3 New Books About Daring to Be Different

The Best Romantasy Books

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

*Sigh* Where do I start? This book squeezed my heart and cradled it at the same time. It also stoked an inner fire that felt eerily similar to a couple of scenes in the book that I've bookmarked 👀.

Meeting Violet Sorrengail was like peeling back the layers of thoughts I had about myself as a child. She initially thinks she's too fragile to be a gifted dragon rider like her siblings Brennan and Mira, but her mother — General Sorrengail — isn't easily swayed. So, off Violet goes to train or die trying.

From enemies who are more than willing to kill her at a heartbeat to developing a deep bond with two dragons — something that's unheard of — Violet finds herself realizing she's more powerful than she's given herself credit for.

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

I'm still trying to make sense of the way Iron Flame took my emotions on the wildest ride. Although I'm still recovering and yearning for more, I have to commend Rebecca Yarros for giving us two of the best Romantasy books of our time.

When we catch up with Violet Sorrengail again, she's managed to enter her second year at Basgiath War College without dying. Although she's a lot more resilient than she gives herself credit for, she knows there's still so much to learn.

The lessons she's learning are harsher and it seems like she's still being targeted for several reasons. As she tries hard to navigate the things she needs to learn in order to survive, she begins realizing there's an internal threat that's far greater than anyone could've imagined.

It'll take all of her allies, her dragons, and her greatest love to eliminate this threat. The problem is that nothing will ever be the same once it's all said and done.

Deep Is The Fen by Lili Wilinson

If you're looking for a romantasy book that's a little less spicy, Deep Is The Fen is a great read!

It centers around Merry's reluctant interactions with the magic she's been trying so hard to stay away from. When she finds out that her best friend Teddy is joining the Toadmen, she makes it her personal mission to stop him. What she doesn't think anyone knows is her ability to see the swirling magic that surrounds all life forms.

It's this same second sight that comes in handy as she joins forces with her sworn enemy Caraway Boswell. Together, they attend the famed Toad ritual in Deeping Fen and it's only until it's too late that Merry realizes the Toadmen are more sinister than she thought.

And they've been waiting for her.

The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk

If you have a taste for more magic, you'll love reading The Midnight Bargain.

Unlike our heroine in Deep Is The Fen, Beatrice Clayborn embraces that she's able to use magic, but she has keep it hidden lest she be confined by a 'marital collar.' If you just shuddered, I'm here to tell you it's as bad as it sounds.

Our dear Beatrice wants to become a Magus, but her family is more concerned with making sure she's prepared to secure an amazing marriage. In other words, women aren't supposed to be able to wield magic as powerfully as men. There's also the fact that her family isn't exactly wealthy so her getting married would truly help them.

Still, Beatrice decides to keep pursuing a desire to become a Magus though her plans are almost ruined when another sorceress steals the one thing that'll secure her position. Desperate to have it in her possession again, Beatrice does a bit of conjuring that leads her to a crossroads.

Will she choose her dreams over her family's future or will she give up everything — magic, who she is at her core, and her goals — to save them?

The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten

I highly recommend that you read The Foxglove King before starting this book, but it's on the list because it's my favorite out of the series!

The Hemlock Queen picks up after the twisted king August has died, but his influence is still felt among the royal court. They're not exactly thrilled that Prince Bastian and the trusted Lore are trying to change what they've become used to, creating a lot more unruliness than they were anticipating. It's in the midst of this that Lore can sense a coldheartedness growing in Prince Bastian that wasn't there before.

As time passes, something begins beckoning to Lore to pay more attention to things around her. It wants her to find the truth about herself and what's in front of her.

She'll have to race against the time to find the answers before she loses Bastian and everything else she loves.

The Hanging City by Charlie N. Holmberg

Lark has spent years hiding from her overly domineering father and hasn't found a place to call home yet. The thing that's kept her safe is her ability to cause anyone to feel fear in her presence which has come in handy. With no other options, she decides to seek refuge among the trolls in Cagmar.

She's quickly accepted into their society because they realize she's not like most humans that are in Cagmar. The only rule she has to follow is to never kill a troll even though the most powerful one utterly despises her for being human.

She'll have to learn how to survive in a brand new way while figuring out things about herself, her past, and the family she grew up in.

