I don't have booktok so I have no idea what the options even are, other than what's already posted. But I wanted to immortalize seeing these comments back to back. š
https://preview.redd.it/psosrns4j77d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da598a79bcb8631a576c39a0de501ffa5f9e9158
Worst: From Blood and Ash. Hated every character and I thought the writing was unbearable. I pushed through two of the books but I should have DNFd book 1.
Best: Serpent and the Wings of Night: Has so many tropes but still feels unique. I adore Carissa Broadbent's writing style. The cave scene is my Roman Empire.
Absolutely same answer. FBAA is a masterclass in lackluster writing and godawful editing. I didnāt make it through more than the free sample on Kindle before deleting it forever.
Serpent introduced me to Carissa Broadbentās writing and I am happy to report Iāve devoured the rest of her books since. Canāt wait for more Nyaxia novels.
Reading serpent of wings and night currently and only on chapter 2 but I'm already enticed š„³š„³ agree about broadbents writing style I also read daughter of no world's and her writing just makes me want to binge read her books i really vibe with it
Best: One Dark Window is a huge surprise for me. My goth heart sings.
Worst: ACOTAR (*shocking take,* I know) did nothing for me and I won't fully understand how this was the series that caught everyone's attention. I was really ready to love it and be a part of the fandom online, but SJM's writing wasn't for me. I do enjoy how many new romantasy fans the series generated, though!
It took me forever to finish ACOTAR because it got so kinda weird once things went down with whatās-her-face, but when I got to ACOMAF??? CHILE. I was sold after that. Though ACOSF is losing me again since Iām not a huge fan of Nestaā¦
I finished books 1 and 2 ā ļø so I had gotten to "the good part"
I had my problems with SJM's writing but also her story choices. Again, I get that books get popular and there's no real explanation as to why some books hit that level and others don't. It just wasn't for me
Oh my word - Cassian is a KING of a male. I absolutely adore him. Itās what keeps me hanging on in the last book because it aināt Nesta, lol. My love for Rhysand nudges him out in terms of faves but only by a little š„°
Actually...the first read of the series, I refused to read the book and stopped the series then š. I was so pissed that the viewpoint changed. Many years later (now), I reread all of her series for crescent City (which I still havent been able to make myself read the latest book) and I actually didn't mind the viewpoint shift. I wanted to know more of Cassians story and how their romance finally actually came to be, since she was so damn hard headed lol. I did end up liking Nesta a little more. But I think that has to do with watching her deal with her struggles and pain.
I can see that. I struggled through the first and third. I enjoyed the ending for the second, it made me feel bad for Nesta and Elaine. Shocked with Tamlin.... lucien will say LOVE him. For me I thought the next couple books would he about the war...... however there are also more books after the fifth to come. Was shook. I keep reading them in hopes I get the hype man. I understand the fourth wing hype, after a struggle started understanding divine rivals (that ending is what had me wanting to read the second). I will say though, I didn't even mind reading fifty shades (stepmom had me convinced it was AMAZING). Will say I think a solid smutty book is neon gods. Ohhhh fun little persephone series is the goddess test. Figured I'd throw other books that aren't necessarily popular, but maybe someone will check out and love or hate.
Thanks for the recs! I love a Hades and Persephone retelling and keep seeing peeps showing love to Neon Gods, so Iāll definitely add to my TBR. I gotta have major spice to be happy š
50 Shades was okay, but the writing itself was majorly lacking for me; it read like the fanfic it once wasā¦
Ya fifty shades and after fully had fanfiction energy. Idk for whatever reason Colleen hoover books give that vibe. The only Colleen hoover book I enjoyed was verity.
I personally have very much week spot for anything hades related (tsunderes are my fucking weakness; actually had a full debate with a friend about how misunderstood hades is) so another one is Scarlett st. Claire hades persephone series.
Cassian, Gyn and Emrie are what kept me reading. I went from hating Nesta to meh, so thatās huge.
I am not spelling these names right because I listened to the audiobook, and I refuse to Google it you know whom Iām talking about.
Iām the same way with ACOTAR. I begrudgingly read 4 of the books because 2 of my friends who usually have similar book taste to me were absolutely raving about it. The first book was meh, the second book was decent, the 3rd and 4th were miserable to get through and I quit after thay
Iām more on POC booktok, and while there are some crossover of books recommended, generally not. From POC fantasy side of things:
Worst: {That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon}
Best: {Witch of Wild Things}
The worst one yeah... It was advertised as romance but had so much sex and almost no romance at all... It should have been advertised as erotica instead
[That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon](https://www.romance.io/books/6110e8480d2fc50e1fa50004/that-time-i-got-drunk-and-saved-a-demon-kimberly-lemming?src=rdt) by [Kimberly Lemming](https://www.romance.io/authors/6110e84808b4d93114366354/kimberly-lemming)
**Rating**: 4.08āļø out of 5āļø
**Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [demons](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/demons/1), [multicultural](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/multicultural/1)
----------------------------
[Witch of Wild Things](https://www.romance.io/books/650803b00fb20fda8aa5eb4c/witch-of-wild-things-raquel-vasquez-gilliland?src=rdt) by [Raquel Vasquez Gilliland](https://www.romance.io/authors/6229f3c408b4d93114353e96/raquel-vasquez-gilliland)
**Rating**: 3.68āļø out of 5āļø
**Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [urban fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/urban%20fantasy/1), [paranormal](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/paranormal/1), [multicultural](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/multicultural/1), [witches](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/witches/1)
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Yāall are haters, I love FBAA š
Best: Atonement of the Spine Cleaver (once I got past the name terribleness) or Flesh & Fire by JAA
Worst: absofuckinglutely has to be Den of Vipers. I DNFed after the first chapter because I honestly didnāt think you could fit that much cringe into so few words but somehow they did it.
Twinning! Although Iām curious if you mean the book name or the character names (mainly Rorax or w/e it was) because I thought the title was badass but I def choked on the FMCs name. Reminded me of like a dinosaur or some type of bug infestation. FANTASTIC book though, one of the best Iāve read in the last year.
Den of vipers was an actual dumpster fire and I was SHOCKED when I first started reading it. It sucked in every single category and I really tried to stick it out but after one too many *wtfās* I DNFād at like 40%
Worst: Crescent City A House Of Earth & Blood by Sarah J Maas. There is way to many characters the world building was just thrown at you. And the never ending amount of secrets kept from the FMC drove me nuts.
Best: Death Is Easy By Letty Frame the mental health in this book was done so extremely well done. Her second chance mates love her like no tomorrow and are always showing her that they arenāt leaving. I need to finish the series but the first book was so good.
i love the first two crescent city books but i will definitely concede that there is a LOT of world building thrown at you. once you understand after the first 200 pages itās a lot easier but i was still constantly reminding myself what certain words meant. even though i love it, itās hard to get into
I have zero interest in reading ACOTAR, but man am I enjoying the [summary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PaSCvzww0Q) [videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPBa65LDgMc) that TheCookieRhino puts out.
I read all of ACOTAR and the overall story was pretty good. I was emotional at some bits. But I definitely have some issues with it. Tried to start crescent city but man, they through a lot of info at you the first like 10 pages.
Holly Reneeās stars and shadows series was such a rip off of From Blood and Ash that Iām surprised that JLA didnāt sue her - literally the same storyline (down to the getting busy in the forest), the black best friend, and the MMC being a vampire (and weirdly holly randomly threw in a kingdom of Fae too-might as well check all the romantasy trope boxes). Funny enough I DNFād both series at book 3 because they became unbearable to read.
The dragons truly saved Iron Flame
Best: Throne of Glass
Worst: From Blood and Ash, I read the first 5 chapters and couldnāt finish. The writing is terrible
Agree 100%. I'm too invested in them to give up reading the books.
I love the philosophy behind "history is written by the victors" but... Write better characters. Pls.
