Tag: romantasy

Notorious Virtues by Alwyn Hamilton

Notorious Virtues was a fun trials led fantasy between two heroines from very different pasts. I enjoyed how Lottie and Honora didn’t fall into the trope of the one raised rich is evil and how Lottie wasn’t as innocent as she pretended to be to win the support of her relatives. With a love interest that is a journalist that hates the Holzafall family and a really interesting origin story of the monarchy/goverment this is a must read if you enjoy your fantasy with a side of trials! 

This feels like the Inheritance Games but set in a fantasy world with a rebellion! We have trials, we have a family warring over an inheritance and we also have touches of world building that go delightfully deep and mention the economic power that these families wield.

World – 4/5 – it feels like the quintessential rebellion fantasy world but a little bit more Victorian and I honestly cannot wait for where this goes, I think the way the few locations that are described are all so vivid is really promising!

Characters – 3/5 – I didn’t love love love any of the characters but I didn’t hate any of them either (as characters, morality aside). I think that this books strength is the trials and the world and the characters were for me just a way of exploring that.

Plot – 3.5/5 – trials for me are a very predictable plot because they are so popular in fantasy right now but I did still enjoy it.

Romance – 4/5 – not there much, but what was was cute.

 Violence Rating: Level 3 

Romance Rating: Sweet

Content Warnings: family killing each other, magical slavery (forcing certain members to obey or die by magic, determined by heritage not race).

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Fearless by Lauren Roberts

14+B

Wow. This only came out yesterday and my copy was only delivered at eight but I raced through this one in only a few reading hours! Let me just start by saying that Powerless as a series has been one of my favourites that I found in 2024 and I have been slightly stalking on all the socials any teasers or snippets but oh my goodness was it so much better than I could have dreamed!

This book returns to the format of Powerless with three trials, however these are centered around Bravery, Brutality and Benevolence which are the three things that the last king thought a good ruler needed to be. Paedyn is engaged to Kitt as we know from the last few pages of Reckless and this time she is solo tackling these challenges which will prove to the court that she deserves to be queen – even if she is Ordinary. I really enjoyed how Paedyn doesn’t flinch away from saying that she wants power, she enjoys it she says that it is everything she wanted since she was a child. In a league of romantasy books where the FMC wants to be a ‘normal girl’ Paedyns character has stuck out to me from page 1 of Powerless. She welcomes any power that she survives to get and she will become so powerful that the powerless like her have no choice but to be welcomed back into Ilya.

Of course this is a romantasy so how could I not chat a little about the romance! Kai Azer won my heart from the first page but this book really showed just how their relationship was in someways inevitable, in some ways because of other people’s decisions but overall the tension and chemistry that pulls them together even when she is engaged to his brother. All my reviews are spoiler free so I wont continue but oh my goodness did they have to weather a lot of storms but by the end I honestly don’t think any other ending could have worked as well as the one Lauren Roberts wrote!

Let’s go to the star ratings!

World – 4/5 stars – it is solid and I really enjoyed seeing a little bit more of it in the second trial but it is a relatively normal fantasy world that I have seen portrayed a lot before so I can’t say that it is completely original and new but I can say that it fits the story perfectly and illustrates the divide between powerful and the ordinary!

Plot – 5/5 – Romance may be the plot but the plot isn’t all romance! We have so many twists and turns and reveals that I am going to have to go back through and reread the first ones with new eyes!

Characters – 4.5/5 – I love them so much, Kai and Kitt really show the differences that an upbringing can make and also the different damages of psychological abuse and physical on how people grow up to view the world. Paedyn as always is amazing and her POVs are always so distinct in contrast to the royals Kitt and Kai as well as (little tiny spoiler here Edrics pov) which shows the divide in the world viewpoint very well!

Romance – Suggestive/Fade to Black after little buildup – 5/5 – it’s a romantasy this is what we are here for! We had some really great romantic moments that I definitely need to quote over and over again in all of my reviews forever more but I just loved this one!

