The most recommended new adult fantasy books

I love middle-grade fantasy because there is no end to the creative worlds authors imagine.

In this world, young people compete to be lamplighters to light the lamps keeping monsters away. It is a quest book, and the hero and heroine face many hardships along the way. I love magic and interesting creatures, and this book had a lot of both. 

Shifter romances aren’t new, but this heart-wrenching story about a boy and his adoptive “pack” sets the standard. The prose reads like a simple, placid little pond and then you jump in and realize it's miles deep. Klune does what my hero, Stephen King, is so darn good at and what I aspire to do in my own paranormal novels: he imbues the story with characters that live and breathe and feel like real people. This makes the supernatural aspects of the plot feel authentic and keeps you absorbed from page one to the end.

When Gadriel, an ex-guardian-currently-fallen angel bets against Barachiel, definitely-not-the-angel-of-gamblers, the latter wins – to nobody’s (including Gadriel’s) surprise. To pay the debt Gabriel must tempt the terminally sin-free Holly Harker to be a bit less of an Agnes (or an early Mildred) and more of a Perdita (or a late Mildred). Unfortunately, Holly has no experience at being nice to herself, even in perfectly wholesome ways. Neither Lady Gadriel, Sir Gadriel, Adorkable Fluffy Kitten Gadriel, nor chocolate will tempt her! The villains include an evil secondary school history teacher, a teen band leader whose mother is definitely not called Karen, and grief.

Small Miracles is hilarious, wonderfully queer, sweet, thoughtful, and occasionally heartbreaking. I never thought a cosy YA urban fantasy would become my favourite book of 2022.

Christi Nogel is a rising star of the horror genre and The Best of Our Past, The Worst of Our Future brings together a number of her excellent, intriguing, and tantalizing short stories for the first time.

The author excels at creating tense atmospheres – fear, creeping dread (a particular favourite of mine), suspense, tension, and overall unease. Here are worlds out of synch with each other. Here are beings searching for something; anything they can make sense of. In these stories you will meet the Gothic, the haunted, and the dystopian.

There are twisted personalities – and there are beings who are not nor may ever have been, human. It’s a real cornucopia – each story unique in itself and destined to leave its mark on the reader.

Sometimes, I don’t actually want a lot of tension; there’s a reason this book kicked off a craze for cozy fantasy. I loved the relatively small stakes of an orc-turned-barista.

Watching Viv build herself a family out of the folks in her new town, binding them together in ways they had never before felt bound, reminded me how much we can accomplish in our own surroundings just by being kind. Sometimes, heroism is less about fighting with weapons and more about building something that creates warmth and community.

This book was such a fun, sapphic spin on The Little Mermaid! Instead of a mermaid falling for a human man, we have a siren falling for a female pirate captain. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in both the land and undersea worlds. I thought both Aqeara and Kae were strong female leads and loved reading the story from both their POVs.

The plot was well-paced and kept me reading, always wanting to know what happened next. The ending was unexpected and ended on a cliffhanger, but I thought it led beautifully to the sequel, which is also on my TBR.

I sometimes imagine what it would be like to wake up on top of a snowbound mountain, knowing you are alone–and then to hear footsteps outside…It is safe to imagine, of course, because I am NOT alone in a chalet in the Swiss Alps but in my own home, surrounded by my family. However, for a character in this stunning European novel, this is how it all starts.

And then, as you follow the incredible twists and turns of the plot and try to puzzle out the relationships among the characters, you realize that nothing is as it seems. The novel perfectly captures the brooding atmosphere of the Swiss Alps, which I visited as a tourist, although I did not end up in the abandoned valley haunted by echoes. I am glad I did not–but thrilled to read about the characters who did.

This book is the first book of the Fae Senses series. I really enjoyed that the main female character was a certified badass.

It talks about abuse and trauma but the main theme of the book is victim empowerment. The author wrote about her own trauma in this book, so it does get heavy, but the phrase “I am no victim” is said by the main character. I got the sense that trauma doesn’t define you. This is a message that I personally write about, and I often enjoy reading about victims who overcome and even better themselves. 

This book surprised me a lot. I was expecting a gory, grimdark, good-for-her revenge story—and it is that—but this book is also darkly funny! It gives What We Do in the Shadows vibes, but with demons.

The comic follows a duo of hapless twin siblings who are way over their heads, coming to terms with their demonic heritage, coping with emotionally unavailable parents, and running the family restaurant. I feel it perfectly balances dark comedy and gripping horror in its themes. (CW: gore)

I read this book because I enjoyed Bushnell’s two previous novels. What surprised me about this new book was the exploration of the passage of time and human aging through a supernatural crime spree.

The young woman, the main character, is driven by two motivations: how to become a detective and how to be a woman in a world in which she doesn’t exactly fit. Her friend, a young man developing his skills as a magician, accompanies her on an investigation of the mysteries of aging-gone-wild and police corruption.

It’s a good story that verges into territory held by young adult fiction. The true climax is vivid and exciting, the whole adventure ready-made for a cable series. The writer treats the improbable as probable with a very real gift for story-telling.