we got drunk and read icebreaker's sequel (mistake or genius?) - talk lit, get lit: wildfire by hannah grace

'i hate it' laura cried, 

'i don't know if i could read another book' eryn moaned, 

'shit' we all declared! 

and yet, when the episode climbed to the highest of heights, we had to accept our fate. our listeners spoke and we heard you.

so, to put the bow on top of season 1 and the festive season, we have reunited for one last, slightly drunken hoorah! join us for the first ever talk lit, get lit, where we get on the piss and tackle the next book in a series we swore never to return to - wildfire by hannah grace. pour yourself your favourite beverage and get on our level because things are about to get loose!

music credits - yevhen onoychenko

special things mentioned in the episode:

• book trib interview  

choose our next podcast read by going here and voting in the first week of each month!

make sure you subscribe to hear our groundbreaking thoughts as soon as they are unleashed. if you want to be on the same page as us, follow us at talklit.gethit on Instagram and TikTok.

theme music born from the creative genius of Big Boi B.

join talk lit, get hit podcast for deep dives into the hottest BookTok recommendations, trending contemporary fiction, and literary favourites! each episode features book discussions, spoiler-filled chats, and thoughtful literary analysis of novels everyone is talking about - from viral romance and fantasy to modern classics. whether you’re looking for BookTok book reviews, author interviews, or a virtual book club experience, out podcast is your go-to space for readers who love stories and want to explore them in depth.

talk lit, get hit are reading and recording on Giabal, Jagera, Jarowair & Turrbal lands. we acknowledge the cultural diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and pay respect to Elders past, present and future. always was, always will be.  

Transcript

Eryn 0:01

I'm actually a bad idea. I don't know how I'm gonna get through this.

Laura 0:11

Hello and welcome to Talk with Get Hit, a podcast where we read questionable books recommended to us by social media and talk shit about them.

Eryn 0:19

We're Bridget, Erin, and Laura, three friends who have mentally progressed since high school, where we bonded over a love of music and books, but mainly twilight.

Bridget 0:26

Brace yourself for a heady cocktail of somewhat highbrow and incredibly lowbrow ramblings about all the books the internet loves and our journey to figure out why.

Laura 0:34

Surprise! We're back! This episode we are officially on the piss, waxing lyrical about the year that was, and reading the follow-up to the book that reigned as our most popular episode for so very long. Welcome to our episode on Wildfire, part two of the Maple Hills series by the one, the only Hannah Grace. It is officially party season, and so as a little treat to you and as a little treat to ourselves, we are releasing a juicy bonus episode with a riff on the theme we all know and love. Welcome to Talk Lit, get lit. One more time for the year. Hello, hello. Hello, hello. Hello, hello. This is something we've spoken about doing pretty much since uh we've made the podcast. I feel like one of us just had a little faux pas and said the name wrong, and then we thought, hang on a minute, this could be good. Sounds accurate. Yeah.

Eryn 1:25

I don't think there's many things that we have like crafted very well in this pod. We're usually like just stubble it. The cuff and then we're like, hang on a minute. This would this could be good. That's not a bad idea, fellas.

Laura 1:38

Not a bad idea at all. Uh we've had a couple of beverages so far, and you know, we're we're uh struggling.

Bridget 1:48

We're in the festive season.

Laura 1:50

We're feeling extra festive. This is pretty weird though, because I think like we've been friends since high school, we've been friends since grade eight and beyond. Uh, but I think this could possibly be the first time that we're actually properly sitting down and drinking together.

Eryn 2:04

I classify myself as a non-drinker, so it's not a surprise that this is our first time.

Laura 2:10

I'm a bit of a rookie myself, so I'm right I'm right there alongside you. Two drinks, and I'm like, I'm done. I've lost my head, I'm completely senseless.

Eryn 2:20

I'm nervous because you're about four drinks in right now. Doesn't bode well. We gotta record quick, ladies. You're excited to be here, Bridget. Always excellent, ecstatic. It doesn't sound like I am, but I am. Would you say you're buzzed? Uh yeah, sure. If you wanted to. Convince me, Bridget.

Bridget 2:43

I like to let my actions speak for themselves rather than my words. Thank you. When are you gonna like dance on the table? The table's covered in pins right now, Laura.

Eryn 2:53

Sorry. Please pull yourself together, Laura. Get a grip.

Laura 2:56

Ladies, please.

Eryn 2:57

No one's dancing on this table.

Laura 2:59

This is like quite disastrous because often we find it quite difficult because we talk over the top of each other like quite a lot when we're getting like really G'd up and excited by the points being made. And already in my headphones, I can just hear myself heavy breathing. I can hear both of you like giggling away. So good luck to you, listener. Yeah. Good luck to you.

Bridget 3:22

Good luck to Bridget trying to edit this. Yeah, I'm sorry, future me for the decisions we have made.

Laura 3:28

So, yeah, as we've established, we're a little bit buzzed, and we have a few things to run through before we can start discussing our book. And God knows, I think I need a little bit more alcohol in me before I start to think about this one. So I think we could begin with a little bit of a year in review. Including Wildfire, we have read 19 books so far for season one of Talklet Get Hit, and they have not all been of the same caliber. So I think we should each take a turn ranking these titles. Let's each say which book we rate littest and which book we rate shittest. I think I can take the lead on this one. So if we're talking about the book that I thought was the best, I think it's if we were villains. I was a clear standout. I would be surprised if we didn't all put that one as our number one. But then in terms of number 19, that was a tough choice because so many of these books were truly dreadful. I think my shittest book is The Love Hypothesis.

Eryn 4:25

Wow. I agree. Whoa!

Bridget 4:28

Yeah, twinsies. I'm a little bit different. My littest book, it's a tie. If we were villains and Twilight.

Eryn 4:38

I really thought you were gonna say Ballad of Songbirds.

Bridget 4:41

It's a close second. I love him. My shittest book was Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

Laura 4:51

It was truly shit. And that's where it got so hairy because like the bottom maybe six, seven, eight books fighting for the title.

Bridget 4:57

There is not much difference between that. I mean, I didn't hate You liked the love hypothesis. So by Bridget. I didn't hate reading the love hypothesis the way I hated reading before the coffee gets cold. I like it nearly impossible to force myself to finish before the coffee gets cold. But at least with the love hypothesis, I was fueled on by me going at like every disgusting thing that happened. So at least we had that. Before the coffee gets cold, I was struggling to stay awake. Another contender for me was I caught a frost and starlight or whatever shit that book was called.

Eryn 5:31

I hate that book. I swear I trauma blocked that book. I forget that it even exists.

Bridget 5:36

I I'm convinced it was a piece of fanfiction. So, in terms of episodes, my favorite episode was the red, white, and royal blue episode. Interesting. Can't say the same for the book, but um I love that episode a lot.

Laura 5:49

You did really take the lead in that episode. You came prepared. You had the most notes I have ever seen. You had. You even recruited Brian to participate in that podcast for a little bit of authenticity. You came with receipts, and I think it shows through. High production value. I I appreciate that episode a lot.

Eryn 6:05

10 out of 10, no notes. My favorite is a tie. I used to always recommend the Love Hypothesis episode. I think it is so funny. I also really like the icebreaker episode. But I think at the time of recording this, the episode isn't out yet, but we've just finished the final edits on the Breaking Dawn episode. And I swear to God, when you guys hear it, it is easily our best episode to date. It is so funny. For episodes that are currently out, it's either Icebreaker or the Love Hypothesis, but it is about to be beaten. Breaking Dawn is the moment.

Laura 6:44

Eggs!

Eryn 6:45

Eggs!

Laura 6:48

I would have to agree. I have to agree with the people, and I have to agree with you, Erin. I think Icebreaker is pretty, pretty great. I think just like nothing will compare to the level of shock and disgust that we collectively felt reading that book. Um, and it clearly resonated. Another episode that I really liked was our happy place episode because it gave me just a really warm, fuzzy feeling when we were talking about like friendships and the places in life that we're at, and kind of maybe not enjoying the book the most out of all of the ones we've read, but enjoying the themes and the kind of adult friendships that were in the book and and listening to it is just a very cozy, warm hug of an experience for me.

Eryn 7:30

I really like that because in that episode we talk about how we've never been like on a trip together, and as we are recording this, we are on a trip together. We are at the first annual talklet get hit conference, we are having a great time, and we have referenced Happy Place many times while being here, which is very cute. We've been talking about Wicked Pisser a lot. And I've been to so many fucking radios, it's so true, it's so real.

Bridget 7:53

No Ferris Wheels, though. Yet, and no lobster rolls. What the hell? Yeah, get it together, Gold Post. Sort your shit out, Burley. Oh my god. Okay, what about least favorite? Okay, my least favourite, we actually forced ourselves to listen to it today. And it was our very first episode we ever put out a little sneak peek at the hilarity that was to ensue. Um, it's called Meet Talk Lit Get Hit. It sucks. It's terrible. It was part of the ill-fated eight-hour recording day, and then we realized that we needed some sort of like trailer or like introductory, so we tried to like cut pieces together. It sounds terrible, we're so boring. It should be deleted, honestly. Over to you guys. What's your least favorite?

Eryn 8:36

The upside is we are much better now than we were then.

Bridget 8:38

True. It's a measurable growth.

Eryn 8:40

Absolutely. My least favorite, I mentioned to you guys earlier today, it's the Daisy Jones episodes. I really love that book, and recording that episode was just so difficult for me. I had to go home and just cry afterwards. I was just on the defense the whole time, and I'm like, this book sucks. I think I've only listened to part one once, and I didn't even listen to part two. I just could not relive it.

Laura 9:07

I have to agree, I was gonna say the Daisy Jones episodes are my least favourite as well. We talked about this earlier as well, how we convinced ourselves that it needed to be split across two 45-minute episodes for some reason. And then when you listen to one and then you listen to the other, like, what are we even saying? I was really nervous about this episode because I just thought, like, I don't really have anything new to add to this conversation because I quite liked this book, but then I think I found myself like trying to appease both of you rather than just like sticking to what I believed in. And I was just saying these like really wishy-washy things, and I think we just weren't very good at like editing them at just cutting the shit, and so lesson learned, we've definitely gotten better at that.

