C.L. Methvin (Author of EUSECT)

C.L. Methvin rated a book really liked it Spine: Siderius Plug’s Immortality in Ninety-nine Endnotes by Asa Donald	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I got this book because it was described as an interactive, ergodic piece of fiction. That's true, but it's actually a solo ttrpg! Most of the book is in the form of instructional endnotes; the actual book itself is only about 65 pages. However, as y ...more
Aug 03, 2026 02:19PM · 1 like · like · see review
C.L. Methvin rated a book really liked it The Wingspan of Severed Hands by Joanna Koch	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I would recommend this book to a reader looking for a surreal tale that blends sci-fi, cosmic horror, and cults. Descriptions are uncomfortable and beautifully visceral, plot is clever (if sometimes difficult), and the language use is gorgeous. Fluct ...more
Jul 22, 2026 11:51PM · 2 likes · like · see review
C.L. Methvin rated a book it was ok The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Disappointing. One of the longest short reads I've had. What started as an intriguing premise ultimately did not go anywhere, and the plot, despite being so brief, was incredibly disjointed. The epilogue gave a romantic conclusion, I admit, but it re ...more
Jun 25, 2026 11:27AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
C.L. Methvin rated a book liked it The Blacktongue Thief (Blacktongue, #1) by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I got this and one other book of Buehlman's after how much I adored Between Two Fires, and, unfortunately, comparison is the (blacktongue (ha)) thief of joy. The book was fine. It was a fun adventure and Buehlman's description and pacing was excellen ...more
May 22, 2026 08:45AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
C.L. Methvin wants to read Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 01, 2026 09:25PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
C.L. Methvin wants to read Gore Poetics by Samir Sirk Morató	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 01, 2026 09:15AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Gore Poetics by Samir Sirk Morató. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Gore Poetics by Samir Sirk Morató <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
C.L. Methvin rated a book it was amazing Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Rated this a few days ago, but had to sit on a review. I cannot believe it took me so long to read this book, considering how much I've heard people rave about it. As far as I'm concerned, the raving was accurate; Slaughterhouse-Five was incredible. ...more
Feb 11, 2026 10:38AM · 2 likes · like · see review
C.L. Methvin has read Black Hole Science Is Filled with Apologies by Never Angeline Nørth	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This collection is like the intersection of Vandermeer's weird fiction and Samuel Beckett's absurdism made poetry. Just as speculative fiction forces a reader to accept worlds with rules of their own, Black Hole Science does the same for identity. I r ...more
Feb 11, 2026 10:27AM · 8 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Black Hole Science Is Filled with Apologies by Never Angeline Nørth. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Black Hole Science Is Filled with Apologies by Never Angeline Nørth <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
C.L. Methvin rated a book it was amazing Wake Up! (Seasons, Book Winter) by Ryszard I. Merey (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I find myself struggling to begin this review, primarily because I have so many thoughts I don’t know where it might make sense to begin. This mirrors the book, I suppose: Wake Up! is a nonchronological narrative following our protagonist Tian, who f ...more
Jan 11, 2026 01:05PM · 5 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Wake Up! by Ryszard I. Merey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Wake Up! by Ryszard I. Merey <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
C.L. Methvin rated a book it was ok The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
When I first saw novel described as Lovecraftian, I was eager to give this a read. Unfortunately, I found it tedious and completed the book only in the hopes it would improve. It didn't. The prose was beautiful, but that's really the only positive I ...more
Jan 11, 2026 10:46AM · like · see review

C.L. Methvin rated a book really liked it

Spine: Siderius Plug’s Immortality in Ninety-nine Endnotes
by Asa Donald

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I got this book because it was described as an interactive, ergodic piece of fiction. That's true, but it's actually a solo ttrpg!
Most of the book is in the form of instructional endnotes; the actual book itself is only about 65 pages. However, as y I got this book because it was described as an interactive, ergodic piece of fiction. That's true, but it's actually a solo ttrpg!
Most of the book is in the form of instructional endnotes; the actual book itself is only about 65 pages. However, as you read, depending on which endnotes you cross-reference, you will have a different reading experience than someone else.
—and you are meant to pass this reading experience along to someone.

As you complete certain tasks assigned by endnotes, you modify the book or add to the narrative: some tasks require ripping or damaging pages, others demand notes in the margins, etc. This was incredibly fun AND makes me excited to lend the book to a friend, since they cannot complete the tasks I have crossed out. (I was nosy and read some endnotes I did not complete, and I'm envious of some the next reader will get to do).

This leads into my criticism though: lack of clarity with some of the rules. I was under the impression for each page, you choose one endnote to interact with. As I read some I did not complete, I realize that (I think) the author meant you could read any endnotes, but you only pick one task from those that have multiple. I am still unsure. However, in reading the notes I did not cross-reference initially, I realized I missed some substantial plot elements, because they were in the endnotes I thought I wasn't supposed to read. Likely user error, but I do genuinely think the rules could be clearer.

In any case, that doesn't knock a ton off for me because the experience was fun, I still got a good grasp on the reading, and that lack just means I'll have a point of conversation with the next person who reads my copy. For what it aimed to do as an interactive piece, 4 stars. Story itself, short and lacking a tad, but that is also in part because the reader adds to the story with their notes, interpretations, and explicit additions to the story (such as recounting a memory in the margins about something you get to make up happened!).

