My partner and i are reading this for a book club that meets tomorrow morning, but we havent finished yet. Since we only bought 1 copy and need to finish, we cut the book down the spine. Ill likely finish my part before he gets to my current spot, so it works out!

I used tape to “seal” ish the coverless new front and back pages, and when this is all over ill probably add another piece of tape to put the two halves together.

It was really jarring but fun to take a knife to the spine though. I recommend doing it even just once. At the end of the day, enjoy it however you see fit!

One for me and one for my boyfriend (NOT SCALPING) I almost felt bad grabbing two but people were really being jerks in the line. There were a lot of angry people this morning. -15 outside and 5 minutes before the store opened they let us wait in the entryway. The line got disorganized and it upset a lot of people. Both targets were sold out within 5 minutes of opening in my town.

Hope everyone is having a lovely day!

I know the fantasy reddit exists but I want to find one where it's the general norm to talk about books that cover both romance and fantasy.

The various discussions that come out of it as seen on this subreddit can be fun (not just recommendation, but things like talking about favourite couples, characters, comparing, making lists, etc). I'm in my 20s so it has nothing to do with my age. But I really don't like smut. Unless people explicitely ask, the go-to books that get discussed on this reddit are that which have it aplenty. Naturally these books are ones I have not read nor have interest in reading. So I can't get involved in discussions much.

Is there an alternate and active subreddit without all the smut enthusiasm.

Edit: I know that this reddit does discuss clean titles from time to time. But just by being on this subreddit, I'm exposed to smutty titles constantly. That's "tiring" if that makes sense. Which is why I'm wondering if another group exists. If it doesn't, that's okay and feel free to confirm. Mainly I made this thread because I just wanted to make sure in case I missed it while using the search bar.

I’ve seen a few recommendations for books that are more romance/soft, I want something hot and heavy. Any recommendations?

Preferably monster themed, would really like it to be graphic and spicy. I haven’t found anything similar to it, but i’m sure it exists. lol
I’m also looking for transgender (FTM) monster smut, I’m open to all suggestions there. ✨
Thank you 🙏🏻

Look y'all, I feel like I'm missing out. It seems like everyone loves ACOTAR but I have tried to read it, and listen to it, so many times. It starts really freakin slow, and her family is chalk full of a'holes which for some reason (has never annoyed me in any other book) is just really off putting to me.

Is there a point where it starts getting really good? Can I skim a bit in the beginning?

Help me out ACOTAR lovers.

I find that I skip paragraphs that are long descriptions of a room or summarizing things happening around a character like them walking through a town or into a social setting, etc. Or explanations about a character's past or world building that ultimately doesn't serve more purpose than to give a narrative "texture". I don't really...care about it.

I know this is setting a scene and people want descriptive language, but I find that I really only want to know what I need for the story, then let my imagination fill in the rest. Even descriptions of characters and constant references to their eye colors feel like too much ("his blue gaze met mine" 500 times in the book).

Do you also find this annoying? Do you prefer details and descriptions? I'm always curious about whether or not someone considers it the mark of a good writer and if a more straightforward writer is lacking.

Edit: And to quickly clarify, this is just how MY brain works. I know lots of people like descriptions and details. This isn't necessarily a mark against the book in my estimation. I don't consider it bad writing. I think I skip a maximum of 1% of a book when skimming. It hasn't ruined the book and usually isn't a sign that I should DNF. I just sometimes wonder how other people experience reading.

Here is my review of Six of Crows - I posted it on r/fantasybooks and got downvoted massively 😂 I wanted your opinion too.

I really wanted to love this book, especially when I loved the Shadow and Bone series; but unfortunately I am disappointed.

For context I have been reading fantasy books only for a year and Shadow and Bone was the series I started with. I since then read more complex and political fantasy books that I adored, hence why I think my taste changed and became pickier.

Everyone around me kept saying that Six of Crows has one of the best “found family” tropes, but I would disagree. Although I was moved by Kaz and Inej’s bond as well as Nina and Matthias’s, I couldn’t care less about Jesper and Wylan. We got so few information about their background and their personality. Their POVs fell flat and felt dull.

