I Read Fantasy Like It’s My Full-Time Job—Here Are the Ones I Recommend to Everyone

I read A Study in Drowning at the tail of end of 2023 and it took me by complete surprise, cementing Ava Reid as one of my auto-read authors. This book is whimsical, gothic, and has dark academia vibes that make it a perfect fall or winter read.

Architecture student Effy Sayre has always believed in fairytales. Haunted by visions of the Fairy King since childhood, she’s had no choice. She carries her tattered copy of Angharad, the definitive tale of the Fairy King, by Emrys Myrddin with her everywhere. When she gets the opportunity to redesign the late author’s estate, she believes it’s her destiny. But Hiraeth Manor and its inhabitants aren’t exactly thrilled at Effy’s arrival. Especially Preston Héloury, a stuffy literature scholar determined to prove Myrddin a fraud.

A Study in Drowning is book one in a two-book series. Book two is being released in 2025.

I read this book earlier this year and it became my entire personality for weeks afterward. In the small town of Jasper, North Carolina, the Farrow women are known for two things: their flower farm and the curse that plagues their family line.

Now, it seems that curse has found June, as she’s been plagued by visions of a mysterious door for the past year. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all. When June’s grandmother dies, leaving behind a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother’s disappearance, June is left with more questions than answers. What she does learn, though, is that she can walk through the door in her visions. The next time the door appears, she opens it, setting a story of star-crossed love in motion.

The Unmaking of June Farrow is a standalone.

The first thing I said in my Goodreads review of Rewitched was that it was DELIGHTFUL (yes, in all caps). This book really is the epitome of cozy.

Belladonna Blackthorn is a witch who’s lost her way. On her 30th birthday, her coven summons her to determine whether or not she’s earned the right to keep her magical powers. What follows is a heartwarming story of a woman who, through magic, finds herself again.

Maybe it’s because I just turned 30 and can relate to the feeling of still not really having life figured out, but I truly believe this book is perfect for anyone who found their love of reading through fantasy books when they were young.

Rewitched is a standalone.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue remains one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read, it’s epic, heartbreaking, and compulsively readable.

It’s 1714 in France, and in a moment of pure desperation Addie LaRue makes a bargain to live forever—but it comes with a curse. Everyone she meets will forget that she exists. Thus begins Addie’s extraordinary life. It’s a dazzling adventure that spans centuries and continents. 300 years after she makes her bargain, Addie’s invisible life is thrown off course. She meets someone who remembers her.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a standalone.

I had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy of Blood Over Bright Haven, which releases on October 29, 2024, and I’m so glad I did.

In Blood Over Bright Haven, we meet Sciona Freynan, a mage who is about to be appointed to the High Magistry—the first woman to be admitted to Tiran’s highest magical order ever. On her first day, her new colleagues “jokingly” assign her a janitor as her new assistant. What they don’t realize is that appointment will be their downfall.

Together, Sciona and her new assistant discover the ugly truth the High Magistry has been covering up since Tiran’s founding, and it changes their world forever.

This book is intense, has epic stakes, and really sound writing. It’s not a romance, though there is an underlying current of tension between Sciona and her assistant that wrecked me. While the fantasy element is strong, Blood Over Bright Haven forces you to think about the true cost of technological advancement in our world.

Blood Over Bright Haven is a standalone.

Belladonna is gothic-meets-Knives Out-meets-Bridgerton and I absolutely devoured the entire series. It’s fun, a little campy, and romantic.

Orphaned as a baby, Signa Farrow has been raised by a string of guardians, each one more interested in her fortune than her wellbeing. The last remaining relatives she has are the Hawthornes, who live at the eccentric Thorn Grove manor and are reeling from their own tragedy.

When Signa is visited by the ghost of Mrs. Hawthorne, who claims she was poisoned, she learns that the family she has come to depend on, and even love, is in danger—and she’s the only one who can solve the mystery. However, it’s going to take an alliance with Death, the disarming shadow that has followed her everywhere she goes, to save the Hawthornes.

Belladonna is book one of a three-book series, all of which have been released.

The series that reignited my love of reading did so for one reason: the high-stakes, star-crossed, swoon-worthy romance. Yes, the story is set in a complex fantasy world, but the romantic elements will have readers hooked from the very beginning.

When Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, she doesn’t realize she has actually taken down a shape-shifting Fae. A mysterious figure soon hunts her down and takes her captive as retribution for the Fae life she took. She’s then whisked away to Prythian, the Fae realm she’s only heard about in legends. As she spends more time in this beautiful, magical world—and with her captor, Tamlin—she learns those legends didn’t tell the whole story. But not everything is rosy in Prythian. As Feyre and Tamlin’s relationship blooms, Feyre learns she holds the key that could save—or doom—Prythian forever.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is book one of a five-book series, with more to come.

