Imperfect Rebel with Lupe Farkas

Lupe Farkas
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Imperfect Rebel Podcast is the audio wing of Lupe Farkas’s bookish chaos castle: books, reviews, audiobooks, author chats, witchy rabbit holes, writing chaos, and fictional characters who make terrible decisions beautifully. Hosted by Lupe Farkas — author, ARC reviewer, beta reader, audiobook listener, and lifelong reader powered by Coke Zero, tabs, and poor life-work boundaries. For readers who finish a book and immediately need to investigate what just happened: the feelings, the structure, the damage, the magic, and the sentence that quietly rearranged the room.

Episodes

  1. 4d ago

    George Mak: Perfectly Unmatched, Lefty, Grief & Staying Whole

    In this episode of Imperfect Rebel, I sit down with George Mak, author of Perfectly Unmatched and creator of the NO BOX universe, for a beautifully unfiltered conversation about Lefty, Righty, grief, belonging, loss, identity, creativity, indie publishing, book reviews, AI illustration and what it means to stay whole when life stops looking the way you expected. George tells me how one ordinary sock became Lefty, why losing your pair does not make you half of anything, and the deeply personal story behind Pebble. We talk about Righty, too: the character who barely appears but left me thinking about the person who stays behind and waits. George also tells me what happened when he handed copies of Perfectly Unmatched to strangers on a beach, how readers began passing Lefty from one person to another, and why he chose a small number of carefully researched reviewers instead of sending hundreds of generic ARC emails. And yes, we talk about AI. George explains how he used generative AI tools under his creative direction to build the visual world of NO BOX while writing the story himself. From there, the conversation wanders into creativity, technology, authorship and what should remain human in storytelling. Then George turns the microphone around and asks me what being an Imperfect Rebel actually means. Mistakes. Kindness. Changing your mind. Refusing perfection. And the freedom to become somebody slightly different tomorrow. A small book. Very big subjects. Grief. Belonging. Identity. Love. Difference. Hope. Creativity. And the strange little ways human beings learn to continue. George ended the episode with two words: Stay whole. 🧦 GEORGE MAK / NO BOX Official websitehttps://readnobox.com/ Perfectly Unmatchedhttps://readnobox.com/book/ The Wholeplacehttps://readnobox.com/the-wholeplace/ Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/readnobox/ 🖤 LUPE FARKAS / IMPERFECT REBEL My review of Perfectly Unmatchedhttps://lupefarkas.com/2026/09/15/perfectly-unmatched-george-mak-review/ Websitehttps://lupefarkas.com/ Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/farkas_lupe/ 🩸 Read The Chosenhttps://lupefarkas.com/the-chosen/ 📕 Before October Endshttps://lupefarkas.com/books/before-october-ends/ Kindlehttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H9G3BQHN Paperbackhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HGLWLMYT Imperfect Rebel is a book podcast about authors, writing, indie publishing, ARC reviews, books, reader obsessions and beautifully unfiltered literary conversations. Come join the chaos. 🖤

    George Mak: Perfectly Unmatched, Lefty, Grief & Staying Whole

  2. Sep 23

    Loving Someone Through Addiction | Leslie Reta on Always, Forever

    What happens to the person who keeps everyone else going? Leslie Reta joins Lupe Farkas on Imperfect Rebel to talk about Always, Forever: A Memoir of Love, Addiction, and Letting Go. We talk about loving someone living with addiction, raising a daughter while trying to hold a family together, the financial burden behind the scenes, and becoming so used to fixing everything that peace starts to feel suspicious. Leslie shares how writing began, what readers have recognised in her story, and what she would say to the woman she was while living through it all. She also turns the questions around on me. We talk motherhood, indie authors, writing habits, and somehow end up discussing pancakes. This is how we do things on Imperfect Rebel: a conversation as if we were sitting in a café with a friend. We overlap, get emotional, laugh, swear and follow unexpected turns. Leslie has her coffee in Texas. I have my Coke Zero in Slovakia. Bring your drink and join us. Read my review of Always, Forever:https://lupefarkas.com/2026/08/24/always-forever-by-leslie-reta/ Buy the book on Amazon UK:https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GGJ78T1T Explore Imperfect Rebel:https://lupefarkas.com/podcast/ Leslie's Links: https: //linktr.ee/Retal44?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=a2c99232-efff-4faa-8b51-a9e871a958ed Content note: Discussion of addiction, family distress and strong language.

