Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to Beans People Club. I'm Kristen.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: And I'm Summer. This is the podcast where we bring you all the comfort and gossip of a regular book club. But just between you, me, and her.
[00:00:11] Speaker A: And you may be wondering what the B and the C stands for. Well, the B stands for Brimstone and.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: The C stands for Coca Cola. A double C, not sponsored.
Yeah, I kind of panicked and just looked around because I honestly did not have a single word thought up.
[00:00:32] Speaker A: Yeah, I. We normally don't.
[00:00:35] Speaker B: I mean, I usually plan it as we start the intro, but as you said, the B stands for. I was like, oh, no, I'm just. I'm seconds late. I'm very. It makes a huge difference, actually.
How's your life going?
[00:00:54] Speaker A: My life is going pretty well lately. Nothing too bad to complain about.
Pretty. Pretty standard day today. How about you? How's your life going so far?
[00:01:09] Speaker B: Honestly, I've just been, like, having the worst luck lately in general, in my life. General. And then Sid has been having really bad luck in his life.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: Dude, life is rough sometimes. It's hard. It's hard out here.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: It'd be hard out in these streets, bro. For real.
I will say that I had. I took it easy today and I read the book and I actually.
[00:01:38] Speaker A: You read it all today?
[00:01:40] Speaker B: Yeah, I read every single word of this book today and I loved it.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: I kept telling you. I kept telling you every single recording that we have that I had read those three chapters. And I was like, it's good. It's like, funny. It's good. And you're like, huh? And I'm like, no, it's funny.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: So we actually picked this book because. So my genre, of course, is fantasy, usually. So I picked a fantasy book. But I was looking through all of my fantasy books and I just had this one that I didn't really know much about it except for when I bought the book at Barnes and Nobles. The cashier, all he told me about it was that it was funny and that it fit the fantasy genre and it had a little romance. And so I was like, you've sold me. Let's read this. So we really went into this not knowing what we were getting into.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: I know nothing about this hand sprayed edges, but the sprayed edges don't come off on my fingertips, which is nice because sometimes if you have a bad sprayed edge book, they do that and it's not fun.
Yeah. The color is a haunted house, I assume. And it was giving me witch warlock vibes because there's potions and there's books and it kind of looks like there's, I don't know, a warlock in one of the windows. So I was like, that's my vibes that I'm going with. And that's all I knew about this. And even so, that's not a lot.
[00:03:10] Speaker B: It's funny you bring that up, because I also was, like, really studying the. The book cover for a minute there before I actually started reading it. And it's only because I was, like, zoning out. But the one thing that I really noted on the book cover is that there's, like, a little design in the corner of the books, like the front and the back. And it's garlic.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: And I was like, is that supposed to be, like, garlic or an onion or something? And now, knowing what I know, it's definitely garlic.
[00:03:42] Speaker A: It's definitely garlic. No, I did. I did notice it, but I didn't notice it. Notice it. But as soon as I read garlic, I was like, oh, it's garlic. It's all garlic.
[00:03:54] Speaker B: I get it.
It's so good. I love that book cover.
[00:03:58] Speaker A: So we, like, we said we didn't know anything about this, and this book came out this year, actually not that long ago. Came out Made in.
[00:04:07] Speaker B: That's crazy.
[00:04:08] Speaker A: In May 2024.
[00:04:09] Speaker B: No, because I bought it in June, like, the very, very beginning of June.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: That's probably why it was by the front. He was like, we're trying to get this book, so buy this book.
[00:04:21] Speaker B: That's hilarious.
The book's title is dreadful, and it's written by Caitlin Razakis.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: Yeah, I would go with that.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: Rosakis Razakis. Yeah, something like that. I'm sorry.
[00:04:35] Speaker A: To her first book, though.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: This is her first book.
Oh, she's a really good author. I love this for her first book.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I will definitely. I feel like this is somebody that we could potentially just follow.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, for sure. It's a good. And I saw the genre of this book. It's cozy fantasy, which I agree with.
[00:04:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:59] Speaker B: And I love it.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: Yeah. Cozy fantasy is a very good. I. I forget how many sub genres there are, but cozy fantasy is very good. Subgenre.
[00:05:12] Speaker B: Yeah. So then we. We start off this book and we're introduced to this character who's forgotten every single thing about himself. He doesn't know who he is, why he is, what he's doing, where he is, none of that. And there's a knock at the door, and he's panicking, and he's like, I need to get rid of them. I don't know where Their master is. They're calling for their master I. And he, like, responds and says, go away. And they're like, are you sure? He's like, go away. He's. They're like, you want me to put out the fire or anything? And he's, like, freaking out that if they come in, they're going to realize the master's not in here. He's in a vulnerable position. And so he was like, just go away. They leave, and he starts slowly piecing together that he is the master and this is his place. And the goblin at the door is his. His, like, secondhand man, basically.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: I love Valley, his valet. There we go.
[00:06:22] Speaker A: Yeah. I love the goblins. The goblins are my favorite.
[00:06:25] Speaker B: They make the book, for they do make.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: Yeah. He realizes that he's the master and that he has magic and that he has his eyebrows missing because of whatever magic he just did. And so his eyebrows are gone.
[00:06:41] Speaker B: And this is when we start getting introduced to his, like, funny kind of. He's not really this master who knows what he's doing even subconsciously, because he's, like, tripping over things. He's fuddling around. He finds his eyebrows, and they're, like little worm things that attach to his head. And then he, like, gets out of there finally. And the goblin is like. So the princess has finally, like, stopped fighting us, and he realizes that he's kidnapped this princess, and he has no idea what he's doing with her or why he's done it.