Eryn 9:51

It could be so fun to try and redo the episodes that we think are the worst.

Laura 9:55

I always think that about Aquatara, like if we just redid them, I couldn't go through that again. But maybe a court of silver flames, who knows? 2024.

Eryn 10:08

Let's cut the shit. Quick catch-up. What's here been happening, Laura?

Laura 10:12

For once I've had I've had a pretty big month at however long it's been. It's been it's been a bit of a beefy one. Two months, I think.

Eryn 10:19

Yeah, this is our first recording for two months.

Laura 10:21

Oh, too long between drinks, ladies.

Eryn 10:24

Am I right, fellas? Russell. Hey, hey.

Laura 10:27

For once, I actually do have something to share. So my partner and I went on a trip to Japan, which was a bit of a treat. Everything was so functional and so clean and so beautiful and so delicious, and just an overall delight. So functional. Great tech. Such a funny way. Really good train systems and the machines give you change like no other.

Eryn 10:56

How many times did you get lost in Shinjuku Station?

Laura 10:59

Uh, I mean, I don't know if it's for the podcast, but I'm happy to share because everybody poops 2024 make it happen. But what? We spent a few shadows out in the section. Almost, almost 2024. I'm not afraid anymore. That's my motto.

Bridget 11:18

Um it's resolution. Shit. A lot of shit. Don't care, who knows?

Laura 11:28

Tick. Actually, navigating the trains wasn't a problem, but we did really, really, really need to use the bathroom multiple times. And so I think that was about two hours where I was like, I need to go. I need to go now. And so we'd go on a big loop around trying to find a bathroom, found one, and then walk for about 10 minutes trying to find our platform, and then you know, oh, I actually kind of need to pee now. And then so it was just a vicious cycle, you know, like just on different refill rates or whatever was happening. So that was our main ordeal there. Um, but the good news is I got engaged. I was really wondering how you were gonna weave that in.

Eryn 12:16

It was a great segue.

Laura 12:17

Oh my god. And I am happy to share that like right before I got engaged, I went afraid.

Eryn 12:26

2024, she's not afraid anymore.

Laura 12:28

I'm not afraid anymore. I was like, oh no poop, just farts. And five minutes later, will you marry me? So you heard it here first, ladies. Don't be scared. Embrace it.

Eryn 12:42

Embrace your shit.

Laura 12:43

I mean, you deserve to feel comfortable with the people that you love.

Eryn 12:46

Oh, that's very nice.

Laura 12:47

And that's why I told you that poop story right now.

Eryn 12:50

Moral of the story, only get engaged to people that you can talk about your poo life with.

Bridget 12:55

I think so. Congratulations, Laura. Thank you. Yeah, congratulations.

Laura 13:01

Yeah, so that's my big news for the month. About you, Erin. Fuck, I forgot we were doing monthly recaps.

Eryn 13:08

I don't think I've done a great deal.

Laura 13:09

You saw Paramount?

Eryn 13:10

Yeah, I've been to quite a few concerts. You had your first cheeseburger. Oh my god, I did! Well, that is probably the most prolific thing. It is. As a big cheese auntie, I did eat a cheeseburger.

Laura 13:22

Notorious cheese hater.

Eryn 13:24

Yes. Well, I had to eat it because there was an incident where we had too many cheeseburgers and someone had to eat many cheeseburgers.

Laura 13:33

Erin has never been the same since the incident.

Eryn 13:36

No. And look, I still don't like cheese. And I thought I wouldn't eat another one, but when Bridget and I were driving here yesterday, we stopped at Maca's and I was like, I'm not really that hungry, but really fang a cheeseburger.

Bridget 13:48

Yeah.

Eryn 13:48

When in Rome. Cheeseburger is actually just enough for what we were doing. Delicious. So am I a changed woman? No. We've tried things. We've been to new places.

Laura 13:58

That's such a beautiful growth journey for you. And what a perfect note to end 2023 on.

Eryn 14:04

Thank you so much. Didn't you also go to Sydney or Melbourne or something? Oh look, I feel like I do that so often now, it's not even a big deal. It's neither here nor there. Let's focus on the cheeseburgers. I've I've been to shows, you know what I'm about. That's it. Saw Paul McCartney.

Laura 14:18

Oh didn't I tell you that? Did he explode during Live and Let Die? Yeah, it was I saw that too.

Eryn 14:25

It was an absolutely insane production. It was so good.

Laura 14:29

I'm scared for you.

Eryn 14:30

Bridget Nice or Paramour?

Laura 14:31

Yeah. And so like perfectly aligned with the release of our Twilight Mega Mix Extravaganza.

Eryn 14:36

Yeah, thanks so much, Haley. You're a real one for doing that for us.

Bridget 14:39

And what about you, Bridget? Uh, been at work? I don't know. What have I done? You bought a house. Oh, yeah, we bought a house. That's about it, I think. We have been packing boxes and we'll be moving on Monday, which is very exciting.

Eryn 14:52

Yay! Cut the shit, ladies. How are we feeling heading into book two, Wildfire by Hannah Grace? What were the vibes, thoughts, expectations, feelings, fears?

Laura 15:04

Absolutely horrific vibes. I was not excited at all. We'd seen the cover, we weren't prepared to put ourselves to it again. I read the blurb. I thought I heard a rumour of who Russ was in Icebreaker. It was all repulsive, all vomited in my mouth. I was not excited.

Eryn 15:22

That's a really beautiful way to describe it because that's very much how I felt. I also needed reminding of who the fuck Russ was. How is he worthy of his own book? He was nothing in the first book.

Bridget 15:34

I mean, we did have this conversation in the icebreaker episode as well. And I mean, stand by it. Yeah. We were right, as we always are. I had forgotten most of the trauma that I got from Icebreaker, I think, until we re-listened to the episode last night. And also, when I started reading the book, I was like, oh, that's right. This is why I had a terrible time. Um, but saying that, one of my favourite babysitters club books was the super special number two, Babysitter's Summer Vacation. And they went to a summer camp and there were counsellors and training. I love that book so much. I read it so often when I was a kid. And I also swear by the teachings of the 1998 Parent Trap. Obviously, in the summer camp. Watched it literally yesterday. Uh, so I think what I'm trying to say is I'm a big fan of camp literature.

Eryn 16:23

For anyone who is drinking at home listening to this episode, take a shot because Bridget just mentioned the babysitter's club.

Laura 16:29

For the 15th time. The summer camp setting is something that appealed to me. But the ice skating scene really appealed to me as well. And I know you and I were both excited thinking about Ice Princess, and we couldn't name any other ice skating movies that we watched now. We did try. Felt like there was a lot. I know it's not really like the same vibes, but The Parent Trap was a great movie, and so therefore, I assumed, you know, in association, maybe Wildfire could be good. I will say I was on some level excited to read it because it was such a joy to talk shit about icebreaker. But on a like, would I sit down and read this by myself? Not a chance.

Eryn 17:09

I would never read this if I didn't have to for the pod. But yes, like you, I was ready to be like, ho ho, here we go, boys. Let's talk some shit. And on that note, let's talk some shit. As always, if you haven't read Wildfire by Hannah Grace yet, this is your chance to back out because spoilers are ahead. Content warnings for swearing, um, general drunken behaviours by the talklet team, and also content warnings in Wildfire for gambling, addiction, abusive parents, all that kind of bad stuff. So do your own due diligence and proceed with caution.

Laura 17:45

Maple Hill students Russ Callahan and Aurora Roberts cross paths at a party celebrating the end of the academic year, where a drinking game results in them having a passionate one-night stand.

Eryn 17:56

Never one to overstay her welcome or expect much from a man, Aurora slips away before Russ even has the chance to ask for her full name.

Bridget 18:03

Imagine their surprise when they bump into each other on the first day of the summer camp, where they are both counsellors, hoping to escape their complicated home lives by spending the summer working.

Laura 18:12

Russ hopes if he gets far enough away from Maple Hills, he can avoid dealing with the repercussions of his father's gambling addiction. While Aurora is tired of craving attention from everyone around her and wants to go back to the last place she truly felt at home.

Eryn 18:26

Russ knows breaking the camp's strict no-star fraternizing rule will have him heading back to Maple Hills before the summer is over. But unfortunately for him, Aurora has never been very good at caring about the rules.

Bridget 18:37

Will the two learn to peacefully coexist? Or did their one night stand together start a fire they can't put out?

Eryn 18:45

So we've read it. How do we feel?

Bridget 18:47

I have a quote from the book to sum up how I feel. That's incredible. I wish I thought to do that. It's on page 101. Anything that's not an icebreaker is a win in my eyes. I hate icebreaker more than this book. Not as criminal as the first one.

Eryn 19:02

You know, just that sentence alone already makes me want to go off on a tangent. I'm trying really hard not to get ahead of myself.

Bridget 19:08

I mean, I'm not saying I liked it, but it was an icebreaker.

Laura 19:12

My thoughts echo that a hundred percent. I expected to hate this possibly more than Icebreaker, given like the speed that it came out at and the fact that there's already a follow-up to this on the cards, ready for publication. I didn't hate it as much, and I will elaborate on that later.

Eryn 19:31

Bro, I thought this was so boring. At least Icebreaker had something happening in it. This was boring.

Laura 19:38

It was incredibly boring, but I don't think it was as criminally offensive as Icebreaker was.

Eryn 19:43

I think it's a it was a really jarring experience because everything I hated about Icebreaker wasn't really in this one, but also everything I liked about Icebreaker wasn't in this either. I just found it so different and so boring. Even when I was trying to think of things to whinge about on this, I was coming up a little bit empty because just not a lot happened to set me off. But we'll see. There's always time.

