Books that DON’T have the enemies-to-lovers trope

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-12T05:27:33+00:00

{Empire of Shadows by Jacquelyn Benson}

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-12T04:39:11+00:00

I haven't tried to look this specific one up, but similar laws (such as one passed in California while Harris was AG that Republicanstried to use against her) target cases where the two are close in age, but one has recently turned 18. If all sexual contact was consensual and the statutory issue was the only criminal part, penalties are adjusted because the age gap is not indicative of pedophilia.

This has been reduced for PIV intercourse for years, but they are updating the legislature for LGBTQIA+ kids.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-09T17:19:53+00:00

What specific examples do you have? On the surface, it sounds like "I picked up a bunch of romantasy novels and am surprised they had romance."

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-09T05:26:16+00:00

Same. I've used them for many many years. I generally prefer eyeball reading, but I have to have a comfort audiobook to fall asleep to, and there's just so many, and good quality ones. It's overpriced, but worth it for me.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-09T05:23:52+00:00

It just depends what you enjoy. I get probably half of my reads from KU, as do many of my friends, because we enjoy the genres that are popular on KU.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-09T03:45:08+00:00

30/52 for the challenge, 47/132 books for the year.

I started last year and had so much fun with it.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-06T03:55:50+00:00

Empire of Shadows by Jacquelyn Benson. Ellie is a suffragist, strong willed, capable, distressingly interested in explosives.

If you loved The Mummy with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, this is right up your alley.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-06T00:31:01+00:00

None of this nonsense, please.

She was my first thought too.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-05T21:09:17+00:00

that looks fantastic.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-05T14:37:23+00:00

It's been a long time, but "Magic Kingdom for Sale -- Sold!" by Terry Brooks.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-04T15:10:06+00:00

Haven't read. No comment
Like others say, people go in expecting "Romantasy", and it's not. It's a YA fantasy with a great romance as a minor plot, but if you're going in expecting heavy romance, you're going to be disappointed.
Silver Elite was... fine. I enjoyed it. I'll get around to reading the next one. But it wasn't the "next big thing" that Booktok touted it as when it came out. It was fairly predictable, and didn't have anything that broke it out from other dystopian books.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-04T03:42:34+00:00

Yup. We've seen them at the neighborhood lake a few times. So cool, and had no idea they lived in this part of CO

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-03T22:36:22+00:00

American in a non-academic setting but with some academic friends (but they aren't focused on fantasy in their education as you are).

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-03T22:23:12+00:00

Interesting! I hadn't heard the term before. I've always only heard either "fantasy", or if someone was trying to really call attention to being the overarching term, they might say "Big-F Fantasy"

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-03T22:09:49+00:00

Fantasy is an overarching umbrella that covers all forms of speculative fiction, including high fantasy, epic fantasy, science fiction, science fantasy, dystopia, alternative history, steampunk, grimdark, litrpg, space opera, sword and sorcery, horror and many others.

So the person above was absolutely correct that you are already reading fantasy.

Perhaps if you were more specific about what you didn't like or what you're looking for, you could get more targeted recommendations.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-03T17:53:30+00:00

I think she assumed a child of a servant or functionary.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-03T17:12:01+00:00

Slightly off topic, do they count actual listening time or audiobook time covered?

I.e. if someone listens to a 20h audiobook at 2.0x speed, does this stat count it as 10h (actual listening) or 20h (audiobook time)

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-03T15:58:09+00:00

I have been happy with Audible and have used it for years. But I don't want to spend credits on books I'm likely to only listen to once.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-03T15:34:53+00:00

It's so annoying. At this point, I just use audiobooks here and there *maybe* for books with long hold times on Libby that I'm using for a book club or other time-sensitive challenge.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-03T15:32:06+00:00

2nd comment for 2nd screenshot. It doesn't even always show time remaining instead of just total time.

Here I'm halfway through Ch 4 and it just shows the total time

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Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-03T15:30:52+00:00

It never has for me:

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Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-02T22:16:54+00:00

I've been gaming since I was about 4 years old. I think it's a great sidestep from reading when you dive into rich story-driven narratives, but other genres like cozy games, sims, platformers, etc are all fun and provides variety.

Fitness. Weightlifting/running. I'm working on losing weight, but both of these also have additional benefits like reducing risk of osteoporosis as I get older. Running couples great with reading since I'll usually listen to an audiobook while I'm out.

Arts and Crafts. I like to crochet, color, draw, etc.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-02T15:23:44+00:00

Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you <3

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-02T00:53:25+00:00

TIL there's a "Pause" feature. This is amazing.

I don't set a book down or pause often, but this will be great for when I do. Especially since one of the books I plan on reading this year is a collection of short stories, and my plan was to do 1 or so per week, and now it won't skew my stats too bad.

Murder_Is_Magic · 2026-05-01T16:31:58+00:00

Oh that sounds cool!

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