[00:07:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:19] Speaker B: And then we get introduced to the main. I, what you would call the main villain of the story, who is Lord Zarconar.
And he basically says, hey, good job kidnapping the princess. You've got your part of the plan done. Let us do our part, and we'll talk to you soon. And that's how the. Into the first chapter goes.
[00:07:44] Speaker A: Yeah. And we also meet the princess who decides to have dinner with him. And I thought that was very Beauty and the Beast coded. It was like, you need to come down to dinner, otherwise you're not having dinner at all.
[00:07:58] Speaker B: Hey, she came.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: She did come.
[00:08:00] Speaker B: Which you find out in chapter two.
[00:08:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:04] Speaker B: But I just had a lot of.
[00:08:06] Speaker A: Questions about how this is happening. I thought that he might have done this himself, like a backfire spell or something. And so he was just losing his memory.
Just.
[00:08:16] Speaker B: I also thought the same thing.
[00:08:19] Speaker A: And I feel like him and the princess are going to potentially fall in love and that he wants to bone her because she's just so pretty and she's just so fantastic. And Everything that he says that she is.
But this book is not, like a super romantic book. It doesn't surprise me that he said it was just a slight romance, because the way this is going, I am feeling slight romance.
Hard for me to get a grip on them. Especially after last time we had decided that I was. It was now my duty to decide when couples were going to kiss. And so I was like, when are they gonna kiss? And I'm like, I am just not getting kissing vibes from them yet. Like, this entire half of the book, I was like, I'm not picking up on kissing vibes.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: I'm just. Sorry.
[00:09:06] Speaker A: I'm sorry, but I'm not.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: I'm still gonna need that prediction from you, because I have a prediction, so you need to make one. Y.
By the end of this half, at least, you're gonna have to make a prediction. So that's my expectation from you.
[00:09:24] Speaker A: I honestly still don't even know if they're ending up together. Even after this, the middle of this book, I am still not sure I.
[00:09:33] Speaker B: Actually agree with that.
Which is crazy.
[00:09:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:39] Speaker B: So in chapter two, the princess, she actually comes to dinner. He's, like, trying to figure out his life. Really still, at the same time figure out who he is and what he's doing.
She goes to the dinner. The dinner is like a almost raw steak. Not really raw, but it's almost. And he's like, oh, this is disgusting. She's not going to like it. She's used to her princessy things. And then she's like, how am I supposed to eat this? And he was like, oh, somebody get her a knife. And immediately I was like, why are we giving her a knife?
Are you kidding me? Like, we all know what's going to happen with that knife. But apparently he doesn't. And she throws the knife at him, and he blocks it with magic that he just instantly knew when his life was in peril.
And.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: But he doesn't remember to not give a prisoner a knife.
[00:10:36] Speaker B: Yes. And he was like, wait a second.
I know all this stuff and you're not great, but somebody please cut her meat for her.
[00:10:47] Speaker A: And then they like to banter. I don't even know. It's not anything really of substance, probably because this is a cozy fantasy. And so we're not getting, like, super, super deep into things. But it's just they banter a lot. And I find them very cute and charming together. But I don't know if it's just best friendship or if it's romantic tension that I Feel Okay.
[00:11:07] Speaker B: I feel a little romantic. I. I feel romance. Okay.
They do banter a lot, but I actually will say it's not bad. Banter. No, because there's banter where I'm, like, ready to chop my head off. Like, please, please.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: No. When I think of banter, I think of very cute. See, Very quick. It's not really substance, but it's just them getting along or not even getting along, because they're, like, kind of at each other's throats. But they're, like, just. They are very quick with it. They're very.
Yeah. They are able to work well with each other, even in antagonism.
[00:11:52] Speaker B: I just now realized you said in sync and not instinctive. Like, instinct.
It took me a minute.
[00:12:03] Speaker A: But also, he's so sweet to his goblins, and he's letting them wear whatever they want now as long as they don't show people in the hallway. And everything about him changing his personality to make him, himself better to the goblins specifically, I'm on board with.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: Me, too.
It's. It is interesting how this character is able to be so believably adorable. And, like, he's trying to be a good guy when we know his past. Like, it's hard. It's hard for me to try to accept it. But then at the same time, in my head, I'm, like, going, well, maybe he was like this the whole time, and then it was just a facade.
[00:12:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:43] Speaker B: And now he's actually, like, showing who he really is because he doesn't remember that he's supposed to put up this facade.
But at the same time, it's like. Or it could just be, like, nature versus nurture. You know, he wasn't nurtured, so he turned in a bad guy. And it's not in his nature to be that bad guy.
[00:13:01] Speaker A: So, yeah, I do feel like there are. Especially later, I feel like there are parts of him that are bad that I'm like, oh, and there's the bad part of you coming out. That's still an instinct that you have is just to automatically attack as soon as anybody does anything for you.
[00:13:20] Speaker B: Which is also funny because I. When he did those bad things, I was like, okay. But, like, it wasn't that bad.
He's not a bad guy. Like, even him being bad right now, where he's like, oh, I just did that. I didn't even realize I was reacting like that until afterwards. I was like, but it wasn't bad. Like, it wasn't horrible.
[00:13:41] Speaker A: We've had people say worse things. Okay.
[00:13:44] Speaker B: Trust me. There's worse reactions Anyway.
[00:13:47] Speaker A: Yeah. And then we're in chapter three, and he's in his workshop when he accidentally hits the mirror that he's able to do his FaceTimes with. And he thinks that it might be Zarganar again, but it's actually one of the other warlocks, wizards that are working with them. With him together, it is a really, really hot lady. Her name is Valena. Valvina. Val. And Val.
