This week Desiree and Morgan are reading Discontent by Beatrice Serrano — a debut translated novel from Spain that is part workplace satire, part slow-burn existential unraveling, and entirely too relatable.

We're talking about Marissa: a mid-level marketing employee in Madrid who looks fine from the outside but is quietly dissolving on the inside. She's hiding in her office watching YouTube, surviving on tranquilizers, and dreading the corporate retreat that's about to push her over the edge.

In this episode we dig into:

✦ Why corporate burnout isn't just an American problem — and how uncomfortable that is to admit

✦ The connection between Discontent and My Year of Rest and Relaxation

✦ Faking productivity, stealing ideas from interns, and the particular horror of the workplace retreat

✦ What this book gets right about loneliness and the need for real community

✦ That ending — and why it might actually be Marissa's happily ever after

✦ Fan cast picks for a potential adaptation

⭐ We gave it a 4–4.5 out of 5. It's a great read if you already love the "quietly falling apart" genre — but maybe not the one to hand a beginner reader.

Facts & Fictions is a cozy book club podcast hosted by Desiree & Morgan. New episodes every week. Subscribe so you never miss one.

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We're doing something a little different this week — welcome to our first ever Overdue for a Chat episode. No book breakdown, no deep dive. Just Morgan and Desiree catching up on everything bookish that's been living rent-free in their heads.

Storygraph: @desireereed @morgankline

Instagram: instagram.com/factsandfictionspod

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📚 Books & things mentioned in this episode:

Before I Forget — Tori Hendwood Hoen

The Future Saints

Half His Age — Jeanette McCurdy

Remarkably Bright Creatures — Shelby Van Pelt

Wuthering Heights (upcoming film, Charli XCX soundtrack)

Project Hail Mary — Andy Weir (film adaptation March 2026)

The Astral Library

Heated Rivalry — Emily Rath (TV adaptation)

Photographer: Sylvester Mako

Facts & Fictions is a cozy book club podcast dropping new episodes every Sunday. Subscribe so you never miss one.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Facts and Fictions, Desiree & Morgan are discussing Crux by Gabriel Tallent. Tallest describes the book as:

“It’s about two down and out kids, one of them is good at school “American golden child,” one of them is a mouthy burnout lesbian who everyone hates because she won’t stop talking about periods. At night they escape their houses and they run out into the desert to go climb shitty sandbag boulders in an obscure parking lot together spotting each other and lighting the climbs with flashlights and joking and talking about life. So it’s about having this passion, and something you want to pursue as a young person but being a little too down and out to really pursue it safely.”

We discuss the intense family dynamics, the eternal battles Dan & Tamma face, and our thoughts on the book as a whole.

If you've read Crux we would love to know your thoughts!

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