Romantasy Roundtable: Fantasy Romance Reviews

THE KNAVE AND THE MOON — Chapters 16–30 | HOW DID IT END?! | Romantasy Roundtable

WE MADE IT TO THE END. And somehow we went from “haha funny gargoyle in a pink robe” to earthquakes, forest fires, royal coups, martyrdom, death, resurrection, and a gargoyle who might literally be becoming a storytelling god.

In this episode of Romantasy Roundtable, Rick, Amanda, and Kimberly finish Rachel Gillig’s The Knave and the Moon, the second book in the Stonewater Kingdom duology, covering Chapters 16 through 30. And yes… there are A LOT of feelings.

We’re talk...

Description:

Welcome back, Rose Buds! After conquering Kingdom of Ash and cleansing our palettes with Heartstopper, and ACOTAR reactions, the Romantasy Roundtable is officially kicking off spooky fantasy season with Rachel Gillig's brand-new release, The Knave on the Moon (Chapters 1 through 15)! Rick, Amanda, and Kim are back in the studio diving into the first half of the epic Stonewater Kingdom duology conclusion. But before we get to our favorite one-winged stone bat, we have got to tackle the critical news: Taco Bell bringing back the Choco Taco, Kim consuming an entire birthday chocolate cake in 48 hours, Rick...

Episode Title: End of Summer Reading Recap: ACOTAR, Crescent City, Kingdom of Ash & Romantasy Bingo!

Description: Welcome back to the Romantasy Roundtable! Rick, Amanda, and Kim are wrapping up the summer with an End of Summer Reading Recap! We’re looking back at what we read, what we loved, what made us rage, our biggest surprises, our worst reads, and what’s coming for Romantasy Fall 2026. And yes, there is an absolutely unreasonable amount of Sarah J. Maas discussion.

This summer was basically Rick’s Maasverse Summer. He reread ACOTAR, dove into Crescent City, revisited Throne...

Episode Title: ACOTAR Top 10 Characters: Cassian Supremacy, Tamlin Justice & the Miniature Pegasus!

Description: Welcome back to the Romantasy Roundtable! Rick, Amanda, and Kim are taking a break from chapter-by-chapter chaos to rank their Top 10 favorite characters from all five ACOTAR books! And naturally, this turns into Cassian supremacy, Rick's ongoing Tamlin apology tour, zero Elain representation, and a very serious debate about the miniature Pegasus. We revisit the characters who made us laugh, cry, rage, and rethink the entire series after rereading A Court of Thorns and Roses through A Court of Silver Flames.

From...

Episode Title: ACOTAR 6 & 7 REACTIONS: New Covers, Koschei, Stygian Spiders & What Was Broken Will Be Remade?!

Description: Sarah J. Maas really said, “Here, take TWO books,” and the Romantasy Roundtable immediately stopped its vacation plans to scream about it! Rick, Amanda, and Kim are back for an emergency ACOTAR bonus—sorry, FILLER—episode after SJM dropped the titles, covers, page counts, and blurbs for A Court of Splintered Harmony and A Court of Forgotten Melody!

ACOTAR 6 is 352 pages, ACOTAR 7 is a MASSIVE 896 pages, and we are officially entering the Valkyrie Cycle with movements one, two, and three...

Title: Heartstopper Volumes 1-6: Cozy Palette Cleansers, Wrestling Rants, & Queer Sons!

Description:

After 24 weeks of fantasy carnage in Throne of Glass, the Romantasy Roundtable squad needed a cozy, wholesome palette cleanser! Rick, Amanda, and Kim are back to yap about Alice Oseman’s beloved graphic novel series, Heartstopper (Volumes 1 through 6). But before diving into Nick and Charlie’s sweet romance, Rick opens the pod with a full-blown WWE SummerSlam rant thanks to an awesome email from listener Jamie Daws in Sydney! We talk Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens breaking his neck and comi...

