Marquise > Recent Status Updates

#129: Do you trust paid reviewers and ARC reviewers or not?

I know this question kicks a hornets' nest, but... heh, let the world burn, I'm leaving anyway!


Personally, there's 3 types of reviewers I don't trust under no circumstances:
a. paid reviewers (influencer or professional),
b. reviewers whose reads are 80% or more ARC/free books,
c. literary critics.

#127: Can you remember or track back the moment you became a reader?

Talking w/my sister about our early reading memories, I realised I can't pinpoint WHEN & HOW I became a reader. It almost feels like I was born knowing how to read. :P I learnt to read entirely on my own before I could write or hold a pen (too small to go to Kindergarten) but don't recall how I taught myself. I do remember the 1st word I wrote. :D

I'd considered keeping the Questions when I'm gone, but would this be worth it?

I'd still be exposed to the same issues & leaving GR makes less sense if I'm to keep my engagement levels basically the same. Only not posting reviews would be a real change.

Trolling would continue: updates are accessible to non-friends.

I think the best idea is to reply to comments on my reviews as my only engagement here.

Thoughts?

You know one downside of eliminating DMs?

The toxicity here will be more noticeable if people are forced to do their harassment-by-DM through public comments now. There'll be a spike in nasty comments, that before were at least partially obfuscated by DMs.

Trolls are cowards & prefer to hide to avoid being flagged or to lose face.

Only today, I deleted 2 horrid comments w/personal insults. Higher than average.

Ladies and gentlemen and literate animals: Last call for sharing emails via DM! After this Sunday, they'll be gone, gone, bone, baby.

Also, those of you who aren't staying, where are you going to be at? And if you're staying, let me know. Everyone will be harder to communicate with if everyone is scattered to the four winds instead of happily gathered in this one site (thanks for nothing, GR.)

In 2025 I had to decline beta-reading (bet you didn't know it's another of my passions, eh?) for some books. I later found out 1 of them won an award, & just got told I was replaced as a beta by the great-manytimesgreat-something of the character in the novel.

Aw, no "I beta'd for an award-winning book" bragging rights for me & got replaced by a fictional character's descendant. My s(h)elf-esteem is taking a hit. :D

So, I got the Message of Doom from GR like everyone here.

What will you do now?

I'm going to leave GR (my Cub is leaving too). I've been conflicted for a long time, and I know lots of you don't want me to leave. Neither do I want to leave, but all things must end. It's not just the DMs or the limited comments, it's also that I feel much better when I'm out of GR for whatever readon and reading w/o having to review.

A schoolteacher friend of mine was sharing his dismay at his pupils using AI to read assigned books & write reports for them, & said it's so common he's already a pro at detecting it's AI on sight w/o the help of detection tools. He asked me if I could too, I said no.

That got me thinking, if schoolkids are using AI for that...

#125: Do you think there are reviewers using AI to read & write their reviews for them?

What I learnt after 12 "lais":

- He who fears cuckolding shall be cuckolded. 'Tis law.
- The number of maidens in towers is redunkulous. Sir, is this a Rapunzel cult?
- We whine that women couldn't choose, but these ladies are bold & offer themselves on a gold platter & even have a harem. Demure longing at a distance, my eye.
- The period's Yo Momma joke was killing your mum's husband to give her & your dad a HEA.

What I learnt, six "lais" in:

- So much adultery! Were there no single maidens for a knight to love back then?
- They hunt all the time. Telling a noble he's "a great hunter" is like telling a guy today he plays like Cristiano Ronaldo.
- A scorned woman calling the man who rejects her "gay" is as old as time.
- First date sex isn't a modern invention, prove me wrong.
- Their knowledge of biology is... cough.

ME: *gifts a Kindle to favourite nephew*
HIM: i wish I had time to read, but college, my GF, the cat, the dog, my modeling agency, my boss, the weather, politics, my kebab place closed.
ME: *gifts a Kindle to favourite niece*
HER: Aw, Aunt M! Please buy me this self-help book to read on my trip to the Caribbean. And this one by Hemingway too.

I should pull a Karl Lagerfeld and leave my fortune & books to my cat. :'(

I had completely forgotten I owned this book, Penguin Classics edition, under stress over beginning-of-the-year stuff as well as the uncertainty as to what will become of this site.

The best antidote to that? Medieval fairy tales! Knights! Fair ladies! Dragons! *happy dances*


I'm never outgrowing tales. <3

I couldn't sleep last night & went to test all the "GR alternatives."

STORYGRAPH: Good if your reading worldview is all about half-stars & pie charts & moods. Perfect for wallflowers who are into stats.
PAGEBOUND: "GR and Reddit had a baby" is their schtick. Most of the worst of both without much of their best.
FABLE: Tries too hard to mix Letterboxd & all reader platforms.
LIBRARYTHING: Glorified Excel spreadsheet.

So limiting comments isn't a glitch but a permanent feature now? And on top of eliminating DMs?

Oh, no!



Seriously, how are we supposed to communicate now? TELEPATHICALLY?

This will kill the last shred of community GR still has. It would be the end of my weekend questions, my chit-chat updates, & other new update types I had thought of.

#124: What's your "anti-resolution" for 2026?

