Is the Suneater series worth the read?

Sometimes I feel like I am the only one who liked this series. Most opinions seem to either love this series or hate it. I have pretty neutral feelings on it and wanted to share some of the pros and cons and see if this was a series for you (cause like, buying and reading books are huge money and time investments). Spoiler free as usual!

First of a tiny blurb- Hadrian is a son of a young lord in a planet and galaxy far away from earth. There are varying degrees of human bioengineering and the biggest threat to mankind is cielcin-which are aliens. There is a ruling class with a governing religious body. The story is told top us by Hadrian in the present, recounting his story of how he defeated the cielcin and became the sun eater. On paper this story has everything that I would want in a series.

Pros: Christopher Roucchio has great world building, prose and dialogue. His writing is excellent and I will read more from him. His story is layered and complex and has a lot of court and political intrigue. The fight scenes are long and drawn out, but many readers love that. This really is a character study on Hadrian and it follows him intimately for centuries (a la Fitz from Assassins apprentice).

Cons: There are plots, scene, and phrases that are repetitive. Each book follows a similar formula that can get redundant. His scifi series turns into sci-fantasy and has a lot of talk about gods and true gods and models the Catholic religion. For some readers this is fine, for me I prefer my scifi to not have religious entities in it. If it was a fantasy book I would feel differently about this. Hadrian is the only character that gets any sort of depth in this series, so if you aren't a fan of him, you won't be a fan of the series. The plot can be drawn out and redundant so makes it for a longer reader and "slower" paced tale.

So should you read it? Maybe. I for sure do not think this series is for the masses, but reader if you're intrigued by any of this at all, given either a try! The final book in the series comes out 11/18/2025.

Happy November, friends!

Here is the link to request your November book recs and to suggest a book for me to read and review!

I have finished Bride (and Mate!) and will be uploading reviews of those soon, and am about 15% into the ebook of October's selection: Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light. I have had very little time to read so most of my reading last month was in the form of audiobook--unfortunately it seems that will continue through November, so I will be prioritizing suggestions available via audiobook on Spotify or through my library.

Your October recommendations should be in your inboxes at this point if you filled out October's form, but if they are not, feel free to reach out in the comments here or via discord and I will fogure out the issue.

Here's the link again for your convenience: https://forms.gle/hTdK2Vj1NMAkcWir5

~Kaley

Trying something new! Listen to an audio version of this post here.

When we were staring down the barrel of release day for the last however many months, there were really two goalposts I had in mind. October 28th, the day the book actually released, and November 4th, which would mark its first week out in the world. 

There’s such a hubbub made about the first week in publishing that - while I can’t really relax relax, even now - it felt like I wouldn’t be fully above water until we passed that first milestone. If leading up to release day felt a bit like drowning (to be incredibly dramatic about it), then this first week was like treading water just enough to keep your head up and tomorrow, post-first week, will (hopefully) finally feel like being back on land. So what’s up with the First Week for a book?

Well, the big one is the lists. The first week that a book is out is generally the best (and often only) chance it has to hit a best-seller list of any kind, so there’s a lot of attention on that first week to see if, come Wednesday, it’s going to receive that kind of validation. I’m not too concerned with this in theory - Bindery is an independent press and our books tend to have smaller, but steady sales rather than big blockbuster sales - but there’s still something to waiting to see those Wednesday lists and get that first week over with. 

I think it’s also because it’ll be the first indication I get of how sales are doing at all, though it’s not particularly smart of me to think of it like that and I know that. Bindery titles tend to grow steadily over time as they find their audiences rather than landing with a big splash right away, so the first week of sales really isn’t indicative of how the book is expected to do over its lifetime the way some lead titles at Big 5 pubs with gazillions of marketing dollars behind them are. If this sounds like I’m explaining it to myself as much as I am you guys, that’s because I am. I can say over and over again that the first week isn’t really indicative of much in the long run, but it’s also the first milestone for the first book from my imprint being out, so…yeah I might be eyeing it with a lot of curiosity while also telling myself to calm the hell down. 

Either way, the point I’m making to my own brain is…for the love of god, once Wednesday comes and goes, can we PLEASE just chill out. 

But hey, if you’d like to get in on the first week of sales and be part of that milestone, today is the last day to do so! Whether it’s for yourself or if you think you might be gifting it to someone for the holidays this year, you can head into your local bookstore if they have it or pick it up online from places like:
Bookshop.org
Barnes and Noble, or your preferred chain
Amazon
or from your audiobook provider of choice. 

