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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet

@rr4idic

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My book is out: The Cloak and Its Wizard! SFF writer by night, data scientist by day, astrophysicist by training, Star Trek fan all the time.

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this has been an excellent year for reading. i made a netgalley account in 2016 but didn’t really understand at the time how to use it or what it was for, so i abandoned it and never thought about it again. then in january, one of my favorite writers decided to self-publish, and i was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of her novella. (thank you @charlieamenbooks for my first ARC!)

from there, instagram started showing me ads for ARCs. i’m a highly curious person who will click on links, so naturally, it spiraled to booksirens, email lists that would later forward me ARCs through bookfunnel, and finally @netgalley. (“so this is what it’s for, i see.”) a whole new world!!!

in the meantime, i continued borrowing nonfiction audiobooks from the library. my thought process: if i’m not approved for an ARC yet, it doesn’t exist! or something like that.

panic set in once more approvals hit and ARCs started coming my way. i get so enthusiastic about books and their potential, sometimes i don’t account for reality—what it feels like to *actually* read a book with that summary or set of tropes. once i started reading, i realized some weren’t quite what i enjoy reading, and i struggled with guilt around DNFing ones that were not a good fit. i dove into some series by kj charles to help restore momentum, but that didn’t whittle down my TBR/currently reading list at all (obviously).

so i started fine-tuning based on what i know i enjoy and want to read more of. things that energize me in fiction: realistic and visible character development, romance with deserved tension, a world that’s more than just a backdrop. (i included my 2026 faves!)

things that tend to take me out: overexplanation/repetition, passive protagonists, and plots that are so action-forward, emotions don't have time to land. still not sure how to *avoid* those books as summaries often aren't indicative of that.

anyway, the point is not to get more ARCs, it's to get ones that are a good fit for me. i’m still working on getting my queue under control, but being stricter with future requests will help!

how do you vet books? do you have any dealbreakers you check for?

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Your next favourite cosy, funny fantasy ⭐ The Cloak and Its Wizard ⭐
Because every wizard needs an accessory with attitude.

#TheCloakAndItsWizard #FantasyBooks #CozyFantasy #WhimsicalFantasy #HumorousFantasy #ModernMagic #FantasyReaders #Bookstagram #BookTok #IndieAuthor #BookishHumor #WizardsAndMagic #FantasyAdventure #BookRecommendations

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