Books That Burn

To tide you over between regular episodes, Robin reads their blog post from April 2023.

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This is a follow-up to my review of "Feed Them Silence" by Lee Mandelo, involving some thoughts that are too personal to make sense in the review as they swiftly veer away from the text specifically and instead into a broader meta-conversation of books like this which I have read previously, assumed correlations between emotional complexity and humanity, and how processing these thoughts has prompted me to make a change in my own life.

CW for discussion of ableism, dehumanization, animal cruelty/death, body-horror-adjacent concepts, and brief mentions of racism and genocide

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Wikipedia - Alexithymia

Wikipedia - Philosophical Zombie

Wikipedia - Masking

In Defence of De-persons by Johanna Hedva

The Ten Stages of Genocide

To tide you over between regular episodes, Robin reads their blog post from July 2022 with thoughts on the book "Singularity". You can find the original post here. The spoiler-free book review is here.

Please enjoy Robin reading their blog post with some thoughts on ensemble heist stories in fiction. If you'd prefer to read it instead, you can find it here. Refer below for books of the types discussed.

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Unplanned:

• THE ART OF SAVING THE WORLD by Corinne Duyvis - Parallel worlds subversion of the "big damn hero"
  Technically this group is unplanned and they don't already know each other, but on the other hand the group is the same person over and over from different parallel worlds. This leads to a feeling closest to the "unplanned" type.

Mastermind:

• RIVER OF TEETH by Sarah Gailey (its sequel is TASTE OF MARROW)Alternate history with hippo farming in the American South.
  I recommend getting the duology in the collected volume AMERICAN HIPPO
  

Pre-Assembled:

• JADE CITY by Fonda Lee (also its sequel JADE WAR, I'll be shocked if this is totally absent from the forthcoming conclusion JADE LEGACY)Lots of people have their own great reasons to steal lots of things in this epic clash between two powerful warring families. If I remember most of them knew each other before they their various thieving escapades, but it's possible that you could argue individual scenes fit "unplanned" or "mastermind" better.
• FEED, DEADLINE, BLACKOUT, and FEEDBACK by Mira GrantZombies, Politics, and Blogging. DEADLINE is the most thoroughly a heist story but the whole series is worth reading.
• BENEATH THE CITADEL by Destiny SoriaFantasy story about revolution, loss, and memory.
• TASTE OF MARROW by Sarah Gailey (sequel to RIVER OF TEETH)Alternate history with hippo farming in the American South.
  I recommend getting the duology in the collected volume AMERICAN HIPPO
  
• CONFESSIONS OF THE FOX by Jordy RosenbergTrans retelling of notorious thieves Jack and Bess. I'm unsure whether this is just the framing or if it's actually retelling an existing story, but either way I loved it.

Hero Needs A Crew:

• THE SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS by Micaiah JohnsonDimensional time travel story following an initially-lone hero who ends up assembling a group around her in order to pull off the big event.
  A mix of solo and group heists.
• TIMEKEEPER by Tara SimA clocktower mechanic is trying to get his father back by fixing time.

Cool heists in otherwise non-heist books/anthologies:

• "The Takeback Tango" by Rebecca Roanhorse in the anthology A UNIVERSE OF WISHES edited by Dhonielle ClaytonThe story itself is a fantastic single-person heist in the midst of an otherwise non-heist anthology.
• "A Drop of Stolen Ink" by Emily Lloyd-Jones (retelling of "The Purloined Letter" by Edgar Allan Poe) in the anthology HIS HIDEOUS HEART, edited by Dahlia Adler
• LEGENDBORN by Tracy DeonnModern-day Arthurian retelling.
  Contains a two-person heist partway through.
• THE WEIGHT OF THE STARS by K. AncrumSapphic romance: A girl yearns to travel the stars but thinks she must be content with her responsibilities on Earth.
• THE WOLF OF OREN-YARO by K.S. VillosoA queen journeys to meet her estranged husband and then has to flee from assassins in a strange land.

This episode we’re discussing “The Ghost Bride” by Yangsze Choo, where a young woman is engaged to marry a ghost, and it turns out he's more of a meddler than she expected from the dead.

