Magic, Romance, and 85 Books: My Deep Dive into the Romantasy Genre

My reading journey really began in September 2022 on a train in Switzerland. My husband convinced me to spend the train ride reading a sci-fi book he had enjoyed call Dark Matter. You might say I lept into the abyss and went down a huge rabbit hole that redefined my life. At minimum, you could say I found a new hobby. From September onwards, I began reading fantasy books non-stop. I read 14 books in ~3 months, starting with Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series. I stayed up late, way past my bedtime but that didn't matter, I had to read the next chapter that was so obviously a cliffhanger on purpose just to force me to continue reading. I quickly read every Cosmere book written (iyknyk) to date. In 2023, I wrapped up Sanderson and moved onto more traditional fantasy with Joe Abercrombie's The First Law series. Then I promptly read almost everything Joe Abercrombie has ever written (only a slight exaggeration).  I also read Brent Week's Lightbringer series and wrapped up Sanderson's Secret Projects that released that year. And by December ... I decided to read a lil innocent looking book that popped up on my kindle called Fourth Wing. 

Cam, meet rabbit hole. 

Reading Fourth Wing was definitely maybe an endorphin pumping experience. It had all the elements of fantasy that I'd come to enjoy, with magic systems and dragons etc. But then it had romance with pent up angsty tension between the two main characters and the classic "enemies to lovers" trope that I was just beginning to tap into. It was... great. Great in the same way Twilight was great (which is to say ... "I know this is terrible but also I'm still here for it" kind of way). Was it well written? Absolutely not. Did I care? Not in the slightest. Did it have smut? Absolutely. Needless to say, I enjoyed reading Fourth Wing and quickly realized BookTok was all over it, along with every white female between the ages of 30-42. I immediately read the second book in the series called Iron Flame. And then I jumped into the next big recommended series - A Court of Thorns and Roses, thus beginning an even deeper rabbit hole than the first. 

In total, I read 85 books in 2024. Some quick stats include: 

Hi, my name is Cam and I'm a recovering Romantasy-aholic.

Was every book great? No, definitely not. Below are a few series and standouts from the year and my thoughts on them. You can check out my Good Reads page to see the full list and judge me appropriately (I'm judging myself too, so its okay). 

What Am I reading now?

For 2025, I've stepped slightly away from Romantasy (excluding Onyx Storm, the third book in the Iron Flame series, which I obviously had to read asap). I'm jumping back into traditional Fantasy and tackling the Wheel of Time series. Will I return to Romantasy? Probably. At this point, I'm waiting a few authors to release new books or to see any new standouts amongst the Booktok community. Will I read 85 books again this year? Probably not but who knows. I don't have an explicit goal other than to enjoy my free-time reading as often as I want to. I'm always looking for recommendations (a friend recommended Gideon the Ninth and I lovvveeedd it). Let me know if you have any in the comments! 


Ad Hoc Book Reviews

ACOTAR series 

Okay, okay, okay. When I first read this book, I almost gave up on it. The writing was sooo unintenteresting and I know many people dislike the main character Fayre. I kept going because I'm stubborn and had to finish and by the end, I was convinced the whole book was a satire of some sort. "A generic girl meets her generic prince in a generic magical world."  ... But then we have Rhysand. The internet's best boyfriend/husband/hot-male. I'm right there with everyone. I'm here for it. Sarah, please write more Rhysand in the future please. 🙏

TOG series

I enjoyed this series and the long journeys with these characters. I love Dorian. a lot. Sarah, please write more Dorian in the future please. 🙏


From Blood to Ash series

Shockingly (even to myself), this might actually be my favorite series of the year. It's definitely not the most well written but something about these characters have stuck with me. Perhaps because it's unfinished and I'm patiently (not patiently) waiting on the next installment. In the meantime, I love Poppy's journey and complex world that evolves over the books. It starts simple but grows over time. I also enjoyed the prequel series (which I obviously had to read to as well). 

