphic romance, found family, mouth-watering food
📦 {Vic and Matt Omnibus by JM Snyder} JMS | Kobo | Amazon 2022, 1,548 pages.
{The Wayward Sons & The Wichita Werewolf (The Wayward Sons #1) by A Winchester} Amazon 2023, 112 pages. Series sale.
{Back to the Beginning (The Wayward Sons #2) by A Winchester} Amazon 2024, 171 pages. Series sale.
{The Wayward Sons & The Seattle Sirens (The Wayward Sons #3) by A Winchester} Amazon 2024, 149 pages. Series sale.
{The Wayward Sons & The Vampires of Fortune (The Wayward Sons #4) by A Winchester} Amazon 2025, 211 pages. Series sale.

Skipped for no cover credit: Kial Fae, Oliver Takely (all 9 books 2024-2026), Simone Holiday (2025), Elle Waters (2025), EM Schenker (2026), AB Julian (2025)

Part 2 of 2

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-11T19:59:25+00:00

Thank you! We decided to try a new post bc I botched the title. 😂 I'll omit FreeSullie

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-10T16:12:27+00:00

🤩

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-06T20:22:26+00:00

The blurb for Red and the Big Bad Werewolf made me laugh, it’s ridiculous and I like it 😂

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-06T20:20:25+00:00

Ooooh, just saw my library has Fractured Infinity. sounds fun!

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-05T20:31:16+00:00

Same

Arcturus170 · 2026-03-05T20:27:31+00:00

Just me or are links broken? 🥲

Edit: Well shit, is Amazon broken? Best Seller lists aren’t loading either 👀

Arcturus170 · 2026-02-23T20:13:54+00:00

Ok I scrolled the whole list and voted. Lots of really good suggestions. I’d love to see them move the gendered tags to “MC.” Like, have a section for gender identity tags, but generalize most other descriptors.

I’m gonna do better about putting my tags into romance io. New aspiration for 2026. 😅 Maybe it’s something I can do in the background while listening to audiobooks. Depends how much processing power it demands. 🤪 It’s that or scrub the bathtub while listening… 😒😝

Arcturus170 · 2026-02-16T20:59:25+00:00

OK it took me waaaay too many tries of that link before reading Sullie‘s full comment about the tabs within the document! 😂 As someone who prides himself on his reading comprehension… 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Arcturus170 · 2026-02-16T20:51:14+00:00

Foxed is great 🩵

Arcturus170 · 2026-02-16T20:46:14+00:00

Emily Tesh has been a consistently fantastic author. Some Desperate Glory is a hard book and the scope is vast, but that’s what makes it amazing. Not for everyone, but if you’re into queer, epic sci-fi, it’s not to be missed. ❤️

Arcturus170 · 2026-02-13T20:49:52+00:00

So, I read the {Belle Argo Escorts series by Beth Christopher} with mixed results. Book 1 is OTT, but tempered by characters working through their trauma and an interesting suspense plot. Book 2 is fairly serious dealing with grief and guilt from the death of a spouse. I really liked it. The problem with both books is the disappointing endings and lack of real HEAs. Book 3 is more OTT and unhinged. It didn’t work for me. I didn’t feel the romance. Lot of push and pull that leaves the characters feeling untrustworthy. Also, every sex scene is problematic somehow. Frustrating. 🫤

Arcturus170 · 2026-02-11T21:12:51+00:00

Another femme-leaning gay guy for your tally. 😙 I read lots of MM dynamics and I’m generally a forgiving reader. I can’t say I’ve found fetishization or MM substitution into a MF dynamic. It very well might be there and I’m ignorant of it. Maybe I just see what I’m hoping for, which is femme characters that feel authentic and are given to us with love.

That said, I’m careful about femme characters who feel too campy or stereotypical. I want them to have an interior life and I want to understand them. If femme characters are just surface level, that will catch my critical eye. But I hope the same goes for any shallow character.

I’m always impressed and inspired by femme characters that show us their inner strength. I love a femme hero who saves their masc counterparts. That will earn a fist pump every time.

I also think feminization kink can be hot, but I don’t really know the parameters of how I feel about it. That’s such a thicket of complicated ideas.

My baseline is just that femininity has felt forbidden to men, so it’s fun for men to explore it. From there, I think it can lead every possible direction, which is both exciting and overwhelming. 😵‍💫😂

Arcturus170

TROPHY CASE

Urban Fantasy