Animorphs really has a way to turn every scifi trope on its head. "Why do alien invasions always start in America?" Actually the body snatchers first landed in a Middle Eastern farming community where they kidnapped the first guy they saw, read his mind, and concluded that, since he was terrified of the US soldiers who had brutally destroyed everything he knew and loved, the US would be the ideal place to center their invasion. This is revealed in the spin-off "Visser" which is an excellent stand-alone book that can be read without any prior knowledge of Animorphs. And you can read it for free and with the author's blessing right here:
They also noticed how much radio data we were putting out (including TV transmissions) and, since their very specific history of being accidentally uplifted by another alien race and immediately becoming a spacefaring military force a few decades ago completely skipped over the part where radio waves are actually discovered and used for things other than military forces communicating with each other, assumed that all the random entertainment being transmitted around our planet were military communications and went "what the fuck WHY do they need this much what is HAPPENING down there"
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede
Why am I reviewing this series?
Another childhood favorite of mine, this four-book series has all the elements of a classic children's high fantasy. I was obsessed with this series in around fifth grade, and my local library had all four of them, so here we are. This will be another full series review (I also did this for The Sisters Grimm and The Chronicles of Chrestomanci).
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles
Told from various points of view, this series follows the events of Princess Cimorene and her friends and family, all centered in or around a place known as the Enchanted Forest. Everything starts when Cimorene runs away from an engagement...
Dealing with Dragons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Princess Cimorene is decidedly not a proper princess, so when her family tries to marry her off to the most boring prince in existence, she runs away and ends up in the care of Kazul, a dragon, as her princess, Unfortunately, princes and knights will not stop trying to rescue her, and a few unscrupulous wizards are up to no good.
Cimorene is absolutely the best part of this book. Her no-nonsense attitude is such a delight to read about, and it's very funny to read about her questioning all sorts of fairy tale conventions. Her relationship with Kazul is adorable, and I appreciate that she makes friends with other princesses and it doesn't fall into the trap of the main character being the only worthwhile female in the book. The plot is a bit on the simpler side, being a children's book and all, but it's super cute and funny, and it will definitely scratch a dragon-loving itch.
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Mendenbar is King of the Enchanted Forest, and when he finds dragon scales where part of his forest has been destroyed, he goes to see Kazul, King of the Dragons. Unfortunately, once he arrives, he only finds Kazul's princess, Cimorene, who reveals that Kazul has gone missing, not to mention the wizards are poking around again.
While I miss Cimorene's point of view, I still very much enjoyed the second in the series. Mendenbar is also very sensible, if in need of a little organization, and Cimorene still played a large role. Watching Mendenbar fall in love with Cimorene was lovely, if completely inevitable. I do wish Kazul had been there more and that they'd actually addressed what was going on with Mendenbar's sword. This book takes on a much more quest-like style than the first although half of it is just Cimorene & Mendenbar, Job Recruiters, which was rather funny.
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When wizards start poking around the Enchanted Forest again, the talented witch Morwen and her nine cats go to inform her friends, Mendenbar and Cimorene. It is then that they discover that the wizards have stolen Mendenbar's magical sword, rendering the forest's defenses useless.
Morwen's point of view was amazing because we also got to hear and interact with her cats. It's truly impressive that they all had distinct personalities established in a 250-page book. Unfortunately, the other animal sidekick, a rabbit named Killer with a propensity for magical mishaps, was getting on my last nerve. Patricia C. Wrede must have a grudge against rabbits because I just kept wishing he'd stop eating dubious things and complaining all the time. There was a lot of talking over each other in this book, which made it a bit confusing, so, despite my ardent love for Morwen, this one is my least favorite.
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Technically published as a standalone before all the others and set sixteen years after the events of Calling on Dragons, the final book in the series follows the adventures of Cimorene's son, Daystar, as he inherits a mysterious sword and ventures into the Enchanted Forest.
Daystar was so nice and polite, to the point of hilarity, and they ended up wasting so much time trying to appease everybody, though it never made it slow. Shiara was a good counter to Daystar, with her ostensible rudeness. As for the third member of their party, the dragon, I loved that it hadn't chosen a name or gender yet. There were all sorts of references back to the previous books, and I almost cried when Cimorene and Mendenbar were reunited. I just wish they'd dealt with the wizards (especially Antorell) more seriously.