Memory Pieceby Lisa Ko

In the 1980s, Giselle, Jackie, and Ellen were all outcasts who banded together to have friends and work towards their dreams. Now in the 2040s, the three of them are forced to confront the facts that the world around them has changed and their dreams must too. Giselle, a performer, must learn how to succeed in the elite social world. Jackie, a successful coder, must figure out how to still love his craft even as the coding industry shifts towards surveillance and monetization. And Ellen, a community activist, must come to terms with the increased policing and building that are going on in her neighborhood. This is a story of the changing world and how three lifelong friends must learn to navigate that change and build happy lives despite how different everything is.

The Fetishistby Katherine Min

Written by the late Katherine Min, The Fetishist is a tale of three individuals that explores race, femininity, and how complicated the feelings of family and grief can be. Twenty-three-year-old Japanese American Kyoko is full of anger and despair at the death of her mother, who was recently dumped by Daniel. She is determined to kill Daniel and make him pay for what he did, but her plans go wrong. Daniel is a violinist who is struggling to confront his past mistakes and move forward. Alma, Daniel’s lover, is a Korean American who is spending her final days wondering if she was truly loved in her life.

The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo

Yangsze Choo weaves a tale of old love, second chance, and ancient folklore. It is 1908 in Manchuria, the last years of the Qing Empire, when a woman is found mysteriously dead in a doorway. Suspicions are cast onto the foxes, spirits who are said to transform into beautiful people to lure victims. Detective Bao has been investigating the foxes but has never come close, until now. Meanwhile, Snow is a creature devoted to hunting her child's killer. Both are on a path from China to Japan, but what will happen as more deaths and tragedies follow in their wake?

The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant

All Emlyn wants to do is forget about her past. Forget about her best friend Janessa who doesn’t speak to her and forget about the love of her life and her ex, Tyler, who left her for dead on the roadside. Now, three years later, she is living a whole new life in her own trailer with a healthy community around her. But one day Tyler reappears with news that Janessa is missing, shoving Emlyn back into that world that she tried so hard to leave behind. Reluctantly, Emlyn joins Tyler on a mission to try to find her ex-best friend. As they explore deeper into the wilderness Emlyn begins to suspect that not all is as it seems and that she might be in just as much danger as Janessa.

The Catchby Amy Lea

Melanie Karlsen’s brand is about to collapse and she is doing everything possible to stop that from happening. That is why she currently finds herself in an east-coast Canadian fishing village. There she is learning that the stereotypical “all Canadians are nice” statement is not true, especially Evan Whaler. But when an accident lands Evan in the hospital and Melanie is mistaken as his fiancée, the two team up to appease his nagging family and save Melanie’s brand. As their relationship grows from something fake to something more, Melanie must decide whether to embrace this wild love or continue her perfect city life.

Kindlingby Traci Chee

Kindlings were once considered the elite, the fighters who used their magic to wage war at the cost of their own lives. Now that the war is over, the kindlings have been cast aside and forgotten, their magic outlawed. But when violence sparks in the countryside and a village comes under siege, seven kindlings must step up and fight one last time. But can they break through their past and find that peace that they have been searching for through this final battle? This standalone fantasy by Traci Chee explores the deepest parts of humanity and what it means to be lost and led back to find a future worth fighting for.

The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean

Ever since Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s sister disappeared twenty years ago, she has been searching for any clues as to what happened. As other girls go missing and are not found, Chelsey begins to give up hope. But when teenager Ellie Black, who disappeared two years ago, is found alive in the Washington State woods, Chelsey finally has hope again. There’s only one problem, Ellie will not say anything and it is now up to Chelsey to find out what happened and where Ellie was. For the sake of herself, her missing sister, and the girls who will continue to go missing if she does not solve this mystery.

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Yearsby Shubnum Khan

Akhbar Manzil has always drawn Sana close. With the abandoned estates’ dark halls, empty rooms, and mysterious East Wing, Sana wants to know more. When she ventures into the East Wing she finds a door that has been closed for centuries, a room that was suspended in time, and a young woman's diary. As Sana explores the diary and learns of young Meena, who tragically passed in the estate, something stirs. Watching and hunting Sana from the shadows, a grieving djinn from the time of Meena’s death has awoken. In this heartbreaking and mysterious love story, Shubnum Khan weaves a tale of searching for belonging.

Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan

With the Gresham Trust depleted and the family in severe debt, Rufus Leung Gresham is told by his mother to attend his sister's wedding at a luxury eco-resort and find a wealthy wife. Seducing a woman with money would save the family fortune and spare them from many scandals. But despite all of the wealthy and attractive women at the wedding, Rufus Gresham only has eyes for the humble girl next door. As a volcano erupts and the wedding goes up in flames, secrets are exposed, and his mother’s plans are revealed, can Rufus recover or will tragedy strike even further?

True Love and Other Impossible Odds by Christina Li

Grace Tang is a freshman in college, determined to move on from her heartbreaking senior year of high school and start her life new. But when her statistics class forces her to write an equation, she chooses to write an algorithm that will pair people with their perfect match. But some people are skeptical, including Grace’s coworker Julia. To prove her point, Grace starts dating her match, but as she grows closer and closer to Julia even she is finding herself starting to question the algorithm. Can Grace choose between the neat and predictable equations or will she risk a love that does not follow the formula?

Asking For A Friend by Kara H.L. Chen

This upcoming Young Adult novel by Kara H.L. Chen is the perfect summer rom-com to look forward to! There are only two things that Juliana Zhao is certain of; that she is a love expert and that she is going to win the Asian Americans in Business Competition. But when Juliana is dropped by her project partner and forced to pair up with frenemy Garrett Tsai, everything starts to fall apart. Arguments ensue and Juliana is forced to realize that maybe winning isn't everything and that her sheltered worldview won’t make her the perfect daughter or successful woman she strives to be.

Manila Takes Manhattan by Carla de Guzman

When Filipino musician and producer Mon Mendoza finds himself struggling to fit in while in New York City, he finds comfort in making some pancit canton, and unintentionally finds himself on a date with his neighbor. Actress Olivia Angeles has taken on so many characters, but the one she struggles most to embody is her true self. She finds that in a one-night stand with her insanely attractive and excellent cook neighbor. But now, one month later, Olivia and Mon find themselves working on the same movie. Can the two of them remain professional or will their steaming chemistry become too much?

You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen

Annie “Anh Le” Shaw had grown up poor but is now wealthy, with everything that she could ever want in her life. But when her Vietnam War refugee mother suddenly and unexpectedly dies, Annie’s perfect world begins to fall apart. Her OCD comes storming back, but her disturbing thoughts and fixations are actually coming true. As more people start to disappear and die, suspicions turn to Annie. To save her husband and daughter, she distances herself only to be found naked and next to a dead body in a hotel room. But all that matters is protecting her family, even if she loses herself in the process.

Their Divine Fires by Wendy Chen

Covering three generations of Chinese women and their love and affairs, this debut novel by Wendy Chen explores the ideas of ancestors, secrets, and folklore. In 1917, Yunhong falls deeply in love with a wealthy landlord's son, but when her brother ruins their wedding he ensures that her daughter will never know her father. As time passes her daughter, Yuexin, passes on stories to her daughters who try to unravel the family’s secrets. This novel dives deep into family history: what the ancestors get to decide to pass down to their future family, and what gets lost to time forever.

One Last Word by Suzanne Park

Sara Chae is the creator of the One Last Word app, an app that allows you to send a message to anyone after you pass away. With obvious and secure safeguards in place, these messages are only sent out after people are 100% confirmed to be dead. Or at least that’s what they are supposed to do. But when Sara wakes up to find that her messages were released, everything goes wrong. Drunk messages to her emotionally abusive mother, her ex-best friend, and a love confession to her high school crush, Harry Shim, all get spilled, leaving Sara (who is very much alive) to deal with the fallout. But when she is offered a mentorship program from none other than Harry, she realizes that this could be a path forward and could lead to everything she’s dreamed of.

In a Not So Perfect World by Neely Tubati-Alexander

When Sloane Cooper is offered an interview for her dream job as a video game designer at a top company she is jumping for joy. But somehow during the interview process, in front of an all-male panel, she finds herself promising to not get involved in any romance to stay focused on her work. Unfortunately for her, her extremely hot neighbor Charlie offers to take her on an all-inclusive trip to a tropical resort to make his ex jealous and return to him. Sloane agrees, thinking that the trip will be good for her to focus on her work. But can she resist falling in love with this man in such a romantic setting? His love life and her career depend on it.

