Here are 100 books that The Looking Glass Wars fans have personally recommended if you like
The Looking Glass Wars.
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I grew up with Irish folklore, Lord of the Rings, and X-Men comics as my bedtime stories, but I am also a domestic violence survivor twice over with c-PTSD. I was never able to get justice for anyone who hurt me. I created my stories as a way to cope and understand my feelings and triggers by making them their own personalities. So, I made my trauma available for everyone in a fantasy setting with two love interests to adore the heroine who had to endure so much but never gave up on giving people someone to root for when they couldn’t for themselves anymore.
What if a witch, a vampire, and a Fairy walk into a bar, all having quit their job to start a detective agency, and you get this book? I loved the pacing, the characters, all of it!
The female lead character, Rachel, is just one of the funniest characters. I loved how she was A-okay with going around the legal system in the ways she did to trip up her target was just fun.
From New York Times bestselling author, Kim Harrison, comes the first book in an exciting urban fantasy series; packed with the perfect balance of wry humour and thrilling action, which will delight fans of thrillers and fantasy alike.
Rachel Morgan is a white witch and runner working for Inderland Security, in an alternate world where a bioengineered virus wiped out a great deal of the world's human population - exposing the existence of the supernatural communities that had long lived alongside humanity.
For the last five years Rachel has been tracking down law-breaking Inderlanders in modern-day Cincinnati, but…
Since losing his mom, thirteen-year-old Jack Wilson has spent most of his time seeing just how much trouble he can get away with so that he feels like a winner at something. But he takes his mischief too far and is faced with the possibility of unbearable consequences. He…
I have always been fascinated by stories where faith, myth, and the human condition collide in unexpected ways. The kinds of books that don’t just tell a story, but make you question God, morality, suffering, and what remains of humanity when everything collapses. These are the kinds of stories that stay in your head long after you finish reading. They mix faith, myth, and the end of the world in ways that feel strangely personal and unsettling. They are not simple fantasy, not traditional horror, and not religious fiction in the usual sense. They sit in a strange space where belief, suffering, and human nature all collide.
I love this book because it treats gods, myths, and beliefs as living things shaped by human attention and neglect.
What fascinated me most was how ancient divinities walk unnoticed in the modern world, slowly fading as people stop believing. I felt drawn to the idea that faith itself creates reality.
This story made me reflect on how myths evolve, how belief changes through time, and how the supernatural can feel strangely grounded in everyday life.
Now a STARZ® Original Series – Season 3 premiere in January 2021
“Pointed, occasionally comic, often scary, consistently moving and provocative….American Gods is strewn with secrets and magical visions.”—USA Today
Newly updated and expanded with the author’s preferred text. A modern masterpiece from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction, Neil Gaiman.
First published in 2001, American Gods became an instant classic, lauded for its brilliant synthesis of “mystery, satire, sex, horror, and poetic prose” (Washington Post) and as a modern phantasmagoria that “distills the essence of America” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). It is the story of Shadow—released from prison just days after…
I'm Lyra R. Saenz. I'm an off-the-clock goth, a steampunk romantic, and a loyal adopter of lonely books. I'm a writer of genre-breakers and witchy makeovers. I've spent my life with either my nose in a book or my heart on the stage, and my passion for art is my drive every day. I grew up watching Star Wars, which is probably the apex of all magic merged with science settings, and I've always wondered why people don't make more of that: a super advanced society where witches and wizards are respected parts of the world.
First of all, the main character, Laytham, gets my little bi-sexual heart leaping with excitement. He’s sexy and dark and mysterious. He’s got some serious issues but handles it all with a healthy dose of cynicism and magic.
I love how gritty this book is. It’s the stench of the city mixed with the sweat and arousal of a dance club. I’ve never seen magic done this way, where one of the characters uses the computer to access his own magical network.
I read this book at a time in my life when things just were not going in the direction I wanted them to. It inspired me to take back control of my life. In a lot of ways, it is very cyberpunk, rooted in urban fantasy.
In the more shadowy corners of the world, frequented by angels and demons and everything in- between, Laytham Ballard is a legend. It's said he raised the dead at the age of ten, stole the Philosopher's Stone in Vegas back in 1999, and survived the bloodsucking kiss of the Mosquito Queen. Wise in the hidden ways of the night, he's also a cynical bastard who stopped thinking of himself as the good guy a long time ago. Now a promise to a dying friend has Ballard on the trail of an escaped Serbian war criminal with friends in both high…
I'm Lyra R. Saenz. I'm an off-the-clock goth, a steampunk romantic, and a loyal adopter of lonely books. I'm a writer of genre-breakers and witchy makeovers. I've spent my life with either my nose in a book or my heart on the stage, and my passion for art is my drive every day. I grew up watching Star Wars, which is probably the apex of all magic merged with science settings, and I've always wondered why people don't make more of that: a super advanced society where witches and wizards are respected parts of the world.
