Barrowbound is built around a love of reading — and the people who love to read. Our community is somewhere we want everyone to feel welcome, safe, and genuinely glad they showed up. These guidelines exist to keep it that way.
The short version: Be kind. Be honest. Talk about books. Don't be a troll.
If you're an author, Barrowbound is genuinely glad you're here — not just as a reader, but as a creator. We have a dedicated Authors & ARCs forum category where you're warmly welcome to share your books, announce upcoming releases, post cover reveals, seek ARC readers, and connect with the reading community.
What's welcome in Authors & ARCs:
Please keep author promotion within the Authors & ARCs category — general forum areas are for reader discussion.
Targeting, threatening, or repeatedly bothering another user. Disagreeing with someone's review is fine. Making their life difficult because of it is not.
Content that attacks people based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, nationality, or any other characteristic is not welcome here and will be removed. New Zealand's Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 applies.
Any content that sexualises, exploits, or endangers minors — in any form — will result in immediate account termination and referral to the relevant authorities. No exceptions.
Reviews and forum posts should reflect your genuine reading experience. Posting AI-generated reviews as your own is not in the spirit of this community and may be removed.
Unsolicited promotion in general forum areas is not permitted. Authors are welcome in the dedicated Authors & ARCs category.
Deliberately spreading false information — about books, authors, or anything else — is not in the spirit of this community.
Use the spoiler tag. Always. Even if the book came out 30 years ago. Especially if the book came out 30 years ago.
Don't pretend to be another user, author, or member of the Barrowbound team.
This includes pirated books, links to illegal download sites, or any content that violates applicable law.
Your reviews belong to you and we value honest ones — including negative ones. A review that says "I absolutely hated this" is valid. A review that attacks the author as a person rather than the book is not.
Review bombing — leaving negative reviews not based on your actual reading experience — is not permitted.
Owners of book clubs are responsible for setting the tone of their group. Barrowbound reserves the right to remove clubs that violate these guidelines even if the violation happens within a private group.
If you see something that violates these guidelines, please report it using the report button in the app or contact us at hello@barrowbound.app. We review every report.
Depending on severity:
We aim to be consistent and fair. If you think a moderation decision was wrong, email hello@barrowbound.app and we'll take another look.
Reading is personal. A book that changed your life might leave someone else cold. That's completely fine. What matters is that we're all here because we care about reading — and we're able to treat each other with the decency that deserves.
Happy Reading. 📚