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- Fated Reads: Issue 04
Fated Reads: Issue 04
If you're reading this, it's already too late—you're about to add more books to your TBR.
Julie Lowe
May 02, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes
💌 Hello, fellow romantasy addict…
Some stories whisper their way into your heart—and some crash through the door with a god, a typewriter, or a girl who refuses to bow to fate.
This week we have all three and we’re spiraling through forbidden bargains, slow-burn heartbreak, and the kind of romantasy that wrecks you in the softest—yet most brutal of ways.
Let’s get into it. 📚💌
Table of Contents
If You Liked: Uprooted by Naomi Novik (dark magic, reluctant power, folklore vibes)
You’ll LOVE: The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig ☠️🌒
Inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ Godfather Death, this romantasy blends myth, magic, and quiet defiance into a haunting fairytale with real emotional depth.
Hazel Trépas—thirteenth child, goddaughter of Merrick, the Dreaded End — has the rare gift of knowing exactly how to cure the sick… and exactly when it’s too late. When she’s sent to court, fate throws her into divine bargains, royal politics, and a connection she definitely wasn’t supposed to feel.
We’re talking:
✨ Gothic fantasy with gods who meddle and courts that manipulate
✨ A reluctant heroine caught between duty and desire
✨ Clean romance, heavy emotional stakes, and forbidden connection vibes
🌶️ Spice Level: 1/5 – YA dark romantasy. No steam, just yearning and heartbreak.
Tropes: ✔️ Gifted heroine ✔️ Divine interference ✔️ Fate vs. free will ✔️ Court intrigue ✔️Forbidden connection
👉 If you love fairy tales with teeth, gods who meddle, and heroines who fight their fate—The Thirteenth Child belongs on your shelf.
🔥 TBR Temptation
Current Pick: Divine Rivals duology by Rebecca Ross
Two rival journalists.
A set of magical typewriters.
A romance that unfolds through anonymous letters across a war-torn world.
Rivals-to-lovers tension that aches beautifully
Hope, heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love
Closed-door romance, but the emotional devastation is open season
The spice? 🌶️
Tropes to love:
Rivals to lovers
Secret identity
Pen pal romance
War backdrop
👉 Read Divine Rivals → immediately pick up Ruthless Vows → prepare for poetic pain, yearning, and an ending that makes it all worthwhile.
🗳️ Spice Level Poll
👉 Vote in the stories at @fated_reads or the Poll Below!
🏆 Meme of the Week
💀 Quote That Broke Me…
From Divine Rivals
“I don’t know who I would be without you, but you have made me in all ways better than I ever was or could have ever hoped to be.”
— Rebecca Ross, Divine Rivals
Screaming. Crying. Writing letters to no one. 😭
💕 Before You Go...
If this made you laugh, swoon, or immediately add books to your cart:
📩 Forward it to a fellow romantasy addict
📲 Post the meme or poll in your stories and tag @fated_reads
📚 New to Fated Reads? Catch up on past issues in the archives.
Until next time—may your mates be fated, your letters heartfelt, and your chapters end with gods, yearning, and just enough hope to keep going.
— Julie 💕
Your Fated Reads Fairy Bookmother
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