#about there not being any yearning in romantasy

[feyrescourt]

sarah said that listening to mr. brightside makes her think of az. Then the first time we get a glimpse into his mind, we find out that thoughts of elain even potentially being with another male slice into him like razor blades and he can’t sleep at night. Yet, I’m being told to ignore this bc of some shit to do with a fucking ribbon. 😐

[skyfallscotland]

Hey girlie!!!!!

You're not alone in your frustrations with OS. I get that "it the third book, there's going to be world building since it wasn't done earlier blah blah blah" but I personally feel like the ground work should have been done in FW and IF, for continuity and consistency. As most things are...That was one of my biggest gripes about OS. It felt like RY threw everything into a blender and expected us to identify/differentiate what was going, with little to no context. It also kinda felt like a money grab (leaving more questions so the audience stays engaged for book 4 and 5).

I concur about the POV thing, Violet is not a "reliable narrator" but if that's the cause, make it 3rd POV. For the audience's sake, I would not want to leave them confused about your magic system. It just feels sloppy and lazy. It felt like we were reading RY's stream of consciousness, like "Oh heres a thing that just came up in my brain and im going to FORCE it into the story line even if it doesn't make sense". Maybe things will be explained in the later books but I personally feel like that's not necessary.

The fanservice was so jarring for me, it was fine at first, but when it kept happening and it felt like Ridoc was essentially voicing what the fandom felt... I was like "good to know this is canon but also this is supposed to be a romantasy novel, be what you are you supposed to be, not a fanfic".

It also felt like OS was a fanfic I was reading, for which I paid $15 for... and for $15... i personally would not recommend it to anybody ngl. I'm already stuck in this here and I love the fandom too much to leave.

Don't get me wrong, there were parts that I enjoyed (the little side quest arc was probably the most enjoyable for me but it also felt like a filler episode in an anime). The side characters honestly saved it for me. Drake/Mira and the fucking kitten, Sloane/Dain (the yearning???maybe im delulu but whatever). As much as I love Riorgail, I was over it tbh. It felt artificial to me? The no sex the entire book unless there wasn't any magic but all of sudden (right before shit hit the fan? BFFR. I knew it was going to be the last time the were physically together)

Violet was delusional a lot of the time (I get it, when the man you love is becoming the bad guy, I probably wouldn't want to accept that reality either, but if you're telling me she has the "mind of a scribe" she better be logical as fuck, and girlie was not logical, Ridoc was the voice of reason on the isles and told her to draw a line) OR things were just not expanded on enough, like the fact that she just "knew" so much stuff. I get it she's smart, but if we're in her head, we should know what she's learning. I hated that when she came to a conclusion/revelation that she was afraid of, she didn't voice them to the audience. We're the readers, not her friends

Also the fact that there wasnt "any magic" on the isles, but there actually is some??? Fuck off lol

Overall the experience was confusing/jarring but I had a feeling that would be the case, based on my exp from IF (I hate being right) Again idk if it was RY or Red Tower that pushed to have 5 books but i felt like certain parts of the book could have been more concise, instead of leaving the end of a chapter on a cliffhanger. It felt like it was overdone, that by the end of the book, I was over the feeling of "being on edge".

I have to wonder if this is a result of the Iron Flame debacle too, like if some of this worldbuilding could have been in that before it got split, but somehow I don’t think so.

That whole book feels so…I can’t even think about it. The fact we spent all that time and drama trying to get wards and then just…altered them with a rune almost immediately with little effort? 🥺

I definitely understand the stream of consciousness thing. I felt like…like my brain is always searching for patterns, right? It’s how it works, daily, and the way she wrote this there was no connection to anything, the chapters were jarring, there was no link between the plot, subplot, no conjoining thread. It felt like my brain was looking for it like you look for the horizon when you’re on a boat…but the boat keeps jarring you beneath your feet. Does that make sense? It probably doesn’t, but it’s just this feeling like you’re out of your depth.

There were parts I enjoyed too, but since that feeling underlies it, it coloured the whole experience.

I definitely had the feeling of being on edge too and I saw someone say they think the marketing contributed to that and I agree but maybe it was the writing too? I don’t know, I was anxious the whole time for little discernible reason—maybe because they told us we were going to hate the end, I guess?

