u/Temporary-Scallion86

Hi all, I'm a bit burned out on (almost) every book needing to have an Obligatory Romance SubplotTM, so I've been on a bit of a no-romance kick lately. I tore through all the Murderbot books and then through Warlock Holmes, and now I'm quickly making my way through the Imperial Radch trilogy (I did things backwards so I've already read The Radiant Star and Translation State), and I'm not sure what to read next.

What I'm looking for are books that still delve quite deep in the relationships between the characters and let those relationships be intense, deep, strongly loving etc without being romantic.

My tastes are quite broad, but I'd like to avoid anything grimdark or particularly gory.

Thank you so much in advance!

No seriously, I’m actually asking.

I bet you can’t!👀👀👀

I’m in NEED of another make carachter like Rhysand. I need a guy who'll paint the FMC blue then drug her so she blacks out and when she wakes up the next morning she can figure out how bad the sexual harassment got by the handprints on her body. I need a guy who'll react to the FMC crying by licking her tears. The kind of benevolent king who'll celebrate off-brand Christmas with acrobatic, airborne, public fucking over the roofs of his capital city. The closest I’ve found so far is Paul Atreides from the Dune series. Though, I rlly think his story line was rushed, and they could’ve dove a whole lot deeper into his lore, character development and thought processes.

I’m actually STARVING now.. there’s only so many times I can re-read ACOMAF. Help a girl out. 🥲

/uj I know this had already been jerked but I had the post ready before I remembered that we can only do SJM jerk on Saturdays

I want to write a romantasy short story that crams as many tropes as possible into a short amount of pages. it will be deep. it will be epic. it will be the single greatest piece of literature produced in the history of mankind. please help me with my list of all the things that we've seen a million times in this genre.

currently, I have:

-enemies to lovers

- fated mates

- touch her and die

-smirking

-growling

- dubious consent via vaguely pagan fertility ritual

- dragon riding

- dragon "riding"

- 10 000 years old MMCs who exclusively date human teenagers but it's not a red flag because it's True Love

- FMCs who are completely spineless and talentless until they meet their senior citizen boyfriends and go through a training arc, at which point they become their world's version of a Super Saiyan

- redheads

what else am I missing? help a girlie out!

If your favorite game is Stardew Valley, you will definitely enjoy this book!

The story follows Oaklin, who, after spending years as a mind-controlled pawn in the service of an evil Enchantrix, decides to start a new life away from everyone who knows them and invests in (a slightly run-down) farm. Over the course of the book, we see them learn how to care for their new land, make friends and build connections in the neighboring village, fall in love, and slowly reconnect with their magic, which had been twisted and used by the Enchantrix. They do all this with the help of “Granny,” the nameless ghost of the farm’s previous owner.

I really loved the small-town setting. The descriptions of the farmer’s market, the Midsummer and Harvest festivals, the forest, and Oaklin’s farm were all fantastic. There were also plenty of amazing food descriptions, both of the “picnics with homegrown produce” variety and the “magical baked goods” variety, which added to the cozy feel of the story, though they did make me very hungry.

I also loved the characters, and reading about Oaklin’s journey toward accepting themself, building up their farm, and growing their business felt very satisfying. I was also genuinely surprised by the twist that happens towards the end of the book.

I do, however, have mixed feelings about the way the author handled Oaklin’s backstory. Oaklin joined the cult of the Enchantrix as a teenager after a falling out with their strict religious family, who viewed their magical abilities unfavorably. The cult presented itself as a magical guild that offered free magical education to anyone who wanted it, but in reality, it was a front designed to gather a group of magical people in one place so the Enchantrix could cast a mind-control spell over all of them at once. After being subjected to the spell, Oaklin lost total control of their body and actions, and they did not regain it until after the Enchantrix’s death.

This is a very obvious metaphor for the way real cults use manipulation and indoctrination to control their members. However, real-world cults don't rely on literal mind-control magic to accomplish their aims, and the question of how responsible someone is for acting violently as a result of cult indoctrination is a complex one. It would have been interesting to see it handled with more nuance, while the use of mind-control magic completely exonerates Oaklin for their participation in the Enchantrix’s army in a way that leaves no room for doubt, and I feel that the story would have been much stronger if the mind-control aspect had been either removed entirely or significantly scaled back.

If your favorite game is Stardew Valley, you will definitely enjoy {Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. England} !

The story follows Oaklin, who, after spending years as a mind-controlled pawn in the service of an evil Enchantrix, decides to start a new life away from everyone who knows them and invests in (a slightly run-down) farm. Over the course of the book, we see them learn how to care for their new land, make friends and build connections in the neighboring village, fall in love, and slowly reconnect with their magic, which had been twisted and used by the Enchantrix. They do all this with the help of “Granny,” the nameless ghost of the farm’s previous owner.

I really loved the small-town setting. The descriptions of the farmer’s market, the Midsummer and Harvest festivals, the forest, and Oaklin’s farm were all fantastic. There were also plenty of amazing food descriptions, both of the “picnics with homegrown produce” variety and the “magical baked goods” variety, which added to the cozy feel of the story, though they did make me very hungry.

I also loved the characters, and reading about Oaklin’s journey toward accepting themself, building up their farm, and growing their business felt very satisfying. I was also genuinely surprised by the twist that happens towards the end of the book.