• PUBLISHER: HarperAudio

• YEAR: 2013

• LENGTH: 368 pages (12 hours 7 minutes)

• AGE: Adult

• GENRE: Fantasy, Historical

• RECOMMENDED: Yes

Topic 1: Murder. Begins at (1:35), CW for stalking, murder, death.

Topic 2: Overdose. Begins at (11:18), CW for overdose, death.

Topic 3: Stalking. Begins at (20:02), CW for stalking.

Promo for CPOV Fun and Games; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (33:27).

Book TW for drug use, drug abuse, excrement (brief), blood, abortion (backstory), body shaming, child abuse (backstory), medical content, child death, suicide attempt (brief mention), suicide (backstory), death.

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Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.

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This episode we’re discussing “War Girls” by Tochi Onyebuchi, a story of two sisters whose lives are ravaged by war.

Topic 1: Dehumanization. Begins at (1:35), CW for ableism, colorism, colonization, child abuse, medical content, body horror, war, slavery, child death, death.

Topic 2: Generational Trauma. Begins at (25:29), CW for PTSD, emotional abuse, physical abuse, child abuse, war, death.

Promo for CPOV Circle of Friendship; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (45:08).

Book TW for body horror, xenophobia, colonization, bullying, confinement (graphic), drug use, drug abuse, gun violence (graphic), violence (graphic), murder, war (graphic), suicide, child soldiers (graphic), child abuse (graphic), emotional abuse (graphic), physical abuse (graphic), infertility, torture (graphic), injury detail, slavery, parental death (graphic), child death (graphic), death (graphic).

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For fortnightly news and updates, as well as links to recent written reviews, subscribe to our newsletter.

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Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.

Members of the Certain Point of View network of podcasts.

This episode we’re discussing BATTLE ROYALE by Koushun Takami. This is the second of two episodes, this one deals with two characters who were damaged in different ways before the story begins.

• PUBLISHER:  Simon & Schuster

• YEAR: 1999

• LENGTH: 617 pages (19 hours 29 minutes)

• AGE: Adult

• GENRE: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Thriller

• RECOMMENDED: Highly

Topic 1: Brain Damage. Begins at (1:35), CW for violence, car accident, medical trauma, child abuse, murder, child death, death.

Topic 2: Sexual Abuse. Begins at (24:12), CW for child abuse, sexual abuse, rape, murder, child death, death.

Promo for CPOV - RMC vs CG ; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (47:37).

Book TW for sexual content, cursing (graphic), ableism, mental illness, homophobia (brief), homophobic slurs (brief), sexism, misogyny, fatphobia (brief), bullying (graphic), drug use (smoking), kidnapping (graphic), confinement, child abuse (graphic), sexual harassment (graphic), sexual assault (threatened), rape (backstory), adult/minor relationship (backstory, non-consensual), vomit (graphic), blood (graphic), gore (graphic), violence (graphic), gun violence (graphic), medical content (graphic), murder (graphic), child death (graphic), death (graphic).

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For fortnightly news and updates, as well as links to recent written reviews, subscribe to our newsletter.

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Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.

Members of the Certain Point of View network of podcasts.

This episode we’re discussing BATTLE ROYALE by Koushun Takami. This is a two-part episode, in this first part we’re discussing students dealing with isolation and loss of control in the context of a deadly game.

(Part Two will release on July 31st, 2023)

• PUBLISHER:  Simon & Schuster
• YEAR: 1999
• LENGTH: 617 pages (19 hours 29 minutes)
• AGE: Adult
• GENRE: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Thriller
• RECOMMENDED: Highly

Topic 1: Self-Isolation. Begins at (1:30), CW for isolation, child abuse, murder, death.

Topic 2: Loss of Control. Begins at (20:20), CW for child abuse, murder, death.

Promo for Robcast; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (37:27).

Book TW for sexual content, cursing (graphic), ableism, mental illness, homophobia (brief), homophobic slurs (brief), sexism, misogyny, fatphobia (brief), bullying (graphic), drug use (smoking), kidnapping (graphic), confinement, child abuse (graphic), sexual harassment (graphic), sexual assault (threatened), rape (backstory), adult/minor relationship (backstory, non-consensual), vomit (graphic), blood (graphic), gore (graphic), violence (graphic), gun violence (graphic), medical content (graphic), murder (graphic), child death (graphic), death (graphic).

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If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon.

For fortnightly news and updates, as well as links to recent written reviews, subscribe to our newsletter.

