The social reading platform's new look is only twenty years too late.

"Author Lena McDonald is blatantly using AI to mimic other popular author's writing styles" Reddit A fantasy romance author is facing backlash after readers discovered an AI-generated prompt accidentally left in the published version of her book, sparking renewed criticism of AI use in self-published fiction.With the rise of generative AI tools, more authors have turned to software for brainstorming, editing, or even drafting entire scenes. But when remnants of AI prompts make it into the final books, fans and fellow writers see it as both careless and unethical.Author Lena McDonald's AI slip-up came to light when readers noticed an editing note embedded in chapter three of her book "Darkhollow Academy: Year 2," referencing the style of another author."I've rewritten the passage to align more with J. Bree's style, which features more tension, gritty undertones, and raw emotional subtext beneath the supernatural elements," the passage read.The sentence, seemingly left over from an AI prompt, appeared in the middle of a romantic scene. While the book has since been quietly updated on Amazon to remove the passage, screenshots of the gaffe continue circulating on Reddit, where fans have dubbed the incident "so embarrassing." Comment by u/fox_paw44 from discussion in ReverseHarem Comment by u/fox_paw44 from discussion in ReverseHarem Additionally, the discovery sparked swift backlash from Goodreads commenters accusing the author of deceiving fans with "AI generated slop," dropping her rating drastically."Is this the author using AI to 'write' books? Because it seems she is. I urge people to do the research, people are posting screenshots of an AI prompt left in the text," one commenter said."This author is a blatant thief who uses generative AI to mimic other authors' voices," another added.McDonald, who also publishes under the name Sienna Patterson, has not responded publicly and appears to have no active online presence, making her difficult to reach for comment.© 2025 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Readers were annoyed to discover something galling: evidence that an author used AI, right in the middle of a novel.The novel, titled "Darkhollow Academy : Year 2," penned by author Lena McDonald, falls under a romance subgenre called "reverse harem," which conventionally follows a female protagonist with multiple male partners.But as eagle-eyed fans of the genre were irritated to discover, the author left glaringly obvious evidence of not only using an AI chatbot to write portions of the book — but also of a naked attempt to copy the style of a real fellow writer."I've rewritten the passage to align more with J. Bree's style, which features more tension, gritty undertones, and raw emotional subtext beneath the supernatural elements," a since-deleted passage in chapter three of the novel reads, as seen in screenshots posted to the ReverseHarem subreddit earlier this month.J. Bree is the human author of an internationally bestselling series of romance and fantasy novels.The instance is yet another illustration of how Amazon is being flooded with self-published AI slop, a trend that has been going on ever since the tech went mainstream a few years ago. It's a real problem for human authors, too, with AI-generated books drowning out their work in search results pages.In one particularly egregious example, author Jane Friedman discovered back in 2023 that roughly a dozen books were being sold on Amazon with her name on them.Understandably, the small ReverseHarem community on Reddit was outraged after McDonald was caught blatantly using AI to rip off the voice of a real author."I just about fell out of my chair when I read this!" wrote the user who shared the screenshots."I got the book to provide secondary confirmation that this is real," another user chimed in. "Which means everyone has now read part of the book, which qualifies for a Goodreads rating, and possibly even Amazon."Readers tore into the book in a storm of one-star reviews."This was written with generative AI, as is clear by the prompt that was left in the book before uploading to Amazon," one disgruntled reviewer wrote. "I will support authors in many, many ways, but generative AI is theft and it’s not a replacement for actual writing.""I would assume all of her other writing uses AI as well, as book 1 of this series released 1/24/25, book 2 on 3/13/25, and book 3 on 3/23/25," one GoodReads reviewer wrote. "That's faster than Steven King."A book reviewer account called Indie Book Spotlight put it a lot more bluntly in a Bluesky post."F**k you if you steal and copy authors’ works," the user wrote. "F**k you if you use gen ai and call yourself a writer. You’re an opportunist hack using a theft machine."McDonald's blunder is just the tip of the iceberg. Two other purported authors identified by Indie Book Spotlight were caught dabbling with generative AI to churn out novels.Earlier this year, a writer who goes by KC Crowne was also seemingly caught leaving ChatGPT prompts in the text of their work."Thought for 13 seconds," one passage of a book titled "Dark Obsession" on Amazon reads, as seen in screenshots posted to the RomanceBooks subreddit in January. "Certainly! Here's an enhanced version of your passage, making Elena more relatable and injecting additional humor while providing a brief, sexy description of