I found The Cruel Prince really scratched the itch that ACOTAR failed to reach for me. I found SJM's fae too... normal 😅 Holly Black's had the right amount of ethereal and otherworldly to me. I'll check out these other ones too!
I'm reading an older fantasy romance trilogy and love it. Naamah's Kiss, Naamah's Curse and Naamah's Blessing by Jacqueline Carey. Written in 2010-2011 its by far my favorite Roman cast now.
I really loved An Enchantment of Ravens because the fae are more, well, fae-like. It had some dark fae elements that were pulled from folklore, yet still felt cozy. The descriptions of autumn as the main character experiences it for the first time make it perfect for this time of year.
Just want to add my praise for The Aurelian Cycle. First book is Fireborne. I just finished the series. They characters are more complex, and storyline is richer. I did feel some tropes and characters were annoying, but less annoying than some other books.😄
This is very helpful! I like romance in my fantasy books but not to the point that it’s basically fantasy smut. I feel like there’s too much of that going around now. Also, I know this is a very specific request but does anyone know of any fantasy (romance) books that don’t contain any gods?
Castles in Their Bones and The Magicians Daughter sound really interesting. Katherine Addison is fast becoming a favourite author, I've read The Witness for the Dead and The Angel of the Crows & loved them both 💜📚
I'd love more of this type of series! I know that some booktubers have already done some, but in my opinion, the more book recs, the merrier! For example, I'd like to hear your take on "If you liked Howl's Moving Castle (the book), you'd like this book!". Or perhaps other famous books that got turned into movies. The world is your oyster, lol!
I love this format, how you broke down the popular fantasy books into the elements readers might be looking for in other books. Adding some recs to my TBR 😊
For the dragon category I highly recommend the Spiritwalker trilogy by Kate Elliott. It has a kind of frenemy romance that I really didn’t think I’d like and totally fell for and very cool dragon stuff going on, cool magic + tons of politics. I also love how the second and third book are even better than the first.
Love this video, I'm someone who sees the popular romantasy books and I'm always like "damn I wish there wasn't romance in this" lmao. Also for the dragon fantasy books - we need to start hyping up Eragon again.
The Foxglove King is more like Red Queen than ACOTAR imo. Both Lore and Mare are criminals who end up masquerading as nobles and have powers/identities that need to be kept secret
Love the idea! 😁 I have Castles in Their Bones on my tbr! However, I would personally have to disagree with recommending Warbreaker to a fantasy romance reader. I wouldn't trust Brando Sando with a romance 😅 And I think that's an integral part a fantasy romance fan would require in their stories - for the romance part (be it the main part or a tiny subplot) to be good.
I actually think the romance in Warbreaker isn't that bad, I haven't read all of his works but from the little I've read of his, it's definitely one of the better ones.
@@oyindamolaoluwadiya180 I'm glad it worked for you! 😀 But for me, the romance in Warbreaker started out nice and slow and sweet, characters getting to know each other and develop as people, all the good stuff... until it seemed, to me at least, that the author got bored of it and had the relationship develop from 0 to 100, aka from no touching and the fear of human touch to full on sex in a span of a single chapter (throughout 2 days in the book, if I am remembering it correctly). And that is a huge NO for me. You can't get bored of your own romance story. And that 0 to 100 bothered me even more because it seemed to completely go against characters' personalities - fear of human touch just doesn't go away in 2 days. If an author wants to explore such a hard topic (and that is a great topic to explore in a fantasy book imo), I believe it needs to be tackled with care and tact. So I personally don't trust Brando Sando with a romance story and wouldn't recommend his stories to a fantasy romance reader who wants deep exploration of a romantic relationship in their books.
I haven't read Warbreaker yet so I can't comment on that. But I loved the romance between Raoden and Sarene in Elantris as well as the romance between Vin and Elend in the Mistborn trilogy. Now I generally don't reach romantasy books, so I have no idea what romantasy fans would require, but as far as romance in a fantasy book goes, I think he does a very decent job with integrating romance in a fantasy plot without turning the book into outright romantasy.
