UNDERHYPED ADULT FANTASY RECS 📚 series and standalone

[@alannapenner37]

Deepest Blue is amazing! I love the magic system from Queens of Renthia on a tropical island setting. I also really love how Sarah Beth Durst writes female friendships.

[@Rakianshai]

Race the Sands might be one of my favorite books ever because of so many of the elements you mentioned! And I'm currently listening to Spellshop now, it's such a wonderful cozy fantasy❤

[@ebnovels]

I can’t wait to pick that one up-I’ve heard really good things all around :D

[@MareduddapCynan]

I like Marie Brennan's A Natural History of Dragons and the following five books! One of my repeat-read series!

[@Srbthmlnsmth]

Also lmao describing the dresses and what everyone looks like gives me ACOTAR flashbacks 😂

[@ebnovels]

Haha, ironically, even though they’re very different, the same can be said for Wheel of Time too 😂

[@Bookishbrunette]

I bought Spell Shop two days after it came out from my indie bookstore. The girl checking me out recommended Bone Maker and pitched it as “what happens years later after 5 heroes save the world.” (Which I LOVE) I mentioned that I wanted to pick up Queen of Blood by her and she hadn’t heard of it! She added it to her TBR. I’ve been watching you for years and have wanted to read Queen of Blood. So now me and the lovely stranger at the bookstore are picking it up!

[@ebnovels]

Ohhh, how fun! I hope you and the nice bookseller both enjoy it 😄😄😄

[@dharshanirymond]

I read The Spellshop and really enjoyed it! Now that you've recommended her other books I'll go through that back list 🙌🏼

[@reneer7069]

One of my favorite fantasy book series is The Moontide Quartet by David Hair and NOBODY I know has read it. The first book, Mage’s Blood, has a lot of world building which I feel like can be intimidating (I listened on audiobook during my commute so it didn’t drag for me but I understand how it could for others) but I absolutely LOVE the magic system and I enjoy all the different POVs. The journey the characters take over the 4 books, the growth and character development, the crazy stakes, and the world are just so cool to me and I wish more people read it so I could nerd out with them. There is romance but not spicy. 10/10 recommend

[@tennille9dawn]

I read my first Sarah Beth Durst book (Race the Sands) in February of 2023 and loved it. Then I read the Renthia Trilogy and the Standalone (which I thought was as good as Queen of Blood - better than Queen of Sorrow). I love her adult fantasy and only have two left to read - The Bone Maker and the Spellshop which just released. I hope she writes more!

[@ebnovels]

I hope so too! I need to read Bone Maker and the Renthia standalone; perhaps Bone Maker can be a patron buddy read in the fall? 👀

[@tennille9dawn]

@@ebnovels That would be cool! It's black with orange lettering and bones on the cover - very fall festive 😄

[@-lisamchuk]

I’ve read The Spellshop and loved it, so thank you for this timely video - I’m now determined to read more by this author!

[@ebnovels]

Ohh, I’m glad you loved The Spellshop! I can’t wait to jump into that one 😄

[@kattodoggo3868]

Please do more. I see too many videos reviewing "problematic" books but not the good ones worth a read 😭

[@mikouf9691]

I borrowed The Spellshop ebook from the library and really enjoyed it. When I went to the library in person, I noticed other books by her and one of the Queens of Renthia books caught my eye because I thought you had recommended it. My TBR is a bit overloaded, but I definitely want to try more of SBD's books.

[@ebnovels]

Everyone seems to be really enjoying The Spellshop-I’m glad you did as well :D

[@austinswanson1454]

I just finished the first Queen of Renthia book in the series and thought it was such a unique and different way of constructing a fantasy novel. I really liked it, and thought the setting felt like a character in the story itself, which you don't really see in that many fantasy novels today.

[@ebnovels]

I hope you continue to like the trilogy! Each book has a different focus, which is interesting, but I know that doesn’t work for everyone

[@StoryGirl1128]

I’ve added a couple of her books to my Amazon TBR…they sound good!

