We barely read this month and somehow had more to say than ever. This is our June wrap up and July TBR, and it got existential fast.

Cassie went down a full Carly Fortune rabbit hole (Every Summer After, One Golden Summer, Our Perfect Storm) and has thoughts on where to actually start. We both got completely wrecked by The Midnight Train by Matt Haig, the companion to The Midnight Library. And we finally talk about the Siren Mage duology by Kalie Cassidy, because In the Wake of the Ruined drops in July and the yearning genuinely changed us.

Plus the Every Year After adaptation that broke our hearts (and not in the good way), House of the Dragon season three, and the July TBR we are absolutely going to lie to ourselves about.

In this episode:
– The Carly Fortune ranking and where not to start
– Why The Midnight Train hit harder than The Midnight Library
– The Siren Mage duology and the best yearning we've read in ages
– When the Moon Hatched: do we agree with BookTok?
– Book vs show: Every Year After, House of the Dragon, Midnight Library
– Our wildly unrealistic July TBR

If you love romantasy, contemporary romance, and honest reactions over hype, hit follow and tell us in the comments: where should a Carly Fortune beginner actually start?

#romantasy #booktok #bookpodcast #romancebooks #julytbr

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Do audiobooks count as reading? We have thoughts. This week we're getting into the best audiobooks we've ever listened to, the narrators we can't stop thinking about, and whether the right voice actor can actually make a book better (or completely ruin it).

We cover our audiobook gateway drug, the books that hit harder on audio than on the page, graphic audio (and whether it's a little too graphic), and the narrator obsessions living rent free in our heads.

Books and narrators we get into:

• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, aka the audiobook we hand to anyone who says they don't like audiobooks
• Taylor Jenkins Reid's full catalog, from Daisy Jones and the Six to Atmosphere
• The Favorites by Layne Fargo and Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
• Allie Hazelwood's Mate and Problematic Summer Romance
• Trial of the Sun Queen by Nisha J. Tuli and Duskbound by Greenwich and Lennox
• Julia Whalen, the narrator we'd follow anywhere
• Plus Dark Matter, Catch Me If You Can, Babel, The Knight and the Moth, and our graphic audio hot takes

Whether you're a die hard audiobook listener or someone who's never pressed play, consider this your guide. Tell us your favorite narrators and we'll see you next week for our June TBR wrap up.

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This week, we're sharing our 5-star reads of 2026 so far and helping you figure out which ones belong at the top of your TBR.

From books that completely consumed our lives to stories that left us emotionally devastated, we're matching our favorite reads to the type of reader who will love them most.

Looking for your next obsession? A reading slump cure? A book that will make you feel something? We've got recommendations for all of the above.

In this episode, we're talking about:

⭐ The book that had us staying up way too late
⭐ The most emotionally impactful read of the year
⭐ The perfect reading slump cure
⭐ A recommendation for romantasy readers looking to branch out
⭐ The one book we'd bet money you'll love

Books discussed:
• Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh
• The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff
• Daggermouth by H.M. Wolfe
• One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
• Into the Blue by Emma Brodie
• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
• Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross
• The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

Plus, we're debating what actually makes a book five stars and if readers have become harder to impress...

Grab your notes app. Your TBR is about to get longer.

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She built one of the most passionate reader communities in romantasy right now and she did it by trusting her gut, staying off Goodreads, and planning that Vows and Ruins ending from day one.

This week we're sitting down with Helen Scheuerer, the author behind the Legends of Thezmarr series, to talk all things Thea, Wilder, and the slow burn that has readers absolutely losing their minds. Helen walks us through the craft behind writing a romance that feels genuinely earned across four books, why she made Thea morally gray, and what it actually feels like to resist caving to the tension as a writer. We also get into the Wilder discourse, her honest take on navigating reader reactions, and the intentional choices behind keeping conflict alive across an entire series.

Plus we talk about her brand new book Kiss of the Black Flame, her first traditionally published US title, what it means to start completely fresh after a series that exceeded every expectation, and what she wishes she'd known at the start of her indie publishing career.

If you've been living in the Thezmarr world, this one is going to hit. And if you haven't started the series yet, consider this your sign.