I do, however, have mixed feelings about the way the author handled Oaklin’s backstory. Oaklin joined the cult of the Enchantrix as a teenager after a falling out with their strict religious family, who viewed their magical abilities unfavorably. The cult presented itself as a magical guild that offered free magical education to anyone who wanted it, but in reality, it was a front designed to gather a group of magical people in one place so the Enchantrix could cast a mind-control spell over all of them at once. After being subjected to the spell, Oaklin lost total control of their body and actions, and they did not regain it until after the Enchantrix’s death.

This is a very obvious metaphor for the way real cults use manipulation and indoctrination to control their members. However, real-world cults don't rely on literal mind-control magic to accomplish their aims, and the question of how responsible someone is for acting violently as a result of cult indoctrination is a complex one. It would have been interesting to see it handled with more nuance, while the use of mind-control magic completely exonerates Oaklin for their participation in the Enchantrix’s army in a way that leaves no room for doubt, and I feel that the story would have been much stronger if the mind-control aspect had been either removed entirely or significantly scaled back.

Diverse Reading Challenge Squares (HM): Story About Belonging, Queer Romance, Queer Normative Setting

Book Bingo Squares: Autumn Read (HM), Queer Main Character (HM), Published in 2026, Purple Cover, Underrated

If your favorite game is Stardew Valley, you will definitely enjoy this book!

The story follows Oaklin, who, after spending years as a mind-controlled pawn in the service of an evil Enchantrix, decides to start a new life away from everyone who knows them and invests in (a slightly run-down) farm. Over the course of the book, we see them learn how to care for their new land, make friends and build connections in the neighboring village, fall in love, and slowly reconnect with their magic, which had been twisted and used by the Enchantrix. They do all this with the help of “Granny,” the nameless ghost of the farm’s previous owner.

I really loved the small-town setting. The descriptions of the farmer’s market, the Midsummer and Harvest festivals, the forest, and Oaklin’s farm were all fantastic. There were also plenty of amazing food descriptions, both of the “picnics with homegrown produce” variety and the “magical baked goods” variety, which added to the cozy feel of the story, though they did make me very hungry.

I also loved the characters, and reading about Oaklin’s journey toward accepting themself, building up their farm, and growing their business felt very satisfying. I was also genuinely surprised by the twist that happens towards the end of the book.

I do, however, have mixed feelings about the way the author handled Oaklin’s backstory. Oaklin joined the cult of the Enchantrix as a teenager after a falling out with their strict religious family, who viewed their magical abilities unfavorably. The cult presented itself as a magical guild that offered free magical education to anyone who wanted it, but in reality, it was a front designed to gather a group of magical people in one place so the Enchantrix could cast a mind-control spell over all of them at once. After being subjected to the spell, Oaklin lost total control of their body and actions, and they did not regain it until after the Enchantrix’s death.

This is a very obvious metaphor for the way real cults use manipulation and indoctrination to control their members. However, real-world cults don't rely on literal mind-control magic to accomplish their aims, and the question of how responsible someone is for acting violently as a result of cult indoctrination is a complex one. It would have been interesting to see it handled with more nuance, while the use of mind-control magic completely exonerates Oaklin for their participation in the Enchantrix’s army in a way that leaves no room for doubt, and I feel that the story would have been much stronger if the mind-control aspect had been either removed entirely or significantly scaled back.

Bingo squares: Trans or Nonbinary Protagonist (HM), Small Press or Self-Published (HM), The Afterlife (HM), Vacation Spot (YMMV on this one, as Oaklin does spend the entire book working very hard), Published in 2026, Feast Your Eyes On This (HM pretty easy to accomplish if you know how to bake)

Pretty much what the title says! I'm looking for books where the main cast is a group of friends and where you really root for their friendship and truly like all the characters and feel like they like each other. Found family vibes are more than fine, but a regular friends group also works. Bonus points for no romance!

Fantasy, sci-fi and historical fiction are preferred, but I'm open to other genres as well

I have a problem with finding a good romantasy. Most of the romance books you pick off the shelves, where the romance between the protagonists is the plot, already tell you on the back who the protagonists are. Even if they don't, as soon as the FMC meets the love interest they use all these descriptors that make it so obvious. Like why does she immediately think that he's hot and smells of pine needles, leather and snow?? She should look at him and think "who is this stinky ugly-ass goblin of a man?"! I want to have no idea who the love interest is! I want to be surprised!

Please recommend me books where I won't be able to tell who the love interest is. Remember, I want to be surprised, so the book should have:

• Slow burn
• Heterosexual pairing
• "Who did this to you"
• Preferably a non-blond MMC (7 foot tall, hair as dark as his soul and violet or golden eyes are preferred. Ideally he should be racially ambiguous enough that the author can claim diversity but all the fanarts depict a white man).
• Love triangles are ok as long as neither of the MMC is blond (otherwise I will know immediately who the endgame is and that's no fun. And if the endgame is the blond MMC for a twist I will be upset as I don't like that)

I'm an ancient crone (a lady never tells her age. But I have passed the dreaded threshold of thirty) and let me tell you I am tired. Why do authors never finish series anymore? Why do they keep adding books and lying about their release dates? Why do they keep using cliffhanger endings so I'm forced to read the sequel even when I really, really don't want to? Why do they get bored by their current series, wander off, write another one with a new, legally (but not materially) distinct MMC and then not finish that one either?

And why are series this damn long? Nothing needs to be longer than 3 books. Except Alchemized. Alchemized needs at least 5 sequels.

I don't know, I just don't remember reading books being this intense, back when I was a teenager and dinosaurs still roamed the earth, and a nice Mormon man announced he'd finish The Wheel of Times volumes 12 through 14 included on behalf of the original author, a mere 19 years after the publication of the first volume.