There really is something special about books that feature the familiar found trope. Whether it’s an adoptive family, a group of friends coming together to form their own makeshift family, or even a close-knit group of people supporting and caring for each other, this trope is very moving.
You are reading: Found family trope books
We’ve compiled a list of some great books for you to check out. Whether you’re looking for something light-hearted and fun or something more emotional and intense, we’ve got you covered. so dive in and find your next favorite family read!
17 books with the familiar found trope
that we simply adore
1. kristin dwyer made some mistakes
Sarah Dessen meets Adam Silvera in this debut YA romance.
ellis and easton have been inseparable since childhood. But when a rash decision throws Ellis’s life – and her relationship with Easton – into chaos, she’s forced to move across the country, away from everything she’s ever known.
now ellis hasn’t talked to easton in a year, and maybe it’s better that way; maybe eventually the easton-shaped hole in the heart will heal from it.
but when easton’s mom invites her home for a visit, ellis finds herself entangled in the web of heartbreak, betrayal and anger she left behind. . . and with the boy she never stopped loving.
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2. the raven boys by maggie stiefvater
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them-until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.
his name is gansey, a wealthy student at aglionby, the local private school. blue has a policy of staying away from aglionby boys. Known as raven boys, they can only spell trouble.
but blue is attracted to gansey, in a way he can’t fully explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege that surrounds him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and noah, the taciturn observer who notices a lot but says very little.f
For as long as he can remember, Blue has been warned that he will bring about the death of his true love. she doesn’t believe in true love and she never thought this would be a problem. But as her life gets caught up in the strange and sinister world of ravens, she’s not so sure anymore.
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3. gallant by v.e. brat
Everything casts a shadow. Even the world we live in. And as with every shadow, there is a place where it must touch. A seam, where the shadow meets its source.
number one bestselling author of the new york times, v. and. schwab weaves a dark and original story about where the world meets her shadow and the young woman drawn from both sides. The Secret Garden meets the Crimson Peak in this standalone novel perfect for readers of Holly Black and Neil Gaiman.
olivia prior has grown up in merilance school for girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s diary, which seems to spiral into madness. Then a letter invites Olivia to come home with Galant. However, when Olivia arrives, no one is waiting for her. But Olivia is not ready to leave the first place she feels like home; It doesn’t matter if Ella’s cousin Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed demons roaming the halls.
olivia knows that gallant hides secrets and is determined to discover them. When she walks through a crumbling wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is dashing but not. the mansion is falling apart, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now, Olivia sees what has torn generations of her family apart and where her father may have come from.
olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as prioress, protecting our world against the master of the house? Or will she take her place at her side?
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4. the most stunning girl in berlin by kip wilson
On her eighteenth birthday, Hilde leaves her orphanage in 1930s Berlin, and heads out into the world to discover her place in it. But finding a job is hard, at least until she stumbles into Café Lila, a vibrant cabaret full of expressive customers. Rosa, one of the club’s waitresses and performers, immediately takes Hilde under her wing. As the café denizens slowly embrace Hilde, and she embraces them in turn, she discovers her voice and her own blossoming feelings for Rosa.
but berlin is in crisis. Between the elections, the protests in the streets, the worsening of anti-Semitism and anti-gay sentiment, and the beginning of the seeds of unrest in the lilac café itself, Hilde will have to decide what is best for his future. . . and what it means to love a place on the cusp of war.
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5. the golden wolves of roshani chokshi
It’s 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.
To hunt down the ancient artifact the order seeks, Severin turns to a group of unlikely experts: an engineer with a debt to pay. a historian banished from his house. a dancer with a sinister past. and a brother in arms if not by blood.
Together, they will join Séverin in his exploration of the dark and bright heart of Paris. what they find could change the course of history, but only if they can stay alive.
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6. six of crows by leigh bardugo
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Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price-and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .
a convict with a thirst for revenge.
a sniper who can’t give up a bet.
a fugitive with a privileged past.
a spy known as the Specter.
a heartbreaker who uses her magic to survive in the slums.
a thief with a knack for unlikely escapes.
six dangerous outcasts. an impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that could stand between the world and destruction, if they don’t kill each other first.
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7. undead girl gang by lily anderson
Veronica Mars meets The Craft when a teen girl investigates the suspicious deaths of three classmates and accidentally ends up bringing them back to life to form a hilariously unlikely-and unwilling-vigilante girl gang.
meet wiccan teen mila flores, who doesn’t really care what you think about her doc martens, her attitude, or her weight because she knows no matter what, her best friend riley is by her side. So when Riley and Fairmont Academy mean girls June Phelan-Park and Dayton Nesseth die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone’s explanation that her best friend was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to discover the truth: she brings girls back to life.
Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton don’t remember their murders. But they have unfinished business to attend to. Now, with only seven days until the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves, Mila must confront the distracted group of undead teens and work fast to uncover her killer…before the killer strikes back. new.
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8. mariam sharma hits the road for sheba karim
Three Pakistani-American teenagers, on a trip through the land of pork ribs, mechanical bulls, and Confederate flags. It’s going to be quite an adventure.
The summer after her freshman year of college, Mariam is eager to work and hang out with her best friends: irrepressibly beautiful Ghazala and religious but closeted Umar.
But when a scandalous photo of Ghaz appears on a billboard in Times Square, Mariam and Umar devise a plan to rescue her from her irate parents. And what could be a better escape than a spontaneous road trip to New Orleans?
With the heartbreaking honesty of julie murphy’s dumpling mixed with the cultural growing pains and clever sarcasm of when dimple met rishi, this wry and remarkable road trip tale is about questioning where you came from. and choose the family that chooses you. come back.