We’re by no means moving on from Bargain at this point though. Subscribers just got a really cool (if I do say so myself) look at the 4-month-long cover design process and I have a couple more fun retrospectives coming up. And subscribers also already know this, but here’s a little treat for anyone who has made it this far…I currently have the manuscript for what I am affectionately referring to as 2 Bargain 2 Mortals sitting in front of me, so you’ll be hearing more on that soon, I’m sure.

I have a couple other pieces of news in the pipeline that I’m not allowed to talk about yet so I will continue to be cryptically vague about it for the time being, but…Soon™. 

Happy One Week to my firstborn.

(AND A REMINDER TO ALL MY FELLOW CALIFORNIANS! YOU BETTER GET OUT AND VOTE IN TODAY'S SPECIAL ELECTION IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!!!)

The moment you've been waiting for!! We're announcing publicly in another hour!

Congrats to Karla for guessing the correct title :) (please email me with your email and username on bindery and I will get your account upgraded to being a free Galaxy member for 6 months)

Happy Tuesday, mis internet amigxs!

Happy to report we have some amazing Latine releases this week, but before we get to them, a few announcements:

Last week, I announced my retirement from featuring this series on social media. This week, I have a poll for you related to this newsletter. Please check it out below...

We will be chatting The Posession of Alma Diaz on Thursday night on Discord and our November book is Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan. There is still plenty of time to join us on Discord.

And without further ado, our November Latine releases...

Tenochtitlan by Pablo Ortiz Monasterio: Art/photography book that imagines Mexico City without colonization with an introduction by Alvaro Enrigue. Putting this here without a date because I have been tracking the release of this novel since Alvaro recommended it in our February chat. It was originally supposed to release in June, then it was pushed back to July, then August, and finally was given a release date of November 18th. The thing with my spreadsheet is that I don't check every line (there are over 400 tracked 2025 releases) every week, so when it was given a November release, I didn't check until I was putting this post together and luck would have it--they changed the release after my last check in August to October 14th!

NOVEMBER 4th

False War by Carlos Manuel Alvarez translated by Natasha Wimmer: Cuban literary fiction in translation about those living in exile and those refusing to leave the island told in multiple points of view from all over the world in a compelling, fractured narrative.

Deeper Than The Ocean by Mirta Ojito (Audiobook) Literary fiction Cuban-American Pulitzer Prize winning author -- A key point of the novel's plot centers around the real-life shipwreck of the Valbanera. Off the coast of Key West in September 1919, the large ship carrying 488 immigrants sank, victim of a monstrous hurricane felt in the Keys, Havana and all the way to Texas. It remains the largest maritime tragedy in the history of Spain, and the shipwreck remains where it sank.

The Year Of The Wind by Karina Pacheco Medrano translated by Mara Faye Lethem: Peruvian literary fiction in translation depicting political violence and its effect on 3 women.

An Eye for an I: Growing Up with Blindness, Bigotry, and Family Mental Illness by James Francisco Bonilla: Memoir coming of age story of boy from Puerto Rico who lived through a harrowing childhood to become a lifelong advocate for social justice.

Xolo by Donna Barba Higuera and illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson: Quetzalcoatl's dog-headed twin brother, Xolotl, is the god of lightning, death, and misfortune present at the creation of the Earth. Not much is known about him until now...

Las Brujas Del El Paso by Luis Jaramillo (Audiobook) Spanish translation of The Witches of El Paso

xoxo,

Carmen

4 stars

Representation: chronic GI pain and nausea, undiagnosed celiac disease (own voices)

I read this book to fill the hole that Amazon’s cancellation of My Lady Jane left in my heart. And you know what? It scratched that itch.

If you are primarily a fantasy reader, this book may not be for you. Behooved is not very concerned with putting together high quality politics or a well-developed world, those serve only as the backdrop for the main event: a romantic romp of a storyline featuring a chronically ill noblewoman on the run with her new (political match) husband who was cursed on their wedding night and is now stuck in the form of a horse from sunrise to sunset. The political maneuvering and that aspect of the storyline was very transparent and weakly constructed, but because the book was mainly focused on Bianca and Aric’s emotional connection, the weaker elements didn’t bother me too much, as they were easy to gloss over.

I actually think that, if the author had tried to flesh out those plotlines and worldbuilding elements, the book would have been weaker overall. Leaving those elements in the background and keeping the story’s focus on the romantic A-plot worked better with M. Stevenson’s specific skillset, and kept the weaker parts from bogging down the pacing and narrative.

