You are reading: Books about magic for adults
You know we love a good story with a complex mythology, maybe some dark magic, and a story that ties it all together to begin with. It is a recipe for a masterpiece. and these books are some of our favorites that do a phenomenal job of combining all of these ingredients! Magical books have a way of making the world seem so inviting and artfully crafted when done right, and yes, these will cast a spell on you.
From expansive fantasies to world-threatening spells, the books on this list have the elements that make for a spectacular story. then go ahead and add them to your tbr!
42 books with magic & mythology
which are totally fascinating
1. claire legrand ecstasy
From New York Times bestselling author Claire Legrand comes a new, bone-chilling YA horror novel about a girl who joins a coven to root out a vicious evil that’s stalking her village.
your name is not important.
all you need to know is that today he will become one of the four saints of haven. the elders will mark her and place the red hood on her head. With her sisters, she will face the evil power that lives under the black mountain, an evil that has already killed nine of her village’s men.
She won’t tell any of the white-eyed beasts that follow her. or the faceless gray women tall as houses. or the girls he saw kissing in the elm forest.
Today she will be an asylum saint. she will at last free her family from her mother’s shame and save her people from her destruction. She is not scared. is that you?
This scathingly lyrically written novel by the critically acclaimed author of Sawkill Girls invites readers to follow her fierce heroine into a world filled with secrets and blood, where truth is buried in lies and devastating power awaits. , boiling, someone. brave enough to use it.
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2. a thousand steps into the night by traci chee
From New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist Traci Chee comes a Japanese-influenced fantasy brimming with demons, adventure, and plans gone awry.
In the kingdom of Awara, where gods, monsters, and humans coexist, Miuko is an ordinary girl resigned to a safe, yet uneventful, existence as an innkeeper’s daughter.
but when miuko is cursed and begins to transform into a demon with a death touch, she embarks on a quest to reverse the curse and return to her normal life. Aided by a thieving magpie spirit and continually thwarted by a demon prince, Miuko must outsmart tricksters, escape demon hunters, and negotiate with the wild gods if she is to return home.
With his transformation comes power and freedom he never even dreamed of, and he’ll have to decide if it’s worth trying to save his soul to get back into an ordinary life that no longer suits him…and maybe never. he did.
- Buy a thousand steps into the night now!
3. akshaya raman’s ivory key
Vira is desperate to get out of her mother’s shadow and establish her legacy as a revered queen of Ashoka. But with the country’s only quarry running out of magic-a precious resource that has kept Ashoka safe from conflict-she can barely protect her citizens from the looming threat of war. And if her enemies discover this, they’ll stop at nothing to seize the last of the magic.
Vira’s only hope is to find a mysterious item of legend: the Ivory Key, rumored to unlock a new source of magic. But in order to infiltrate enemy territory and recover it, she must reunite with her brothers, torn apart by the different paths her lives have taken. each of them has something to gain by finding the ivory key, and even more to lose if they fail. Ronak plans to sell it to the highest bidder in exchange for escaping her impending political marriage. Kaleb, falsely accused of murdering the former Maharani, needs him to clear his name. And Riya, a fugitive who severed all family ties, wants the key to prove her loyalty to rebels who want to strip the nobility of her power.
They must work together to survive the treacherous journey. But with each brother keeping secrets and their own agendas, the very thing that brought them together could tear their family – and their world – apart forever.
- buy the ivory key now!
4. this kingdom woven by tahereh mafi
To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient kingdom of geniuses forced to hide in plain sight.
The crown prince, kamran, has heard the prophecies predicting the death of his king. but he could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can’t get out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdom and his world.
Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Tomi Adeyemi, and Sabaa Tahir, this is the explosive first book in a new fantasy trilogy from New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award nominee Tahereh Mafi.
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5. blood scion by deborah falaye
This is what they deserve.
They wanted it to be a monster.
I will be the worst monster they have ever created.
fifteen-year-old sloane can incinerate an enemy at will: she is a descendant of the ancient orisha gods.
Under the brutal rule of Lucis, his identity means his death if his powers are discovered. But when she is forcibly recruited into the Lucis army on her fifteenth birthday, Sloane sees a new opportunity: overcome the bloody challenges of Lucis training and destroy them from within.
