2024 is the year of subverted tropes and plot lines. Fantasy villains wake up with amnesia to grapple with their crimes (Dreadful), magical girls must grapple with purchasing decisions (A Magical Girl Retires), a scholarship student destroys the academy (The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain), and adults must return to their fantasy worlds (The Lost Story).
Of course, if you're looking for something entirely original, there's plenty of that too! A cannibalistic demon makes an Indian food documentary (Rare Flavours), a woman is trapped in the body of a wooly mammoth (Tusks of Extinction), and futuristic reality show sees couples raising virtual babies for the chance to have a real child (The Family Experiment).
Looking for speculative horror? Check out our suspense list!
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Witty, dark, subversive, hilarious. Whenever I thought the bit was starting to get stale, a new little twist came along that kept me laughing and turning pages. With the recent-ish glut of villain origin stories, I love that this villain has to…
Set in Madrid during the height of the Inquisition, Familiar is part historical fiction, part fantasy. Full of magic, Faustian bargains, court politics, love, and the constant fear that comes with being different in a strict society, I found it hard…
In a land ruled by ruthless Fae, twenty-one-year-old Lore Alemeyu's village is trapped in a forested prison. Lore knows that any escape attempt is futile-her scars are a testament to her past failures. But when her village is threatened, Lore makes…
The Practice, The Horizon, and the Chain is about a futuristic space fleet that depends on mining asteroids for minerals in order to survive. It is also a searing critique of academia and the ways that it extracts from disenfranchised groups while…
Set in a near future dystopian version of Minnesota, a man named Rainier (Rainy for short) tries to navigate the loss of his beloved wife, being chased by ruthless hired killers, and the vast "fresh water sea" of Lake Superior. Leif Enger is a…
A much stronger story collection than Cursed Bunny, Your Utopia is filled with stories that focuses on technology, dystopia, immortality, and humanity with the absurdity, humor, and strangely emotional brevity Bora Chung expertly entwines. You will…
I was properly introduced to writer Ram V and artist Filipe Andrade with The Many Deaths of Laila Starr -- a 2023 Five Star read for me. And the duo has done it again. I love any story that weaves in food in the narrative -- the luxury, the…
The fourth in the Edinburgh Nights series, this entry finds our main character, Ropa Moyo, dealing with a lot more than just ghosttalking. She has lost her place in Scottish magic, and now works for the Sorcerer Royal. However, someone is trying…
When a young woman learns she's a magical girl at the ripe age of 29, she must adjust to the harsh realities of everyday life including debt and climate change. A sweet and funny ode to the magical girl. A must-read for fans of Sailor Moon,…
Romance, science fiction, and fantasy collide in Wiswell's debut novel--there's something for everyone in this book. Shesheshen, a shapeshifting monster who's thought is only of herself (and her next meal) become prey rather than her usual role of…
Sequel to the best-selling *The House in the Cerulean Sea*. Linus and Arthur must protect their magical children from a power-hungry government official, while negotiating the addition of a new child. Both tense and heart-warming. Maybe even…
A tense dystopian thriller with morally ambiguous characters and a pace that keeps building until you can't put it down. I loved the commentary on social media and social capital - ultimately though, my favorite part of novels like this is having…
I'm a huge fan of urban fantasy, especially with folklore mixed in, and this one definitely scatched that itch for me. The worldbuilding is so clever - creatures that feed on fear running a horror movie theater? That's such an artfully simple idea.…
What would bringing the extinct wooly mammoth back actually look like? With the extinction of elephants due to poaching, and poachers getting more and more aggressive, the science behind reviving them might be the easiest aspect. This thrilling…
The art is just gorgeous, the character design so fun, and the setting is the epitome of "I want to go to there." Some of the plot was confusing, but it was absolutely my vibes, so I didn't care. I was along for the ride (and look forward to any…
When they were fifteen, Jeremy and Rafe vanished for six months in Red Crow State Forest, then reappeared in perfect health, apart from Rafe’s amnesia. Neither spoke to the other for years, until Emilie approaches Jeremy to help her track down her…
This book is set in the same world as The One, The Passengers, The Minders, and The Marriage Act. Although it's not necessary to have read those books before this one, I think it greatly enhances your reading experience (and this book has a huge nod…
This is the sequel to Assistant to the Villain, and it's so good! It's a different take on the good vs. evil trope, with the overall point of view being from the "evil" side. There are many different points of view throughout the book, and so many…
I loved the original trilogy and was hesitant to return to what could have been a tidy ending -- but this sequel felt like a fitting, well, coda. An emotional and beautiful examining of life after the "big" story. Kinda like Steven Universe Future…
BEST OF THE BACK CATALOG- A finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel in 2017, Andy Davidson's In the Valley of the Sun (Davidson's first book) slays. It's a pitch black, violent, often beautifully written…