I listened to the audiobook of this anthology and man! I could not tell you how beautiful and horrifying this one is.
For those of us who love some horror alongside our fantasy, this one takes the kickers. I love the throughline of each story. There is something to be said for when the line between the technolyzed body and the real body comes into conflict.
I love that there was magical realism in some of the stories, but it was crouched within the human psyche, for where does magic live if not in our heart and soul.
When we were children, we dreamed of being heroes. We wanted to slay dragons and defeat the monsters that scared us.
As we grew older, we were forced to try and find our monsters. We had been told they would be easy to spot. Monsters had too much teeth, too much fur, too much size.
These were lies. We stopped wanting to be heroes. We started to want to be more, to be too much. We wanted, needed, more than the world could give us. We wanted more than what we were told we should be. We wanted…
I have always been fascinated by stories that use darkness in plot and character growth. As a former funeral director, I find stories with death—whether it’s the power of death, the death of a loved one, or something similar—to be really poignant. I always write books that embrace the darkness, and I love to see how characters come out on the other side. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I do!
If I have a Roman Empire, it’s this series. I think about the triplets of Fennbirn regularly.
This book follows three triplets who are fated to kill each other so one may wear the crown. I loved the way Blake peeks inside each of the sister’s heads and writes this complicated dynamic between them. I mean, the fact that they’re sisters and they have to kill each other is the baseline for complications.
It is dark and visceral, and I truly felt like I was with each sister when their POV came up.
Three Dark Crowns is a heart-stopping fantasy from Kendare Blake, acclaimed author of Anna Dressed in Blood.
In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomach-ache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest…
I’ve always been a daydreamer on the lookout for my entry into another world. I spent a good chunk of my early elementary years imagining I was a flying pony who could travel to distant lands and perform dazzling deeds. I never got my wings—but I did discover a way to reach those distant lands. Today, I have the pleasure of creating worlds of my own as the author of three published middle-grade novels: The Mutant Mushroom Takeover, Attack of the Killer Komodos, and The Legend of Greyhallow.
As someone who loves books, a novel where the characters travel into classic stories was too enticing to resist. This is such a cozy read with plenty of steaming mugs of hot cocoa, glowing candles, sweet grandparents, and a black cat named Alice.
I’m a big fan of Anne of Green Gables and was delighted to meet a version of her in The Book Wanderers. Other famous literary characters also make fun cameos. Our heroine, Tilly, is an avid book lover who’s mostly content at her grandparents’ delightful bookshop in London except for some lingering questions about her missing mom.
The story pulled me right in with a looming family mystery and dangerous bookish folk on the prowl. All the answers lie within the pages of a book, of course! This is the kind of book I like to read on a rainy day with a cup of my…
A USA Today Bestselling book! A Barnes & Noble Book of the Month! A 2019 Kids' Indie Next List Pick! A National Bestseller!
"Mr. Lemoncello would love to go bookwandering at Pages and Co. If you love books, you're going to LOVE this book!"--Chris Grabenstein, #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Mr. Lemoncello series.
An enchanting story about the magic of books and the power of imagination from debut author Anna James. Perfect for fans of Inkheart, The Land of Stories, and Story Thieves.
Since her mother's disappearance, eleven-year-old Tilly Pages has found comfort in the stories at…
A spy school for girls amidst Jane Austen’s high society.
Daughters of the Beau Monde who don’t fit London society’s strict mold are banished to Stranje House, where the headmistress trains these unusually gifted girls to enter the dangerous world of spies in the Napoleonic wars. #1 NYT bestselling author…
Ever since I was a child, I’ve enjoyed the idea of knights and dragons, kings and queens, marvelous creatures and magicks. After reading blossomed within me, I read book after book and found that the fantasy world was more than just a fancy—it was home. For over 30 years, I’ve enjoyed the good with the bad and everything in between. My imagination flourishes every time I open the pages and a new journey begins. For this reason, I delved into the realm of writing in hopes that I, too, might share an adventure that readers will find themselves lost in.
The Ruins of Gorlan for me was a reminder that you never let anyone tell you, “you can’t”.
Will was a misfit, an orphan. He was too small for battle school and becoming a knight, not adept at being a diplomat, a scholar, nor even a cook. He had no idea what would become of him. It was a fear that permeates down deep. I remember how I felt when I couldn’t go into the army, was unable to go to Devry, and I didn’t want the ordinary.
For Will, it all changes and his fantastic journey begins as he’s chosen to be the ranger’s apprentice. And I cheered inside. I knew it. He didn’t give up. We didn’t give up. And found what our skills were best suited for.