Age recommendation: YA, 13+

Romance Rating: Suggestive/Fade to Black after little buildup. This is not steamy making out at all, it feels very soft and honestly it almost borders on sweet.

Violence Rating: Level 4. While violence does happen its not as much as a lot of books I read and it never feels graphic or gorey.

Content Warnings: Betrayal, infidelity.

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Reckless by Lauren Roberts

13+

This was the March Damsel book club pick and I NEED fearless immediately! Powerless was one of my favourite reads of 2024 – I read it twice and bought a paperback copy – so Reckless had a lot of pressure going in and it held up!

Paedyn is running from the king she killed, and the princes she betrayed across the desert and Kai is forced to follow her at the orders of his brother, now king Kitt. The romance, the chemistry and the emotion between the two of them is undeniable – much as they try to pretend – and they may be enemies but can they truly forget having been lovers?

In the desert city of Dor, far away from the Elite kingdom and without any powers for Kai to wield he is just as Ordinary as Paedyn which levels the playing field. Paedyn does nothing better than survive, but Kai always achieves his missions even when they emotionally destroy him. From illegal fighting rings to a shady gambling brothel to sewers and cells we are taken on a gorgeously vivid romantasy adventure that I could have devoured over and over.

I also love how ‘pretend’ is repeated over and over especially in Kai’s POV chapters. He knows he isn’t pretending, he knows that everytime he kisses Paedyn he loves her more but ‘pretend’ is the shield they both hide behind as they know that both of them have hurt each other – and this book could end up with one of them dead.

I see a lot of people not liking Kitt but I totally get his perspective. He was betrayed by a girl he risked the security of his kingdom and personal safety for, he lost his father, his stepmother is dying and he knows that his brother might pick the girl over him. Of course he is out for revenge – but that ending!

Here are a few of my favourite quotes from the characters before we launch into the star ratings! Don’t worry, none of these are spoilers because they are out of context and I have removed any spoiling titbits!

Kai had some of the most gorgeously poetic dialogue throughout and these I couldn’t not include!

“Out here I am Kai and nothing more.” His throat bobs. “Out here I am powerless. A monster without an ability to hide behind. An Enforcer free from his masks. A man shouting his love for a women.” – Kai Azer

“Because the Beast doesn’t get the Beauty” – Kai Azer

“Oh, but you are my undoing. My deliverance. My downfall disguised as a deity. You are my ruin.” – Kai Azer

“Call us even. Call me crazy, I don’t care. Just…Just call me yours.” – Kai Azer

“I may be a monster, but if you cut me, I’ll bleed. And if you break my heart, Pae, you’ll break me. So, if even a sliver of your soul longs for mine, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to deserve it.” – Kai Azer

A few more quotes!

“A ballad of betrayal, a sonnet of sorrow. I’m tired of writing from the villain’s perspective.” – Kitt Azer

“At my weakest, I wish for him. And at my strongest, I wish I could say it wasn’t the same.” – Paedyn Gray

This book had the swooniest quotes ever! But on to the star ratings!

Romance – 100000/5 – Suggestive Romance – I love Kai and Pae so so much. That’s all. but I also like Kitt. And I cant decide.

World – 5/5 – its real, its present but the world is never the focus, it is always the romance so I cant say much more about it other than it feels so real!

Plot – 100000/5 – WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?? No spoilers just read it and then come talk to me – I need people to rant over that ending with!

Characters – 5/5 – I love them all, or I love to hate them. Just perfection.

Romance Rating: Suggestive – more physical making out, mostly clothed, discussions of sex, can have some innuendo. This is still VERY clean and YA appropriate.

Violence Rating: Level 3

Content Warnings: they do go to a brothel at one point, but it (or the women) aren’t described in detail. Threat of drowning. Child death.  

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March Book Club Pick!

