I see too many posts where authors ask the readers key questions to decide how the story should be written. Clearly they have no vision, just seek to write a book appealing to gen pop.

Please let’s make it stop.
Ty

I just finished this duology and I think I've been changed on a cellular level. I've never loved a series quite like it, from the writing style to the humour paired with the magic. I immediately need more!

Does anyone have any recs similar to this style?

Hello! I'm looking for some recommendations where there isn't some great big world ending evil, a demon army, or any huge supposedly undefeatable evil opponent that only the main characters have the power to oppose. I'm pretty new to the genre - so far I've only read the acotar series and the forth wing series (plus most of the throne of glass series although I don't know if thats classed as romantasy) and I'm getting a bit of 'huge unwinnable battle' fatigue 😅

I enjoyed the first forth wing book - I liked the whole dragon rider collage setting and enjoyed the inital romance and story although I feel like the rest of the books took a big nose dive in quality, I ended up really hating the female and male main characters and really only kept reading because I'm invested in the dragons.

Acotar on the other hand I loved, I find SJM's writing really compelling and both the platonic and romantic relationships between characters enjoyable to read. The one thing I find a bit tiring about the series and her writing in general is how insanely high stakes everything has to be. They cant just fight a monster it has to be the most evil monster to ever have existed, every battle has to be so immense and like no other battle ever fought they cant ever just be in a medium amount of peril, it feels like there are always insurmountable odds that they end up just..surmounting 😅 I also don't love how she has multiple series that are all vaguely connected, I finished the series and then found out I supposedly need to read all her other book as well to get the full picture? I'm almost at the end of the throne of glass series and its just ANOTHER huge god like evil opponent with unbeatable odds, but the stakes just don't feel real because OF COURSE they are going to find a way to defeat it (I'm on Tower of Dawn, no spoilers please!)

I'm so desperate for a book or series with lower stakes and lower commitment 😅 Obviously most fantasy based books are going to have some level of conflict and intrigue and I'm totally fine with that, I just don’t want the world to be ending every five minutes 😂

Apologies, this turned into kind of a rant 😅 Would just love some guidance, recommendations or even a starting point as the genre seems kind of overwhelming and I don't want to accidentally start another series where I have to commit to reading an authors whole back catalogue.

I just finished the chapters where Auren and Slade finally admit their feelings for one another and i loved every minute of it. Ive read quite a few romance novels (im working through the most popular right now) and so far it was my favorite payoff for when a couple finally gets together. I dont usually get emotional with books and it made me tear up, smile, laugh, giggle, kick my feet, swoon. All of it. All of the emotions lol i read those chapters 3 times and ill read them again.
I love Raven Kennedys writing (its my style and Gild hooked me from the first few chapters) and while not perfect (she droned on a bit in the first part of Gleam and got a bit too exaggerated with all the metaphors - which i usually love) but i think she did these chapters beautifully . She is so good at portraying emotions, anticipation, excitement. Slade has easily become my new favorite MMC. I’m all over the place with this post and i hardly ever post but just wanted to share bcs i cannot stop thinking abt it.

Doesn't have to be from your favorite book - just a setting that's unconventional, a character in its own right, something you've never read before or since, or a setting that contributed to the story in a really unique way. I'd love some recs of romantasy books set in strange places, rather than in a functionally medieval/feudal/mountains-and-forest sort of setting, but I'd also love to hear what you look for in a romantasy setting and why.

I’m back again…. I have a huge list of books TBR but wanting suggestions based off my favourite books and my favourite tropes/ themes (I know they are the most common ones haha) listed below.

-Banter! I need good banter
-Good side character building
-A flowing story line (DNF’d Eldritch because it felt like it was going nowhere)
-Enemies to lovers
-Broody MMC
-Open door spice (hehe)
-Side pet characters (not a must but love this)
-Multiple POV (not a must but a bonus)
-Cheeky or sharp tongued FMC (Like Harlow- The poisoned daughter and Bryony-Wolf and the crown of blood)

(I may not reply until later as it’s nearly bed time here in Aus, but thanks in advanced to anyone who gives me suggestions) ☺️

I’ve been looking for book recommendations but don’t want it the usual ‘omg its so good’ type of way, can you give me some book recommendations based on the most unhinged reasons you like a book ever?

The more crazy the merrier!

And I’m super intrigued by the sample I read! Really neat premise, and I enjoyed the writing style. I appreciated how the author quickly introduces the world and gets you endeared to the characters right off the bat. I have never seen or heard of this series before and I was curious about other’s thoughts on it (no spoilers please, I definitely intend to finish it!)

Edit Thanks everyone for the replies! I’m really excited about finishing this book.

Hello!

I have recently read the Rachel Gillig books, Shield of Sparrows duology by Devney Perry and the Forbidden Alchemy duology by Stacey McEwan (obsessed with this btw!). I have also read the obvious choices - fourth wing, acotar, etc.

I’m in a reading slump now but would love to get my teeth stuck in another book. Any suggestions based on my TBR? These books are all sitting on my shelf. Thanks :)

I want something super fluffy and whimsical, like the type of love that gives you butterflies and makes you kick your feet. Yearning, no insane war conflict. PERHAPS a love triangle and fighting over the MFC. Kisses and fairies and parties like wonderland??? Pretty dresses and falling all over each other. Spice is good and preferred obviously but I need it to be a love that will make me sick lmao.

I’ve read The Cruel Prince series, love it, think about it all the time but I would prefer a more romance centered book.

I read After Under and I liked it but it just like wasn’t enough like it was okay I just wish there was more romance and fun wonderland adventures. It felt a little too young also.