I highly recommend reading Illusion of Stars by Sarah Marie Page. An interesting plot, lyrical prose, and tropes done well! Enemies to lovers, one horse, found family, stealing secrets. Mild spice and fade-to-black scenes. I encourage you to check it out if you are looking for your next read!
Love The court of thorns and roses so good and amazing I feel deep connection with the main character 📙🍃👻👻📚🎃🎃📚📙🍃🍃👻🍁🍁🍃📙📙🍂🍂🍂🎃🎃📚🍃👻👻📙🍁🍁🍃📙📚📖📖👻🍁🍁🍁👻👻🍃🍃🎃📚🍂🍂🍂🍂🎃🎃📚🍃👻👻👻🍁🍃📚📚
Elliot, will you do mystery recs next? Mystery horror, mystery fantasy, mystery dark academia, etc... Of course only if you want to, since you mentioned you're mainly a fantasy reader, not mystery~
I am wondering if The Serpent and the Wings of Night is worth the hype? I am more careful now to pick up any romantasy books that blow up on tiktok because I tried Fourth Wings and Throne of Glass and didn't like them but enjoy Cruel Prince and Divine Rivals.
I’m not usually into vampires, but I binge read The Serpent & the Wings of Night over a weekend. I really liked it & am wishing our library had the 2nd book.
@@shellykeyes8389 I am glad that my library has both of them and it seems that nobody checks them out. Libraries are not popular in where I live, eventhough they have quite nice collections. Newest releases even. I wish more people use the service more often. nice place just to relax too.
@@surpriseitsus9622 I can understand why, it's easy to digest type of content. I am mostly reading shonen manga or manhwa so romantasy falls quite bland for my taste. It depends on the character as well, you tend to like books with the characters that you could sympathize with. I like how unhinge Jude in Cruel Prince so I am rooting for her so much eventhough the plot sometimes too "deux ex machina", here and there. And I hope I like the characters in Crowns of Nyaxia too so I could enjoy it.
I love Fireborne to death, but I would give a little bit of a warning to people who are coming specifically from the place of wanting something like Fourth Wing, but with more fantasy. One of the most enjoyable aspects of Fourth Wing is its pace. Everything happens all the time! There is mortal peril always! Fireborne is basically the opposite. It is an extremely slow book about trauma and politics, where characters spend more time in their feels than on their dragons. This is what makes it so great, but you might be disappointed if you're expecting non-stop action and constantly high stakes (especially in the first book). Also, the dragons are more like scary horses whose feelings you sometimes share. There's no snarky dragons. Or, in fact, talking dragons at all. They're still pretty precious, and one of the most emotional scenes I have ever read in a book involves a dragon, but - again - you shouldn't go in expecting Fourth Wing style dragons.
Does anyone know a book about a white haired prince with connection to a silver fox has one older brother who is considered the perfect hier and another who is a war veteran. The first few chapters takes place during a feast for there father's coronation i think.
So many new books to add to my Tbr 😿 Oh I especially like dragon stories if the dragons are well written characters. My first dragon book ever was when I was around 11 years old and a book named Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede caught my eye at the library, it has such a nice cover art that caught my eye. I remember how charming I found the story, not sure how I would find it as an adult have to re-read it I guess Could not stand how bad forth wing was written so I am excited to try these recommended books! I prefer it when the main character can communicate with the dragon and the dragon is intelligent. Some authors tries too hard though and end up with dialogue with an overly wittyness etc. Or the dragon is just treated like a horse and has no real dialogoes so to speak. Alas I have not read that many dragon theme books as I am so picky with the dragon depictions and dialogues 😅
I found Fireborn extremely depressing…. I don’t think you should be recommending it as a romance. There is a difference between having “heartbreaking moments” and a completely toxic, hopeless, doomed perspective on the world and relationships.
Fantasy Romance is fantasy. You're saying fantasy books for fantasy romance readers but fantasy romance is a subgenre with fantasy itself so it doesn't really make sense.