Sorry.
[00:14:19] Speaker B: Valna. Believena Levna.
[00:14:22] Speaker A: They do call her Val.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay, we're just gonna call her Val.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. So she's Val, and she's also working with Zarkanar, and she's trying to capture 12 lords.
He doesn't know what that is, so we don't know what that is. And it's not very helpful. The village is. He. She has to kidnap a lot of people. He only had to kidnap one. She's obviously much more competent than him.
And they kind of, in this conversation, form an unease, uneasy alliance, saying, like, oh, I'm not really sure what he's up to. He seems like he's up to something bigger than what he's saying. Zarkanar, that is. And so she's like, you know what? You are actually able to have a full conversation with me without looking at my boobs, so I'm gonna decide to trust you this one time, which is.
[00:15:14] Speaker B: Like, she's saying this stuff. But then, like, later on in the story, we find out that she still, like, was talking to other people, and she was like, this was weird behavior. I thought you trusted me because I actually valued you as a woman.
Yeah, no, come on.
[00:15:31] Speaker A: That's exactly what it is. She's not used to it. Even in the conversation, she's like, this is a little weird.
And Val thinks that Gav is acting this way because she thinks that Gav is into the princess. And so that is why he's able to have coherent conversations, because his interest is now elsewhere, which is not great for Gav, because that just puts a target on his back. And what he's doing with the princess.
[00:16:01] Speaker B: Well, what he starts to do with the princess, because he's not doing anything with the princess right now. He's just trying to be nice to her, right?
[00:16:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, by the end of this, Zarkanar gives orders about him and the princess, and I'm like. This whole time, the. One of the reasons he gives the orders is because they. He talks about how Val was like, oh, I think he's interested in the princess.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: Yeah, I will Say, when we met this character Val, I thought she kind of fit with the guy a lot better because she seems like she's only a dark wizard because she's a female and has always been underappreciated by men. So she turned a little evil. Like, that's what it sounds like made her evil. And so I was like, I want them to be.
[00:16:52] Speaker A: And you want her and Gab to get together?
[00:16:55] Speaker B: I did. At this point, we're only on chapter three. We haven't learned much about the princess. It was like, yeah, she's in my dungeon, but this other wizard lady is really nice.
And I was, like, shipping them for a minute there, you know?
[00:17:11] Speaker A: Yeah. And then he figures out that he apparently summoned a knowledge demon, and that's what he was doing right before he lost his memory. And so he thinks that he should maybe do that again, but ultimately decides against it and instead goes to dinner with the princess.
And again, they banter and they have this whole back and forth and he tries to figure out if he's. She's deceiving him. And so because of that, he's able to detect that she has a charm on her. And it's a ring to change her appearance, to make her look prettier. Only slightly prettier. She is royalty, though. And so I guess her family thinks that she's not as pretty as royalty should be, and so they gave her a ring to make her just only slightly prettier.
[00:17:56] Speaker B: Another case of undervaluing the woman in this situation. Her job is to be pretty, and.
[00:18:04] Speaker A: She hasn't taken off her ring since she was 8, which is so, so sad.
And his default is to be a dick in this situation. And he decides that he's going to be rude to her.
So Gav tells Elisha that she needs to keep the ring on because he likes her better with the ring on. So he doesn't take it from her. He tells her to keep it.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: But we get the inner dialogue where he's like, wow, I did that just to be mean.
I didn't really like it, but she was being mean to me.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: No, exactly. And this is what I was like. They're both kind of dicks, and that's why I started getting into them. I was like, they're both kind of dicks to each other, and I appreciate it. I think they deserve each other.
[00:18:58] Speaker B: They do.
But yet you aren't getting that romance vibe between them.
[00:19:06] Speaker A: Look, it comes and it goes. I am not getting they are about to kiss soon vibes. Okay, Right now I'm like, right now, I'm feeling it out. In this point in the story, when I'm reading it, I'm just feeling it out. I'm like, they're kind of dicks to each other. There's something going on. Their banter is a bantering.
[00:19:25] Speaker B: It's nice.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: Because Elisha and Gav are rude to each other. Gav decides that he's going to go and get the knowledge demon after all. And he does his little spell. He figures it out somehow. And the knowledge demon is like, sure, I'll give your memories back to you. You just need to give me a little bit of blood. And Gav is like, okay, fine, whatever. He feels like it's maybe a bad idea, but he decides to give him blood. And in doing so, that means that blood has crossed the boundary that the demon is in and now the demon can get out. So Gav is on the run, which.
[00:20:03] Speaker B: The demon knows because he took it from Gav's memories.
[00:20:08] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:20:09] Speaker B: And this reveals that the demon has all of his memories. And.
[00:20:16] Speaker A: And this is when I was like, everything is kind of not going the way I think it's supposed to. Everything. It just is. Like, it's all over the place. Like, it's.
[00:20:24] Speaker B: I.
[00:20:24] Speaker A: Everything I'm getting is from left field. Nothing is a typical, easy story.
[00:20:30] Speaker B: This is when I'm like, remember that knife thing? Like, no one wanted to give her a knife. And you thought to give the prisoner a knife, and it didn't work out. Well, why are we giving the demon exactly what the demon wants immediately when the demon asks for it without thinking about it? Same vibes. Same vibes. Let's think it through a little bit.
You put a. Put a certain measure in place.
[00:20:57] Speaker A: Maybe don't take that measure away without thinking it through.
