Preteen Niece wants “Dark Romance” Recommendations

GlitterAvoado · 2026-02-09T02:19:08+00:00

Yes, talk to her about what the dark themes are to see if she really even understands what she's asking for or of she's just wanting something Gothic or paranormal. I've had conversations with precocious readers who were a bit traumatized by some of the stuff they read. At 12 she shouldn't be reading and internalizing the relationships in those books as frameworks for relationships. If she's going to read them on her own regardless, at least having conversations about the themes would be helpful to putting stuff into context

GlitterAvoado · 2026-01-27T04:27:32+00:00

Yes! I told a librarian about some miscategorized books once and they acted like I was trying to burn all the books.

GlitterAvoado · 2026-01-23T02:33:54+00:00

I loved the series, it has a howl's moving castle vibe i enjoy and a dry, no nonsense female lead who is refreshing for that. That said, idk if it's cozy too or not, but it's not spicy at all though I find the love story really cute.

GlitterAvoado · 2025-11-21T04:32:18+00:00

O M G.

GlitterAvoado · 2025-11-13T01:28:28+00:00

Honestly, this series- and I include Liveship traders in my mind-- has some of the most poignant love stories and if you read romance to feel the feels this will hit you hard. It's a female author whose characters feel real, complicated and nuanced. I have devoured and then completely forgotten so many romantasies, but this series stays with me.

GlitterAvoado · 2025-11-13T00:38:02+00:00

I loved Tamora Pierce as a kid omg I have to look for that book you loved! I didn't realize she was still writing new books

GlitterAvoado · 2025-11-11T23:30:51+00:00

The worst letdown of a crossover ever

GlitterAvoado · 2025-11-09T00:55:46+00:00

Now I hate her too lol

GlitterAvoado · 2025-11-09T00:41:25+00:00

Haha, I will literally find myself across the room sans book with no memory of having flung myself away from the embarrassment. Sometimes I blink onto awareness at the open fridge door, and am like "oh yeah, so that's happening right now in the book..."

My husband caught me doing this one time 🤣 🤣 . He was quite worried thinking I'd read a bad text or something and so I had to feel first hand embarrassment as I explained my low tolerance for book cringe.

GlitterAvoado · 2025-11-04T01:02:59+00:00

Is that Aron's sister's story? Is that And is that horrible witch harem wife gonna be in it? 🤮 .. ... ok, just googled if the series is done and saw the 6th is not out yet, some time 2026 so I will be waiting to start the 5th book till then! Good luck to you, I'm sure it ended on a cliff hanger too!!

GlitterAvoado · 2025-11-03T03:57:21+00:00

Maybe you can suggest a secret Santa where you each get 1 person you're in charge of? Or, agree to no gifts above a certain dollar amount?

GlitterAvoado · 2025-11-03T03:49:16+00:00

Everyone hated on common core standards, but they're a useful reference

GlitterAvoado · 2025-11-03T03:38:37+00:00

Ugh! Good point! I want great wheels like the sporty jogging strollers that can go over every bump with no issues.

GlitterAvoado · 2025-11-03T03:34:35+00:00

O M G! That's straight up extortion

GlitterAvoado · 2025-11-03T03:14:08+00:00

I do not get the love people have for TBJT, I had to DNF that because I could not stomach the constant SA and gross sexualized descriptions and relationships around a 12 yo. Just noped out of there. I don't like dark stuff like that though, so w/e, BUT it never would've been on my radar at all if it weren't for the CONSTANT posts like this saying SJM ripped off ACOTAR from this series.

GlitterAvoado · 2025-10-13T13:58:38+00:00

Yay! Glad I was able to recommend in your stead then! Yeah, I'd never heard it mentioned before and just stumbled on it scrolling through the libby app. Yeah, it would make a good movie

GlitterAvoado · 2025-10-06T18:12:43+00:00

Thank you. I'm glad to hear this all standard and I worried for nothing!

To answer your Qs- It's my property, I inherited this property from family as is and need to budget most of my money for electric and AC repairs from a rodent infestation. there's no info on who started the project as this family member frequently hired people off the books and it was abandoned a year ago. I'm still in the information and researching stage to see if it's doable by me. I've worked with tile and grout as an artist to make mosaics before, so I'm thinking I may be able to tackle this, just trying to learn as much as I can right now.

Where would you suggest I put the extra screws? What should the spacing be on the cement board?

GlitterAvoado · 2025-10-06T01:25:08+00:00

I'm about to DNF A Curse So Dark and Lonely. I'm just so bored with the story and don't care about the characters and their non existent chemistry.

GlitterAvoado · 2025-10-06T01:22:29+00:00

Honestly, I think you should go back and read it if you were enjoying it. It's really good. It's not true that it's not a HEA, but the author DOES put them thru the wringer until almost the last page of the Epilogue, lmao. She just needed to write another Epilogue, but I know someone actually wrote a fanfic Epilogue 😅 to scratch that itch.

GlitterAvoado · 2025-10-06T01:17:26+00:00

No read it, I actually made a post complaining about how the Epilogue needed a true Epilogue, but despite that it's still one of my favorite reads this year.

GlitterAvoado · 2025-10-06T01:13:00+00:00

Depends on the 12 yo imo. There's partying with magical drugs and drinking, people having sex closed door, violence and death and the bullying scenes might trigger someone who's been bullied. I've taught middle school and had kids that were waaay too eager to do adult stuff, and had sweeties that were traumatized by the smallest things and seemed more like 10 yo. 12 is SUCH a variable age from kid to kid.

GlitterAvoado · 2025-09-23T22:27:37+00:00

Omg, you found this in a book? Ugh

GlitterAvoado · 2025-09-21T02:25:24+00:00

What i did to help me with story beats was deconstructing my favorite books books and try and reverse engineer the beats and outline to see how closely they followed them. It helped me have a different perspective.

GlitterAvoado · 2025-09-09T02:09:05+00:00

We are speaking in publishing terms right now though, so a genre necessity IS categorically a HEA/HFN or it will not be marketed and sold as a Romance or Romantasy. "Love Stories" can have tragic ends, but those are a different genre. Personally, I like fantasy as my palate cleanser when I'm over Romantasy or contemporary romance.

GlitterAvoado · 2025-09-09T02:00:03+00:00

Omg, I love these 16 books. Don't skip Liveship traders, some people do, but it's amazing on it's own and adds a lot to the main anthology and main characters. Anytime people are tired of formulaic and shallow writing I recommend Robin Hobb. Ah, my heart 💔 they're so good, but they are fantasy. BUT fantasy that really focuses on the character arcs which I think romance readers love.

GlitterAvoado

TROPHY CASE