The Ruins of Gorlan is the first thrilling book in John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series - over eight million sold worldwide.
They have always scared him in the past - the Rangers, with their dark cloaks and shadowy ways. The villagers believe the Rangers practise magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now 15-year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger's apprentice.
What he doesn't yet realize is that the Rangers are the protectors of the kingdom. Highly trained in the skills of battle and surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles…
I’m an award-winning and USA Today Best-Selling author whose work includes everything from short stories in school journals to horror and epic fantasy. But I’ve long been obsessed with books that work as well for adults as they do for children. The prose must be beautiful and designed to read aloud; the plot must be on point, and the characters must be compelling. And all of this with a PG rating. A tricky ask, even when the authors haven’t added Easter egg extras for adults. It’s because of this that I believe these are some of the best fantasy books ever written. So, enjoy!
“Doors are very powerful things. Things are different on either side of them”’
I love this quote. There’s nothing like the threshold of a door when it comes to story magic! It’s steeped in tradition since long before Roman times. And Diana Wynne Jones is the underrated Queen of this whimsical genre. Her words flow so beautifully, and not only that, her characters are the cutest. I fell in love with Calcifer, the little fire demon, and the headstrong Sophie.
Now an animated movie from Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, the oscar-winning director of Spirited Away
In this beloved modern classic, young Sophie Hatter from the land of Ingary catches the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste and is put under a spell...
Deciding she has nothing more to lose, Sophie makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above her town, Market Chipping. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl, whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls...
I’ve always loved things like dragons and dinosaurs, even as a child. And as a Malaysian-born Chinese-Australian, I consumed both Western and Eastern media. I read traditional fantasy books such as The Hobbit and Game of Thrones while simultaneously learning about Chinese folklore and eating zongzi for Dragon Boat Festivals. So, while I’ve always had an interest in dragons, I specifically love the lore, magic, and mythology surrounding East Asian dragons. East Asian dragons are different from the typical fire-breathing dragons we see in Western stories. Unlike in Western media, Eastern dragons are not monsters, and it can be hard to find books that portray them in that light.
Amélie Wen Zhao’s prose is absolutely magical, with intricately layered worldbuilding and beautifully wrought imagery. I absolutely loved the dynamic between the main characters, and the dual points-of-view just added to the fun.
In this young adult fantasy, Lan, a songgirl with a secret past, and Zen, the surly magician who discovers her, must go on a quest to save their kingdom. Drawing inspiration from the ancient Chinese myth of the Four Guardians—the dragon, the tiger, the tortoise, and the bird—this story captivated me from the first sentence.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In a fallen kingdom, one girl carries the key to discovering the secrets of her nation's past—and unleashing the demons that sleep at its heart. An epic fantasy series inspired by the mythology and folklore of ancient China.
“Brims with pure magic. Zhao has woven together a story of self-discovery, slow-burning romance, and heart-pounding revelations.” —Rebecca Ross, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divine Rivals
“A magical tale set in a glittering, dangerous world featuring a dynamic heroine and an enigmatic hero.” —Isabel Ibañez, #1 New York Times bestselling author of What The River…
A gay retelling of the classic fairy tale--a scrumptious love story featuring ungrateful stepsiblings, a bake-off, and a fairy godfather.
Cinderelliot is stuck at home taking care of his ungrateful stepsister and stepbrother. When Prince Samuel announces a kingdom-wide competition to join the royal staff as his baker, the stepsiblings…
I’m a trope-obsessed author who counts found family among her favorite Ao3 tags. I cannot get enough of books which read like fanfiction, and I’ll recommend my favorites every chance I get. I also do my part to put more queer found family books into the world—my debut adult fantasy The Sins On Their Bones is being published by Random House Canada in May 2024. When I’m not writing, I’m a full-time servant to my two enormous cats.
I was immediately enthralled by this queer Jewish-found fantasy book, pitched as Scorpio Races meets Peaky Blinders.
The daughter of a renowned family facing impending ruin teams up with a rogue enchanter and an ambitious heir to win a deadly horse race using forbidden magic.
As I read this book in a single sitting, my heart felt like I was the one running a race. I loved the entire gang, as well as the star of this particular found family—the cat.
Enter the corrupt world of Veradell, where warring monarchs vie for a kingdom full of forbidden magic, illicit romance and cut-throat horse racing. Steeped in Jewish folklore, this fast-paced YA fantasy by Kalyn Josephson is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows.
Mikira Rusel is out of options. With her father imprisoned and facing rising debts, there's only one way to save her family from ruin: enter the Illinir, a high-stakes, cross-country horse race known for its high death toll as much as its flashy prize money.
To have any chance of success she'll have to recruit Ari,…