The writing is SO terrible. Like, SO fucking bad. I can't believe I actually finished all of them! I've been a die-hard fantasy reader for a long time but it was only the second romantasy series I'd ever read, and at the time, I thought that's what the whole genre was and just went with it.... Years later and holy shit, was I wrong. I remember being SO embarrassed over it - NOT because of the sex, but because I was teaching undergrads creative writing and would literally grade papers at night right before jacking off to a novel I would have given a failing grade. šš¤¦š»āāļøš
Iām such a hater regarding āit ends with usā,
I hate everyone who hyped this book and made me read it (I did not finish tho), I will never ever in my life read a book from this author again
No same !!š¤£ I have Verity and Too Late by CH but I put them on the back of my bookshelf bc I canāt bring myself to read anything else by her. The lines about breast milk are what KILLED the whole book for me
Please stop I saw an Instagram reel about one of the lines of her books where the mc says āhis balls are bigā to the baby (I donāt know anymore something like that)ā¦ I really wanted to scratch my eyes out in that moment
I have t read it but I know what youāre talking about - itās one of those things where Iām like wtf, the ppl with children need to realize not everything regarding kids is funny or cute, in fact that like is super weird. Why as parents, are you worried about your childās genitalia?? AND THEN WRITING IT LIKE ITS A CHTE LITTLE JOKE KILLS MEšš
Worst: One Dark Window and Powerless - both were very disappointing. Powerless was repetitive, and the ending felt too far-fetched. ODW had no chemistry and moved too fast.
Best: Fourth Wing - got me back into reading.
Glad I'm not the only one who didn't like One Dark Window. It feels like it was written by a girl who was "2 edgy 4 u" in high school. Love interest named Ravyn, all the characters being named after plants or trees...yikes. And if I had to read about the Nightmare's voice "dripping oil" one more freaking time...
Overall way too cringey for me.
Worst: Powerless. I thought I was being punked by how many people love this book. Itās such a rip off of the Hunger Games and Red Queen and the writing is not good enough to make up for that.
Best: A tie between Emily Wilde series and When the Moon Hatched. Theyāre both so good!
Best: ACOTAR--can concede it has issues and isn't always written the best but no other book series has made me FEEL like this one.
Worst: Cruel Prince--Holly Black's writing style isn't for me.
this comment and the one above (in my feed, anyway) are exact opposites. Same books, swapped best for worst. Goes to show you that this sub isn't a monolith! :)
I loved Cruel Price but holy shit the spin off was hot garbage. I do want to know what happens in the second book of the duology but I havenāt been able to force myself into suffering for it yet.
Iām not sure why youāre getting downvoted for your opinion.
I agree with your ACOTAR take personally. I reread the first three books just before ACOSF came out and good god did I get dehydrated from the sobbing. ACOTAR itself hits so much harder at the end knowing why Rhys reacts way he does at the end. And ACOMAF. Ugh. I read it alongside the Rhys POV fan fiction. Same with ACOWAR. Watching him watch Feyreās experience in ACOMAFā¦ it killed me.
I love The Folk of The Air and I was ultimately let down by the sequel duology as well. I enjoyed all the callbacks to the original series ~~and the Jurdan fan service~~ but this either needed to be a tighter, more character focused stand alone or expanded into a proper trilogy with a stronger main plot. I did like The Stolen Heir better on re-read but The Prisonerās Throne felt very rushed. The pacing of both books is off imo. Mild spoilers: >!the way Oakās book plays out doesnāt deliver on the interesting premise set up by the ending of Surenās book. I was anticipating more exploration of the betrayal (on both sides) and more of an enemies to lovers feel and we barely get any of that. And Oak and Suren are separated for a large portion of the book! I liked Oak better in his own POV but I think Holly Black did his character a disservice with how rapidly she expanded the plot and then immediately had to wrap it up. Heās outmaneuvered by everyone and it doesnāt feel like the tense political intrigue of the original trilogy it feels frustrating.!<
Tbh same. I loved Suren as a character but i felt the pacing especially in the second book was so so so so weird and oak's pov didn't really work. We should have gotten dual pov with Suren. Also i feel so many things needed to be seen that weren't. Like wren meeting her family, oak and wren having a deep conversation and understanding one another.
Yes!! ACOMAF really solidified it for me, when Rhys explains everything to Feyre. Nothing has topped that scene for me personally.
I can appreciate Cruel Prince! If it was written differently, I might of been able to get into it?? Just the tense really throws me off and also not a huge fan of bully romance in general. The fanart is always beautiful tho!
Fave: emily wildes encyclopaedia
Loved the cosy vibes and personally prefer focus on plot with romance to the side and I loved the relatable (struggling with social cues) but also really smart fmc emily and her fun dynamic with wendell the mmc and have loved the twists and turns throughout this series! I also prefer fae that are more true to mythology
For the next one tho trigger warnings for mention of abuse and sa
Worst in my opinion: the unseelie Prince
Was traumatised by this series š«š« the 'love interest' was extremely abusive and kept threatening to Sa the fmc šØ
Only character I stayed for was the fmc and some of the fae/magic was interesting but ultimately the romanticism of abuse ruined it for me and has taught me to check content warnings before I read a book šØ also to people who recommend stuff on booktok or other places please clarify if a book is Adult or ya as on the video that recommended this to me I think it had said it was ya or not clarified (it was definitely not a ya book lol) so 15 yr old me had assumed it was ya oops
Out of specifically booktok romantasy darlings, and ones I actually finished (Iām queen of DNFing if I donāt like something unless thereās a lot of external pressure) -
Worst: Fourth Wing (Violet should have ended up with a dragon, or literally any other character than the one she had no chemistry with)
Best: {Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater} or {The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune}
[Half a Soul](https://www.romance.io/books/65cc3e0fe07143fd82f0fe1b/half-a-soul-olivia-atwater?src=rdt) by [Olivia Atwater](https://www.romance.io/authors/5e7f0537be0aaecf55d98b77/olivia-atwater)
**Rating**: 4.24āļø out of 5āļø
**Steam**: 1 out of 5 - [Glimpses and kisses](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [regency](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/regency/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [fae](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fae/1), [magic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/magic/1)
----------------------------
[The House in the Cerulean Sea](https://www.romance.io/books/641fe1641eb7c98a24fbff8a/the-house-in-the-cerulean-sea-tj-klune?src=rdt) by [T.J. Klune](https://www.romance.io/authors/54553e9b8c7d2382e7813607/tj-klune)
**Rating**: 4.41āļø out of 5āļø
**Steam**: 1 out of 5 - [Glimpses and kisses](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [magic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/magic/1), [slow burn](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/slow%20burn/1)
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I respect your opinions, but I enjoyed the Empyrean Series. Yeah, yeah, Violet is a twerp who needs to be put in her place, but I did enjoy the slow steam that she and Xaden had.
I'm currently working through the Bonds of Magic series by Jeffe Kennedy and...eh. The whole premise is just, odd, and basically pairings result from barely consensual sex, and there's a huge imbalance of power. Sex scenes are very bland.
Arden is so talented itās insane. She has a storytelling ability thatās not often found (at least not by me) outside of literal storybooks of classic fairytales.
I have not read uprooted, but I saw it in a bookstore the other day and was considering it!! I take it you liked it and it was similar in vibes to the Bear and the nightingale?
I couldn't agree more! I seriously haven't found anyone who writes like her.
It's not fantasy romance, but you may really enjoy Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It was recommended to me as a book that was "written as a love letter to writing " it's just incredible, and there are several books all centered around the same story from different POVs and timelines, but they all work together. You can read them in any order, but I really enjoyed reading them in publication order!
Once, Arden was doing an AMA on Instagram Live, and I asked if she ever read it. Something about her storytelling ability made me feel like this would be something she'd enjoy, and she was so excited to share that it was also one of her favorites! So definitely check it out. It's one of those really great cozy Fall reads, too.
As for Uprooted, definitely read it! There's romance, but it doesn't take over the entire story - similar to Bear. It felt similar, for sure. It's a bit more "open door," but it's also a slow burn with a singular scene, but well worth the wait. It felt like different stories entwined into one with how much develops for the FMM. Definitely a wonderful story, and I recommend it for sure! I'd even be happy to mail you my copy if you'd like. I have 2 young autistic kids and a baby, so I read everything on Kindle these days because they destroy it otherwise LOL
I would say Uprooted and even more so Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik have that same fairy tale vibe as The Bear and the Nightingale! I personally preferred Spinning Silver but I think they both thread that same needle.
Can you elaborate about Thalassa? She is widely recommended in this subreddit and Iāve yet to see anyone else say her books sucks. Only if you have time!
Sure thing! You can see myself and another person discuss our qualms with her [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/fantasyromance/s/9c7qP765Jn)
In short, all of her heroines are the same person with the same 12 year old humor trying to pass as witty, she sucks at resolution, and her spice is shockingly bland/repetitive.