Episode Title: Kingdom of Ash Finale (Ch. 100-End): Saying Goodbye to All Our Friends!

Description:

Grab your tissues, Romantasy Roundtable family, because we have officially reached the end of Erilea! Rick, Amanda, and Kim are recapping the explosive, heart-wrenching finale of Kingdom of Ash (Chapters 100 through 121 plus the epilogue). It has been 24 weeks, 22 episodes, and 10,000 pages of pure magic, and we are emotionally ruined in the best way possible! Before diving into the war, we recap some iconic host yapping: Rick getting an Outin portable espresso machine sponsorship and trying cold foam, Samus...

Episode Title: Kingdom of Ash Ch. 68-99: The Thirteen, Multiverse Freefalls, and "And So Lorcan Did"!

Description: Welcome back to the Romantasy Roundtable! Rick, Amanda, and Kim are diving straight into the jaw-dropping second half of Kingdom of Ash (Chapters 68 through 99). Grab your tissues and lock your doors because this section broke our hearts, brought down fortresses, and sent us flying across the SJM multiverse!

Dorian Havilliard proves he is playing 4D chess by turning into a mouse, a crow, and a wyvern, severing Maeve's world-walking powers, and literally collapsing half...

Episode Title: Kingdom of Ash Ch. 35-67: Witch Queens, Water Vaporization, and Horrible Decisions!

Description:

Welcome back to the Romantasy Roundtable! Rick, Amanda, and Kim are diving straight into the second half of Part One in Kingdom of Ash (Chapters 35 through 67), and honey, the trauma is heavy, the soup is boiling, and nobody in Erilea knows how to make good decisions! Aelin is finally reunited with her Shadow Daddy Rowan, but her magic is on ice—or is it? From subterranean glow-worm cave dates and Lorcan swallowing his pride for jasmine Burvas blood, to...

Episode Title: Kingdom of Ash – Part 1 (The Beginning of the End, the Iron Coffin, and Aedion Needs to Sit Down Edition)

Description:

We are officially in the final book. Kim is recording from the Canary Islands sixty miles off the coast of Africa. Rick wore skirts to work for two years to protest a no-shorts policy and single-handedly got the rule changed — it turned out the rule had been quietly removed from the handbook in 2019 and nobody noticed. We have one hundred subscribers. Jamie sent several messages. Bartholomew is a Scottish Straight from a ba...

Episode Title: Throne of Glass Fan Casting Bonus – (The Hockey Team, the Heated Rivalry Cameos, and Anya Taylor-Joy Is Manon Edition)

Description:

We promised a Throne of Glass bonus episode last time and delivered a soccer podcast instead. This time we actually did it. Amanda made a Canva slideshow with animated covers and everything, Kim showed up with notes on her phone, and Rick showed up. Together they cast six main characters plus bonus picks, debated the merits of multiple hockey team members, accidentally cast half of Heated Rivalry, and had a very im...

Episode Title: Empire of Storms & Tower of Dawn Tandem Read – FINALE (The Iron Coffin, the Life Bond, and Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius Edition)

Description:

We made it. The full crew is together in person, there are cocktails called Abraxos in Bloom, birthday cookies, ice cream incoming, and a cat named Bartholomew who wants absolutely nothing to do with any of us. This is the live midsummer finale recording of the Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn tandem read, and it goes places. Amanda has had half a glass of wine. Rick has ha...

Episode Title: Romantasy Round Pitch – The Soccer Bonus Episode Nobody Asked For (The Boots, the VAR, and the Lamine Yamal Edition)

Description:

Welcome to the episode that was supposed to be a Throne of Glass bonus episode and became a 30-minute soccer fever dream instead. Jamie Dawes gets a shoutout for their snake profile picture and their extremely correct assessment that France is going to be a problem. Amanda has been watching on Telemundo. Kim once coached half the current US men's national team when they were tiny babies at IMG Academy. Rick ma...

