100 Books Like Monstrous Beauty

Naomi Novak could write anything, and I would read it, but I am a sucker for dark academia.

Well, this one takes the cake with a school that is actively trying to kill the students. While this book is pretty dark in parts, it was the instances of light that really kept me reading the entire series.

There were many times I wasn’t sure where it would lead, but I was never disappointed by what I discovered.

This Savage Song is a dark urban fantasy set in a world where violence creates monsters. Not human monsters (though there are plenty of those in the tale), but real, shadowy creatures that roam the cityscape in the wake of murders, assaults, and other dark deeds.

The story is told from dual points of view, with chapters from the viewpoint of a rebellious daughter of the city’s overlord and the point of view of one of the monsters living in the city. Schwab is best known for the Shades of Magic series, but I personally think This Savage Song and its sequel, Our Dark Duet are her best work. 

I’ve always thought there was something magical about midnight, and The Secret Hour proved me right. Monsters, mysterious powers, and a bloody act haunt the small town in this story. The secrets are teased out slowly over the course of the book through the POVs of teenage misfits with unique abilities and backstories. Though, the more I learned about the midnight hour, the more thankful I became that this book is fiction. Hungry things come out to play while the rest of us are asleep…

Unicorns—white horses with horns on their heads. If that was your first thought, prepare for Rampant to turn your world upside down. These unicorns aren’t the fairytale variety. They are man-killers. Literally. I loved how this book took unicorns and made them creatures to be feared. And the best part of all: the only ones that can stop them are a group of teenage girls. Dark secrets, a forbidden romance, and girls that can kick unicorn tail. What more could you want?

Before I began to write my own cycle of flash fiction and microfiction, I decided to study virtuosos of the form. Bender’s book was my first encounter with fast fiction. Her surreal, emotionally raw flashes and short-shorts walk a tightrope between the absurd and the profound. Her characters often exist in dreamlike states—wearing prosthetic arms, dating monsters, or grieving through magical realism. These compact stories don’t just surprise; they haunt.

As a novelist who leans towards conventional storytelling, I found this book foundational for taking risks to be weird and brief.

Skin of the Sea is a beautiful blend of West/Central African mythology and alternate history to give us an imaginative story featuring a mermaid protagonist. Simidele is a water spirit, Mami Wata, whose job is to gather the souls of [enslaved] people who die on the seas. This concept alone makes the book interesting, but it is also a fast-paced story that never ignores its most powerful aspect—the mythology and the fantastic ocean world. The story is lyrical and atmospheric, and takes you along for an unforgettable journey into the waters.

I started reading this book as a webcomic on Tapas almost a decade ago, and I’m so happy to finally have the graphic novel!

I love The Little Mermaid, especially when it’s retold as a sapphic tale, so this is right up my alley. I am in awe of the unique depictions of mermaids in this world, and I can’t wait for the sequel.  

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.  

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.

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!