Agreed. It is a subgenre but I think what she's trying to say is that romantsy is more focused on the romance or "the personal" than "the bigger" or more complex topics of deeper magic systems or intense politics. I personally think many books are a gray era as some romantsy are heavier on the world building/magic systems/politics than others but others barely touch on those topics and are solely focused on the couple.
@@roguetaco5487 Yes I agree because I remember going from Sarah J masses acotar to here series crescent city and blood and I was not prepared for the intensive worldbuilding in the first 200 pages since it was labeled as a fantasy romance.
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I found The Cruel Prince really scratched the itch that ACOTAR failed to reach for me. I found SJM's fae too... normal 😅 Holly Black's had the right amount of ethereal and otherworldly to me. I'll check out these other ones too!
The Cruel Prince is better written. I’m not a fan of of SJM’s work
As someone who looks for romantasy with little to no spice this is awesome
The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey is an awesome series about dragons.
Yes but remember these books came out in the late 60's so nobody really talks about it.
I'm reading an older fantasy romance trilogy and love it. Naamah's Kiss, Naamah's Curse and Naamah's Blessing by Jacqueline Carey. Written in 2010-2011 its by far my favorite Roman cast now.
Romantasy, not Roman cast?? Stupid autocorrect, sorry
Will ALWAYS recommend Red Rising. Currently reading Light Bringer. Some great recs here, and so many added to my tbr 😂
I really loved An Enchantment of Ravens because the fae are more, well, fae-like. It had some dark fae elements that were pulled from folklore, yet still felt cozy. The descriptions of autumn as the main character experiences it for the first time make it perfect for this time of year.
Agreed! Personally Ive loved all of Margaret Rogerson's books
Just want to add my praise for The Aurelian Cycle. First book is Fireborne. I just finished the series. They characters are more complex, and storyline is richer. I did feel some tropes and characters were annoying, but less annoying than some other books.😄
I just finished the second book. that ending was so intense! I cant wait for the third.
Thanks for the recs ! Definitely will be looking into Ascendant since I’m interested in finding good dragon stories.
Added all of these to my tbr. Thank you!
Warbreaker is the only Brandy Sandy book I’ve read & I was very happy with the amount of romance (or lack of). The story was very engrossing to me.
Yeah like, there was a good balance for people who actually enjoy the fantasy aspect more in a fantasy romance.
I recommend his book Yumi and the Nightmare painter, as the romance is great in that
This is very helpful! I like romance in my fantasy books but not to the point that it’s basically fantasy smut. I feel like there’s too much of that going around now.
Also, I know this is a very specific request but does anyone know of any fantasy (romance) books that don’t contain any gods?
Castles in Their Bones and The Magicians Daughter sound really interesting. Katherine Addison is fast becoming a favourite author, I've read The Witness for the Dead and The Angel of the Crows & loved them both 💜📚
I really love the theme of this video, and you chose very popular romantasy books as well which was smart
It can be done well as long as it doesn't go overboard ;)
I'm definitely bookmarking this one. Lots of great comps.
Love this thank you!
I love The Magician’s Daughter! Cozy fantasy meets Victorian London
I'd love more of this type of series! I know that some booktubers have already done some, but in my opinion, the more book recs, the merrier! For example, I'd like to hear your take on "If you liked Howl's Moving Castle (the book), you'd like this book!". Or perhaps other famous books that got turned into movies. The world is your oyster, lol!
I love this format, how you broke down the popular fantasy books into the elements readers might be looking for in other books. Adding some recs to my TBR 😊
more videos like this please 🙏…I’m done with fantasy romance for now I really need more fantasy alternatives
Thank you for the video, and your bookshelves look AMAZING!!!
For the dragon category I highly recommend the Spiritwalker trilogy by Kate Elliott. It has a kind of frenemy romance that I really didn’t think I’d like and totally fell for and very cool dragon stuff going on, cool magic + tons of politics. I also love how the second and third book are even better than the first.
I love the songs of chaos series! Ash is so cute ❤
loved this idea!
Thank you for the recommendations! Adding more to my TBR! I did not like Fourth Wing but absolutely loved Fireborne, one of my favorites!
