Reading guides

Short, honest guides for readers: where to go when a reading app closes, how the big web novel sites compare, and free stories to read if you loved a famous series.

Where to read

• Tapas Alternatives: Read Web Novels Free, No App

  Tapas is closing. Where to read romance and fantasy serials next, without another app.

• Free Web Novel Sites Compared: Coins, Ads and Apps

  The big web novel sites side by side: what is really free, and who makes you install an app.

Start here

• Werewolf Romance Books: Free Fated Mate and Alpha Stories

  Fated mates, alphas and pack politics, free to read with no app.

• What Is Dark Romance? Meaning, Tropes and Content Warnings

  What makes romance dark, the main tropes, and what to check before you read.

• What Is LitRPG? Meaning, Subgenres and Where to Start

  What LitRPG means, its subgenres, and free stories to try.

• What Is a Web Serial? How Online Serial Fiction Works

  How serialized fiction works online, and how to follow a story as it is written.

• What Is Romantasy? Meaning, Tropes and Where to Start

  What makes a story romantasy, the tropes, and free series to try.

• Web Novels: What They Are and How to Pick Your First One

  How web novels work, the main genres and how to choose a first story.

Books like

• Books Like Cradle: Free Progression Fantasy to Read Next

  Weak-to-strong climbs, cultivation and hard-earned power, free to read.

• Books Like He Who Fights with Monsters: Free LitRPG

  LitRPG with humour, odd powers and a lead who talks his way through trouble.

• Books Like The Primal Hunter: Free System Apocalypse LitRPG

  System apocalypse, tutorials and a lead built for the new world.

• Books Like Mother of Learning: Free Time Loop Fantasy

  Time loops, careful magic and mysteries that reward attention.

Romance and romantasy

• Mafia Romance Books: Tropes, Heat Levels and Warnings

  Crime families, arranged alliances, dangerous loyalty and what to check before you read.

Fantasy and cultivation

• Dark Fantasy Books: What They Are and How to Pick One

  Costly magic, dread, morally hard choices and how dark fantasy differs from grimdark.