A Bookish Valentine’s Day for both the Romantic and Non-Romantic

I’m gonna be real here for a second: I HATE Valentine’s Day. I think it’s a stupid capitalist holiday created to make people spend money. I hate seeing all the red and pink everywhere. And I know that makes me a bit of a grinch but hey, I’m not against romance! I just think you should be telling the person/people you love that you love them every day, not just on this one day.

So I didn’t want to write an entire post on love and relationships in books. Don’t get me wrong, as much as I am a grinch I do like a good romance when it’s done well. But there are amazing books out there without romance! And sometimes I just don’t want to read about romance, I just want some good action and fighting and politics and friendships, y’know?

I wanted to share both sides: some of my favorite books without any romance (for those of us feeling non-romantic) and some books with my favorites couples (for those us feeling like reading about some romance).

For the Non-Romantic:

I’m just gonna list 5 of my favorites so I won’t overwhelm you. This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab is the first in a duology about monsters that literally spring from human sin. I just finished the second book and ahhHHH it was incredible. It’s perfect for YA fantasy fans! I would recommend it to any fantasy fan though, even if you don’t normally read YA.

Next up we have Vicious, which is actually also by Schwab, but under her adult publishing name V.E. Schwab. This is an adult scifi about Victor and Eli, who started as college roommates and discovered that near-death experiences can give people extraordinary abilities (think X-Men style powers). It is SO well done and I LOVE VICTOR. All the characters are amazing.

Twelve Kings in Sharakhai is a lesser known adult fantasy novel but it is super underrated! It’s pretty dense and gets a little political, but it’s amazing. I’ll leave a short synopsis here:

“Sharakhai, the great city of the desert, center of commerce and culture, has been ruled from time immemorial by twelve kings — cruel, ruthless, powerful, and immortal. With their army of Silver Spears, their elite company of Blade Maidens and their holy defenders, the terrifying asirim, the Kings uphold their positions as undisputed, invincible lords of the desert. There is no hope of freedom for any under their rule. Or so it seems, until Çeda, a brave young woman from the west end slums, defies the Kings’ laws by going outside on the holy night of Beht Zha’ir. What she learns that night sets her on a path that winds through both the terrible truths of the Kings’ mysterious history and the hidden riddles of her own heritage. Together, these secrets could finally break the iron grip of the Kings’ power…if the nigh-omnipotent Kings don’t find her first.”

For fans of graphic novels, I give you Monstress. According to Goodreads: “Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900’s Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.” The art style in this is simply stunning. At first I was confused by the story but as the novel went on, things got clearer and I got more and more invested. It’s very brutal and stabby!

Last but DEFINITELY not least because it’s part of one of my favorite series ever: Lirael by Garth Nix. It is the second book in his Old Kingdom series. I would recommend reading the first, Sabriel, which is also amazing but has a touch of romance so I didn’t include it on this list. Lirael is a young woman whose powers that should be her heritage haven’t shown up yet. However, she discovers other talents and powers as she takes on her own dangerous mission that takes her far away from home. I LOVE LIRAEL. Please read this series I have no one to talk to about it.

For the (slightly more) Romantic:

Okay so really the only book that’s focused on the romance here is Emergency Contact. But both that book and the rest of these have some of my faaaavorite couples in books. This may be spoilers for some of these series, but to be honest I feel like even from the synopsis or first few chapters of most of these you could tell who the couples are going to be…haha. So we have Penny and Sam from Emergency Contact, Han and Raisa from The Crimson Crown (the Seven Realms quartet), Alanna and George from The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (the Song of the Lioness quartet), Vin and Elend from The Final Empire (the Mistborn original trilogy), and Kaz and Inej from Six of Crows (the Six of Crows duology). The first is a contemporary YA novel, and the rest are fantasy novels, which are definitely more focused on the action and plot, and the romance is just a bonus. All of these are some of my favorite books even ignoring the couples so I hope you check them out!

I love Penny and Sam because they’re super awkward and prefer to talk over text (at first) and it feels so real to how people actually feel about interacting in real life. I also actually love talking via text and most of my friends don’t so I liked to see characters more like me lol.

I think my favorite thing about Han and Raisa is the whole evolution of their relationship. I can’t give away too much but when they first meet they don’t know who the other person really is (they’re both hiding their identities) and I loved watching them slowly discover and learn more about each other.

ALANNA AND GEORGE AS;LDFJK;ALSKDNVAOWIE. Can you tell I love them??? BECAUSE I LOVE THEM. George is a thief and Alanna is a lady knight and they’re both badass and clever and just the best. George loves Alanna for who she is and doesn’t expect her to change or be something she’s not (unlike SOME people – if you’ve read the series you’ll know who I mean).

VIN. AND. ELEND. Okay, so in the first book their relationship is so CUTE and I loved it so much. But the next two books in the trilogy are even better because I feel like it’s a much more realistic view of relationships than we usually get to see in books. They have to work at it! And they work hard at supporting each other and working out their problems and they grow together! And I love it. And there are some things I will NEVER GET OVER.

Kaz and Inej my badass mastermind and spy power duo. They both have their issues to work on but I love that they show that anyone can work things out if you are willing to. I’ve been meaning to reread Six of Crows and I can’t wait to go spend time with them again.

I hope at least one books of these appeals to you! If you have recs for other books without romance, definitely let me know. And who are your favorite book couples?? Inquiring minds need to know 😉