Tag: romance

Welcome to my small corner where the romances are questionable and the list of books we need to read grow ever longer.

Today I will be covering the best romantasy books I have read, starting with number 5. These will be more in-depth than my previous recommendations and will be spoiler-free. But if you are a new reader, refer to the previous post for recommendations; these will be more of a general overview of the genre.

Number 5

Now, starting at number 5, we have The Book of Azriel.

This is an uncomplete adult series with only four books currently out. I have read all four; however, the first book is my favorite by far. This follows a woman named Diana on her journey to find the Book of Azriel. This is urban fantasy with enemies-to-lovers. I loved the slow-burn romance between our main couple.

Diana is the perfect example of female rage, and this series has the reverse trope of the female character being the villain rather than the male character. We also get a great found family, which is one of my favorite tropes! The main downside to the series is that these books get fairly long in some parts, dragging out the story. I remember one scene in the second book where we spend fifty pages playing volleyball on the beach.

But the endings are always packed full of action and twists. I love intense endings!

Number 4

Number 4 is Alchemised.

This is a standalone adult book. I love standalones because they are great if you don’t want to commit to a lengthy series.

Please check your trigger warnings for this book because it does cover a lot of sensitive topics, and it is such an emotional journey.

This was my obsession for weeks last October. We are following Helena, a healer rebel in a war-torn world, as she tries to recover her memories of the past and what led to her being captured and enslaved by the ruling government. This book is based on the fanfiction Manacled, which, if you don’t know, is a Draco and Hermione fic from the Harry Potter universe.
I would describe this book as Harry Potter meets The Handmaid’s Tale.

It has such a twisted romance that tugged on my heartstrings. The twists are devastating and traumatic. Helena is such a strong female main character, and the themes covered in the story about the use of religion to marginalize women are so on point.

Number 3

Number 3 is One Dark Window.

This is a completed adult duology. We are following a girl named Elspeth who has a monster living in her head called the Nightmare. She goes on a quest to cure the kingdom of the dark magic and meets a handsome Captain along the way.

This has such a unique magic system, and to this day I have not read anything like it. I loved the imagery in the book. It is very dark and gothic. We are placed in this small town surrounded by fog, which no one goes beyond.
And we also travel through a lot of forest, and it starts to get more abstract in the second book, which I loved!

Number 2

Number 2 is Crescent City House of Earth and Blood.

This is an uncomplete adult series with three books currently out. I will have a later post on the Maasverse, so I won’t go into too much detail as far as reading order. Just know that you have to read some of her other books before these.

This is urban fantasy and has been compared to reality TV, but make it Zootopia. I would agree; however, it makes for an action-packed series full of different fantastical beings like mermaids, fae, angels, werewolves, vampires, and witches.

We are following a half-fae, half-human woman named Bryce as she teams up with a fallen archangel to investigate the death of her best friend. From here, we uncover so many conspiracies within their government.

I love the found family, and the romance in the first book is one of SJM’s best. The second book literally had me running circles around my room with all the twists.

And drumroll…..

Number 1

Number 1 is Curious Tides.

This is a completed, underrated young adult trilogy. I have only read the first two, and the last is still on my to-be-read list.

The magic system is based on the phases of the moon, which is super unique, and we are set at a magical college. I always love academia settings.

We are following Emery in her sophomore year as she recovers from a tragedy; she was a part of it last spring, when her roommate and others disappeared. Now, the bodies of these missing students are suddenly showing up on the beach near the school, alive but dead! Now Emery teams up with her childhood best friend Baz to figure out what is going on.

I was so sucked into the story and the scope; the second book takes it even crazier. The romance also does not follow what you think it will do, making the story more unique.

Honerable Mentions

Here are some honorable mentions: The Cruel Prince, Long Live Evil, and Shadow and Bone. All of these are great stories with more unique elements and lots of feminine rage. Also, with great romances! I think about Cardan and Jude from The Cruel Prince an unhealthy amount.

Also check out this video by an awesome creator I follow, The Book Leo for more amazing recommendations.

I hope you gained at least one good book from this list!

My next post will be about the new ACOTAR book finally coming out.