Love this video, I'm someone who sees the popular romantasy books and I'm always like "damn I wish there wasn't romance in this" lmao. Also for the dragon fantasy books - we need to start hyping up Eragon again.
Came here to say this! (About Eragon.)
Late to the party, but I just want to say that The Rain Wild Chronicles would of been a great recommendation for Fourth wing.
Very good comparison ... and manga Spy is so great for a retired guy.
if you like acotar you will LOVE the blade itself 😼
Want to read all of them ♡
Thanks for your alternatives to the usual romantasy, which I really don't like, but I have added your suggestions.
I am hoping to read some of the recommendations. Thanks
The Foxglove King is more like Red Queen than ACOTAR imo. Both Lore and Mare are criminals who end up masquerading as nobles and have powers/identities that need to be kept secret
Love the idea! 😁 I have Castles in Their Bones on my tbr!
However, I would personally have to disagree with recommending Warbreaker to a fantasy romance reader. I wouldn't trust Brando Sando with a romance 😅 And I think that's an integral part a fantasy romance fan would require in their stories - for the romance part (be it the main part or a tiny subplot) to be good.
I actually think the romance in Warbreaker isn't that bad, I haven't read all of his works but from the little I've read of his, it's definitely one of the better ones.
@@oyindamolaoluwadiya180 I'm glad it worked for you! 😀
But for me, the romance in Warbreaker started out nice and slow and sweet, characters getting to know each other and develop as people, all the good stuff... until it seemed, to me at least, that the author got bored of it and had the relationship develop from 0 to 100, aka from no touching and the fear of human touch to full on sex in a span of a single chapter (throughout 2 days in the book, if I am remembering it correctly). And that is a huge NO for me. You can't get bored of your own romance story. And that 0 to 100 bothered me even more because it seemed to completely go against characters' personalities - fear of human touch just doesn't go away in 2 days. If an author wants to explore such a hard topic (and that is a great topic to explore in a fantasy book imo), I believe it needs to be tackled with care and tact.
So I personally don't trust Brando Sando with a romance story and wouldn't recommend his stories to a fantasy romance reader who wants deep exploration of a romantic relationship in their books.
I haven't read Warbreaker yet so I can't comment on that. But I loved the romance between Raoden and Sarene in Elantris as well as the romance between Vin and Elend in the Mistborn trilogy. Now I generally don't reach romantasy books, so I have no idea what romantasy fans would require, but as far as romance in a fantasy book goes, I think he does a very decent job with integrating romance in a fantasy plot without turning the book into outright romantasy.
I loved all the romance in Brando Sando’s book, so 🤷♀️
His book Yumi and the nightmare painter has a great romance story in it, I recommend that over Warbreaker
I’ve read 16 of these🎉❤
I highly recommend reading Illusion of Stars by Sarah Marie Page. An interesting plot, lyrical prose, and tropes done well! Enemies to lovers, one horse, found family, stealing secrets. Mild spice and fade-to-black scenes. I encourage you to check it out if you are looking for your next read!
Love The court of thorns and roses so good and amazing I feel deep connection with the main character 📙🍃👻👻📚🎃🎃📚📙🍃🍃👻🍁🍁🍃📙📙🍂🍂🍂🎃🎃📚🍃👻👻📙🍁🍁🍃📙📚📖📖👻🍁🍁🍁👻👻🍃🍃🎃📚🍂🍂🍂🍂🎃🎃📚🍃👻👻👻🍁🍃📚📚
Elliot, will you do mystery recs next? Mystery horror, mystery fantasy, mystery dark academia, etc... Of course only if you want to, since you mentioned you're mainly a fantasy reader, not mystery~
I see war breaker, I click
Great Video!
I am wondering if The Serpent and the Wings of Night is worth the hype? I am more careful now to pick up any romantasy books that blow up on tiktok because I tried Fourth Wings and Throne of Glass and didn't like them but enjoy Cruel Prince and Divine Rivals.
I’m not usually into vampires, but I binge read The Serpent & the Wings of Night over a weekend. I really liked it & am wishing our library had the 2nd book.