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6. terciel & elinor by garth nix
In the Old Kingdom, a land of ancient and often terrible magics, eighteen year-old orphan Terciel learns the art of necromancy from his great-aunt Tizanael. But not to raise the Dead, rather to lay them to rest. He is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, and Tizanael is the Abhorsen, the latest in a long line of people whose task it is to make sure the Dead do not return to Life.
On the other side of the wall in ancelstierre, a steam-age country where magic rarely works, nineteen-year-old elinor lives a secluded life. her only friends are an elderly governess and an even older boyfriend who was once a famous circus performer. her mother is a tyrant, whom everyone fears despite her illness and her imminent death. . . but she maybe she has even more to fear from that.
Elinor is unaware that she is deeply connected to the ancient kingdom, or that magic can sometimes penetrate the wall, until a plot by an ancient enemy of the haters brings Terciel and Tizanael to Ancelstierre. In a single day of fire and death and loss, Elinor finds herself on a path that will take her to the old kingdom, to the life of Terciel, and entangle her in the fight of the hated against the dead who will not stay dead.
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7. anger & mercy by jessica rubinkowski
📚 this is the sequel to: the bright & the pale one
Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sara Raasch, this epic finale complete with high-stakes action and gripping romance offers a thrilling conclusion to Jessica Rubikowski’s already-inspired fantasy duology of Russian folklore.
Surviving the ill-fated expedition to Knnot, Valeria, Alik and the others have found refuge in Valeria’s village. Although Val should find comfort in being reunited with her family, everything has changed, including herself. for now, val is the pale god’s chosen champion. and she is ready to take revenge on the tsar.
Gifted with the power of the pale god, Val will do whatever it takes to free her people. even if it means stealing the czar’s son from the safety of the winter palace. But as Alik watches Val struggle to maintain control over the god he’s holding captive, it becomes clear that the pale god is planning his own revenge on Val.
The inevitable is drawing near: a final battle. and valeria must be willing to sacrifice everything, even her love for something similar, to win.
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8. graceling: the graphic novel by kristin castore, illustrated by gareth hinds
Katsa is a Graceling, one of the rare people born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she lived a life of privilege until the day her ability to kill a man with her bare hands revealed itself during a royal banquet. Now she acts as her uncle’s enforcer, traveling the kingdom and threatening those who dare oppose him.
But everything changes when he meets Po, a foreign prince gifted with combat skills who seeks the truth about the disappearance of his grandfather. When Katsa agrees to help him, she never expects to learn a new truth about his own grace, or a terrible secret that could destroy them all.
With a “superb narrative” (School Library Journal, Review Featured) and characters “crafted with meticulous devotion” (Reviews by Kirkus, Review Featured), Graceling is a beloved classic that has continued to resonate with readers for over a decade.
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9. the color of dragons from r.a. Salvatore & erika lewis
Powerhouse adult fantasy author R. A. Salvatore and Erika Lewis deliver a sweeping, action-packed, romantic pre-Arthurian tale of the origins of magic (and Merlin), perfect for fans of Falling Kingdoms and Seraphina.
magic needs a spark.
and maggie’s powers are especially fickle. With no one to help her learn to control her magic, her debt of life to her rests forever on her head, with no way to repay it.
Until he meets griffin, the king’s champion, infamous for hunting down the draignochs that plague his kingdom.
Neither has any idea of the fate they both lead, or that their meeting will set off a chain of events that will alter every aspect of life they know, and all of history thereafter.
This epic, romantic tale will enchant readers and draw them into an exciting world of star-crossed lovers, magic, fate, and the paths we choose.
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10. jade fire gold june cl tan
in an empire on the brink of war. . .
ahn is nobody, without a past or family.
altan is a lost heir, his future taken from him as a child.
When they meet, Altan sees in Ahn a path to reclaim the throne. Ahn sees a way to finally unlock her past and understand her deadly magical abilities.
But they may have to pay a much deadlier price than they could have imagined.
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11. the monarchs of kass morgan and danielle paige
📚 this is the sequel to: the ravens
The ultra-exclusive kappa rho nu, the ravens, are determined to restore balance to the world. After destroying an ancient talisman and barely saving their sisterhood in the process, they will go to great lengths to keep their secret as the most powerful coven of witches in the west.
