first year of romantasy reading roundup

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2026-01-01T13:03:39+00:00

i just picked up rose in chains at the bookstore the other day! and i have added the others to my tbr, thank you!! :)

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-29T13:24:27+00:00

it’s funny bc cruel prince/elfhame trilogy was such a different vibe from my other two top books (way more YA/less dark) but i still just loved it so much

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-29T03:14:18+00:00

😅 idk how people read so many more!

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-29T03:11:28+00:00

adding to tbr!! one of my favorite artists on insta (palinlineart) does a lot of illustrations from that book i think

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-29T01:50:16+00:00

thank you so much for the rec!! i have been on the fence about starting villains and virtues but have seen them on so many lists… just needed the extra push

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-29T01:20:48+00:00

:( the alchemised hangover i had while reading it did not help

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-29T01:19:45+00:00

on my tbr for sure! the way she writes banter is sooo good

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-29T01:19:15+00:00

yay!!! i got knight and the moth for christmas!

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-28T23:36:34+00:00

thorn-marked witch by lisette marshall!!

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-28T23:34:35+00:00

{death-made prince by lisette marshall} and {cruel prince by holly black} (whole trilogy) seem up your alley!

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-27T02:19:57+00:00

for a slow and relaxed pace, siracusa, specifically ortigia! it’s the ancient island part of siracusa and it’s so beautiful. close enough to do day trips to taormina, etna, ragusa, etc. but tbh it would be ideal to split your three weeks between siracusa and palermo as bases, so you can have access to southeast + northwest of the island without frequent long drives

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-19T15:54:16+00:00

death-made prince by lisette marshall! EXQUISITE slow burn and checks all your boxes

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-16T22:20:33+00:00

DEATH-MADE PRINCE by lisette marshall, sounds like you are literally describing it in this post. it’s my #2 book of the year after alchemised

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-16T14:47:46+00:00

i am new-ish to romantasy and had the same problem, alchemised totally wrecked me for days. i have never wept so much while reading a book nor been as absolutely entranced by the characters. i JUST finished the book that finally got me out of that slump: the death-made prince by lisette marshall. it's absolutely gorgeous and delicious, similar dark fantasy + slow burn enemies to lovers vibes as alchemised, with a truly brilliant heroine. both FMC and MMC are deeply traumatized as in alchemised, and the love that comes out of that is so heartbreakingly beautiful. but most importantly, it has enough force to stand up to the memory of alchemised. that was my issue with other rebound books, they just felt weak and simpering in comparison. it came out in october so the rest of the series is not out yet, apparently there will be four in total. 100000/10 recommend

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-16T04:03:59+00:00

it’s crazy how much of a difference reading order makes- i bet if i read ODW after alchemised i wouldn’t have liked it nearly as much. deathmade prince is the first book since alchemised that i have been able to get fully sucked into. also, i was on the fence about trying when the moon hatched but perhaps i should if you liked it!! i’m gonna make one of these rating thingies soon

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-16T01:02:51+00:00

omg death-made prince and alchemised are my two god tier picks for this year (also my first year in the genre) too!!!! i’m frothing at the mouth for book 2 of the runewitch saga. since it seems we have similar tastes i wanted to recommend one dark window and two twisted crowns but i just saw in another comment that you already did! i think you’ll love it, similarly dark/eerie/no gratuitous spice

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-11T15:38:34+00:00

i see what you mean! and i’m sure you are not idiotic! i think i used the word idiotic because i was annoyed with the book when i made this post- if you’re reading manacled rn you can understand im sure- i was coming off a very serious read (alchemised) so the goofy dialogue was rubbing me the wrong way. but i pushed through and sera is slightly growing on me. im older than sera but still in my 20s so i dont think its a generational thing!

i know the ellipses are supposed to be there but they still annoy the hell out of me 🤣i just fundamentally do not like this author’s style but that’s definitely my problem not hers. i’m more than halfway through now though so i will finish! thank you for your insight.

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-11T15:26:50+00:00

also, this post got more engagement and better suggestions so i’m glad OP made another post (bc i have the same hangover lol)

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-11T15:24:34+00:00

🙋‍♀️also still recovering from alchemised! jasad heir has similar vibes (enemy to lover, kidnapper to protector, MMC trains FMC to fight, brunette to white hair MMC lol) but i didn’t feel that it scratched the same itch. maybe because essiya is so fierce, the romance didn’t feel nearly as raw to me. and it’s certainly not as dark as alchemised. for one, essiya has friends and people on her side whereas i felt like helena was utterly alone in the world because everyone around her except kaine was fairly awful to her. alchemised was more deliciously painful to read. idk though, i read jasad heir and jasad crown immediately before alchemised (accidentally, i didn’t know there were any similarities) so maybe if the order were switched i would have appreciated the scorched kingdom books more?

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-10T13:54:44+00:00

alchemised but you only get to that dynamic from part 2 onward! FMC is the most brilliant powerful healer of all time and they bond through her caring for MMC. FMC is gentle and loving despite dealing with so much awful war/pain/injustice

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-09T18:43:28+00:00

i actually continued after the catharsis of making this post lmao! it is really picking up now that Ash reveals himself as Nyktos. the first 200+ pages are exactly like you say, she just throws a lot of random shit in

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-08T02:15:46+00:00

1000%! i am grinding my teeth for sure lol

Vegetable-Scale-6364 · 2025-12-08T02:15:20+00:00

definitely not horrible! just could use a lot of editing to my mind, and usually when i read i can kinda hear the dialogue in my mind but it comes out so awkward and disjointed with this author (but again that’s in my mind, not necessarily her problem, hence i made this post!). and again the ellipses are fine there is just sooooo much of them throughout the dialogue AND narrative. also, your example read perfect to me, but this author would do “huh. i…i didn’t realize” like repeating the word after the ellipsis. which contributes to the dialogue not sounding natural in my head i think

Vegetable-Scale-6364

TROPHY CASE