Category Archives: Fantasy & Paranormal

Spectacular by Stephanie Garber

Snowflakes are falling. Invitations are arriving. And holiday magic is swirling in the capital city of the Meridian Empire. It’s Great Holiday Eve Eve. Scarlett Dragna is planning a spectacular Holiday celebration for the city. Donatella is searching for the perfect gift. Julian is looking ridiculously handsome in green. And Legend… Well, sadly Legend is not fond of the Great Holiday. Tella is hoping her perfect gift will change his mind. Unfortunately, she hasn’t found this perfect gift just yet. But it is Great Holiday Eve Eve… surely there’s some holiday magic swirling around. Welcome, welcome back to the world of Caraval, where even holidays are not as they seem.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sex work mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & mentions of smoking
  • Protagonist is drugged, kidnapped, held captive, and sexually assaulted (groped and forced to kiss her kidnapper)

The Rise of Neptune by Scott Reintgen

The Rise of Neptune by Scott Reintgen

Lunar Jones and the Dread Knights have brought hope to Mars. Between Dread’s power and a newly formed alliance with Earth, the once-dying planet is headed for prosperity at last. The only shadow is the one cast by Dav Robinson’s Neptune is coming. As predicted, Neptune’s ships arrive in Martian space—and they’re not interested in talking. The ships launch an immediate attack. Lunar was prepared for hostilities, but the way the attack happens is unexpected. Neptune’s dragons seem divided, and its ships, while countless in number, are almost too easy to defeat. It’s clear… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Fantasy violence & battles, including combat & stabbings

Miles Morales Suspended by Jason Reynolds

Miles Morales Suspended by Jason Reynolds

Miles Morales is still just your average teenager. He has unexpectedly become totally obsessed with poetry and can never seem to do much more than babble around his crush. Nothing too weird. Oh! Except, just yesterday, he used his spidey superpowers to save the world (no biggie) from an evil mastermind called The Warden. And the grand prize Miles gets for that is… Suspension. But what begins as a long boring day of in-school suspension is interrupted by a little bzzz in his mind. His spidey-sense is telling him there’s something not quite right here, and soon he finds himself in a fierce battle with an insidious… termite? His unexpect.. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & classism
  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Fantasy violence
  • Emesis

Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds

Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds

Miles Morales is just your average teenager. Dinner every Sunday with his parents, chilling out playing old-school video games with his best friend, Ganke, crushing on brainy, beautiful poet Alicia. He’s even got a scholarship spot at the prestigious Brooklyn Visions Academy. Oh yeah, and he’s Spider Man. But lately, Miles’s spidey-sense has been on the fritz. When a misunderstanding leads to his suspension from school, Miles begins to question his abilities. After all, his dad and uncle were Brooklyn jack-boys with criminal records. Maybe kids like Miles aren’t meant to be superheroes. Maybe Miles should take his… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Physical injury (broken nose & wrist)
  • Death from a spearing mentioned
  • Death from an uncle from accidental suicide (gun accident)
  • Physical assault (fistfights)

The Leaving Room by Amber McBride

Accidentally in Love by Amber McBride

Gospel is the Keeper of the Leaving Room—a place all young people must phase through when they die. The young are never ready to leave; they need a moment to remember and a Keeper to help their wispy souls along. Gospel assumes that there are countless other Leaving Rooms because many children pass, but she suspects they are not like her Leaving Room which is small (like a walk in closet)with shelves full of tiny jars that hold the memories of those who have gone. When a random door opens and a Keeper named Melody arrives, their souls become entangled. Gospel seriousness… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a child (theme)
  • Car accident
  • Animal death mentioned (bird)

Anathema by Keri Lake

Accidentally in Love by Keri Lake

Only the banished know what lies beyond the woods… There are whispers about what lurks in Witch Knell—the forest where sinners go to die. The villagers call it The Eating Woods because what’s taken is never given back. Only those who’ve lost their senses would dare to go near it. Or the banished… Maevyth Bronwick knows better than to breach the misty labyrinth of trees, but a tragic turn of events compels her beyond the archway of bones, to a boundary no mortal has crossed before. One that cloaks a dark and fantastical world that’s as dangerous as it is alluring. It’s there that… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Sexual assault & threats of rape
  • Body horror

The Miracle on Ebenezer Street by Catherine Doyle

When George stumbles across Marley’s Curiosity Shop at the Christmas fair he finds a mysterious snow globe. The scene it contains is just the first in a series of impossibilities . . . George and his Scrooge of a dad are soon swept on a hilarious adventure to Christmases past, present and future. With help from an enthusiastic elf, a rather grumpy purple reindeer and a very mischievous Nan, can George find a way to bring the joy of Christmas home once again?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a parent in a car accident

The Dagger and the Flame by Catherine Doyle

In Fantome, a kingdom of cobbled streets, flickering lamplight, beautiful buildings, and secret catacombs, Shade-magic is a scarce and deadly commodity controlled by two enemy the Cloaks and the Daggers – the thieves and the assassins. On the night of her mother’s murder, 17-year-old Seraphine runs for her life. Seeking sanctuary with the Cloaks, Sera’s heart is set on revenge. But are her secret abilities a match for the dark-haired boy whose quicksilver eyes follow her around the city? Nothing can prepare Sera for the moment she finally comes face-to-face… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a mother recounted
  • Poisoning mentioned

Twin Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber

Wren Greenrock has always known that one day she would steal her sister’s place in the palace. Trained from birth to return to the place of her parents’ murder and usurp the only survivor, she will do anything to rise to power and protect the community of witches she loves. Or she would, if only a certain palace guard wasn’t quite so distractingly attractive, and if her reckless magic didn’t have a habit of causing trouble… Princess Rose Valhart knows that with power comes responsibility. Marriage into a brutal kingdom awaits, and she will not let a small matter like waking up in the middle of the desert in the company of an extremely… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Persecution for witchcraft (theme)
  • Child abuse recounted (on-page)
  • Alcohol consumption (on-page)
  • Attempted murder by poisoning (on-page)
  • Minor blood & injury depiction
  • Murder of a father by poisoning mentioned
  • Murder of a mother & great-aunt from their throats being slit (recounted & on-page)
  • Minor battle scenes and fantasy violence, including sword, bow and arrow & knife violence (recounted & on-page) as well as discussions of past war and genocide
  • Imprisonment (on-page)
  • Torture mentioned (off-page)
  • Kidnapping (on-page)
  • Loss of autonomy (magical-induced memory loss and sleep)
  • Animal death (snow leopard, elk, birds)
  • Bullying, including being magically suffocated and thrown off a cliff into the ocean to drown (on-page)

The Floating World by Axie Oh

Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light. Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Blood & gore depiction including human medical experimentation