Start with This Then Grab This!

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I often see preconceived notions of adult books being inaccessible. And sometimes people find them harder to navigate because the books aren't always marketed in your face like YA.  So maybe some of these suggestions can help with branching out into adult sff.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna is heavy epic fantasy about outcast girls who find their power and if you're eager for something in a similar vein I suggest you read Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston which is another epic fantasy about a young woman training to be a force in her world.

    

      

Who didn't love Cinderella as a little girl? But these two stories aren't the simple tale of the girl with the glass slippers who went to the ball. Cinder by Marissa Meyer gave us a dystopian twist presenting Cinderella as a bad ass mechanic. So if you loved Cinder try The Shadow in the Glass by JJA Harwood, a gothic retelling of the classic tale where Ella gets seven wishes that each come with a price to pay.

 

 

The Good for Nothings by Danielle Banas is a smart and funny sci-fi adventure about Cora and her merry band of misfits who are offered their freedom in exchange for going on a dangerous quest across the galaxy. If you're looking for another offbeat space opera Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes has you covered. Captain Eva and her crew must undergo a series of missions to earn money to pay her sister's ransom. But this is no easy feat when dealing with pyscho cats and a fish-faced emperor's advances.

The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azhad is a stunning high fantasy set in a city along the Silk Road where people of all faiths have rebuilt after a djinn attack and a girl finds herself in the middle of a war between two feuding djinn clans. Middle Eastern food and folklore provide inspiration for a dynamic atmosphere. Once you're done you can check out S. A. Chakraborty's The City of Brass where a girl stumbles upon a secret city of djinn that make be the key to discovering her own heritage.

 

If you enjoyed the magic in Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Corthron and the look at every day life of Black people during the Jim Crow era than I suggest you read The Conductors by Nicole Glover which is set in the post Civil War era and you'll find the unique take on magic to be similar in some ways.