Grigori."Crowne's Amazon page features a whopping 171 titles, each adorned with an AI-generated cover of topless, tattoo-covered men."International Bestselling Author and Amazon Top 8 US Bestseller," the author's bio reads.A third writer, who goes by Rania Faris, was also caught using an AI chatbot."This is already quite strong, but it can be tightened for a sharper and more striking delivery while maintaining the intensity and sardonic edge you're aiming for," reads a passage one Threads user discovered in a printed copy of Faris' book.Oddly enough, Crowne's novels are getting predominantly positive reviews on GoodReads, indicating they have found their niche, and readers may either not care or not be aware of the use of AI.Users on Bluesky were sharing theories as to why."Oh wow, I just caught up on the KC Crowne AI thing," award-winning Canadian author Krista Ball wrote in a post back in January. "So setting aside the AI prompt left in the book, I am amazed that this wasn't mentioned anywhere by the early readers, the street team, etc - which leads into my paranoid theory that a percentage of readers are just skim reading.""Remember back in the day when writing fast was like a good reputation builder?" she added. "Now it's sus as all hell."Neither McDonald nor Faris has publicly listed contact information. Crowne, at least, is taking accountability for the situation."Earlier this year, I made an honest mistake," Crowne wrote in an email to Futurism. "I accidentally uploaded the wrong draft file, which included an AI prompt. That error was entirely my responsibility, and that's why I made the tough decision to address it publicly."Crowne claimed that "while I occasionally use AI tools to brainstorm or get past writer’s block, every story I publish is fundamentally my own," saying that "I only use AI-assisted tools in ways that help me improve my craft while fully complying with the terms of service of publishing platforms, to the best of my ability."AI or not, Crowne has somehow published 171 novels over the last seven years.Whether the use of generative AI in self-published books on Amazon breaks any rules remains somewhat unclear. An Amazon spokesperson pointed us to the company's content guidelines, which govern "which books can be listed for sale, regardless of how the content was created."The guidelines have an entire subsection dedicated to the use of AI, which stipulates that "AI-assisted content" is permitted and sellers aren't even "required to disclose" its use. However, any "AI-generated images include cover and interior images and artwork" have to be labeled as such.The internet at large is also facing an existential threat in the shape of an AI slop tsunami. Do we really need to extend that trend to 300-page fantasy novels to read on the subway to work?Self-published authors who are trying to stand out in an already busy marketplace aren't hopeful."They bring down the reputation of those of us who don't touch AI to write our books," author Catherine Arthur tweeted. "Being tarred with the 'self-published = written by AI' label is not good, and if they don't stop, then that's what may happen."Share This Article

We may earn a commission from links on this page.I used to regularly read more than 125 books a year, each meticulously logged on my Goodreads profile. I read during my commute and to wind down at night. I always had a paperback in my bag or an audiobook in my ears.Then I got a smartphone. Then I got on Twitter. Then the 2016 presidential election happened. Then there was a pandemic, and for a while I stopped commuting altogether.With every year, it seemed like there were more things to spiral about online, and less hours in the day to relax with a novel or read some stimulating non-fiction. Suddenly I found it hard to meet my much more modest reading goals, which dropped to 75, then 50, then 30 books a year. In 2023 and 2024, I set my sights on finishing just 20 books (including graphic novels and stuff I read aloud to my kids). I still had to cram at the end of the year to manage even that comparatively sluggish pace.But things are different in 2025. It's May, and I've already met my 20-book reading goal (which I'll soon be increasing), and I owe it all to my Boox Palma 2, a phone-shaped e-reader I can easily carry with me wherever I go. Boox Palma 2 E-Reader $299.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $299.99 at Amazon A device so good it has a cult followingAs I noted in my review of the Boox Palma—the now discontinued, nearly identical predecessor to the Palma 2—it's one of the most lovable electronic devices I have ever owned. It's a near perfect marriage of form (the easy-on-the-eyes e-ink screen popularized by Amazon's Kindle, a compact size) and function—with an open Android operating system and access to the Google Play store, you can use it to run reading apps from a variety of retailers, listen to audiobooks with Bluetooth headphones, or get a little work done on productivity apps like Gmail and Google Docs. At a time when increasing numbers of people are opting to make the switch to a "dumb phone" to escape the pull of their screen addictions, the Palma occupies a rather unique spot in the market: While it can do a great deal more than your standard Kindle, it still feels clunky and slow in comparison to your smartphone, but in the best way. It doesn't have a cellular connection, so if you aren't on wifi, you'll be unable