Welcome to my small corner where the romances are questionable and the list of books we need to read grow ever longer.

Today I will be covering the elements of what Romantasy is and giving some of my personal recommendations of where to begin in the genre.

What is Romantasy?

Romantasy, in simple terms, is a book that has a mixture of both fantastical elements and a romance plotline that has an effect on the story. This is a “new” genre of books that has been emerging in popularity on social media, and many publishing houses and authors have been capitalizing on it. These include both adult and YA romantasy. Adult books usually have more graphic scenes, while YA, which stands for young adult, is written for a younger audience (ages 13-18).

However, what exactly is deemed a “romantasy”? This is harder to define because books that are fantasy and also have romance subplots have been around a lot longer than just recently. Now, these books are also being put under the umbrella term of “romantasy”.

I will do my best to include the most popular in my recommendations for new readers, as these have been “verified” romantasy as deemed by the community.

I am not going to give recommendations based on trope or the amount of spice in this post because, if you are starting out, it is likely you don’t know what tropes you like or how much spice you might want to read. I know I didn’t. But let me quickly explain what I mean by this.

Spice in books essentially means smut scenes. I won’t go too much into detail because spicy books are not really what I enjoy reading; however, usually adult romantasy has scenes. While ya romantasy usually has closed-door spice, which essentially means what happens is implied and not on the page.

Tropes are anything in literature that repeats over and over again. Some examples are “the chosen one” and “enemies to lovers”.

So, instead, I am going to break down my recommendations by the amount of fantasy versus romance plotlines without getting into too much detail about all the subgenres of fantasy because, at times, there is some overlap. Also, just to clarify, in this post I am only recommending books I have read!

These are just a starting point, and it does not mean new readers are going to find a five-star book immediately.

The truth is, it takes time and experimenting to figure out what books work the best for you. It took me about a year.

New readers: Recommendations of where to start!

I recommend that new readers start with romantasy that has fewer fantastical elements and lots of romance. Especially if you are a romance reader looking to get into romantasy.

Some good books for this would be:

1. Assistant to the Villain
This is a funny laugh out loud slow burn adult romance. This story follows a young woman who literally becomes the assistant to the villain. The two begin to fall for one another but can never quite get it right.

The romance is agonizing, but I still had a fun time. The worldbuilding is also very easy to understand. This series is currently unfinished and has only four books out as of this posting.

2. Caraval/Once Upon a Broken Heart
These are two completed interconnected YA trilogies. I recommend reading Caraval before Once Upon a Broken Heart just because of spoilers for the series. However, you don’t have to do that.

Caraval follows a girl named Scarlet whose sister goes missing and has been kidnapped by the leader of a circus group called Caraval. The story is very twisty, and the romance is very cute. The worldbuilding relies mostly on the abstract idea of magic and the game of Caraval itself.

You can never trust any men in Stephanie Garber books!

Once Upon a Broken Heart takes place in the same world and follows different characters. I much prefer the romance in these books and the story feels very much like a fairy tale.

3. Belladonna
Belladonna is a completed YA trilogy that follows a girl who can see ghosts and falls in love with death. Yes, death is a real person in this story! The story is gothic and perfect for a fall time read.

Balance of Romance/ Fantasy

I would also recommend starting with books that have 50% romance and 50% fantasy. These have a balance between the romance and fantasy elements without the fantastical elements being too overwhelming.

Some good books for this would be:

1. Divine Rivals
   This is a completed YA duology. Lovely romance involving war and gods!
2. A Court of Thorns and Roses
   This is an incomplete adult series with five books out. Very popular!
3. Lightlark
   This is an incomplete YA series with four books out. Fun and fast-paced with games and trials! Also, a love triangle.
4. Kingdom of the Wicked
   This is a completed YA trilogy. Enemies-to-lovers involving witches and the circles of hell.
5. Defy the Night
   This is a completed YA trilogy. This one has healer and prince vibes! Also, it has pirates.