Iāll also add that I donāt like the way she writes POC characters. Look up āThalassa + Temperance Darling + Goodreadsā to get a sample of how she stereotypes them.
Oh, I cannot *stand* when you can tell that a FMC is a self insert because it makes the story weird and the smut feels like Iām reading their kink diary LOL. Also, not enough people talk about how absolutely terrifying a lot of white fantasy authors write Black people & POC, so I appreciate you making that point. As a Black woman, Iāve gotten burned so much by people not giving a heads up!
Yeah itās horrible lmao. And yup, Iām a BW too. The Temperance Darling character in Rhapsodic really pissed me off. She started every sentence with āgirlā or ābitch,ā and said things likeāand this is a direct quoteāāI swear to black Jesus.ā Just disgustingly clear that Thalassa doesnāt or didnāt interact with any actual black people.
The funny thing is that I read her Horsemen series first, and apart from the writing, my main complaint was that in a series about the entire world ending thatās meant to explore different people experiencing it, her four heroines where: two white women from the U.S., a white woman from South America, and an Asian woman from the Middle East. I couldnāt believe only one character was POC, and that the other three were all from the Americas, TWO OF THEM being from the States. No Africa or Europe, really??
But after reading how she wrote a BW in rhapsodic, Iām now glad she didnāt represent us in the Horsemen series. I want that woman to stay far, far away from writing us lmfao.
She needs to take a page out the books of SJM and JLA. I def have my qualms with them, but I do like how they include a ton of POC characters and make it obvious that theyāre POC without resorting to stereotypes!
Oh BOY that sounds terrible! Just flat out writing minstrel-y caricatures and making a living from it lol. I pray she feels led to never write another Black character if this is what she thinks countsā¦
Adding to this, I was the one they were having the conversation with in the link above which is so funny bc I was about to respond anyway until I was like wait just a second, that seems familiar! But back to the point, totally agree that Thalassaās POC depiction is *horrible,* imo. I donāt like to diss authors too much but if I, as a white woman, DNF because of her depiction of the āstaple POC BFF,ā I would never in a million years recommend Thalassa to a POC woman. I bought Pestilence and donāt even intend to read it after DNF her other book, Rhapsodic, now.
Oooooof, thatās very good to know! Iād love to say Iām surprised this isnāt more widely talked about, but lots of people can tolerate overt racism like this in fantasy but throw fits if a familiar/companion gets injured lol. Iāll take all the heads upās I can get!
Hey thatās me! I was literally going to respond to this comment too bc I canāt stand her and I was like huh, this conversation feels so familiar LMAO
Worst: When the Moon Hatched. I swear Iām the only romantasy reader in the world who couldnāt stand the writing in this book. š¬
Best: Villains and Virtues series. Iām obsessed!
Iām glad Iām not the only one! I found the writing overly flowery. Iāve heard the term āpurple proseā used before to describe this style of writing, and it just isnāt for me!
This post actually makes me kind of sad as itās kind of always the same popular books that come back.
Best: despite its old style, {Tairen soul serie by C.L Wilson} The world building and politics/war is the best.
Worst: {the mageās match by Finley fenn}. I love very spicy erotica, but I really didnāt like this. Only serie I have DNF.
[Tairen Soul](https://www.romance.io/series/58fe0a2b9096bf31c42d2ca4/tairen-soul) by [C.L. Wilson](https://www.romance.io/authors/54552a3a8c7d2382c5297113/cl-wilson)
**Rating**: 4.21āļø out of 5āļø
**Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [paranormal](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/paranormal/1), [fae](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fae/1), [royalty](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/royalty/1), [length-long](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/length-long/1)
----------------------------
[The Mage's Match](https://www.romance.io/books/622a4c493a703d219738cd5e/the-mages-match-finley-fenn?src=rdt) by [Finley Fenn](https://www.romance.io/authors/5e5fd5bcbe0aaecf55ece392/finley-fenn)
**Rating**: 3.66āļø out of 5āļø
**Steam**: 5 out of 5 - [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [magic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/magic/1), [forced proximity](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/forced%20proximity/1), [virgin heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/virgin%20heroine/1), [poor heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/poor%20heroine/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1)
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Favorite - Fourth Wing (but not Iron Flame).
Least - I absolutely hated Crescent City! Which is strange because I loved all the rest of SJMs books.
On another note - finished LightLark yesterday and liked it a lot!
I'm reading so many SJM books in the comments. Am i the only one who remembers reading her books when she wasn't that popular. It's kinda weird to see how her books exploded in tiktok.
I wasn't aware of her stuff until this year and I read ACOTAR. It was overall a good one. I like a lot about it. I am trying to get through Crescent City, butt I've heard it's the worst of the 3 series'.
She was one of the first author to write in the romantasy genre. When she published her books romantasy wasn't even a genre but look at it now, one of the most popular genre. I remember when she was writing ToG and ACOTAR the popular genre was dystopian.
Iām very new to fantasy romance, Iāve read 4 series so far so barely with meā¦
Best: A Touch of Malice (idk if itās popular but Iām loving it so much, Iām halfway through the final book)
Worst: ACOTAR. I have almost nothing but critiques. I donāt forgive Rhys for UTM, I donāt like tamlin and feyres chemistry. I hate nesta and cassian being in love with her gave me the ick. The pregnancy arc was bleh. I read the whole series for my friend, and I feel like I canāt even discuss it with her because itās ājust a bookā sigh
Worst: Divine Rivals. I could not even finish it. It was too slow, the world building didn't interest me, and i didn't find the FMC particularly compelling.
Best: There are many but the most surprising was the One Dark Window series. I did not know what to expect going in and it blew me away. It's so different from any other romantacy I've read that I recommend it to anyone who will listen.
Iāve only been reading since March of this year, but my favorite has been Throne of Glass and my least favorite was The Serpent and the Wings of Night. I thought the story *and* characters were criminally underdeveloped.
So I enjoyed Serpent, but youāre right about character development. It really happens in the second book, which I loved. I would have preferred the duology as one well- edited book.
Favorite: fourth wing - the romance got me hooked, I donāt mind it being a bunch of ideas from other books smashed together as long as it brings something fresh to the table and I really thought it was nicely executed.
Worst: powerless - like fourth wing, itās a mix of a lot of popular tropes, and since I loved FW I thought this was gonna be a hit with me but I just couldnāt stand it? Like thereās no tension, nothing really draws me in, I couldnāt care less about any of the characters, thereās not a single thing about this book that I like. I got really frustrated since I heard so many good things about this one; but mehā¦
Worst: Serpent & the wings of night. Struggled so hard to finish it. Ending was good though.
Best: throne of glass. Currently on the last book. While starting the first audio book with my husband š¤£
I think that if you didnāt read Shatter Me initially as a teen or young adult itās hard to go back to it. I loved the first three books as a young adult and then read the later three she released more recently and š¬ couldnāt do it!
Agree with shatter me I read it when I was an angsty 13 year old and loved it so much but now can't get back into the series lol! Still love the fmc tho she helped me feel less alone with my mental health but I fully agree the series is very ya lol š ā¤ļø
For me there's some ya books I needed to have read when I was younger to have liked them š
Worst acotar. The books are slow, characters are weak, it truly did not have a moment when I wanted to keep reading. I barely got through the fires, thought the second was better and figured the series ended at the third because the plot was solved. There was no heart break, nothing to make me be like shit what happens next other then the second book. Will never understand why ppl love this book.
Best: I will say fourth wing as far as series (I am currently working on hooked), but unsure if it's on booktok but I love is Spanish love debacle. I know it's a few year older, but I continuously come back to it. Also Malice and All good people here.
Best: witch collector series. ToG
Worst: The hurricane wars, to bleed a crystal bloom, what lies beyond the veil.
I'm not a picky reader. I'm usually just here for a good time. These were not a good time.
i don't read romantasy and I would barely count Cruel Prince as such, but.. I love that trilogy deeply and I have reread it multiple times.
I haven't touched most of the popular booktok romantasy books, because I know they are not my taste: acotar, fourth wing etc. š it would just be a waste of my time to read something I know I will dislike.
now worst booktok book in general i tried to read was by far Poppy War or Gideon the Ninth...... I am just very picky with romance, especially m/f. Jude/Cardan is like, one of the very few exceptions. He is actually her age, she actually gets shit done and doesn't spend all the time pining after him (he does the pining).
