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The Book Genre That Ruined Me (Lovingly): My Romantasy Story

The adventure of discovering a new (to me) book genre… Romantasy that combines Fantasy with Romance.

The old me? She can’t come to the phone right now. The old me is stuck in the past of reading only romance and thrillers… unwilling to branch out.

As I got into the world of books more, I started to get an itch I needed to scratch. I quickly started to add several books to my to be read (TBR) that were historical fiction, autobiographies among others. ‘Others’ including the book that lead me down the romantasy rabbit hole…A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR).

When I started reading ACOTAR, it was hard to get into. All of a sudden I am reading a book with names and places I have no idea how to pronounce. Terms that I have no idea what they mean… or how to pronounce them.

Before I knew it though, I couldn’t stop reading. I was fully immersed into that world. Google searches were key to understanding some of the terms and how to pronounce things. Not going to lie…even though I looked up how to pronounce Feyre, I still pronounced it how I wanted in my head while reading.

I thought I couldn’t love anything more than ACOTAR until I read the second book… A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOMAF).

Finishing this series was bittersweet. I was not ready to be done with these characters. I think that is so powerful that an author can make you feel that way. That is something I haven’t found in other genres. Have I read amazing books in other genres? Absolutely.

Discovering romantasy really is like stepping into another world. I wanted more! Naturally, I took to the world of “Booktok” to tell me where I should go next in my romantasy journey. Starting with the same author I already loved so much seemed like a good starting point.

In comes Throne of Glass (TOG) by Sarah J. Maas… just look at this series. Also I have point out the thickness in these books… NEVER would I have picked up a book this big before starting romantasy. Honestly, when you’re in them they don’t feel daunting at all. I’m currently about to finish Heir of Fire.

Powerful female main characters (FMC) that are total baddies + love, ruin, action packed, drama, magic, powers, sorrow, pulse-drumming, eyes widening – pretty much any emotion or action and you will feel it while reading these books.

Here are the other romantasy books I have read and my personal rating:

If you do audiobooks and physical books, I recommend actually reading The Empyrean series and not trying to listen to the audiobooks. I did audiobooks for these since I am currently trying to physically read through the TOG series. I feel like I would have enjoyed them more if I would have actually read them.

Powerless series though… wow. I listened to those ones and my ratings speak for themselves. Unpopular opinion maybe, but that is my second favorite series after ACOTAR. The Powerless series did seem to be shorter than most other fantasy books.

If you are looking for romance, drama, action, twists and fantasy then look no further than the Powerless series. If you’re wanting to dip your toes in the romantasy world, I would honestly recommend starting with the Powerless series since they aren’t as long.

The Plated Prisoner series is another good one that compares to ACOTAR and Powerless. I listened to these books as audiobooks and they mostly worked for me to listen to them. The books towards the end of the series got a little hard to pay attention while listening. They were on the longer side. If I could do this series over again, I would read the physical books.

If you end up loving them like I did then I would go to the ACOTAR series next to fully jump in the deep end. If you’re feeling adventurous like I was, then jump right into ACOTAR, but be prepared to never get back out.

Have recommendations for me to read? Want to share your own review with me for any of these books? Leave a comment below!