[00:21:01] Speaker B: I. I will tell you, this is when there's a point in the story when I start to realize past Gav might have been a better person than everyone thought he was because he thought things through a little bit more and he had certain plans in place. But he could have been just this good guy the whole time. But he, like, made people think that he killed people. He made people think that he killed the goblins whenever they irritated him. Like, he made them think all these things, but the whole time, he was just, like, hiding the fact that he killed off that goblin because the goblin wanted to leave his job and was like, I would like to go be free in the world, or, you know, something like that.
[00:21:45] Speaker A: I think this is unfortunately the case of somebody who was Miserable. Wants to make everybody miserable around them, which is why everybody in the village can't go out. And he's terrible to his employees, and maybe he kills them and whatever, but he's just so unhappy with his life that he decides that he's going to make everybody else unhappy. And because he has no memories, he has no memory of unhappiness. And so he's just kind of doing vibes, and he's like, oh, this is fun. Like, there's. There's no reason for him to want to have other people to be miserable around him. And so he's just hanging out, which is why in the beginning, it's easier for him to just strike out in anger, because that's what he. He used to do, and that's kind of what's ingrained in him. But as he's actually making more memories and actually making joyful experiences, he's able to then make the actual pathways to good action.
[00:22:37] Speaker B: Yeah, that makes sense. I feel like we both have a little bit different theories. So, like, at the end, we're gonna see whether or not he was a good guy before or if he was just. That's. That has to be the ending of this book, is we actually find out what kind of guy he is.
[00:22:52] Speaker A: He has to get his memories back.
[00:22:53] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:22:55] Speaker A: All right, on to chapter four.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: On the next chapter, Gab starts running straight to the princess's cell, which I would not have done that. Like, she's not in danger right now. You going to her puts her in danger, but whatever. Go rescue her for no reason.
[00:23:15] Speaker A: I had that exact thought.
[00:23:17] Speaker B: So he goes and gets her. They are both running now. He's like, telling his goblin captain of the guard or whatever to, like, warn everyone and get out of the way.
But it's just him and the princess, like, running away from this demon. Obviously, it's coming for him. Not even the princess, but whatever.
And they barricade themselves in his workshop. She's, like, trying to help because obviously she doesn't want to die either.
They banned her a little bit, but the demon eventually breaks in.
And the only thing that the princess can do is, like. She's like, I'm gonna burn this one. One of a kind spell. Because you're the knowledge demon, and this is like.
This is the only spell, the only written existence of it. You want to know this, but if you don't let the.
The dark wizard go, then I'll burn this, and that knowledge is going to be lost forever. And the demon was, like, brilliant.
You're Pretty brilliant. I'm not gonna lie. I'm gonna leave now. That was it.
And I respect it.
[00:24:34] Speaker A: Yeah. It was so short. I was expecting. I was not expecting that demon to go on for a long time, but I was expecting the demon to at least finish out this chapter. And this dem. Done by middle of the chapter.
[00:24:46] Speaker B: Yeah. That's all it took. I would have.
I don't think that would, like, would.
[00:24:52] Speaker A: Have worked a one of a kind spell. The problem is it's such extraordinary circumstances to be like, this is a one of a kind spell, and there's no way that you would be able to get it if I burn it right now. Unless you leave.
[00:25:05] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. But also, would the. The demon would know if the wizard knew the spell, right? Because he has his memories.
[00:25:16] Speaker A: That's a good point. Maybe he doesn't know the spell fully. It's just bits and pieces. So you would not be able to fully do the spell.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: Interesting.
[00:25:25] Speaker A: It's not the real knowledge. Secondhand knowledge. I don't know.
[00:25:28] Speaker B: Sorry. Do you ever, like, find a paintbrush and, like, put it on your face? Because I do. Okay. Anyway, so this is when the princess starts to realize that the dark wizard isn't being a bad guy. Like, he was trying to save her, and he's trying to save all his goblins, and he was being nice to all of his goblins lately. And she's like, what is going on? And he's like, I'm trying to be. I'm trying to do something new and be a good person.
And she's like, okay.
And that's really it between them. She goes to bed, everyone's fine, wake up the next day. And he's like, this is the day. I'm gonna be a good person, and I'm gonna be nice.
Today is the day. And he basically starts his day with a meeting with the mayor from town. And she thinks she's gonna be killed, but instead he's like, well, what's your. What would you do if you were me? And she was like, she gave him a bunch of, like, things, and then he counteracted some of them. And then last one, she was like, well, we could have a fair, a garlic festival, and bring in money so that we can buy food for the town. And he was like, yes, I think that would be good.
I'm doing great things for this place. And then he, like, ends that chapter with, man, if. Who knew being nice would be this easy? And immediately I was like, that's the worst thing you can say about Anything in any book is that something is easy. Of course that garlic festival is going to blow up in his face, and then him being nice to everyone is now going to blow up in his face. Because he said it was so easy.
[00:27:15] Speaker A: Yeah, because he was also nice to the princess in this chapter and gave her boats and lantern. And so he was like, look, I've done two good deeds. I'm fantastic.
[00:27:26] Speaker B: I'm a great person.
[00:27:28] Speaker A: But in this chapter, and it was such a small interaction between them, and it wasn't even anything big, but.
Well, I mean, we have a couple of interactions, but this whole. This whole chapter was making me think, okay, they have very strong. Not strong. They have platonic vibes to them. Okay. And so I think that they're gonna fall in love. But also, because this book has not really been going the way I planned it, and it's not a very straightforward book, I feel like it could be kind of fun and kind of subversive if they don't end up together at the end, maybe. I think that she'll ultimately end up in the castle or in the town because she doesn't want to go back to court, and she'll live out her lives without a ring on and everything and just be happy, but I don't know if that's necessarily with him. And I think it could be cool, potentially, if they're not together is my only thing about. Maybe it's not a romance, but it's probably a romance and they're very cute. I'm just saying, platonic could be fun.
