I keep trying romantasy and hating it, but I know there is good shit out there. Can you all help me?

While I am on the aroace spectrum, I know I can enjoy a good romance. One of my favorite series as a child was Anne of Green Gables, and I had Anne of the Island (the one where the romance plot thickens) basically memorized. My reading taste now leans more SFF and litfic, but I crave some good romance. Unfortunately, a lot of the popular choices have been a miss for me. Can you recommend me a romantasy or romantic SFF based on my reactions to these popular books? I'm sorry in advance for hating on some people's faves--it's just personal taste!!! It's my loss for not enjoying a thing!!

The key criteria are prose and character depth/development. I HATE tell-not-show writing or YA/fanfic-y language. "He growled" = Immediate DNF. No preference on spice or gender, but no dubious consent or shallow insta-love please.

1. One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig: intensely disliked the stereotypical, brooding alpha male descriptions and self-insert FMC. Overall felt very juvenile, did not like the "poetry." I did like the worldbuilding and the foggy, dark forest vibes. Prose was 2.5/5.

2. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon: the worldbuilding was orientalistic, but more to the point the main romance was a snore. No chemistry, plays into racialized femme/butch dynamic. I could not tell you why they loved each other. Also there was an unnecessary SA plot at the end? Wtf. Prose was 3/5.

3. Can't Spell Treason without Tea by Rebecca Thorne: a big, boring nothingburger. The relationship was just lesbians talking to each other in therapy speak (plz don't come for me cuz I do this as a queer femme). I did not care about what happened next. Prose was 3/5.

4. Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree: It was cute for a while before it got too repetitive. The romance was okay but a little underdeveloped. Side note, I'm lowkey starting to think cozy fantasy is small business capitalism propaganda. Prose was 3.5/5.

5. Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan: Promising world-building and excellent vibes, and was invested in romance for first half. Disliked execution of love triangle and felt like the MMC's character never quite developed enough complexity. I was more invested in the mom. Prose was 3.5/5? Harder to tell because I listened to the audiobook and the narrator's voice made everything sound better.

6. Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett: Here is one I liked! The relationship felt believable, I liked the slow burn and liked getting to know each character as individuals. Prose was 4/5.

7. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone : This is where the prose was prosing too hard (too flowery) but the chemistry between two agents that don't even interact in real time was compelling. It got too saccharine towards the end, but overall enjoyed it. Prose was 4/5. (docked for purple prose).

Y'all, my taste can't be all that special. I LOVE immensely popular series like the Broken Earth Trilogy, The Realm of the Elderlings, and the Green Bone Saga. Please help me find the romance of my dreams! Where is the well-written tension and yearning? Where is the growth that accompanies a relationship journey?

You pick up your book to catch a few minutes of reading, when you hear a sudden 'pop!' and everything goes dark. When the light returns, you don't recognise your surroundings... or do you? You're in the world of your book!

Trying to get your bearings, you realise you're holding a postcard, plain white with black text: 'Hello, we don't have the time nor the inclination to explain why, but [MAIN CHARACTER] is 3 miles away and is intent on finding and killing you. Good luck!'

How screwed are you, and what is your strategy for survival?

I’m talking about PB shelves. I tried searching but didn’t find what I was looking for.

I’m trying to rearrange my shelves and create new ones. I once saw someone who had dividers between their shelves. Essentially empty shelves with decorative title (e.g., · · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ·). It’s something I tried to do with my shelves, but they keep getting pushed to the bottom.

My question for people who spend a lot of time organizing their shelves, how do you make them look neat (if that’s your priorty), and if you use dividers how do you use them for your shelves?

I’m genuinely struggling to place the dividers properly but I swear I saw someone’s library had those. Any help would be appreciated.

Like the title says, I just really want to hear about everyone's favorite book/series and the kinds of merch/art/special editions/collections/etc. that folks have related to said book. Was having a conversation with someone and they showed me art they've bought for the Red Rising series, so now I'm curious to see more🙂

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"When it comes to books, timing is everything! The time to read each book is the moment you get it."

Respectfully, I call bullshit.