See Also: 11 Best Books on Social Justice | The Manual
scarlett winter, a legacy raven, finally got what she always wanted: scarlett is the new president of kappa rho nu. Unlike her mother or her older sister before her, Scarlett has a vision of a more unified kappa, one in which no sister falls to the forces of evil magic. but the powers of the presidency have their own pitfalls. And with the pressures of the alumni bureaucracy and past failures weighing on her, Scarlett is at risk of losing what defined her: the magic of her.
as a new member of kappa rho nu, vivi devereaux finally knows what it’s like to belong. she has hers her sisters kappa rho nu behind her and, with scarlett’s blessing, vivi is happily dating hers first crush on her from college (who also happens to be scarlett’s ex) . When Scarlett assigns Vivi to the coveted role of Social President, Vivi is determined to live up to the grandma’s expectations of her. But Vivi’s studies of witchcraft take a deadly turn when she discovers a new form of magic, one that has mysterious ties to Kappa Rho Nu’s past and the vengeful demon that was once bound to her talisman.
Bearing the weight of their new roles and the terrible price of destroying the talisman that haunts them, Scarlett and Vivi must save their sisterhood when the forces of Hell itself and a rival sisterhood threaten to unleash chaos among the ravens.
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12. dark ascent by c. yes pacat
will, the sixteen-year-old wharf boy, is on the run, pursued by the men who killed his mother. then an elderly servant tells him of his destiny to fight alongside the butlers, who have sworn to protect humanity if the dark king ever returns. will is thrust into a world of magic, where he begins training for a vital role in the coming battle against darkness.
As London is threatened and old feuds are reawakened, the will must be with the last heroes of the light to prevent the fate that destroyed their world from returning to destroy their own.
- dark boy, get up now!
13. grave mercy by robin lafevers
Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes the brutality of an arranged marriage to the sanctuary of St. mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. she here she learns that the god of death himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts and a violent fate. if she chooses to stay in the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and will serve as a servant until her death. to claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others. Ismae’s most important mission takes her directly to the High Court of Britain, where she finds herself terribly ill-prepared, not only for the deadly games of intrigue and betrayal, but also for the impossible decisions she must make. for how can she deliver death’s vengeance on a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?
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14. dreams lie beneath rebecca ross
The realm of Azenor has spent years plagued by a curse. Every new moon, magic flows from the nearby mountain and brings nightmares to life. Only magicians—who serve as territory wardens—stand between people and their worst dreams.
Clementine Madigan is ready to take over as guardian of her small town, but when two wizards arrive to challenge her, she unknowingly finds herself embroiled in a centuries-old conflict. She seeks revenge, but as she grows closer to Phelan, one of the handsome young wizards, secrets, as well as romance, begin to emerge.
In order to fight against the curse of the kingdom, which seems to haunt her every moment, Clementine must join her rival. But will her efforts be enough to save Azenor from the nightmares that lurk around every corner?
- buy the dreams that lie beneath now!
15. a song of ghosts and ruin by roseanne a. brown
For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts his younger sister, Nadia, as payment to enter the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom.
but karina has her own deadly aspirations. her mother, the sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens to riot; and solstasia hangs like a knife on her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic. . . requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows exactly how to get one: by offering her hand in marriage to the winner of the solstasia competition.
When Malik makes his way into the competition, they find themselves on a thrilling course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to fulfill their tasks to the death?
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16. reaper of souls by rena barron
📚 this is the sequel to: kingdom of souls
a prince repelled by magic. a king bent on revenge. a sorcerer who does not walk alone.
After so many years yearning for the gift of magic, Arrah has the one thing she’s always wanted, but it came at too high a price. Now the last surviving sorceress, she’s left to pick up the shattered pieces of a family that betrayed her, a kingdom in chaos, and a love she can never be.
As Arrah returns to the tribal lands to search for survivors of the demon attack, her beloved Rudjek pursues the remnants of the demon army and uncovers a plot that would destroy what remains of their world.
The demon king loves arrah, and if she and rudjek cannot unravel his plans, he will destroy everything and everyone who stands in his way.
Set in a richly imagined world inspired by whispered tales of voodoo and folk magic, the Realm of Souls trilogy has been selected for film by Michael B. jordan and his warner bros. producer, atypical society.