Laura 20:10

It definitely is an interesting and very stark comparison between the two. But something that Hannah Grace said for icebreaker and has also said in relation to wildfire is that she's not setting out to write a profound book. And there is an interview with her on the website Book Trib where she says, I like the escapism that comes from contemporary romance. I'm a big believer that not every book needs to have a profound impact on your outlook on life. And in a way, I feel like she kind of has us by the throat with that. Like, you know, I feel like I'm in my head going around and around in circles of like, oh, this book is so stupid, like nothing happens, it's so boring. They just go from cutesy scene to cutesy scene to cutesy scene. Oh, but like, she just like wasn't trying to say anything with it though. And it was just meant to be fluffy and lighthearted and feel good. I really don't know how to talk about this book in light of that, because it kind of just feels like a little like a cheap shot by her almost. Cause on one hand, she's she does have this book that is kind of fluffy and feel good, but at the same time, same as with Icebreaker, there's very serious themes and really big issues that the characters need to grapple with that are kind of just glossed over in a lighthearted way.

Bridget 21:27

I think she did a better job than Icebreaker. Like this was much more palatable and I think respectful to all of the issues that it was trying to address. Just a bit more enjoyable to read. Tiny bit, a tiny bit more enjoyable.

Eryn 21:39

I agree. I think she's actually dialed back the drama and it's done a great service to this book because the emotional stakes are high, whereas before it was all going on all the time. But really, it's just kind of like two things that they can sort out together, they mesh together, and it's happy days. There were so many times where I was waiting for that third act drama to happen and it just didn't. Which I think does show her progression and her improvement. I think she dialed it back a little bit in terms of what the problems the main characters were facing, but I still think she didn't do them a great justice. There was a lot of, oh, I don't understand how this problem works, but I'm also not gonna educate myself about it, I'm not gonna educate the reader about it. And it's obviously not her job to educate people about it. It is not a babysitter's club book.

Laura 22:34

So when you're talking about the problem in this one, are you talking about so our male main character, Russ, his dad's addiction issues?

Eryn 22:41

Yes. I feel like he said several times, like, I don't understand how it works, blah blah blah. And I get that he's like, it is his trauma speaking and he's trauma blocking it because it's always been like too hard, and his tactic has always been avoidance, and I understand that, but I feel like so often it was just like with him, I don't get it, I don't want to get it, and I hate having to be forced into these situations, which is fine, but where is the growth?

Laura 23:05

The thing that I found frustrating was the way that both of their problems were wrapped up in such a rosy, sunshiney, like everybody learns and everybody grows, but no actual issues have been addressed kind of way. Like everything was tied up in bows, and I did find it quite interesting because maybe because we've been talking about Stephanie Meyer so much recently and about her total lack of research. But in the same interview on that book trib website, which is linked in our show notes, there is a question from the interviewer where they say, You live in Manchester, England, or you're from the UK, but your books are set in the US. You managed to perfectly capture the realities of American university life and the sports well, blah, blah, blah. What's your research process? And in response, Hannah Grace says, I don't really have a research process, but I should probably get one. Oh my god. And and I know that that question was just in relation to the US-UK focus, but it does really make me think, what else has suffered from a lack of research in this book?

Eryn 24:05

I can tell you. I hated when they started listing presidents and then made a Hamilton reference and then just happened to mention the only presidents listed in Hamilton. It is so obvious that she doesn't know a single American president outside of the ones listed in Hamilton. And I'm not saying she has to, but if you're gonna make him distracting himself with American presidents at least name a few others that aren't written by Lynn Manuel Miranda. And also they misquote Hamilton in there.

Laura 24:38

Why are we so like plagued by books that are obsessed with Hamilton? Why are they stuck in 2016?

Bridget 24:44

Yeah, like it's a bit late for these. We've moved on as a society. I mean, I mean most people have.

Eryn 24:51

Yes, agreed. At some point, someone says the phrase one last time, and someone says, Okay, Hamilton, Hamilton doesn't sing that song. George Washington sings that song. Thank you very much.

Bridget 25:02

Get it right, guys. Get it right. Disgusting. Disgusting. When I read that, I was like, oh, Erin will loved it.

Eryn 25:10

No, because it was wrong.

Laura 25:11

But don't you like, don't you just feel so angry? I felt like every time I was writing something in my notes, you know, thinking, oh, just flesh this out more, or just make a comment on this, make a comment on literally anything. I would think, oh, but she was just trying to make like a light-hearted little, frothy, silly little book. That, you know, I just, oh, I understand what she's trying to do. And I really, really do think there's a time and place for books like this, movies like this, like the Christmas hallmark movies. This is what that really reminded me of. They're silly, they're pure escapism. But I just think pick a lane and stay in it. Like you have to respectfully handle the topic. And I think, although overall, I think she's done a good job, she's done certainly a much better job, like we've been saying. I just still think there's like slightly better conclusions she could have drawn, better growth her characters could have had.

Eryn 25:59

And it's mainly about Russ's problem because I don't feel Aurora's problem was actually really dealt with. Her ranting at her dad does not fix the problem, it doesn't solve the problem. From my read of it, it's not even like she has fixed her problem. She just popped off at her dad. It's not like she actually resolved I'm not talking to him anymore. She was like, Well, I'm not going to the wedding this one time. And that's fine. Put your foot down that one time. But it's it was treated in the book like that was gonna fix the whole problem. And it just doesn't. But specifically with Russ's problems, I thought it was really weird that his brother called him up and was like, get to the hospital, like dad's fucked up or whatever. And so he goes and he sees his dad's not unconscious, like his brother told him. And with no palpable increase in tension, he just goes in there and pops off at his dad. Well, his dad is, who knows, on his deathbed because Russ didn't stop to find out. And then he's like, Oh, I feel better now. Two days later, his dad shows up at camp and he's like, Well, son, you've changed my life. I'm not gonna be addicted to gambling anymore.

Bridget 27:02

Like, I'm cured, yeah. Yeah, like it's like the grandfather in Talia top factory.

Eryn 27:10

Exactly. Like maybe clicking his heels, it's not that easy. And like, my notes on this is like one rant has saved Russ's whole life. And that's really what it comes down to. Like, I don't understand. Imagine if he'd done it five years ago. Exactly! Like, what at what point was Russ gonna be like, fuck, I should have spoken up for myself years ago and I wouldn't have dealt with this. I think I just wish that it was handled with a bit more realism, much like Anastasia's eating disorder. I just wish there was a bit more like care and realism and like acceptance of the fact that it is not sunshine and roses, and one conversation won't fix it for everybody. Because it again comes down to the fact that you've got readers reading this who may be struggling with it themselves or have family members struggling with it. And it just seems like such a disservice to paint this picture to them that it is that easy to solve when it's not.

Laura 28:06

As we've probably already alluded to, there is huge overlap between the characters in Icebreaker and the characters in Wildfire, but not just that, at least probably 160 more characters are introduced in Wildfire.

Bridget 28:20

One of my first notes was: Who are all these people? Maddie, Bobby, Chris? I barely remember Robbie and Henry. Joe? So many.

Laura 28:30

The first page, it is half a page. Page one. And there are seven named characters on that page.

Eryn 28:36

It's nonsense.

Bridget 28:37

One of the worst parts of Icebreaker for me was the frat parties and the hanging out and the broing out with all of the boys and all that horrible, horrible things that we had to endure. In this book, it got it over and done with really quickly. And I found myself having a bad time every time they came back into the picture because they were so annoying and they're so childish, and they're just not fleshed out enough as characters for me to care about them. There were some funny like one-liners, but as soon as they went away, I was like, Okay, I'm having a nice time again.

Eryn 29:09

And it was really painful, the whole like, we're family. Oh, five bucks says Stasi cries. Shut up. I didn't want to see Anastasia or Nate again. It was annoying that they were back in this. One of the things that I was like, are you for real right now?

Bridget 29:24

Is when JJ, who is just as annoying as he was in the last book, he says, The only emergency you're going to have for the next two years, Captain, is drowning in too much p JJ, Stasi squeaks, cutting him off. Why is she so offended by JJ possibly saying the word pussy? We have read Icebreaker. We know what you do in your spare time.

Laura 29:43

What you text to JJ.

Bridget 29:45

You tell everybody that you do, what Henry has to listen to you do. Why can JJ at a party not say the word pussy? She is the worst part of the group. She is so annoying. Actually, she's not. She's one of the worst. She's a very bad part though.

Eryn 29:58

I will say, I was a JJ Stan last book. I thought he was funny. I thought he was so annoying in this book. I think everything that I liked about JJ was given to Xander instead. Xander is just JJ in a top hat. It's not a different character. It's the same guy.

Laura 30:17

You can't tell me they're different. I absolutely agree with you. And I would say I started off thinking that there was absolutely no point of separation between any of the characters. Russ is Nate. Rory, Aurora, whatever her bloody name is, is Starcy. And then every background character has the exact same dialogue. Like there is absolutely nothing to differentiate them apart from the fact that it was like said Henry, said JJ, said whoever else. I can't remember any of their like 50 names. Like, just don't bother having so many characters that have 50 different nicknames, have surnames, and first names, all of which are used to the point of like derangement. Don't do that if they're all gonna sound exactly the same. I hate it.

Bridget 31:05

Thanks. It's literally the same book. It starts the same. There is a hot ass girl hooking up with a hot ass boy, a friends with benefits situation, who goes to a party and meets another hot guy who is respectful and he's different. He's not like other boys.

Eryn 31:22

I have thoughts on this, and I blew Bridget's mind with this yesterday, and so I'm not sure if you are um hip to this drive, Laura, but let me break it down for you.

Laura 31:31

I'm awake, Erin. I know. I was asleep.

Eryn 31:34

So at the start of the book, Aurora talks about hooking up with a guy. His name is Ryan, which is also the name of the guy that Anastasia was hooking up with before she meets Nate. It is absolutely unhinged, but I also really love the way that this is handled in the book. It's so funny. About Ryan, Aurora's internal monologue is he has a reputation for string-free fun, and I firmly believe he should be awarded by the college for his services to women's happiness during his four years here. So he is well known for sleeping around, which no judgment on that, but I think it's iconic that I hope, like at this point, I genuinely hope that in every book he has slept with the female lead. Like, unproblematic king. Because in the next page, the very next page, page 13, he says to Aurora, I'm gonna be jealous of the guy who gets to hear what happens in your head when you have that look on your face. And she says, I don't think we need to worry about that. And he's like, Nah, I'm just a stopgap. I'm the guy you fuck right before you meet the love of your life. And she's wait, it gets better. She says, Statistically, that's going to happen if you fuck everyone. Which burn Ryan. But God, I hope he's just fucking everyone. I'm kind of obsessed with Ryan now.

