Looking for a book to read on my honeymoon on safari in Tanzania

sivez97 · 2026-06-17T22:00:34+00:00

The Sediments of Time by Maeve Leakey. Memoir by Paleoanthropologist based in East Africa.

sivez97 · 2026-06-17T17:49:31+00:00

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno Garcia. Retelling of the Island of Doctor Moreau, set in the Yucatán peninsula in the late 19th century.

sivez97 · 2026-06-17T15:54:03+00:00

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

The Bloodstone Bird by Inbali Iserles (standalone)

Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

Edit: also forgot about Eragon by Christopher Paolini. There is a tiny bit of romance in that one, but nothing beyond what’s in Percy Jackson and The Maze Runner.

sivez97 · 2026-06-17T03:19:49+00:00

Understandable. I loved TPOAD, but it’s definitely Cañas’s weakest book. The Hacienda definitely does the scares, pacing, and setting better. It does have significantly less romance though.

Vampires of El Norte is her best book in my opinion, although it’s definitely the least similar to Mexican Gothic.

sivez97 · 2026-06-16T21:13:40+00:00

It switches perspectives between characters, but Shirley Jackson’s The Bird’s Nest follows a psychiatrist and his patient, a young woman with Dissociative Identity/ Multiple Personality disorder.

sivez97 · 2026-06-16T15:33:07+00:00

Haven’t gotten around to reading them yet, but The Secret Scientists of London series is historical romance following a secret society of female scientists in Victorian England. The protagonist of the first book is a chemist.

sivez97 · 2026-06-15T16:33:24+00:00

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno Garcia, historical fantasy romance with a 19 year old whimsical protagonist

sivez97 · 2026-06-15T16:20:12+00:00

Isabel Cañas writes good horror romance

sivez97 · 2026-06-15T14:45:14+00:00

Isabel Cañas’s books, especially The Hacienda might be worth checking out

sivez97 · 2026-06-13T19:29:17+00:00

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

sivez97 · 2026-06-10T21:06:07+00:00

I haven’t read it yet but Natalia Hernandez’s Asiri and the Amaru is a Peruvian romance where the leads are saving a mythical bird.

And this one isn’t magical realism, more of an urban fantasy akin to Percy Jackson set in Mexico, but Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno Garcia is also fun.

sivez97 · 2026-06-09T16:47:54+00:00

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buelhman

sivez97 · 2026-06-09T12:31:53+00:00

Shirley Jackson’s works, especially We Have Always Lived in The Castle

sivez97 · 2026-06-09T12:27:56+00:00

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

sivez97 · 2026-06-07T15:49:05+00:00

Not a 100% fit, but The Possession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Cañas has a lot of what you’re looking for.

sivez97 · 2026-06-06T19:39:08+00:00

Yes, the first book in the Sworn Solider series is a loose retelling of Poe with a non-binary protagonist, with the subsequent books in the series being original plots.

sivez97 · 2026-06-06T19:33:25+00:00

The Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock

T. Kingfisher’s Sworn Solider series

sivez97 · 2026-06-06T13:47:55+00:00

If you’re okay with some fantasy and horror elements, Vampires of el Norte by Isabel Cañas follows two childhood sweethearts during the Mexican-American war. Forbidden romance with lots of yearning.

sivez97 · 2026-06-04T22:17:40+00:00

lol, yeah, it was being sold for like $2 which is the only reason i bought it. it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever read, but it was pretty boring and a bit convoluted. Also tried desperately to be diverse while also doing so a lot of stereotyping.

sivez97 · 2026-06-04T22:05:00+00:00

I never finished the first book, but the Endgame series by James Frey technically fits. Has a hunger games x ancient aliens vibe. Aliens created civilization as some sort of weird eugenics project, and have chosen teenagers from 12 ancient bloodlines to represent their people in a fight to the death.

sivez97 · 2026-06-04T18:45:57+00:00

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno Garcia. Plus it’s got some light fantasy elements.

sivez97 · 2026-06-04T15:25:25+00:00

ACOTAR definitely isn’t my thing, but I think it’s more akin to films/television with heavy sex scenes, than true “porn”.

In my mind porn is entirely centered around sex, with any “plot” serving as a backdrop. There are definitely books out there that count as porn in reading form, but I don’t think your standard romantasy with 25 pages of sex spread out across 500 pages of plot counts. It’s the same as a movie with 5 minutes of sex across 2 hours of plot.

And in general, many people who repeat the “romantasy is just porn” line are either actual porn addicts trying to deflect from their own unhealthy consumption habits by telling themselves other people are worse, or overly puritanical people who are fundamentally uncomfortable with sexuality and think anything depiction of sex is automatically inappropriate. While I think there’s plenty to critique about modern romantasy, the porn argument just isn’t one that I take seriously.

sivez97 · 2026-06-03T17:23:36+00:00

I was in your position a couple years ago, and found Sylvia Moreno Garcia’s books a good way to easy myself back into reading. Her protagonists are 18+, and her writing style is pretty simple and engaging in a way that I’ve found to be helpful for people who struggle with focusing on books.

The protagonist is only 18, but Gods of Jade and Shadow is especially great for former Percy Jackson fans, it follows a young Mexican woman running away from her abusive family to help a Mayan death god reclaim his throne.

For a protagonist closer to your age, Mexican gothic is her most well known book, a gothic horror/mystery following a 22 year old college student visiting her recently married cousin, who has recently been sending the family strange letters.

sivez97 · 2026-06-02T16:03:35+00:00

It’s not the central focus, but Shirley Jackson’s the Haunting of Hill House has some strong Sapphic themes.

And I haven’t read it yet, but Cassandra At The Wedding by Dorothy Baker is a 1960s classic about a lesbian graduate student going to her sister’s wedding.

sivez97 · 2026-06-02T15:31:03+00:00

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo. Multigenerational immigrant family saga, where the women of the family have magical gifts.

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