Reading & Ranting

The Astrology of the SJM Universe and Manifesting 101

What do zodiac signs, manifesting, and Mia & Karly’s birth charts have in common? Hint: Today’s episode covers all three. As the resident astrology girly, Mia is giggling and kicking her feet to cover these topics. First, they will psychoanalyze every main Sarah J. Maas character and decide their sun signs. Then, they rant about how manifesting is misunderstood, and how having an abundance mindset is helping them get through the shitty time period that is your early 20s.

How to Cure your ACOTAR Hangover with Carissa Broadbent

Have you or a loved one experienced withdrawal upon finishing a Sarah J. Maas book? Well, Karly & Mia are here to give you the ultimate hangover cure: Carissa Broadbent. Both Daughter of No Worlds (The War of Lost Hearts series) and The Serpent and the Wings of Night (the Crowns of Nyaxia series) are some of Karly & Mia’s 5-star, top-tier romantasy recommendations. With incredible world-building, unique magic systems, strong female main characters, complex themes, and sexy male love interests, Karly & Mia can’t say enough good things about these books. Of course, they also take some time to rant about how to let your guard down and the struggle of having an anxious attachment style. 
 
This episode does *not* contain spoilers for the books, as your favorite podcast hosts stick to discussing what they love about the books and characters with a summary of the plot! But if you haven’t read them yet, take this as your sign to give them a try!

Iron Flame Reactions & Deep Dive

The Fourth Wing and Basgiath War College CONTINUE in Rebecca Yarros’ latest book, Iron Flame, the sequel to Fourth Wing and continuation of The Empyrean Series. Mia & Karly got their hands on Iron Flame copies ASAP following release and took it upon themselves to binge read so they could give y’all their reacts and theories in today’s episode. 
 
Filled with slightly overwhelming world building, some SPICY sex scenes (Mia fully admits she had to take care of herself after reading chapter 48, iykyk), some new faces, and of course, dragon content, Iron Flame did not disappoint. Today’s episode is also slightly different from the norm; while we know y’all ~love~ Mia & Karly’s trauma dumps, the rant section for today will revolve around theories for the next book in The Empyrean Series. As our resident theory master, Mia brings out the criminal minds theory white board once again, as we know by now that Mrs. Yarros loves ending on a plot twist (we’re already in withdrawal knowing the next book hasn’t even been written yet.) Happy reading besties!
 
*Spoilers for the entirety of The Empyrean Series (Fourth Wing, Iron Flame) are included in this episode. If you haven’t read this series yet, go do yourself a favor and pick it up from your local bookstore. Then of course come back and listen when you inevitably binge read.*

Spice Scenes and Horrible Hookups

Today’s episode is going to be hotter than a spicy margarita (conveniently, also Karly & Mia’s drink of choice.) What makes a good spice scene? Glad you asked, because Karly & Mia will be reading their favorite spice scenes… to each other… out loud. After they recover from these steamy sex scenes, they’ll bring it back down to life, as sexy time IRL typically does not live up to these bookish expectations (i.e., men written by women.) So, grab that spicy marg because we’ve got some horrible hook up stories to share with you.
P.S. If you’d like to purchase P.I.T.s merch to support Mia’s trauma recovery (listen to the end of the episode for more details), DM us on TikTok @readingandrantingpod or email readingandrantingpod@gmail.com (PSA: this is a joke.)

Karly’s Secret Addiction (Dramione)

It all started with one fanfiction (*cough* Manacled) and ultimately led to a full-blown addiction. Today, Karly & Mia will be discussing (more like obsessing for Karly) Dramione fanfiction, AKA fan-written stories shipping Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter as a romantic couple. Karly has completely ignored her growing TBR list and read close to 100 Dramione fanfics, so she has the credentials to give some amazing recommendations for fellow Dramione lovers out there. BTW, Karly & Mia are both Gryffindors and are patiently waiting for some rich, blonde, Slytherin hotties to hit up their line. 
 