Laura 33:01

Cannot wait for his book.

Eryn 33:03

So the final line of this section is trust me, Aurora. I should start a money-back guarantee scheme. You will get your happy ending. So he even knows that every chick he sleeps with, the next person that chick sleeps with is gonna be her happy ending. And Ryan, like, has the self-awareness to know he's not the one for them.

Bridget 33:27

I think he's been reading some of Taylor Swift's journal entries because she says that. She says, I'm the girl you date before you find the one you're gonna marry.

Laura 33:34

Well, now I'm he must be a Swifty. Well, Hannah Grace is a Swifty, right?

Eryn 33:38

I'm really curious though, because if he does get a book, I actually think it would it'll be interesting for him to have that discussion with whoever his one true partner is.

Bridget 33:47

He'll be able to say, Hey, did you read the books Icebreaker, whatever the other ones are called? They're all me. I'm all and in all of them.

Eryn 33:56

Let's start talking about our main babes, Russ and Aurora. I, for one, would like to start off with their first conversation together, where Aurora is nonsensically ranting about glasses. And her internal monologue is this is the longest conversation ever had about glasses. It's two fucking sentences long. Like, I'm sure there have been longer conversations, but also you're not as awkward and quirky as you think you are, and I find that as a character trait so annoying. Every time she's like, God, I wish I could just shut up right now. Shut the fuck up then! Like it's not that hard.

Bridget 34:37

I also thought it was funny when she said that completing an English degree probably doesn't make her qualified to start handing up book recommendations. Yeah, it does. It's an English degree.

Eryn 34:46

You know, I actually genuinely forgot that that was her major. So in the epilogue when she opens the bookstore, I was like, this doesn't make any fucking sense.

Bridget 34:55

Yeah, that's what I was like too.

Eryn 34:57

But then I remembered this bit where she talks about how she hates the classics and only reads contemporary romance, which is fine, like no judgment, read what you like or whatever, but that was boring.

Bridget 35:08

Um, but once again, massive guy, tiny girl. Oh my god, I have notes on this. Not as tiny as before. And you know, she does make an interesting choice to wear stilettos to a frat party. I I mean I don't go to frat parties, never went to a frat party. Don't have frat parties. I have seven. But why is she wearing stilettos to a house party?

Laura 35:28

Well, that's a great point.

Eryn 35:29

She's trying to get laid, Bridget.

Laura 35:30

But another great point is like, why even bother mentioning that your female protagonist is five foot seven if she's still gonna be the tiniest girl ever and the man is gonna be colossally large.

Eryn 35:42

I really hated all the conversation about like how big he was, how big his dick was, how pretty his dick was. And then when she made them go in the tent and they were like, we're pretty good at making things fit. And then the next line was like, we couldn't make it fit.

Laura 35:58

Like end chapter. The whole chapter is like, I found a tent. I put out the tent, I'd be septic a pet.

Eryn 36:04

I tell me that it'd fit. Like just a fucking waste of everybody's time. I don't care.

Laura 36:11

Wasn't that just every scene though? Yes. Oh my god. There were puppies.

Eryn 36:19

And serious, I was just about to start this conversation. I love dogs. Get the fucking dogs in this story away from me. They're so annoying. Why do they have like fish? When she was like, oh, fish is knocking at the door, but fish can't actually knock. There must be someone else. Dog!

Bridget 36:42

You're for real. I did like the name fish for a dog, but when it when it extended to like all the fishes in the world, that was like and then it was like nine years later.

Eryn 36:55

And we've got some of Fish's puppies broke out. How is Fish still having puppies nine years later? Like she's dead, sweetie. Fish had to go to the farm. She was having some young ass babies then. What the fuck? Fish is dead. Trigger warning for pet death. Sorry.

Bridget 37:13

I think as we chat, I'll probably have more to say about Aurora. Aurora, I didn't mind her. She was fine. And same thing with Russ. They were fine. I didn't mind them both. They weren't Nate and they weren't Stacey, Stassy, Stasi, and that's all that matters to me because they were and they weren't.

Eryn 37:30

Like, this is what I meant when I was saying before that all the worst parts of Icebreaker aren't in this book. Like everything I hated about Nate is not in Russ, but Nate and Russ are still so interchangeable. The bar is on the floor, ladies, but at least Russ wasn't like, oh baby, don't do that. He's mean to you. Like he just let Aurora do whatever she wanted. He had trust in her, and also vice versa. Like, she had trust in him. They weren't like mothering each other, they were just actually supporting each other in a way that Anastasia and Nate never were. So I liked them in that sense. And JJ was so right when he said that like Russ is just a straight white man. However, I hated that bit when Russ was like, I don't have any red flags, and JJ's like, you're a straight white man. That's your red flag. Shut the fuck up, JJ. You're so annoying in this book. Virtue signaling bitch. Yeah, like oh, he's just so annoying in this. And every time he's like, yeah, I give pretty good advice. Shut the fuck up. I liked you better when you were a big dumb shit.

Bridget 38:39

Still like big dumb shit.

Eryn 38:40

Yes, but give me himbo vibes. Don't give me like yeah. I'm so smart. Well, just wait until we get his book.

Bridget 38:47

It'll be such a delight.

Eryn 38:49

I hope I like it. I do I want to like JJ, but he was so annoying in this. And like, why is he suddenly like the quote unquote dad of the group? Why is everyone like, uh, JJ keeps us all in line? Since when?

Laura 39:01

I thought that was Robbie's roles.

Eryn 39:03

Let's use this as an opportunity to talk about Robbie because I think he's the most unhinged teenage character I've ever seen. He is actually 45 years old. When he like was having an aneurysm that they didn't want to wait and hear the rules for drunk Jenga, it is not that fucking hard, Robbie.

Bridget 39:23

They don't need to hear the rules. It's not. And I've I'm in two minds about this. One of the minds I'm like, yes, it is so annoying to be trying to explain things to people who are gonna be like, wait, what do we do? in like a minute. Yeah. It's literally what I do all day, every day. But at the same time, it's Jenga. And I think there was a quote I really, really liked when he was trying to explain it, and he was like, just listen, guys, look good. And then JJ was like listening, and then he's like, So it's just like regular Jenga. Which, yeah, it is. Yes. Everyone can figure it out.

Eryn 39:59

That is the bit, like those are the parts of JJ that I think are so funny and so good. Few and far between in this.

Bridget 40:05

The Jenga game gave me things I loved and things I hated.

Eryn 40:09

I do really love a drinking game as a plot device when there are like clubs or parties or whatever happening. It's a good way to force your characters together.

Bridget 40:19

It changed my perception of Lola. So I started out the drinking game being like, oh, Lola, shut up. I hate you.

Eryn 40:26

She's so annoying.

Bridget 40:27

She was funny when she called Stasi Godzilla.

Eryn 40:30

That was funny. I really, really liked that. Isn't that just because she like hit the table or something? Yeah, knocked out.

Laura 40:39

It's what you were saying before about how like the cup conversation where they think they're so quirky, and I understand like different strokes to different folks or whatever, but to me, it's like giving the energy of like, uh I like pineapple on pizza, like that's just me, I'm crazy. And it's like the most mundane stuff that just feels like a little bit cringe to read.

Eryn 41:03

Again, another scene that didn't need to be there, but when they were like, where did the nickname muffin even come from? And everyone was like, I don't know.

Bridget 41:10

Like, and I was like, Do we are we meant to know this? It was was this in Icebreaker? I honestly can't remember.

Eryn 41:16

Yeah, it is in Icebreaker because it is exactly how Russ explains it.

Bridget 41:21

I actually had a recording of myself at this time because I was reading it, and when I got to that, I was like, I made this noise. So the first time that Stasi called him Muffin, I was like, ew, why? And then the second time. I just got to the second time where Stasi called Russ Muffin, and I made this noise involuntarily.

Eryn 41:41

Oh, oh! Like that.

Bridget 41:44

It makes me sick.

Laura 41:45

I really relate to that. Oh visceral reaction.

Bridget 41:48

There was lots in this book that I had visceral reactions to. Another thing that I had a really like it just made me feel sick was when it was their Jenga dare to kiss and she started moaning. I know.

Laura 42:04

And there's multiple times they're publicly moaning. Yes.

Bridget 42:08

Cut it out. That's so embarrassing. And I just thought to myself, I'm having the most like visceral reactions to this book, and I haven't even had sex yet. Yeah. What is gonna happen when I get to that bit? In like two pages.

Eryn 42:20

I did love that there were way less sex scenes in this than in Icebreaker.

Laura 42:25

Same. And one of my notes, and to be honest, didn't do any research on this, but one of the things we hypothesized for Icebreaker was that because she wasn't like a traditionally published author when Icebreaker was coming out, we were thinking like maybe there's so many sex scenes because she was publishing it like chapter by chapter on her blog. I don't know if that's fact or if that was just something we were thinking would make it more excusable. But one of my first notes was like, oh, she's like partnered with an actual publishing house and an editor for this book, and it does, in fact, show. Like there is a through line for these characters, there is a plot line that goes from A to B, and the characters have some sort of emotional journey, and there is like an appropriate amount of graphic sex scenes in this book. Probably more than I care for, but I fully acknowledge I'm just simply not the target audience for this book.

Bridget 43:14

I agree. I was thinking this when I was reading throughout because I started the book and I like had like a flashback and I was like, wait, didn't Icebreaker end in the future when they were married and they had kids and double epilogue? And I was just thinking, like, why are we back to the time of the main book? Like, did she not expect icebreaker to have that success? So she just like tacked it on. I mean, rightly so, she shouldn't have expected it. And it shouldn't have had success if we're being honest. But then I got to the end of the book and I see, oh no. It's the it was intentional, there's another one. It's kind of epilogues are kind of her thing. They are kind of her thing, and I wish they weren't.