(Sidenote: I added my own rule to the beginning of the book—to leave notes when inclined, even when not instructed. That way whoever I hand it over to next does not feel like they are bound to interact with the text only when it directs them). ...more

C.L. Methvin rated a book really liked it

The Wingspan of Severed Hands
by Joanna Koch

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I would recommend this book to a reader looking for a surreal tale that blends sci-fi, cosmic horror, and cults. Descriptions are uncomfortable and beautifully visceral, plot is clever (if sometimes difficult), and the language use is gorgeous.

Fluct ...more

C.L. Methvin rated a book it was ok

The Salt Grows Heavy
by Cassandra Khaw (Goodreads Author)

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Disappointing. One of the longest short reads I've had. What started as an intriguing premise ultimately did not go anywhere, and the plot, despite being so brief, was incredibly disjointed. The epilogue gave a romantic conclusion, I admit, but it re ...more

C.L. Methvin rated a book liked it

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

The Blacktongue Thief (Blacktongue, #1)
by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)

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I got this and one other book of Buehlman's after how much I adored Between Two Fires, and, unfortunately, comparison is the (blacktongue (ha)) thief of joy.

The book was fine. It was a fun adventure and Buehlman's description and pacing was excellen ...more

C.L. Methvin wants to read

Venus Plus X
by Theodore Sturgeon

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C.L. Methvin wants to read

Gore Poetics
by Samir Sirk Morató

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C.L. Methvin rated a book it was amazing

Slaughterhouse-Five
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

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1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Rated this a few days ago, but had to sit on a review. I cannot believe it took me so long to read this book, considering how much I've heard people rave about it. As far as I'm concerned, the raving was accurate; Slaughterhouse-Five was incredible. ...more

C.L. Methvin has read

Black Hole Science Is Filled with Apologies
by Never Angeline Nørth

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This collection is like the intersection of Vandermeer's weird fiction and Samuel Beckett's absurdism made poetry. Just as speculative fiction forces a reader to accept worlds with rules of their own, Black Hole Science does the same for identity.

I r ...more

C.L. Methvin rated a book it was amazing

Wake Up! (Seasons, Book Winter)
by Ryszard I. Merey (Goodreads Author)

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I find myself struggling to begin this review, primarily because I have so many thoughts I don’t know where it might make sense to begin. This mirrors the book, I suppose: Wake Up! is a nonchronological narrative following our protagonist Tian, who f I find myself struggling to begin this review, primarily because I have so many thoughts I don’t know where it might make sense to begin. This mirrors the book, I suppose: Wake Up! is a nonchronological narrative following our protagonist Tian, who finds herself in the muddy middle ground of relationships with roommates, ex-girlfriends, coworkers, and seedy men in seedier basements. The chapters often forgo continuity, following senses of appropriate atmosphere, confusion, terror, and retribution rather than a Point-A-to-B timeline. Much as memories, or dreams.

Tian and her ex break up, fueled by a change in Tian’s gender identity and a persistence of her ex’s egotism. This separation leads to increased self-criticism and bills—and these bills pave the way for Tian to welcome (used loosely) a strange man named Al into her home. Al possesses a curious photograph, a strange power, and a penchant for gambling; gambling, which allows Tian for the first time in a while to live without worry.

However, worry soon returns, as Al’s dealings come to light quite ungracefully for Tian.
I pause on providing too many details, as the specifics and reveal order of said specifics is crucial to the reader’s experience.

Whether the multiple relationships within this novel end “well” or not, that’s really up to the reader. Spoiler: they do end, but some in ways you will not predict, some in ways you might smile, others in ways that you (or at least I did) might cheer. Wake Up! explores love, melancholia, and identity with an accuracy and earnestness that both hurts and makes one feel seen. It is rare a book so successfully puts the emptiness of queer grief to print, allows the reader to wallow in it—so much so I fail to think of a recent comparison. Perhaps Winterson’s Written on the Body would be the best; earlier than that, the works of Sappho. But Merey takes these sensations and feelings, explores them in a contemporary setting, and presents their characters in ways where you don’t always feel that you can like or dislike them, but you can certainly understand them.

In short terms: Merey’s work is important.
In longer words: excepting niche extreme horror, in a world of contemporary queer writing that seeks to sanitize relationships or present every story as an “It gets better!” commiseration unto a reader, Wake Up! has no trouble showing that relationships are hard. Relationships fail. Queer, trans relationships specifically face these hardships even moreso, battling not just the traditional hurdles of cishet relationships, but also internalized trans- or homophobia, societal backlash, the subsequent economic repercussions in losing support structures, and more.

Much like these characters, many people often want to just be seen in such a way.
Wake Up! is gripping from start to finish—drenched in emotion, dysfunctional in the right ways, written in language equal parts mesmerizing and relatable, with an ending that invites recontextualization. As we (especially the queer “we”) grow, improve, and review our relationships and sense of self as fluid, non-sequential progression, we too are like memories or dreams: able to be recontextualized and reimagined. ...more

C.L. Methvin rated a book it was ok

The King in Yellow
by Robert W. Chambers

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When I first saw novel described as Lovecraftian, I was eager to give this a read. Unfortunately, I found it tedious and completed the book only in the hopes it would improve. It didn't. The prose was beautiful, but that's really the only positive I ...more

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C.L.’s Friend Comments

	EUSECT 4.30 avg rating — 79 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Small World (The Kanti Cycle Book 2) by Gre7g Luterman (Goodreads Author), Rick Griffin (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator), C.L. Methvin (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.60 avg rating — 73 ratings — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Reaper's Lottery (The Tori Mysteries Book 1) by Gre7g Luterman (Goodreads Author), H.Kyoht Luterman, C.L. Methvin (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.57 avg rating — 49 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Biting Silence 4.23 avg rating — 13 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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