Books I recommend if you’re looking for more fantasy, magic, and mystery in your life.
“I do believe in fairies! I do! I do!“
You don’t have to go very far in the book world these days to trip over your next journey under the hill. The fae have always been ‘trending’ in the right circles.. but recently?
They’re kind of a big deal.
This list is comprised solely of books revolving around young women and their adventures steeped in the mysteries and mayhem of the fae.
(Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, purchases made through my links may earn me a small commission, at no cost to you.)
Rule #1 Don’t draw attention to yourself.
Rule #2 Don’t talk to them.
Rule #3 Don’t look at them.
Follow the rules and stay safe.. Until you’re not. Aislinn screwed up. She caught their attention. Now a mysterious newcomer is asking too many questions and, with fairies stalking her every move, there’s no going back anymore.
Personal Note: Ignore all the things the author could have done differently here and the darkly beautiful writing will make up for it.
Need by Carrie Jones
Zara’s being shipped off to her grandmothers ‘for her own safety’.
So what if she collects phobias, has daddy issues, and thinks she’s imagining seeing a creepy man following her? There’s no danger, right?
Reality check:
The supernatural exists.. and they want something from her.
Personal Note: This girl has some issues but.. Don’t we all? It’s still worth the read!
Meghan’s entire life has been a lie.
Everyone’s keeping secrets.
And the cold new guy at school might just be involved.
Finding out she’s a princess destined to save Faerie from some mysterious evil?
Not her first guess.
Now she’ll have to ask herself how far she’s willing to go to save them all.
Before it’s too late.
Personal Note: A great read if you don’t mind that her love interest is a douche.
Humiliated by her alcoholic mother, Dana runs away to Faerie to search out the father she’s never met.
The instant she crosses into Avalon, where our worlds meet, all kinds of trouble breaks loose.
Traveling between the worlds shouldn’t be that simple.. Unless you’re a rare kind of faeriewalker.
Feeling torn in two directions, and caught between two worlds, Dana will have to figure out who to trust.. Before she winds up dead.
Personal Note: A captivating story with a slightly frustrating protagonist.
Smart mouthed Jayne and a handful of scrappy runaway teens just got magically transported to a forest straight out of a fairy tale.
Not the nice kind either.
The struggle is on as they face one obstacle after another in a test with deadly consequences.
Will the group escape unscathed?
Or will they be forever altered by their experience.
Personal Note: This one is funny and entertaining but has very little romance.
My personal notes aside.. I would read all of these series again and still find the magic in every one.
If you love the incredible feeling of being swept up in the child like wonder of fairytales..
You’re probably in the wrong place. These aren’t that sweet.
But if the promise of dangerous beings and their slick manipulations is more up your alley..
Happy reading!
I love the genre you’re recommending – does it have a name? Dark fantasy fiction?
I don’t know why I just can’t do series anymore. Maybe it’s this weird age I’m at but committing to a WHOLE series just seems like an effort. 🙈 But all your recommendations have me intrigued. Very very interesting plotlines.
I’m not really sure, dark fantasy fiction sounds good to me, it definitely fits.
But no, I get where you’re coming from about committing to series.. I try to talk myself into starting ACOTAR and I just haven’t been able to. 😳😅
I think The Hunger Games and Twilight series have induced a lot of series – phobia! What if the first book is amazing and you end up committing to the series and get stuck reading book after book of average content? Serious commitment phobia!
Lol! I agree entirely. All you had to say was ‘Twilight’! 😂
That series murdered my interest in vampires for years. 😳
I love faeries and fae or whatever. And the iron fey is a great one! I haven’t really heard about the others. I might try those and I hate it when there are soo many living faces on a book cover😭😒😒 but anyways lovely post! Thankx for the recs! And I just found ur blog….so welcome to the community!! Let me know of u ever need anything and I followed u🥰❤️
I agree with the people on covers, I want to imagine them myself!
And it is just so kind of you. Now I’m all emotional.. everyone on here has been so nice. Thank you. I really appreciate it! 💕
😊u r welcome
Oooh I love faeries too… But haven’t read a fantasy since long
I love fantasy but I’ve been trying to branch out into other genres lately too.. Maybe you’ll like one of these. Although, if you don’t, I’ll understand completely! 😊
I want to read Kagawa’s series. I read the spinoff book, Iron Raven, but I still need to read the original series.
That will be interesting! 😆
I haven’t read the spinoff yet(but I hear good things).. so I can’t say how much it means to the first books. Did you like Iron Raven?
I did. Puck is a bit distant as a main character but he is so true to the way Shakespeare envisioned him that I still find him compelling and the cast from the original series are there and full of all the things you want to see in characters.
Cool! Puck is a great character in most books! I just wasn’t sure with continuing an older series like that with a different protagonist. You never know how it’s going to turn out. Thank you! 😊
Lovely post. I have always wanted to read Julie Kagawa. Glad to see her on this list!
Thank you. And you should! I haven’t read the latest ‘The Iron Raven’ yet but I hear only good things. 😊
I’m not a romance reader at all, Sheri, and usually ignore books about young women and the fae. So thanks for the note on the last one. 😀 That’s one I’ll try!
I don’t like a lot of romance in my fantasy, if that makes sense. It tends to get in the way of the story.
And I hope you enjoy it.. that one has a bit more action then most of the others.
Me too. I really like dark fantasy. 🙂
Ohhh, definitely. 😍