Eryn 43:51

Me too. Because I agree, it was jarring. I didn't expect to see Anastasia in this, and so when she showed back up again, I was like, Yeah, where's the baby? It was kind of.

Laura 44:00

Kind of like Bridgerton when Daphne rocks up for like one eighth of an episode, like with me and her partner who didn't get a contract signed, like because he thought he was too good for season two. That's what it reminded me of. And it was also like that thing we've talked about so many times, like with Bella and Edward, when they get boring when they're like a couple, and like um recent and Fayer. I don't care to hear about Nate and whatever her name is in this book. That story's done, like they reached their resolution. I don't want them as a side character.

Eryn 44:32

Because they were boring in their main book, they're gonna be boring now.

Bridget 44:36

I think that Hannah Grace really is trying to build that Taylor Jenkins read cinematic universe because like there were just so many little I think she would have thought they were fun Easter eggs, but I was just like, oh, stop telling me things that I already know or like hinting at things that I should remember that I don't because your book was so like such a struggle for me to get through. But one of the things was that the bar, they were talking about the bar that he used to work at and it and it got shut down because there was like anonymous complaints about suspicious activity. I was like, Yeah, maybe because people were having sex when they were dressed as groo. Like that bar should be shut down.

Eryn 45:09

That is a crime. Any bar that lets that happen should be shut down. You're so right.

Bridget 45:14

Snitches get stitches, and I would be a snitch for that. And I would happily take any stitches because I would not want to be witnessing that. I didn't even want to read it. Didn't want to read it. And I had to, if I saw it in real life, it would be even worse.

Laura 45:28

I like I actually have to admit, there are a couple of points in this book where I I just fully became sucked in, and I was like, this is pretty good dialogue, or this is a pretty cute scene, or oh my god, I'm feeling emotions. One of the moments I found myself getting really sucked in was actually the first time that they hook up while they're at their camp. And I mean, you know, pretty painful to read the lead up, pretty painful to read the aftermath, but that scene where she's like, fuck it, I'm just gonna do it. I'm just gonna go out and go in the rain, and then she goes to his cabin and she's like trying to find him and he's not there, and then she turns around and he's walking through the rain. And I actually thought to myself, ooh, like a little bit Pride and Prejudice, but then had the disappointing experience later on of her being like, I love Pride and Prejudice, I read the classics. But doesn't she hate the classics? She hates Mr. Darcy because he's an asshole.

Bridget 46:25

It's funny though, she's made all these silly comments, but then had the absolute gall of quoting Marianne from Sense and Sensibility as the quote to start the book. I was like, keep her name out of your mouth, Panna Grace. Oh my god.

Laura 46:40

But I did, I there were a couple of moments in this book, like I think, you know, once again, I will say it again, this book is not for me. It's not a book that I would have picked up on my own. I know I'm not the target reader for this book. And so overall, I didn't enjoy the montage of fluffy cutesy scene, fluffy cutesy scene, one after the other, one after the other, one after the other. Like it was just relentless and so boring. But there are a couple of times like that Pride and Prejudice Walk Through the Rain scene where I did find myself getting surprisingly swept up in it. And I felt like I was reading like maybe a like an Emily Henry book or a Taylor Jenkins read book or something like of a more of a book that is like quote unquote of a higher calibre.

Bridget 47:24

I liked that part a lot. I liked when they went to their spot, as they called it. I thought that was quite cute. I liked the moments when it was just the two of them. To be fair, I liked the other campers as well because we only knew three of them. And we didn't really know Clay. We only knew Xander and Amelia, so I didn't feel like we were getting uh character fatigue.

Laura 47:45

I liked that part and I liked the camp. This is something else I was thinking about, and it there have been so many points about reading this book, especially in comparison to Icebreaker, where I'm like, oh, I'm just old, like I'm a square, because like a cozy camp setting, like out in nature, like is so much more my pace than like frat house club scene. And so, like, I would much rather fall in love in this setting. I can picture this, I wouldn't mind experiencing this, as opposed to like getting fingered in the back of a cab while my friends are getting McDonald's or like just clut like sticky floors of a frat house party, no clean cups, like smells like BO. That's not a hot vibe for me. But this, I'm like, oh, it's kind of cute.

Eryn 48:28

You've just opened up so many discussion topics for me, like without even meaning to. Firstly, how about when they fuck watching Ratatouille? That insane, genuinely fucked up, and they're also in the middle of nowhere in the back of a car, like absolutely unhinged behavior.

Laura 48:48

Uh uh-uh, we don't yuck someone else's yum on this show.

Eryn 48:53

It is universally questionable that if you're gonna get it on, you're gonna put Ratatouille on. I get it because they made the reference to Ratatouille earlier. I do understand it's self-referential. I just cannot picture, out of all the movies that exist in the world, him being like, yeah, this is it, guys. Well, this is what we're gonna bang to.

Bridget 49:16

I think I'm gonna have to disagree. I really liked that. I mean, I not that not the sex part, but I thought that the movie choice was cute. Yes, as a date. Absolutely cute.

Eryn 49:25

When they started banging, I was.

Bridget 49:27

I was worried that someone was gonna come and kill them, though.

Eryn 49:29

Yes, it was giving it Wolf Creek vibes. Anyone could be out there. Absolutely. Like, how do they not know someone's filming? I also want to talk about some of the other dumb things that Russ does, because he's a big dum-dum. I liked when he was reflecting on what he calls the worst time of his life. Now, he comes from a very abusive and emotionally unstable family. But the worst time of his life was when he was accused of ruining the ice rink. Are you fucking for real?

Bridget 50:04

I couldn't give a shit about that when it happened in icebreaker. And when it kept being brought up, I was like, why are we talking about this again?

Eryn 50:11

I know, and like objectively, he was supported so well through that. Nate had his back, they all looked out for him. How is that the worst time of his life compared to everything else he has been through with his family? It makes no fucking sense.

Bridget 50:24

He just thinks that like everyone, oh, it's like everyone's looking at me because one time ice rink was ruined.

Eryn 50:31

God, I loved it though, when he told Aurora and she was like, Oh, yeah, I think I heard about that in passing. And he was like slammed. Yeah, like actually not a big deal. And he was like, No, babe, this is the worst time in my life. You better listen and listen good.

Bridget 50:46

Also, he didn't explicitly say this, but I think it's safe to say that this the second worst time in his life was when Aurora said that hockey means you'd chase. He's like, uh-uh, uh, it's really important to me that you know that hockey doesn't use a ball.

Eryn 51:01

And he just couldn't let it go. He kept going, like, tell me you know it's a hockey puck. Tell me you know what a hockey puck looks like. Babe, she doesn't care, she doesn't give a fuck.

Bridget 51:10

She could not care less. Had something in common with her because I could not care less either. It was so boring. It was shut up, you're turning into Nate.

Eryn 51:19

I also hated the like, it wasn't so much love bombing in this, but just really lazy like romance. I hate whenever anyone's like attempt at flirting or compliments is I think you're perfect. Oh, you're so perfect. Shut the fuck up.

Laura 51:36

I would add on to that to say that it's so disappointing for me to read characters, especially characters that are written by females, where the attractiveness of characters is so intrinsically linked to their physicality. The way that they're being portrayed as sexy or sexually appealing is like so deeply steeped in the male gaze. Like nobody is attractive to a character outside or like separate to their appearance. Some of their first interactions with one another are like, oh, his arms were so veiny and so huge, like he was such a large man, like he was dot dot dot so attractive. Uh, she was wearing a tiny dress that hugged every curve. And I don't I I go around in circles because I'm like, oh, okay, who am I to police, you know, what you find attractive? Sometimes it just is attractive to see someone in a tiny skirt and like no shirt or like whatever it is. But the way that it kind of reinforces this idea that there is only one way that you can be attractive, and your worth is linked so deeply to your physical appearance, is just so depressing to read, especially from a female.

Eryn 52:53

Yeah, and it's something we talked about in the fourth wing episode as well, when we talked about how we knew Zaydan was attractive because of the things he did and the way he behaved. That is what made him attractive. We didn't need to be told that he was seven foot tall or whatever the fuck he was and that his dick was huge. It's irrelevant because his behavior was attractive.

Bridget 53:13

Okay, I have two more things to say about their relationship, and then I'm ready to move on. The first one is it was about a hundred pages in, and I think that Russ was having a conversation with Xander, and Russ was freaking out about something stupid that he thought that Aurora had said, or I don't know, something like that. Xander said something to him like it's not true unless you heard her say it. Just because you think she said it, unless she actually told you, doesn't mean that that's true. There was a few moments in this book when it really could have gone sour and it could have gone south because of miscommunications and people assuming, but they sort of fixed themselves on that quite quickly, which I was really happy about because that was something in icebreaker that was really annoying. How could you do this to me? Oh, babe, that's not what I meant. I'm not even gonna listen to you. It was on and on and on. But they sorted out those little issues before they came like deal breakers, and I was really pleased for that.

Eryn 54:04

I agree, I really liked that, and I thought it was actually really cute when they acknowledged it, and Aurora was like, Oh no, you made me do the miscommunication thing. Like, I thought that was cute.

Laura 54:14

It was cringy, but it was productive as well.

Eryn 54:16

Yeah. Healthy. It was something I could see like happening in a real life relationship.

Laura 54:22

Same. Because it's it is awkward to bring that stuff up. Like you kind of do have to be a little bit cringe about it to address it. I reckon, especially if you're new to a relationship who you're not that familiar with one another, you don't know what level of seriousness you should treat it with. So yeah, I thought that was cute too. Yes.

Bridget 54:39

Also, because both of these people, this was their first relationship. Yeah, and so they were both figuring it out together, I guess. As a podcast, as a rule, we don't yuck someone else's yum.

Eryn 54:51

That's a life rule for me, generally.

Bridget 54:53

But I do have to say that the praise kink in this book really made me uncomfortable. And I just think it was because it wasn't acknowledged that that was happening, it was like, I get it, guys.

Eryn 55:08

I thought it was weird because I felt like it didn't happen that often during the sex scenes, it was kind of outside of the sex scenes.