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In today’s episode of Book Bits & Chill we’re diving into our May reading wrap up and June TBRs, but somehow this episode also became a full existential crisis about reading moods, sequel fatigue, BookTok pressure, and whether we’ve all been forcing ourselves to read books like homework.

We talk about:

- the books that completely consumed our personalities
- our newest 5 star reads
- the most emotionally lingering books of the month
- why we think romantasy burnout is REAL
- sequel fatigue and release pressure
- the Binding 13 casting discourse
- mood reading vs forcing your TBR
- our perfect summer reading plans
- the books we think could become favorites of the year

Books mentioned include:
Into the Blue by Emma Brodie
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Famesick by Lena Dunham
Dire Bound & Fury Bound by Sable Sorenson
The Boys of Tommen series by Chloe Walsh
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion
When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A Parker
Score by Kennedy Ryan
Emma by Jane Austen
Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It by Brooke Averick
…and more.

If you love romantasy, literary fiction, contemporary romance, honest ratings, chaotic reader conversations, and hearing two girls spiral over fictional men and their TBRs… welcome home.

Subscribe for weekly podcast episodes, book reviews, reading updates, BookTok Tested videos, and all things books.

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Off Campus just dropped on Prime Video and we spiraled so hard we had to make an episode about it. This week Cassie and Emily are breaking down the full Season 1 adaptation of Elle Kennedy's The Deal — what the show got exactly right, what they changed from the book, and whether you should read The Deal before or after watching.

We get into the scenes that had us absolutely feral (THAT "show me" scene — they delivered), why Allie and Dean almost stole the show entirely, the female gaze vs. the millennial gaze, the iconic cinematic parallels to our favorite rom-coms, and why Belmont Cameli's jaw ticks broke us on a personal level.

Plus: our full book vs. show ratings, the read-before-or-after debate (we disagree), and our theories on what Season 2 is going to do with Dean and Allie's storyline.

If you binged Off Campus and immediately doom-scrolled TikTok fan edits at 1am, this episode is for you.

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Fury Bound is one of the most hyped romantasy sequels of 2026 and the internet keeps calling it “Fourth Wing with wolves”… so obviously we had to talk about it.

In this episode of Book Bits & Chill, we review Dire Bound and Fury Bound by Sable Sorensen and answer the big question: should you actually read this viral romantasy series right now, or can it wait?

We get into:
• Fourth Wing comparisons
• Our final review
• Entry-level romantasy vs expert romantasy readers
• The plot twist chaos
• Whether the deaths actually landed emotionally
• The wolf bonds, magic system, and romance
• Why this series feels like “junk food books”
• Whether book three is worth continuing

This episode is spoiler free at the beginning, then turns into full book club discussion with spoilers for Dire Bound and Fury Bound.

If you love romantasy, fantasy romance, Fourth Wing, ACOTAR, Quicksilver, or dramatic book club conversations, welcome home.

Subscribe for weekly romantasy reviews, book club discussions, adaptation reactions, BookTok Tested verdicts, and chaotic reader commentary.

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Did Netflix nail the Remarkably Bright Creatures adaptation? We're breaking down the May 8th release of Shelby Van Pelt's bestselling novel and giving our full book-to-screen verdict — spoilers included.

In this episode, Cassie and Emily dive into the casting choices (Sally Field as Tova = perfection, but who is Lewis Pullman as Cameron?), debate whether Marcellus the octopus got the voiceover he deserved (David Attenborough vs. Michael Urie's iconic audiobook performance — fight us), and unpack the sly changes Netflix made from the book, including the shift from estranged brother to husband and the minimized search for Cameron's father.

We also cover:

– The CGI Marcellus and whether it landed emotionally

– Why the twist hit harder in the book than on screen

– The mop-bucket finale that wrecked us both

– Why this is the perfect Mother's Day movie watch

– Our final star ratings on adaptation accuracy, emotional impact, and casting

If you loved the BookTok-famous novel, are deciding whether to stream the movie, or just want a cozy, character-driven cry — this one's for you.

🎧 Next week: Should You Read This? on Fury Bound by Sable Sorenson, the highly anticipated follow-up to Direbound.

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