100 books like Spirit Legacy

While True Blood saw this series come to life on the small screen, the books are a lighter and deeper option for anyone who loved the show but wants to get more background info. 

I read this series before the show came out and thoroughly enjoyed all the funny bits that weren’t as prevalent in the HBO version. Sookie was funny and fierce as I recall, which is an excellent combo for a leading lady to be.

Aveyard’s magical imagination is second to none. I’d never encountered books with so much magic wielded in so many unique ways. I consider these books lessons on how to write magic well. Although the Red Queen books feature a strong kickass heroine in Mare Barrow, they are different from the others that I’ve recommended in that they are set in an imaginary world. They also don’t have the same level of humour. But those differences don’t matter one bit. Aveyard’s characters evoke empathy, indignation, and hatred in equal measure. The pace is solid, and the stakes are high for the heroine, Mare Barrow. You won’t want this series to end (I know I didn’t).

The main character in this book is a badass, snarky, strong female lead and I fell in love with her immediately. But I also loved the humour in this book.

Annette Marie is particularly good at creating humourous dialogue and she did it so well in this book. There is also a reverse harem type of feel with several mages all of whom are kind of competing for the attention of the lead character.

However, unlike some reverse harem series on the market, this one is very clean with light romance – the plot is more focused around mystery-solving and action, my favourite combination! I tore through the entire series in a few weeks. Highly addictive reading!

Ann Charles is someone I want to shoot tequila with, and I don’t shoot tequila. But I would with Ann. Her deadwood series had me laughing out loud. She writes characters so well that you’ll feel like you know them right down to their roots. You’ll be cheering on the good guys, hightailing it away from the scary ones, and cringing when you just know someone’s heading in the wrong direction. I’m immensely impressed that with each new book, Ann presents an original twisty mystery with a wicked sense of humour. And not only is she a talented, award-winning, and best-selling author, but she’s down-to-earth, and also organizes an annual fan party for her readers. I’m one of those fans and eagerly await her next book!

I was first captivated by the stunning cover, but stayed because I love stories about groups of friends and the emotions and connections that bind them for better or worse. Deep in Providence showcases this beautifully through the lenses of Miliani, Inez, and Natalie, three girls whose lives are shattered when their friend Jasmine is killed by a drunk driver. The girls turn to Filipino spells and folklore in an attempt to bring Jasmine back from the dead. Desperation and yearning bleed through these pages, and by the end, I was sobbing. This book is a beautiful exploration of grief, told in the tenderest way.

Finley’s divorcing parents send her to live with her grandparents and she struggles to fit in.

Her battle to find her place worried me as I dove into her story. Unlike Finley, I had a library of books where I could escape. Instead, she wrote about a fantasy world in a journal, to feel sane. When she discovers her fantasy world is real and right next door, this magical forest becomes her salvation, and things begin to make sense.

The trees were my friends as a child as well, and in both our cases, the magic of the forest helped us find our footing in the real world. Finley’s journey supported my belief that a trust in magic and the trees can help guide you in your real world.  

This is my favorite The Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling! Heather Dixon includes all twelve princesses, named after various plants, and gives them distinct enough personalities that not only can you keep them straight, you care about each one. This story follows Azalea, the eldest of the twelve sisters, and the mysterious Keeper, who invites the princesses to dance every night in his silver forest. But the Keeper likes to keep things, and can Azalea bear to pay the cost? Eerie and gorgeous, romantic and masterful!

In this fantastical story, which is a companion to Furthermore, a lonesome girl scrubs the skin of the dead to ready souls for the afterlife. (Sounds properly spooky, doesn’t it? I love when books give me chills!) And when things are especially dark, as they are for Laylee, friendship shines all the brighter once it is found. 

I originally found this book used, for a buck, read a few pages, and decided to chance it. I have now read it multiple times, loving the notion of ghostly beings among us, and of time shifts, in a context that really makes sense in a story. (It helps that I’m also a sucker for old spooky houses.) I quickly imagined myself in these pages, part of the fabric of risk, intrigue, and danger, never guessing where it all might end up. Let’s see if you do.

Another haunted house story, with a similar emphasis on atmosphere. A sister and brother visit a friend whose house is infected with competing ghostly forces. A constant sense of dread permeates the atmosphere. Blackwood keeps the reader on edge, waiting for the shoe to drop. And that’s it. It may pale by today’s standards of horror, but the novel excels at how ghostly presences vie for dominance.