Fall brings a sense of comfort––being enveloped by a sweet, musky scent and leather as you feel the cool, crisp air on your face. It is a time for paranormal romances, mysteries, libraries, tea, and the rustling of leaves after they’ve completed their gentle descent.
Here are seven books that are reminiscent of those sensations.
1. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
This is the first novel in The Raven Cycle series, and it is truly a classic!
The Raven Cycle involves a Welsh legend, four Aglionby Academy boys, and Blue.
Blue Sargent lives with her psychic mother and aunts. Every St. Mark’s Eve, Blue and her mother, Maura, go to the churchyard and wait for the dead. The spirits that they see are those who will die in the next twelve months, but Blue never sees the spirits. She keeps track of the names while her mother speaks to them, but one night––it happens––she sees someone. His name is Gansey, and he’s a Raven boy.
Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah are Raven Boys on a quest, and Blue is drawn to them in a way she can’t entirely explain.
The Raven Boys has elements of found family and multi dimensional characters that allow for commentary on class structure, power dynamics, and friendship. The plot is thoroughly intriguing, but the characters will stay with you forever. These Raven boys and Blue have my heart.
2. Vicious by V.E. Schwab
As the first novel in a duology, Vicious plays with themes of corruption, jealousy, desire, and superpowers.
Victor and Eli are college roommates who see aspects of themselves in the other. Their senior thesis combines their shared interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and supernatural events. They hypothesize that under certain conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. Their thesis, however, doesn’t remain in the academic sphere, and they want to experiment with it in reality.
Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison and wishes to see Eli again. Eli is on a mission to eliminate any other extraordinary (EO) people he can find. Both are driven by a sense of betrayal and loss that fuels their version of revenge and justice.
V.E. Schwab is a master at prose. This book examines morality in a way that manipulates our understanding of hero and villain, right and wrong. It contemplates the route of corruption and if power or the person is the corrupting force.
3. The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
This novel is the first in a trilogy and follows Avery Grames and the Hawthornes as they attempt to decipher a dead man’s game.
Avery receives nearly the entire fortune of billionaire Tobias Hawthorne. She doesn’t know why she was chosen, but Hawthorne House is filled with family members who are suspicious of her and wish to find loopholes in the will.
In a world she is unaccustomed to, Avery must play the game to find answers and survive.
This series is consuming and intriguing! I was drawn to the world and characters, and I couldn’t help but want to experience more with them. It is filled with riddles and a romance subplot that will make you want to keep turning the page until you have answers. The Hawthorne brothers are enigmatic. They draw you in, and you will love them!
4. An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
This standalone, fantasy novel incorporates fae that are separated into realms based on the four seasons. It has beautiful prose that depicts the potential, awe, and comfort of fall.
Isobel is a painter in the mortal realm, and the fair folk hunger for human Craft. When she paints Rook, the autumn prince, she makes the mistake of painting mortal sorrow in his eyes, a weakness to the fair folk.
Rook takes her to his kingdom where she is meant to stand trial for her crime, but something is wrong in his world. Both their lives are put at risk when their reluctant alliance turns into love, and Isobel discovers that her Craft has the power to make the fair folk feel.
5. Before We Were Strangers by Renée Carlino
A standalone, contemporary romance that is beautiful and heartbreaking all at once.
The novel features a second chance romance, reuniting after years apart, and an alternating perspective from past and present versions of the characters.
They met in the NYU dorms. Grace played the cello and Matt was a photographer. Their friendship began to blossom as they grew together, as artists and people.
Somehow everything fell apart and they lost touch the summer after graduation when Matt went to South America to work for National Geographic. When he came back, Grace was gone.
After a chance encounter on a subway 15 years later, Matt writes a missed connection ad.
6. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
The first in a trilogy featuring a paranormal romance.
Mara wakes up in the hospital from a coma. She can’t remember the accident that killed her three friends or why she was the only one unharmed. No matter how hard she tries, she can’t seem to outrun the accident. Mara sees her dead friends everywhere and begins to see other people’s deaths before they happen.
This series is mysterious, suspenseful, and thoroughly intriguing. As with many of the books in this list, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is best read without knowing much about the plot or progression of the characters feelings.
7. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
There is a café in a back alley of Tokyo that has been serving coffee for over one hundred years, and local legend says it offers the chance to travel back in time.
Four customers visit the café with the hope of traveling back in time. However, there are rules, and the trip can only last as long as it takes for the coffee to get cold.
This book made me choke on my sobs. However, to say it is a sad book would not be entirely accurate. It is so beautiful and layered. It will make you see the world––and the people in it––in an entirely new way. The novel is heartwarming, wistful, and you will be transported along with these characters, opening up your heart to the potential for growth and love.
These seven books will evoke and enhance the comfort of the season, and I hope the characters and stories will provide you with a warmth that juxtaposes the chill in the air.