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I read this series for the first time in around fifth grade. I loved it then, and I love it now. The satire on fairy tale tropes is so witty, and the characters are all wonderfully likable. It is a bit on the simpler side, being a children's series and all, but it still has the distinctive style of older high fantasy. One of my favorite things was how nonchalantly they talk about the dragons eating the wizards—no moral dilemmas in these books. The last book is a little open-ended, but I don't mind too much because Wrede has mentioned that she'd like to write more books for the series someday, which I will certainly not complain about. If you're a fan of dry, atypical, fairy tale-esque fantasies, try this series out!
What's Animorphs? The picture looked interesting so I figured I'd ask.
if you ever saw an old, tattered book in the children’s section of a secondhand bookstore or an old school library with a cover that depicted a young teen transforming horrifyingly into an animal (like this)....
then chances are, that was an Animorphs book.
it’s a pretty damn long series of middle-school level scifi children’s books following five (later six) friends who are gifted by a dying alien prince the ability to turn into any animal they’ve touched for two hours at a time. it sounds pretty whimsical and fantastical but... it’s actually really dark. the series covers a lot of complex issues, put fantastically by an anon i just got --
it was really world-changing for me as a kid growing up in the early 2000s, and it got me way more into reading than i already was, and that’s saying something.
it’s also got pretty damn good representation! one of the main characters is a Black girl, one of them is a Latino boy, two of them are Jewish and the remaining character of the original five is pretty much implied to be trans a couple of times, if in a wonky 90s way of looking at things.
if you liked Michael Grant’s GONE series, then you’re in luck -- he’s married to KA Applegate, they both co-wrote both franchises, and there’s a lot of crossover with the themes and ideas in the two series, like for example, post-traumatic stress and a more complex, realistic approach to how horrifying events would actually affect children in the longterm.
if you liked Steven Universe at all, you’ll love Animorphs -- it’s got a similarly loveable, unforgettable cast of characters in fantastical futuristic sci-fi situations with real consequences and real impacts & fantastic allusions to real world problems that middle-school aged children might face. it’s also got a similar emphasis on body horror!
honestly i could not recommend this series enough, and if you decide to get into it, now is the perfect time, because there is a graphic novel adaptation of the first book on the way AND a movie has now been announced. furthermore, KA Applegate has said that whilst you should support the franchise monetarily if you can, she doesn’t mind if the only way you can read the books is by downloading them online, like for example through a link like this oh god how did that get here. if you’re like me and too ADHD to just read the books, boy do i have news for you -- the first ten are available on Spotify as audiobooks, and it seems like there’s probably more to go.
do you have any recs for romance novels that are like fanfic (but with original characters obv) in that they AREN’T those books w a shirtless guy on the cover that middle aged women love? idk ngozi posted a bit about sport news reporters on her pillowfort and it made me crave more stuff like that
1) don’t diss the old-school romance novels and, cliche as it may be, don’t judge a book by its cover. Romance writers and readers are dismissed all the time in spite of being one of the most successful genres in sales and reader numbers, and I have a lot of feelings about that.
2) if you want romance recommendations regularly, I highly recommend following the bookstore The Ripped Bodice on social media. They’re in LA and while I’m internet friends with someone who works there, I have never been there, but their recommendations are always on point. There may be some other romance bookstores out there, but I like them.
Okay now a few recommendations. Some of these feel more like fanfiction than others, but I liked them, so maybe you’ll like them, too. I’m linking them to bookshop dot org listings, because that benefits small bookstores; I signed up for an affiliate program, so full disclosure I could get money back if you choose to buy here, but I would just use that money to buy more books to read and recommend; also you can probably get e-versions from your library using Libby or Overdrive or Hoopla or whatever:
Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.
Short summary: The son of America’s first female president and the prince of England totally hate each other. Wait, actually, the son of America’s first female president is a disaster bi who didn’t realize he had an enormous (reciprocated) crush on the prince of England.
Why it’s good: Beautiful writing, like no straight people, political drama that’s like West Wing levels of stress, not Real Life levels of stress, and just the best romantic emails.
Nota Bene: I keep seeing this on YA lists. It is not YA. It’s aimed at younger adults, but it’s not aimed at 13-18 year olds. There is some actual sex in here and everyone is like 22. It could be categorized as New Adult.
Also I can’t wait for her next book.
ANYTHING by Meg Cabot.
Okay this is a broad recommendation. I guess it doesn’t count her books for kids, because I haven’t read those. But! Meg Cabot writes a lot of great stuff and I love her.