[00:28:30] Speaker B: Platonic could be fun, but I think it's a little bit of romance. Romance, Sorry. No, I definitely think it's a romance.
[00:28:41] Speaker A: I do think not to burst. I'm not. I just am not getting kissy kissy vibes from them very soon.
[00:28:48] Speaker B: Maybe by the end we'll have the kissy kissy vibes. Okay.
[00:28:52] Speaker A: I think. Okay, you. You just told me that you needed me to have a prediction by the end of my chapters that we've read to nine, and we're not at nine yet. The bad guys are about to show up. I'm just saying I don't know when a kissy kissy time is going to be.
[00:29:08] Speaker B: I'm gonna tell you when the kissy kissy time is gonna be. Okay?
[00:29:11] Speaker A: Okay. All right, buddy. All right.
[00:29:14] Speaker B: Because don't forget, I have a prediction, too.
[00:29:17] Speaker A: That's true. All right, so chapter five, Gav is in the kitchen, and his main girl in the kitchen is Orla, and he's. She's she's like his main girl in general because she's the one he told that she could wear whatever she wanted because it was an apron that she sewn or. No, it was one of her kids sewed an apron for her. And so then she was able to wear it. And she was super excited about it. Anyway, she's then very excited about being able to do whatever she wants for this menu. And she comes go. She goes running, and then she comes back and she's like, look at my cookbook. I get to do any of these. And he's like, okay, you get to pick one, maybe two.
[00:29:54] Speaker B: All right, two. Yeah, two.
[00:29:57] Speaker A: You get to choose two. This is. I gave you very short notice. All right, choose two things and make it different. Not be raw meat. Okay.
[00:30:05] Speaker B: Maybe put some garlic in there.
[00:30:08] Speaker A: Yeah, add some garlic. And I just love them. I love their relationship. I love everything about them.
[00:30:15] Speaker B: I second that motion.
[00:30:16] Speaker A: They're perfect.
[00:30:17] Speaker B: They are amazing. And I do love them.
[00:30:21] Speaker A: And so he changes his clothes because he's like, I hate this cloak. And wow, I am my own person. I can change my clothes. What if I don't wear this big billing cloak and maybe look like a normal person? And so he puts on normal people clothes and he goes, he hangs out and he's having a great time. And then his steward, who I don't know if we've mentioned, but Cicero. It's not Cicero. It's like Sirico or something. But I. I only read it as Cicero. So Cicero is. Talks to him and he's like, hey, there's an emissary from the palace. And he's like, okay, sure, let me go and meet him. And so Gav meets him, but the emissary doesn't recognize Gav, obviously, because he's normal people clothes and he's not in a bigelowing cloak. And he would assume that the dark warlock would have like a bitline cloak and look more powerful. And so this emissary just goes off about what a terrible place it is and how terrible the service is and how the dark wizard can't even bother to show up and this and that.
[00:31:20] Speaker B: So.
[00:31:21] Speaker A: So Gav gets really, really mad and he goes and puts on extra flamey clothes. His billow now has flames.
[00:31:29] Speaker B: I have to stop you right there. When they said flames, all I could picture was Guy Fury's Hawaiian flame shirt.
[00:31:38] Speaker A: But full length, that's exactly what I was picturing.
[00:31:41] Speaker B: Yes. And I was like, I know this is supposed to be menacing, but it does not seem menacing.
[00:31:49] Speaker A: I Think it's supposed to be menacing, but just the description of it makes it not menacing.
[00:31:55] Speaker B: I'm glad we're on the same page, because I could not stop picturing that.
[00:32:01] Speaker A: Exactly what I was thinking. Yeah.
And so. But he does. Apparently this works on the emissary because he scares the out of him. And he is very, very mad about everything that he said. And the emissary is like, oh, yeah. So if you don't give the princess back, we're gonna start sending a lot of assassins and knights and, you know, other warlocks to come and get her and kill you. So just be aware of that if you don't give her back soon. Okay? I am scared. Goodbye. And Gav is a little bit worried, but he's also preoccupied because this is when he gets the bag from one of his dudes that gave him a creature so that he could put it in his boat.
[00:32:44] Speaker B: Because he was like, hey, do you want me to still get that creature? And this was, like, early in the chapter. And he was like, yeah, yes, still get that creature. And so he went into the sewer, found this, and everybody was, like, being weird about it. They were like, here. And he's like, why do I have to get it? Of course I do. And they're like, here, take it.
And he was like, great idea. I'm gonna open the bag and look at it.
[00:33:14] Speaker A: Well, he didn't know what the creature was. It was old him that asked for the creature. So he's like, oh, creature.
Turns out it's tentacles.
[00:33:23] Speaker B: And the tentacles latch onto his face. Starts strangling him. He's, like, fighting for his life with this creature. Ends up, like, blasting an arm off of it, but it's still alive. And he, like, hands it to his steward and is like, take care of this and put it. Put it in my workshop, basically. And then he's like, all right, I need a bath. He goes and takes a bath. And then by the end of his bath, all of the, like, bruises are still on him. Those, like, suction cup marks from the tentacles, and they're all over him. So when he goes to dinner with the princess, she's like, what is all over your face?
And he. They don't really directly talk about it. They kind of just joke about it to each other.
