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Nerd Girl Loves Books

Book recommendations and short reviews just for you!

Category

Romantasy

Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. England

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

This was a sweet, cozy, queer romance. Oaklin Nettlewood accidentally joined an evil world-ending cult and mind control magic forced them to do unspeakable things. After the heroes crushed the cult and broke the curse, Oaklin is left with holes in their memory and a bucketload of trauma. Oaklin swears never to use magic again and they move to a small farm on the edge of Mossley’s Rest. But the no-nonsense ghost granny who lives in Oaklin’s house won’t stand for it. She slowly coaxes Oaklin back into the world and they slowly form a found family that helps them start to heal. Oaklin even begins to quietly help the residents of Mossley’s Rest, endearing them to the residents. So when an inquisitor comes to town to hunt former cultists, Oaklin is ready to run. What they didn’t expect was the town to work together to protect them.

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Daggerbound (Swordheart #2) by T. Kingfisher

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

This book is so darn cute!! I’ve never read this author before and so my expectations were low, but this book blew me away. I love it when that happens!

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This Wretched Alchemy (Ruinous Fate Saga, #1) by Tina Mars

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This was a fast-paced, action packed romantasy that kept my attention. The world is complicated and although there is some worldbuilding at the beginning, I found myself still confused about the structure of the society and the magic system. Hopefully things will become clearer in the next book.

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The Heart Trials by J. Elle

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

This is a YA dystopian romantasy that combines a deadly game with a dating show. We have the typical power dynamic where a powerful ruler surrounds himself with sycophants who live a privileged life. In this world they are the only people allowed to touch another person and fall in love. All others live in squalor with no hope of improving their lives. That is, until the ruler announces the Tournament of Hearts. The winning couple become highborn citizens with all the privileges that come with it. Our FMC Axira is a lowborn smuggler that gets into a sticky situation and makes a deal with the MMC Prince Caelus to enter the tournament to steal something for him. On the day the trials start, Caelus enters the tournament at his father’s command.

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Flickerstate by F. A. Davidson

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I really like dark academia books with unique magic systems so was excited to read this book. The magic system here is definitely unique where magic users can manipulate different elements. Norah is our FMC and she can manipulate probability. When magic users use their magic, however, it can draw possibility beasts whose bites are deadly. When her father is bitten and his health quickly deteriorates, she joins the academy to follow a rumor that a cure can be found there. When she finds out that only senior research assistants are allowed in the archives—and you can only become one by winning a team trial designed to push your navigation abilities to the brink, Norah reluctantly joins a team.

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Hawk & Sparrow by Ayana Gray

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

This is a slow burn Gilded Age book that combines mystery, magic, and romance. Vesper is a young, ambitious journalist with the failing Basalton Globe. The book opens with her attending a society gala with the hopes of interviewing an inventor introducing this recent magical invention. Vesper resents Basalton high society who use sorcery to fuel their luxurious lifestyles rather than help those less fortunate. Vesper briefly interviews the inventor, however a brief time later finds him dead in the garden. Two men are the police’s main suspects, with the prime suspect being industrialist Maximilian Kite.

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When Dealing With Dragons by Dana Swift

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This book was so freaking cute!! A book about dragon veterinarians? At a dragon sanctuary? Yes, please!! Farren, the FMC, is attending the dragon academy so she can be a dragon vet like her father. She is a “lowly” copper crafter in their magic system. She is not popular and is teased by her classmates. James, the MMC, comes from a rich silver crafting family and is snobby and arrogant, and more importantly, Farren’s main competition for a college scholarship.

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Moss’d in Space (Moss’d in Space, #1) by Rebecca Thorne

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I loved this book!!! It reminded me of one of my favorite SciFi shows, Farscape, and so I was hooked. Torian worked hard to afford to buy her own starship and captain her own ship. All she could afford was a tiny starship that had been abandoned for a century and was covered in moss. Torian got it running and to her surprise, the moss is an organic computer with a major attitude and abandonment issues. An immortal alien whose species was long thought to be extinct built it and forgot where he parked it. Thus begins Torian’s crazy ride.

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To Cage a Wild Bird (Divided Fates #1) by Brooke Fast

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Woohoo!!! What a wild ride! I love dystopian books and so many authors get it wrong, but not here. While we only get bits and pieces about how the world fell apart, there is enough information to fire you up against the powers that be. I look forward to learning more about this world in the next book.

Continue reading “To Cage a Wild Bird (Divided Fates #1) by Brooke Fast” →

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