Most recent is No Judgments, so I’ll recommend that first. It’s a standalone book where a girl, Bri, who’s falling apart after several family crises rides out a hurricane in the Florida Keys. Unfortunately, the hurricane is way more severe than people thought, and pets that would’ve been okay being left at home for a couple days are going to be alone for weeks. Bri and a very hot man go around rescuing pets. They are smooching on the cover so I think you can guess how that ends up.
Ok the next couple are ones that I’ve heard recommended, but that I haven’t read yet.
The Kiss Quotient, by Helen Hoang, and her other books.
A book about an autistic woman written by an autistic woman! I’ve heard it’s fun and sexy and good. It’s on my shelf; I got it at my local used bookstore in The Before Times.
Jasmine Guillory’s books
Haven’t read them yet, but they’re highly recommended by a bunch of people. She’s generally writing about black couples, weddings, fake dating, and a touch of enemies to lovers. They also seem to be in a shared universe situation, so if you like being able to see characters in different books from different perspectives, this might be good for you.
Recommendations from the bookseller I’m friends with when I was lamenting how I don’t think I’ve read any wlw-focused romance, in spite of being myself a wlw; I haven’t read them yet but look I have about ten thousand books on my to-read list:
Something to Talk About, Meryl Wilsner- not out yet but there’s some buzz around it
The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics, Olivia Waite. Looks like it’s historical, but I am intrigued.
@constellationgrayson reminded me of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, which I personally kind of think of as an adventure/roadtrip book with a strong romance element more than as a Romance Book, but which I do strongly recommend
edit: I also like Becky Albertalli a whole bunch so I’m gonna recommend Leah on the Offbeat, one of the few F/F books I’ve seen in tons of bookstores! Goodreads hates it, but I think Goodreads reviewers just like to be assholes when female characters are written with flaws and emotions so
Oh my god I forgot about Rainbow Rowell! Now if you want that fanfic flavor, you cannot go wrong here. While she has tons of experience in journalism, she got her start writing in fiction-writing fic, and she knows the things people like about it.
Fangirl, Carry On, and Pumpkinheads are three great places to start!
I just received an email about a giveaway for Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev and I thought of this post. I haven’t read any of the author’s other books, but it’s basically billed as Persuasion fanfic and the plot (a chef is paired with her pro-athlete ex in a reality show competition) reminds me of some of the Zimbits AUs I’ve read. It looks delightful. It doesn’t come out until the end of this month, but the author has written another contemporary romance inspired by Pride and Prejudice.
For resources to do your own searching, you should defs check out Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. They review heaps of romance novels across genres and they have a cool book search feature where you can search by trope, character type, genre etc (or a combination of them all).
Also, they may not be too outside the box (but that can be a comfort in itself), but Harlequin has free reads available online if you create an account with them.
Author wise, I really love Nalini Singh. Her most fanfic-y series is probably Hard Play (beware shirtless men on every cover!). Plus, I can vouch for The Kiss Quotient! by Helen Hoang.
If you want to stay on tumblr, I suggest @christinaroseandrews. They themselves are writers, but they also review tons of romance stories of various pairing types. Some of the stories are excellent. Some… not so much. And some are so awful that they have to dedicate multi-part posts to the suck.
Also they provide a path to other romance sources.
If you’re looking for romance that reads like fanfic, how about reading romance written by fanfic authors turned Pro that aren’t Cassandra Clare, Diana Gabaldon, or EL James? All of the following are fanfic authors turned pro that we know either in Real Life, fandom life, or who we read back in the day.
(like the OP we use affiliate codes)
YA:
Lindsay Ouimet - Wrote Hunger Games Fanfic. Includes soulmates and sexy coming-of-age stories about people who don’t belong.
Alwyn Hamilton - Wrote Sims fanfic. Wrote Rebel of the Sands which is a trilogy with strong Romantic Themes
Tanaz Bhathena - Wrote Hunger Games Fanfic. Has two award winning books. Is an author of color. And writes characters of color. JSYK like many YA romance there isn’t always a happy ending
N.K. Jemison - Wrote DBZ fanfic. While not fully romance, her books have strong romantic elements.
Paranormal Romance
Natalia Jaster - Wrote Hunger Games Fanfic. Writes books featuring gods and mortals
Joy Demorra - Still writes fic (Good Omens, Harry Potter, and Witcher) You know her as @thebibliosphere her equal triad Phangs is coming out soon.
Liz Ashe - wrote Harry Potter and Buffy fanfic
Felicity Heaton - wrote Buffy Fanfic - now writes a ton of vampire and shifter stuff… including some with the serial numbers vaguely filed off
Naomi Novik - Helped found Ao3
Zoe Chant - Multiple people including @dsudis - This is one of those where the penname is shared with multiple authors.