But it's, like, kind of a cute moment until it's interrupted by being served the food in which poor Orla, our main goblin girl, tried really hard with these recipes, but she could not find enough ingredients for this. This, like, pot pie thing. And she ended up putting like a full skull in there and like, grounded up other things. And it did not look. Did not sound good. And he was like, this is not edible. What else do you have? And she brought out mushrooms that were poisonous. And he was like, no, wait, we can't eat this. And then they were like, you also have bread, but we're actually not even going to trust the bread.
[00:35:00] Speaker A: They end up do eating the bread, but for a while they're like, I don't know if we should trust this bread.
[00:35:06] Speaker B: And the princess just like, at first, she's like, are you trying to fucking kill me? And he was like, no, please be nice. She's trying really hard to impress you. Please be kind.
And this is what I was like, I effing love him.
[00:35:22] Speaker A: It's always even in these points where because she's kind of stuck up, she's been a snob. She's been in the entire life. And so when she has bad service, she's like, what the is this? This is not the service I expect.
[00:35:33] Speaker B: All right?
[00:35:34] Speaker A: And he's like, excuse you. She's trying very hard. This is. I gave her two hour notice to make a completely new menu for us. Okay. She doesn't know what she's doing yet. She's just trying her best. And she's like, what are you doing? Who are you? This is not the person I saw when I first came here. I don't understand.
[00:35:54] Speaker B: And then she offers to help Orlo with the menu. And she was like, have her come to me with her, like, cookbook. And I can, like, tell her what's edible and what's not, which is very nice. I fully support that. Which they. Up until the point we read to, which is the end of chapter nine, they never readdressed that. And I was upset about it. It was something I kept looking for.
[00:36:16] Speaker A: No, I. For sure. Especially because in that time period with everybody having royals and everything, that is such a lady of the house. Like, oh, I'm gonna take care of your manor. Oh, I'm going to plan your meals. I'm going to talk to the servants and make sure that they're doing things properly. Like, she's just integrating herself with the household right now.
[00:36:36] Speaker B: Yeah, a little bit.
And then after this, he walks her to her cell and she goes inside and he's like, actually, do you want to learn magic? And she was like, excuse me? And he's like, yeah, I think you should learn magic. And his reasoning is that if she learns magic, when the bad plan, that he has no idea what it is comes to fruition. She has, like, a way to escape and save herself, which, honestly, I fully support. Because he's not thinking of a way to save the damsel in distress. He's like, I need to help the damsel in distress defend herself.
Which I like that aspect.
[00:37:19] Speaker A: Yeah. And she was so good with the knowledge demon. He's like, maybe once you learn these things, you can actually help me out too. And maybe it'll actually benefit us both by you learning this.
[00:37:29] Speaker B: Exactly. So then he leaves, and the second he leaves, he's, like, in a whirlwind. Like, he's like, I love her.
That he, like, rests his forehead on prison cell door. Which I was like, that's a weird thing to do. But then he hears voices, and it's that guy who came the king sent, and he. They met earlier, and that's when he, like, scared the out of him. He got these, like, magic things that could help him sneak into her cell. And he's, like, trying to rescue her, but she says, hey, I can't leave. This collar around my neck was given to me by the dark wizard. And if I try to leave this premises, I end up screaming in agony and pain and almost want to die. So I literally can't leave.
And I don't even know how you plan to get us out of this cell. Come on, dude. And he kind of. He's giving a. Like, a dumb Prince Charming. Like, Ella Enchanted Prince Charming. Yeah, that's the vibe I was getting from him.
And then he ends up. Obviously, the dark wizard heard all of this. And my man comes in and he's like, come on, really?
And the princess is begging for this guy's life. He's like, all right, fine. Go find some powder for my workshop. And she go. He like, explains that he. Obviously, there's nothing she can do at this point, so she either helps him or he dies anyway. And she goes. And then he change changes the guy into a rooster. And I was like, hell, yeah. Yeah, I fully support that. This is where you were like, oh, he's not a great guy. But I was like, nothing he does is bad.
[00:39:24] Speaker A: I'm not saying that he's not a good guy. I'm saying that in her eyes, this could potentially not put them on a great path towards reconciliation. But it seems like they work it out. They don't have any issues. Next chapter. I'm just saying I was like, this. This could potentially be, like, not a step back, but just her being like, this guy can change Anybody into a rooster at any time. Are we just gonna. Are we just gonna sit here and wait for him to do that to us? But obviously, because she's learning magic, she's fine.
[00:39:54] Speaker B: It's funny that you're on that, like, thought process at this point, because at this point I'm like, actually, he hasn't proven that he's villainous at all.
He has not done anything bad.
[00:40:08] Speaker A: He's perfect, and I love him. So anything that you say about him is incorrect.
[00:40:13] Speaker B: He just changed him into a chicken. He didn't even kill him. Let's be honest.
[00:40:17] Speaker A: He's a rooster even, which is the same genitalia. And he mentions that.
[00:40:22] Speaker B: Yes, he does.
[00:40:26] Speaker A: Now we're at chapter seven, and they're in his workshop cleaning up. And guess what? Because she's technically his prisoner, and there are certain people that still live in his household who think that he is an evil guy, even though he's not, she's not allowed to come up herself, technically. And so she's going to take off her ring in order to work in the workshop with him and learn magic. And I love this because this just brings them closer and closer. And then there's not a facade or any thing that's between them because everything is off. They're their true selves with each other. Which is nice. Which is why I'm like, it's so romantic. It's so romantic. And it is one of those things where, yeah, you. You want to be with the person that you actually want to be with, rather than what is a fake version of them.
They're cleaning up. She kind of has instructions on what to do. And then Gav is cleaning his desk. And while this is happening, then Zam Sams us calls them.
[00:41:24] Speaker B: Wouldn't even tell you. I'm going to say. That's right.