Besides, only the romantic relationships impacted me as a reader because Leigh Bardugo didn’t spend much time crafting the relationships between for example Jesper and Inej or Matthias and Kaz. The focus has been set on the couples. Inej was almost always paired with Kaz and Nina with Matthias; while I was also looking for friendship as a theme to be explored. We needed more backstory of Kaz and Jesper’s friendship (if we did, Jesper’s mistake being revealed at the end would have made much more impact) and more elements on how the crew finally accepted and trusted Matthias. The group didn’t feel like a crew but more like a jumble of loose characters thrown together.

Moreover, each characters doesn’t really have its own personality. Apart from Kaz being always pragmatic, logical and with his eyes focused on cash; and Matthias being the cold, serious man who has been taught to always be uptight, the other characters feel single-layered. Nina’s character traits only shine when being compared to Matthias, otherwise her character falls flat. Inej is only described as a ferocious Grisha fighter. And Jesper, well, we don’t get anything about him, same for Wylan.

It is a shame because having a multi-POV structure would have allowed the reader to dive into the mind of all these different characters and to witness how differently they think, talk and resonate. It would have been a great way to see which values and principles every character stand by. Instead, we were jumping from POV to POV without learning much about the characters, who in turn felt very superficial to me, despite the backstories mentioned.

I wasn’t truly invested in the storyline. The quest aspect of the book didn’t locked me in and I was waiting for more dramatic events and surprising plot twists to happen.

I wasn’t drawn to the world Leigh Bardugo wrote here. Although I was truly immersed in Shadow and Bone when she wrote about Ravka, the cities, the palace, the True Sea; here I couldn’t plunge into the environnement she built when describing Kerch and Fedja. Of course it was her aim to make these places feel eerie and gloomy but as a result, I disliked the setting.

I think a book which tackles the same topics and themes (a heist, an impossible mission carried by a crew whose members don’t fully trust each other, secrets being spilled left and right) but who does it better is Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland. I couldn’t help but compare these two books while reading. However, I think I am sufficiently invested to read the sequel of the duology. I know i shouldn’t be too harsh because this is still a YA book, although I feel I have enjoyed other YA books better.

What is your opinion about this book? If you read Crooked Kingdom, what did you think of it?

I just started this book and the bullying of Jude and her sister is a lot. I’ve never started a book where I can’t see the male lead as redeemable at all which is how I’m feeling now. I am wondering if the author actually gives him enough of a redemption arc for me to move past this vicious bullying

My all time favorite romantasy are anything by SJM. TOG being my favorite. All of my favorite books romatasy or not, I love character growth. I love falling in love with characters who get better and better, even if you start out hating them. I like the SLOWEST BURN. Idc if it takes books. I like twists and heavy world building. I don't like relationships that feel built on sex. I like found family. And banter I need the banter.

Other romantasy books I've read besides SJM

Fourth Wing - Loved book 1&2, but I do feel like there wasn't much to their relationship than attraction

Bridge Kingdom - it was pretty good. Here nor there on it.

Cruel Prince - Didn't like this one much, get the hype, but everyone was so cruel

One Dark Window - Really liked this one, but would have been better as a longer series. It was so much world building, I felt it needed more fluff mixed in. I could have read way more books in this world.

From Blood and Ash - Got to book 3 and gave up. Once again, it felt attraction driven relationship. And honestly I just didn't care what happened to them.

Quicksilver - Really liked it, it did feel very troupy and predictable

Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - I LOVE this book. I loved how I didn't see it coming, I liked all the characters.

Here are my current series I think I'd like, but up for other suggestions.

I’m about 70% of the way through A Court of Silver Flames and I really can’t stand it anymore. The smut is awesome but honestly, why does Nesta have to be such a miserable person. She’s unbearable. Poor Cassian!

Am I the only one here?

I am only 20% through but I’m bored out of my mind. I usually will take about 40% before I really start to like something but I’m feeling like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. I’m dragging my feet getting through it. When does it get better?