Episode Title: Empire of Storms & Tower of Dawn Tandem Read – Part 5 (Aedion's Pride Party & Maeve Is Queen of the Valg Edition)

Description:

The full crew is back, the Google Meet is titled Aedion's Pride Party in honor of Pride Month and Aedion casually confirming he likes both depending on his mood, and we have spent the first ten minutes exclusively discussing ice cream. Amanda's favorite is black raspberry from a tiny shop called Dribbles that refuses to ship to New York. Rick's is brown sugar cookie dough fudge brownie from Van Leeuwen. Kim's is...

Episode Title: Empire of Storms & Tower of Dawn Tandem Read – Part 4 (The Sea Dragon Was a Manatee & Canada Up Four Nothing Edition)

Description:

The full Romantasy Roundtable crew is back and Amanda has returned from wherever Jaylen Brunson and the Knicks parade took her — which apparently included a ceremony, a kid in a Manika shirt, and a therapist who confirmed that New York is simply a vibe right now. Rick made it to the parade, got blocked out of the barricade, watched some idiot try to drive through the crowd in a dress shir...

Episode Title: Empire of Storms & Tower of Dawn Tandem Read – Part 3 (The Knicks Won & Rick Learned the Rubik's Cube Edition)

Description:

The Romantasy Roundtable is running a two-person operation today — Amanda has been granted a day off to celebrate the New York Knicks' first championship in 32 years, leaving Rick and Kim to hold it down alone. Before a single chapter gets read, we get a full debrief on Rick's merch budget (undefined, possibly catastrophic), the saga of Rick spending three full workdays solving a Rubik's cube only to discover a student had twisted the...

Episode Title: Empire of Storms & Tower of Dawn Tandem Read – Part 2 (The Wiggle Your Big Toe & Inverted AeroPress Edition)

Description:

The Romantasy Roundtable is back, and this time it's Amanda carrying the entire episode on her back while Kim nurses her second spring cold in a month and Rick spends a meaningful portion of the runtime giving a live AeroPress tutorial on camera. (Three subscribers were lost. Rick does not feel responsible.) Between the coffee demo, a deep dive into the Jewish numerology hidden in the Tory library's architecture, fan-casting debates where Thor ap...

Episode Title: Empire of Storms & Tower of Dawn Tandem Read – Part 1 (The Pufferfish & Princess Lesbian Edition)

Description: The Romanty Roundtable has officially entered the Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn tandem read era! We are kicking off this massive six-episode arc, but not before Rick (who is inexplicably broadcasting as a digital pufferfish) stages a hostile, passive-aggressive takeover of Kim’s chapter-summary duties. We also take a detour to debate the ultimate high fantasy question from our biggest fan Jamie: Game of Thrones or the Joken Roken Tolken universe?

Once we f...

Episode Title: Furybound – Chapters 41–End (The "Guys who can get it" Edition)

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable is closing out the epic, chaotic, action-packed conclusion of Furybound by Sable Sorenson! Amanda is recovering from a legendary bridal shower weekend in Brooklyn (shoutout to Laserwolf, Bar Camillo, and Randolph Beer for getting us properly skewered), while Kim is dealing with her high-anxiety cat Mort (who Jamie Daws is still convinced is an owl). We are diving headfirst into the final chapters of this book, which completely flips the script with side quests, ancient gods, and a massive body...

Episode Title: Furybound – Chapters 21–40 (The "Respectable Girth & Rock Soup" Edition)

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable is back (and surviving the European Plague) to dissect chapters 21–40 of Furybound by Sable Sorenson! Amanda, Kim, and Rick are navigating the jaw-dropping geopolitical whiplash of Astreiona and losing their minds over the absolute chaos of Meryn's ruthless queen era. We're talking shocking family reunions (surprise, Dad is a Siphon!), the lush and hospitalled reality of the vampire capital, and the truth behind King Lucian's petty family feud with Alistair Brightbane. Plus, Amanda goes on a tangent about blood rent, Rick plays...

