Category Archives: fantasy

The Amalfi Curse: A Bewitching Tale of Sunken Treasure, Forbidden Love, and Ancient Magic on the Amalfi Coast  by Sarah Penner

14 Monday Jul 2025

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“A rousing story of witches, deep sea diving, and family secrets on the Amalfi Coast… Penner keeps the pages turning with cliffhangers and complex characters. The author’s fans will enjoy this adventure.” —Publishers Weekly

“A mystical page-turner that will leave readers spellbound.”—Booklist

“Penner’s latest is her best yet—a thrill-seeking ride through the world of underwater archeology, the archives of Naples, and a coven of witches who will stop at nothing to protect those they love. Readers will be spellbound by this atmospheric, unmissable stunner. Pure magic!” —Katy Hays, New York Times bestselling author of The Cloisters

“An atmospheric and spellbinding tale brimming with powerful magic, The Amalfi Curse transports readers to the dazzling Italian coast with vivid prose and page-turning adventure. A stunning novel!” —Chanel Cleeton, New York Times bestselling author of Next Year in Havana

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Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

23 Monday Dec 2024

Posted by in fantasy, Fiction, suspense

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After her son stabs someone, Jen wakes up the next morning to find she has gone back in time. Each subsequent day brings her further into her past as she tries to solve the mystery of how her son and husband are connected to this crime. This was a page turner with great characters and suspense.

“Gillian McAllister [is] one of my favorite authors working in the genre. McAllister is the best at putting her characters in impossible situations and making her readers not only contemplate but feel what it would be like to find themselves in those situations.”— Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“It’s perfection, every word, every moment. A masterpiece . . . I had my mind blown apart. After I finished it, I sat with my mouth hanging open in awe. One of the best books I’ve ever read.”  — Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times Bestselling author

“A brilliantly genre-bending, mind-twisting answer to the question How far would you go to save your child?”  — Ruth Ware, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“A high-concept mash-up of different genres that transcends its wackadoodle premise with an affecting portrayal of a family careening toward crisis… But the science isn’t the point of this twisty book by a writer with a fine grasp of the subtleties of familial dysfunction. The story becomes unexpectedly tender as Jen moves further back in time, in awe of the youth she let slip by so easily, and shocked by how much she did not know.” — New York Times 

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The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo   

17 Wednesday Jul 2024

Posted by in fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, romance

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Set during the Spanish Inquisition, The Familiar follows a young servant Luzia, who is hiding her Jewish identity at a dangerous time. When her employer learns she can do magic, Luzia is drawn into a royal competition. This is an engaging mix of fantasy and historical fiction with great characters.

“Bardugo masterfully weaves magical realism with historical fiction and romance, which makes this book impossible to put down.”―Library Journal (starred review)

“The Familiar highlights all of the things that make Bardugo so well loved: a romance with maddening chemistry, an artfully built world, side characters with their own deep backstories, and a plot full of dark twists and spiderweb connections.”―Booklist (starred review)

“Reading Bardugo is an immersive, sensual experience… One can’t help sinking into Luzia and Santángel’s world and wishing never to leave.”―The New York Times

“The Familiar feels distinct from similar tales ― including Bardugo’s own ― because it explores a brutal and shameful real-life history… Bardugo brilliantly explores the wavy line between the supernatural and the divine: Magic is forbidden, but miracles come from God.”―The Washington Post

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The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

08 Wednesday Feb 2023

Posted by in England, fantasy, Fiction

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 I loved the premise of this one – people who eat books for sustenance instead of food. It’s a bit dark in tone and feel – most like a goth fairy tale.

“A fascinating debut with shades of gothic fantasy and contemporary thriller, wrapped in a narrative full of vivid and detailed characters and worldbuilding, and an unusual premise.”―Library Journal, starred review

“Dean’s unputdownable debut gives the phrase “voracious reader” a new, very literal meaning … The fascinating magic system, impeccable and unusual worldbuilding, and well-shaded characters will keep readers riveted through every twist of this wild ride.”―Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A powerful story of overwhelming mother love, as something both powerful and potentially horrific. It’s a book that delves into the need to survive even when a system is built to break you or determined to crush you; a powerful queer story about difference that refuses to flinch away from difficult choices or the impact of trauma, both generational and inflicted. Readers will devour this compelling, rich fantasy.”―Booklist, starred review

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When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

21 Wednesday Dec 2022

Posted by in fantasy, Fiction, Uncategorized, United States

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I loved this book.  Having grown up in the ‘50’s this book took me back to my childhood when I was trying to be the best I could be, but told to “let the boys win”.  Why did my mother wear high heels to vacuum?    Why one day did my father ask my mother to explain to me why I should stop playing neighborhood football with my buddies.  Rage, rage.rage….

