The Mary Sue Squad: A Pop Culture Podcast

Can three simple girls enjoy a boys book for boys? Today we find out with Dungeon Crawler Carl, a book written perhaps without our exact target demographic in mind (crude humor, a very manly protagonist, and lots and LOTS of violence definitely included). Will we love our dear Carl, who fights to survive in an alien-made dungeon crawl designed to kill him, or will we politely pass? Find out on thi...

The end of one year and the beginning of the next can be a cold and dreary time--which is why we got together to discuss the things that are making us happy! Recorded in the fall, we discuss spooky favorites, upcoming releases we are excited for, and games, books, and shows that are still keeping us thinking into the new year.

A rat tail is always a red flag, ladies. Or is it? This week we discuss The Cruel Prince. We talk the religion of faerie and its influence on fantasy novels past and present, and if the soggy fishsticks of the human world (not a euphemism) are preferable to a life of beautiful danger in the fairy realm.

The games are hungrier than ever before as we jump into the backstory we never knew we needed: Haymitch. We discuss the power of propaganda and the disempowering of collective action. We do not discuss whether Woody Harrelson did the movies so he could act out his dream role as a man with hair.

A loveless marriage, a disillusioned child, and a disastrous war story, oh my! The Sword of Kaigen is a highly rated self-published book that begs us to venture into territory heretofore unexplored on the pod: into the wild, wild world of epic fantasy. Will we survive our foray into the passages of long exposition, or will we be defeated by the descriptions of unnecessary backstory? Whatever happe...

It's the 20th anniversary of the 2005 movie adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice! In honor of the occasion, we watched the movie and compared it to its popular cousin, the BBC's 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries. What did each adaptation bring to the table? Why do we love the immaculate vibes of the 2005, and which Mr. Darcy is the definitive Mr. Darcy? Join us to find out...

A classic Homeric poem turned love story, The Song of Achilles will have you sighing, groaning, and maybe even weeping for our two star-crossed lovebirds. But the real question is . . . on a scale of Feyre to Bella Swan, how passive a protagonist is Patroclus? Join us to find out!

Funny Story may not make you laugh but it will have you asking a lot of big questions, like is sex in a shared eating space okay if it's with your roommate? Is Michigan an actual beach vacation destination? Or, are they still a 10 if they moan when they eat? We get into it with Emily Henry's Funny Story.

When a two besties turned coding geniuses decide to program their next game together, they can't dream of where their efforts would take them . . . just like we couldn't dream of where our thoughts were going to land with Gabrielle Zevin's book, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Did we enjoy the books (as gamers (TM))? Did we sympathize with Sadie or Sam more? Tune in to find out.

Video games are getting more and more mainstream as people find their favorite niches, and in preparation of our read of Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, we gather 'round to chat about video games and our experience with them! Join us for an informal discussion that ranges from our shared love and thoughts about Zelda to the troubles of other people judging you for video games and being a woman t...

I think the only joke we can make about this book is that its full title is Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence : An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution. This book is for people who hate nonfiction but are interested in history and need a narrative structure with fantasy candy coating to make the medicine go down. And boy did it go DOWN. We get into it, y'all.

Another romantasy book that has been popular on booktok, Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross is a World War 1-esque, enemies-to-lovers story that isn't quite as ~spicy~ as some of the other books in the genre. Did we enjoy this tamer entry? Did we buy the enemies-to-lovers arc? Come along with us as we discuss journalism, war propaganda, and writing styles in our newest episode!

SURPRISE! Like TSwift herself, we had so much to say about The Tortured Poets Department album (which was really an Anthology), that we split this episode into a two-parter.

We're millennials so of course we're gonna talk about our lady, Taylor Swift. In this episode we dig into the meaty lyrics and synthy, sorrowful vibes of Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department - THE break up album from the queen of break up albums. Oh boy do we get into it.

Lesbians in spaaaaace! Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is one of Nikkita's favorite books, but what did Kaitlyn think of the gothic vibes? Did Mackenzie appreciate the incredible descriptions of gore? Listen in to hear our thoughts on the incredible triumph that is Muir's debut novel.

We've rebranded! Welcome to The Mary Sue Squad, where we play, read, and watch all sorts of media and chat about it. Come have fun with us!

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...

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??

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.