[00:41:26] Speaker A: Yeah. So Xanthus calls, and he is the third member of the trio of the warlocks that are working for Zarkonar. And so there are two other people that he hadn't met, and one was Val, and the other one is Zaxis. And so now he's meeting Zaxis. And Zaxis is a weird dude. He's super weird. He doesn't really understand people, and he wants to make things as purpose perfect as possible. And he also tells Gav that Gav is actually hosting them in a week, so they'll be coming soon to see them for their big plan to unveil. They're almost. They're almost done.
And because Elisha is in the room, cleaning up. When Zaxis calls, even though we tried to hide her, she decides to emerge because of reasons. And so.
[00:42:17] Speaker B: Which they never say no.
[00:42:19] Speaker A: She just decided. Because she was, like, curious, she decided to come out. I'm not sure.
[00:42:23] Speaker B: No, he doesn't even, like, fully see her. He sees, like, her shoulder.
[00:42:28] Speaker A: He sees enough of her to say, hey, Gav, if you want me to pretty up this girl for you, I can definitely pretty up this girl for you. I can give her as many different upgrades as you want. All right? Just. Just give me a ring. Just let me know. And Gav's like, no, no, it's fine. It's.
[00:42:44] Speaker B: She's.
[00:42:44] Speaker A: She's fine. She's good. She's good. You don't. You don't need to worry about her. And he's like, oh, got it. So you're into her. You're.
[00:42:50] Speaker B: You're.
[00:42:51] Speaker A: You guys are throwing down together.
[00:42:53] Speaker B: All right, I see it.
[00:42:54] Speaker A: I mean, respect.
[00:42:55] Speaker B: But it is like that, though.
[00:42:57] Speaker A: It is exactly like that. And then they get off the phone.
[00:43:02] Speaker B: I'm sorry. I'm looking at this note right here where you say they're gonna fall in love. I thought they were just acquaintances.
[00:43:09] Speaker A: I'm not saying that they're not. I'm saying they have potential to be acquaintances, and they have potential to get the best love story ever told. Okay? There is no way about it.
[00:43:19] Speaker B: Okay?
Slippery slope there.
[00:43:24] Speaker A: After they hang up, Elisha goes up to Gavin, is like, you don't know that man even a little bit, do you? You've never met that man before in your life, have you? You keep saying that these are all your old friends, but you don't know these people. And he's like, yeah, you're right. I don't know anything about them. I don't know anything about him. I've never met him before, actually. I don't know anything at all. And he decides to tell her the truth. And, yes, that's when I was like, oh, my God, they're gonna fall in love. Because Caitlyn really said there's gonna be no secrets between them. Okay? Nothing.
[00:43:58] Speaker B: This is the point where I was like, I actually can't believe we revealed this early on. I thought this was going to be a halfway book. Like, halfway through is when that gets revealed. And I didn't even know. I didn't think it was going to be the princess that finds it out first, you know?
[00:44:13] Speaker A: That's what I'm saying. This. This book is very speedy. Not. Not speedy, but it. The timeline goes Very quickly. And I feel like. Because there are such small, little. Oh, we have little, like, little plot points. And so from here, a wizard comes in and tries to kill them and ends up hurting his valet, Girbeetle. And Gav wants to kill the random wizard that comes in, but Elisha's like, no, just take care of Garbutle. And so he puts up a shield, and he's taking care of him and trying to heal him. And then Elisha comes over the back of the wizard and knocks him out. And they end up taking that guy to another cell. And I was like, oh, my gosh.
[00:44:54] Speaker B: They.
[00:44:55] Speaker A: They are totally on board. They're totally on the same team. They. They're just. They're for each other now. They're just ready. They're locked and loaded, except I don't know when their vibes are to ksr, I will say.
[00:45:05] Speaker B: So that wizard that came in is part of the scheme by the king to get his princess back because he's one of the heroes that is coming to try and save her. And there we're expecting a lot more, which is one of the dilemmas and why, in one week, when all of the king's time has expired, all of these heroes come to save the princess. And then at the same time is when this big meeting is between all the villains and the dark wizards.
And it's also the same time as the Garlic Festival. So now, leading into our next chapter, our villain. Our villain, you know, who's not really a villain, is like, I need to cancel my Garlic Festival. And he goes to town to do it.
[00:45:53] Speaker A: And it's for all good reasons, too. He's like, you guys are gonna be in danger. We have to cancel.
[00:45:58] Speaker B: Yeah. He was like, dude, all of these, like, wizard guys are coming to try to save this princess. I don't want you in harm's way. They're not gonna, like, a big crowd. I also. The Dark wizards are here. Like, I don't want them hurting you either.
And this mayor that he's explaining all this to is like, try me. We can hold our own. We're gonna be fine. Actually, let's lean into it.
[00:46:25] Speaker A: Our advertising didn't get very far anyway, so this is a great news.
[00:46:30] Speaker B: Now that the king has put that out there, that's great advertising for us. More people to buy garlic. And then at the very end, she's like, I need someone to fit my garlic costume. And he's like, you can have one of my goblins. It's fine. So she's fully on board, they know about it. He goes back to the palace and he's like, I can't believe all that happened. And he's reeling over it, and he starts. He's in his workshop and he's getting another call. This time it's Zarknar. And he reveals the big reveal, the. The halfway book reveal where he's the one who took our guy's memories. And he has them all. And he, like, they're like, in ashes. And he eats one. And he's like, oh, that was your first kiss. And I was like, that was a little weird.
That was a little awkward. He's like, the girl didn't even like you back anyway.