Bridget 55:16

I think it didn't happen organically. Like I feel like if you're in a relationship, I if she liked that, he would find out eventually, but it was straight in, it was from the start, and it was relentless. And I was this is why is there one thing you're relying on to make this sexy?

Laura 55:33

I found the sex scenes to be quite revealing because the dirty talk between Nate and the dirty talk between Russ was identical, and I find that quite revealing as to the way that Hannah Grace's romantic partners speak. I don't think Russ has the confidence to be speaking to somebody like that.

Bridget 55:53

I know that um Erin's King JJ did give him the the actually great advice that no one knows that you're not confident other than yourself. That is great advice. Absolutely. But I don't know if he can really take that under his wing and like adapt it straight away. That's such a vulnerable situation.

Laura 56:10

You're not gonna be like, I'm naked, I'm like performing the sexual act for a girl that I really, really like and hope likes me. And also I'm just gonna enact some porno that I've recently seen as well, by the way.

Eryn 56:23

Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. I find it hard to believe that he so easily slipped into kinky sex when he was giving himself pep talks before most of their interactions. Before and after. Yes, I I liked the pep talks, and you're right, King JJ did come through with the goods on that one. And I kind of like seeing the realities that sometimes guys aren't as confident as people expect them to be. I liked that, but I don't think it lines up with what he his actions in the book.

Laura 56:55

I think if you're gonna have a character like Russ, who, in my opinion, was like a very good switch up from Nate, who's somebody who embodies much more like toxic masculinity. Russ was like someone who is more insecure, kind of more so seeking acceptance and permission and validation from those around him. And I think that's something that you don't, or that's a way that you don't really see men portrayed in a lot of mainstream novels. And I really would have liked to see that reflected in their sex scenes because sex is not always how it appears in like porn. I really would have liked to have seen those vulnerabilities that he has in his day-to-day life and the way that he is interacting with Aurora typically reflected in a kind of like shy way of having sex that's still like enjoyable for both of them.

Eryn 57:44

And I think it's worth noting as well that like praise kink is almost on the like vanilla end of the kink spectrum. But at any rate, any kind of kink should be negotiated. And if ever there should have been like a conversation about how it was going to work, it probably should have occurred in this book. And obviously, Aurora she alludes to being tied up before, so she's obviously familiar with that world. I would have thought we would have seen a conversation about what they like, what they don't like, what they're willing to do with each other. With the setup that Aurora had, and with the insecuritieslash almost different levels of experience that Russ is alluded to having, you would have thought they would have talked about that at some point rather than leaning straight into that praise king.

Laura 58:35

I think that kind of brings us to the conversation around consent. It's something that we've kind of pointed out in books we've read previously, like Fourth Wing, um, and I think possibly Icebreaker as well. And it's something that happens multiple times in this book as well. An example of a conversation around consent in Wildfire would be, I think the first time they hook up after the Jenga, and she says something like, Oh, let's go to your bedroom. And he says, It depends. Are you sober enough? I had a reaction to it immediately of like, ugh, like consent. And I thought, that's interesting, let's store that away. And, you know, like they have these conversations around consent multiple times throughout the book, maybe four or five, maybe even more times. And each time I kind of thought, tick, you've done it, you've mentioned consent. And then I started to think about it a little bit more, and I really started to wonder if the reason that these conversations stand out to me and stand out to us is just because we're simply not used to them. Because it's right, like you should you should be having these conversations with your partner, whether you're in a relationship or not. It's a healthy thing to do, and regardless of if it's a box-ticking exercise, it's setting a precedent that is very healthy, very appropriate, and something that you should actively be engaging in. It kind of was reminding me of those like little videos you'd watch on like the rollout VHS in school that was like how to say no to drugs. And it would be like, no thanks. I don't go in for that, or whatever it is, which seems so cringy and lame, but like what other choice do you have? That's just how you have that conversation. That's just how it goes. You have to rip it off and you have to say those words. And I kind of think the same goes for the consent conversation. I think it stands out to me because I'm just not used to seeing it.

Eryn 1:00:33

I think it's interesting. I liked the way they handled the consent convos in this. I thought this was a lot more natural and a lot more familiar to me than previous ones have been. Before it felt so much like a box ticking exercise. Whereas in this one, I felt like when they had to kiss as part of drunk Jenga, and he just said to her, Are you right to do this? And she was like, Yep, are you? Perfect way to do a quick check-in. Yeah. Without disrupting the flow or anything like that. It wasn't overtly a consent check, even though that's what it was. And I I liked it. I didn't think it distracted from anything. It didn't seem like Hannah Grace was going, like, see guys, consent check.

Laura 1:01:13

Yeah. I liked it. I do want to make it clear, I I actually don't think she was doing that. I think like the reaction I had was purely based on my own like lack of familiarity with that conversation. Not to like not to cast a negative light on any past interactions I've had just because I'm not used to reading it in books. I really think it's something that's not addressed enough. And so actually, in that respect, like hats off to Hannah Grace, because I I think it was great.

Eryn 1:01:41

I think it is interesting though that she chooses to draw the line at doing consent checks for that, and then like as we talked about before, does nothing about like kink negotiation or anything like that. There are some interesting lines drawn, as there often is with her, about where she decides to put her efforts and her attention. And it was something that we had to say when we did the icebreaker episode about the forced or what felt like forced diversity and like really tokenistic box-ticking exercises. And we had very similar diversity in characters in this one, but for me at least, I don't know that I felt it was quite so tokenistic. I felt like Amelia, who was Aurora's gay best friend, was pretty well fleshed out, and it wasn't just an afterthought like JJ's questionable sexuality is. Not that we need to know, but it definitely seemed like a throwaway character trait for JJ and more of a well-thought-out process for Amelia. So I think again it's indicative of Hannah Grace's improvements, I think, as an author. But yes, still kind of, oh, we'll chuck one in here and we'll chuck something else here. And I think we had a similar difficulty with it in Icebreaker because it's nice to see that. It's nice to see see people making an effort to have their books reflect the world that we live in, but it's hard when it still feels so tokenistic and also both humans are still white.

Laura 1:03:17

I think that was the sticking point for me because I don't know if it necessarily felt forced, because like you said, it does reflect the world we live in. And I know I'm not an author, but I think I would certainly feel uncomfortable as like a straight white woman to be writing from another person's perspective and writing about these experiences that I have really no stakes in. And I think if you are doing that, you need to be doing your best to be trying so hard to accurately represent like another culture or ethnicity or like minority, and it should be respectfully done, it should be like a consultative process, it should be something that's done so sensitively, and so I really understand her hesitation to do that. If you know, if it is a hesitation, if it's a conscious thing that she's doing, I totally get it. And so I I don't know if I have as many criticisms about it this time around because I I think also the way that it sits uh with the other topics of like Russ and Aurora's emotional growth, it just feels a little bit more balanced, a little bit more flesh out, like it really was an improvement, and so it casts that in less doubt.

Eryn 1:04:31

Yeah, I think you can see she's trying a lot harder to be inclusive in a genuine way now compared to how it was perceived in the icebreaker episode.

Bridget 1:04:41

I think she just has a better editor. Maybe she has a editor. Yeah, something has happened, something has changed, and I think it it's good. And I do I wouldn't say I'm excited to read the next book, but I am would be more willing to pick it up.

Eryn 1:04:56

Should we talk about the next book real quick? Because I have a few thoughts about Henry in this book, and knowing the next book is about Henry, I'm so confused. Like, I already said that JJ had a a pretty big character change in this. I think Henry did too. Like, I know we talked in the Icebreaker episode that Henry got a lot of attention from girls, and we weren't quite sure if he was being shady because he was gay or if he was autistic or what the vibes were, but his character in this was so different, at least to me, to his character in Icebreaker. Now he's like hooking up with chicks all the time, all over the house, in every location. He is so much more confident. He's got like this Riz game that came out of nowhere, but it it just feels wrong. It doesn't align with the Henry that we've grown to know and that some people have grown to love. Question mark.

Bridget 1:05:52

It's just so different. I have a question. Did we know that Henry was an artist?

Eryn 1:05:56

I also thought that it was such a big part of his personality, and I But when did they plot drop that?

Laura 1:06:01

I feel like it might have been a sentence. It kind of vaguely, vaguely, vaguely rings a bell.

Bridget 1:06:09

He comes back in the epilogue and is crankly again painting a mural of the northern lights.

Eryn 1:06:16

I just love, I love it so much that in the epilogue, Russ is like, so Aurora called the only person that she knows that could do this task, Henry. You're telling me she doesn't know a single other artistic person. She can't even Google one to find one. She just asks you, mate.

Laura 1:06:34

As if she doesn't know cover artists. Exactly. Oh my god. Exactly. Graphic, actual graphic designers.

Bridget 1:06:40

Well, I mean, well, one part about Henry was the only time I've really ever enjoyed Henry's presence. Uh, it was on page 35, and the line from somebody, probably JJ, was Henry, you can't just knock over the tower when you get bored of the game.

Eryn 1:06:56

That was like icebreaker, Henry, and that is what I think we all kind of enjoyed about Henry is that he was just like this shady little fucker, like always kind of fucking shit up just to be a pest. And then in this, he was just kind of like arrogant in a way he hadn't been in the last books, and just kind of really unbearable. In the first book, it was he was made out to be this like unproblematic, respectful king. And in this one, I don't think he is portrayed like that at all.

Laura 1:07:28

And in the first one as well, it seemed like he was borderline asexual. Like Henry gets so much female attention because he just tells it like it is, but he couldn't care less for that.

Bridget 1:07:38

Like but he did at the end, he did sort of become like the Podrick Payne of uh of Maple Hills. He's he was pulling ladies left, right, and center. And they were like, why does he get so much female attention? I mean, it's the question on everyone's lips.

Laura 1:07:55

Yeah, even explained in air quotes, we still don't really get it, but and then knowing that the next book in this series is Henry's book is very interesting because we have a preview of the cover art and the illustration of Henry is portraying him as a person of colour, which is not something that I picked up on at all.

