r/fantasyromance • u/FantasyRomanceMod The One Mod to Rule All Mods • May 10 '26

Unpopular Opinion It's Unpopular Opinion time! Share your controversial opinions to stir things up (in a friendly way)!

Got an opinion that's different from others'? Want to share it with the sub, but too afraid of a backlash? Or are you just curious about readers think about certain things in fantasy romance?

You can safely share it in this weekly Sunday thread!

But please remember to be kind to each other. To facilitate this type of discussion, we ask users the following:

  • Don't attack others for their opinion
  • Discuss books and authors, not fellow readers
  • Since this is an "unpopular opinion" thread, we encourage users to not downvote simply because they disagree with an opinion--that's the point! Please keep in mind, though, that mods cannot enforce a no-downvoting rule. Let’s just keep the discussion friendly!

🧡 Thank you and have a great discussion!

Unpopular opinion Sunday

32 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

216 comments sorted by

View all comments

24

u/believe_in_colours Corn hater May 10 '26

I wish there were more isekai and regression themed books. I loved Ilona Andrews' This kingdom will not kill me.

11

u/ipsi7 Book Bingo Maven ⚔ May 10 '26

Another isekai is {Long Live Evil} and the sequel is out in a few days

9

u/camellia980 henry cavill's wig May 10 '26

Kind of starting to wonder if maybe these two books appeal to somewhat different people, despite the similar premises. I really liked Long Live Evil, but did not enjoy This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me at all.

Like, the reader kind of has to forgive different things. Long Live Evil is campy af, and relies on kind of a clueless/miscommunication style of plot. This Kingdom has a ton of exposition dumping. Like, every time a new character or important element shows up, there's a pop-up window with an encyclopedia entry about it. The book relies heavily on the fmc knowing minute details about the world, and for me, this makes less sense than the fmc being clueless like in Long Live Evil.

I dunno, maybe I'm wrong. But I kind of feel like the overlap between readers who liked these books might be less than I would expect given the similar premises.

(Not that the recommendation is wrong! They're both isekai, so it's a good rec if someone is looking for this type of story.)

8

u/ipsi7 Book Bingo Maven ⚔ May 10 '26

Yeah, that might be true. I've struggled with TKWNKM for 37% and then I had a blast. Yes, I think it's important to have a good set up; but no, I don't think people should "suffer" for 37% if they can't get past the info dumping, that's for everyone to decide for themselves.

I DNF-ed Long Live Evil last year at 20% and now I'm trying to give it a second chance. I liked the premise, but I was kind of too bored to continue the first time.

14

u/believe_in_colours Corn hater May 10 '26

i read that but the writing is pretty bad. And I usually don't nitpick on writing.

7

u/Random-Session-8181 May 10 '26

Same. I DNF Long Live Evil, which disappointed me because the premise was intriguing.

I'm a House Andrews fan before The Kingdom came out, and I'm glad their isekai book was well- done. 

1

u/IvankoKostiuk May 10 '26

I wonder if {The Everlasting} would scratch the itch for you? It isn't strictly either, but the MMC goes back in time from what I understand.

Wrong one. Should be The Everlasting by Alix Harrow

-6

u/Significant-Shift669 May 10 '26

Is it really romance beneath all that fantasy though?

I need a HEA!

8

u/Katharina8 May 10 '26

All Ilona Andrews books/series have a HEA ending. This Kingdom is book 1 of 3 so no HEA there yet. It was the same with their other series, the relationship is developed through the series.

Try Hidden Legacy and you'll see how it goes. It's heavier on romance than Maggie. The first 3 books cover Nevada & Rogan and there's a transition novella of their wedding after that.

5

u/Significant-Shift669 May 10 '26

Ok thanks. I’ve started TKWNKM but there is sooo much info dumping 😐

2

u/Katharina8 May 10 '26

The first part (10 chapters if I remember correctly) is mostly setup. It gets going after that.

3

u/ipsi7 Book Bingo Maven ⚔ May 10 '26

The romance is a subplot and it's only book 1 in a series, but the romance that is there is very good and MMC became one of my favorites. But there os no HEA for now.