Great Feminist Book Throwdown: Recent Episodes
TGFBTD
Three women offer up feminist critiques of your favorite (and least favorite) books, usually of the YA variety.
Fourth Wing, the 2023 Winner for Best Romantasy, Goodreads Choice Award aaaaaand the worst book we read in 2023. Listen, we respect the hustle, but this one wasn't for us. Still we had so many laughs, so laugh with us!
Get into the hit Crescent City series by Sarah J. Maas by listening to our hot takes about sexy fairy alphaholes and special golden girls in our episode about House of Earth and Blood.
We revisit Suzanne Collins's Panem in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to discover the story of President Snow's descent into tyranny--with mixed results. Did we like being in a dictator's head for an entire book? Listen in to find out.
We did something a little different this episode and wanted to share our love for Taylor Swift, the modern poet and lyricist herself, by sharing our thoughts about her most recently released new album, "Midnights."
Now this episode was recorded in December 2022, before her record-breaking eras tour and before her breakup with longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn. Our thoughts about her love life and our opinions of her songs have changed somewhat since we recorded, but we will always love our girl Taylor and how she's managed to move us through her music.
We're releasing this episode on the October anniversary of Midnights and as her album 1989 rereleases! If you haven't listened to her music in a while, give it a try! And we hope you enjoy this fun, informal discussion of ours.
**Note our recording setup was different than usual, so the episode will sound more echo-y and loud than we would like. Listeners with headphones, especially watch out for our first three or four draft picks, because we get especially loud then.
We're back to the Twilight story, but this time we are in our main emo man's head: Edward! Is he a better character now that we are in his perspective? The jury's out.
This book is why none of us can go for walks in the woods with our earphones in anymore. Thanks Holly.
Twilight reduxe. We go back to where it all began: would we befriend Bella, or leave her to the werewolves? Was Edward’s sleeveless shirt a fashion don’t? (It was.)
Mr.Darcy: is he worth the hype? In this episode we discuss Shannon Hale’s 2007 classic Austenland. We talk romance as a traditionally feminine genre, how portrayals of dating have changed, and why Martin had a fridge stocked with root beer, of all things. We definitely talk about the movie way too much in this episode but how can you not talk about Jennifer Coolidge??
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
When you're just trying to get away from that one annoying guy but you can't because you're tethered by the red string of fate. In the spirit world. Beneath the sea. It's Axie Oh's The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, and we're talking dragons, sleeping gods, and inconvenient soul mates. Don't worry - we get into it.
A hardened criminal stalks the streets of Ketterdam with his crew, and he just so happens to shop at Hot Topic. In this episode, we dig into Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows and discuss real MVP Inej, Nina x Matthias, and how deep our love for Jesper runs (real deep). Don't worry - we get into it.
For many of us, college is a cringey coming of age and a stress-fueled reality check. Fangirl manages to represent this perfectly, albeit more charmingly. Heads up: there’s a lot of discussion of fanfic - hope you know your Omegaverse, because we get into it.
Oh, Nannerl. History did you dirty, but fortunately Marie Lu's fantasy novel, The Kingdom of Back, is here to put you centerstage where you should've been all along. In this episode, we discuss Wolfgang's lesser-known sister, the child-prodigy Anne Marie, and the fantasy world they created together as we struggle to pronounce German. Don't worry - we get into it.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
A kick-ass heroine with hair that gets curlier the more magical she becomes, an enemies-to-lovers romance, West African-inspired magic, and giant, rideable cats: this book is so friggin awesome it's unfair to ask us to sum it up with a pithy description. In this episode, we review Tomi Adeyemi's critical triumph Children of Blood and Bone. We discuss representations of violence in YA, the real-world implications of fantasy, and anger as a feminine virtue. Don't worry—we get into it.
It's all fun and games until someone grows a second spine. In this episode, we take a walk on the wild side of YA literature with Rory Power's novel Wilder Girls. We talk body horror, female representation in survivalist novels, and whether or not the dinghy has sailed on Hetty and Reese's relationship—don't worry, we get it into it.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Welcome to the sexiest court of the fey! We dissect the journey of the main protagonist, Feyre, as she navigates the magical (and terrifying) world of Fairy. We discuss depictions of sexuality in the YA genre, gendered power dynamics in fantasy, and whether or not Tamlin was worth the effort. Don't worry - we get into it.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Is The Hunger Games a feminist novel? Three twenty-somethings weigh in on dystopian tropes in YA, Katniss's issues with her mother, and how perfectly (or imperfectly) cast the movie was. Don't worry—we get into it.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app