r/Romantasy

Hello everyone. I'm 35, and I've loved romantasy since I was a teenager. It's always been my favorite genre.

I stopped reading for several years because I was focused on building my career, but now I finally have the time and desire to get back into it. The problem is that, at my age, I'm finding it much harder to believe in or connect with the romances I read.

I recently finished Alchemised because everyone seems to love it, but I found the romance disappointing. It felt toxic, very teenage, and not emotionally believable to me.

Now I'm worried that maybe I've simply outgrown romantasy, or that the genre just isn't written with readers my age in mind.

So I wanted to ask if there are there any romantasy books with a romance that feels more mature, emotionally believable, and compelling for someone in their 30s? I'd really love some recommendations because I miss loving this genre.

Hello! I am looking for romantasy recommendations that are available on the Audible Plus Catalog?

i might get some heat for this take, but i feel like the romantasy/ fantasy genre has SERIOUSLY declined in quality writing.

i want to preface this whole thing by saying that if you like it, READ IT. i am not here to discuss whether books are bad or not. I just feel like the commercial side of the genre is now targeted toward marketability over originality. it feels like the publishers are chasing whatever went viral on booktok/ bookstagram instead of investing in stories with distinct voices/ plot.

romantasy has become insanely formulaic, pretty much. and because of that, many books feel interchangeable. the same brooding mmc, the same ‘morally grey’ fmc, the same enemies-to-lovers banter, the same plot, and even scenes that feel a little too familiar from other series.

now, i’m not trying to yuck anyone’s yum. i can get behind a formulaic plot if the rest of it is well written and fleshed out. the unfortunate thing is that they aren’t (and before i get yelled at, two things can be true at once: a book can be entertaining, but not well written. like how tv shows have bad acting but you can’t help but love the show). too many of these books are less thought out than the fantasy books/series that inspired them. the prose is weaker, the characterization is shallower, the worldbuilding is…severely lacking, and the editing is nonexistent.

my issue isn’t that books are inspired by other books, though, because I know that every author is inspired by something. my issue is that when these books are starting to feel like they have no creative identity of their own. like, specifically with romantasy/ fantasy, you can do ANYTHING you want to. the sky is the limit and yet we still choose the same plot, the same characters, the same dynamics.

if I can point to the protagonist from series A, but trace the romance dynamic to series B, the magic system to series C, and specific scene structures to series D, then at that point the book just starts feeling like a collage of tropes and quote farming.

i fear tiktok and social media are heavily to blame, but i also think authors deserve some criticism when their books feel too derivative or underdeveloped. also, at what point do we turn to the PUBLISHERS? they deserve a lot of that criticism too. they are the ones deciding which books get picked up, edited, marketed, and put on shelves. if we constantly get books that feel rushed, repetitive, or like they needed another round of editing, then it begs the question on why publishers are more focused on chasing the next cash grab/ trend instead of publishing the strongest stories.

what do you guys think? have you felt the same? do you feel opposite? i’d love to discuss this.

Basically, a book where one of the love interests is a Tamlin (does exactly the same things as all the other characters but is the only one to get lambasted for it. Basically a hatesink for all the characters). Bonus points if the MC also hates him at the start!

Preferably MM (male x male) but anything goes. I just finished my fanfic (Which I've now taken as canon) and need one last bit of closure, lmao. With a happy ending. I know this is a specific request, so sorry about that!

EDIT: Preferably after 2001.

EDIT: You guys, you don't have to respond to this. I will argue if I need to, up until I don't feel like it, but it'd be easier for both of us if you just didn't.

just finished the everlasting and it was a five star read for me!!! looking for some suggestions with books about lady knights and/or strong FMC and their love interest is more ‘weak’. I just <3 strong woman and the ones that simp hard after them!

Unpopular opinion perhaps? I don't know if it's because I'm reading it following the ACOTAR series and damn book 5 was 🔥🔥🔥 but I've just finished quicksilver and I'm just feeling a bit disappointed. Anyone else? It just didn't have the fire I was expecting and I'm kinda annoyed at what Saeris has become by the end. I'm starting brimstone now but Im just not as desperate read it as I was with most of ACOTAR series. Does it get better? And any recommendations for books that keep you on your toes more, plus with ample spice like ACOTAR. I've got a load of books to read but overwhelmed by choice tbh

I've just finished reading the crown me dead duology and it was one of the best books I've ever read!!!! Never had a book that left me sobbing 😭😭😭

I want a book that will make me feel the same way this duology did

Also I prefer a finished series

I'm trying it out because of the hype, but the prologue has me discouraged and thinking it isn't for me...I hate contemporary fantasy stories and didn't realize going into this one that it was written within that genre. Will I hate it anyways, or should I just hold out a bit? I know enough that a Faerie court is involved which makes me think it would be my vibe of book...

Looking for book recommendations for something pirates and sirens vibes! I’ve read the From Tormented Tides series by Val E Lane and loved it, so anything similar?

Sharing my list of release dates, in order of release, so you don’t have to keep track too. 

• The Lion and the Deathless by Carissa Broadbent (new duology in the Crowns of Nyaxia universe) - August 4th, 2026
• Adversary to the Villian by Hannah Nicole Maehrer - August 4th, 2026
• The Knave and the Moon by Rachel Gillig (Stonewater Kingdom series) - September 1st, 2026
• Burn of the Everflame by Penn Cole (Kindred’s Curse series) - September 2nd, 2026
• Untitled ACOTAR book 6 by Sarah J. Maas - October 27th, 2025
• Untitled Fae and Alchemy book 3 by Callie Hart (Quicksilver and Brimstone  sequel)- November 20th, 2026
• Untitled ACOTAR book 7 by Sarah J. Maas - January 12th
• Core by Ariel Sullivan (Reform series) - February 2027
• The Wolf Queen by Lauren Palphreyman (Wolf King series) - May 18, 2027

No updates yet:

• Empyrean book 7 - 2027 release, but no dates given.
• Mages of the Wheel book 5 (author is working on a relevant side-character prequel first)
• Saint of Steel book 5
• A Song of Ice and Fire book 6 (had to)

So, I will def read Stormside when it come out. But am I excited? Well kinda. I was not expecting much from Starside and I have mixed feelings about it. The world was interesting and Aris and Harlen could have had incredible arcs but it was not so thought out and the end was rushed to say the least. Also the relationship and chmeistry felt hollow. They spoke like 3 sentences with each other and they want to tell me its deep? Nah.

Another thing that pissed me off was the inconsistency of Aris‘s competence. On some occasions she was tripping on stairs and the next she was slashing monsters 🙄But still.. I will read Stormside to see if there is some actual character development coming or at least we see some character from Harlen, because the first book told us basically nothing🧐😂🤷‍♀️

I may have to change the flair to rant, but I genuinely want to know if there are readers looking forward to Stormside?? 👀

I’m looking for books with some flavor of magical weaving or magical arts and crafts. Maybe it’s a goddess who weaves fates. Or a witch who ties knots and weaves little spells. Or a magical loom of destiny. Or a seer weaver.

It doesn’t have to be weaving specific. I’d love anything where the craft of magic involves some kind of arts and crafts. Even baking, talisman making, etc.

Bonus points if there’s some themes of these crafts being related to women’s work or women’s magic. Open to anything from an all-powerful weaver goddess characters to magic systems with small acts of hidden magic women have to hide in their work.

Thank you!!

I've been seeing a lot of those AI videos of romance 'series' where he doesn't want her so demands she marries someone else just to end up mad about it haha.

Are there any books similar to this? very interested in reading some romance books with this type of storyline or even he doesn't want her but no one else can either books 👀