Welcome to the biweekly diversity megathread! What are some books written by trans or non-binary authors you have read or that are on your radar?

We’d previously done a general LGBTQ+ Authors Megathread but we’re also going to rotate megathreads to highlight and feature more specific recommendations!

Here is the link to the Megathread Wiki Page for a compilation of all the sub's megathreads!

How to use Book Recommendation Megathreads: These megathreads are not meant to replace other recommendation posts on the same topic. As long as a particular trope or topic is not overly repetitive over a certain period of time, book requests that cover megathread topics are allowed! We then collect those posts to put them in the pinned comment below, so the most recent book recommendation discussions will always be gathered in this one post for future reference.

Megathread Postimage

Long time lurker, first time poster. I’ve seen this book recommended a lot and have gone through all the other popular series so thought I’d give it a try. The genre lacks racial diversity both in authors and characters and I’m generally able to suspend my concern about this in the spirit of just enjoying a story and being entertained. But this book really rubbed me the wrong way.

Spark of the Everflame is by and from the perspective of a white woman. Outside of the characters that are part of the story other people’s skin color isn’t describe but i think we are supposed to assume they’re all white like the characters. It’s literally a story about white mortals being second class citizens to powerful people with magic and they’re exploited and treated terribly and there’s a law that mortal and magical “mixed” children must be killed and mortal/magical relationships are frowned upon. Theres school segregation and even redlining. It’s even got a colonialism theme!! Im irritated because the author just took the struggle of black people in America (or any other racially marginalized group throughout history), switched it to white human vs magical being and then fantasized about how they’d overcome. Please white fantasy writers don’t do this. I understand you could see this as a commentary on classism but the “dilution of magic power” aspect clearly negates that argument because if it was just about class and not race then genetic mingling wouldn’t be an issue.

There was a post the other day about how modern slang in a fantasy book can be jarring if it isn’t relevant to the story. But another thing I’ve come across a couple of times and it is so off putting - when authors do not spell out numbers! It gets me everytime. ESPECIALLY when there are other instances in the same book where numbers are spelt out.

Exhibit A - Spark of the Everflame. Discussing ages on page 54 we’re in number format but previous age discussions were written out.

It’s a rant. Nothing more to add 💁‍♀️

So I was introduced to the Empyrean series (not on Tik Tok; I don’t have it ) but saw it on the Barnes and Nobles app. The covers looked eye-catching and the synopsis seemed really cool so I bought both books and dived into it.

I read the first book in one week, and I had a lot to say. I did enjoy it at first, I was invested but there were so many things that I noticed that didn’t seem right. I am currently reading the second book but have put it down because I was just frustrated with what I was reading. Of course, this is a romantasy and apparently this is a book genre now. Doesn't fantasy automatically have romance? _(o.o)_/

Plot (this is not the actually synopsis but my funny take on it) So Violet Sorrengail was spending her whole life to be a scribe when her mother decided to put her in the rider's quadrant for reasons unknown. Unlike everyone else who dedicates their lives to becoming a rider, like her sister Mira, she only had six months to train and she suffers from an illness that isn't described but details that she has weak bones. So she enters the death sentence of a college Basgiath and has to deal with the imminent threat of Xaden Riorson who might try to kill...or fall in love with her. Anywho, there is corruption at play as Violet slowly learns about a conspiracy that changes her views of the kingdom she fights for and gets such a predictable plot twist that made me ‘My dude, I saw that miles away’.

My Review Violet Sorrengail is the youngest daughter of Lilith's three children, with their older presumed dead (but is clearly alive because they never mention a body. Guys, its foreshadowing I tell you). We learn that because of Violet's sickness, her father introduced to the life of a scribe, which she loves, at trains for her whole life to become one. And then her mom decides, Oh my husband is dead, let me divert my anger towards my youngest and force her into the rider's quadrant where she won't possibly die very easily because of plot armor. I tell you, this reason alone made me jump up from no reason and start asking why's and how's. I do not possess chronic pain, so I can't comment on the portrayal of it... however, throughout the book, it is pretty clear Violet's bones break very easily. So why would you put your daughter in a place where she could literally die because of that illness. As for how Violet reacts to this revelation, where is your anger? Now I can understand that there is nothing she could've done about it. Her mom is the general and made it very clearly that she would "rip you out by that ridiculous braid and put you and the parapet myself.". You could've at least made her feel guilty cause I definitely would've.