This book is fun. It’s swoony and fast-paced and not taking itself too seriously. It’s packed to the brim with classic romantasy tropes–with a horse-ified twist that kept me giggling. But there was also a throughline of emotional depth as Bianca and Aric both comes to terms with the way they are seen as “weak” in their respective societies (Bianca due to her chronic illness and Aric due to his more bookish, less knightly nature) and how they have internalized that messaging–and how they support each other and challenge those narratives. There was a sweetness to their connection that I really appreciated, and I wish more romantasy leaned into that emotional intimacy alongside the spice (because there was also spice!).

My favorite part of the book, though, was the chronic illness representation. Bianca has chronic GI pain and nausea, and we see this affecting her constantly throughout the novel–from on-page depictions of symptoms to the way that it affects her self-image and the decisions that she makes throughout the story to manage and prevent symptoms. Even though I don’t have celiac disease, Bianca’s symptoms are very similar in presentation to my own GI symptoms (I have SIBO and suspected gastroparesis). This was my first time seeing those symptoms represented, and I really enjoyed seeing myself in the protagonist of a romantic fantasy adventure. The balance between fantasy badassery (Bianca is a softer protagonist, but she’s still on an adventure and up against high stakes!) with the reality of a chronically ill body was so well executed. My only complaint is that I would have loved to see the discovery that it was gluten, specifically, that was making Bianca sick and the reckoning of what a life without gluten looks like happen on page, instead of a vague “something you are eating is the cause”. Having the question of “why is Bianca sick” only partially answered left the representation feeling a bit unfinished to me, but I also understand that that would have been difficult to accomplish in such a narrow timeline and scope.

Overall, I had a lot of fun, and I look forward to what M. Stevenson has coming next!

Congrats @tmdreads!!

Dm me on Instagram your mailing info please :)

Let's talk about the 9 books that I read in October!

October fantasy book pick: Wild Revernece by Rebecca Ross

I gave this one 4.25 stars. I absolutely love Rebecca Ross's writing. so atmospheric and beautiful. I loved the characters ad their love story so so much. This is a prequel to divine rivals duology but i dont think you need to read the original duology before or read this prior! This can totally be read as a standalone.

October horror book pick: Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly

I gave this book 3 stars. Part of my dissapointment with this book was my assumption that this was going to be absolutely horrifying. This book definitely did have its dark and gory moments, however, THIS IS NOT A HORROR. this is a thriller book through and through. I did wish we had read something more scary and creepy for October... if you go into this with different expectations than I did, then maybee you would enjoy this more

Quick recap of all the other books that I read

• Do You Remember by Freida McFadden: 3 stars this was fun but nothing special

• Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson: 3 stars I was hooked the entire time but ending was anticlimactic and boring

• Red City by Marie Lu: 5 STARS AMAZING THE BEST BOOK IVE READ ALL YEAR

• Long Time Gone by Charlie Donlea: 3.75 stars this is a great mystery/thriller. always solid reads from this author

• The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager: 3 stars this was just okay. Felt dragged out but I like the ending. also felt a bit YA

• Brother by Ania Ahlborn: 4.5 stars WOOWW this book is actually insane I'm obsessed. one of the darkest books Ive ever read

• The Perfect Son by Freida McFadden: 3 stars this was just okay. fun time but not memorable

DNF

• Alchemised by Sen Lin Yu: I got to around 350pages with the audio book and the world building was too intricate and detailed to the point where the story wasn't progressing and every sentence was the most descriptive sentence about every little thing and I just could not do it anymore. I Never finished reading the HP series and did not read manacled.The writing wasn't "bad." in fact, it was quite beautiful. just the way the story was being told and the plot not progressing a the pace I wanted it to was disappointing.

If you grew up in a conservative religion, you probably learned early that desire was dangerous. You were told to guard your heart, protect your purity, and stay “undefiled.” Lust was a sin. Curiosity was a trap. Wanting was something to fear, not to understand.

By the time you reached adulthood, you might have developed a complicated relationship with your body and desire. You might freeze when someone touches you, or feel a quiet hum of shame even when you’re safe and loved. You might crave intimacy but pull back at the first sign of arousal because it feels “wrong.” - HIS THIS WAS MEEEEEE!

That’s not brokenness. That’s conditioning.

Purity culture teaches you to separate from your own body. It makes desire feel like a test of morality rather than a natural signal from a living, breathing body. When your worth is tied to your ability to suppress, it becomes almost impossible to experience desire without guilt.