Bridget 1:08:21

It is news to me, but there were a lot of like Henry stands on TikTok angry that people were like, I think rightfully confused. I mean, not to say that that it has to be explicitly stated what colour skin he has, but I had no idea that he was a person of colour. And everyone's saying, no, the clues were there, it was there.

Eryn 1:08:41

Like, were they? Sorry, it should not be clues. This is the same conversation we had in Fourth Wing when What's her face was like, no, people can't make Zaid and White. Why can't they?

Laura 1:08:52

You never once actually said if you're gonna have diversity and inclusion, I don't think that it should be ambiguous. Like, that's actually not the way that it works presently.

Eryn 1:09:02

I think what's confusing about Henry being portrayed as dark-skinned on the cover of his book, and it never being mentioned to our knowledge within the source material, is that she goes into crazy detail on some other shit. The peach shampoo, the honey, and whatever Starcy had. Like, you cannot go into detail of that level on that shit, and then say you don't need to go into the that level of detail on the race of your character.

Bridget 1:09:34

To be fair, we may have missed slash forgotten.

Eryn 1:09:37

So yeah, I feel like we would have picked up on it though.

Laura 1:09:42

I mean, I I don't I don't even know that it was the same situation as Fourth Wing, like you said, where like Zaydan was described as being like I think it said like darker skinned or like tanned or something like that. There were some hints for Zaden, yeah. And it made you think like maybe, but also like historically authors have only ever meant like white person who was tan when they've used that descriptor. Correct. I just think like have a little bit of conviction, have a little bit of backbone.

Eryn 1:10:13

So I'm curious to see if it gets addressed in the book or what the go is.

Bridget 1:10:18

I think you just said then that you think that she needs to have conviction, and I agree. I think she needs to have faith in her story and let the story breathe on its own and uh write it in a way that it will do its job without having to rely on fan casts like Fourth Wing did, or you know, blog posts like Twilight or illustrated guides like Twilight. All of these things, you shouldn't have to do that to create a story that is cohesive and uh comprehended on its own. And I feel the same way about a few things, a few other things that she does. So I feel the same way about the epilogues. We shouldn't have to have epilogues to feel complete when a story is finished. We shouldn't have to know what happens to 90s in the future when they're boring and they're engaged or married and they're opening a bookshop. I don't care about that. I shouldn't, I shouldn't be reading this. On a less serious note, I also have a problem with Daydream. The female main character is wearing a Taylor Swift cardigan, folklore cardigan, and I just think stop trying to write on a success and like market this towards Swifties, like just write a good book. Should we talk about the playlists? Yeah, let's talk about the playlist because it's because it's not a new thing. Also, offensive to me because it like besmirches Taylor Swift.

Eryn 1:11:35

Uh it was because you own that same cardigan that What's Her Face is wearing in the cover, and now you're gonna seem like a Hannah Grace fan when you wear it.

Bridget 1:11:44

How embarrassing.

Eryn 1:11:44

Embarrassing.

Bridget 1:11:45

I know. And okay, this is this is my statement. I've prepared a statement on the playlist. Oh my god, stop it. Why does this woman continue to hurt me? Strongly. This is before it even opened, like started the book. Continuing on from Cruel Summer on the Icebreaker playlist, we have two of my favourite Taylor Swift songs on this playlist, Peace and Sparksfly. Both, like, especially Peace. Peace is such a beautiful song. Adding more insult to injury is the recent release of the cover for the third book in the Mabel Heel series, Daydream, with a female man character is seen wearing a folklore cardigan on the front cover. From being a Taylor Swift fan from like 2007, I've gone through it for Taylor Swift, and I just I'm sick of having to do it. Just leave her alone.

Eryn 1:12:24

Leave Taylor alone. You're like being dragged out. Leave Taylor.

Bridget 1:12:27

Trying my best not to be a hater, but sometimes I can't help it. Anyway, I decided to lean in and I actually listened to the playlist as I read. And I have to say, there are some true bangers on the playlist, but it backfired because I got distracted by the playlist and was listening to that instead of reading the book.

Eryn 1:12:43

So it's pretty easy to be distracted when nothing fucking happens.

Bridget 1:12:47

Also, a good point.

Eryn 1:12:48

That's the end of my statement. Thank you.

Bridget 1:12:50

We're typically taking no further comments.

Eryn 1:12:53

Direct all um publicity queries to hello at talklet. Get it.

Bridget 1:12:57

I know it's not that serious, but you know, you know what I mean? It just feels like you should be proud of your work without trying to market it so obviously.

Laura 1:13:08

I just appreciate when a work of when a work of art stands on its own. Oh god. She's fucking, she's got me by the throat. Every time I go to make a criticism of this book, I'm like, yeah, but Hannah didn't want that. So earlier you did say about how you were relieved that there wasn't like a third act breakup or a third act drama. And most of the time I'm pretty annoyed by that because you know it's coming and then it arrives and you know it's gonna be resolved. Sometimes it's done well. Struggling to think of examples, but I know there surely have to be some.

Eryn 1:13:43

Beach Reed had a good one.

Laura 1:13:45

Yeah, actually, Beat Reed was pretty good. But this had none. It had absolutely none. And I think the way that the book was written established that there was gonna be none. And so probably the greatest tension that we had was when Russ was in the shower and his brother was calling him relentlessly, and Aurora for some reason thought, oh my god, there's so many missed calls. This could be an emergency. I better pick up his phone and answer. And then his brother, who I believe is like 90% to blame in this scenario, rattled off all of this private information about like their dad being an addict and everybody's role in that scenario. And then poor Aurora had to like pass on that message and like face Russ's wrath. Wrath.

Eryn 1:14:34

I think overall I think this was a good like miscommunication scene. I think it seemed really authentic that he initially reacts in the only way he knows how, which is to close off entirely, and then she is like rationalizing with him and has to like talk him out of it. I like it in that sense, but I fully agree. The brother should not have told Aurora that shit. He should have just said, get Russ to call me. But then on the flip side, like he knows Russ isn't gonna call him because he's been avoiding his calls this whole time, and we know that Russ's brother does this shady shit to get what he wants. He's done it several times, so still his fault, but not really surprising he's behaved in that way. I liked when Aurora pointed out to Russ, like, I think you're reacting poorly here and you're being madder at me than I really deserve. I agreed with that part. But then she goes on to bait him and is like, yell at me, let's fight about this, and I can yell back at you that you've been keeping this from me for months, which not really the same thing. He is allowed to have his privacy just because you have shared with him doesn't mean he owes you sharing in return.

Bridget 1:15:53

Just because he's your airport doesn't mean that you're his airport. A stupid thing they kept saying to each other. Share your baggage with me. I'm an airport. When did they say that? And she it's in the thing too. It's a media dedication.

Laura 1:16:08

In the picnic scene or one of their like highlight scenes.

Bridget 1:16:12

I don't want to give you my baggage.

Eryn 1:16:13

I'm an airport, give it to me. Oh my god, I don't remember that at all. That was so funny.

Laura 1:16:19

Oh my god, I can't believe I just said that. I'm sure this sorry for interrupting.

Eryn 1:16:22

Maybe that's why I trauma blocked it because I hated any time she had that kind of dialogue. Anyway, I just think it was weird. She was right to tell him that he was reacting badly. And I think she was also right to say, like, let's fight about this, but to flip it back on him and be mad that he hadn't told her yet. It's not the time, and it's also not really appropriate. Like, you don't get to decide what he tells you.

Bridget 1:16:50

There was another miscommunication as well. It was between me and the book because I thought she already knew this, and I was so confused about why they were fighting. I was like, He's told her this, hasn't he? I had to flip back and be like, Oh, I really misread that. But like at the same time, when she heard that, wouldn't she be thinking, okay, there's more to this story? Like, no one's gonna say, My dad wasn't nice to me. That was the end of it. Like, there's something else going on.

Eryn 1:17:15

Just yeah, I think it takes a pretty selfish person to hear that to see him react the way he reacts and be like, but what about me in this scenario?

Laura 1:17:25

Like, and also pretty crazy to say you kept this from me for months, and that's the entire amount of time you've known that person. Like you yourself having trust issues and acknowledging and understanding that that person has trust issues to have that double standard is pretty staggering. But I mean, again, that said, it was a throwaway line. I think, like, overall, she was a pretty good communicator, yeah.

Bridget 1:17:52

And I think she was using it to say, come on, don't retreat into yourself. Yeah, let's talk it out. If we're gonna do this, let's do it like this. I also just like who cares? Get over it. Like for her. Actually, both of them. Who gives a shit? Why does any of this matter? Bigger problems at play here. Say loving?

Eryn 1:18:12

It is interesting. I think you're right, because her her drama with her dad is kind of pretty surface level. Like, it is just sometimes he's mean to me. And so maybe she did take his sometimes my dad is mean to me really surface level. Like he's just like my dad, and then it is deeper than that. But surely when you hear or like realize that it's deeper than what you thought, your first response is oh shit, I've misread this. Not why didn't you tell me? Yeah. Hit us with some random things you thought were funny. I love it when we do a bit of a speed roll.

Laura 1:18:48

Oh, okay, yeah, I've got some things. I love it.

Bridget 1:18:50

Page three. I did not want to know that he has to strategically plan when he can jack off. Don't tell me that. Moving on. Page six. Someone needs to explain to me what the clap the cheeks singular joke meant because I didn't understand it. So if you guys can shed some light on that, what does that mean?

Laura 1:19:08

Erin, you're laughing in a way that's just like. I don't know what the singular part means.

Bridget 1:19:11

I know what clap the cheeks means, but she only have one butt cheek?

Laura 1:19:14

One long tubing butt cheek? Get it.

Eryn 1:19:17

No, I think it means they're not having sex, they're jerking off. And so the clap the cheek sound is them jerking off. Um that was my interpretation of the phrase clap the cheek singular.

Bridget 1:19:31

Okay, next one for me that I thought was really funny was Aurora says to Mason on page 11, Mason, can you give your dad my number? He's hot, and then in brackets, he's not. I thought that was really funny. And then also when Aurora met Russ for the first time, and she was like, Oh, it's very clean in this frat house, it's coasters. And then she spilt the drink or whatever, and he's like rushing to mop it up, and she goes, Oh, so you're the one who dusts.