Our March Read is Reckless by Lauren Roberts! I rated Powerless five stars and have reread it twice but somehow Reckless has sat on my shelf for a few weeks without being read which is a tragedy. Kai and Paedyn were 100% my romantasy favourite of 2024 and they might be of this year as well! Click the link here to join us over on Storygraph as we read Reckless, chat about it and books generally and prepare for the release of the end of the saga!

We’d love for you to join us over on Storygraph and every bookworm, dragon or wyvern is welcome!

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Academy of Villains by Ever King

Thanks to Net Galley and Ever King for this ARC! All thoughts and views expressed are my own!

13+B

I had high hopes going into this book I love Greek myths and assassin mcs which can sometimes make it harder for a book to impress me but

I loved this one!

We have a dark academia world full of little Greek myth details interwoven into a background of power and secret societies and I was captivated.

A dual POV of Kiera and Lucian sweeps us into a world that is similarly split between mundanes and mages, rich and poor, oblivious and oppressed. Kiera’s detailed focus on the mission at the beginning soon expands into wonder as we see through her eyes the magic but also corruption of the world! I really really enjoyed Lucian’s interactions with the Raven Society – often the mcs are alone fighting a war they are unsupported in but Lucian has the support from his peers allowing him and Kiera to split of taking one part of the quest.

The celestial magic of Kiera was honestly my favourite part of the book. I love love love the backstory of how the witches were persecuted and how that magic that some mages wielded in a slightly altered form was also persecuted and in the end it was almost completely wiped out and with it Heartstrings. The idea of fated lovers/fated mates can be a really hard thing to integrate with a relationship because it takes away the choice but Ever King neatly avoided this by showing the Heartstring was potential not binding and it grew as they trusted each other more! I could keep gushing forever but I need to move onto the star ratings!

World – 4/5 – when it was marketed as throne of glass x harry potter with Greek myths I was expecting it to be a darker gritty retelling of the love story but instead the world completely surprised me with the freshness. There are little Greek myth elements but the world has also drawn inspiration from dark academia, witch/mage grimoires and the idea of a society where the upper class have no idea that the lower class is suffering. Any YA book which is set at a school seems to be compared to Harry Potter and I can see why but I would definitely say that in my opinion it leans more into the romantasy academia than that series or Throne of Glass.

Romance – Smokey Romance/Fade to Black – 4/5 stars – I often have to be convinced of enemies-to-lovers. It is a much loved trope and I get it and love it when done well (I think all of my greatest loved books which have this trope are closer to the rivals-> lovers, ignorance of different experiences-> love or forbidden love which is actually very close to this books romance!) At first I found Lucian enigmatic and it was difficult to get a feel for how he interacted with Kiera and what I thought of that!  Obviously she tried to kill him so that does put strain on the relationship at the beginning but I was convinced by the end that he was without a doubt a book boyfriend to add to the long list!  

Characters – 4/5 – I liked the characters a lot, we had the assassin mc (a favourite of mine), a royal love interest (another favourite of mine) but where this really stood out was that Lucian was supported by other peers that didn’t just exist to reflect his power back at him. Lucian was never presented as the most intelligent of the group or the clear overlord or the most powerful despite being the leader and I really enjoyed all of their interactions!

Plot – 3/5 – The plot seemed to become the romance by the end (I know it’s a romantasy) and we do get the final fight scene and the quest but I feel like there are a lot of loose threads that I cant wait to see be picked up in the next book like the orbs and Edmund shifting in his seat at the mention of heartstrings???

Content Warnings: Self Harm (on page, brief, no detail), Panic Attack, (on page, brief), death of parent.

I feel like I have barely stepped into this rich world and I cannot wait for the next book in the series!

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Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the Broke and Bookish and now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl where bloggers are given a prompt that is usually a list of ten bookish things.

This weeks prompt was –

2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To (will you be prioritizing these this year?)

1 – Reckless by Lauren Roberts – I will absolutely be prioritising this read 100% (I only got it at Christmas but it is already being pushed higher and higher on my TBR and I’m definitely going to have a read of that so I can have a complete trilogy read through when Fearless comes out!