Even when you leave the belief system behind, the reflex stays. You might intellectually know sex is normal, but your body flinches like you’re about to be caught. You might say “I’m free,” yet still whisper “sorry” after pleasure.

This is where romance novels come in—not as escapism, but as education.

Romance as a way of reclamation.

Reading romance allows you to witness desire handled with tenderness, care, and consent. It models what safety looks like when two people explore attraction without punishment. The genre gives space for curiosity, communication, and mutual pleasure—concepts that purity culture erased.

When a character asks, “Do you like this?” and the answer is a confident yes, it’s more than a sexy line. It’s a demonstration of autonomy. It’s a reminder that desire is not sin. It’s sensation. It’s communication. It’s trust.

For those unlearning purity culture, this kind of modeling matters. You don’t have to perform confidence to start healing. Sometimes you begin by reading it, seeing it lived on the page, and letting your nervous system notice what safety feels like secondhand.

From a trauma-informed lens, this is exposure therapy in the gentlest form. Reading about touch, pleasure, or intimacy lets you explore what your body avoided—without real-world risk. Your brain learns new associations: desire can be safe, pleasure can coexist with calm, love can mean choice rather than control.

Each story becomes a small rehearsal for trust. You’re building tolerance for your own future.

When you read romance after purity culture, you’re not learning how to have sex. You’re learning how to want again.

You’re learning that attraction doesn’t require apology.
You’re learning that connection doesn’t erase selfhood.
You’re learning that pleasure isn’t proof of sin.

Desire is not a moral failure. It’s a sign that your body is waking up to its own wholeness.

If you want to use romance as part of your healing, begin with stories where emotional safety and consent are central. Look for slow burns, open communication, and partners who prioritize comfort over performance.

Try reading with curiosity instead of critique. Notice where your body tenses, when you blush, when you soften. Those are clues about where shame still lives and where freedom is waiting.

You were taught to fear desire, but desire itself was never the enemy.
You were taught to silence your body, but your body has been speaking truth all along.
You were taught that wanting makes you unholy, yet every tender pulse of longing is proof that you’re still here, still capable of connection, still alive.

Romance stories aren’t the complete solution, but they’re a doorway—a way to practice wanting without punishment.

Ask yourself:
What would it feel like to want something without guilt?
And what if that feeling wasn’t dangerous at all, but sacred?

Relearning Desire Through Romance

1. Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner (sapphic)
A quiet, queer slow burn between a Hollywood showrunner and her assistant. There’s mutual respect, consent, and emotional care on every page. It models how attraction grows through safety and trust.

2. The Roommate by Rosie Danan (hetero)
Smart, funny, and sex-positive. It dismantles shame around pleasure and features a heroine learning that desire can be generous and collaborative, not transactional.

3. Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert (queer)
Brilliant academic heroine meets emotionally fluent partner who celebrates her ambition and sexuality. It normalizes communication about wants and boundaries. Actually this whole series.

4. The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite (sapphic)
A sapphic historical where two women find safety and sensuality after loss. It reclaims intimacy from duty and reframes it as shared curiosity.

5. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi (sapphic/queer)
A story about reclaiming desire and pleasure after grief. It explores how trauma and sensuality can coexist without one canceling the other.

Some of these are repeats from the free tier post the other day, and go check that post out for more recs along this line.

Hi Friends,

Wanted to check in with a quick update! I'm sorry I haven't been updating more! I have been sick since NYC and just trying to survive LOL.

WE MADE AN OFFER ON A BOOK!

Indigenous Romantasy.

It was....declined for a higher advance :(

The emotions I go through every time this happens....whew (if you're keeping track, this is the third Indigenous book we've offered on and lost out to for a higher advance!)

A GLIMMER OF HOPE?

While waiting to hear back on the romantasy I started to read this HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL HORROR BOOK. Like, could not put it down, but also didn't want to consume it all at once, wanted it to linger. Whenever, I put it down, I was thinking about it. It's a Korean folklore historical horror with gorgeous lyrical writing. I've never read anything like it. This might be it.

UPCOMING POSTS

We talked a little bit in the Discord about book club for next year and I decided to leave half the months up to voting, half my selection. This way will have a better break down of backlisted titles.

Let me now below:

Any women in horror books you would love to see as a choice to vote on

Any Indigenous books you would love to see as a choice to vote on

Please let me know by the end of this week as I want to get the voting out this weekend.