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17. the tiger at midnight by swati teerdhala
Esha lost everything in the royal coup—and as the legendary rebel known as the Viper, she’s made the guilty pay. Now she’s been tasked with her most important mission to date: taking down the ruthless General Hotha.
kunal has been a soldier since childhood. His uncle, the General, has made sure that Kunal never strays from the path, even as a part of Kunal yearns to join the outside world, which he has only become more volatile.
When esha and kunal’s paths cross one fateful night, an impossible chain of events unfolds. Both the snake and the soldier think they’re in control, but they’re not the only players moving the pieces.
As the ties that keep their land in order are broken and the sins of the past find the promise of a new future, both soldier and rebel must decide where their allegiance lies: with the lives they have killed to keep. about or with the love that has made them dream of something else.
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18. snake & dove by shelby mahurin
Bound as one, to love, honor, or burn.
Two years ago, Louise Le Blanc fled her coven and took refuge in the city of Cesarine, abandoning all magic and living off whatever she could steal. witches like lou are hunted there. they are feared. and they burn.
As a church hunter, reid diggory has lived his life by one principle: you will not allow a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked trick, the two are forced into an impossible situation: marriage.
Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, but unable to change who she is, must make a decision. and love makes fools of us all.
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19. set the gods on fire by sara raasch and kristen simmons
Ash is descended from a long line of gladiators, and she knows the brutal nature of war firsthand. But after her mother dies in an arena, she vows to avenge her by overthrowing her fire god, whose temper has stripped her country of its resources.
madoc grew up fighting in the streets to pay his family’s taxes. but he hides a dangerous secret: he doesn’t have the powers of the earth god like his opponents. his elemental gift is something else, something that hasn’t been seen in centuries.
When an attempt at revenge goes dangerously awry, Ash inadvertently throws the gods of fire and earth into a conflict that can only be resolved through lavish and deadly gladiatorial games, putting Madoc in Ash’s path. She realizes that her powers are the weapon her rebellion needs, but Madoc will not endanger her family, no matter how intrigued he is by the beautiful warrior.
But when the gods force Madoc’s hand, he and Ash discover an ancient war that will threaten more than one immortal – it will tear the world apart.
- buy fire from the gods now!
20. before we disappear by shaun david hutchinson
Jack Nevin’s clever trickery and moral flexibility make him the perfect assistant to the Enchantress, one of the most well-known stage magicians in turn-of-the-nineteenth-century Europe. Without Jack’s steady supply of stolen tricks, the Enchantress’s fame would have burned out long ago.
But when Jack’s robbery catches up with them, they are forced to flee to America to find their fortune. Fortunately, the Enchantress is able to put on a series of sold-out shows at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific World’s Fair exhibit in Seattle. she is convinced that they will become rich and famous until a new magician arrives on the scene. Performing tricks that defy the imagination, Laszlo’s spectacle outshines the Enchantress, leaving Jack with no choice but to search for the secrets of her otherworldly illusions. But what Jack discovers is not at all what he expected.
Behind laszlo’s tricks is wilhelm, a boy who can apparently perform real magic. Jack and Wilhelm have an instant connection, and as the rivalry between the Enchantress and Laszlo grows, so does Jack and Wilhelm’s affection. But can Jack choose between the woman who gave him life and the boy who offers him everything?
- buy before we disappear now!
21. fire and paper girls by natasha ngan
In this richly developed fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards for an unknown fate still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it’s Lei they’re after—the girl with the golden eyes whose rumored beauty has piqued the king’s interest.
During weeks of training in the opulent but oppressive palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm befitting a king’s consort. there, she does the unthinkable: she falls in love. Her forbidden romance is entangled in an explosive plot that threatens the entire way of life in her world. Still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, Lei must decide how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge.
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22. town criers moon by kathryn purdie
Bone Criers are the last descendants of an ancient famille charged with using the magic they draw from animal bones to shepherd the dead into the afterlife—lest they drain the light from the living.
ailesse has been groomed since birth to become her matriarch, but first she must complete her rite of passage: kill the boy she is destined to love.
Bastien’s father was killed by a bone weeper and he’s been seeking revenge ever since. now his revenge must wait, for the ritual of ailesse has begun and his destinies are intertwined, in life and in death.