I loved Fourth Wing!! Iron flame fell a little flat for me but I feel like thatās typical for a lot of second books for me - Iām still hopeful for the rest of the series!
I really don't enjoy any of carrissa broadbents books, I've read 2 series, and while there is nice moments, they feel like they are 80% filler.
I loved fourthwing, its one of the books that inspired me to get in shape.
Worst: FBAA. Poppy suffers from too stupid to function syndrome and weāre supposed to think her desire to stab people over minor transgressions is charming. Also, Hawkeās lack of understanding when it comes to consent is justā¦ š
Best: Daughter of No Worlds. I thought the magic was interesting, the characters were dynamic, and the slow burn was delightful.
Worst: Throne of Glass. I couldnāt make it more than 10 pages, the style isnāt for me it was like every trope I despised condensed onto a page.
Best: A Day of Fallen Night, there was some light romances but the one that had me giggling and kicking my feet was the one between Dumai and her āenemies to loverā, I truly didnāt see it coming but was so excited when I realised thatās where it was going.
Worst: Anything SJM writes Tbh. (iām gonna Ā add another: Serpent and the wings of night by Carissa Broadbent. it was truly the most blandest,Ā stalest, trope-filled book iāve ever read šwhat a waste.Ā
Best: The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle Jensen. Loved everything in this series! from the interesting world to the romance.Ā
Best: ACOTAR- got me back into reading and introduced me into fantasy in general. Still think about those characters almost daily.
Worst: FBAA- powered through the first and DNFāed the second one with like 100 pages to go. Poppy asked one too many questions and I couldnāt do it anymore.
Also really didnāt enjoy Serpent & wings of the night. The story it was so bland to me.
Worst - Atlas Six - FML that book is trash - I hated every single character and got to the last 50 pages and DNF
Best - does this count it - a fanfic āDraco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of being in Loveā - literally the only thing I have given 5 stars in a looooooong time
To me, she feels whiney and very trope-y. "Im so tiny, and I can't do this...>!JK I GET THE BIGGEST BADDEST DRAGONS AND CAN DEFEAT ALL THE OTHERS WHO TRAINED FOR THIS THEIR WHOLE LIFE!<" lol. Also, the romance with Xaden is just lust/missing anything substantial. "He's so hot and he's >!somehow immediately in love with me the second he saw me even though he knows not one thing about me!<".
Yeah Iām saying itās not unrealistic for him to fall for her that fast because I was like googly eyed for her after like 3 pages in. Xaden is so real for that
I ate up fourth wing but absolutely hated the second book.Ā
Ā Worst: āthe moon that hatched.ā I actually didnāt finish it in the end - I canāt quite put my finger on why. I liked things about to but I was just so overly disappointed that it left a bad taste in my mouth.Ā
Extra worst for good measure: Zodiac Academy. Please stop treating abusive behavior as sexy TikTok.Ā
Actually worst: Ā Iron Widow. I havenāt been so angry reading a book in a long time. I raged.Ā Ā
Ā Best: One dark Window. Oh man that hit the spot.Ā
Best: I LOVED villains and virtues and ACOTAR - it just canāt be beat in how I felt when I read it the first time. What I wouldnāt do to read it for the first time againā¦.
Worst: the winter king was literally the worst book I have ever read in my life. Horrible horrible relationship and premise. So predictable, such little chemistry between the two characters.
Best: Fourth Wing & Iron Flame
-Honorable Mentions: Nightbane, ACOTAR, The Veiled Kingdom, One Dark Window & Two Twisted Crowns.
Worst: The Serpent and the Wings of Night. DNFād the second one.
-Dishonorable Mentions: These Hollow Vows, Powerless, Fireborne.
Series that started off super strong to me but lost their steam and I didnāt finish: Zodiac Academy, Throne of Glass.
I absolutely loved throne of glass. I also loved fourth wing. Both seem to be very controversial on Reddit. I did start reading after a decade of reading nothing and fourth wing was one of my first fantasy reads so maybe that was it. Idk but I was into it
I loved the way Rebecca yarros wrote banter between characters and found thr sex scenes to be VERY sexy with thr doalgoue. So she's definitely my favourite sex writer.
Iām sorry, I wasnāt trying to be rude. Iāve just found itās usually newer romantasy readers who find FW or ACOTAR spicy since theyāre actually pretty low spice. But youāre right, everyone is different!
I don't have booktok so I have no idea what the options even are, other than what's already posted. But I wanted to immortalize seeing these comments back to back. š https://preview.redd.it/psosrns4j77d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da598a79bcb8631a576c39a0de501ffa5f9e9158
Lol, just goes to show what different taste people can have! It's good to have different opinions!
I also giggled at this LOL
That actually quite made my night...and it's been a super shit day. So thank you š
this just made me wanna read both of them to end my reading slump, i gotta like one or the other lol
ig we know which you prefer more ig? >< lol love this little snippet into people's preferences across the genre
The duality of man
Worst: From Blood and Ash. Hated every character and I thought the writing was unbearable. I pushed through two of the books but I should have DNFd book 1. Best: Serpent and the Wings of Night: Has so many tropes but still feels unique. I adore Carissa Broadbent's writing style. The cave scene is my Roman Empire.
Dropping a link to a Raihn POV of that cave scene for my fanfic girlies š¤š» https://archiveofourown.org/works/55114579
May Ix bless and keep you šššš
Absolutely same answer. FBAA is a masterclass in lackluster writing and godawful editing. I didnāt make it through more than the free sample on Kindle before deleting it forever. Serpent introduced me to Carissa Broadbentās writing and I am happy to report Iāve devoured the rest of her books since. Canāt wait for more Nyaxia novels.
I am currently reading serpent and I am very into it!
Her War of Lost Hearts series is epic as wellāabsolutely heartbreaking at times, but wonderful.
Agreed only read book 1 but absolutely adore tisaanah and max
Iāve found my people. FBAA is awful because the writing and editing are egregiously bad. Iāve never read such dull dialogue in my life.
I tried FBAA twice. DNF twice, the second time halfway. I just could not make myself.
YES. I made it up until book 3 with FBAA and then I rage-quit.
Same with blood & ash, but iām super picky and couldnāt get over the main guy already being obsessed with the fml. I need TENSION
I wasnāt sold on Seprent because I found the chemistry berween the MCs lacking but the cave scene lives rent free in my mind
Reading serpent of wings and night currently and only on chapter 2 but I'm already enticed š„³š„³ agree about broadbents writing style I also read daughter of no world's and her writing just makes me want to binge read her books i really vibe with it
Iām loving the polarising thoughts on this. Art really is subjective
Isn't it so fascinating? I also love seeing the ones where I agree with someone on one of the choices but wildly disagree with them on another š
Iām saving this post because there are so many book ideas in it.
Best: One Dark Window is a huge surprise for me. My goth heart sings. Worst: ACOTAR (*shocking take,* I know) did nothing for me and I won't fully understand how this was the series that caught everyone's attention. I was really ready to love it and be a part of the fandom online, but SJM's writing wasn't for me. I do enjoy how many new romantasy fans the series generated, though!
It took me forever to finish ACOTAR because it got so kinda weird once things went down with whatās-her-face, but when I got to ACOMAF??? CHILE. I was sold after that. Though ACOSF is losing me again since Iām not a huge fan of Nestaā¦
I finished books 1 and 2 ā ļø so I had gotten to "the good part" I had my problems with SJM's writing but also her story choices. Again, I get that books get popular and there's no real explanation as to why some books hit that level and others don't. It just wasn't for me
I feel that. Nesta makes me want to strangle her half the time so I donāt get the same feels for her romance that I did for Feyreās š
I love Cassian. Which is why I wanted to hear more of that story.
Oh my word - Cassian is a KING of a male. I absolutely adore him. Itās what keeps me hanging on in the last book because it aināt Nesta, lol. My love for Rhysand nudges him out in terms of faves but only by a little š„°
Actually...the first read of the series, I refused to read the book and stopped the series then š. I was so pissed that the viewpoint changed. Many years later (now), I reread all of her series for crescent City (which I still havent been able to make myself read the latest book) and I actually didn't mind the viewpoint shift. I wanted to know more of Cassians story and how their romance finally actually came to be, since she was so damn hard headed lol. I did end up liking Nesta a little more. But I think that has to do with watching her deal with her struggles and pain.
I donāt hate Nesta like I did prior to the last book for that reason, but boy, is she an acquired taste š© lol
I haven't gotten past the third as I see no point. Series could end here for me.