Contemporary Romance
Sera Taino - Wrote Hunger Games Fanfic - Recently was picked up by I think Harlequin…
M.T. Kearney - Writes Hunger Games Fanfic
Caitlyn Lynch - Writes MCU Fanfic - best known as @ozhawkauthor - also writes historical (listed below)
Annika Steele - Writes MCU Fanfic - also writes paranormal
Livvy Ward - Writes MCU Fanfic - also writes paranormal
Kristen Rouse - Wrote Hunger Games Fanfic
Historical Romance
Catherine Bilson - Writes MCU Fanfic
LBGT Romance:
Ariel Bishop - wrote MCU Fanfic
Leslie Bond - Wrote Sims fanfic
Diana Ferris - wrote Hunger Games Fanfic (I think)
Elizabeth L. Brooks - writes MCU fanfic
Dessa Lux - writes MCU & Witcher fic -
There’s a lot more. But if you want to support romance that reads like fanfic, then you need to support the authors who came from fandom when they transition. If you don’t, then you get a lot of the same over and over.
If you really like sports AUs or niche job AUs, Beth Bolden is really excellent. I keep coming back to her books over and over. The Game Changers series by Rachel Reid is very Hockey RPF except original characters. Heated Rivalry is also the best enemies-to-lovers I’ve ever read.
If you like D/s, Tanya Chris is wonderful. Also check out For Real by Alexis Hall.
Historical: KJ Charles is like literally my favorite author. Also check out Jordan L Hawk, his Widdershins books are SO GOOD. He also does current day paranormal romance. E.E. Ottoman is fabulous also.
Oh and read Cat Sebastian. Just do it. Every book is the absolute best.
I just read Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall and just about died laughing. It’s everything you want from fake dating.
If you like fluff, weird magic and world building (and luscious descriptions of food), read Amy Crook. To Hive and stop Hold is such a comfort book, I can’t even. Unboxed is such an interesting take on the soulmates trope.
HUGE list of free (!!) books by black authors and revolutionaries. includes writings by toni morrison, james baldwin, assata shakur, angela davis, malcolm x, audre lorde and frantz fanon.
A few years ago, I came out to my mom the morning after my senior prom. She was surprised, then quiet, then asked what my real orientation was. I said, “I have no idea, but I like this one girl.” She was a little confused, but she kissed me and said, “As long as she makes you happy.” For the next few weeks, she asked a lot of questions: when did I realize? What was my new girlfriend’s orientation? What was the word for this or that? I WAS happy, right?
Fast forward about two years. My mom sits me down and tells me that she needs my help with her next book. She’s been writing middle-grade girls’ books (like, 9-14 range) since I was eight, and she says she has an idea that she really, really wants to get right. It follows the plot of Romeo and Juliet, she says, and the main character is a twelve-year-old girl realizing she has a crush on another girl when they put on the play for English class.
Fast forward another year to now. STAR-CROSSED is about to come out, and it is absolutely amazing.
My mom has poured her heart and soul into making sure this is a positive thing for kids to read. I’ve been reading and editing and helping with this book since its first draft and I’ve been, metaphorically and sometimes literally bouncing up and down on my heels, waiting to be able to tell people about it. It’s beyond sweet, and there’s a ton of Shakespeare and humor and goofy preteen drama and twelve-year-old girls flirting and Star Wars jokes and a glossary of Shakespearean insults in the back (yes, really), and it’s just so fun and positive and smart and I want to show it to every kid I know.
This book is for LGBT kids, written by a mom who has asked questions and done her research and tried as hard as she possibly could to make her own queer kid feel safe and loved and valid, and it REALLY shows. Mattie (the cutie on the left) and Gemma (the cutie on the right) are given space to learn about themselves, and ultimately they don’t have to figure themselves out right away or come out to everyone at once or choose a label. They’re kids. It’s okay to still be figuring things out. It’s okay.
Fun facts:
My mom said from the beginning she wanted both girls on the cover to make it clear what the book was about; then when they got the final artwork and Mattie’s hair was short, my mom wrote back and asked the artist to do the hair over to make it as obvious as possible that Mattie is a girl.
When a few people started buzzing about Mattie being the youngest bisexual protagonist they’ve seen, she went back and changed passages to confirm that Mattie likes boys and girls.
When I asked for a happier and less ambiguous ending scene, she set Mattie and Gemma up on a frigging date.
It comes out on March 14, 2017. Please join me in GETTING HYPE FOR STAR-CROSSED <3
