The most recommended fairy books

In my book, the hero enlists his students in a treasure hunt using a book by Byron Preiss called The Secret as a guide. In 1982 Preiss traveled to twelve spots in North America, at each of which he buried a ceramic casque. Each casque contained a key that could be redeemed for a jewel. To find a casque, the seeker had to match one of twelve paintings to one of twelve poems. The hunt has lasted four decades and involves thousands of players. Only three of the twelve hiding places have been found. Be careful! The Secret has drawn in much more cynical readers than you.

Imagine if you could meet someone from the past without realising? This is what drew me to this magical book. When you are young there are things you just don’t question and this is what I was like. I saw things that adults would have said weren’t there. But I didn’t believe them. I only believed in the power of my imagination. For me anything could appear; a small creature under a tree in the garden or Santa’s sleigh flying through the sky at Christmas – it was all so real I could reach out and touch it. In Darkling Wood is one of those stories that wrap themselves around you and whisk you away, where you’ll leave believing in magic!

The Tasmanian setting and more subtle, understated snark of the protagonist threw me for a loop for the first part of this book, but it had been highly recommended to me so I stuck with it (plus I loved the premise and characters of this urban fantasy romp). By the end of it and into the second and third books in the series I was head-over-heels in love with the series, the author’s voice, and her wonderfully unique Aussie sense of humor. We all know that the first book can be a bit rough, and I promise you that by the end of the series I was so blown away by the excellent story-smithing and craftsmanship of Ms. Gingell that this series is one of my top favorite.

Faeblood Unbroken by Alyiah Marie Gonzales is exactly what I needed when I started reading indie novels. In this diverse collision of fae and vampire lore, we follow Elyria through a magnetic, romantic slow burn with Zarina Sinclair, and both women are incredibly tender and fierce through Gonzales’ descriptive writing. The tension in this novel shines through how the women communicate and handle complications, while the lightheartedness in this novel does an excellent job of propelling us through the darkness of their character arcs and introspective decisions. This novel brings the feelings of women to the forefront of its imaginative storytelling, and I look forward to seeing where else the diversity will unfold as the series continues. 

K.M. Shea writes light, fluffy urban fantasy, the perfect comfort book snack. They're always sprinkled with a refreshing layer of goodness and deeper meaning, leaving you feeling refreshed and happy at the end.

The King's Captive, the first in the Gates of Myth and Power series from her Magiford Supernatural City world, is my absolute favorite so far because the main character CAN TURN INTO A CAT!! Squee!

The subtle humor, snarky narration voice of the main character, and sweet romance that develops is just perfect. Plus there was some great friendships for the main characters to lean on as they battled their interior and exterior demons. I loved the whole trilogy and was so sad there wasn't more.

In the first of two books, Stiefvater introduces us to Deirdre, an accomplished teen musician who has just met the mysterious Luke—who just happens to be a faerie that none of her friends or family can see. Oh, and he’s also an assassin. Caught between a mundane life of music recitals, school, and her family on one side, and the dangerous world of faerie on the other, what’s a girl to do? As a nerd and a loner growing up, what I wouldn’t have given for a secret faerie friend who dragged me into a world of magic and danger! Although Stiefvater has gone on to write more complex novels, her faerie duology will always have a place in my heart.

Fablehaven was a huge hit for good reason. It’s an alternate reality story where fantastical creatures, like fairies and satyrs live right under our noses.

The series follows a brother and sister who take very different paths to protect this hidden magical world. Brandon Mull has other equally creative and engaging books that are hard to put down.

I loved how otherworldly mates Rhys and Feyre formed a fierce alliance with the winged Illyrian warriors of the Night Court. A fiery novel of passion, power, politics, and pain—all wrapped up in a sizzling, steamy, paranormal romance filled with fantasy and Fae!

To me, the passion between Rhys and Feyre is very much like The Phantom of the Opera, which I adored. Rhys is dark, mysterious, and dangerously seductive, like the Phantom. And Feyre, like Christine Daaé, is irresistibly drawn to the fiercely loyal man within the terrifying beast.

Tiffany Aching comes from a long line of sheepherders and seems to be an ordinary 12-year-old – until the day she sees something odd in the water, goes home and fetches her mother’s frying pan, puts her baby brother next to the brook and clobbers the monster that tries to snatch him. Tiffany, it seems, is a witch, and not your average witch either. With the help of the Wee Free Men, “Pictsies” who refuse to bow to the rule of the Queen of Faerie, she must journey into that dangerous realm to rescue the son of the local baron – upsetting all her village’s deeply held ideas about heroes and witches.

Enys Tregarthen’s tales have bought Cornish magic into every home for a hundred years.

I have spent a lot of time with her books and retold many tales in my book. North Cornwall Fairies and Legends is a basket full of piskeys, (the Cornish fairy folk.) One of my favourites is the Piskey’s Revenge, which I retold for Cornish storytelling project Mazed. It is illustrated by Steven Lambert, and used in Cornishibai street storytelling.