Episode Title: Fury Bound – Chapters 1–20 (The "Morally Gray Everyone" Edition)

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable is reunited (complete with a German cold and a very asthmatic cat named Mort) to dive into the highly anticipated sequel, Fury Bound by Sable Sorenson! Amanda, Kim, and Rick break down the first 20 chapters, which pick up seconds after the jaw-dropping Direbound finale. Meryn is grappling with her new crown, her cursed ruby bracelet, and the heartbreaking reality that her little sister Sailor is now a bloodthirsty Siphon. Between Killian’s unhinged telepathic propaganda, a massive arena riot, and Stark trying...

Episode Title: Direbound – Chapters 38–End (The "Bone Saw and One Bed" Edition)

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable is back from the past (and recovering from BookCon!) to officially wrap up Direbound by Sable Sorenson. Amanda, Kim, and Rick are screaming over this massive, plot-twisting finale. We unpack Meryn and Stark's agonizingly hot one bed inn stay, the bloody truth hidden beneath the castle, and the ultimate, gaslighting heel-turn of Prince Killian (who has officially earned the title of Worst Man, Derogatory). From feral interrogations with a bone saw to the jaw-dropping revelation of the true Stormfrost Quee...

Episode Title: Direbound – Chapters 19–37 (The "Panty-Melting Ghost Dogs" Edition)

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable is officially time-traveling this week (recording in the past, speaking from the future) to break down chapters 19 through 37 of Direbound by Sable Sorenson! Amanda, Kim, and Rick are unpacking a massive lore dump, brutal combat training, and some serious telepathic stonewalling between Meryn and her ancient silver wolf, Annasa. We discuss Prince Killian's descent from golden retriever messenger to possessive royal, Meryn's terrifying blood-soaked visions, and the jaw-dropping plot twist that forces Meryn into a leadership role she is completely unqualified for. Expe...

Episode Title: Direbound – Chapters 1–18 (The "Cybertruck-Sized Wolf" Edition!)

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable is trading glass castles for wolf dens as we dive into Direbound by Sable Sorensen! Amanda reveals her 22-year-old connection to the author, while Rick immediately declares this "Fourth Wing with Wolves" (and honestly, he’s not mad about it). We break down the first 18 chapters, following the scrappy "alleycat" Meryn Cooper from the fighting pits of the southern quarter to the luxurious (and suspicious) bonded city. Between the brutal mountain climbs, ancient wolves with attitude problems, and a "too-good-to-be-true" boyfriend who pulled a majo...

Episode Title: Queen of Shadows – Chapters 53–End (The "I'll Bleed Whatever Color You Tell Me To" Edition)

Description: The Romanty Roundtable is officially at capacity! Amanda, Kim, and Rick are closing out Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas, and the final chunk of this book is an absolute rollercoaster of Shadow Fire, shattered glass, and Ghost Leopard tummy aches. We unpack Aelin Galathinius and Rowan Whitethorn’s high-stakes rescue mission, Kaltain Rompier pulling off the ultimate girl-boss move by devouring her demon from the inside out, and the shocking revelation about the King of Adarlan's true puppet...

Episode Title: Queen of Shadows – Chapters 28–52 (The Blood Oath, the Brawls, and Aelin's Velvet Gown)

Description:

The Romantasy Roundtable is back, and Amanda is finally awake enough to process the chaos of Queen of Shadows chapters 28–52. Aelin and Rowan are officially reunited, which means the silent, telepathic flirting has reached critical mass, much to the annoyance of everyone else. Aedion throws a truly spectacular temper tantrum over Rowan’s blood oath, but quickly pivots to plotting how he’s going to personally execute Arobynn Hamel. Speaking of the King of Assassins, Arobynn tries to play 4D...