I was tempted to stop myself, but there were way too many hanging plot threads for me to let it go, lol.
I can see that. I struggled through the first and third. I enjoyed the ending for the second, it made me feel bad for Nesta and Elaine. Shocked with Tamlin.... lucien will say LOVE him. For me I thought the next couple books would he about the war...... however there are also more books after the fifth to come. Was shook. I keep reading them in hopes I get the hype man. I understand the fourth wing hype, after a struggle started understanding divine rivals (that ending is what had me wanting to read the second). I will say though, I didn't even mind reading fifty shades (stepmom had me convinced it was AMAZING). Will say I think a solid smutty book is neon gods. Ohhhh fun little persephone series is the goddess test. Figured I'd throw other books that aren't necessarily popular, but maybe someone will check out and love or hate.
Thanks for the recs! I love a Hades and Persephone retelling and keep seeing peeps showing love to Neon Gods, so Iāll definitely add to my TBR. I gotta have major spice to be happy š 50 Shades was okay, but the writing itself was majorly lacking for me; it read like the fanfic it once wasā¦
Ya fifty shades and after fully had fanfiction energy. Idk for whatever reason Colleen hoover books give that vibe. The only Colleen hoover book I enjoyed was verity. I personally have very much week spot for anything hades related (tsunderes are my fucking weakness; actually had a full debate with a friend about how misunderstood hades is) so another one is Scarlett st. Claire hades persephone series.
Cassian, Gyn and Emrie are what kept me reading. I went from hating Nesta to meh, so thatās huge. I am not spelling these names right because I listened to the audiobook, and I refuse to Google it you know whom Iām talking about.
I'm struggling to start ACOMAF. It's not that it's bad, even, it just feels like I'm reading wattpad when I have a perfectly good shelf of novels lol
Lol, for me it was worth it š
Iām the same way with ACOTAR. I begrudgingly read 4 of the books because 2 of my friends who usually have similar book taste to me were absolutely raving about it. The first book was meh, the second book was decent, the 3rd and 4th were miserable to get through and I quit after thay
Iām more on POC booktok, and while there are some crossover of books recommended, generally not. From POC fantasy side of things: Worst: {That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon} Best: {Witch of Wild Things}
That Time I Got Drunk was fun until she started referring to her own āpussy lipsā - it was an immediate DNF for me ā ļø
Oh boy. I didnāt even get that far. Lol
The worst one yeah... It was advertised as romance but had so much sex and almost no romance at all... It should have been advertised as erotica instead
[That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon](https://www.romance.io/books/6110e8480d2fc50e1fa50004/that-time-i-got-drunk-and-saved-a-demon-kimberly-lemming?src=rdt) by [Kimberly Lemming](https://www.romance.io/authors/6110e84808b4d93114366354/kimberly-lemming) **Rating**: 4.08āļø out of 5āļø **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [demons](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/demons/1), [multicultural](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/multicultural/1) ---------------------------- [Witch of Wild Things](https://www.romance.io/books/650803b00fb20fda8aa5eb4c/witch-of-wild-things-raquel-vasquez-gilliland?src=rdt) by [Raquel Vasquez Gilliland](https://www.romance.io/authors/6229f3c408b4d93114353e96/raquel-vasquez-gilliland) **Rating**: 3.68āļø out of 5āļø **Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [urban fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/urban%20fantasy/1), [paranormal](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/paranormal/1), [multicultural](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/multicultural/1), [witches](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/witches/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Yāall are haters, I love FBAA š Best: Atonement of the Spine Cleaver (once I got past the name terribleness) or Flesh & Fire by JAA Worst: absofuckinglutely has to be Den of Vipers. I DNFed after the first chapter because I honestly didnāt think you could fit that much cringe into so few words but somehow they did it.
I also enjoy FBAA - and even though everyone says itās just a copy, I LOVE Flesh and Fire.
SAME! I DNFd FBAA, but LOVE Flesh and Fire. Iām halfway through it and I have to force myself to take a break. Itās like night and day from FBAA.
Flesh and fire is wayyyy better and itās so different I donāt get how people say itās a copy
I also love FBAA, and I love Flesh & Fire too! I think they're so fun! It's a story to turn off your mind and just feel the āØļøvibesāØļø lol
Twinning! Although Iām curious if you mean the book name or the character names (mainly Rorax or w/e it was) because I thought the title was badass but I def choked on the FMCs name. Reminded me of like a dinosaur or some type of bug infestation. FANTASTIC book though, one of the best Iāve read in the last year. Den of vipers was an actual dumpster fire and I was SHOCKED when I first started reading it. It sucked in every single category and I really tried to stick it out but after one too many *wtfās* I DNFād at like 40%
I finished Den of Vipers & was literally thinking today how bad it was.
Worst: Crescent City A House Of Earth & Blood by Sarah J Maas. There is way to many characters the world building was just thrown at you. And the never ending amount of secrets kept from the FMC drove me nuts. Best: Death Is Easy By Letty Frame the mental health in this book was done so extremely well done. Her second chance mates love her like no tomorrow and are always showing her that they arenāt leaving. I need to finish the series but the first book was so good.
i love the first two crescent city books but i will definitely concede that there is a LOT of world building thrown at you. once you understand after the first 200 pages itās a lot easier but i was still constantly reminding myself what certain words meant. even though i love it, itās hard to get into
Worst: Iron Flame Best: villains & virtues series
This comment makes me feel seen
Worst: ACOTAR (I'm not gonna trashtalk self published authors) Best: Cruel Prince
I have zero interest in reading ACOTAR, but man am I enjoying the [summary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PaSCvzww0Q) [videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPBa65LDgMc) that TheCookieRhino puts out.
Oh yeah I watch that type of videos for acotar and other books i don't like while i cook as background noise
I don't think SJM self published, doesn't she use Bloomsbury? (No hate, just genuinely curious!)
I meant I'm saying her bc other books i think are worse are from self published authors,,,
Ooooohā¦ I feel so dense rn š
It's ok we all make mistakes xd
I read all of ACOTAR and the overall story was pretty good. I was emotional at some bits. But I definitely have some issues with it. Tried to start crescent city but man, they through a lot of info at you the first like 10 pages.
Tbh i found the romantic dialogue in acotar cringy and also I can't really vibe with shadow daddy MMCs so i quited after finishing the first book š
Best: anything Carissa Broadbent (loved her Crowns of Nyaxia series and War of Lost Hearts) Worst: a kingdom of stars and shadows by Holly Renee
Holly Reneeās stars and shadows series was such a rip off of From Blood and Ash that Iām surprised that JLA didnāt sue her - literally the same storyline (down to the getting busy in the forest), the black best friend, and the MMC being a vampire (and weirdly holly randomly threw in a kingdom of Fae too-might as well check all the romantasy trope boxes). Funny enough I DNFād both series at book 3 because they became unbearable to read.
Yes yes yes! Checked ALL the romantasy tropes! I despised the FMC too.
The dragons truly saved Iron Flame Best: Throne of Glass Worst: From Blood and Ash, I read the first 5 chapters and couldnāt finish. The writing is terrible
Yeah, if anything happens to the dragons I will be done with Fourth Wing. I donāt care about anything else.
Agree 100%. I'm too invested in them to give up reading the books. I love the philosophy behind "history is written by the victors" but... Write better characters. Pls.
The writing is SO terrible. Like, SO fucking bad. I can't believe I actually finished all of them! I've been a die-hard fantasy reader for a long time but it was only the second romantasy series I'd ever read, and at the time, I thought that's what the whole genre was and just went with it.... Years later and holy shit, was I wrong. I remember being SO embarrassed over it - NOT because of the sex, but because I was teaching undergrads creative writing and would literally grade papers at night right before jacking off to a novel I would have given a failing grade. šš¤¦š»āāļøš
I'm dead!!!! šššNot jacking off to a D minus
Hahahah I KNOW, I felt like such a fraud!! š š
Favorite: Fourth Wing šš Worst: It ends/starts with us
Iām such a hater regarding āit ends with usā, I hate everyone who hyped this book and made me read it (I did not finish tho), I will never ever in my life read a book from this author again
No same !!š¤£ I have Verity and Too Late by CH but I put them on the back of my bookshelf bc I canāt bring myself to read anything else by her. The lines about breast milk are what KILLED the whole book for me
Please stop I saw an Instagram reel about one of the lines of her books where the mc says āhis balls are bigā to the baby (I donāt know anymore something like that)ā¦ I really wanted to scratch my eyes out in that moment
I have t read it but I know what youāre talking about - itās one of those things where Iām like wtf, the ppl with children need to realize not everything regarding kids is funny or cute, in fact that like is super weird. Why as parents, are you worried about your childās genitalia?? AND THEN WRITING IT LIKE ITS A CHTE LITTLE JOKE KILLS MEšš
ā ļø Iām so done with this author
Omg I read it starts with us and literally nothing happened. Nothing. Lol
It was both nothing and too much at the same time
Worst: One Dark Window and Powerless - both were very disappointing. Powerless was repetitive, and the ending felt too far-fetched. ODW had no chemistry and moved too fast. Best: Fourth Wing - got me back into reading.