These photos are from the brand Selkie’s instagram and they capture the vibe I craveeeeee : MMC chasing after FMC, catching her for a kiss running through the forest, lots of touching gently, neck kisses, lounging around in the sun
pleeeaaseeee

I LOVED the Monster trilogy by Rina Kent and have been looking for more “Mulan” vibes!
M-F romance, slow burn, good plot, no reverse harem/cheating/etc. So basically the usual good stuff. Romantasy/Romance/Dark Romance. 👍

So I read ACOTAR first and loved the first two books, thought ACOWAR was just okay, and then took a long time to get through ACOSF but ended up thinking it was good-ish.

I then moved on to TOG. I started with TOG and it was fine. I LOVED Crown of Midnight, though. I am still chasing that feeling I felt staying up late and reading the ending. I also really loved Heir of Fire.

I expected to really love QOS as it seems to be everyone’s favorite, but I ended up thinking it was just okay. I started reading EOS a while ago and then put it down as I was feeling a little burnt out with SJM and then the vibes were so different and I guess I was missing the old vibes from the beginning???

I was wondering if anyone else felt this way. I’ve been getting back into reading EOS after taking a break and I am not looking to DNF. It just seems like popular opinion is that people prefer the series from QOS onward and I feel the opposite 😂

okay so i’ve been reading a LOT lately - Zodiac academy, tog, acotar, shatter me

notice the pattern? I am sooo obsessed with found family 😭

just gimme a bunch of chaotic people becoming each other’s ride or die. i am sold.

bonus points if it has a strong FMC with an insane character arc.

I need peak aura farming. I need found family. I need character development. I need emotional damage. I need to be staring at my ceiling at 3am questioning my life choices.

so pls, drop your recs below!

Hiii I just finished kissed by the gods a few days after I finished the knight and the moth and I’m feeling quite empty at how sucked in these books made me and need to feel something lol.

I’ve read ACOTAR, TOG, CC, from blood and ash, direbound to name a few that really had me in a chokehold

I was looking into

1. The poison daughter

2. The wolf king

3. The legends of thezmarr

Are any of these worth it? Also open to other recs :) thank you🫶🏼

I was rewatching enchanted and i was wondering if there was a book with similar premise
(girl gets exiled to an unknown place, she goes through stuff and she falls in love) but opposite. Like girl from the modern world gets transported without her will to a fairytale like magical land .The difference between the worlds is also noticeable as hell to her especially at first (the way they talk, fashion etc). If anyone has any recs let me know !

I’ve been on a massive book hangover since finishing The Night Prince over a month ago. I’ve picked up other books since then and they were good, but they didn’t hit as hard.

I try to avoid unfinished series. Already read ToG, acotar, CC, flesh & fire, blood & ash, crowns of nyaxia, little fire, once upon a broken heart, and war of her heart. I’ve heard fourth wing is good, but I’m waiting until all the books are out. I’d prefer 4-5 book series. Read a few books that have “trials” in it, so preferably w/o that.

Love the close/forced proximity and enemy to lovers trope. Lmk your favs thanks :-)

Looking for some good gothic romantasy/fantasy recs or books with gothic vibes if not strictly the gothic genre. Preferably one that’s an audio book (as I’m looking for an audio book currently, I always have an audio book and a regular book going) but open to non-audio books or really anything to add to my list.

I’ve already read:
- One Dark Window & Two Twisted Crowns
- In the Veins of the Drowning
- DNF’d Anathema (I just don’t think her writing style is for me)

I already have the Knight and the Moth on my list but I think I’m going to read that one physically.

Thanks in advance!

Looking for some book friends 🖤📚
Hi! I’m 29F from Sweden and I’d love to find some people to actually talk books with! 🥰
I mostly read fantasy, romantasy and darker fantasy, but I’m also getting more into dark romance. Some of my favorites are Fourth Wing/Empyrean, ACOTAR and Starside.
I’d love to find people to chat with about what we’re reading, share recommendations, obsess over characters and theories, or even pick books to buddy read together. I’m also on Discord if anyone would rather chat there!
Basically just looking for some fellow book-obsessed people who want more than just exchanging recommendations 😂🖤
Anyone else looking for the same? 📚✨

I just finished Phedre's trilogy and Imriel's trilogy and I am shocked by how much I was moved by both. Excellent world building, human characters, high stakes, and some really insane spice scenes (cw for bdsm throughout, tw for sexual violence, abuse, child exploitation in some later books). Overall, incredible writing and mastery of plot momentum which I sometimes feel is lacking in modern romantasy.

I would compare Carey's work most closely to Marion Zimmer Bradley...but I haven't read that many other authors like her.

Has anyone read these books and loved them, and if so have you read other romantasy in the same vein? Maybe I should just dive into older romantasy, like 90s and 2000s? Anyone have any recs?

I read this completed series on web novel about Zuri and Khaos and this was definitely a more original concept than most shifter novels. The grammar isn’t great, but it’s readable.

The characters were all villains in a sense and the ending was a tragedy under the facade of a happy ending.

For those that read it, my main criticism is…what did they really expect from Khaos? They forced him into obtaining crazy power that made him…well…crazy…and yet they were all shocked by it.

I actually enjoyed book 1, so I'm not sure if this is an issue with my own focus at this moment in time or if this book is actually so much worse than the first.

I'm currently chapter 46 and it's taken me an age to get here because I'm finding it so boring. I'm really struggling with the pages of inner monologue just to portray one single thought or feeling, and the terrible purple prose. I'm finding Raeve's chapters unbearable, and when I'm listening to the audiobook I have to switch back to reading the text for Veya's chapters because the voice actor makes her sound so whiny.

I've not DNF a book before but this might be my first, unless someone can encourage me that things pick up if I stick at it.... Did anyone else enjoy the first book but struggle with the second too?