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23. those touched by andrew eliopulos
Living in a small town where magic is frowned upon, Sam needs his friends James and Delia—and their time together in their school’s magic club—to see him through to graduation.
But as soon as the senior year begins, small cracks start to appear in your pool. Sam may or may not be in love with James. Delia becomes increasingly frustrated with her amateur magic club. And James reveals that he got mixed up with some sketchy wizards over the summer, putting a target on everyone’s back.
With so many fault lines threatening to derail his hopes for the year, Sam is forced to face the fact that the same love of magic that brought his group together is now driving them apart, and there are some issues that neither amount of magic can fix.
- buy headpieces now!
24. spellhacker from m.k. england
In Kyrkarta, magic—known as maz—was once a freely available natural resource. Then an earthquake released a magical plague, killing thousands and opening the door for a greedy corporation to make maz a commodity that’s tightly controlled—and, of course, outrageously expensive.
That’s why Diz and her three best friends have a lucrative, illegal side job of Maz Siphoning. her next job is supposed to be her last heist.
But when their plan reveals a powerful new variety of corn that (literally) blows up in their faces, they’re forced to unravel a conspiracy at the very center of the spell plague and possibly save the world.
> >
no pressure.
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25. the blood spell of c.j. red wine
Blue de la Cour has her life planned: hide the magic in her blood and continue trying to turn metal into gold so she can help her city’s homeless. But when her father is murdered and a cruel but powerful woman claims custody of Blue and her property, one wrong move could expose her—and doom her once and for all. The only one who can help? The boy she’s loathed since childhood: Prince Kellan.
Kellan Renard, Crown Prince of Balavata, walks a fine line between political success and devastating violence. Fresh back from boarding school, he must find a bride among the kingdom’s leading families and announce his engagement, but escalating violence between the families makes the search almost impossible. He is shocked to discover that the only person who makes him feel like he can breathe is Blue, the girl who once ruined all of his best adventures.
When mysterious forces cause disappearances across Balavata, Blue and Kellan must work together to find the truth. what they discover will lead them to the darkest reaches of the realm and the most painful moments of their past.
When romance is forbidden and wickedness is on the rise, can blue save those he loves, even if it costs him everything?
- buy the blood spell now!
26. seasons of the storm by elle cosimano
One cold, crisp night, Jack Sommers was faced with a choice—live forever according to the ancient, magical rules of Gaia, or die.
jack chose to live and instead became a winter, an immortal physical embodiment of the season on earth. each year, he must hunt the season that comes before him. summer kills spring. Autumn kills summer. winter kills fall. and spring kills winter.
jack and fleur, a winter and a spring, fall in love against all odds. to be together, they will have to escape the cycle that has been separating them. but their creator will not let them go without a fight.
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27. star daughter by shveta thakrar
This gorgeously imagined YA debut blends shades of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust and a breathtaking landscape of Hindu mythology into a radiant contemporary fantasy.
The daughter of a star and a mortal, Sheetal is used to keeping secrets. pretending to be “normal”. But when an accidental flash of Ella’s starfire lands Ella’s human father in the hospital, Ella Sheetal needs the help of a full star to heal him. a star like her mother, who returned to heaven a long time ago.
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Sheehal’s quest to save her father will take her to a heavenly court of bright wonders and dark shadows, where she must take the stage as her family’s champion in a competition to decide the next ruling house of the skies, and win, or risk never coming back to earth.
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28. always by sara holland
In the kingdom of Sempera, time is currency—extracted from blood, bound to iron, and consumed to add time to one’s own lifespan. The rich aristocracy, like the Gerlings, tax the poor to the hilt, extending their own lives by centuries.
nobody resents gerlings more than jules ember. A decade ago, she and her father were servants at Everless, the Gerlings’ palatial estate, until a fateful accident forced them to flee in the dead of night. When Jules finds out her father is dying, she knows she must return to Everless to buy him more time before she loses him forever.
but returning to the eternal brings more danger and temptation than jules could have imagined. She soon finds herself caught up in a web of violent secrets and finds her heart torn between two people she thought she’d never see again. Her decisions have the power to change her destiny and the destiny of time itself.