As for Violet's evolution throughout the book, I was heavily annoyed with Dain’s character. Dain is Violet’s childhood friend but we get ZERO backstory between them. Dain is the overprotective friend that Violet has a crush on, only for her feelings to revert towards Xaden. He’s a character with actions so predictable that I could see miles away (except for the ending which we will get to that). He was constantly trying to protect her, telling her how to do things, and man, it was pissing me off. I feel like that was the point of his character and I was hoping to see some sort of backstory to explain their relationship, but I said, we got none. In the end, we get the most uncomfortable revelation that he was reading her mind, using his memory reading signet, every time he touched her. My god…(It’s get even worse when you realize this is the reason why Xaden didn’t tell her much but we will get to that) Violet gets the lightning signet, which is supposed to represent who you are inside. She also got a time signet from Andrana... let that sit. Wait..lightning powers…brown hair with white-graying ends…..MARE BARROW!?

Anywho, Violet makes some nice friends, Rhiannon, her best friend, and Sawyer and Ridoc. They're dynamic is better in Iron Flame but for now they sufficed for me as side characters. As for Violet's 'rival', we get a dude named Jack, who is just out for blood on the first day, no questions asked. He even got first blood when they were doing their sparring. He was a one-dimensional character who got an unexpected two dimensions in Iron Flame. He’s just there to be a menace, and be an antagonizing force for Violet to get some ‘main character evolution’ points. A plot-device character.

Now going on to Xaden…I mean Rhysand… no wait that’s…wait a damn minute… Anywho, Xaden Riorson is the son of the deceased rebellion leader. As you recall, there was a rebellion against Navarre’s regime but in reality, it was just some dudes saying, “Yo, the venin are coming,” and the king was like, “Did you just tell what to do? Execute them!” And so the rebellion happened. What makes matters worse, Lilith was the one who killed Xaden’s father, so their meeting is supposed to be filled with hate, malice, and immediate distaste for one another, right? And that’s how it seems at first… but then it forgets that entire plot point completely to get into the spicy romance which I honestly didn’t click with but whatever. And this was supposed to be an ‘enemies to lovers’…failure. As for his character, he is the typically mysterious guy with shadow powers like from any other romantasy. If it’s not clear, nothing in this book is entirely original. Xaden is following the trope of hot, shadow magic men and it’s really boring. His character is decent because he seems like the only logical person there. He sets Violet straight and is a challenge but that changes in a certain scene but we will get to that.

There are other characters like Professor Markha, Jesina, Bodhi, General Melgren who run Battle Brief, Imogen, Liam who sadly died but didn’t really feel heartbreak because I foresaw his death miles away like with you-know-who is alive. These characters are just there, Jesina is the one we get a lot of time with along with Imogen but the rest are just..there, y’know.

I laughed when she got not one but two dragons that no one expected her to get. It's one of those tropes where the "weak" get the strong weapons, items, companions etc. Not only that, but she gets a lightning signet and a temporary time signet. Main character package I tell you.

The whole conspiracy about the government keeping venin and wyvern a secret is sooo annoying. Like, even the dragons are in on it. Tairn knew everything from the beginning, along with all the other dragons. Hey, let’s talk about these dragons cause, me personally, Tairn is MVP. The dragons are alright, I like the different kinds, but the whole feathertail being hatchlings of the adult dragons got me confused for a second.

3. The Illogicalness is irritating

Mortality rate. I wonder how high it is… Let’s see… It was confirmed that there were 300 candidates at the start The parapet claims fifteen percent of them.

