What happens when a tiny bookshelf grows into a thriving bookish community? 📚

In this episode of The BookTok B*tch*es, Lola and Gill are joined by Tamsin to get behind the scenes of ScribeFest and Scribe & Sign. ❤️

From Tamsin's leap from construction into the world of books, to creating warm, accessible spaces where authors and readers can genuinely connect. 💜

They talk indie authors, book festivals, travelling bookshops, social media pressure, the power of personal connection and why readers are craving more human experiences around the books they love. ❤️

Expect honest opinions, plenty of laughs and a whole lot of bookish passion - plus a reminder that you don't need a huge budget or a big platform to build something people want to be part of. 💙

If you love books, authors and the stories behind the people creating the community around them, this one's for you. 📚🎙️

Dark romance. Splatterpunk. Extreme horror. Thriller chaos and absolutely zero patience for boring book talk. 😍

In this episode, Lola, Gill and Joshua Reads dive into the books they can't stop talking about, from Saving Noah and Hashtag Missing to Ingest Me and Crawl Space. Also the wildly different reasons a book can earn five stars, six stars, or a hard "do not recommend casually." 📚

Joshua gets brutally honest about being recruited by Gina the Book Whore, his infamous 6-star vomit scale, his obsession with extreme horror and why Al-written reviews are a line he refuses to cross.

Gill brings the thriller-girl perspective, talking forensic crime, audiobooks and the book making her crave more story and less smut. Lola gets into her fascination with splatterpunk, literary gut-punches and the weirdest corners of masculinity and incel culture. 📚❤️

Expect strong opinions, questionable reading choices, emotional damage and the kind of unfiltered book chat that goes from five-star recommendations to absolute chaos in seconds.

If you want polished, predictable book reviews... probably keep scrolling.

If you want honest opinions, dark recommendations and three readers completely unafraid to say what they really think then press play. ❤️

BookTok drama, dark romance chaos and an honest conversation about how the boundaries between author and readers are blurred through the accessibility of Booktok. This episode is for readers who want the unfiltered truth behind the reviews. 📚

Gill and Lola are back with their usual chaos, but this time the conversation cuts deeper. What happens when authors start guilt tripping readers for anything less than five stars? 🤪

Gill and Lola dig into the toxic side of BookTok culture, including the pressure creators feel to praise books publicly, the risk of overhyping a book before you finish it and why constructive criticism should never be treated like betrayal. They also talk about the reality of reviewing as a reader, how to protect your peace online and why access between authors and readers can get messy fast. 🫤

You'll also get a full reading update from both hosts, including Gill’s latest thrillers and crime reads, Lola's current dark romance fixation and the books that have them both hooked, bored or completely horrified. From mafia spice and miscommunication tropes to a book so graphic Lola had to describe it as toe fungus and bodily fluids, nothing is off limits. 😮

We break down the tension between indie authors, ARC reviews, five-star expectations, and the unspoken rules of reviewing online. If you've ever wondered why some books explode on BookTok while others quietly disappear, or why a single message from an author can change the way you see an entire series, this conversation gets into it. 🙂

They also look ahead to ScribeFest, their upcoming live-ish podcast recording, special guest Joshua Reads, and the growing list of authors, readers, and BookTok friends joining the chaos. Add in a Verity movie update, a Dracula audiobook tease and a few unhinged side quests about bookcases, cursing children and dark romance on motorcycles and you've got an episode that is equal parts hilarious, candid and dangerously relatable. 📚

Perfect for readers who love spicy takes, honest reviews and the kind of BookTok banter that feels like gossip with your smartest, funniest book friends. ❤️