Here are 83 books that The Bone Witch fans have personally recommended if you like
The Bone Witch.
Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
I have been dreaming of dragons since I was a little girl, but I can never be certain what exactly drew me in–maybe it was Dragon Tales, a show from my childhood that haunts me to this day. They fascinate me more than anything in the world, and to be able to craft my own version of them has been my greatest joy. I have never wanted anything more than the ability to ride a dragon. To be connected to something so magical and powerful that there are legends about them throughout the world, to have even a glimpse of them. They’re everything to me.
If we’re talking dragons and just dragons–technically, they’re wyverns, and technically, they didn’t show up until the third book, but I was absolutely captivated by the whole series. It drew me out of a years-long reading slump and left a hole in my chest since finishing. I felt each book becoming part of my being.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas started a worldwide phenomenon when she published her debut novel, Throne of Glass. To date, Sarah's books have spent more than 92 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and she has hit #1 on charts around the world. Her books have sold more than seven million copies and have been translated into 36 languages. Throne of Glass alone has sold over one million copies. Now you can own this epic fantasy classic in a deluxe hardcover collector's edition.
Throne of Glass begins the sweeping saga of assassin Celaena Sardothien,…
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!
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.
Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered.
There are no teachers, no holidays, friendships are purely strategic, and the odds of survival are never equal. Once you're inside, there are only two ways out: you graduate or you die.
El Higgins is uniquely prepared for the school's many dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions - never mind easily destroy the countless monsters that prowl the school.
Except, she might accidentally kill all the other students, too. So El is trying…
I’m a Black woman who writes stories about Black girls who aren’t all that nice. And, to me, that means writing stories where Black girls are at the forefront of their stories and given the space to be whoever they are, wholly and without minimizing their character to make them fit into neat boxes next to others. I do this because being able to take up space as you are is, oftentimes, a privilege. And I want to make sure the stories I write offer that space to every reader who picks up one of my books.
I would not be a writer had I not read this book. It was the first time I saw a Black girl be the main character in a fantasy novel, and she doesn’t limit herself to playing by the rules.
Jane McKeene is a troublemaker with a smart mouth, but she’s fearless against the shamblers (zombies), resourceful, and her complicated friendship with Kate was something I loved every minute of.
Trained at Miss Preston's School of Combat for Negro Girls in both weaponry and etiquette, Jane McKeene is poised for a successful career protecting the wealthy from the encroaching plague of walking dead. But when families begin to go missing, Jane uncovers a conspiracy that pits her against some powerful enemies. Sent far from home, Jane will need all her resourcefulness, wit and strength of character to survive.
A powerful, compelling tale of a young girl's journey through a hostile world, Jane McKeene is an unforgettable protagonist, and Dread Nation is an unforgettable book.
As a Gen Xer I came of age when Dungeons & Dragons was taking young imaginations by storm and creating an entirely new type of gamer. I grew up in a small town in the northwoods of Wisconsin and spent my days imagining fantasy worlds in the woods and playing D&D when the weather made the outdoors inhospitable. Those adventures of the mind are the key inspiration for my writing and the Loresmith series, which concludes with Bound By Sword and Spirit, is my love letter to D&D. I still play and am currently DMing a campaign with my family. It’s my niece’s first time playing – such a treat!
Marie Lu knows how to craft an adventure and the premise of The Young Elites is fascinating: what if the hero of the story might be a villain?
The struggles of this novel’s characters draw the reader in and never flag in their authenticity. The world is brutal and beautiful with Lu keeping readers on their toes every step of the way.
Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood plague: marked by a jagged scar, snow-white hair and lashes. Cast out by her family, Adelina has finally found a place to belong within the secret society of Young Elites. To some, the Elites are heroes, here to save innocents in desperate situations. But to the Inquisition Axis, the white-robed soldiers of Kenettra, they are monsters with demonic powers who must be brought to justice. As Adelina learns more about this perilous world where politics and magic clash, she soon realizes that her own powers may be in danger of bringing on…
I love imperfect characters. They are more interesting, memorable, and three-dimensional than characters who have everything figured out. Imperfect characters are the most believable and readable because they are mirrors of ourselves. We live their stories more easily, and imperfect characters live the most awesome stories. Finding an imperfect female main character inhabiting a world full of conflict and then watching her strength emerge through a well-told story is one of my favorite reading experiences.
Karou is caught in a war between angels and demons (the ultimate simplified description). And Karou is a main character I love to cheer for. She's just so witty and full of angst on a totally relatable level. She's having the mother of all identity crises and feeling the ultimate tug of war between the human world and a dimension inhabited by the strange creatures that raised her.
Pair that awesome premise with Laini Taylor's incredibly lush writing, and the story is just fantastic. I kept turning page after page not only to immerse myself in Taylor's beautiful prose but also because this story is just compelling. I've reread this entire series, and I loved it even more the second time through.