Episode Title: Queen of Shadows – Chapters 1–27 (The Rescue, the Reunion, and the Ruins of Aelin's Patience)

Description:

The Romantasy Roundtable is back, and Amanda is reporting live through the fog of a 17-hour flight and a 10-day trip to South Africa with 27 teenagers! The crew is breaking down the chaotic first third of Queen of Shadows, and we’re officially in the "everyone is playing 10D chess" era. We discuss Aelin’s return to Rift Hold, her tense game of cat-and-mouse with the toxic king of assassins, Arobynn Hamel, and her surprisingly bitter reunion...

Episode Title: Heir of Fire – Chapters 45–End (The Rebirth of a Queen and the End of Our Hearts)

Description:

The Romantasy Roundtable has reached the absolute fever dream that is the end of Heir of Fire, and we are collectively unwell. Amanda, Kim, and Rick break down the literal and figurative fire of these final chapters. We’ve got Aelin Ashryver Galathynius finally taking her own hand in the darkness, Rowan Whitethorn pledging an eternal blood oath, and Dorian Havilliard entering his Villain Origin Story after the most traumatic decapitation in Glass Castle histor...

Episode Title: Heir of Fire – Chapters 24–44 (The Spider Silk Heist and the Refrigerator’s Reality Check)

Description:

The Romantasy Roundtable is officially viral! While Rick celebrates 68k views on TikTok, Amanda and Kim are busy processing the absolute emotional wreckage of Heir of Fire chapters 24–44. We’re headed back to the Glass Castle to watch Dorian overhear some life-altering secrets in Elena's Tomb (hello, villain origin story?), while Chaol and Aedion play a dangerous game of "who can hide the most Wyrdkey intel."

Over in Wendlyn, Rowan and Selena transition...

Episode Title: Heir of Fire – Chapters 1–23 (The Hawk, the Witch, and the Scrappy Wyvern!)

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable is back and things are getting frosty—literally. Amanda, Kim, and Rick dive into the first third of Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas, where our favorite assassin is currently rotting away in Wendlyn on a diet of oniony flatbread and pure depression. We meet the ultimate "grumpy refrigerator," Rowan Whitethorn, and finally get introduced to the bloodthirsty Manon Blackbeak. Back in Adarlan, Chaol is panicking over the arrival of the "General of the North," Aedion Ashryv...

Episode Title: Crown of Midnight Chapters 30 to End (The Head-Dropping, Portal-Hopping, Aelin-Revealing Grand Finale!)

Description:

The Romanty Roundtable is officially losing its collective mind. Amanda, Kim, and Rick have reached the explosive conclusion of Crown of Midnight, and let’s just say Sarah J. Maas didn't just break the glass—she shattered the whole damn castle. From the devastating fallout of Nehemia’s death to the most iconic head-on-a-desk moment in literary history, the crew breaks down the Feral Assassin arc in all its bloody glory. We’re talking Dorian’s divine power-up magic, Cha...

Special ARC Review – The Snow Queen's Heir (Shark Repellent, Snowstorms & DNF Debates)

The Romantasy Roundtable is braving a historic, two-foot Northeast blizzard (we blame you, Queen Lumi) to bring you a very special bonus episode! We are incredibly honored to review our first-ever ARC (Advanced Reader Copy): The Snow Queen's Heir by Keilah Jude. The crew discusses Noel and Lumi's quest for a magical, resurrection-granting necklace, the transition into the Naturei realm, and the inevitable deadly trials.

But the table is divided! Amanda explains why she handed out a DNF at 30%, wh...

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable is back and diving into the second book of the Throne of Glass series: Crown of Midnight! Rick, Amanda, and Kim unpack the first 29 chapters, where Celaena Sardothien is officially acting as the King's Champion, or at least, she’s pretending to.

We discuss Celaena’s secret plot to fake the deaths of her targets, the return of her old flame Archer Finn, and her desperate attempt to keep her friends safe from the King’s wrath. Meanwhile, Chaol (yes, Amanda is still pronouncing it "Kay-Oal") is struggling with his feelings, and Do...