    Loving Someone Through Addiction | Leslie Reta on Always, Forever

  3. Sep 18

    1,000 Listens, One Book Sale & Taylor Swift Babysitting My Dogs

    Riverside deleted my first 45-minute recording, so welcome to Take Two. No script. No organization. Coke Zero. Five dogs being peacefully supervised by Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. And a lot of yapping. Today I’m catching up on everything happening inside my Indie Author Experiment: receiving my first paperback ARC, discovering sci-fi because Sean Robins wrote an email too funny to refuse, falling in love with more indie books, watching Tumblr somehow come back from the dead, and reaching 1,000 listens on the Imperfect Rebel Podcast. I’m also talking about the authors coming to yap with me next, including Leslie Reta, Sean Robins, George Mak, Elise Posledni, and one bestselling author whose name I am still keeping secret because apparently I enjoy making myself nervous. And yes, the paperback editions of Before October Ends finally arrived in English and Italian. The experiment is only 18 days old, but something interesting is happening: I’m blogging, writing, posting pictures and interacting with people like it’s the early 2000s again. No dancing required. And somehow… it’s working. Welcome back to The Imperfect Rebel Podcast. Come join the chaos. 🖤 LINKS FROM TODAY’S YAPPING 🌻 Lupe Farkas / the home of all this chaos LupeFarkas.com 📊 Follow the Indie Author Experiment and the Journal Read the Journal 📚 Browse all my book reviews Lupe Farkas Book Reviews 🧦 Perfectly Unmatched / NO BOX by George Mak The tiny book that made my daughter, my husband and me cry. Meet Lefty and Perfectly Unmatched 🤖 I’m a Weapon by Sean Robins My first sci-fi book, and apparently all it took to convert me was a combat android with existential problems and an author who writes ridiculously funny emails. Find I’m a Weapon by Sean Robins 🐺 The Marked Path by Ghostwolf Art Thirty pages of tattooing, identity, memory, art and visual poetry. The Marked Path / Ghostwolf Art Books 🖤 Always, Forever by Leslie Reta Read my review before Leslie comes to the podcast and destroys us emotionally in person. Read my Always, Forever review 🧙‍♀️ A New Witch in the Northwoods by Elise Posledni Elise is coming to the podcast too, and yes, I am already demanding Book Two. Read my review Pre-order A New Witch in the Northwoods 📖 Before October Ends: A Life for a Life My book. The one I somehow keep forgetting to market while enthusiastically marketing everybody else’s. Excellent strategy. Read & buy Before October Ends 🎙️ The Imperfect Rebel Podcast hub Episodes, author conversations and evidence that microphones do not make me stay on topic. Imperfect Rebel Podcast 📸 Instagram @farkas_lupe Follow me on Instagram 🌀 Tumblr, because apparently 2007 has returned and I am delighted Lupe Farkas on Tumblr 📚 Goodreads Reviews, ratings, current reads and the increasingly concerning size of my reading pile. Lupe Farkas on Goodreads And Rebels, if you’re already listening, follow the podcast. It costs absolutely nothing. Join the cult. Just kidding. Join the chaos. 🖤