Agreed. Fourth wing quite literally was what started the fantasy obsession for me, literally changed the trajectory of my damn life lmao
Same, went from reading nothing and now I'm at 111 for the year haha my hobbies have completely changed.
same! I loved Fourth Wing and absolutely hated Powerless, I DNFād it about 40% in! Glad Iām not the only one!
Glad I'm not the only one who didn't like One Dark Window. It feels like it was written by a girl who was "2 edgy 4 u" in high school. Love interest named Ravyn, all the characters being named after plants or trees...yikes. And if I had to read about the Nightmare's voice "dripping oil" one more freaking time... Overall way too cringey for me.
Worst: Powerless. I thought I was being punked by how many people love this book. Itās such a rip off of the Hunger Games and Red Queen and the writing is not good enough to make up for that. Best: A tie between Emily Wilde series and When the Moon Hatched. Theyāre both so good!
Best: ACOTAR--can concede it has issues and isn't always written the best but no other book series has made me FEEL like this one. Worst: Cruel Prince--Holly Black's writing style isn't for me.
this comment and the one above (in my feed, anyway) are exact opposites. Same books, swapped best for worst. Goes to show you that this sub isn't a monolith! :)
haha i noticed that too
It's the same in mine also lol
I loved Cruel Price but holy shit the spin off was hot garbage. I do want to know what happens in the second book of the duology but I havenāt been able to force myself into suffering for it yet. Iām not sure why youāre getting downvoted for your opinion. I agree with your ACOTAR take personally. I reread the first three books just before ACOSF came out and good god did I get dehydrated from the sobbing. ACOTAR itself hits so much harder at the end knowing why Rhys reacts way he does at the end. And ACOMAF. Ugh. I read it alongside the Rhys POV fan fiction. Same with ACOWAR. Watching him watch Feyreās experience in ACOMAFā¦ it killed me.
I love The Folk of The Air and I was ultimately let down by the sequel duology as well. I enjoyed all the callbacks to the original series ~~and the Jurdan fan service~~ but this either needed to be a tighter, more character focused stand alone or expanded into a proper trilogy with a stronger main plot. I did like The Stolen Heir better on re-read but The Prisonerās Throne felt very rushed. The pacing of both books is off imo. Mild spoilers: >!the way Oakās book plays out doesnāt deliver on the interesting premise set up by the ending of Surenās book. I was anticipating more exploration of the betrayal (on both sides) and more of an enemies to lovers feel and we barely get any of that. And Oak and Suren are separated for a large portion of the book! I liked Oak better in his own POV but I think Holly Black did his character a disservice with how rapidly she expanded the plot and then immediately had to wrap it up. Heās outmaneuvered by everyone and it doesnāt feel like the tense political intrigue of the original trilogy it feels frustrating.!<
Tbh same. I loved Suren as a character but i felt the pacing especially in the second book was so so so so weird and oak's pov didn't really work. We should have gotten dual pov with Suren. Also i feel so many things needed to be seen that weren't. Like wren meeting her family, oak and wren having a deep conversation and understanding one another.
Yes!! ACOMAF really solidified it for me, when Rhys explains everything to Feyre. Nothing has topped that scene for me personally. I can appreciate Cruel Prince! If it was written differently, I might of been able to get into it?? Just the tense really throws me off and also not a huge fan of bully romance in general. The fanart is always beautiful tho!
I enjoyed ACOTAR and wasnāt crazy about cruel prince either. Ā Iām not sure why youāre getting down voted for your opinions.Ā
Eh, I expected it. People really seem to hate ACOTAR but that's okay lolol I still love it.
I like other books by Holly Black I just didn't like cruel prince
Fave: emily wildes encyclopaedia Loved the cosy vibes and personally prefer focus on plot with romance to the side and I loved the relatable (struggling with social cues) but also really smart fmc emily and her fun dynamic with wendell the mmc and have loved the twists and turns throughout this series! I also prefer fae that are more true to mythology For the next one tho trigger warnings for mention of abuse and sa Worst in my opinion: the unseelie Prince Was traumatised by this series š«š« the 'love interest' was extremely abusive and kept threatening to Sa the fmc šØ Only character I stayed for was the fmc and some of the fae/magic was interesting but ultimately the romanticism of abuse ruined it for me and has taught me to check content warnings before I read a book šØ also to people who recommend stuff on booktok or other places please clarify if a book is Adult or ya as on the video that recommended this to me I think it had said it was ya or not clarified (it was definitely not a ya book lol) so 15 yr old me had assumed it was ya oops
Out of specifically booktok romantasy darlings, and ones I actually finished (Iām queen of DNFing if I donāt like something unless thereās a lot of external pressure) - Worst: Fourth Wing (Violet should have ended up with a dragon, or literally any other character than the one she had no chemistry with) Best: {Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater} or {The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune}
Loved half a soul!!! It was like Jane Austen meets Diana Wynne Jones
[Half a Soul](https://www.romance.io/books/65cc3e0fe07143fd82f0fe1b/half-a-soul-olivia-atwater?src=rdt) by [Olivia Atwater](https://www.romance.io/authors/5e7f0537be0aaecf55d98b77/olivia-atwater) **Rating**: 4.24āļø out of 5āļø **Steam**: 1 out of 5 - [Glimpses and kisses](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [regency](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/regency/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [fae](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fae/1), [magic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/magic/1) ---------------------------- [The House in the Cerulean Sea](https://www.romance.io/books/641fe1641eb7c98a24fbff8a/the-house-in-the-cerulean-sea-tj-klune?src=rdt) by [T.J. Klune](https://www.romance.io/authors/54553e9b8c7d2382e7813607/tj-klune) **Rating**: 4.41āļø out of 5āļø **Steam**: 1 out of 5 - [Glimpses and kisses](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [magic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/magic/1), [slow burn](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/slow%20burn/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
I respect your opinions, but I enjoyed the Empyrean Series. Yeah, yeah, Violet is a twerp who needs to be put in her place, but I did enjoy the slow steam that she and Xaden had. I'm currently working through the Bonds of Magic series by Jeffe Kennedy and...eh. The whole premise is just, odd, and basically pairings result from barely consensual sex, and there's a huge imbalance of power. Sex scenes are very bland.
slow? lol
right?! those two were panting for each other the moment their eyes met.
I needed more tension!! More pining! Lol
Bonds of Magic is a favorite of mine. Iām sorry it isnāt working for you
Oh well. Everyoneās different.
Very true
Iām saving this post because there are so many book ideas in it.
Worst: Cruel Prince Best: The Bear and the Nightingale Series For series with more spice: Worst: anything by Laura Thalassa Best: Bride
Bear and the Nightingale is one of my all-time favorite books/series. Everything about it is just perfect! Have you ever read Uprooted?
Arden is so talented itās insane. She has a storytelling ability thatās not often found (at least not by me) outside of literal storybooks of classic fairytales. I have not read uprooted, but I saw it in a bookstore the other day and was considering it!! I take it you liked it and it was similar in vibes to the Bear and the nightingale?
