I don't usually read Romantasy, but when I do I tend to approach it with a critical eye. This week, I finished One Dark Window, Rachel Gillig's Booktok famous dark romantasy. I would love to hear your thoughts on this book too!

Warning: The review below contains spoilers! Proceed with caution!

Review

I’m not sure what I should rate this… I was definitely engaged & consumed by the story, but at the same time, every plot twist was SO predictable. I could see them coming from a mile away. I’m not sure what the hype for this book is for? It felt like a very average fantasy. The world of Blunder built around the Providence Cards was confusing at first, so I did appreciate the constant reminders of what each card’s power is, because your girl was forgetting OFTEN lol.

Even with a better understanding, I couldn’t get too emotionally connected to the kingdom. Blunder felt really isolated & lacking in community that is usually felt in these fantasy books. Which of course was the point. BUT if we are going to live in an isolated kingdom, I felt that there should have been more insight on the political background of the Rowan family & what their court looked like. You know what, it felt like a watered down version of a Kingdom. One king, one maiden, one illness that the kingdom tries to destroy. One task to cure the illness & appease the Spirit of the Wood. It was lacking depth in ways that I am not sure how to explain.

That being said I did enjoy the romance part of this. Ravyn & Elspeth were so destined for each other, this is the first time I haven’t rolled my eyes when the main characters fall for each other. Their romance made sense & didn’t draw away from the fantastical world that Gillig was creating. It felt like a natural development between the two. When Elspeth finally succumbs to her illness I cried because she had finally started to trust Ravyn & now she can’t express it.

Will I be reading the 2nd book? Yea of course, but I’m reading it for the romance…

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☁️ Happy AANHPI Month!! ☁️

This is a very very small list of book recommendations across 7 genres. Drop your favorite in the comments (if it’s not listed here!)

When I was researching books for this post, I was getting extremely frustrated with the grouping together of Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians. We are a group of so many identities & cultures. South Asian people alone have so many subgroups & cultures, its annoying to be put into this generic box. I only added 9 books for each genre so this list is definitely not indicative of the wide range of people that we are! I hope you find your next favorite read from here 😃

𝐅 𝐀 𝐍 𝐓 𝐀 𝐒 𝐘

✨The Legend Of Meneka

✨And The Sky Bled

✨Jade City

✨The Jasmine Throne

✨Kaikeyi

✨The Spear Cuts Through Water

✨Babel

✨She Who Became the Sun

✨This Monster of Mine

𝐘 𝐀 𝐅 𝐀 𝐍 𝐓 𝐀 𝐒 𝐘

✨Star Daughter

✨An Ember in the Ashes

✨Six Crimson Cranes

✨We Hunt the Flame

✨Dragonfruit

✨Daughter of the Moon Goddess

✨Magic Has No Borders

✨We Shall Be Monsters

✨The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea

𝐑 𝐎 𝐌 𝐀 𝐍 𝐂 𝐄

♥️ The Kiss Quotient

♥️ The Trouble with Hating You

♥️ Marriage & Masti

♥️ Not Safe for Work

♥️ Ying Yang Love Song

♥️ Say You’ll Be Mine

♥️ Sorry, Bro

♥️ The Right Swipe

♥️ The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

𝐘 𝐀 𝐑 𝐎 𝐌 𝐀 𝐍 𝐂 𝐄

♥️ Eliza, from Scratch

♥️ When Dimple met Rishi

♥️ If You Could See the Sun

♥️ Sanskari Sweetheart

♥️ The Romance Rivalry

♥️ The Love Match

♥️ Clementine & Danny Save the World

♥️ Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance

♥️ XOXO

𝐌 𝐘 𝐒 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑 𝐘

🔍 Arsenic & Adobo

🔍 Death of a Lesser God

🔍 Accidental Alchemist

🔍 The Frangipani Tree Mystery

🔍 The Bandit Queens

🔍 Now You See Us

🔍 Everything I Never Told You

🔍 Iced In Paradise

🔍 Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

𝐅 𝐈 𝐂 𝐓 𝐈 𝐎 𝐍

💫 The Joy Luck Club

💫 Yellowface

💫 Tiare in Bloom

💫 On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

💫 The Namesake

💫 Pachinko

💫 The Daughters of Madurai

💫 The Henna Artist

💫 Beasts of a Little Land

𝐍 𝐎 𝐍 - 𝐅 𝐈 𝐂 𝐓 𝐈 𝐎 𝐍

📖 Crying in H Mart

📖 The Ivory Throne

📖 The Making of Asian America

📖 Born in Paradise

📖 Stay True

📖 Minor Feelings

📖 Year of the Tiger

📖 All You Can Ever Know

📖 Know My Name