Meaning, something you'll stop doing. Like "Will not be reading [insert genre] books anymore" or "Will review books that get [insert rating] from me."

Essentially, what you will NOT DO instead of DO, books and reading-wise.

So, I've posted my Best Retellings of 2025 article!
https://pawntoplayer.com/2026/01/01/2...

Yeah, yeah, one day late, etc. But hey! It was 2025 when I wrote that, so it counts!

(And I'm tipsy.)

Happiest New Year, my dear GR friends. May 2026 bring us all lots of good books, good health, much love, and good wine. All a girl needs. (Or a guy!)

GR's Christmas present to us is a glitch.

Infuriating, but appropriate.

I can't comment on reviews/updates today (error pop-up): I'm taking my annual break and will be away till next year. DMs will likely be gone by then.

I've a long pending reviews backlog (groan), & haven't had time for my Best of the Year list yet (groan), but should be posting all the goodies upon my return.

Happy New Year to y'all, lovelies!

🎄🤶 Merry Christmas, my lovelies! 🎄🤶

It’s been a difficult year, I almost left several times for various reasons. But I stayed, and things are better now. ❤️

So long as I remain here, you’ll be my motivation.

Big hugs to you all. 🤗

Yuyt

#123: Those of you who are short, succinct & pithy and write good mini-reviews, how do you do it?

Asking for a marquise. :P

In theory, I know how to be short & to the point when reviewing, but:
a.. I'm chatty,
b. Wordy,
c. Fastidious about details & explanations,
d. Once I get going, I write & write till I lose track of time.

But not everything needs a 7-page long review & I've less time and energy now. Thoughts?

#122: Do you notice it when a reviewer is 'phoning it in'?

As in, half-arsing a review for whatever reason. Not the length but the content.

Me: with professional reviewers, yes. 100% of the time I can tell they phoned it in, review politics in publishing/news is wild.

With 'influencer' reviewers? Same, but maybe 99%.

With reader reviews? Not always. They're the most varied demographic, so the most unpredictable.

Ugh, I can't reply to DMs asking me for means of contact outside GR, so if you still can send DMs with your email/other info to me instead of asking me whilst I can't reply, please do so. Before we lose DMs for good.

So annoying! Damn you, Amazon & Bezos, your father was a hamster and your mother smelt of elderberries, and that inflatable doll you call a wife deflates like a popped balloon whenever she's under you.

So... before GR phases messaging out, one question for all my friends & followers here:

#121: How many of you made close friends here via DMs? How many of you wanted to but weren't able to for some reason? And how many of you are going to stay in touch with your friends by other means? (Email, Discord, other socials, etc.)

I made a few close friends, with whom I'll stay in touch, & some I lost touch with already.

So, our beloved site that hates us sent out a notice that they will eliminate private messages.

Am I understanding it right? No more DMs from user to user, but group mods will still be able to send messages w/group activity updates?

If I'm not mistaken, this means no more talking privately with your friends.

Oh, no! How else shall we trash-talk, whine comfortably, and secretly judge our friends' book tastes?! :'(

Well, the time has come for Bruna Wayne to reveal she's Batgirl. :D

I'm officially launching a project dedicated to tales some of you have been aware of for a while, and for some of you it might be a surprise (especially if you knew my past work but didn't know it was me).

Here's the link to my 1st piece, that explains it:
https://pawntoplayer.com/2025/11/30/a...

As of today, I have a house in the US.

Fourth try luck. First a Civil War house w/ghost included, we got outbid. Then a fairy tale cottage, we got outbid. Then a lil' ranch, we got outbid. This? A cute townhouse in a big city suburb where I can learn to bake, become the town's selectwoman, trade books & pies w/my American friends so y'all can experience food poisoning at my hands.

My Lorelai Gilmore life begins. :D

FRANKENMESS: I'm a miserable monster and it's your fault! Make me a wife so we can have monster sex & monster babies.
VICTOR: Ja, I mean nein.
FRANKENMESS: *murders bestie*
VICTOR: OMG! I'm a monster! Three innocents died, and all I'll do is wring my hands and fall ill and want to die!
ELIZABETH: Victor, are you in love with another woman?
ME:

#120: Do you have an odd/funny ritual for reading?

It was pointed out to me that I always seek a window to sit by & read. Even if it's dark outside, I'm by a window.

Childhood habit, apparently. I was afraid of the dark, I was always perched on the windowsill or on a tree by the window to read.

The vet is right, it's my fault the kitty refuses to eat w/lights off even though cats see perfectly in the dark. :D

Hahaha! So he wasn't Dr Frankenstein yet but only a college kid?

Wish his formula to animate dead matter wasn't a "never gonna tell" secret, & his motives were more impactful.

Disappointing, but still interesting dilemmas.

My dear Victor, all of this trouble wouldn't have happened if you had TALKED and taken immediate countermeasures.

Or better yet, not done that experiment.

But then we'd not have this novel.

In today's episode of Marquise's Milestones: One of my reviews reached 1000 'likes'

(Well, 2 reviews, but one's a few 'likes' behind. All right! Three, but that one's even further behind).

All negative reviews. Don't know whether to be proud or laugh, I'll proudly laugh at myself.

Will I be forever remembered for my negative reviews? I mean, I do popular 5 star reviews, such as... such as... nevermind. :D