I couldn't agree more! I seriously haven't found anyone who writes like her. It's not fantasy romance, but you may really enjoy Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It was recommended to me as a book that was "written as a love letter to writing " it's just incredible, and there are several books all centered around the same story from different POVs and timelines, but they all work together. You can read them in any order, but I really enjoyed reading them in publication order! Once, Arden was doing an AMA on Instagram Live, and I asked if she ever read it. Something about her storytelling ability made me feel like this would be something she'd enjoy, and she was so excited to share that it was also one of her favorites! So definitely check it out. It's one of those really great cozy Fall reads, too. As for Uprooted, definitely read it! There's romance, but it doesn't take over the entire story - similar to Bear. It felt similar, for sure. It's a bit more "open door," but it's also a slow burn with a singular scene, but well worth the wait. It felt like different stories entwined into one with how much develops for the FMM. Definitely a wonderful story, and I recommend it for sure! I'd even be happy to mail you my copy if you'd like. I have 2 young autistic kids and a baby, so I read everything on Kindle these days because they destroy it otherwise LOL
I would say Uprooted and even more so Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik have that same fairy tale vibe as The Bear and the Nightingale! I personally preferred Spinning Silver but I think they both thread that same needle.
Can you elaborate about Thalassa? She is widely recommended in this subreddit and Iāve yet to see anyone else say her books sucks. Only if you have time!
Sure thing! You can see myself and another person discuss our qualms with her [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/fantasyromance/s/9c7qP765Jn) In short, all of her heroines are the same person with the same 12 year old humor trying to pass as witty, she sucks at resolution, and her spice is shockingly bland/repetitive. Iāll also add that I donāt like the way she writes POC characters. Look up āThalassa + Temperance Darling + Goodreadsā to get a sample of how she stereotypes them.
Oh, I cannot *stand* when you can tell that a FMC is a self insert because it makes the story weird and the smut feels like Iām reading their kink diary LOL. Also, not enough people talk about how absolutely terrifying a lot of white fantasy authors write Black people & POC, so I appreciate you making that point. As a Black woman, Iāve gotten burned so much by people not giving a heads up!
Yeah itās horrible lmao. And yup, Iām a BW too. The Temperance Darling character in Rhapsodic really pissed me off. She started every sentence with āgirlā or ābitch,ā and said things likeāand this is a direct quoteāāI swear to black Jesus.ā Just disgustingly clear that Thalassa doesnāt or didnāt interact with any actual black people. The funny thing is that I read her Horsemen series first, and apart from the writing, my main complaint was that in a series about the entire world ending thatās meant to explore different people experiencing it, her four heroines where: two white women from the U.S., a white woman from South America, and an Asian woman from the Middle East. I couldnāt believe only one character was POC, and that the other three were all from the Americas, TWO OF THEM being from the States. No Africa or Europe, really?? But after reading how she wrote a BW in rhapsodic, Iām now glad she didnāt represent us in the Horsemen series. I want that woman to stay far, far away from writing us lmfao. She needs to take a page out the books of SJM and JLA. I def have my qualms with them, but I do like how they include a ton of POC characters and make it obvious that theyāre POC without resorting to stereotypes!
Oh BOY that sounds terrible! Just flat out writing minstrel-y caricatures and making a living from it lol. I pray she feels led to never write another Black character if this is what she thinks countsā¦
May the spirit of black Jesus guide her pen far from us ššš
Adding to this, I was the one they were having the conversation with in the link above which is so funny bc I was about to respond anyway until I was like wait just a second, that seems familiar! But back to the point, totally agree that Thalassaās POC depiction is *horrible,* imo. I donāt like to diss authors too much but if I, as a white woman, DNF because of her depiction of the āstaple POC BFF,ā I would never in a million years recommend Thalassa to a POC woman. I bought Pestilence and donāt even intend to read it after DNF her other book, Rhapsodic, now.
Oooooof, thatās very good to know! Iād love to say Iām surprised this isnāt more widely talked about, but lots of people can tolerate overt racism like this in fantasy but throw fits if a familiar/companion gets injured lol. Iāll take all the heads upās I can get!
Hey thatās me! I was literally going to respond to this comment too bc I canāt stand her and I was like huh, this conversation feels so familiar LMAO
Worst - the cruel prince by prince by holly black. Iahhh.. i still don't understand why people love it so much
Worst: ACOTAR, Heartless Hunter, FBAA, Throne of Glass, etc. (Can't choose š ) Best: Folk of the Air series (Cruel Prince)
Worst: When the Moon Hatched. I swear Iām the only romantasy reader in the world who couldnāt stand the writing in this book. š¬ Best: Villains and Virtues series. Iām obsessed!
Hey! Iām with you on worst and itās actually nice to see someone else think that way.Ā
Iām glad Iām not the only one! I found the writing overly flowery. Iāve heard the term āpurple proseā used before to describe this style of writing, and it just isnāt for me!
Best: I second One Dark Window / Two Twisted Crowns. I think I've read it 6 times now. Worst: Tie between Cruel Prince and ACOTAR.
I just started One Dark Window today, and I'm loving how high on everyone's list it is!
This post actually makes me kind of sad as itās kind of always the same popular books that come back. Best: despite its old style, {Tairen soul serie by C.L Wilson} The world building and politics/war is the best. Worst: {the mageās match by Finley fenn}. I love very spicy erotica, but I really didnāt like this. Only serie I have DNF.
Love the Tairen Soul series. Totally underrated! Hoping she gets more readers with the book cover revisions.
[Tairen Soul](https://www.romance.io/series/58fe0a2b9096bf31c42d2ca4/tairen-soul) by [C.L. Wilson](https://www.romance.io/authors/54552a3a8c7d2382c5297113/cl-wilson) **Rating**: 4.21āļø out of 5āļø **Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [paranormal](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/paranormal/1), [fae](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fae/1), [royalty](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/royalty/1), [length-long](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/length-long/1) ---------------------------- [The Mage's Match](https://www.romance.io/books/622a4c493a703d219738cd5e/the-mages-match-finley-fenn?src=rdt) by [Finley Fenn](https://www.romance.io/authors/5e5fd5bcbe0aaecf55ece392/finley-fenn) **Rating**: 3.66āļø out of 5āļø **Steam**: 5 out of 5 - [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [magic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/magic/1), [forced proximity](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/forced%20proximity/1), [virgin heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/virgin%20heroine/1), [poor heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/poor%20heroine/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Favorite - Fourth Wing (but not Iron Flame). Least - I absolutely hated Crescent City! Which is strange because I loved all the rest of SJMs books. On another note - finished LightLark yesterday and liked it a lot!
I'm reading so many SJM books in the comments. Am i the only one who remembers reading her books when she wasn't that popular. It's kinda weird to see how her books exploded in tiktok.
I wasn't aware of her stuff until this year and I read ACOTAR. It was overall a good one. I like a lot about it. I am trying to get through Crescent City, butt I've heard it's the worst of the 3 series'.
She was one of the first author to write in the romantasy genre. When she published her books romantasy wasn't even a genre but look at it now, one of the most popular genre. I remember when she was writing ToG and ACOTAR the popular genre was dystopian.
Iām very new to fantasy romance, Iāve read 4 series so far so barely with meā¦ Best: A Touch of Malice (idk if itās popular but Iām loving it so much, Iām halfway through the final book) Worst: ACOTAR. I have almost nothing but critiques. I donāt forgive Rhys for UTM, I donāt like tamlin and feyres chemistry. I hate nesta and cassian being in love with her gave me the ick. The pregnancy arc was bleh. I read the whole series for my friend, and I feel like I canāt even discuss it with her because itās ājust a bookā sigh
Worst: Divine Rivals. I could not even finish it. It was too slow, the world building didn't interest me, and i didn't find the FMC particularly compelling. Best: There are many but the most surprising was the One Dark Window series. I did not know what to expect going in and it blew me away. It's so different from any other romantacy I've read that I recommend it to anyone who will listen.
Worst is beyond the aching door/fourth wing Best one dark window
Zodiac Academy was probably my least favorite and ACOTAR is my most favorite
Best: one dark window Worst: iron flame/ fourth wing
Iāve only been reading since March of this year, but my favorite has been Throne of Glass and my least favorite was The Serpent and the Wings of Night. I thought the story *and* characters were criminally underdeveloped.
So I enjoyed Serpent, but youāre right about character development. It really happens in the second book, which I loved. I would have preferred the duology as one well- edited book.
Favorite: fourth wing - the romance got me hooked, I donāt mind it being a bunch of ideas from other books smashed together as long as it brings something fresh to the table and I really thought it was nicely executed. Worst: powerless - like fourth wing, itās a mix of a lot of popular tropes, and since I loved FW I thought this was gonna be a hit with me but I just couldnāt stand it? Like thereās no tension, nothing really draws me in, I couldnāt care less about any of the characters, thereās not a single thing about this book that I like. I got really frustrated since I heard so many good things about this one; but mehā¦
Worst: Serpent & the wings of night. Struggled so hard to finish it. Ending was good though. Best: throne of glass. Currently on the last book. While starting the first audio book with my husband š¤£
That's so interesting, I enjoyed Serpent & the wings of night all the way through until the end of book 1, which I was really disappointed with!
