The Great Obsession

Adrienne Young has done it again with her immersive and atmospheric stories, this time in the oppressive summer heat of 1950s North Carolina. There's a lot going on in this story... magical realism, madness, romance, and even a murder mystery! We're reviewing it all today, so come for the thoughtful discussion and stay for Sam's Eamon fancast.

Spoiler discussion starts at (13:01).

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February was a short month but somehow contained multitudes. RiLee is blindly watching Love is Blind and also blindly reading books she should have vetted beforehand. Sam is getting into My Hero Academia, but realizes it's unfinished and has to cope with more trashy dating shows. We're very ready for winter to be SO OVER.

SPOILER WARNINGS: Temptation Island US Season 5, Love Is Blind US Season 8 Episodes 1-6

(07:27) Reading Report

• I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• James by Percival Everett
• Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

(34:32) Watch Report - Movies & TV

• My Hero Academia
• Temptation Island
• Love is Blind
• The Traitors
• Captain America: Brave New World
• Love Hurts
• The Bachelor
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer

(1:12:40) Music & Podcasts

• Sam's news podcasts: NPR Up First, NYT The Daily, BBC Global News
• Doechii - Alligator Bites Never Heal
• Sabrina Carpenter - Short n' Sweet Deluxe
• RiLee's podcasts: Uncourted, Chicks In The Office, Evolution of a Snake

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Dont mind us and our ugly crying, we are just discussing Tracy Deonn's Legendborn. This book is one of the best we've discussed on the pod and will be a contender for the best book of 2025. In this episode we take our time to dive into how original the magic system is and how brilliantly Tracy Deonn weaves in the book's theme.

Rating: 9/10

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Today's wild card episode is about how Heather Gay's Bad Mormon exists in a context, and it's a context we know A LOT about. Our thoughts on this book lead us into conversation about Mormonism in media, particularly shows like RHOSLC and Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and how these play into the public's fascination with this particular religion.

This episode contains light spoilers for Bad Mormon by Heather Gay and the show Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu. Our conversation is more focused on Mormonism in media rather than specific events in this book and show.

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At the root of today's discussion is this question: Is there a superior adaptation of Pride and Prejudice? We're focusing our conversation on the 2005 adaptation and what makes it such a perfect film, despite being technically less faithful to the book. After all, the hand flex and the boiled potatoes were not in the book... but where would we be today without them?

SPOILER WARNINGS:Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1995) starring Colin Firth, and Pride and Prejudice (2005) starring Kiera Knightley are all spoiled in this episode.

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We survived January! The month that never seemed to end!! There's a lot of variety in what we consumed in January. From Real Housewives to movies middle school boys love, we've got something for everyone.

(05:01) Reading Report

(43:44) Watch Report - Movies

(1:09) Watch list - TV

(1:17:19) Music

HBD RiLee!!

No spoiler warnings, we always keep our vibe checks spoiler free!

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Welcome back to the Empyrean! Every single character in this ENTIRE world is going to be mentioned in the first 20 pages. Hope you figure it out! By the way, we made up a new villain out of nowhere and we're going to the Poptropica islands. Thankfully we have Ridoc and Garrick to carry us the entire way.

This episode contains spoilers for the entirety of Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros, along with the two books that precede it. Book discussion starts at (06:49) and spoilers start at (16:09). Thanks for coming to our January book club!

Rating: 6 / 10

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Suzanne Collins! Stranger Things! Unicorns! Here's everything that's on our radar for 2025. We've got a lot of new books we are looking forward to and some questionable live action movies we are not.

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Email: [email protected]

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Its our first vibe check of 2025 and we were READING. This a spoiler free review of everything we consumed in December and what we are looking forward to in the month ahead.

8:09 - Books

Chronicles of Narnia (Lion, the witch and the wardrobe through Dawn Treader, Spectacular by Stephanie Garber, Puck and Prejudice by Lila Riley, The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Emily Wilde's Map of Otherlands by Heather Fawcett, Bad Mormon by Heather Gay, Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldtree, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

55:55 - Movies

A Real Pain, Hot Frosty, A Complete Unknown, Moana 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Singin in the Rain

1:16 - Television

Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew

1:25:55 - Music

SOS Deluxe: LANA by SZA

1:26:50 January Watchlist

For our December Book Club we read Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, which turned out not to be an encyclopaedia at all! (We were confused at first.) This whimsical tale was a very unique read for us and we're OBSESSED with Wendell Bambleby. Tune in for our thoughts on the journal entry writing style, Emily's unreliable narration, Wendell's weird cleanliness quirk, and more!

Rating: 8 / 10

This episode contains spoilers for the book starting at (10:32). The second book Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands is also mentioned, but no spoilers given.

FIND US AT:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegreatobsessionpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: [email protected]

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RiLee's Goodreads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sam's Goodreads