As a Power of Women honoree, Mariska was recognized in regards to her work as an advocate for sexual assault survivors. She took the stage and used her platform to discuss rape and assault conviction reversals, shining a light on the recent overturned ruling in Harvey Weinstein's landmark NYC case. Here's what she said:

Today I want to talk about reversing convictions, and more specifically I want to talk to you about how impossible it is to reverse mine. It’s impossible to reverse my conviction that survivors matter. It is impossible to reverse my conviction that what happens to us matters, and that our society must respond to survivors with a more a compassionate, holistically, deeper, and more nuanced understanding of what healing means.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that after a trauma, survivors can reclaim lives of hope, of possibility, of audacious risk, beautiful intimacy, and glorious, glorious abundant joy. And I stand before you as evidence of that statement.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that we must listen to survivors as experts on what justice means. It is extraordinary how little their voices are consulted, let alone incorporated, in the process of deciding how to repair harm. Justice is not a one-size-fits-all journey.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that patriarchal impunity has to end. Patriarchal impunity is when a male-dominated system exempts perpetrators from punishment. Studies show that only 20% of all rape cases in the U.S. are reported to the police, and that between 5 and 0% of all rapes result in a guilty plea or a conviction. So why do 80% of victims not report? Because they're met with a system that grants impunity to perpetrators; a system that blames victims; a system that accepts only those victims who are experienced as "real" rape; a system that completely misunderstands the neurobiology of trauma, which causes behavior in women that doesn't fit the picture of how a "real victim" would act.

Is that change needed that victims should just pull themselves together? Just buck up and report anyway? No. No, it's the system that receives them that needs to change

It is impossible to reverse my conviction — and the conviction of my extraordinary team, The Joyful Heart — that the backlog of untested rape kits can be brought to zero; that the testing of all new kits must be mandated; that we need a statewide kit tracking system; and that survivors have the right to access the status of their kits.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that grammar — yes, grammar — that we use when we speak about rape must change. In the sentence, "A woman is raped," there's a crime and there's a victim, but there's no perpetrator. Where's the perpetrator? Where is he? Statistically, as we know, most likely he's walking free. He's so free that he doesn't even appear in the language about the crime that he committed. Is that not extraordinary? It's extraordinary that in the very grammar, the perpetrator goes free. Reintroducing perpetrators in the language of rape will make some very unwieldy grammar, but that's the nature of change. It's unwieldy, it's messy, it's uncomfortable, but it's necessary.

Hargitay continued on in her prolific speech to describe that rape shouldn't be considered a "crime of passion" because it's "not simply the next step in the trajectory of his passion" when a man takes a consensual hookup too far and assaults a woman against her will. She stated that it's "an exercise of power," doubling down that the language we use is important.

The speech went on to address that rape is both about power and control, as a "construct" that was "built, and assembled, and reinforced over time." She noted that there are people with these positions of power — and she specifically called out those in the entertainment industry — that could make a difference and aligned themselves to victims and survivors.

After this and some other remarks, Hargitay specifically called out the Weinstein conviction reversal. She said:

I do want to say something about the Harvey Weinstein conviction, specifically about the reason that it was overturned: too many women's voices. Too many women's voices were allowed to speak. Hallelujah! Amen! I can't imagine anything more beautiful than that. The Daily podcast episode talked about how it was so risky for the prosecution to have that many women testify. Risky to let women speak? You're damn right it is!

Too many women speaking brings change. Too many women speaking shakes the establishment. Too many women means we get listened to more, and people might actually hear what we have to say. Look what happened when women started saying just two words, right? Me too — just as an example — a tidal wave of change. Me too.

And then of course, there was the response: the Me Too Movement. The backlash. The examination of whether the changes that have come are lasting, or are even positive. Of course there's a backlash! What did they expect? For women to speak repeatedly, loudly, together, with a purpose — for there to be no backlash? The backlash is evidence of how powerful those voices were, how powerful those voices ARE.

Watch Mariska Hargitay's Full Speech Here

Turns out that your TV heroes really can be your IRL heroes after all. Long live Olivia Benson! Long live Mariska Hargitay!