[@laurenschenck5355]

The spell shop it is so cute and I enjoy the story and the main character and so sweet and magical 🌞🌺🩵🩵🌺🩵🩵🌞🌞🌊🌊🌞🌞🌺🌺🌺🌞📙🌞🩵🩵🌞📙🌞🌊📖📙📖📖📙📖📖📚📚📚📚📚📚📖📙📙📙📙📙📙📖📖📚📚📚

[@julieevans6482]

the author has a long backlist of books (mostly YA), but she also wrote a standalone fantasy after Race the Sands called The Bone Maker and it's pretty good, too (although not as good as Sands)

[@JayGTheAwkwardBookworm]

I’ve never read this author, but I’m definitely intrigued now!

[@Srbthmlnsmth]

It’s well worth the time!! I read race the sands when she mentioned it on patreon, real lovely book

[@Srbthmlnsmth]

Yay!! I’ve been waiting for a Sarah Durst review she’s soooo underrated!!! Race the Sands was sooooo good! Tamra is a great MC and Raya is lovely too! I want more mother MCs.

[@ebnovels]

More parents in general as POVs would be great, especially when they’re done as well as she did Race the Sands 😄

[@Srbthmlnsmth]

@@ebnovels so this wasn’t the book with the cute romantic subplot then?? I was so sure it was tho I have a second candidate hehe

[@audreyajose632]

Race the sands is one of my all-time time favorites. I think I'm due for a re-read

[@kiddocter13]

I absolutely loved The Spellshop! The plant companion (a sentient spider plant) was so charming and the romance was sweet. The stakes were low (for the world) but intense for the MC. I didn't want to put it down! I wasn't a huge fan of the Queens of Renthia...read the first one and decided not to continue on in the series. Haven't picked up Race the Sands.

[@ebnovels]

Her works all have different qualities to them, which I think is great! I’m excited to hear such good things about The Spellshop 😊 Race the Sands took me awhile to feel invested in, but I really enjoyed it once I got further in. If you pick it up, I hope you like it!

[@mischarowe]

I already like Sarah Beth Durst's books (the few I've read, which isn't much😞) but having these specific books on a single video recommend feels like uber hype. In a good way. :) I need to get back into her books. :)

[@ebnovels]

I’m hoping to read more by her too!

[@laurenschenck5355]

I love The queen of blood one of my favorite books 🌊🌺🌺🌺🌺🌊🌞🌊🌺🩵🌺🌞🌞🌺🩵🌺🌞🌊🩵🌺🌺🌞🌞🌺🩵🩵🌞🌞🌺🌊📖📖📖📚📚📙📖📖📙📙📖📖📖📚📚📚📚📚📙📖📖📙📙📙📙📚📚📙📙📖🌺🌊🩵🩵🩵📙📖📚🌺🌞🌞

[@MrRorosuri]

Sarah Beth Durst 🎉🎉🎉

[@Lillyjoy]

Can you do a video of books with multiple POV’s? I just read Five Broken Blades and House of Dragons which both had 5 pov’s and I loved it because you really got to know all of the characters. And I’m having a hard time finding anything like that! Or if not that then just books where you really get to know a lot of the characters and not just the main 2.

[@caitlinl2750]

Ruin of kings!!

[@Lillyjoy]

@@caitlinl2750 thanks!

[@RabidSquirrelGaming]

Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon are really good examples of these! Fallen Night is my favorite, but they are each standalone novels set in the same setting just 200 years a part. Fallen Night is technically the second one printed but a *prequel dealing with the reality of a legend you hear about in Priory! I think each book has 3 main povs, but each are SO well written and distinct, and the world building feels so rich!

