Books like A Princess of Wind and Wave — picked by fans

The first thing that drew me in with this book was Juliette’s unique voice; there’s a poetic cadence to the writing style that I found so compelling, especially in audiobook format! I’m a fan of a good dystopian book–especially if it has a romantic subplot–and this series delivered with rebellion, people with abilities, complicated relationships, and things not being quite as they first seemed.

Juliette’s inability to touch people without it being lethal added a lot of tension from the start. And the way memories were woven into the greater story? This brings a fun spin on the memory loss trope that expanded more and more as I read on. It’s easily my favorite aspect of the books! 

This book is positively overflowing with witty banter. Hilarious witty banter between the love interests who won’t admit they’re madly in love and spectacular witty banter between the various sibling POVs we also get to read. My favorite character besides the FMC and MMC is Finn, a brother of one of the characters whose sense of humor is second to none. His undercover vigilante work, which his family misunderstood as laziness and lack of direction, made me respect and feel for him more, which balances out his apparent inability to take anything seriously well.

This book has the classic mutual pining I love so much and enjoy reading from both love interests’ perspectives, and the incredible sibling banter adds richness to the story I rarely find. This is my most recent read actually and I’m already running for the rest of the series right now!

This was the most beautiful kind of slow-burn read for me. The characters gently pulled me in as the story wove together, and before long, I couldn’t help being thoroughly invested in Gemma, Milo, and Ollie’s story. I don’t read contemporary fantasy as much, but a book like this–where themes of friendship, family, enduring love, and dealing with change and grief abound–is almost guaranteed to draw me in.

This book did just that and then some! The memory exploration aspect of the book is a unique take involving dreams and magic, and a large part of why this book hits so hard by the end! Did I cry reading it? Yes. Do I have regrets? Absolutely not!

I picked up this book from the library and instantly fell in love. It was such a good portal fantasy standalone that I read it in one day–almost in one sitting!

The main character, Tessa, stumbles into a dangerous, magical world full of twists and turns, inhuman characters, and a dark circus that kept me hooked. She suffered memory loss from time in a mental asylum before the start of the book, which just made everything that much more intriguing as I followed her journey with the immortal Nicolai in the Mirror Lands. 

This book was magical, adventurous, romantic, and all-around fun! Plus, the ending stuck with me long after I’d finished reading. I still remember going on a walk after and thinking, “I want to read that again!”

When Alice hits her head at the gym, she awakens, believing she’s a decade younger than she actually is. In the aftermath of her accident, Alice must try to figure out how she went from a happily married new mom to the brink of divorce. In other words, she’s lost a lot more than her memories.

This story makes you take a long, honest look at your life and consider all the people and things you’ve taken for granted. With a little mystery, a bit of romance, and a lot of humor, this novel tops my favorites list when it comes to Moriarty’s engrossing tales.

I planned a trip to Scotland and immersed myself in Peter May’s Scottish perspective. I try to do that with my books: share the back story, the elements that make Martha’s Vineyard so special to so many people. This is the niche I have carved for myself over the past 15 years.

Peter May is a BBC stalwart; Coffin Road offers a daunting tale with an emphasis on the rugged landscape. May traces his tale right down to the water’s edge.  

And while this is a work of fiction, it offers a vivid view of the reality of living on an island: the isolation, the limitations, the beauty, and the danger. That’s what I do with my Vineyard histories.

A thriller with a kick-ass premise: Chloe wakes up on the side of a highway not knowing who the heck she is or how she got there.

It’s a haunting, scary, unnerving story about a woman trying to figure out what could have happened to completely wipe out her memory. What I love about the novel is how Wong’s relentless pace matches lockstep with her protagonist’s frenzied and fractured state of mind.

Bits of the past begin to slip through the cracks as Chloe searches for the truth. I love that Wong chose to tell the story from Chloe’s POV so we’re only privy to what this messy character remembers—or chooses to tell us that she remembers. Twisted, damaged characters with secrets are my cup of tea.

I love this book for its clever psychological games. I’ve always adored books that convincingly juggle good and evil, and this book achieves the perfect balance.

Amnesia has always fascinated me, and this story left me wondering how I would cope if the only thing I could remember were my own name. It struck a personal note because my much-loved grandmother lived with devastating Alzheimer’s for the last ten years of her life. But I’ve often wondered if amnesia carries a positive element, too. It may rob us of cherished parts of our history, but it also wipes away shame and regret.

The ethical questions raised in this book fascinated me.

This is a horror novel about waking up in a hospital with no memory of who you are. What makes it unique is that Ingman started writing as a prisoner. “With nothing but pen, paper, and my own mind and memory of inspiration from my favorite books by Stephen King to my favorite episodes of Twilight Zone,” he says. His incarceration “spanned over 3 prisons and over the course of 5 years 1 month and 5 days,” he says on his Amazon page. I admire his determination and ambition. 

Corkin, a research psychologist, presents a fascinating case study of her patient, Henry Molaison, a man with no memory. Molaison—or H.M., as he was known in the scientific literature until his death in 2008—was a 27-year-old with severe epilepsy when he underwent radical brain surgery in 1953 to cure his intractable seizures.

Though Molaison’s seizures largely abated after the operation, he developed an even bigger problem, which manifested almost immediately after his surgery. Daily events vanished from his mind almost as soon as they had occurred.

Like most patients living with dementia, he could form no new long-term memories. With no new memories, he lived in a perpetual present, disconnected from his past (or at least the past after his surgery) and his future.