It tells how Granfer accidentally digs up the piskey beds, in revenge, the piskeys eat all Granfer’s birthday biscuits. Enys writes about the children of Cornwall and what they encounter: they meet piskey friends up on the moors, little stone figures come alive in towns and aways there is an excuse for piskey mischief.

This book was so much fun. Quintessential urban fantasy—a supernatural world overlaying the real world, with a fantastic jumble of supernatural characters, including fae, shifters, vampires, genies, and more. There’s mystery and romance and fae politics and magic, and it was an absolute blast to uncover the world and get to know the characters. The main character is part-genie, but has a curse put on her so she can only use a little of her magic. She is framed for a crime, so she has to figure out what is really going on. One of my favorite aspects was that it was pretty mild when it came to the sensual elements, so while it had plenty of romantic tension, there was more plot than sex, which I prefer. 

October (Toby) Daye, is half human, half faerie. She’s done trying to earn the respect of her immortal relatives, and begins to make a nice, human life for herself. Until spell and a murder pull her back into the dangerous immortal tangle of shifting alliances and strange bedfellows. In spite of her supernatural origins, Toby isn’t a superhero. But when she gets sucked into the fantasy stuff there’s no “oh, no, this is impossible! How can this be real?” to wade through. She knows what the deal is and she dives, somewhat reluctantly, into it.

Jennifer’s Murdley’s Toad was another one of my absolute favorites as a kid. It's a hilarious adventure full of goofy characters and magical twists, but all of the fun masks a serious undercurrent about physical insecurities and embracing who you are, warts and all. Coville’s book served as a source of inspiration for my debut novel in many regards. There's the wisecracking, Humphrey-Bogart-impersonating toad. A toad who Jennifer must fight to protect even though he's driving her up the wall. And then there's the not-so-terrible, self-obsessed bully, who reluctantly becomes part of the gang. And of course, the courageous choice Jennifer must ultimately make at the end of the story. Jennifer Murdley’s Toad remains one of my favorites for its message, deftly handled cast of characters, and most importantly, how much fun it is to read. 

Yeats, a mystic poet, travelled across Ireland in the late 1800s and early 1900s, asking country people if they’d ever seen fairies and taking down their stories. “I believe when I am in the mood that all nature is full of people whom we cannot see,” he wrote in an earlier book, The Celtic Twilight. “Even when I was a boy I could never walk in a wood without feeling that at any moment I might find before me somebody or something I had long looked for without knowing….” Yates believed the songs and stories "handed down among the cottages” were “Folk art [which]… because it has gathered into itself the simplest and most unforgettable thoughts of the generations… is the soil where all great art is rooted.”  His own poetry bears this out. 

This book is a fantasy romance novel that takes place in a world where humans live alongside fae. Except the fae and humans are at war and living in a divided world. The lives of the king of the fae and the daughter of a human general end up intertwined and the story that develops between them is wonderful. This book is for those who love enemies-to-lovers tropes and new magic systems.

This book, the first in a trilogy, ticks off several of my favorite genres and tropes. It’s a retelling of the Scottish ballad of Tam Lin (which I love), it’s set in a small college town, and it deals with a strange otherworld community beneath the surface. Following her older sister’s suicide, Finn Sullivan and her father relocated to upstate New York. Here, Finn’s path crosses that of the powerful, mysterious Fata family, and gets herself pulled into a strange new world that’s as beautiful as it is threatening. 

Beneath the surface of this beautifully written old-style fairytale there lies a compelling examination of free will. This thematic depth adds a delicious, chewy meat to what is already an enjoyable romantic read. I loved the characters here. Jenny’s repeated struggle to overcome the fairytale roles that are imposed upon her, and the properly dark consequences of failure in the fairy realm, make this an excellent YA romance adventure that's hard to forget.

I love stories set in modern times, with the fae living—secretly—in the local woods. It reminds me of the uncanny in real life, and the possibility of adventure.

The pleasure of this rendition of the fae-next-door is that the human realm is brought fully to life and slowly entwines with the fantastical. Also: It gradually dawned on me that the human thread of the story is a fairy tale in its own right. That really twisted my expectations.

This Final Fantasy and DnD-inspired contemporary fantasy has 5 POVs, but we’re really here for prickly leather queen Nausicaä. Nos is a sarcastic ex-Fury with a short temper, a sword, and a serious grudge against the Deities who exiled her to the mortal realm. She’s old, she’s cranky, and she’s totally soft for Arlo, an adorable half-fae girl on a mission to uncover the mystery behind unsolved magic murders in Toronto. I seriously can’t resist a grump and sunshine team-up. 

This book looks back to a simple act that had rippling effects. The historical thread is set in 1917, a dark time. 

We sometimes forget people at the time didn’t know how the war would end and desperately needed hope. In this story, two young girls claim they photographed fairies, an innocent tale. But the two become famous when Sir Arthur Conan Doyles hears of it.

One hundred years later, a woman discovers the story and photograph and realizes that what is real and what is fantasy can intertwine today just as it had back then.

This story made me consider how easily people can be convinced of something they desperately want to believe. What if this seemingly impossible thing happened? How does that change how I view the world?

These questions kept me turning pages. This was a 5-star read for me.