Anyway thank you for reaching out, I almost regret sharing because I hate being the minority and feeling like everyone is judging me, and I feel like a lot of people get mean when you can’t just ‘no thoughts, just vibes’ your way through it. I wish I could. 🖤

[pagesandpothos]

The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre by Darcy Ash

Official Summary:

Prince Fierre has three big problems. He’s suffering from a mystery illness. He’s surrounded by lords who expect personal favours. And worst of all, he’s in love with his best friend, Aiven, a former farm boy and studious enforcer of rules, now right-hand to the prince. Can Fierre heal himself, deal with the noblemen snapping about his ankles, and confront his desire for a man who has no noble blood… but a very noble heart? Set in a Scottish-inspired world, The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre combines a happily-ever-after romance with a story of disordered eating and healing. Blending queer joy with glittering aesthetics, this fantasy explores what it means to learn to love yourself amidst the harshest strictures of diet culture. Perfect for fans of Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light and Foz Meadows’ A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, this book will have queer romance fans feverishly page-turning all the way to its triumphant and heated finale.

My Thoughts:

The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre is a new queer romantasy that deals with some heavy topics. It might not be a good fit for everyone (please read the content warnings before starting) but I enjoyed it and thought the romance was sweet.

The world-building is sprinkled slowly throughout the book. This helped make the pacing feel quick even without an action-filled plot. The novel is set in Eilean-òir, a queer normative realm that doesn't have magic and is based loosely on historical Scotland.

The story begins with Fierre, on the verge of officially becoming the Prince Regent due to his father's worsening health. Their kingdom places extremely high beauty expectations on its royals. The pressure to conform to those standards and stay unreasonably thin is clearly on Fierre's mind at all times and causes a lot of insecurity and body dysmorphia. He's essentially being forced to starve by his realm's religious and political elites who command what someone in his position should look like.

The second POV we get is Fierre's most loyal friend, Aiven. Aiven sees the pressure that their society is putting on Fierre and tries his best to support his beloved friend.

Fierre and Aiven have a tender relationship that I became enamored with very quickly. They grew up as childhood best friends and have remained close despite their class differences (Aiven is the son of farmers). They have so many touching moments. The book was at its best when it focused on these two! If you love a romance filled with oodles of yearning and healthy doses of jealousy, hurt/comfort, and angst, then you may love this. As someone who loves the "angst with a happy ending" and "mutual pining" tropes, I was enthralled! 

Their relationship doesn't come easy though. Fierre uses casual sex with other men as a distraction from his hunger. There is no romance or any feelings between Fierre and these other men. These sexual relationships are political and also a tradition among high society men in their kingdom. They are also acts of self-destruction for Fierre, who uses these experiences to punish himself for - what he sees as - failures to live up to his kingdom's expectations.

I want to be clear: This book is largely about the main character's eating disorder. It is not a subplot or something that can be quickly skipped over. It is the focus of much of the book. If this could be triggering to you, you should skip this book.

The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre is about the dangers of unrealistic beauty standards and the harm that they cause. It's also about healing, finding strength in love, and challenging harmful beliefs and practices. I enjoyed reading this and I think that others who love character-focused romantasy may too.

My Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌖🌑 (3.75/5 stars).

Tropes/Tags:  romantasy, friends to lovers, mutual pining, angst with a happy ending, hurt/comfort

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5. There are multiple sex scenes between Fierre and various men that are explicit and “Open Door”.

Content Warnings: graphic depiction of an eating disorder, violence, slut shaming, bullying, sexual assault. The author includes detailed warnings before the book.

Romantasy Scale: This falls closer to the Romance genre. It’s a spicy romance set in a light fantasy world.

Other Notes: There's beautiful art of Fierre and Aiven here and here!

Links: Storygraph | GoodReads | Author Linktree

The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre will be released on January 30, 2025, and is available for pre-order!

I received an advanced copy of this book for free thanks to NetGalley and Solaris. The above are my honest feelings about the book provided. I don’t have any affiliate links in this post, and I do not make any money from my reviews. I review books simply because I love to read.

[ See Everything I’ve Read in 2025 ]

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Every week I will post various reviews I've written so far in 2025. You can check out my Goodreads for more up-to-date reviews HERE. You can friend me on Goodreads here.

Have you read any of these? What were your thoughts?

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11. No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had always seen such positive things about NO FIXED ADDRESS whenever I came across it, so I was hesitant to read it for a long time. Thankfully, the positive hype behind it is real and this book is a gem of a read.

First I want to say that this book had moments where it felt older than middle grade, especially because of some of the topics, situations, and language used. I wouldn't be hesitant to see an older middle grader reading it, but I would say that they need to know that it's okay to ask an adult about certain situations raised so they can better understand what the MC was experiencing.

This was such an interesting (and sad) look into homelessness. No one truly knows how someone else is living their life and just how easy it is to lie. Some people want to focus on normalcy so much, that they accept anything so they can keep that status quo. Of course, because I knew the MC was homeless, it was obvious to me, but I can also see how so many signs can be missed. It broke my heart seeing the MC yearn for a home, while other teens his age wanted the normal materialistic things kids that age want.