And I was like, okay, no need to, like, drag him down. You've already got his memories, dude. And then he's. He reveals that he did it just so that he could get him in line because now he only knows the information he wants him to know. And he can keep playing with the princess as long as she stays a virgin, because that's the main aspect. He needs her for. For the spell or whatever.
He can play with her as long as, you know, she keeps that going. He doesn't have sex with her, basically, is the main thing.
And that he'll let him know when he comes for this big meeting.
[00:48:05] Speaker A: When I think Caitlin's gonna say she's acts. I was not. I knew there was going to be a main way reveal, but I was not expecting this to be the reveal. I thought they were going to somehow learn this through the course of the book.
[00:48:15] Speaker B: I did too.
But the next chapter makes it seem like he has taken his memories and he's never getting them back.
And so what he originally thought was he was. Could gradually get them back or, like, learn. He did accept with the Knowledge Demon a little bit that he wasn't getting them back, but he still had a little bit of hope. Like, you could tell. But now he's like, oh, for sure, not happening. So he's working with the princess on her magic. They're trying to get her collar off. Because at this point, he's like, I just want you to be safe. And she's like, if it's between you and me, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna choose to save me or are you gonna save yourself? And he was like, I honestly don't know.
Which is like, he's not a bad guy.
[00:49:03] Speaker A: Okay?
[00:49:04] Speaker B: Ask me that question. I honestly don't know.
[00:49:07] Speaker A: That's true.
[00:49:09] Speaker B: So, yeah, he likes her. He's acknowledged that at this point.
He has a little moment with his goblin. His, like, what do you call him? His attendant.
[00:49:23] Speaker A: I don't think he's a goblin. He's a real person. Cicero is a real person? Yeah.
[00:49:28] Speaker B: I thought he was a goblin this whole time.
[00:49:30] Speaker A: No, he's the only. He's the only other one that's not a goblin, which is why Elisha has to be kept from him, because all the goblins are basically in on it. Well, the goblins don't care, but Cicero will.
[00:49:42] Speaker B: Well, so the dark wizard promised the mayor that he'd wear the God the garlic costume. And now they're having a moment where he's like, do I have to do this?
He was like, what can you do if you're not gonna do this? He was like, I can sing, dude. And he was like, really? And he was like, yeah, and I can, like, play the guitar. And he was like, really?
Okay, get one of the other guys to wear the costume. It's fine. And they have that cute little moment, and I. I enjoyed it.
After that, he starts to see the people gathering in the village. He.
This is the second cute moment of this chapter, and it's like the last thing to happen before were cut off for this episode. And he, like, talks this one kid, and this kid's like, oh, I look up to you. I love you.
How are you such a bad guy? Like, I want to. I aspire to be you. And he's like, how do you do it? How do you. How do you practice this magic? How do you be who you are? And he was like, garlic. His main purpose was to sell garlic at the garlic festival. Festival.
[00:50:53] Speaker A: He's so funny. He's just so funny.
[00:50:55] Speaker B: I loved it. That was the best moment in this book so far. It was perfect. And that's it.
[00:51:02] Speaker A: No. After that, he talks to Orla, and he's like, man, how does it feel when other people, like, I'm trying to be a better guy, and this guy thinks that I'm a terrible person? She's like, oh, don't worry about it. Like, don't worry about what others think. Just try to be the best person you can be.
[00:51:15] Speaker B: She was like, who cares?
[00:51:15] Speaker A: Very sweet.
That's the end of the chapter.
[00:51:19] Speaker B: Yeah. He and Orla have a moment.
[00:51:22] Speaker A: Yeah. And then we know that we're about to go into the big bad situation with the big bads. And I don't even know what their plan is really, to figure out the big bad situation, because they're about to come. They're. They're gonna Be there, like, tomorrow. And I just feel like he's trying to not get killed. And I think that's his only plan so far. I don't know if he has another plan.
[00:51:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's literally his only plan. But, I mean, Caitlyn hasn't given us a hint if he does have a plan.
So that's all we really know, other than he's been working with the princess on her magic. But my theory at this point is that by the end of the book, obviously, you know all the tropes. Dark Wizard's gonna be defeated, Princess is gonna stay with Gav, the goblins are gonna love their master, the town's gonna love their lord, and he's gonna get rid of all the annoying little lanterns in the castle. That make the mood ominous because they've mentioned it, like, four times by this.
[00:52:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:52:17] Speaker B: And it's gonna be fun getting there.
And my last theory is that the big plot twist, because, you know, that's how all books are written, was right before the end, there's a big plot twist. It's gonna be that he and the princess kiss, and then she's gonna find out just how horrible his acts were right before he lost his memory, and it's gonna be through him getting his memories. So all that's going to happen at once, and then we're going to see the fallout and the resolution and everything.
[00:52:49] Speaker A: I thought the big third act was going to be him letting her go and letting her go home, and then her deciding that she's going to end up being with him after all. Very Beauty in the Beast.
[00:52:57] Speaker B: Like I said, I could see that happening.
[00:53:01] Speaker A: Mostly all the things you said, too. Like, they're going to be together in the end. Everybody's going to be happy. Everybody's going to be good.
[00:53:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:53:07] Speaker A: Not tall, folks.
[00:53:09] Speaker B: You don't think that kiss is happening?
[00:53:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I think the kiss is happening.
[00:53:15] Speaker B: Chapter. Kristen, give me a straightforward no mess answer. What's your prediction for the first kiss of the next part of this book?
[00:53:26] Speaker A: Okay, this book has 19 chapters. I think I'm going to say chapter 16.
[00:53:35] Speaker B: All right. And I guess we'll find out next week whether or not that's true.