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29. an underwater song by bethany c. tomorrow
Tavia is already at odds with the world, forced to keep her siren identity under wraps in a society that wants to keep her kind under lock and key. Never mind she’s also stuck in Portland, Oregon, a city with only a handful of black folk and even fewer of those with magical powers. At least she has her bestie Effie by her side as they tackle high school drama, family secrets, and unrequited crushes.
but everything changes after a siren murder trial rocks the nation; Girls’ favorite internet fashion icon reveals that she’s also a mermaid, and word spreads around her community. Tensions rise when Effie begins to be haunted by demons from her past, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical voice during a police stop. no secret seems safe anymore, soon portland won’t be either.
- buy a song underwater now!
30. the cruel prince by holly black
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place in court, you must challenge him and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply involved in the intrigues and deceptions of the palace, he discovers his own capacity for deception and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the faery courts in violence, Jude will have to risk his life in a dangerous alliance to save his sisters and the faerie herself.
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31. three dark crowns of kendare blake
In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.
But becoming the crowned queen is not just a matter of royal birth. every sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose… it’s life or death. the night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. the last queen standing gets the crown.
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32. heart of thorns by bree barton
In the ancient river kingdom, where touch is a battlefield and bodies the instruments of war, Mia Rose has pledged her life to hunting Gwyrach: women who can manipulate flesh, bones, breath, and blood. The same women who killed her mother without a single scratch.
but when mia’s father announces an alliance with the royal family, she is forced to trade her knives and pants for a sumptuous silk dress. Determined to forge her own path forward, Ella Mia plans a daring escape, but she could never predict the greatest betrayal of all: her own body. she mine possesses the same magic that she has sworn to destroy.
Now, as she unravels the secrets of her past, Mia must learn to trust her heart…even if it kills her.
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33. the last namsara by kristen ciccarelli
In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be darkness—and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death-bringer.
These are the legends that Asha, daughter of the King of Firgaard, has grown up learning in whispers, drawn to the forbidden figures of the past. But it’s not until she becomes the most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next iskari, a lonely fate that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl.
Asha conquers each dragon and brings its head to the king, but no death can free her from the shackles that await her at home: her betrothal to the cruel commander, a man who holds the truth about her nature in the palm of his hand. hand. When she is offered the chance to gain her freedom in exchange for the life of Firgaard’s mightiest dragon, she discovers that there may be more truth to ancient stories than she ever could have hoped for.
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34. shadow and bone by leigh bardugo
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
alina starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked in the fold and her best friend is brutally wounded, Ella Alina reveals a latent power that saves her life, a power that could be the key to freeing the country from her ravaged by war. war. Torn from everything she knows, Alina is brought to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious darkling.
but nothing in this luxurious world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to face the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.
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35. of fire and stars by audrey coulthurst
Betrothed since childhood to the prince of Mynaria, Princess Dennaleia has always known what her future holds. Her marriage will seal the alliance between Mynaria and her homeland, protecting her people from other hostile kingdoms.
but denna has a secret. she possesses an affinity for fire, a dangerous gift for the future queen of a land where magic is forbidden.
Now Denna has to learn the ways of her new kingdom while trying to hide her growing magic. To make matters worse, she must learn to ride Mynaria’s formidable warhorses before her coronation, and her teacher is the person who intimidates her the most, the prickly and offbeat Princess Amaranthine, sister of Mynaria’s fiancé. her.
When a shocking murder leaves the kingdom reeling, Mare and Denna reluctantly join forces to search for the culprit. But with the dangerous conflict looming that makes the alliance more important than ever, acting on your feelings could be deadly.
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36. onyx & ivory by mindee arnett
They call her Traitor Kate. It’s a title Kate Brighton inherited from her father after he tried to assassinate the high king of Rime.
Broken from the peerage, Kate now works for the royal courier service. only the fittest survive and only the fastest, because when night falls, the dragons, deadly dragons that don’t fly, come out to hunt. Fortunately, Kate has a secret advantage: she is wilder, she was born with a forbidden magic that allows her to influence the minds of animals.
And it is this magic that leads her to a caravan massacred by dragons in broad daylight: the sole survivor, corwin tomaine, the king’s son. her first love, the boy she swore to forget after he sentenced his father to death.