I also appreciated the portrayal of mental health and how for some it can be completely debilitating. Add to that the difficult scenes of watching our young MC trying to navigate his mom's mental health and still surviving was something that gave even more depth to this already impactful book.

I did like how, despite the dark and bleak aspects of life for the MC and his mom, that there is an undertone of hope throughout the book that leads up to the conclusion. There is awareness, of course, of how difficult things have gotten, but there's also this sense that there will be a tomorrow. It's probably what endeared me the most to the MC because he just wanted a better tomorrow and hoped to get it.

This book is heartbreaking, but it is so important. I think it could help both children and adults with their empathy towards people whose lives have been impacted by being homeless. It definitely taught me to never take my home for granted, or that the simple act of going into a store and buying something I want is a privilege. Nielsen has created a timely and beautifully sad but hopeful book that I think should be on more people's radars.

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12. Filthy Rich Fae by Geneva Lee--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I wasn't sure what to expect with FILTHY RICH FAE because I had tried reading the vampire book by Geneva Lee a year or so ago and I was immediately distracted by something else. But this one had a really intriguing storyline that immediately hooked me.

Even though the MC had her moments where she could have used a good reality check, I still liked how she allowed herself to finally start falling for the love interest. Although, I did have moments where I had a flashback to a post I once saw about how some female characters in romantasy books are complaining about being sent back home where they're actively being spoiled and treated like a queen.

Anyway, this book was fun. If you want a romantasy-type book that is mostly set in the real world, but has fantastical elements, this might be the one for you. The main character doesn't let shit get past her, the love interest sounds both sexy and sweet, the MC has a great friend in her new world (love a good and healthy female friendship), there's a good level of Fae intrigue, and questionable choices made by certain characters. It has some spice, but it's mainly sexual tension--I liked that the spicy wasn't a dominant feature of this book, to be honest.

The main thing I will warn about, however, is that damn cliffhanger. I need the next book. I MUST have answers (that I think I know).

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13. The Awakening by Nora Roberts--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Re-read in January 2025

I've been thinking about re-reading this book for a while because I had book 2 and 3 on my shelves waiting to be read. I'm glad I decided to jump back into this world because I genuinely didn't remember a single thing about this book. It was genuinely like reading it for the first time and I LOVED it.

There's something about a Nora Roberts book that tickles my brain just right. Her stories leave me feeling so content and like I want more and more. I think it's because some of her stories are so formulaic that it's comfortable knowing what to expect next. It's sometimes exactly what I need in a book. THE AWAKENING was no different. I think, in a way, it's also the simplicity and success of her characters whenever they decide to do something. For example, the MC in this book wants to be a writer and her first book is not only accepted by the first agent she queries, but is given a date of publication (after the manuscript also sold pretty quickly) for that upcoming summer. And all of this takes over the span of like two weeks. We know this is impossible. We know publishing is hella slow. But it's still comforting to read that even though it isn't realistic, these characters are making their dreams come true.

The fantasy elements of this are fun! I love the side characters and I immediately could see who would become a problem later down the series. The love interest differed a bit from previous Roberts love interests and I liked the deviation from the insta-love that sometimes appears in these books.

I liked that the MC was able to grow as a character and as a human(ish). I loved seeing her finding herself and experiencing the love so many had to give her after she spent her life lacking said love from her mother.

This was a great introduction to the series and I immediately craved reading book two after I finished this one.

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14. Runaway Love by Melanie Harlow--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

RUNAWAY LOVE was cute and fun, even if the beginning felt like I was reading one of those romance stories you find on TikTok ads. It was so dramatic, that I found myself side-eyeing the book a bit. But after that dramatic start, the rest of the story got adorable and fun, sprinkled with some serious sexual tension.

The two MCs worked well together because of had a stick far up his ass and the other needed to find her sense of freedom after leaving an abusive relationship. Even though it all happened a bit quick, I could see how healing they both were for each other--even with there being moments where they put each other through hell so they could avoid their connection.

I loved the twins, they were adorable and gave us some great distractions from the tension between the adults. I thought some of the side characters were hilarious, like the MMC's brother (whose story is in the next book in this series).

This is a tiny bit of a slow burn (yes, there is an early moment, but then after that it's a bit of a slow burn), but when the characters decide to give in, it is SPICY. These two are THIRSTY for each other. But it was satisfying seeing them finally give in to each other.

While this wasn't a mind-blowing romance, it was cute for what it was. I also bought it because this edition is beautiful. I think if you're looking for an easy romance read for this upcoming summer, I think this should be on the list. It's fun, quick, and sexy.