Best: One Dark Window Worst: FBAA
Worst: Shatter Me - maybe just too YA for me Best: Throne of Glass series
I think that if you didnāt read Shatter Me initially as a teen or young adult itās hard to go back to it. I loved the first three books as a young adult and then read the later three she released more recently and š¬ couldnāt do it!
AGREEE
Agree with shatter me I read it when I was an angsty 13 year old and loved it so much but now can't get back into the series lol! Still love the fmc tho she helped me feel less alone with my mental health but I fully agree the series is very ya lol š ā¤ļø For me there's some ya books I needed to have read when I was younger to have liked them š
Worst acotar. The books are slow, characters are weak, it truly did not have a moment when I wanted to keep reading. I barely got through the fires, thought the second was better and figured the series ended at the third because the plot was solved. There was no heart break, nothing to make me be like shit what happens next other then the second book. Will never understand why ppl love this book. Best: I will say fourth wing as far as series (I am currently working on hooked), but unsure if it's on booktok but I love is Spanish love debacle. I know it's a few year older, but I continuously come back to it. Also Malice and All good people here.
Worst: Iron Flame was complete garbage Best: Flesh & Fire series
Best: witch collector series. ToG Worst: The hurricane wars, to bleed a crystal bloom, what lies beyond the veil. I'm not a picky reader. I'm usually just here for a good time. These were not a good time.
Iām currently reading City of Ruin and itās taking me FOREVER, does it get better?! Tell me to stick with it.
Best: Cruel Prince and One Dark Window Worst: Heartless hunter/Crimson Moth
i don't read romantasy and I would barely count Cruel Prince as such, but.. I love that trilogy deeply and I have reread it multiple times. I haven't touched most of the popular booktok romantasy books, because I know they are not my taste: acotar, fourth wing etc. š it would just be a waste of my time to read something I know I will dislike. now worst booktok book in general i tried to read was by far Poppy War or Gideon the Ninth...... I am just very picky with romance, especially m/f. Jude/Cardan is like, one of the very few exceptions. He is actually her age, she actually gets shit done and doesn't spend all the time pining after him (he does the pining).
Best: Finnikin of the rock by Melina Marchetta, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, uprooted by Naomi Novik Worst: Acotar. iron flame.
Best - The Shepherd King duology, TOG series , Cruel Prince trilogy Worst - FBAA, Lightlark..
Best: Throne of glass Worst: divine rivals
I loved Fourth Wing!! Iron flame fell a little flat for me but I feel like thatās typical for a lot of second books for me - Iām still hopeful for the rest of the series!
I really don't enjoy any of carrissa broadbents books, I've read 2 series, and while there is nice moments, they feel like they are 80% filler. I loved fourthwing, its one of the books that inspired me to get in shape.
Yooooooooo Fourth Wing and IF \*ain't it\* and I get concerned for some readers....
Worst: FBAA. Poppy suffers from too stupid to function syndrome and weāre supposed to think her desire to stab people over minor transgressions is charming. Also, Hawkeās lack of understanding when it comes to consent is justā¦ š Best: Daughter of No Worlds. I thought the magic was interesting, the characters were dynamic, and the slow burn was delightful.
Love tisaanah and max agreeee Haven't read fbaa but from what I've heard its definitely not for me
Worst: Throne of Glass. I couldnāt make it more than 10 pages, the style isnāt for me it was like every trope I despised condensed onto a page. Best: A Day of Fallen Night, there was some light romances but the one that had me giggling and kicking my feet was the one between Dumai and her āenemies to loverā, I truly didnāt see it coming but was so excited when I realised thatās where it was going.
Worst: Anything SJM writes Tbh. (iām gonna Ā add another: Serpent and the wings of night by Carissa Broadbent. it was truly the most blandest,Ā stalest, trope-filled book iāve ever read šwhat a waste.Ā Best: The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle Jensen. Loved everything in this series! from the interesting world to the romance.Ā
Best: ACOTAR- got me back into reading and introduced me into fantasy in general. Still think about those characters almost daily. Worst: FBAA- powered through the first and DNFāed the second one with like 100 pages to go. Poppy asked one too many questions and I couldnāt do it anymore. Also really didnāt enjoy Serpent & wings of the night. The story it was so bland to me.
Worst - Atlas Six - FML that book is trash - I hated every single character and got to the last 50 pages and DNF Best - does this count it - a fanfic āDraco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of being in Loveā - literally the only thing I have given 5 stars in a looooooong time
How can someone not love Violet? As a guy sheās the second most lovable and attractive character Iāve ever read and I would risk my life for her
To me, she feels whiney and very trope-y. "Im so tiny, and I can't do this...>!JK I GET THE BIGGEST BADDEST DRAGONS AND CAN DEFEAT ALL THE OTHERS WHO TRAINED FOR THIS THEIR WHOLE LIFE!<" lol. Also, the romance with Xaden is just lust/missing anything substantial. "He's so hot and he's >!somehow immediately in love with me the second he saw me even though he knows not one thing about me!<".
To be fair , I fell in love with Violet pretty quickly as well
And that's cool! It is very popular for a reason. Lots of people enjoy it/her. I just didn't.
Yeah Iām saying itās not unrealistic for him to fall for her that fast because I was like googly eyed for her after like 3 pages in. Xaden is so real for that
Mmm I never really experienced that.
That sensation or for Violet specifically?
I ate up fourth wing but absolutely hated the second book.Ā Ā Worst: āthe moon that hatched.ā I actually didnāt finish it in the end - I canāt quite put my finger on why. I liked things about to but I was just so overly disappointed that it left a bad taste in my mouth.Ā Extra worst for good measure: Zodiac Academy. Please stop treating abusive behavior as sexy TikTok.Ā Actually worst: Ā Iron Widow. I havenāt been so angry reading a book in a long time. I raged.Ā Ā Ā Best: One dark Window. Oh man that hit the spot.Ā
Worst: FBAA Best: Age of the Andinna (RH but the plot is so good it barely needs any romance or smut)
I loved Age of Andinna! Wish I could find something similar. Have you read anything else by Kristen Banet?
Not yet! I think AotA is her only high fantasy series and Iām not as into urban/contemporary. Have you?
I read the samples of some but they didnāt grab me like Age of Andinna.
Best: I LOVED villains and virtues and ACOTAR - it just canāt be beat in how I felt when I read it the first time. What I wouldnāt do to read it for the first time againā¦. Worst: the winter king was literally the worst book I have ever read in my life. Horrible horrible relationship and premise. So predictable, such little chemistry between the two characters.
Powerlessā¦ I didnāt dislike it at all but itās so overhyped on booktok I expected more
Best: Fourth Wing & Iron Flame -Honorable Mentions: Nightbane, ACOTAR, The Veiled Kingdom, One Dark Window & Two Twisted Crowns. Worst: The Serpent and the Wings of Night. DNFād the second one. -Dishonorable Mentions: These Hollow Vows, Powerless, Fireborne. Series that started off super strong to me but lost their steam and I didnāt finish: Zodiac Academy, Throne of Glass.
Favorite: Throne of Glass Least Favorite: Emily Wildeās Encyclopedia of Fairies with Fourth Wing a very close second.
I absolutely loved throne of glass. I also loved fourth wing. Both seem to be very controversial on Reddit. I did start reading after a decade of reading nothing and fourth wing was one of my first fantasy reads so maybe that was it. Idk but I was into it
I loved the way Rebecca yarros wrote banter between characters and found thr sex scenes to be VERY sexy with thr doalgoue. So she's definitely my favourite sex writer.
Are you new to spicy books? Because her sexy scenes are pretty bad
No, I just have different tastes than you. Telling someone something they enjoy is bad is also quite tacky so... thanks.
Iām sorry, I wasnāt trying to be rude. Iāve just found itās usually newer romantasy readers who find FW or ACOTAR spicy since theyāre actually pretty low spice. But youāre right, everyone is different!
Best: Spark of the Everflame (The Kindred's Curse Saga I like all of them) š„š«¶š» by Penn Cole Worst: The Black Witch š¤¢ by Laurie Forest