 2 – Powerful by Lauren Roberts – yes another one of Lauren Roberts’s books! I haven’t bought this one yet but when I do it is going straight to the top of my TBR (even if the ending is going to devastate me – why do the supporting characters always have to die??)

3 – A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizel – vampires, illegal underworlds and heists! As soon as I saw the synopsis for this book I knew I had to read it.

4 – Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Hawthorne – this came out last year but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet! I always love a second series in the same world with old and new characters so I am definitely going to give this one a try!

5 – Burning Crowns by Catherine Doyle – I cannot believe I haven’t read this one yet! It sounds like just the fantasy read that I look for and it most certainly is a priority to read in 2025.

6 – Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber – it is on my bookshelf and I am looking forward to reading it! I have so many books on my TBR right now that it is slightly lower than some others (so it might be a few months before I read it!) but it is definitely in my top fifty books I 100% want to read in 2025.

7 – Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine – this sounds like just the murder/thriller I’d enjoy. I love murders that are being looked back on from the future (it was one of my favourite things about a good girls guide to murder) it just gives so much space for finding out the secrets of the past and how they lead to the formation of the present.

8 – Chaos and Flame and Blood and Fury by Tessa Gratton –  the second book came out and I cant wait to read the first – its all the kind of things I love in my fantasy, houses, competiting fractions, long lost inheritance.

9 – The Medici Heist by Caitlin Schneiderhan – historical details and a heist including Michelangelo in one of the most beautiful cities in the world? how could I not put this on my catchup list?

10 – Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli – romantasy, witches and a world that sounds just like my kind of thing? I cant believe that this one has gone through 2024 without me reading it!

Extra – Fate Breaker by Victoria Aveyard! This came out in February and I couldnt read it instantly because i hadnt read the others! Red Queen had me completely head over heels with her writing style and I’m still partly in a book hangover from the ending! I am going to read this book 10000% in 2025.

Happy Reading!

Lottie

 



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Waiting on Wednesday: Heir of Storms

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme that originated at Breaking the Spine but has now linked up with Waiting for Wednesday at Wishful Endings. It is always a fun chance to display books that are going to be joining our bookshelves very soon in 2025!

Thanks to Puffin and Net Gallery for this e-ARC
Pub: 5 Jun 2025
Age Category: YA
Genre: fantasy, elemental magic

Heir of Storms by Lauryn Murray

14+

This book just felt like a nostalgic fantasy read in the beginning but it evolved into so much more really altering a few genre expectations in a way I loved. The world is very reminiscent of a traditional fantasy world with a five elemental system but we also got lots of little worldbuilding details about the kingdoms interaction with the Otherlands. I really liked the way we were rapidly drawn into the action with centuries of tradition behind it that is driving all the characters. I honestly would love to have another book that covered previous trials of the Council because this idea of competing for crowns and the Heirs being from the same families just ups the tension and excitement of the trials.  

Blaze already being such a notorious figure in the world having created a huge empire wide storm at her birth was a nice change from people just learning about their power (we do get good power development tho which I always like).

It was a really good book and I cant wait for the sequel!

World – 5/5 – I loved the world, it was quite a traditional world and magic system but the way it was presented was amazing and I really enjoyed that.

Plot – 4/5 – we had the trials, we had Blaze’s growth and power and we had all the other subplots that wove together very nicely. I enjoyed it and it moves quickly so there is always something new on the next page.

Romance – 3.5/5 – Suggestive Romance – it is a romantasy but I feel like the romance hadn’t quite stabilised or developed yet for me to truly decide if I like the love interest so this rating will likely go up after reading the sequel. In some places I thought the romance went a little darker than I usually like – the love interest did lean a little bit more towards violence – but it isn’t enough to raise the rating or add a B. There was a twist on the usual romance trope triangle which I loved but wont give any more spoilers on!

Characters – 4/5 – we had all the good elements in the characters, I really liked Flint, his confidence in his own abilities highlighted just how society really supports and uplifts people born with the expected power but people like Blaze who are given a power that isn’t supposed to exist are feared.

