As an employee at Barnes & Noble in my hometown, it’s essential to be able to recommend books to customers when they ask. The following five books or series are my go-to’s when I recommend fantasy, which also happens to be my favorite genre.
- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
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The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas series follows Celaena, a teenage assassin, who was arrested and held in a slave prison. Called on to represent the prince, she leaves the camp to fight for her spot as the King’s Champion. The series contains eight books, including one prequel, and each is told from multiple points of view, with new characters introduced throughout. This was one of the first series that got me back into reading during quarantine, and I’m forever grateful to Maas for giving me it. Each book is filled with emotions like love, grief, and anticipation. By the end of the series, readers feel more connected to these characters than any other book. I will recommend these books forever.
- Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
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Once Upon a Broken Heart is a spin-off of the Caraval series by Stephanie Garber. The trilogy is about a girl with pink hair, Evangeline, who makes a deal with the Prince of Hearts, Jacks. The Prince agrees to stop the boy Evangeline thought was the love of her life from marrying her sister in return for three kisses of Jacks’ choosing. I picked up this series without reading the Caraval trilogy and was immersed immediately. I fell in love with Jacks from the first chapter that he was introduced and read the first two books within just a few days. The third and final trilogy book came out a few weeks ago, on Oct. 24, and I went to Stephanie Garber’s book signing and listened to her talk. The one song she used to describe the book was “You’re Losing Me” by Taylor Swift and it made me nervous. After reading the book, I can confidently say that that was the perfect song to describe it.
- Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
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Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo has been, and will forever be my all-time favorite book. It follows Alex Stern, a Yale college student, who can see and communicate with ghosts. During the first third of the book, I was confused and trying to figure out what was going on, but when I got it, I was hooked. The characters were more real than other books I’ve read, each with real flaws and human problems. It’s classified as a low fantasy because the story takes place in the real world but with whimsical elements. I haven’t read the second book, Hell Bent, yet, just because I know I’ll have to be zoned-in to fully understand it like I did with the first one, and I want to dedicate time and energy fully to it.
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
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If you like heists, friendship, and the found-family trope, this duology is for you. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo takes place in Ketterdam and is a spin-off of the Shadow and Bone trilogy. Six of Crows follows six young people who commit a heist while simultaneously creating their own family. Netflix spun the Shadow and Bone books and Six of Crows books together to create the Shadow and Bone show. I remember staying up until midnight and then watching the entire show, which took eight hours on a school night during quarantine, and I would do it all over again. I found my family within these pages and I can’t wait for this duology to get its own spin-off show.
- Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
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Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi was definitely my series of the year in 2022. I read the six books and the three novellas in less than a month. The series follows a girl, Juliette, who was held in a cell because everyone she touched died. Her touch was lethal until she met Adam and Warner, whom she could touch without killing them. I had known spoilers before reading the book because it has been trending on TikTok, but I still felt like everything I read was new. This series was heart-wrenchingly beautiful and these characters have stuck with me since. I always know the series is going to be good when one love interest is advertised in the first book and then it changes to a completely different person in the rest of the books, which is exactly what this series did.