For all readers: Some great content creators who cover romantasy

1. Cari can read
   She covers a mix of all genres, and her content is engaging. She will do monthly wrap-ups, and I really enjoy her spoiler-free reviews.
2. Jamie Fok
   She reads mostly fantasy but has recently been branching out more. Her content is very structured and organized. She does monthly tbr’s (to-be-read) and wrap-ups. As well as vlogs covering her current reads.
3. JustAli
   She reads a good mixture of fantasy and romance. Her videos are very cozy and relaxing to watch. Good to put on in the background while you’re doing something else! I love watching all the unique book challenges she does.

I hope you get something out of this post!

My next post will be talking about the overall top 5 best romantasy books according to me.

Welcome to my small corner where the romances are questionable and the list of books we need to read grow ever longer.

Hi, my name is Samantha, and welcome to my Romantasy blog!

Today I will be covering who I am and what this blog is about, as well as its scope.

I started my reading journey about three years ago. I originally read a lot of mystery thriller books, which at the time was my favorite genre. But then I picked up my first fantasy book, A Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. This series changed me with its fantastic world-building and romance. I never looked back; from then on, I picked up as many romantasy books as I could get my hands on.

I read all the most popular romantasy books: ACOTAR, Fourth Wing, The Bridge Kingdom, and The Serpent and the Wings of Night. I quickly discovered I was not one for much spice in books; however, I do understand the appeal. Many of my recommendations in this blog will more than likely lean toward books that do not have much spice. (If you’re a new reader confused by what spice is, don’t worry; I will explain that in my first post!)
Then I started getting into more niche books until I walked into Barnes & Noble and felt like I had read the whole genre. I have read close to 400 books since I started my reading journey.

I still read a mix of genres, but my favorite by far is romantasy.

This is my Goodreads and Fable. I write my reviews on Fable. Quick note on my rating system: I usually do not rate books lower than 3 stars, and I do use a quarter-star rating scale. 5-star books to me are absolute perfection, meaning I did not find fault in anything with the book, or it had immaculate vibes. If you know, you know.

Now, I want to start a blog on romantasy because of how much I like the genre and how many books I have read. I will be posting once a week for eight weeks, with each post covering a different topic related to romantasy.

The blog will start with what romantasy is and where to start in the genre. I remember when I first started, I was overwhelmed by all the recommendations. I was getting books that were recommended by different tropes, by the amount of worldbuilding, and the amount of romance/spice when I did not even know what I liked or what any of that meant.

I also struggled at first to find the people I wanted to follow to curate my recommendations to what I liked. So, my blog will help with that!
I will also cover the top 10 best romantasy books (according to me) based on all that I have read, without spoilers.

I will then move into more serious topics I would like to address within the romantasy genre that can be helpful to both new readers and people looking for more unique recommendations.

Such as the overrepresentation of straight white romance. I will give recommendations of queer romantasy and books written by minority authors that I have read. I firmly believe reading should be a safe space for everyone, and no matter what you are reading, as long as you are reading, it still has value.

I will be discussing the dilemma of book boyfriends within the romantasy genre, as most are walking red flags. And I will write about my personal favorites and why, without spoilers, of course!

In addition, this would not be a romantasy blog if one of my posts did not cover the enemies-to-lovers trope. I will be going in depth on what the trope is, why readers are so tired of it, and determining its accuracy in the books I recommend that are deemed as “enemies to lovers”.

Finally, I will be covering the new ACOTAR book, A Court of Splintered Harmony, coming out October 27. This is huge for romantasy readers, as we have all been waiting for so long for the next book. As someone who has read all three series by Sarah J Maas, I feel knowledgeable enough to discuss the upcoming book in detail and my personal theories.

As well as give my preferred reading order of the series, and I will do a quick recap of the ACOTAR books to prepare fans for what is to come! Because I remember very little myself. I will do my best to organize the post so the non-spoiler is at the top, but I will be covering spoilers for the series, so be warned!

I want to state that this blog is a safe space; welcome to all readers. All of these posts are my personal opinions based on experience and preference. Just because I like something does not mean other readers will. I have a very specific taste in books, and I rarely give out five stars.

The next entry will focus on what romantasy is, cover the elements that make up romantasy books, discuss the romance versus fantasy spectrum, and give recommendations of books in the genre that are easy to get into, as well as some creators to follow.

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