In anticipation of Halloween, here is a list of some of our favourite paranormal and fantasy YA books to thrill as well as chill you. Vampires, and werewolves and angels, oh my!
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Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo
Now’s the time to enter the Grishaverse before the Netflix show hits your screens 2021! Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker 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. Throw in a thief, a spy, a convict, a sharpshooter, a runaway and a Heartrender to = one deadly concoction.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist.
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Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard
This is a world divided by blood - red or silver. The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.
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Monuments - Will Kostakis
All 16-year-old Connor is trying to do is avoid his ex-best friend when he stumbles upon a trapdoor to a secret chamber under his school. But when Sally Rodgers breaks into the same secret chamber looking for an ancient being, things take an unexpected turn . . . and Connor's life will never be the same again.
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Girl, Serpent, Thorn - Melissa Bashardoust
Sometimes the princess is the monster …
There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it's not just a story.
Soraya must decide if she's willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn't afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.
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The Beautiful - Renee Ahdieh
New Orleans and vampires = perfect reading combo! Dive into this one if you liked The Originals.
In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, it's also a safe haven after she's forced to flee her life in Paris. Quickly enraptured by the vibrant city, from its music to its extravagant soirees and even its danger, she soon becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, and particularly the group known as La Cour des Lions. But when a body is found in their lair, Celine is forced to battle her attraction for the group's enigmatic leader, Sebastien Saint Germain, and suspicions about his guilt, along with her own secrets.
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The Midnight Lie - Marie Rutkoski
It’s not a lie that The Midnight Lie is a stellar read. An epic LGBTQ romantic fantasy about learning to free ourselves from the lies others tell us - and the lies we tell ourselves.
Where Nirrim lives, crime abounds, a harsh tribunal rules, and society's pleasures are reserved for the High Kith. Life in the Ward is grim and punishing. People of her low status are forbidden from sampling sweets or wearing colours. You either follow the rules, or pay a tithe and suffer the consequences. Nirrim keeps her head down, and a dangerous secret close to her chest.
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The Deathless Girls - Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Gothic, intoxicating, feminist and romantic!
On the eve of her divining, the day she'll discover her fate, seventeen-year-old Lil and her twin sister Kizzy are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar, taken far away from their beloved traveller community.
Forced to work in the harsh and unwelcoming castle kitchens, Lil is comforted when she meets Mira, a fellow slave who she feels drawn to in a way she doesn't understand. But she also learns about the Dragon, a mysterious and terrifying figure of myth and legend who takes girls as gifts. They may not have had their divining day, but the girls will still discover their fate...
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Midnight Sun - Stephenie Meyer
Midnight Sun will return you to your Team Edward priorities.
When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella's side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward's version in the long-awaited companion novel. This unforgettable tale as told through Edward's eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist.
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Smoke - Dan Vyleta
Charles Dickens meets JK Rowling in this epic fantasy world. There is more to the world of smoke, soot and ash than meets the eye and there are those who will stop at nothing to protect it . . . Smoke opens in a private boarding school near Oxford, but history has not followed the path known to us. In this other past, sin appears as smoke on the body and soot on the clothes. Children are born carrying the seeds of evil within them. The ruling elite have learned to control their desires and contain their sin. They are spotless. It is within the closeted world of this school that the sons of the wealthy and well-connected are trained as future leaders. Among their number are two boys, Thomas and Charlie.
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Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor
Book 10 marks the 10th anniversary of Laini Taylor’s beloved fantasy series. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a book unbounded by genre but located at a magical crossroads where The Passage meets Philip Pullman and Twilight meets Pan's Labyrinth. Want to finally discover what all the rage is about? Don’t worry if you’re late to this fandom, it will be well worth the wait.
Publicist at Hachette Australia. Utterly hopeless at keeping up with my TBR pile. I am known to drop all books for a new historical romance. Best accompanied by a rosé.