With their paths entangled once again, Kate and Corwin must put the past behind them to confront this new and even darker threat stirring the kingdom.
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37. an ember in the ashes by sabaa tahir
Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.
Under martial rule, defiance meets death. those who do not swear their blood and bodies to the emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.
It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. the family barely survives in the impoverished alleys of the empire. they do not challenge the empire. they’ve seen what happens to those who do.
But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a choice. In exchange for the help of the rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy on them from within the largest military academy in the empire.
There, Laia meets Elias, the best soldier in the school and secretly the most reluctant. Elijah just wants to be free from the tyranny he is being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined and that their decisions will change the fate of the empire itself.
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38. circle of shadows by evelyn skye
Sora can move as silently as a ghost and hurl throwing stars with lethal accuracy. Her gemina, Daemon, can win any physical fight blindfolded and with an arm tied around his back. They are apprentice warriors of the Society of Taigas—marked by the gods to be trained in magic and the fighting arts to protect the kingdom of Kichona.
As their graduation draws near, Sora and Daemon hope to prove themselves worthy of belonging to the elite group, but in a kingdom free of violence since the Blood Gap Rebellion many years ago, it has been difficult to leave their footprint.
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So when Sora and Daemon come across a strange camp of mysterious soldiers during a standard scouting mission, they decide the only thing they can do to help their kingdom is infiltrate the group. Taking this risk will change Sora’s life forever and lead her on a mission of deception that may deceive everyone she’s ever loved.
Love, spies, and adventure abound as Sora and Daemon unravel a complex web of magic and secrets that could tear them and the entire kingdom apart forever.
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39. forest of souls by lori m. lee
Sirscha Ashwyn comes from nothing, but she’s intent on becoming something. After years of training to become the queen’s next royal spy, her plans are derailed when shamans attack and kill her best friend Saengo.
and then sirscha somehow brings saengo back to life.
Revealed as the first recorded soul guide, Sirscha is summoned to the domain of the Spider King. for centuries, she has used her influence over the dead forest, an ancient forest possessed by souls, to enforce peace between the realms. now, with the trees growing wild and untamed, only a guiding soul can contain them. As war looms, Sirscha must master her newly awakened abilities before the trees shatter the fragile peace or, worse yet, claim Saengo, the friend she would die for.
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40. a phoenix must first burn, edited by patrice caldwell
Sixteen tales by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the Black experience through fantasy, science fiction, and magic.
evoking beyoncé lemonade for a teenage audience, these authors, who are truly the heirs of octavia butler, have weaved worlds together to create a dazzling storytelling that focuses on black women and gender non-conformists . a phoenix first must burn will take you on a journey from folktales to futuristic societies and everything in between.
Filled with stories of love and betrayal, strength and endurance, this collection contains a variety of complex and real characters that you can’t help but see yourself in. witches and scientists, sisters and lovers, priestesses and rebels: the heroines of a phoenix must first burn and shine brightly. you will never forget them.
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41. ghost wood song by erica waters
Sawkill Girls meets Beautiful Creatures in this lush and eerie debut, where the boundary between reality and nightmares is as thin as the veil between the living and the dead.
If I could have a violin made from Dad’s bones, I’d play it. she would learn all the secrets he kept.
Shady Grove inherited her father’s ability to summon ghosts from the grave with her violin, but she also knows that violin melodies only bring trouble and darkness.
But when his brother is framed for murder, he can’t let the dead keep his secrets.
To clear his name, he’ll have to make those ghosts sing.
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42. the kingdom behind by marie lu
Two siblings. Two brilliant talents. But only one Mozart.
Born with a gift for music, Nannerl Mozart has only one wish: to be remembered forever. But even as she delights audiences with her masterful performance, she has little hope of ever becoming the acclaimed songwriter she longs to be. she is a young woman in 18th century europe, and that means that composing is forbidden for her. she will act only until she reaches marriageable age; her tyrannical father has made it abundantly clear.
And as Nannerl’s hope fades with each passing year, the talents of his beloved younger brother, Wolfgang, only seem to shine brighter. his brilliance begins to outshine hers, until one day a mysterious stranger from a magical land shows up with an irresistible offer. he has the power to make his wish come true, but his help may cost him everything.
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What other magic and mythology books are you reading? let us know in the comments below!