Tag Archives: romantasy

Audiobook review: House of Earth and Blood

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House of Earth and Blood is the first book in Sarah J. Maas‘s Crescent City series. It starts off slow with heavy world building and is so dense with characters I felt like I needed a chart to keep them all straight. Thankfully it picks up about a third of the way through the book once the major world building is out of the way. I loved that the primary focus is on a detective story with plenty of twists and turns. The romance takes a backseat and is allowed to grow naturally. In fact, there’s only one smut scene and the word “erection” only pops up once, 98% of the way through the book. There are engaging action sequences, the dog-like creature does not die, and there is plenty of snark. On the other hand, this is obviously a cisheteronormative world. This is emphasized by constant use of the terms male and female to the exclusion of more natural synonyms like man and woman. There is momentary queerbaiting between the main character, Bryce, and her best friend, Danica. (I loved Danica so much!) There’s also a very brief throwaway mention of a minor character being gay. And that’s it. As a nonbinary, pan- and greysexual person, it grated on me. So even though this book made me cry twice (LIGHT IT UP! —IYKYK), it gets only 4 stars. I will be continuing with the next book in the series.

This was a buddy read with the lovely Jadzeea . I also read it for the lore quest in the Orilium Magical Readathon.

Audiobook review: The Faerie Games by Michelle Madow

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The Faerie Games by Michelle Madow is a fun romantasy romp where romance takes a backseat to the main characters’ participation in the titular games. This is a good thing as, if you’re like me, you’ll roll your eyes every time the “I’m obviously destined to love you but I’m trying to hate you” trope comes up. It’s also a really fast read. I may continue the series because the games aspect is fun. But prospective readers should be aware it looks like the games will take up the entire series.

I read this for the Orilium Magical Readathon for the Art of Illusion prompt, which was a book with the word “play” or “game” in the title.

Audiobook review: Powerless by Lauren Roberts

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I picked up Powerless for a book club. It’s a YA romantasy that explores what would happen if it was illegal to not have superpowers; in other words, to be powerless. And what happens when you fall for one of the princes whose father has killed your father and made your existence illegal? Oh, and who you’re supposed to fight in a series of deadly trials? This was a little too YA and contrived for me, but I was rooting for the main romance, so I might continue the series anyway.

Audiobook review: The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith

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The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith was a pick for my friend AdventuRyn‘s Botany Book Club. It’s about Elena, who is a vine witch—a witch that specializes in caring for vineyards and making remarkable wine. When we first met Elena she has been cursed to live in a bog as a toad. She manages to break the curse and return to her vineyard seeking revenge, only to find that it’s no longer hers and is under attack by dark magic. I only gave this book 3 stars because the plot was fairly predictable, the romance lacked chemistry, and I kept imagining much more interesting plot twists the author could have done. I enjoyed it enough despite that to finish it but will not be continuing with the series.