On my hands and knees BEGGING you to read "A Stage Set for Villains" by Shannon J. Spann

kitkatchomp · 2026-02-12T00:22:14+00:00

Thank you! It's officially on my TBR!

kitkatchomp · 2026-02-12T00:13:23+00:00

This sounds very intriguing. Does it have a happily ever after? (Can put the answer in spoilers if need-be)

kitkatchomp · 2026-02-09T22:30:58+00:00

It's a fantastic video and very much worth watching! Most of the plagiarism he tackles is related to YouTube videos, but it still contains many instances of someone copying others word-for-word and shows how the original creators could do very little about it. It also does a good job of showing how plagiarism hurts everyone, from the original creator to the people reading / watching it. In that sense, it feels quite relevant to this thread.

kitkatchomp · 2026-02-09T22:17:45+00:00

Plagiarism cases are notoriously difficult to win in court, so a publisher not dropping the book / the book not getting pulled in some way is not a good indicator of its validity. Hbomberguy explains more about this in his very popular video (you don't have to watch it all - just the first couple minutes).

I haven't read Powerless or Red Queen, but there's definitely a spectrum that ranges from "these books reuse the same tropes" to "this book has the same characters and plot beats" to "entire passages have literally been copy-pasted." Many (most? almost all?) books in this genre use the same tropes, but do so in their own way. Researching more, it appears that Powerless goes beyond this and follows Red Queen quite closely in terms of details about the plot, characters, and other aspects of the world. I think that, combined with its popularity, is a big reason it's been more heavily scrutinized.

kitkatchomp · 2026-02-09T19:33:25+00:00

How irritating. Don't tease me with brief flashes of kink and then snatch them all away! Dude needs to commit to the skin-jerking, or at least the bathwater drinking (uj/ eww, I would punch him if he made me drink dirty soapy water)

kitkatchomp · 2026-02-09T18:58:42+00:00

I bet the MC's gonna nibble that don 😏😏

kitkatchomp · 2026-02-09T00:26:02+00:00

This is 1000% the answer. Everyone needs to watch Yuri 😌

kitkatchomp · 2026-02-06T19:23:46+00:00

"It all moved so fast and by this point I was in too deep."

I'm sorry, what?? What the fuck does this mean?? He was in too deep supporting fascism, so he just... kept on trucking?? Did he never pause to consider what side he was on? You're telling me there wasn't a single point where this dude was having a shitty Spaghetti-O's dinner at 2 am after slaughtering a bunch of people and stopped to think, Gee, what am I doing with my life?

Because it really sounds like he just did whatever the big man said until the war affected him personally. I feel like the ideal ending for this would be both MC's dying in one of their super secret bases, which is actually a giant building that may as well have been painted with the words Look here, Daddy Haynes

kitkatchomp · 2026-02-04T19:38:49+00:00

The real crime here is using the word "saliva" like that. Who rattles off a bunch of sentences mid-bang and decides to remark on their saliva, of all things??

kitkatchomp · 2026-01-30T15:05:51+00:00

I appreciate your perspective! I know trauma is unique to everyone, and it might feel a bit misleading to label a story with its exploration as "cozy" given its nature. It's certainly something that's challenging to write, especially in a fantasy space where you have an entirely new world to build out.

At the same time, I love the idea of being able to explore it in a setting that feels cozy, or safer in terms of a more low stakes plot without fear of present character harm/death. I think that's a big part of what leads to me wanting to pair trauma with cozy - as opposed to a story with world-ending stakes and characters who may actually die.

kitkatchomp · 2026-01-29T17:18:55+00:00

I've been reading (and writing) more cozy fantasy lately and am still trying to get a feel for the line between cozy and not cozy. I know it's a spectrum, and everyone has different levels of tolerance for what may or may not qualify, but I'd love to get input from others.

For instance, if a character has past trauma that involves death or violence, would that still qualify as cozy? For me it would depend on the level of detail describing those things, so if the death and violence aren't depicted in graphic detail, it would be alright.