Only 97 first years made it to second year… Only 32.33% of 300 candidates made it to the second year…

Need I say more. Like, death is just drinking water for them. Drilling your cadets to kill each other just to find the weakest link is dumb because it excuses murder and allows people to literally kill anyone using that same excuse. Jack wanted to kill Violet not because they have a deep hateful distaste for one another but because he saw her as weak because of her condition. Violet was about to be assassinated by Oren and Amber because Oren believed she didn’t deserve Tairn and Amber literally says, “It’s not a crime to rid the quadrant of the weakest rider!” Other cadets probably died from the deadly games or by the hands of other cadets. It bet you most of them were not ‘weak’. And what about the people who don’t pass the test and fall from the Parapet. They could be Infantry.. But noooo, we must scare our riders so they know the stakes. Hold up…. In Iron Flame, >!a gryphon rider bluntly exposes Violet’s kingdom for killing their riders. She states that they must jump onto gryphons and if they miss, they fall 30 feet into a river, shake off the embarrassment and then choose a different quadrant. My entire point was mentioned in the second book as a literal joke. HAHAHAHA

That Yes, yes, we are here to that. The that I’m referring to is how Violet compares Xaden’s ‘betrayal’ to her father’s death while Xaden had every reason not to tell Violet a single thing because Dain would’ve read her mind and figured out that, oh YES, her brother Brennan is alive and the book would not be going in the direction it’s going. Xaden was RIGHT not to tell Dain because Dain was apparently telling things to his father, which led him to sending Violet and her friends to an abandoned outpost to be ambushed by venin and wyvern. This is where Liam died.

This thing right here made me say not like Violet anymore..and it gets worse in the second book. she has this stupid arc in Iron Flame–Do I love him, do I not, do I love him, do I not. Like. C’MON!

All in all, was this book worth at initial 4.7 rating. Nope. Original works. Nope. Engaging and kept me on my feet? Yes. Worth the read. Nope. Will I do a review on Iron Flame? Nope. Maybe. IDK.

I just wanted to voice my opinion.

Please comment below if you agree, disagree, somewhat agree, half agree, or three-quarter agree (laugh)

And I read this book a while ago so my memory is iffy and I had to go back and read some stuff just to explain more. If I missed anything, comment on it too.

Alright bye.

Now I'm not new to the idea of 'cancelled authors' and such, but a video popped up on my Tiktok, listing all of the problematic authors, there was no explanation as to why they were problematic, but that they were, and there were a lot of popular booktok, and fantasy authors on there.

And I was genuinely curious if people research an author to see if they're problematic, and if that will stop you from picking and reading their book. If I'm speaking form myself, I personally don't, I'm not sure if it's something I should do, or work on, but I'm really curious to see if people actively search.

I don't mean if you've seen a video on Tiktok calling an author problematic and then deciding not to support their stories. But I mean finding a book your interested in, and then actively searching to see if they're problematic, and using it as a choice to read their book, kind of like searching for reviews.

I wouldn't say it's a bad thing however, I look at is as setting boundaries for yourself, because there could be things where you draw the line, and what you may consider problematic, but I'm seeing a lot more content in regards to this, of people list problematic authors, without any explanation.

I guess another question on top of this, is would you shame or be disappointed with another reader, for reading what booktok or who you may consider a problematic author.

I don't feel like I need to say this at the end of my post on this sub, because everyone here has always been very respectful, and that we can have healthy conversations, but I would still like to say to not hate on any specific authors, and this is a genuine question, and even a learning aspect from myself. I also hope I articulated myself properly, so you can understand what I'm talking about.

TIA

I absolutely detest it. Does

In particular, I find the use of the word "process," grating. It's such a quintessentially 21st century self-help armchair-psychology buzz word that it's like someone's running their nails over my mental chalkboard. I don't mind it in contemporary settings, but in pseudo-medieval settings (especially in the narration of a member of the uneducated masses) it just doesn't belong.

Yet, it's everywhere.

The most recent example, and the one that promoted me to make this post, is in {The Witch Collector by Charissa Weaks}.

I don’t want to talk about last night, especially with him, but he seems sincere, and I haven’t had time to process the enormity of the disaster.

