Books like Wish For Me — picked by fans

I love Anita Blake, the feisty, insecure, kick-butt heroine of this story. She’s everything I want in a protagonist: Strong and clever enough to solve her own problems, naive enough to think that will always be the case, and a stranger to her own heart. Lots of room for growth. And grow, she does.

This book (and series) lean more toward the paranormal romance side of urban fantasy, but it also has a dark and gritty noir feel that walks the line of horror. This genre mash-up checked all the boxes for me, keeping me invested in the characters, the world, and the heart-pounding plot.

This series of books by Elrod was one of my first introductions into not just vampire fiction but also this style of dryly-humorous narration. Up until my mid-to-late teens, I’d read a lot of high/epic fantasy, which is typically third person and more pragmatically written, but here I met a first-person narrator who was snarky as heck. I loved it. Not only that, but it’s a vampire P.I. story that plays in the land of noir in gangland Chicago during Prohibition. It was so engaging and fun that I devoured the series as fast as I could, and when anyone asks for my inspirations, it’s at the top of my list. Like it is here.

Gotta love a hero/antihero with a great wit and a fast mouth. Most Wanted is the first book in a sci-fi series that may remind you a bit of Firefly, and I don’t use that comparison lightly. The narrator’s wit definitely puts this book on this list, but “that’s us, out here on the raggedy edge” is the soul of the book that makes the series for me. Not the best, not the brightest, not the richest or strongest, but a group doing what they can to get by and be there for each other. Maybe accidentally right some wrongs along the way.

The final book on my list rolls into epic fantasy, with oracles and dragons and magic and prophecies… All sorts of stuff to really make the life of a girl who works at a coffee shop very confusing and difficult. Poor Davie gets thrown into the deep end but works to keep her head above water. Savvy and snarky, she got to me right away, but again, it’s the heart. She’s one of those characters that inspires loyalty from the people around her and you understand why. You want to be by her side too, even if she’s got a totally sardonic inner and outer voice.

Now here is a fantasy mixed with Rom-Com like you’ve never known before. I laughed and felt my heart throb the entirety of this book.

Sometimes it’s good to step away from the morally gray love interest and fall for the sweet one. Velis is a hot genie who becomes attached to his “master” (the conjurer of his genie lamp). Dolly is a heavily self-disciplined girl with a tragic story. With a deep need of mending her struggle, Velis is the supportive, compassionate, and respectful love interest perfectly capable of such a task.

Add in a hot genie bad boy brother and you have a dramatic story worth reading.

The start of an epic fantasy adventure. Filled with djinn, magic, and myth, Dalen Pax and the Beads of Fire pulls you into an engaging fantasy world where time unravels and reforms a world of wild imagine. The protagonist begins his adventure as a normal teenager trying to find his place in the world. A world that expands with the revelation that magic exists, that time is a construct. Joined by a band of engaging characters I highly recommend joining the adventure.

Who wouldn’t want to be granted wishes? Then again, it’s best to heed the old idiom, “Be careful what you wish for.” 

Pam Wilkins lives a miserable life. When she encounters a Djinn who promises her happiness, beauty, wealth, and anything she can hope for, she is desperate enough to give in to temptation. The Djinn does, in fact, grant her wishes, but they come at a hefty cost.

Calling this book sick and twisted would be an understatement. West exceeds the boundaries of human decency. The scenes are downright vile and will surely make you gag. The story is engrossing, wildly imaginative, and has a great twist at the end.

There’s not enough Muslim historical fantasy in the world, and this one is so lavish and full of aching romance—my favorite kind! It takes us from 18th-century Cairo, where con-girl Nahri accidentally summons centuries-old deava warrior Dara, to the fabled City of Brass, its walls covered in enchanted statues, home to rival clans of djinn.   

I love how the tribes of Deavabad reflect different parts of the Islamic world and its pre-Islamic culture. For example, the main djinn faith reflects Islam, whereas the deava faith with its fire temple reflects the Zoroastrianism of ancient Persia. It’s a complex, believable world in which I can immerse myself, full of revelations, betrayals, tugs of loyalty, and dilemmas of love.

While some people may not think of genies (or jinn) as monsters in the same category as Bigfoot or dragons, from a cultural and folkloric point of view they definitely are.

Most Americans probably think of the wisecracking genie in Disney’s Aladdin, but belief in genies is both serious and widespread. In his book Legends of the Fire Spirits journalist Robert Lebling describes how the creatures appear in the Koran (hint: it’s closer to the recent film Three Thousand Years of Longing).

They are in some ways the Muslim equivalent of Christian angels, imbued with magical powers and viewed by the devout not as real and tangible as you or I. What I love about this book is how Lebling reveals the real stories of jinn—in both their wonder (granting wishes) and terrible vengeance (mass murder).

As with all monsters, whether you believe in them or not is… show more.

There is a fine line between silly and slapstick. This book manages to stay just barely on the good side of that line. Basically, we have two kids with genies being chased by bad guys. The danger motivates the kids to make wishes. The wishes are unlimited, but so are the consequences. Little wishes have little consequences while a big enough wish comes with death. Reading about the kids being forced to hop up and down, clap their hands and make weird noises as a result of the wishes is highly entertaining. But there are also a lot of openings for serious discussion as the kids try to negotiate smaller wishes to achieve similar results.  Which consequences would you accept?