[@danielleoliver1734]

She does thrillers as well, I really enjoyed the Lake House but I haven’t read any of her others. I really want to read the Bone Maker it I haven’t picked it up yet. Race the Sands and the Spellshop are incredible, I’ve also read the Renthia series but I enjoyed each book less and less

[@ashleysteffy7224]

I love her works! I own all of her books except middle grade ❤

[@ebnovels]

I’d be open to trying her middle grade too! I hope she gets more love 💗

[@justatinyhalfling]

I love your selection and would add and highly recommend the Witchland series! Susan Dennard’s writing is so immersive and rich, the series grows and evolves so much with each instalment, and the fifth and final book comes out in 2025! Not many have people have made it past Truthwitch, which is so sad because the series has really blossomed from promising YA to a truly epic, complex and devastatingly beautiful fantasy saga. It has magical creatures, maps, pirates, witches, ancient plots of power, political intrigue, heart wrenching romance, true diversity and female friendship at its heart, plus magnificent writing. It deserves more attention. 🙌❤

[@Erazona]

I second this!! Such an amazing series and yet I never hear of anyone reading them

[@kylarstern42]

Race the Sands sounds really interesting! I'm definitely going to snag it from the library!

[@Maeve_Ever_Books]

I love The Queens of Renthia! I unfortunately didn’t like Race the Sands nearly as much. I will definitely read anything else she writes. 💕

[@sethroos6718]

Please do a review of "the bound and the broken" its nothing new but its such a fun read and keeps your attention all the way threw.

[@maliana86]

This video was a little odd. I was mostly just listening while sewing but the authors name was only mentioned at 14:21. Basically at the end of the video. Was that on purpose? Kind of confusing since it was an author highlight.

[@ebnovels]

I was highlighting this author’s books. To me, an author highlight means highlighting works all by that author; I made sure to have her books on the screen throughout, so that you could see her name for nearly the full length ☺️ Perhaps since you were sewing, that wasn’t obvious? Either way, I’ll keep in mind that some people aren’t looking at the screen if I do another video like this 😊

[@RE-xv9fp]

I dunno if to trust the recs anymore. Tried reeding "A little hatred" my first abercrombie book, after it being so hyped by many booktubers but it was an extremly fragmanted and boring book

[@Bakert112]

To each their own but starting abercrombie with a little hatred is kinda stupid.

[@tonkabeanicecream5698]

I thought the same but you have to keep pushing and pushing. I Started to love them when I read the first standalone Best Served Cold. Then going back and re reading I just fell in love with the world.

[@renata374]

people will have different tastes and you have too keep that in mind when looking for recs. your best chances are knowing your taste and looking for people with similar tastes and even then its impossible to find someone that matches you 100% as far as I know, for example, abercrombie books works better for character-driven readers

[@ebnovels]

I started my in-depth review of A Little Hatred discussing why it wouldn’t work for a lot of people. One of the things I mentioned was that it doesn’t have a cohesive plot. If you know you don’t like stories that are written that way, then it probably would’ve been beneficial to heed that observation and taken that into consideration. Regardless, even my friends who know my personal tastes pretty well can sometimes miss the mark with recommendations. We all have different unique tastes, which is why I’ll always be honest about when I did or didn’t like something, but still mention books I disliked in case someone else feels they might enjoy them, or, on the flip side, even if I love something, I’m very aware that what I like and what someone else likes might be completely different. I know things can come across snarky online, so just to clarify, I’m not trying to be sarcastic or condescending when I say this, but perhaps you need to figure out your own tastes more? Saying you don’t “trust the recs” comes across as accusing people of trying to deceive you, and while there are sadly people online who just want to try and sell things, get views, and make money, I honestly want readers to discover what they think sounds good. If these books today don’t sound up your alley, don’t try them! If they do, give them a go! But assess your tastes too, as I think that will help you be better at discerning what books a reviewer mentions are ones you’d enjoy 💗

[@RE-xv9fp]

@@renata374 I like fantasy and character driving. What is the meaning of a book if its not character driven?