Welcome back to Director’s Cut reviews. Today I have Nothing Tastes As Good under the knife 🔪

I’m offering this review as a sample for free members. Typically I post these in my Paid tier, but wanted to give you all a TASTE of what I offer. I have a lot of ARCs and would love to share more this way.

Book: Nothing Tastes As Good

Author: Luke Dumas

Page count: 352

Genre: Horror

Subgenre/Themes: Weight Loss, Obesity, Trauma, Addiction, Cannibalism, Prejudice, Fatphobia, Social Media Influencers, Multimedia

Setting: Southern California

Comps: The Substance, Thinner

Release Date: 3/31/26

My Rating: ✨✨✨✨

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this one! It tackled a lot of hard subjects with some comedy mixed in.

The book follows Emmett who has been battling with his weight for as long as he can remember. Some traumatizing experiences happened to him when he was a kid and it’s affected him ever since. Emmett has tried every weight loss program, but he just can’t stick to one. So when a tailored add for “Obexity” pops up on his social media, he signs up for the trial. The drug seems to be a miracle worker 🙌🏻 He’s losing more weight than ever. But with it comes a side effect. he’s been losing periods of time and coming to covered in blood…

I loved the quick chapters and use of multimedia such as blog posts, interview transcripts, and more. I feel like the book did a great job showcasing the effects of trauma and how hard it is to break addiction. It also tackles the way we try to showcase our lives as “perfect” on social media and the great feeling we chase with likes and comments.

The characters were really well done. I enjoyed Emmett’s life long friend and roommate Lizette. Not only was she a great friend, but she was also a constant source of positivity. She did not let her weight determine her life. She owned her body positivity. Unlike Emmett who constantly let his weight define him and how others perceived him.

I also felt a lot of rage for poor Emmett. Seeing how other characters view and treated him really got under my skin. It’s no wonder that the trauma he faced as a kid still had a lasting effect into his adult life.

I will say that the ending twist was a little bit far-fetched.

Overall, I feel like this book is an excellent social commentary on weight loss culture and the craze of Ozempic.

We have made a form for anyone in the war band who would like to let us know their favourite book or series, as well as genres they would like us to discuss, what you'd like to see on the channel, and how you think we can get people reading:

https://forms.gle/3GBPYA3d7sUMADPdA

Truth & Courage!

Happy Wednesday my froomies and friends!

We are halfway through the week and, at least where I am, the temperature is starting to climb up. I certainly do not want to jinx it, because Midwestern weather can be finiky!

BUT we are heading into the later part of the week, and I wanted to do a check in!

Words Written: 605

Is it mostly just formatting and working on the framework? Yes, but I am still counting it! I have been in the weeds of some SERIOUS writers block and, when that usually happens, I start writing a new story.

Soooo.... I am writing a modern sapphic romance between a single mother in her late 30s and a nonbinary content creator. I have never written a modern romance, other than the short I did for the One Page, One Love Anthology I was published in. But I am stepping out of my comfort zone and so far, I am loving the details I have so far!

Mushroom Brigade will be getting more in depth talks about this one!

Books Read: 3

The blockage has also hit my reading, but I am getting some done! Graphic novels seem to be the sweet spot and I have taken a liking to one in particular. It was called Cardboard Kingdom! I plan to do a review on it as well!

I hope you guys are having a wonderful week so far! We're almost there!

Sickos! I've been raving about A Complement of Scoundrels by S.V. Lockwood for almost a year now and FINALLY we're going to be getting into the hands of reviewers (and I'll also tell you other ways to get your hands on it early).

ACoS has officially gone live on NetGalley as a digital ARC (advance reader copy), that means if you're approved, you can read it as soon as you're approved.

NetGalley link: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/796666

A couple notes: they're currently prioritizing active reviewers with strong review stats and I'm not personally involved with the decision making process there.

If you're not approved there, don't fret, there are other ways to read ACoS before the release date. This is all noted on the Membership page but I'll spell it out here. At the Sicko tier, you will receive advance digital copies and at the Mega Sicko tier you will receive advance print copies. I'll have more communication around this soon but for the early physical copies make sure you're locked in as a Mega Sicko before March.

I desperately want to share my love of this revenge/heist fantasy with you so get in there before the deadline. Half of the subscription revenue gets pumped into my publishing imprint, Kist Reads, so by subscribing you're not only getting those perks but you're helping fund future book acquisitions (I'm on the hunt for our second book now!) and everything else that comes with that like finding professional editors, artists and so on (because we refuse to use AI here at Bindery for any part of the publishing process).

THE BINDERY APP COMES TO ANDROID!

Back in October, the Bindery app launched on iOS, and now our Android users (myself included) can get in on that action. Download it for Android by clicking on this bold blue text thingy right here, do it. On it you can keep up with your favorite "tastemakers", access notifications, and do everything else you can do on the web version.

Good morning, mis internet amigxs!

I'm bringing you some personal good news today: I've been accepted as a fellow of the News Creator Corps in their second Trusted Creators Fellow class! There are 20 fellows this Spring and I'm so honored to be one of the 20 picked for this program.

The course will be focused on fact-checking, sourcing and interviewing. I'm so thrilled and excited for all I will learn and to meet my fellow cohort. Classes begin February 25th. I'll be vlogging and bringing you along to share my experiences!

You can check out the full class in the picture below.

Can't wait to share more soon. Until then, thank you so much for your support!

xoxo,

Carmen

How do you feel about books being adapted to the screen? (TV series or movie) Are you indifferent or do you have strong opinions?

In the comments, let us know if you like when books are adapted to the screen. Why or why not? If you have a favorite book to screen adaptation, what is it?

For me, my favorite book to movie adaption is The Perks of Being a Wallflower. To be honest, I don't watch many book to screen adaptations!

Hey everyone! At the moment I am waist deep in university reading! Some have been amazing like Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich, some not so great.... and a lot are interesting academic reads but not the sort you want to read 1000 pages of back-to-back. I am dreaming of the time in Summer when I can read WHATEVER I WOULD LIKE. I am feeling a dramatic return to the nostalgia of Epic Fantasy. What books can you recommend me?