After a good 8 years of purely reading non-fiction and personal development, last year I allowed myself the indulgence of reading for pleasures sake again. And I immersed myself in it.

Getting back into fiction helped me so much through my postpartum depression, giving me a whole other world to lose myself in, to keep me awake and content during the multiple wake ups every single night, rocking my baby back to sleep at 11pm, 2am, 4am… And it helped me through the immense heartbreak and grief of losing who I thought was my soulmate, who I had the picture perfect relationship with, who I brought new life into this world with. Reading these books reminded me of what love can feel like, what I am inherently worthy of, what it feels like to be deeply devoted to and worshipped. I may not fit in with the vast majority when I say this, but I truly do believe in a fairytale love for myself. One where I feel empowered, with no hesitancy on trust for both our parts, where we grow together, take on the world together, where I feel like I am their equal and their queen.

Romantasy has been incredibly expanding for me, to remind me not to go back to something that doesn’t align with my inherent self worth, it reminds me not to settle for anything less, and to hold out for what I truly desire.

Manon Blackbeak & Dorian — Throne of Glass Series

Let’s get into reading methods first. Traditionally, I love physical books. Since I was a little girl, I always dreamed of having an entire library room in my own house with shelves and shelves of my favourite (and most impactful) books, with a little nook in the window to curl up in. But sometimes, it can be easier (and more cost effective 😅) to just grab a digital version. For example, ACOTAR was the first romantasy I started with, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be into it or not so I just grabbed the first one on iBooks. With the frequent middle-of-the-night wakeups, reading on my iPad was actually more suitable than a physical book with a light, plus I could buy the next book immediately without going to the shops. In hindsight though, I loved ACOTAR so much that I would have bought the physical version so I can display it on my bookshelf, which is what I did with TOG.

I just recently splurged and bought a Kindle Paperwhite, and it excelled my reading exponentially. I’ve noticed that I pick it up and ready it much more frequently than I would a physical book, there’s little to no weight to it, I bring it everywhere, and (biggest perk), I have no effect from the screen/bluelight before bedtime. I track my sleep with my Oura Ring, so it shows my sleep latency (how long it takes to fall asleep), and by reading on my Kindle it has zero effect on how fast I fall asleep vs. if I were reading on my phone or iPad. Highly, highly recommend.

Romantasy Book Recommendations

A Court Of Thorns And Roses — Sarah J Maas

The king of all romantasy books — this is where you start. Look, there’s a reason ACOTAR has become a household name 😌 The storyline is compelling and brilliant, there’s no boring-waste-of-time-lengthy scenes at all (such as when she’s going on a long journey, you expect it to be a few chapters long but it cuts straight to the drama at a satisfying pace). This is a beautiful romance story (more focused on the romance side of things than her other books) that is empowering and has a very healthy example of romance. Maas’ writing isn’t exquisite, but the world building and storyline sure is. The magic isn’t crazy in this either, there’s no dragons, and yes they’re fae but not the type with wings and wands. Enjoy this story with a touch of smut ❤️‍🔥 (it gets wild in the final books 🥵)

[5 published books, incomplete series]

Throne Of Glass — Sarah J Maas

This is for you if you’re into bad ass bitch assassins who don’t take no shit. Celaena is powerful. But first we need to discuss the true reading order of Throne of Glass, which is highly debated.

Throne of Glass
Crown of Midnight
The Assassins Blade (actually the prequel, but read it here)
Heir of Fire (because the very first chapter leads on from AB)
Queen of Shadows
Empire of Storms
Tower of Dawn
Kingdom of Ash

Don’t fight me on this, just trust the process. For the greatest emotional impact of the series, read The Assassins Blade third, as it ties in magnificently with the storyline at that exact point. Now, some people tandom read Empire of Storms + Tower of Dawn, meaning they’ll read one chapter of one book then another chapter of another, as they are happening at the same time but in different places. I personally enjoyed reading them independently and not together (plus I didn’t want to lug around two books at once). Now, Empire of Storms is intense. It’s immensely fast paced and action packed like no other book, there’s basically no down time. I had a follower say to me that she had to stop reading it because it heightened her nervous system so much, and I can see why. This is why people tandom read, because they say that EoS is so intense and ToD is so slow. I personally loved ToD essentially as its own separate story and found it intriguing enough. No there’s not much fighting-action, but there’s an incredibly satisfying amount of plot twisting happening in there, that pieces so much of the story together in a way you wouldn’t expect. You do you, but this was my most enjoyable experience ☺️ This is a series that will hold a place in your heart forever more, there’s no coming back from reading it. Your heart will break multiple times and be put back together, you will pine for characters, you will cry, you will feel so deeply immersed in this world. It’s fantastic. Disclaimer though, I feel the very end of the very last book could have been a little more ‘explosive’ 😉 #iykyk

[8 published books, complete series]

When The Moon Hatched — Sarah A Parker

MY ALL. TIME. FAVOURITE. BOOK. EVER. And it’s only the first release of a series!! Okay, Sarah A Parker’s writing is utterly immaculate. I have never read anything like it, she absolutely must have been strongly educated in her writing because it shows, it is so incredibly intelligent and detailed.

For example, most authors would write that a characters “mouth watered”. Parker however, describes “the muscles beneath my tongue quivered” just giving you a whole new reading experience.

The concept of this book is so unique and there has been an immense amount of thought into building this story. Be sure to read the glossary and explanation of concepts (at the back of the book) as it will heighten your experience and help you follow along coherently.

Between the highly descriptive writing that makes you feel a part of the story like nothing else, the incredibly unique world, and the LOVE STORY that is Raeve & Kaan, nothing will ever compare to this book for me and it has set the bar HIGH.

Gods & Monsters — Amber V Nicole

You may heard of The Book Of Azrael (no relation to Azriel in ACOTAR), book one in the series of Gods & Monsters. This is an interesting read with probably a TW about emotionally abusive relationships as the main character escapes hers. Another empowered female book (also a badass assassin) that realllly gets good halfway through the second book and starts to unfold magnificently (try to stick through immense gory bloodshed for the first half, even I was a little put off by it). Another beautiful love story that’s inspiring and expanding.

[3 published books, incomplete series]

The Empyrean Series — Rebecca Yaros

AKA Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. Am I the only person who doesn’t absolutely froth this series?! I went from empowered Feyre in ACOTAR and badass bitch Aelin in TOG to this absolutely weak, self-questioning and uncertain girl in Fourth Wing and Iron Flame… And Xayden doesn’t really do it for me because where’s the respect and equality…

I do love the dragons, and Iron Flame had an ending that made the series seem a little more enticing, so bare with me whilst I soon pick up Onyx Storm…

She’s a romantasy girly…