Eryn 1:19:59

I did like the banter there about like the thief in the house.

Bridget 1:20:04

Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't say I liked it, but I liked it the first time.

Eryn 1:20:08

I liked when he was like, Oh, do you burgle houses often or something? I thought that was cute. I didn't like it when it had its reprise at the end of the thing.

Bridget 1:20:16

I just think the whole, like, that whole conversation wasn't enough to be having a conversation about. But anyway, moving on. Page 37 reporting pointless lives for bullying and harassment is iconic. And that's something that I do. I love reporting TikTok lives for underage, suspected underage users, because I always see like 13-year-old girls doing stuff, and I'm like, this is so unsafe. And then I go in and I report them, and then they get blocked and deleted.

Laura 1:20:41

So that's so funny. I had the same notes of like, she is just like me.

Bridget 1:20:45

Yeah, you welcome parents of the world for me helping your children stay away from internet predators. Listeners, please don't block and report our videos. And then the last part I really, really thought was funny was on page 83 when Aurora was stuck talking to Clay about like how much he bench presses or some boring shit like that. And she said, I'm struggling to follow along. And not because I'm not smart enough, because it's just really, really boring.

Eryn 1:21:10

She she could be funny. I thought it was funny when she refused to acknowledge whether she knew hockey had a ball or a puck.

Laura 1:21:18

Comment that I wanted to say in line with Ars Cheeks clapping was that on page 214, when they are having sex in like a bathroom or something like that, I believe. It says the sound of their bodies slapping together drowned out the storm. Fuck, that's loud. That's so loud. You've got a bit on, it's a bit noisy. Just dial it back.

Bridget 1:21:50

Booming. I'm imagining them in like a little wooden shack as well, like no protection from the elements. Oh god. Hagrid's the hut in Harry Potter, the isolation cabin in the parent truck.

Eryn 1:22:01

Doesn't he say to her a couple of times, like, I want to hear you, like I want you to be loud and stuff? And it's like blocked it from my mind. Bro, you've got underage children next door. Maybe don't do that.

Bridget 1:22:11

Also, another thing with the children, when all the losers came for um Russ's birthday party, as if, as if all those random frat boys would be allowed to just wander around a children's stomach.

Eryn 1:22:22

With a visitor pass or they just eat a blue card. They're like, it's alright, they've got a visitor pass. What the fuck does that mean? Yeah.

Laura 1:22:29

Who approved the visitor pass? It was also like depressing to me. I mean, I don't know, yeah, female fantasy, like blah blah blah. Uh like just can we have like one female author that doesn't continue to perpetuate like huge dick is the only good dick, like fantasy. Like, we've got so many comments like I'm just trying to calculate how that bang could fit, or like I'm just thinking about how it might split me in half. Like, yeah, it's like not just the fact that the dick is consistently huge, but the fact that it will actively like damage you, like you could take it, or like, oh, let me know if it hurts, or whatever. Like, just could there just be like there can be enjoyable sex without a colossally large penis attached to it?

Eryn 1:23:17

Yeah, and these girls are always deep throating these huge ass dicks, like I'm concerned for their safety. But not only that, the sex scenes always start at such high stakes. Like, Icebreaker was eating her out against the door, this one eating her out on the desk, like same vibes.

Laura 1:23:36

What happened to Hive?

Eryn 1:23:37

Hello, I mean what happened to like building trust and what happened to giving a lap dance in front of everybody after a game of Django and moaning the lap dance, although I will say I thought it was very funny, and I uh like a sense of realism in this when he had to keep like distracting himself so he wouldn't come too early.

Laura 1:23:58

I didn't mind those scenes. I mean, overall I thought their sex scenes were like quite good. It just the way he was speaking to her was just so like I don't know, I don't know who possessed this man, but it just doesn't align with the character she painted. And it would have been the ghost of Nate in the bedroom.

Eryn 1:24:16

The ghost of Nate's part. Possessed. Well, it is weird though. It's like she tried to write another character but then doesn't know how to make that character sexy, so just defaults to what she finds sexy.

Laura 1:24:29

Yeah, I think that's what I was trying to articulate before.

Eryn 1:24:32

It's really strange, actually, because Russ was, like we said before, Russ was sexy in his own way. Not to me, but he could have been.

Laura 1:24:42

He was certainly more appealing than Nate. Yes.

Eryn 1:24:45

Yes, definitely. Because he wasn't consistently like, I want to put my seed inside you. Give me a moment now.

Laura 1:24:52

And being like, I own you. Tell me who your daddy is.

Eryn 1:24:57

I don't know.

Laura 1:24:58

And then tell me how much you hate hockey. Oh, what a square.

Eryn 1:25:05

What a puck. Oh my god. Alright, should we wrap this up, fellas? So let's do our usual things. Do we have favourite characters?

Laura 1:25:15

You know what? I liked Russ. In terms of male protagonists, I think he was a little bit different, a little bit sensitive, a little bit insecure, especially given its predecessor, Icebreaker, and Nate. And Nathaniel. I thought Russ was pretty good, so yeah, Russ.

Eryn 1:25:32

I think you're right. I also think it was very funny, even though he's an engineering major, he couldn't figure out how to unclog the toilets. Um she was like, What if we just flush it? And he was like, No, don't. And she's like, no, let's just flush it, let's just see what happens.

Bridget 1:25:50

I loved it when it was his birthday, and that little shit of a kid drew him a birthday card, and he was like, Oh, nice picture. What is it? It's you crying over Henry's turd. That was so funny.

Eryn 1:26:01

So funny. He was just like this little weasel of a man, and like so hard to imagine him built the way he's described because he's just not that in my head. He's just a little weasel.

Bridget 1:26:12

What about you, Bridget? I think it's a tie between Russ and Aurora. I like them both.

Eryn 1:26:18

Yeah, that's right.

Bridget 1:26:19

And I feel like we really do have a track record of being like borderline misogynist when we talk about the female main character, so I feel like I need to chuck her in for some.

Laura 1:26:28

I did find her relatable and probably should have talked about this when we were talking about the character. But like better late than never. Good for you, Aurora. Yeah, that's all I'll say about that. Thanks.

Eryn 1:26:40

Sorry, where what are we good for hearing her on? Thanks for your service. Good for you, babe. You're not annoying. Do we have a least favorite?

Bridget 1:26:56

Any uh any anyone who frequents the frat house that isn't Aurora or Rust.

Eryn 1:27:06

I've got a very specific and I don't know what his name is, but it's one of the mystery characters that showed up out of nowhere and we don't know who he is. But he is a frat house dweller. He's the one that was obsessed with the girl at camp from when he went to camp.

Bridget 1:27:25

Oh, Jenna.

Eryn 1:27:26

And he was like, Oh, has she talked about me? Oh, I can't wait to see her. Oh, does she talk about me?

Bridget 1:27:30

And it was meant to be funny, but it just wasn't.

Eryn 1:27:33

The only funny part about that was when Russ actually asked that girl what she thought, and she was like, Mmm, I love it when people who were here as children sexualise me now they're adults. Pop off, queen.

Laura 1:27:48

Um, mine went all of the puppies. But so fit.

Eryn 1:27:53

Salmon, fish, trout. Oh, and anybody on the floor. Nine years later, there was flounder. And something else. Barramundy, yellow fin snapper, toad brim. I don't understand how she could make us hate puppies. But she did. She did. And you know what? Pooping. Also, now that you've got me on the puppies, sometimes they were just in places it didn't make any fucking sense for these dogs to be. Also, how big are these dogs? Are they not Labrador puppies? They get big so fast and they're always like, Mana's sleeping on my chest. How are you sitting there with the fucking Labrador puppy laying on your chest? They've got to be big enough to knock on the door. It was so stupid.

Laura 1:28:46

I hope we get the puppy story next. And it's like we get like an Airbud takeover, and like there's all these kids on the hockey team that like get not picked on the side because some dolls.

Bridget 1:28:59

Oh my god, Napoleon is the Ryan of the Ryan's love story, is the puppies.

Eryn 1:29:05

Bring that into the world. I don't mean it in a gross way. I thought you did. Like, is my true love is a puppy? You're sick. Okay. Alright, it's fuck, we need to move on. It's the pinnacle of our of our episode of every episode.

Laura 1:29:27

Um please pay us so that we can afford a producer to keep us on track so it's not 20 past 10 on the Sunday.

Bridget 1:29:41

We're still recording.

Eryn 1:29:43

Oh god. Actually, before we do the pinnacle of that episode, I think it's important that we address what a master stroke doing a drunk episode of Talk Lit Get Hit has been. I don't even know what we've spoken about. I feel like this is going to be an absolute train wreck, even though we've been recording for four hours. I don't know what we're gonna get out of this. I can't wait to hear the edit.

Bridget 1:30:10

All I know is I've been doing a lot of heavy breathing. That's me every episode. Um Lucky, I've got six weeks of holidays coming up.

Laura 1:30:18

And uh thank God we preface this by saying, Oh hey, we're drinking because I've been doing a lot of glasses cooking.

Bridget 1:30:26

Yeah, I don't know if you heard before, but I like pretty sure I chipped my chin on the metal straw. So if you hear a big clunk, then mind your own business.

Eryn 1:30:43

Oh god, okay. On that note, we're in the right vibes.

Bridget 1:30:49

Was Donnie, do we even need to conversation?

Eryn 1:30:53

We have to, we have to, we have to. Was Wildfire by Hannah Grace. Little shit, Laura. Shit. Bridget. Shit. Shit, the shits have it. We may be lit, but the book is shit.

Bridget 1:31:06

We are talklit get hit, and this is our last drink for 2023. We are truly, madly, deeply so incredibly thankful to our listeners, and we are so excited for season two. Make sure you subscribe to the show, and if you want to be on the same page as us, follow us at talklit.get on Instagram and TikTok. Cheers! Talk lit forever.

Laura 1:31:29

Closing. Oh, forget Brian, that's the new outro. Did you hear that someone's about giving it?