Of course, they have a rant prepared and will be diving into their current hyperfixations OTHER than Dramione, including Mia’s Shark Week obsession and Karly’s inability to go a day without eating hummus. This rant is for those with an obsessive personality and/or anyone who has experienced going down an ADHD rabbit hole. Happy reading besties!

Our Favorite Book Tropes

Are you an enemies to lovers girly? Or perhaps grumpy sunshine tickles your fancy? Is found family your comfort trope?
 
In today’s episode, Karly & Mia are offering their recommendations for books that fit various popular tropes. Sometimes recommendations based on trope rather than personal reviews are way more helpful -- so this is basically the TBR (to be read) list they’ve curated from BookTok (Mia is still begging Karly to read half of these). They’ll also be ranting about shitty financial decisions, ranging from daily little “treats” to how their drunk alter egos act like they’re millionaires (refer to their Hamptons girls trip.) Happy reading besties!

Climb The Mountain

“For every Nesta out there - climb the mountain.” Sarah J. Maas wrote this on the dedication page of A Court of Silver Flames, and truer words have never been spoken. Today Karly & Mia are diving into why this book and Nesta’s journey means so much to them. They’ll also be discussing how they relate to Bryce Quinlan’s from Crescent City, including but not limited to eating takeout noodles and watching reality TV to cope. Lastly, Karly & Mia will share a bit about their own struggles with mental health and why they think it’s worth it to climb the mountain.
 
The entirety of this episode contains spoilers for the ACOTAR and Crescent City books, so check out another episode if you haven’t finished them yet! Happy reading besties!
 
Content warning: This episode does contain discussions of grief, depression, anxiety, and other topics relating to mental health and wellness. If this is triggering for you, please feel empowered to skip this episode.

Q&A with Karly & Mia

Surprise bonus episode! We know absolutely no one asked for it, but you can get to know your favorite book podcast co-hosts a little better with today’s bonus episode. Karly & Mia will be asking each other extremely important questions, ranging from their astrology birth charts, a classic FMK (F*ck, Marry, Kill) game, and what Hogwarts House they would be in. We’re open books so submit additional questions to our TikTok @readingandrantingpod or email us @readingandrantingpod@gmail.com if you would like a second bonus Q&A episode. Happy reading besties!

Character Development: Between the Pages of Books & Our Own Lives

We’ve all had that one book character growing up that resonated with us more than anything (refer to Mia wearing the Katniss Everdeen braid to middle school every day for a year). In today’s episode, Karly & Mia will discuss the book characters that shaped them as the women they are today and how they related to their journeys. Special shoutout to Hermione Granger, Elizabeth Bennett, and Jo March for being the bookish, independent, badass babes they are. And we KNOW y’all can relate to Bella Swan entering a sad girl autumn depression spiral when she got dumped. Of course, Karly & Mia have a rant prepared and will be discussing their personal character development, starting from being confused as fuck post-grad, ditching the rat race of your 20s, and just simply doing things for the plot until further notice. Happy reading besties!

Welcome to the Fourth Wing

A dragon without its rider is a tragedy, a rider without their dragon is dead. Welcome to the Fourth Wing. *internally screams* 
 
In today’s episode, Karly & Mia will be discussing this year’s hottest new read, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. If you were a Daenerys Targaryen fangirl, or love the magical school trope, you will be obsessed with this book about a war college for dragon riders. Of course, the plot also revolves around a steamy romance which introduces BookTok’s latest Shadow Daddy (he’s 6'4, I repeat, he’s 6'4) and some pretty badass characters. As the next book, Iron Flame, is set to release in November of this year, the girls will be debating their thoughts and theories for where this series is headed. Of course, Karly & Mia have a rant prepared and will be trauma dumping on each other as per usual (honorable mention: guy best friends hitting on you). Happy reading besties!