as someone who grew up loving fantasy, lately i look at the summary of fantasy/romantasy books and can't even finish reading the summary bc my brain refuses to accept a new magic system/a bunch of fantasy names at the moment.
other than sticking to contemporary romance, and re-reading old fantasy faves or ongoing series (mercedes lackey, tamora pierce, seanan mcguire), i've been enjoying the subgenre of cozy witch romantasy. such as the ex hex by erin sterling, the honey witch by sydney j. shields, and the very secret society of irregular witches by sangu mandanna - still get some magic plus romance, but set within the real world and a limit to the amount of new fantasy concepts to learn and remember
I love the very secret society of irregular witches! I think one of the best things about the romantasy boom is that we're seeing an increase in all kinds of fantasy novels, so we've got the cozies and the stand alones and the dark romantasy and the more traditional fantasy all getting more shelf space.
I haven’t gotten an ARC because I’m not cool enough, but I’m super excited for the release of The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley, the author of the fanfic Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love. Her writing is spectacular!
I’m actually burned out of romantacy right now. A lot of people will disagree that fantasy and fantasy romance isn’t political but as someone who read fantasy books before romantacy existed as a sub genre, you see parallels when a character is fighting for or against a system of oppression or a villain. Hopefully one day I’ll go back to it, but for now, unless I re-read the stuff I read years ago, I’m kind of putting the sub-genre on hold.
I feel this hard. I've read SJM's works enough that Throne of Glass is a borderline comfort series now (currently re-listening to it) but I definitely require a fluffy bedtime book to help settle my brain to be able to sleep, without a magically powered savior possible in the real world it's hard to be immersed in those storylines right now.
I'm a romantasy obsessive when I like the series but can be very critical of indie published books that needed an editor, so I am cautiously excited about all of the new series--but unless something escapes containment like the Empyrean series, I generally just add new titles to my "wait until the series is complete to read" list. For most of my favorite series, the first book is usually my least favorite! Side note--wasn't the basilisk book originally "Split or Swallow"?
Yes yes yes to Legendborn but it’s defs fantasy first, romantasy second! The second book was a slog but the third was the best one yet 🔥
as someone who grew up loving fantasy, lately i look at the summary of fantasy/romantasy books and can't even finish reading the summary bc my brain refuses to accept a new magic system/a bunch of fantasy names at the moment.
other than sticking to contemporary romance, and re-reading old fantasy faves or ongoing series (mercedes lackey, tamora pierce, seanan mcguire), i've been enjoying the subgenre of cozy witch romantasy. such as the ex hex by erin sterling, the honey witch by sydney j. shields, and the very secret society of irregular witches by sangu mandanna - still get some magic plus romance, but set within the real world and a limit to the amount of new fantasy concepts to learn and remember
I love the very secret society of irregular witches! I think one of the best things about the romantasy boom is that we're seeing an increase in all kinds of fantasy novels, so we've got the cozies and the stand alones and the dark romantasy and the more traditional fantasy all getting more shelf space.
I’d read the bunny shifter book!
You’d write the bunny shifter book!!
I haven’t gotten an ARC because I’m not cool enough, but I’m super excited for the release of The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley, the author of the fanfic Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love. Her writing is spectacular!
I’m actually burned out of romantacy right now. A lot of people will disagree that fantasy and fantasy romance isn’t political but as someone who read fantasy books before romantacy existed as a sub genre, you see parallels when a character is fighting for or against a system of oppression or a villain. Hopefully one day I’ll go back to it, but for now, unless I re-read the stuff I read years ago, I’m kind of putting the sub-genre on hold.
I feel this hard. I've read SJM's works enough that Throne of Glass is a borderline comfort series now (currently re-listening to it) but I definitely require a fluffy bedtime book to help settle my brain to be able to sleep, without a magically powered savior possible in the real world it's hard to be immersed in those storylines right now.
I'm a romantasy obsessive when I like the series but can be very critical of indie published books that needed an editor, so I am cautiously excited about all of the new series--but unless something escapes containment like the Empyrean series, I generally just add new titles to my "wait until the series is complete to read" list. For most of my favorite series, the first book is usually my least favorite! Side note--wasn't the basilisk book originally "Split or Swallow"?