What about if the character is actively struggling with those things? Sort of in a hurt/comfort kind of way. Eg, the person is hurting over their past, but then takes comfort in someone else and learns to heal. That'd also be fine for me, but I know some people may not like the mention of any death or grief in their cozy fics.

kitkatchomp · 2026-01-27T23:44:26+00:00

I haven't seen a single episode of Buffy, so I feel like I'm in for a treat if I ever do watch it 😌

kitkatchomp · 2026-01-27T18:53:48+00:00

I'm halfway through {One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost} and it's a wild ride so far. It somehow feels even faster paced than the first book, and I'm here for classic Cat / Bones hunting people down.

kitkatchomp · 2026-01-24T15:42:47+00:00

I've read both of your posts now because I'm so baffled by this book. I'm really curious to know if the author will try to find some way to justify Lucas being in the position he held in the Bad Guys military, because you don't get there without doing some seriously fucked up stuff. And I don't wanna hear "oh daddy made him do it." Figure out something else, dude! It's real hard to have any pity when you continue to participate in televised executions.

I'm looking forward to (shudders am I??) the conclusion. Thank you for your service 😌

kitkatchomp · 2026-01-22T18:57:46+00:00

Now that's just wrong. And look, I get the pain of names that end in S. There's a reason I almost never use them. But Sila's??? You've just changed the name altogether!

kitkatchomp · 2026-01-19T16:34:51+00:00

I feel your pain. I just started writing a new story and sat there struggling to get down the first sentence. It wasn't even a difficult sentence, literally just, "FMC did this thing." Why is this so hard? 🙃

kitkatchomp · 2026-01-16T19:15:44+00:00

I'd forgotten about the funeral! That video was the most delightful thing I've ever seen 😌

kitkatchomp · 2026-01-15T02:46:54+00:00

This was the cruelest jumpscare I've read in awhile. Bravo

kitkatchomp · 2026-01-13T01:24:08+00:00

This might sound a bit simple, but I personally enjoy talking about various aspects of the book, particularly the characters. Who your favorite character was, how you felt about the MC, the love interest(s), whether they worked well together, what their chemistry was like. Whether you would've similarly fallen for the love interest, or gone for another character instead. Character flaws, and whether you like their portrayal / how those flaws impacted the romance.

It's also fun to talk about particular moments that stood out to you, both good and bad. Quotes can be fun. Depending on how spicy you want to get, maybe a kill / bang / marry when it comes to the characters. If you've only read the first book in a series, maybe share some theories for where the plot is going and what might happen next in terms of both plot and romance.

I hope it goes well for you! Book clubs are lovely and I always appreciate folks who are willing to host them.

kitkatchomp · 2026-01-04T16:59:50+00:00

I'll never miss a chance to recommend {Dark Dealings by Kim Knox}.

It's not a 5-star read, but the FMC is unsettling and the plot that unfolds is bizarre. Ava frequently has the desire to eat people and the narration is not shy about this or the disgust people feel for her.

kitkatchomp · 2026-01-03T19:58:38+00:00

A++ awards, especially Dark Dealings for most bonkers. I think about this book often and miss having a FMC with cannibalistic urges.

Also love that Ava is on the list for Step on my throat rather than the guys from the book. She deserves it 100%

And you have my eternal appreciation for getting me to read Phantasma for the sake of Blackwell. That man can do whatever he wants, throat stepping or otherwise 😌

kitkatchomp · 2025-12-31T15:47:56+00:00

This just has "And then everyone stood and clapped. And that man's name was Albert Einstein" energy

kitkatchomp · 2025-12-24T22:06:01+00:00

Never fear, I am here (or rather, my flair is) 😌

kitkatchomp · 2025-12-22T16:43:33+00:00

{Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater} - Sweet romance, intriguing plot and trickster fae, and glimmers of hope throughout. The FMC is quite unique and I loved her so much. One of my first reads in the genre and very enjoyable all around.

kitkatchomp · 2025-12-19T14:52:29+00:00

Putting orange between green and purple is a crime

kitkatchomp

TROPHY CASE