I liked it, but I liked Forth Wing too.
@@shellykeyes8389 I am glad that my library has both of them and it seems that nobody checks them out. Libraries are not popular in where I live, eventhough they have quite nice collections. Newest releases even. I wish more people use the service more often. nice place just to relax too.
@@surpriseitsus9622 I can understand why, it's easy to digest type of content. I am mostly reading shonen manga or manhwa so romantasy falls quite bland for my taste. It depends on the character as well, you tend to like books with the characters that you could sympathize with. I like how unhinge Jude in Cruel Prince so I am rooting for her so much eventhough the plot sometimes too "deux ex machina", here and there. And I hope I like the characters in Crowns of Nyaxia too so I could enjoy it.
@@artesiarastania5998 that’s awesome! Our library is decent too, but sometimes it takes a while to get newer books. I’m patiently waiting:)
Fourth Wing is not a good book. I'll die on this hill.
The fact that there are people who don't know it's a bad book is perplexing to me.
It is astonishingly bad
😂😂😂😂😂 same
Omg I thought I was the only one…. I really don’t understand the hype about it
I liked it. I didn't love it, but I liked it a lot. I gave it a 3.75.
The black witch is also kind of similar to forth wing, maybe not as dragon heavy but school setting. And also throne of glass has dragon riders.
The Black Witch series deserves more love
I love dragons 😤
I love Fireborne to death, but I would give a little bit of a warning to people who are coming specifically from the place of wanting something like Fourth Wing, but with more fantasy. One of the most enjoyable aspects of Fourth Wing is its pace. Everything happens all the time! There is mortal peril always! Fireborne is basically the opposite. It is an extremely slow book about trauma and politics, where characters spend more time in their feels than on their dragons. This is what makes it so great, but you might be disappointed if you're expecting non-stop action and constantly high stakes (especially in the first book). Also, the dragons are more like scary horses whose feelings you sometimes share. There's no snarky dragons. Or, in fact, talking dragons at all. They're still pretty precious, and one of the most emotional scenes I have ever read in a book involves a dragon, but - again - you shouldn't go in expecting Fourth Wing style dragons.
I wish I could like Chloe Gong. But dang I don’t get it.
Does anyone know a book about a white haired prince with connection to a silver fox has one older brother who is considered the perfect hier and another who is a war veteran. The first few chapters takes place during a feast for there father's coronation i think.
📚 ❤
Oooooo as a fantasy romance reader wanting to branch out to more general fantasy, this video is very timely
So many new books to add to my Tbr 😿 Oh I especially like dragon stories if the dragons are well written characters. My first dragon book ever was when I was around 11 years old and a book named Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede caught my eye at the library, it has such a nice cover art that caught my eye. I remember how charming I found the story, not sure how I would find it as an adult have to re-read it I guess
Could not stand how bad forth wing was written so I am excited to try these recommended books! I prefer it when the main character can communicate with the dragon and the dragon is intelligent. Some authors tries too hard though and end up with dialogue with an overly wittyness etc. Or the dragon is just treated like a horse and has no real dialogoes so to speak. Alas I have not read that many dragon theme books as I am so picky with the dragon depictions and dialogues 😅
I found Fireborn extremely depressing…. I don’t think you should be recommending it as a romance. There is a difference between having “heartbreaking moments” and a completely toxic, hopeless, doomed perspective on the world and relationships.
Fantasy Romance is fantasy. You're saying fantasy books for fantasy romance readers but fantasy romance is a subgenre with fantasy itself so it doesn't really make sense.
Agreed. It is a subgenre but I think what she's trying to say is that romantsy is more focused on the romance or "the personal" than "the bigger" or more complex topics of deeper magic systems or intense politics. I personally think many books are a gray era as some romantsy are heavier on the world building/magic systems/politics than others but others barely touch on those topics and are solely focused on the couple.
@@roguetaco5487 Yes I agree because I remember going from Sarah J masses acotar to here series crescent city and blood and I was not prepared for the intensive worldbuilding in the first 200 pages since it was labeled as a fantasy romance.