“A deeply felt exploration of feminism in an alternate fantastical history…This allegory packs a punch.”—Publishers Weekly

“Completely fierce, unmistakably feminist, and subversively funny, When Women Were Dragons brings the heat to misogyny with glorious imagination and talon-sharp prose. Check the skies tonight—you might just see your mother.”—Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry

“A complex, heartfelt story about following your heart and opening your mind to new possibilities. This novel’s magic goes far beyond the dragons.” —Kirkus (starred review)

“Kelly Barnhill’s poetic, pointed tale tackles the era’s pervasive silence concerning all things female.”
—Christian Science Monitor

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The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

13 Saturday Mar 2021

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881 Holds on this book in Minuteman system! Nora wants to die when she finds herself with the opportunity to try out different versions of what her life could have been. Apart from the premise of a magical “midnight library” with an infinite number of possible lives, this novel is less fantasy and more about happiness, depression, and relationships. I loved this thought-provoking story.

“Haig is one of the most inspirational popular writers on mental health of our age and, in his latest novel, he has taken a clever, engaging concept and created a heart-warming story that offers wisdom in the same deceptively simple way as Mitch Albom’s best tales.” —Independent (UK)

“Although I don’t read fiction as much as I used to—because I’m always writing fiction—during these sad and difficult days in 2020 I broke that rule because I needed to ­escape into other people’s fictional worlds. One of my favorite books of the year was “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig, a powerful and uplifting story about regrets and the choices we make.”—Alice Hoffman, author of Magic Lessons and Practical Magic

“Haig’s latest (after the nonfiction collection Notes on a Nervous Planet, 2019) is a stunning contemporary story that explores the choices that make up a life, and the regrets that can stifle it. A compelling novel that will resonate with readers.” —Booklist (starred review)

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The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

02 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by in fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, History, United States

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Number one New York Times best seller

Oprah’s Book Club Pick

From the National Book Award-winning author of Between the World and Me, a boldly conjured debut novel about a magical gift, a devastating loss, and an underground war for freedom.

“The most surprising thing about The Water Dancer may be its unambiguous narrative ambition. This isn’t a typical first novel. . . . The Water Dancer is a jeroboam of a book, a crowd-pleasing exercise in breakneck and often occult storytelling that tonally resembles the work of Stephen King as much as it does the work of Toni Morrison, Colson Whitehead and the touchstone African-American science-fiction writer Octavia Butler. . . . It is flecked with forms of wonder-working that push at the boundaries of what we still seem to be calling magical realism.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times

“An experience in taking [Toni] Morrison’s ‘chances for liberation’ literally: What if memory had the power to transport enslaved people to freedom?’ . . . The most moving part of The Water Dancer [is] the possibility it offers of an alternate history. . . The book’s most poignant and painful gift is the temporary fantasy that all the people who leaped off slave ships and into the Atlantic were not drowning themselves in terror and anguish, but going home.”—NPR

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The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo

01 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by in fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, murder

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Yangsze Choo’s The Night Tiger pulls us into a world of servants and masters, age-old superstition and modern idealism, sibling rivalry and forbidden love. But anchoring this dazzling, propulsive novel is the intimate coming-of-age of a child and a young woman, each searching for their place in a society that would rather they stay invisible. (Amazon)  I dedicated one weekend to this lovely escape and I loved every reading minute.

“A sumptuous garden maze of a novel that immerses readers in a complex, vanished world.” ―Kirkus (starred review)

“Mythical creatures, conversations with the dead, lucky numbers, Confucian virtues, and forbidden love provide the backdrop to Choo’s superb murder mystery. Mining the rich setting of colonial Malaysia, Choo wonderfully combines a Holmes-esque plot with Chinese lore.” ―Publishers Weekly (starred and boxed review)

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The Winter of the Witch (Winternight Trilogy, book 3) by Katherine Arden

01 Friday Feb 2019

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An immensely satisfying conclusion to a fantastic trilogy.  This third installment sees Vasya come more fully into her power, with all the mystical, moody atmosphere that Arden delivers so well. The vein of Russian folklore that pulsates through the narrative remains as rich and captivating as any modern entry in the fractured-fairytale genre.

“[Katherine] Arden’s gorgeous prose entwines political intrigue and feminist themes with magic and folklore to tell a tale both intimate and epic, featuring a heroine whose harrowing and wondrous journey culminates in an emotionally resonant finale.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Katherine Arden’s Winternight Trilogy isn’t just good—it’s hug-to-your-chest, straight-to-the-favorites-shelf, reread-immediately good, and each book just gets better. The Winter of the Witch plunges us back to fourteenth-century Moscow, where old gods and new vie for the soul of Russia and fate rests on a witch girl’s slender shoulders. Prepare to have your heart ripped out, loaned back to you full of snow and magic, and ripped out some more.”—Laini Taylor

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The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

08 Wednesday Aug 2018

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The children of a family living in a small Russian village love listening to fairytales. As the youngest daughter Vasya grows up, she is drawn into real magic that threatens her family and community. Book 1 of the Winternight Trilogy.

“Stunning . . . will enchant readers from the first page. . . . with an irresistible heroine who wants only to be free of the bonds placed on her gender and claim her own fate.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Utterly bewitching . . . a lush narrative . . . an immersive, earthy story of folk magic, faith, and hubris, peopled with vivid, dynamic characters, particularly clever, brave Vasya, who outsmarts men and demons alike to save her family.”—Booklist (starred review)

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