10 books like City of Bones

Yes, it’s about elves, centaurs, and gnomes. But it is also very much a mystery. Part police procedural with Capt. Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police, part ransom caper, and part ticking bomb suspense, Artemis Fowl mixes all of these classic crime components with fantasy, scatological humor, and unexpected twists to create a story both original and familiar. Another much-loved selection from the Cavanagh library.

While I didn’t set out to copy this novel, I have to admit that unconsciously this mashup of chick lit and horror with a vampire protagonist probably spawned my idea to write a romantic comedy/horror mashup with a protagonist who has just become a ghost. If you enjoyed Restless Spirits, this book has a similar vibe, albeit one that’s quite a bit more, ahem, spicy than you’ll typically find in my own writing. At turns hilarious, frightening, poignant, and steamy, this is probably the book that put paranormal chick-lit on the map.

The True Blood TV series was based on Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse books, though the TV version veered off the books’ path, which is to be expected. If you’ve only watched the series, you owe it to yourself to read the books. Harris has created in Sookie Stackhouse a charming southern character full of grace and humour. Sookie also has telepathy, which I’d always thought might be fun to have, until I met Sookie. And Harris doesn’t pull her punches—she puts Sookie through the ringer in every book. Each successive novel adds new twists and depth to the story, always upping the stakes and complicating Sookie’s life. I blew through this series and was sad to see it end.

Katsa, a Graceling, is unnaturally skilled at murder. As a result, she is forced to work as an assassin for her uncle, the king. Unlike the other characters on my list, Katsa hates being an assassin and loathes her abilities (in fact, she has quite a bit of self-loathing). She also prefers using her brawn over her brain. Her love interest, Po, is very much her opposite—a soft, well-read boy who also has a secret Grace of his own. Together, the two must rescue a princess and take down possibly one of the most awful villains I’ve ever read. Graceling is also part of a series that further expands the world, its characters, and its primary villain, and be prepared because it gets dark.

A vampire world once again. Cat Crawfield is a human/vampire hybrid who meets her match in a British vampire, “Bones,” who hunts his own kind. Simply said, I love Bones. He’s a man of contradictions in one body—snarky with no shame, cold-hearted as needed, but would die for the ones he loves. I’d take him home in an instant if I could gain his loyalty. The amazing mix of action, romance, and the paranormal keep me re-reading this series of books whenever I feel the need to go to a sure-fire happy place.

Wow, it is nearly impossible to choose just one of my faves from Holly Black’s faerie stories. They are all amazing! Seriously…. Every. Last. One. But what grabbed me with this book was the way it started. This story has an eerie feel to it from the very first page. I love how Holly weaves reality into her fantasy and the way the Fae are already known and accepted in their world, but also feared (because hello, they’re Fae!). There's everything in this story, romance, adventure, and coming-of-age badassery, which again bodes well if you ever find yourself face to face with the Faire Folk.

Dark and delicious. Two of the most apt words to describe this thrilling story. I adore the world Melissa created and the equally dark and delicious fae who populate it. There's a certain poetry between the characters, and I love how Aislinn learns to face her greatest fears, a skill that will serve anyone well when venturing into the dark and dangerous realm of the Fae. You'll be hooked into this story in no time because it grabs your interest from the very first page, a must for me to get invested in any story because I confess, I’m a little impatient that way. I also love the ink twist on it… and the side characters you’ll fall in love with, they will eventually all get their turn in the spotlight, which is the perfect reason to keep reading through the entire series… and to date, there are a lot… show more.

While Elrod’s work was my first taste, Hamilton’s was a close follow-up. I started reading her Anita Blake Series not long after the Vampire Chronicles, and that gave birth to the idea of legalization for things preternatural. I like to think I took it in a different direction and made it my own, but I fully credit where my inspiration has come from. In later books, I have had some issues with Anita’s personality, but early on? She was so [email protected]$$ to teenaged me and encouraged my passion for take-no-crap female leads.

If you haven’t guessed yet, I’m a fanatic for a bit of mystery in fiction. I often get bored when there is nothing for the characters to learn or discover. If it’s a story about detectives, murder, and magic, I’m 100% there! Grave Witch is a wonderful mix of witchcraft, romance, and mystery. The chemistry between the characters is sizzling and too enticing to say no. 

This seductive book is a paranormal fantasy adaptation of the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast,” but with dark elements such as a cruelly sadistic queen, a dangerously macabre villain, and a fiery, passionate romance between the beastlike hero and the brave female warrior who overcomes her fear to heal his broken heart and save the Fae realm from impending doom. I’m a French teacher, and I love how the original version of La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast)—which was penned by the female French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve—was adapted into a steamy paranormal dark fantasy romance.