You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn. 

Find all our links on our Carrd.

Join the CPOV Discord Server!

Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.

Members of the Certain Point of View network of podcasts.

This episode we’re discussing “A Strange and Stubborn Endurance” by Foz Meadows. We originally recorded this under the impression that it's a stand-alone book, but the sequel (All The Hidden Paths) has been announced for late 2023.

• PUBLISHER: Tor Books

• YEAR: 2022

• LENGTH: 544 pages

• AGE: Adult

• GENRE: Fantasy

• RECOMMENDED: Highly

Topic 1: Social Isolation. Begins at (1:35), CW for homophobia, ableism, classism.

Topic 2: Intimate Partner Violence. Begins at (18:06), CW for sexism, misogyny, rape, suicide attempt.

Promo for Comics Quest; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (35:57).

Book TW for grief (graphic), sexual content (explicit), xenophobia, cursing, ableism, homophobia (graphic), transphobia (brief mention), misgendering, infidelity, pregnancy (brief mention), miscarriage (backstory), bullying (backstory), child abuse (backstory), panic attacks/disorders (graphic), kidnapping, confinement, alcohol (brief), alcoholism (backstory), vomit (graphic), blood (graphic), gore, violence (graphic), fire/fire injury, injury detail, medical content, medical trauma, sexual assault (graphic), sexual violence (graphic), rape (graphic), self harm (graphic), suicidal thoughts (graphic), torture (brief mention), murder (graphic), animal death (graphic), parental death (graphic), death (graphic).

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This episode features a book with fictional depictions of self harm and attempted suicide. If you're in the United States the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. For those of our audience outside of the United States, you may be able to find the suicide hotline number or other appropriate emergency services for your country inthis directory provided by OpenCounseling.

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For fortnightly news and updates, as well as links to recent written reviews, subscribe to our newsletter.

You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn.

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Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.

Members of the Certain Point of View network of podcasts.

This episode we’re discussing “Ptolemy’s Gate” by Jonathan Stroud. Really, we end up in a thematic discussion of how the main trilogy develops concepts of colonization, classism, and torture across its entire run.

• PUBLISHER: Listening Library

• YEAR: 2005

• LENGTH: 501 pages (15 hours 32 minutes)

• AGE: Young Adult

• GENRE: Fantasy

• RECOMMENDED: Highly

Topic 1: Colonization. Begins at (1:35), CW for colonization, slavery, war.

Topic 2: Classism. Begins at (18:25), CW for classism, ableism.

Topic 3: Torture. Begins at (39:19), CW for torture, deadnaming, slavery, colonization, war.

Promo for CPOV Men of Steel; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (58:36).

Book TWs: Graphic/Explicit CW for classism. Moderate CW for cursing, confinement, violence, police brutality, torture, slavery, war, colonization, murder, suicide, child death, death. Minor CW for ableism, fatphobia, xenophobia, sexism, misogyny, kidnapping, fire, rape.

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Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.

Members of the Certain Point of View network of podcasts.

This month we’re discussing “Mexican Gothic” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

• PUBLISHER: Del Rey

• YEAR: 2020

• LENGTH: 320 pages

• AGE: Adult

• GENRE: Fantasy, Historical, Horror

• RECOMMENDED: Highly

Topic 1: Torture. Begins at (1:35), CW for torture, confinement.

Topic 2: Incest. Begins at (11:38), CW for coercion, cannibalism, incest, death.

Topic 3: Eugenics. Begins at (22:45), CW for incest, racism, eugenics, colonization, miscarriage, child death, murder, death.

Promo for CPOV Autographs; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (41:04).

Book TW for sexual content, sexism, racism, eugenics, pregnancy, miscarriage (backstory), gaslighting (graphic), drug use, alcohol, alcoholism (backstory), confinement, mental illness, suicide (not depicted), fire/fire injury, vomit (brief), blood, gore, violence, gun violence, injury detail, body horror (graphic), sexual assault, rape, self harm (brief), medical content, incest, cannibalism, child death, suicide, murder, animal death (not depicted), death.

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If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon.

To make a one-time donation please support us on Ko-Fi.

For fortnightly news and updates, as well as links to recent written reviews, subscribe to our newsletter.

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.

Members of the Certain Point of View network of podcasts.