The Ex Hex is romance first, fantasy second (the only thing that puts this book in the fantasy category is that the characters are witches).

9 years ago, Vivi and Rhys’ relationship ended on terrible terms, and Vivi nursed her broken heart in the most relatable way: with a bottle of vodka and an attempt to curse Rhys. The curse was meant to be a joke, but when Rhys returns to Graves Glen years later, it becomes clear Vivi’s silly little hex worked. What was supposed to be a quick trip turns into so much more as Rhys and Vivi work together to undo the damage of Vivi’s curse.

The Ex Hex is book one of a three-book series, but each one can be read as a standalone.

There’s no denying it: Linus Baker’s life is boring, and he likes it that way. As a case worker at the Department for Magical Youth, Linus is tasked with ensuring magical children in orphanages are well taken care of. He’s comfortable in the routine of his life, but when Extremely Upper Management summons him for a highly risky and classified assignment, he accepts.

His primary mission? Determine whether Arthur Parnassus’ six dangerous children, including the literal Antichrist, will bring about the end of the world. What he finds instead is the family he never had but always wanted.

The House in the Cerulean Sea is book one in a two-book series, but can be read as a standalone.

This was my favorite read of 2022. I’m big into cozy fantasy stories, and this one checked everything off my wishlist.

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she must live in secret, but that doesn’t stop her from “pretending” to have magical powers all over the internet. Unfortunately for Mika, her ruse is uncovered and she is asked to travel to a remote part of England to teach three young witches how to control their magic. When she gets there, she slowly finds her place in the home, and in the family. She just can’t crack Jamie, the grumpy librarian who doesn’t trust this newcomer.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is a standalone.

In a kingdom where she’s forced to hide her affliction, the monster inside Elspeth’s head, called the Nightmare, is both her fiercest protector and her deadliest secret.

When Elspeth is confronted by a group of highwaymen on her way home, she’s forced to leave the comfort of her quiet existence behind and instead finds herself embroiled in a treasonous plot to undermine the King and save her kingdom—and hopefully, herself.

But if high treason wasn’t enough, with each passing day, the Nightmare grows stronger in Elspeth’s mind. Will she be able to stop him or will he succeed in taking complete control?

One Dark Window is book one in a two-book series, both of which have been released.

The Bone Season doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Samantha Shannon’s other series, The Roots of Chaos, has become a cult-favorite among fantasy readers. While I love that series too, The Bone Season is action-packed and just plain fun to read. Paige Mahoney is a clairvoyant with a rare ability. In Scion-led London, this power makes her one of the city’s most-wanted criminals. When Paige is captured and imprisoned, she finds herself in the hands of the Rephaim, a group somehow worse than Scion. As Paige works to regain her freedom, she finds herself with an unlikely ally: her Rephaite keeper, Warden.

The Bone Season is book one in a seven-book series, four of which have been released.

If it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing I’ve ever done, I would climb on top of my roof and shout at everyone who comes within earshot to read this book. It singlehandedly made me rethink every 5-star review I’ve ever given and I need everyone to experience it. In Fourth Wing, Violet Sorrengail is forced into the deadly Basgiath War College Riders Quadrant, despite the fact that she is small, frail, and has trained her entire life to be a scribe. It’s Divergent meets The Hunger Games and has dragons. I really shouldn’t have to say more. If you’re looking for a good time, this is it.

Fourth Wing is book one in a five-book series, two of which have been released.

So you want romance, adventure, and a mystery to solve? Throne of Glass has all of that in droves. I recommend reading A Court of Thorns and Roses first, as it’s a better introduction to Sarah J. Maas’s writing style, but if you find yourself wanting more after—and you will—this is where you should start. In Throne of Glass, renowned assassin Celaena Sardothien is given one chance to earn her freedom. All she has to do is defeat 23 deadly killers just like her. Sounds simple enough, but soon Celaena is thrust into an ages-long conflict that is so much more than she signed up for.

Throne of Glass is book one in a seven-book series, all of which have been released.

I won’t lie: reading The Priory of the Orange Tree is not for the faint of heart. This book is a brick, but it has become a quintessential fantasy novel for a reason. It has everything you could ever want in a story and sucks you in from the very first page. In it, we follow Queen Sabran the Ninth, whose hold on the Queendom of Inys hinges on whether or not she’ll finally have a daughter of her own; Ead, the mage who’s woven her way into Sabran’s inner-circle and secretly keeps the queen safe with forbidden magic; and Tané, who makes a choice that threatens her lifelong dream of becoming a dragonrider right as it’s within reach.

The Priory of the Orange Tree is book one in a two-book series, but can be read as a standalone.