to use the internet or update your social feeds. The black and white display means using it is soothing instead of stimulating, while still scratching that "gotta pull out my device" itch. Its quirky qualities have garnered it a cult following of sorts (ironically, adherents gather to discuss the device on Reddit and TikTok, two places to avoid if you want to get any reading done).The perfect form factorLeaving aside all the things social media and app developers do to make their products addictive, I struggle with regulating my phone use for the sole reason that my phone is always with me. It's how I keep in touch with my spouse and kids and it has effectively replaced my wallet, therefore it must be in my pocket at all times and hey, I might as well pull it out at every idle moment to check my notifications. Yes, I could carry a book or a standard-sized e-reader to look at instead, but that requires carrying a bag of some kind (or large pockets), and it's hard to beat the convenience of something you can shove into any pair of jeans.Well, the Palma 2 can be shoved into any pair of jeans. It has basically the identical form factor as most smartphones, and can even occupy the same pocket as my iPhone 14. This means that when I'm standing in line at the post office, or waiting for the train, or trying to maintain my balance on the train and with only one hand free, I can effortlessly pull out my e-reader instead of my phone and absorb a few pages rather than frantically trying to refresh my Bluesky feed at subway stops.Slow and kinda clunky (in a good way)If the Palma 2 can access the Google Play store, what's to keep you from loading it up with all of the apps that already make your smartphone so addictive? Nothing! Go for it—stick Bluesky on there. Add Facebook and Instagram if you've yet to flee Meta's ecosystem. You can even load up video-based apps like YouTube and Netflix and time-wasting games like Subway Surfers.If you do, though, you'll quickly find that none of them are that enjoyable to use. Though Boox readers' e-ink displays employ variable refresh rate tech that makes them infinitely faster than early generation Kindles (where you could pause for a heartbeat between pressing a key on the virtual keyboard and actually seeing the text appear on the screen), even in the fastest modes they are only a fraction as responsive as a phone or tablet's LED screen. So while you certainly can use your Palma 2 to scroll social media or watch a few TikToks, you won't particularly want to, because it's kind of bad at them, but in a way I love: The device is optimized for reading text or comics (particularly black and white manga), and it presents that material so well, and so conveniently, that I want to carry it around with me everywhere so I can read on it all the time.So far, it's going well: As I said, I've already hit my 20-book reading goal for the year. In the meantime, if you're looking for books you can binge to get you out of a doomscrolling funk, I recommend the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman. After picking up the first one in February, I blew through the seven thus-released books (ranging in length from 400 to 800 pages) in about six weeks. And yes, I read every word of them on my Palma 2.

Exciting news for anyone who’s already burned through the entirety of Netflix: There’s a new online movie rental platform coming to town. Letterboxd, the movie-tracking app and the preferred social media of your most insufferable film-loving friend, announced this week that the Letterboxd Video Store is on the way. The announcement was made Tuesday at the Cannes Film Festival. While the company hasn’t revealed too many specifics just yet, we do know the upcoming streaming service will be called the Letterboxd Video Store and will feature curated “shelves” of handpicked titles. Like other services such as Prime Video, Apple TV, or Google Play, users will be able to rent films on demand or during specified release windows. But don’t expect the usual lineup. These selections will be carefully curated by Letterboxd, spotlighting lesser-known films, emerging filmmakers, and titles from the festival circuit. By showcasing movies that haven’t yet secured wide distribution, Letterboxd aims to position its transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) service as a “potential new path to audience connection for filmmakers and sales agents seeking visibility and momentum.” Details around launch dates, availability by territory, and specific titles will be announced in the coming months. However, the company has confirmed that selections will be informed by “behavioral insight” drawn from its 20 million-strong community of dedicated film lovers. Launched in 2011, the platform, often dubbed the “Goodreads for film,” remained a niche hub for cinephiles for nearly a decade. By mid-2020, it had only 1.8 million members. Today, Letterboxd has gone fully mainstream. Top reviewers enjoy micro-celebrity status, its “Four Favorites” trend routinely goes viral on TikTok, and users gleefully speculate about celebrities’ burner accounts. “Every day, we see members recommending films to each other, adding to their watch lists and hungry to discover more,” Letterboxd CEO Matthew Buchanan said, per The Hollywood Reporter. “Letterboxd Video Store is our way of delivering for those film lovers, creating a dedicated space for films that deserve an audience.”