all the books I want to read this spring 🌸📚 a long overdue book haul!

This book is everything I have ever wanted in a fantasy book and I think it's an example of what we need in fantasy right now, really character-driven fantasy that maybe has a little bit of romance but doesn't have it as the driving force behind the novel and it really focuses on the main character and also her relationship with the other women in her life and how they fight for and uphold each other.

It's exactly the type of like tight, direct writing that I love that just gets to the point and also has a bit of dark humor.

This is the sophomore novel by Natalie Sue, who's the author of I Hope This Finds You Well, which was one of my favorite books of 2025 or one of my like top 20 books of 2025 and it was absolutely fantastic.

I feel like these are all things I'm going to love and I did start this and it was very interesting. One thing I did hear someone say about it was that it felt too literary, like the writing was too overdone, which I can maybe feel from the first chapter but I'm honestly not sure.

It is one of my favorite, like my absolute favorite romantasies I have ever read. It blends Hindu mythology and, you know, has queer rep but is also just absolutely fabulous. Like it's just so well-written and has just such juicy, sexy, beautiful scenes to it.

I've already started one of the short stories in here and it's just so beautifully written. Like she is a masterclass in beautiful fantasy writing.

I loved Such a Fun Age and Yellowface, so I feel like it's just exactly up my alley and I love that it confronts Hollywood but also the publishing industry, it seems like, which I didn't know before this.

It's very angsty, it's very historical romance. If you love Bridgerton, you are going to love this book and all of Deanna Quincy's books, to be honest.

Like it's just so well-written and has just such juicy, sexy, beautiful scenes to it. And The Rise of the Celestials is no different.

I loved Such a Fun Age and Yellowface, so I feel like it's just exactly up my alley and I love that it confronts Hollywood but also the publishing industry, it seems like, which I didn't know before this.