All Things, Romantasy: The books that shaped my 2023.

This year I set myself a rather large reading goal of 100 books; I DID NOT meet that goal. I did however read 33 books and out of the 33, 12 of them helped me fall in love with the Romantasy genre.

I have always loved a good love story. I will enjoy a sappy romantic comedy or even a enemies to lovers trope any day of the week. I have talked previously about how I love Christina Lauren books and even Emily Henry and how they helped get me back into reading last year. This year was the year of Romantasy! I have always been a big fan of the fantasy genre: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Divergent, Hunger Games. But after reading these three series this year, I have found all time favorite genre and cant wait to find more that I enjoy this coming year.

Lets start with the QUEEN herself: Sarah J Maas

I started reading A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) by Sarah J Maas last year, but finished up the series this year. I seriously ate those books up! I was so into them that I made my husband listen to the audiobook for book one and ever since he has listened to the entire series three times through (5 books). The two in the series that stand out to me the most is A Court of Wings and Ruin & A Court of Silver Flames.

I absolutely fell in love with the world of Prythian. The Night Court literally lives in my head rent free and I have bought so much ACOTAR merch it isn't even funny. I became obsessed with the strength that was given to the women within this series. It was so empowering that it made me want to become a Valkyrie by the end of A Court of Silver Flames! I honestly wish that I could do the Nesta Challenge (10,000 stairs)! I know everyone really hated Nesta in the beginning, but I relate to her on a very deep level especially after the last book (A Court of Silver Flames). Nesta is a bad ass! My favorite characters though will forever be the trio themselves Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel (the bat boys). They are found family, and I can relate to that on a very deep and emotional level. I loved seeing Cassian's story in the last book. I cannot wait to see where the story goes with the next book that Maas is writing for the series, I hope to see more of Azriel and Lucien. I hope to never hear about Tamlin again.....IYKYK.

Throne of Glass (TOG) by Sarah J Maas is an incredible series as well. After we read ACOTAR my husband and I started listening to the Audiobook for Throne of Glass on a road trip that we made to Tennessee to see friends this summer. We LOVED the world building in this series. It did have some slower parts, but it was all necessary. I fell in love with Celaena from the beginning and love watching her journey throughout the series. Right now we are on the 5th book (Empire of Storms) and can't wait to see where it all goes from here.

Now lets get into my FAVORITE book of the year: FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros!

Let's just say I am still KICKING MYSELF for not picking up that first edition copy of Fourth Wing when it first came out. That version of the book is worth so much money now!!!!

Fourth Wing is an EPIC romantasy that takes place in Basgaith War College. The best comparison that I have for this book is Hunger Games meets Divergent and sprinkle in some witty dragons with attitude and a shaddow daddy that literally saves the main character even though he had every intention of killing her the first chance he got. There are so many twists and turns with this one. The book ends on an unexpected cliffhanger and blows my mind to this day. It's enemies to lovers and they have already become lovers so I am curious to how this will end up by the 5th book that is planned for this series.

The second book in the series came out in November and of course I preordered it as soon as I could (locked in that special edition with sprayed edges....), and before you ask, YES I am that crazy person that preordered the special edition of Fourth Wing before knowing that it was actually Fourth Wing. Thank you booktok for convincing me to purchase that "Untitled" Red Tower book off of Amazon! Best book decision I have ever made.

The second book was just as thrilling for me as the first. Some people thought that it was not as good, but you have to remind yourself that the characters are in their early 20's and it is supposed to be messy and annoying when it comes to relationships. All of the twists and turns in this book had me feeling like you cannot trust anyone because you will never know who will betray you or try to kill you (even your parent...). I absolutely loved teenage Andarna, her sass will never disappoint!

If you have any Romantasy recommendations I would love to add a new series to my TBR for 2023.