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9. The House on the Cerulean Sea by T.J. klune
A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.
linus baker leads a quiet and lonely life. at forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a social worker in the department in charge of magical youth, she spends her days overseeing the welfare of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.
When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by extremely top management, he is given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to the orphanage on Marsyas Island, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, a green blob unidentifiable, a Pomeranian were-, and the antichrist. Linus must put aside his fears of him and determine if they are likely to bring about the end of days or not.
but children are not the only secret that the island keeps. His caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his charges safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-kept secrets are exposed and Linus must make a choice: destroy a house or watch the world burn.
A charming story, masterfully told, The House on the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place and realizing that family is your own.
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10. simon against the homo sapiens agenda by becky albertalli
Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.
Incredibly funny and heartwarming, this 21st-century coming-of-age story wrapped in geeky romance is a knockout of a becky albertalli debut novel.
- I bought the agenda of simon vs. homo sapiens now!
11. seafire by natalie c. parker
After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, who have lost their families and homes because of Aric and his men. The crew has one mission: stay alive, and take down Aric’s armed and armored fleet.
But when Caledonia’s best friend and second-in-command barely survives an attack thanks to the help of a defect-seeking bullet, Caledonia wonders if she should allow him to join her crew. Is this boy the key to defeating aric athair once and for all…or will he threaten everything the women of mors navis have worked for?
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12. small town dress codes by courtney stevens
As the tomboy daughter of the town’s preacher, Billie McCaffrey has always struggled with fitting the mold of what everyone says she should be. She’d rather wear sweats, build furniture, and get into trouble with her solid group of friends: Woods, Mash, Davey, Fifty, and Janie Lee.
but when janie lee confesses to billie that she’s in love with the woods, billie is filled with a lingering sadness as she realizes she’s also in love with the woods…and maybe janie lee too.
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Always considered “one of the guys,” billie doesn’t want anyone to put a label on her sexuality before she can understand it herself. so she keeps her conflicted feelings to herself, for fear of ruining the group dynamic.
except it’s not just about keeping the peace, it’s about understanding love on its terms, this thing that has always been defined as a boy and a girl who fall in love and live happily ever after. for billie, a dynamo that defies the boxes, it’s not that simple.
Readers will be drawn to Billie as she comes to terms with the gray areas of love, gender, and friendship, in this John Hughes-esque exploration of sexual fluidity.
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13. leslie vedder’s bone spindle
Sleeping Beauty meets Indiana Jones in this thrilling fairytale retelling for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and All the Stars and Teeth.
fi is a bookish treasure hunter with a knack for ruins and riddles, who definitely doesn’t believe in true love.
shane is a tough northern warrior girl who likes to crack skulls, pretty girls, and do things her way.
briar rose is a prince under a sleeping curse, who has been waiting a hundred years for the kiss that will wake him up.
Cursed princes are nothing but ancient history to fi-until he pricks his finger on a bone spindle while exploring a long-lost ruin. She is now trapped with the spirit of the heather rose until she and Shane can break the centuries-old curse on her kingdom.
Dark magic, witch hunters and bad exes stand in his way, not to mention a mysterious witch who could end up stealing Shane’s heart, along with whatever else he’s looking for. but nothing scares fi more than the possibility of falling in love with briar rose.
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14. libba bray’s fortunetellers
A young woman discovers her mysterious powers could help catch a killer in the first book of The Diviners series.
evangeline o’neill has been exiled from her boring hometown and sent to the bustling streets of new york city, and she’s ecstatic. It’s 1926 and New York is full of speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls and libertine pickpockets. her only drawback is that she has to live with her will’s uncle and her unhealthy obsession with the occult. Evie is worried that he will discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far.
When the police find a murdered girl marked with a cryptic symbol and call Will to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer. As Evie jumps headfirst into a dance with a killer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. and unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened…
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15. let me hear a rhyme from tiffany d. jackson
Brooklyn, 1998. Biggie Smalls was right: Things done changed. But that doesn’t mean that Quadir and Jarrell are cool letting their best friend Steph’s music lie forgotten under his bed after he’s murdered—not when his rhymes could turn any Bed Stuy corner into a party.
with the help of steph’s younger sister, jasmine, they came up with a plan to promote steph’s music under a new rap name: the architect. soon, everyone wants a piece of him. When their demo catches the eye of a brash record label rep, the trio must prove Steph’s talents from beyond the grave.
As the pressure to keep their secret mounts, Quadir, Jarrell and Jasmine are forced to confront the truth about what happened to Steph. just that everyone has something to hide. And since everything hinges on Steph’s fame, they must decide what they stand for or lose everything they’ve worked so hard to hold on to, including themselves.
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16. victoria aveyard kingdom breaker
a strange darkness grows everywhere.
even corayne an-amarat can feel it, hidden away in her small town by the seaside.
She soon discovers the truth: she is the last of an ancient line and the last hope to save the world from destruction. but she won’t be alone. Even when darkness falls, she is joined by a band of unlikely companions:
- a squire, forced to choose between home and honor.
- an immortal, avenging a broken promise.
- a murderer, exiled and thirsty for blood.
- an ancient sorceress, whose riddles hide an eerie foresight.
- a forger with a secret past.
- a bounty hunter with a score to settle.
Together they face a ruthless, invincible opponent determined to burn all kingdoms to ash, and an army unlike anything the kingdom has ever seen.
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17. seasons of the storm by elle cosimano
A perfect storm lies ahead in this riveting fantasy duology opener from award-winning author Elle Cosimano.
One cool, crisp night, Jack Sommers was faced with a choice: live forever according to the ancient and 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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what’s your favorite book with a found familiar trope? tell us in the comments!
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