  4. Sep 3

    Ramen, Existential Crises & 85 Minutes with Roie Oknin

    Lupe Farkas sits down with Roie Oknin, author of Ramen, Existential Crises, the book Lupe immediately added to her Top 10 books of all time and permanent annual rereading shelf. Koji is twenty-seven and has spent six years working in a tiny ramen shop with eleven seats, one dish, and noodles that cook for exactly eighty-five seconds. Naturally, Lupe decided that meant Roie’s interview had to last exactly eighty-five minutes. In this episode, Lupe and Roie talk about Koji, routine, silence, indecision, writing emotionally complex characters, and the strange beauty of caring for someone while still allowing them to belong to themselves. They explore Roie’s creative process, the meaning readers bring to a story, and what happens when an author writes a world a reader is not ready to leave. There are existential crises, laughter, emotional damage, approximately one Googlezillion questions, and a very serious discussion about ramen. If you listen to the episode, leave a 🍜 ramen emoji in the comments so we know you joined us at the eleven-seat restaurant. ABOUT THE BOOK Ramen, Existential Crises is available in paperback and as an ebook, including through Kindle Unlimited. Buy on Amazon UK:https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0HDFG28SF Buy on Amazon US:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HDFG28SF Explore the book and find additional international retailers:https://roieoknin.com/works/ramen-existential-crises Add the book on Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/256589144-ramen-existential-crises READ LUPE’S FIVE-STAR REVIEW Lupe called Ramen, Existential Crises one of the ten best books she has ever read. Read the complete review, emotional damage report and her increasingly serious plans to occupy seat twelve forever: https://lupefarkas.com/2026/08/13/ramen-existential-crises/ FOLLOW ROIE OKNIN Website:https://roieoknin.com Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/71654564.Roie_Oknin Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/roie_oknin/ FOLLOW LUPE FARKAS Website:https://lupefarkas.com Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/farkas_lupe/ Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/imperfectrebel Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565263648596 Explore Lupe’s books:https://lupefarkas.com/books/ Read more independent book reviews:https://lupefarkas.com/professional-arc-reader-book-reviewer/ Listen to Imperfect Rebel on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/7EPAz2Y1ydHcfxEIINYcrN CONTACT Authors, publishers and publicists can contact Lupe about selected ARC submissions, author conversations and podcast opportunities at: lupe@lupefarkas.com The Amazon links included above are not affiliate links. Lupe receives no payment, commission or percentage if you purchase or read the book. She simply desperately needs more people to meet Koji so she has someone to discuss him with. Press play, bring your existential crisis and do not forget the ramen. 🍜

    Ramen, Existential Crises & 85 Minutes with Roie Oknin

  5. Aug 29

    Lupe Unsupervised #1: Where I've been...

    No guest. No script. Absolutely no supervision. In the 1st episode of Lupe Unsupervised, I explain why I haven’t posted lately, tell the story of one particularly unconvincing scammer who wandered into my inbox, and finish with an unasked pearl of wisdom because apparently I give life advice now. It’s honest, slightly chaotic and powered by Coke Zero. In other words, exactly what happens when you leave Lupe alone with a microphone.

  6. Aug 12

    I Wrote a Book. Somehow I Became an ARC Reader...

    In the very first episode of Imperfect Rebel, I’m figuring out this whole podcast thing exactly the way I seem to figure out everything else: while doing it. I talk about writing and publishing Before October Ends, discovering that becoming an indie author was nothing like the peaceful publish a book, readers magically appear, move to a house by a lake, and write the fantasy I had in my head, and how that journey accidentally turned me into an ARC reader and book reviewer. We get into ARC reading, indie authors, book reviews, why stars matter, the wonderful and slightly terrifying world of book publishing, what I’m currently reading, and why I decided I needed another place to yap about books, writing, movies, series and whatever else the voices in my head decide is important. There are tangents. I lose my train of thought. A dog snores. I attempt to spell things out loud and immediately decide never to do that again. Nothing is edited. Nothing is particularly under control. Welcome to Imperfect Rebel. 🎙️📚 In this episode: Before October Ends • indie publishing • ARC readers & ARC reviews • book reviewing • indie authors • books & reading • writing • the chaos behind becoming an author ⭐ Follow the podcast and leave five stars. Or, if you’re weird like that lady, four. If you want to connect with me: lupe@lupefarkas.com Where the Chaos Lives: https://lupefarkas.com where the Ugly Posts Live: https://www.instagram.com/farkas_lupe/

  7. Season 1, Episode 1 Trailer

    Welcome to the Chaos - Meet Your Imperfect Rebel

    Welcome to Imperfect Rebel — where books, writing, emotional damage, questionable decisions and the voices in my head all get a microphone. I’m Lupe Farkas: writer, ARC and beta reader, professional overthinker, dog servant and human powered almost entirely by Coke Zero and a to-do list I’m afraid to look at. There are no perfect scripts, no pretending I have my shit together and, whenever possible, no cuts. There may be barking. There will be oversharing. And nobody asked for my opinions, but here we are. Welcome to the chaos, Rebel. 🎙️

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    6 Episodes

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About

Imperfect Rebel Podcast is the audio wing of Lupe Farkas’s bookish chaos castle: books, reviews, audiobooks, author chats, witchy rabbit holes, writing chaos, and fictional characters who make terrible decisions beautifully. Hosted by Lupe Farkas — author, ARC reviewer, beta reader, audiobook listener, and lifelong reader powered by Coke Zero, tabs, and poor life-work boundaries. For readers who finish a book and immediately need to investigate what just happened: the feelings, the structure, the damage, the magic, and the sentence that quietly rearranged the room.

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