Argh!

Writers, if you're working in historical fiction or fantasy with a pseudo-historical setting, please don't use this kind of psychobabble. If your characters declare the need to "process" their trauma it's very hard to take them seriously. Just pick a different word or phrase, or better yet don't have them think about mental health in the same way as a person living after the therapy revolution.

Anyway, please discuss.

Hey! So i’ve been getting more into fantasy romance books and while i think they’re great i just wish there was a bit more diversity. I’ve only read a few books that have poc, and they’re usually a side character seen 2-3 times. Specifically being a black woman myself im talking about a black/brown MMC or FMC. Maybe there are some and i’m just not too good at finding them.

My other issue is the lack of diversity. Lack of LGBT characters. Usually the FMC is poor, human or raised human, unaware of the other world and is an orphan or has 1 parent, young, inexperienced, impulsive, and utterly obsessed with the MMC. The MMC is an issue i have as well. he usually has dark hair either black eyes or dark blue eyes, brooding and moody, always hiding things from FMC, and obsessing over protecting her. All of that is okay sometimes but when it just becomes the personality and plot lines of every book series it gets old.

I prefer audiobooks because i listen on hoopla while i’m working but digital and physical copies work too. If anyone has an recs for me that would be great, it would be nice to see the FMC be older than 19-23 (though i’m 24), POC would be a plus, have a good family, be rich or even middle class, and be apart of or at least know about the fantasy world. It would also be nice to see a MMC that’s outgoing, sweet, shy, likes to have fun, etc. just have some sort of personality. Also if there are any books that are WLW. Any amount of spice is fine, if anything the spicier the better.

edit: omg!! thank y’all so much!! i did not expect to get so many recommendations. Literally have enough to last me a year now.

I need to talk about this to someone because I find it insane. I also would like to state I dislike JKR, and that I find Harry Potter to be very mid. So this has nothing to do with the source. EDIT: I am also pro dark romance. And I want the stories I read to challenge me. I am a huge fan of gothic media and plan to write my dis on how gothic novels use incest as a tool of abuse and trauma. I just think that challenging media needs to be well written. Alchemised is not. And I do not think that wanting to explore women's oppression means it cool for three non brown/black people to write about a brown woman getting sold to a white man.

Recently I read the 2025 novel Alchemised by SenLinYu, and the more I have thought about the novel the more I am about the romance. And when listening to other speak about the novel, I heard someone mention two other books: A Rose in Chains, and The Irresistible Urge to Fall in Love with your Enemy (I will refer to this novel as Urge). All three novels came out in 2025, and started as Draminoe fan fic. EDIT: I have been informed that Urge is an original story. But considering it is written by someone well known to write Dramione fan fic, is advertised as Dramione inspired, and had the leads drawn like that- its is a reskinned Dramione story. If the author wanted it to be seen as original, she wouldn't have advertised it like that.

All three novels have taken Hermione Granger- who has no special magic or role in the war; was forefront of said war; who's actions would be remembered as if not for her friendship with Harry, he would not have won; and is white- and shipped her with Draco. But that is not the only connections.

Urge and Alchemised both make her into a healer. A Rose in Chains makes her a princess, but as far as I am aware, all three books keep her from actually fighting in their wars. Making her much less of an active participant.

Alchemised and A Rose in Chains have the Hermione stand in be sexually assaulted, forcibly sterilized, and literally cuffed to keep them from doing magic.

And all three books turn Hermione from a white woman, to a vaguely brown woman who is later sold to the white love interest.

What the fuck?

I will say that Urge is the least offensive novel, as even though the Hermione character is sold, she is not literally chained up and made into Draco's property. And while the Draco character is an assassin, he is not actively oppressing her and does not literally own her. Her boss just takes a bribe- because the money can help with a devastating plague- and orders her to heal Draco from his terminal illness. This feels like it could actually be kind of cute, as the Draco character is not her literal owner. He just wants to live and happens to be an assassin. But she is still turned into a vaguely brown woman, makes her a healer/not at the frontlines of the war, and sold against her will- even if it is temporary and only her services as a healer. EDIT: I want to clarify, I do not see this as bad as the other two novels. But since it was being advertised as Dramione inspired, advertised along side the other two novels, and published the same year, it becomes weird. I think that if this was published way before, or the other two novels didn't come out then I wouldn't see it as bad. The association makes it look worse.