Things to be aware of: Fantasy violence (I would say quite low, maybe 2/5), slavery that is just excepted by everyone in the world as the norm. There are a few spots where the romantasy comes through stronger and we have a few kissing scenes if you mind that.

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The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J Maas

14+

This collection of novellas is where Celaena’s story starts and it is definitely my favourite book in the series.

There are several different novellas within, and they all outline the day to day things Celaena experienced during the last year or so of her life as Ardalans Assassin. We get to really experience the varied and detailed world that Celaena has travelled so widely, and her relationship with Sam as it grows and develops.

Each Novella builds on the one before and sets up the devastating stage for Throne of Glass – the first full length novel in the series. I cant say much more without spoilers, but this is honestly a great read that creates every emotion as we are swept into a fantasy land where even if Celaena is one of the most feared things in it, danger and intrigue is everywhere in a land where the players are constantly changing, and the rules are changed before you know they exist.

Characters – 5/5 stars – I LOVE THEM – also if you like morally grey main characters then well, the two main characters for most of the novellas are assassins so…

World – 5/5 stars – Its perfect, this entire world has been so well thought out and in this novella collection we really get to see just how diverse and complex her world is.

Romance – 1000/5 stars- Suggestive Romance – Sam and Celaena are the ultimate couple I love them so much

Plot  – 5/5 stars – Its complex, and each novella has its own plot as well as an over arching plot of the book and then the huge plot of the entire series. I love series that are multi-faceted and where while everything means something, so much you dont understand or notice until later on.

Things to be aware of: It is quite dark in places, especially at the end, but that is to be expected in a 14+. Personally I read this when I was 13, and adored it so it all depends on what your comfort levels are on violence.

Also on a side note, this book and the rest of the series are all on Borrowbox, so if you are willing to wait a few months then you can read it on there.

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Powerless by Lauren Roberts

14+B

First – the dedication – “for every girl who has ever felt powerless”. That dedication is the first thing you read, and it tells you the one of the most important and nuanced parts of the book, the push and pull between being given power by your birth and gaining power by hard work.

Paedyn has earnt her power, as she is an ‘Ordinary’ without any of the superpowers of the Elites. It means that she will be killed instantly and painfully if she is caught. However, she pretends to be a Psychic and is able to fake it by constant practice and hyperfocus on the tiniest details. Kai on the other hand is almost ridiculously overpowered, but by his own work (and the cruelty of his father) he is deadlier than his birth power would have normally made him.

The juxtaposition of the two fathers in the story shows the power of parents. Pae’s father Adam who taught her how to become powerful even through she was born without the superhuman abilities of her peers and the King, who took his two sons and made them into the perfect molds of what he wished them to become; Kai into a weapon by torture and constant forcing past limits until he kills for the crown, Kitt into the next king.

The romance is out of this world. Kai and Pae have the perfect banter and the iconic lines of the best couples. Usually enemies to lovers isnt my favourite trope, but here it works perfectly. The most delicate thing between them is the power balance, which I am very invested in. Kai Azer is a prince and he can take the ability of any Elite in the vincity, he is essentially a powerhouse assassin, and yet Paedyn holds her own despite being in some of the most deadly trials I have ever read about.

Characters – 5/5 stars

World – 4.5/5 stars  – it isnt an uncommon premise, a split society between people with powers and those without, but it is executed beautifully.

Romance – 100000/5 stars –Suggestive Romance – I love love love Paedyn and Kai

Plot – 4.5/5 stars – it is well done and it supports the characters perfectly. The plot develops in the later half of the book much more than the first, and that means that the characters are already so established that you are really rooting for them.

Things to be aware of: It is quite violent, and there is a lot of on page brutality and medium graphic description, probably a 4/5 which gives it the B. The romance is a 14+ because of the enemies to lovers trope throughout the book. They regularly kiss, and sleep next to each other a few times, but it is non romantic and mostly to offer emotional support around the deaths of other characters.

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