Zodiac Academy

Alright, hear me out. This series is so "One Tree Hill" meets "Twilight" meets "2000's teenage drama saga"  ... but thats also why I love it. It's one of the only books that had me laughing hysterically because it's so ridiculous (in a goofy way). Don't expect to take anything seriously here. It's teenage drama at it's finest. 

Quick standouts: 

  • Quicksilver had so much potential, but it felt rushed and the romance felt forced. Good ideas but some parts needed more time to breathe. The ending was absolutely rushed. 

  • Witch Collector series: I fell in love with the main female character. I'm patiently waiting for the next installment before giving my final verdict. 

  • Caravel: Really disliked this one. The world felt too mystical, too mysterious... but in a "I'm just gonna make up magic to fill plot-holes" kind of way. 

  • Bride: Loved the writing and humor. Wish there was more. 

  • Cruel Prince series: I didn't get this one. Some people love it but I'm not one of them. Okay enough read but just not for me. 

Escaping Routine: A Leap Into a Year of Travel

Last fall, both me and my husband quit our jobs to embark a year of heavy traveling. My husband left his job in August to prepare the way (imagine house projects and catching up on life things). I left my job in October and became a full-time travel agent (it felt like). We immediately jumped into a new routine, consisting of daily walks in the neighborhood, weekly planning sessions, house projects, errands, and non-stop travel planning. 

For a bit of context - both me and my husband are recovering work-a-holics. My husband more than myself, but both of us had relatively high-responsibility tech jobs, and as with everyone, covid WFH blurred the lines even further, making it more difficult to unplug and feel fulfilled in our daily lives. 

We also have been planning this gap year for many years. Initially, we didn't have it set as strictly a year but we knew we wanted to travel and be away for a length of time. We brainstormed different ways for years, including working remotely from different countries (we both felt our jobs wouldn't be okay with the time changes and schedule conflicts). At one point, we were contemplating if we wanted to move to Europe full stop (we decided we didn't really want that level of commitment).  We landed on a year without having a job to define our lives. We then decided we didn't want to travel constantly the entire year as we both like our home and like being at home. So we decided we would take 12 trips, one a month, each roughly two weeks. This would give us time to recover in between trips and mentally prep for the next one. 

Rough outline of our trips:

  • January: Western road trip, visiting national parks

  • March: Rome + Athens

  • April: Scotland & Ireland

  • May: East coast road trip, maybe retracing some of a road trip we took early in our relationship

  • June: Norway + Sweden

  • July: Vancouver, and possibly an Alaskan cruise

  • August: Gencon + Chicago

  • September: Japan

  • October: NYC and Paris for our 10 year anniversary, retracing our wedding + honeymoon

  • November: Barcelona & Marseilles

  • December: Christmas markets in Germany & Austria

The planning process

We planned this sitting on a park bench in Savannah Georgia during a short weekend trip. 

Sketching on an ipad

Our very rough first sketch of the plan (not real dates, just putting things on paper)

Some sentimental odds and ends: 

  • 2025 is our 10 year anniversary (specifically in October). The whole year is a celebration of us. (awwww #totallyokaytoeyerollthisone) 

  • We got married in NYC and went to Paris for our honeymoon. We intend to recreate that trip for our 10 year annivesary. 

  • We originally wanted to go to Australia and/or New Zealand. After some research, we decided to swap it in favor of going to Christmas markets in Germany in December

  • We took a roadtrip early on in our relationship up the east coast - we're thinking we might recreate a version of that trip as well. because why not. 

  • GenCon is a board game convention (yes, that's a real thing) we go to every year. Gotta keep up with traditions. This year, we're throwing in Chicago because we've both tragically never been. It must be corrected. 

Lastly, I'm incredibly fortunate to be able to take this time and plan these experiences. We've both planned this for so long, both financially and mentally. We've made trade-offs and sacrifices to make it happen, including deciding not to remodel our home or buy a new house all together. When our cat passed away from cancer, we decided to wait on getting another pet because we didn't want to leave them alone for huge amounts of time. We will do these things eventually but for now, we're going to enjoy the break and make the most of the the year ahead of us.