Episode Title: Throne of Glass – Chapters 27–End (Demon Worms, Wookie Holidays & The Hard Kosher Salami)

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable has expanded! Rick, Amanda, and Kim are joined by a very special guest: Julia (CEO and Founder of Brainwell), to help us survive the chaos of the final chapters of Throne of Glass.

We break down Celaena’s hallucinogenic duel with Cain, the justice for Kaltain (who is officially a tragic figure), and the Dorian vs. Chaol debate that is tearing the group apart. But honestly? This episode is 40% plot and 60% unhinged tangen...

Episode Title: Throne of Glass – Chapters 1–26 (Chaol vs. Kale, The Glass Castle & Total Dog Book Energy)

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable is down a rose (sending healing vibes to Bartholomew the Cat!), but Rick and Amanda are forging ahead into the salt mines of Endovier. We are officially kicking off Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas! Amanda—fresh off the trauma of The Assassin’s Blade—is ready to meet Celaena Sardothien, the charming Prince Dorian, and the Captain of the Guard whose name we absolutely cannot pronounce: Chaol Westfall.

We break down...

Episode Title: The Assassin’s Blade – Part 2 (Sewer Romances, Toxic Assassin Daddies & RIP, you deserved better)

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable is back to finish the prequel, and we are emotionally compromised. Amanda, Kim, and Rick tackle the final two novellas of The Assassin’s Blade: The Assassin and the Underworld and The Assassin and the Empire. We witness the rise and tragic fall of a dear friend, discuss why Arobynn Hamel is the ultimate gaslighting "Assassin Daddy," and question Celaena Sardothien’s decision-making skills.

But before the heartbreak, we have important business...

Episode Title: The Assassin’s Blade – Novellas 1-3 (Sam Cortland, Skull’s Bay & an inner hip)

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable officially enters the Throne of Glass era! We are kicking off our journey into the Maasverse not with the first book, but with the prequel: The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas. Amanda (the newbie), Kim (the veteran), and Rick (the obsessed) break down the first three novellas: The Assassin and the Pirate Lord, The Assassin and the Healer, and The Assassin and the Desert.

We discuss Celaena Sardothien’s 16-year-old...

Episode Title: A Court of Silver Flames – Full Book Breakdown (Soup, Stairs & The Trifecta of Chachkis!)

Description: The Romanty Roundtable is back for 2026, and we have officially achieved the Concussion Trifecta! Amanda, Kim, and Rick are diving headfirst into the House of Wind to tackle the behemoth that is A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas. We’re breaking down Nesta Archeron’s journey from self-destructive "woman about town" to Valkyrie warrior, dissecting the pregnancy trope that absolutely divided the table, and obsessing over Cassian, the ultimate German Shepherd boyfriend. Expect debates on whethe...

Episode Title: A Court of Frost and Starlight – Full Book Review (The Hallmark Holiday Special!)

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable is back to unwrap the gift that is A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas! Amanda, Kim, and Rick sit down to roast—we mean review—the bridge novella that sits between the main trilogy and the Nesta-verse. It’s the Winter Solstice in Velaris, which means less war and more shopping, decorating, and primal urges. The crew breaks down the "low stakes, high vibes" energy, Rhysand's questionable gift-giving budget, and why Nesta is the o...

Episode Title: The First Annual Soupy Awards + Ultimate Tier Ranking (Drunk Edition!)

Description: The Romantasy Roundtable crew is signing off for the year, and we are absolutely feral. Rick, Amanda, and Kim are fueled by "Fairy Wine" (Hugos) and aggressive chip-eating ASMR to bring you our massive Year-End Review. We aren't just giving out stars; we’ve invented a chaotic new Tier List ranging from "My House, My Chair, My Woman" (S-Tier) to "Should Have Been a DNF" (F-Tier).

Expect unhinged debates about lesbians in space, a re-evaluation of every soup sc...