87 Books Like Ballad of Sea and Sky

I really enjoyed this book for so many reasons! The small-town coastal Maine setting was so atmospheric, and the author pulled you right into the setting. The mystery at the start of the book was very well done as to who Lorelei really is.

I absolutely adored the romance between her and Killian! Their chemistry was palpable, and they had healthy, mature communication with one another. I also loved how supportive Killian was toward her. I also really liked and related to Lorelei and her struggle to fit between two worlds and coming to accept who she is: a mermaid who craves flesh and blood—and I thought it was a great twist on traditional mermaid lore.

This book had such a strong pitch: Attack on Titan with mermaids.

I loved that the characters had strong motivations: our female protagonist, human Kestra, wants revenge on the merfolk for killing and devouring her father. Our male protagonist, merman Rake, wants to escape his life as a breeder male so that he can raise his son in peace.

I loved the writing and felt immersed in the underwater world, and life on Kestra’s island village. I also enjoyed reading about Rake and his son when they escape to the surface, and try to find their place in the world.

This was the first time I had heard of this author, and I enjoyed her work so much that I went on to read more of her books!

This book was such a fun, sapphic spin on The Little Mermaid! Instead of a mermaid falling for a human man, we have a siren falling for a female pirate captain. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in both the land and undersea worlds. I thought both Aqeara and Kae were strong female leads and loved reading the story from both their POVs.

The plot was well-paced and kept me reading, always wanting to know what happened next. The ending was unexpected and ended on a cliffhanger, but I thought it led beautifully to the sequel, which is also on my TBR.

I was immediately sold by the concept of this book: a sweet romantasy about noblemen and women who were descendents of merfolk but lived on land, and as society’s outcasts.

There were three POVs and it’s a short read, but yet, I found that the author seamlessly weaved them together and wrote them beautifully, and with such depth. Half-mer Meredith’s story both broke and warmed my heart. Human noble Peter and half-mermaid Rose have such a sweet childhood friends-to-lovers romance that seems so fitting for the time period. Finally, I loved that all of our characters are forced out of their comfort zones, and stumble their way into finding who they really are.

I found this to be a beautiful story of romance, survival, and identity.  

I love the watercolor paintings in this wordless picture book!

This book is perfect for sparking the imagination of young readers, but I enjoy it as well! A young boy falls out of a fishing boat and is rescued by a friendly seal, but the minor details of the story are left to interpretation.

Who is the boy? Why does the seal help him? Is the seal a selkie? Are sea creatures capable befriending humans?

These are a few of the questions I asked myself as I pored over the blue and green seascapes, marveling at their shimmer and light. I have always been curious about what lies beneath the waves, and this picture book offers readers a glimpse of ocean magic!

The Mermaid of Black Conch takes a mythological creature and gives her extraordinary life, as a very real, young woman, called Aycayia.

She is caught – hooked like a prize fish - by greedy anglers, and hauled from the sea, bringing with her an already fascinating and tragic history of injustice and misunderstanding. But, she is also an object of love.

Not all fishermen are commercial opportunists… Not all men are eager to exploit beautiful and unusual women, and so begins an extraordinary rescue, and a life-affirming relationship, with many unpredictable, literally magical, and truly remarkable twists.

This enchanting book, written with breath-taking originality, is likely to spell-bind you – permanently. You’ll never again think of mermaids in the same way.

I love Jane Yolen’s work with fantasy and folklore, and this collection of poetry does not disappoint! It is a lyrical look at the power of stories and storytelling.

This charming collection of fairy tale and folklore-inspired poems made me think about the messages at the heart of the stories we tell one another. It also made me contemplate the way writers, poets, and artists use different methods to tell similar tales.

This small volume has a lasting impact, and I adored the beautiful selkie poems which lend the collection its name. The Last Selchie Child had me longing for the ocean!

I was initially drawn to this title because I am fascinated by the Orkney islands north of Scotland, and Amy Sackville’s descriptions of the sea and shore made me feel like I was there!

The novel swept me away with its immersive imagery, and although the characters are sometimes disturbing, they are also compelling. A sixty-year-old literature professor brings his young, unnamed wife (a former student) to Orkney for their honeymoon. He watches her, obsessively, as she stares out at the sea.

I was both repelled by narrator and attracted to his poetic voice, and I loved the way selkie stories framed this tale of psychological drama. Layered with folklore and dreams, this novel made me contemplate the darker side of selkie-human unions.

In this prize-winning novel for older teenagers, Hersey recreates a story of Selkie lore which, in terms of the magical element, remains largely faithful to the original folklore. Teenager Danni’s mother has disappeared, so her daughter sets out to find her. Danni finds herself in her mother’s small Cornish hometown, and soon discovers secrets about her family that are so surprising and hard to believe, they threaten to blow her world apart. What follows is an adventure that enthralls deeply, incorporating fantasy elements into a satisfyingly emotional, realistic story. Stylistically, the sea, selkies, the coastline, and the landscape play important parts, providing an atmospheric backdrop to this fast-moving thrill ride. 

This book is an achingly beautiful love story that had me enraptured from the first page!

The book moves from pain to passion as a young woman known as a “sea witch,” risks her life to rescue an enslaved selkie man. This is a quick read with a slow burn, and I was held captive by the growing romance between two people who come from separate worlds.

I am a hopeless romantic, and I love the way the selkie and the sea-witch care for each other, sacrificing their own safety to heal the sins of the past. The words pulse with the beauty of ocean tides. I didn’t want the story to end!