54 Books Like A Dictionary of Angels

Never before—or after—has the apocalypse been as funny and entertaining as in this novel.

What resonated deeply with me was not only the humour and the often deadpan way of delivering it, but that also killed me. I was chuckling or just laughing out loud while reading it. No, I also like the fact that despite all the funny stuff going on, there is a deep underlying warmth in the story. 

This story shows me a mirror and tells me my shortcomings as a human being, but it does so in a nice and embracing way.

Anne Rice was one of my first favorite authors and a major inspiration in my wanting to become a writer. While not as well-known as other entries in her incredible Vampire Chronicles series, Memnoch is my personal favorite. Continuing her iconic style of sympathizing with the supernatural through first-person narrative, this is the first time Rice introduced a classic religious figure into her vampire mythos and gave us a brilliant, unique take on Heaven and Hell, angels, demons, and the eternal conflict between God and the devil. This book was truly foundational for me in creating my own voice and character dynamics for The Sabrael Confession.

This book immersed me with its portrayal of all the unseen battles that are felt, the ones as real as the struggles we face every day. It reminded me that even when life feels overwhelming, faith and trust go a long way.

It captures the tension between fear and hope, making me think more about the bigger picture in my own life. It left me feeling both humbled and inspired.

This is actually the second book of Zeigler's Tears of Heaven series, but I read this one first and it stands perfectly on its own. There's so much I love about it, from the concept of rebel dark angels working to overthrow Satan with the help and ingenuity of human scientists and soldiers they rescue from Hell's torments to Zeigler's masterful world-building based on scripture and classic depictions of Hell. He pulls no punches in vividly describing the agonies of damnation. But it's his clever use of scientific principles to explain Hell's supernatural rules as well as arm his protagonists that truly stands out for me. I strove to achieve that level of logic in my book, but Zeigler manages to weaponize it as only a trained scientist could.

I love books that start in the world we know and gently transport the reader into the supernatural. The magic in The Scribe is ancient and the war is underground, but everything feels so natural and real. And how the hero and heroine interact—the reluctance, the tension, the life-or-death alliance. This isn’t instalove, it’s the inescapable love that connects them soul to soul. And when it’s not just the hero who’s haunted but also the heroine, there’s an added dimension to the story that feeds what I crave. The dialogue feels true to life, and the characters come alive on the page. The blend of these elements—fantasy, adventure, and romance—is perfect here, and how they play off one another is like magic.  

Ee, the author, presents a very different image of angels, which is what I love about it. We usually see angels as protective of humans, willing to help us out of jams. In this series, Ee puts angels in the role of destroyers who hunt humans down to kill them.

I fell in love with the main characters. The story features a courageous girl raised by a “whacko” mother who must rescue her wheelchair-bound sister from angels who have abducted her. She encounters a fallen angel who has had his wings hewn off, and together, they form an unlikely alliance, overcoming their own inner demons on the way to “saving the world.” I loved both of their defiant spirits and unwillingness to quit despite the odds.

When Gadriel, an ex-guardian-currently-fallen angel bets against Barachiel, definitely-not-the-angel-of-gamblers, the latter wins – to nobody’s (including Gadriel’s) surprise. To pay the debt Gabriel must tempt the terminally sin-free Holly Harker to be a bit less of an Agnes (or an early Mildred) and more of a Perdita (or a late Mildred). Unfortunately, Holly has no experience at being nice to herself, even in perfectly wholesome ways. Neither Lady Gadriel, Sir Gadriel, Adorkable Fluffy Kitten Gadriel, nor chocolate will tempt her! The villains include an evil secondary school history teacher, a teen band leader whose mother is definitely not called Karen, and grief.

Small Miracles is hilarious, wonderfully queer, sweet, thoughtful, and occasionally heartbreaking. I never thought a cosy YA urban fantasy would become my favourite book of 2022.

Severn is a demon who has gained the trust, friendship, and love of the guardian angel Mikhail for the sole purpose of vengeance.

But after ten years of pretending to be someone he is not, he realizes he has turned into one of the angels and his arch-enemy became his greatest love.

Oh, boy, where do I start with this one? Primal Sin is one of the most dramatic M/M fantasies I’ve ever read.

From beginning to end, I was certain this pairing would never be allowed to be happy. Severn is a complicated, bordering on tragic, protagonist and Mikhail is someone you often want to punch, but eventually warm up to.

It’s impossible not to fall in love with them and the stellar world-building.

An absolute enemies-to-lovers roller coaster and I’m all for it.

The Angel By the Tower features Gabriel, a guardian angel who’s kicked out of heaven with no wings and only fuzzy memories of something dangerous coming for his former charge, Abby Campbell. And where would an angel book be without a demon? But in this case, is Gabriel’s ex-lover Evie there to help him, or hinder him?  Angels for me again. They have inspired my own series, which has a small guest appearance by a different Archangel in each book. Once again, the snarky banter between vivid characters I’d love to hang around with in real life is a true inspiration. The edge-of-your-seat action makes for a page-turner.

I’ve always wondered what an apocalyptic battle between angels and demons would look like.

Though this book is a theological non-fiction piece, it vastly expanded my imagination, in that realm, as I came to learn more about the supernatural worldview of the biblical authors and of other ancient religions.

What I loved most about the book was the exploration of this theme that hidden, divine beings walk among us.

It captures the fascinating image of the ordinary world being interrupted by that which is extraordinary—and these extraordinary phenomena are a lot closer than we think.