The 10th anniversary edition of the first in Laini Taylor's breathtaking fantasy trilogy
'Remarkable and beautifully written . . . The opening volume of a truly original trilogy.' GUARDIAN
Errand requiring immediate attention. Come.
The note was on vellum, pierced by the talons of the almost-crow that delivered it. Karou read the message. 'He never says please', she sighed, but she gathered up her things.
When Brimstone called, she always came.
In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand, she's a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand-girl to a…
I’ve been in love with cozy, low-stakes fantasy ever since my mother first handed me a copy of The Hobbit—so for most of my life. I love the focus on place and small comforts, the humble (and often unwilling!) heroes, the slower pace that builds to an emotional crescendo (as well as an action-packed one!), and the way these stories always leave me feeling warm, like I’ve just shared a coffee with a loved one. It should come as no surprise, then, that these are the kinds of stories I love writing best.
The older I get, the more I appreciate fantasy stories with lower, more personal stakes than, for example, saving the world from impending doom. I want the escapism of fantasy and magic grounded in emotions and scenarios I can relate to in some small way.
The Bone Houses is, amongst the walking corpses, the undead goat, the Welsh folklore, and the magic cauldron, a story about a young woman grieving for her father, and a young man searching for family. I found this book when I was still working through the grief of losing my own father—a Welshman and a miner just like the father in the story—and it felt like it had been written just for me.
Seventeen-year-old Aderyn ("Ryn") only cares about two things: her family, and her family's graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote Welsh village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to fae creatures known as the Otherfolk. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don't always stay dead.
The risen corpses are known as "bone houses," and legend says that…
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 been intrigued by the “darker” aspects of life ever since I can remember. Having had strange, paranormal experiences as a child, it doesn’t surprise me at all that I’m drawn to books that cover the very things I’ve always wanted to know more about – and it’s even less surprising that I now write about them myself! There’s so much to be explored in the depths, the darkness, the void... highlighting that polarity and bringing it front and center is what I feel I’m here to do through my writing. I hope you enjoy the books on this list as much as I have!
This is a multi-POV dark fantasy series that I literally could not put down! The cast of characters is quite extensive (very Game of Thrones-esque) and I loved connecting the many storylines. This series has a little bit of everything – romance, action, magic, and of course, the fantasy aspects we all know and love!
Fantasy, romance and magic meld with unforgettable characters in this sensational series debut. Falling Kingdoms is perfect for fans of George RR Martin's Game of Thrones, JRR Tolkein'sThe Hobbit, and Trudy Canavan's Black Magician trilogy.
In a land where magic has been forgotten and peace has reigned for centuries, unrest is simmering . Three kingdoms battle for power . . .
A princess must journey into enemy territory in search of a magic long-thought extinct.
A rebel becomes the leader of a bloody revolution.
A Sorceress discovers the truth about the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.
Since I was a child, stories steeped in secrets have fascinated me. I spent many hours devouring books about detectives and spies, shadows and deceit. As an adult, it is a rare treat to discover one that is so engaging I must know how it unfolds as soon as possible, and is told in a way that leaves me surprised by how it ends. Each of these books is deliciously tricky, inspiring me to read quickly, before the ghosts between the pages could escape to haunt me.
An allegedly haunted house, an evil step-sister, an abandoned and rotting town, and distrustful neighbors crowd together in this sharply told story about a girl running from her past. With each page, my paranoia grew until there was no easy way to tell what was real, and what was a red herring. This book was freaky. I was afraid to read it late at night because if I did, my over-active imagination would absolutely torture me with sinister nightmares.
The Haunting of Hill House meets Get Out in this chilling YA psychological thriller and modern take on the classic haunted house story from New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson!
Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her…
I am a writer and all-around nerd living in California. When I was a kid, I loved scaring myself silly with ghost stories. My school’s tiny library had a stock of Goosebumpsbooks that I devoured like candy. Ever since, I’ve loved stories about the things we are afraid of—especially the ones that make us question where that fear comes from. The books on my list blend my love of horror and fantasy. They are stories to make you shiver, and stories to make you think. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.
The Good Demon is unlike anything else I’ve read. It’s eerie, intimate, and spellbinding. Clare’s demon was her best friend, her Only, right up until her parents called a priest to cast the demon out. Now the only thing Clare wants is to get her demon back. It’s hard to say more about this book other than that it is very, very, good. The horror elements are scary in the way of abandoned houses and shadows seen from the corner of your eye. If you like your stories strange and moody and your characters flawed, you should definitely give this book a try.
It wasn't technically an exorcism, what they did to Clare. When
the reverend and his son ripped her demon from her, they called it a
"deliverance." But they didn't understand that Clare and her demon-known
simply as Her-were like sisters. She comforted Clare, made her feel
brave, helped to ease her loneliness. They were each other's Only.
Now, Clare's only comforts are the three clues that She left behind:
Be nice to him
June 20
Remember the stories
Clare will do anything to get Her back, even if it means teaming up with
the reverend's son and scouring every inch…