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15. William by Mason Coile--⭐️⭐️⭐️

When I saw customers coming in to buy WILLIAM a couple of months ago, I immediately added it to my TBR (at least in my mind I did). I became aware of this ominous book with this intriguing and creepy cover that reminded me of all of the dangerous of our advancing computers and artificial intelligence.

Needless to say, I was curious.

So, when the audiobook came up at the library, I very quickly put a hold on it. From the very beginning, this book gives off a sense of unease. Something was wrong, but we didn't really know what. We know that this couple was having an "issue" and that the MC couldn't leave the house, but we still only had the barest of glimpses into their lives. And added to the tension between the couple was the unborn baby that the wife is carrying.

But as events start to unfold and the truth is offered up in slivers, a better picture of what is actually happening starts to take form and it is both terrifying and deeply uncomfortable. It begs a question about morality and what would happen if someone had a bit too much power over something they created.

I came across a person who was reading this book while visiting a city and she had mentioned that she had to put the book down a few times because the eeriness of WILLIAM made her uncomfortable. And even though the ending is easily guessed from early on, it still made her feel disturbed. I wasn't super far into the book by then and she was almost done, but I found it so deeply interesting to see her perspective (especially since she said she wasn't a big horror reader).

But one of the things I love about horror is how it can offer commentary on our world and even though WILLIAM has its faults, it definitely offers thought-provoking commentary (among the bloody deaths of the victims who come across their killer).

I'd recommend this simply because of its eerie atmosphere and commentary. Yes, it wasn't a favourite read, but it was definitely impactful.

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16. The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir (Translated by Mary Robinette Kowal)--⭐️

THE NIGHT GUEST is truly a great example of "wtf did I just read?"

I was listening to the audiobook and had to re-listen to the ending like five times, just so I could understand what I was listening to. That ending was so vague and though it kind of hints at what might be happening, maybe I'm just the idiot who couldn't quite grasp it.

What intrigued me about this book were the shorter chapters that simply said things like "I'm scared" or "I don't know where I am". It added a sense of intrigue to this novella that I wasn't expecting. I think if my coworker hadn't brought this book to my attention because she was also curious about the short chapters, I probably would have never picked this up. In a way, I wish it would have remained anonymous for me on the horror shelves.

This book was a ride and while there were some instances where it could have been a fun and creepy ride, it was just weird. I don't know how the MC and the doctor didn't think of one particular possibility sooner. I also didn't really care for the main story and found myself zoning out a lot.

Needless to say, there was so much potential, but it wasn't for me.

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17. The Becoming by Nora Roberts--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It's hard to review a sequel without giving spoilers, so I'm going to keep it short:

This was fun! I loved how the story continues exactly from the moment the last book ended, AND I loved how the characters all interacted and cared for each other.

I knew the villain who became a bigger villain would be trouble! But I still like how all of the main characters still fought together to overcome anything bad coming their way.

There were some great reveals in this and I'm glad one of the potential foreshadowing moments wasn't actually foreshadowing. I would have been very upset.

Anyway, a great sequel to THE AWAKENING. Such a fun and adventurous novel written in that addicting prose that Roberts has perfected.

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18. Wolf.e by Paisley Hope--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm going to be 100% honest: this was a total cover buy. LOOK AT IT. It's freaking stunning!

Okay, so this is my first Paisley Hope and I wasn't expecting someone with a name like that to write a smutty dark romance book like that. While I've been told by my friends that this wasn't that dark, I am NOT used to some of the things done in this book. There was one or two things that weren't for me, but I was surprisingly intrigued by the other spicy moments.

I like motorcycle club romance stories because they give me that hit of romantic suspense that I'm sometimes craving, so of course, when I picked this one up, it was hard to put it down. I wanted to know what was happening, why some things were suspicious, and I loved seeing this womanizer fall deeper and deeper for the FMC. And tbh, I don't blame either of them--they both sound equally gorgeous.

Also, I pride myself in guessing the plot twist because then I didn't have anxiety about it.

There is no third act break up (rejoice) and their romance, though questionable at times, was pretty solid throughout. I liked watching the FMC let go of her childhood indoctrination so she could be true to herself, and I really enjoyed seeing the MMC help her reach her full potential. There's a moment near the end where she overcomes her fears and just lets go and it was a beautiful thing to see.

The only thing I think I would say took a star away was that there was way too much spicy time. Don't get me wrong, I love books with spice. I just think sometimes it can be…too much? The plot itself was really entertaining and I loved seeing both of the MCs' stories develop, but man, were they horny.

Anyway, I'd recommend this if you like Giana Darling (there is a slight age gap in this) and dark motorcycle club romances. Also, if you like outspoken female main characters who disregard their safety with their love interests.

I need the next book.

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Happy reading!