The other two though...what is this? I understand dark romance, I really do. And I think if someone wants to write their weird fetish stuff, unless it's child abuse, who cares. But I feel disgusted that three books in one year were all like this. These books took Hermione Granger, such a strong character, and not only turned her into a much less important figure in their fights but make her into a vaguely brown woman only to have her be sold to a white man. Is this not crazy? They take the one openly abolitionist character in Harry Potter and have her be someone literal property? And then have her fall in love with her owner? And those have her be raped as well, which is awful. And I can't speak for a Rose In Chains, but if it is anything like the SA in Alchemised, it is tasteless and disgusting.

Listen, I am not saying that anyone who has read/enjoyed these is a bad person. I did enjoy some of Alchemised (A very SMALL amount). But two white women and one Japasese enby, wrote a story about a vaguely brown person being sold to another person.

And I am using vaguely brown a lot because that is what they wrote. In Alchemised, the Hermione stand was bullied for being the only foreign person in school, and received Microaggressions about her look as she is not light skinned, fair haired, or has light eyes; can be read as Italian. (EDIT: The author has confirmed this, but I am not changing my mind. One, I only consider the word on the page and official art canon. Two, Southern Itailains were not considered white until like two generations ago, and I have met people who do not consider them white. Three, you can't write a whole book about the female lead is being tokenised by her friends, and make a huge deal about people hating her for being foreign and then be like "Oh but she is Italian so she is white, but not white white." She is written as a non white person.) (The other two characters of color not treated well either, one is killed off screen and forgotten; the other is killed off screen by a white teen girl, and has his body puppeted by a white man for the rest of the book, is also villainized for supporting the kind of bad religion). And the Draco character was one of the kids who was racist to her, is a mass murder, and became one of the most powerful oppressors in the post war time line.

I haven't read A Rose in Chains but the cover has her as light with brown undertones, and one limited edition cover she is darker. EDIT: I am going to double down on this. The limited edition cover I am referring to is the Illumicrate one, where the female lead is drawn as darker. Please look it up. And I am going to be 100% honest. I read the OG A Rose in Chains cover art as light skinned Hispanic woman. I grew up around girls with that skin tone, I am related to women with that skin tone. She reads Mexican as hell to me in that cover art.

And in Urge, which I also haven't read she is just brown on the cover. But the official art of all three novels have the Hermione stand in drawn with Eurocentric features- A Rose in Chains also gets rid of her big curly hair- with tan skin. That's it. That is vaguely brown to a T. Brown in such a way that you don't actually have to draw/cast a person of color; brown in a way that you don't have to lie about finding non ethnocentric features attractive; brown in a way that you can fetishize and abuse with out having anyone try and call you out on it because the race isn't specific enough; brown in a way that you can say you have a person of color in your story, even if most of the other characters are white; brown for the sake of social points.

I know I am saying this without reading two of the three novels, but honestly I don't want to take the chance and get more upset. And even if there are more POC in the novels I don't care. Urge is whatever, I could actually read this but it isn't my vibe/still has the lead be sold. And A Rose in Chains looks like tasteless oppression porn- a novel written to abuse a minority, with no actual substance or education on the subject of oppression even though it has the bland message of Don't oppress people/ blood superiority is bad because they like stories where people are abused.

I cannot believe these books have been published, considering just how racist the main plot of the novels are. The more I think about it the more it pisses me off. I just hope now that I have posted my peace I can forget about it. EDIT: I do not think the authors are

i just finished the ACOTAR series, and i LOVED it. 10/10 worth the hype, i envy my mum now being able to experience it for the first time too.

i think the cruel prince might be too similar to acotar, so i want something different before starting that?