Trending on BookTok: Fantasy Edition

BookTok has taken the world by storm over the past twelve months and we’ve certainly been swept up in all the excitement! You can follow our TikTok account here.

We’ve pulled together some of our most popular titles on BookTok and grouped them by trope. Below you’ll find some well-known books and few new favourites. Happy reading!

THE CHOSEN ONE

Small Favors by Erin A. Craig

As the seasons change and strange things start to happen in isolated small town Amity Falls, it’s clear that something is terribly wrong. Outlandish creatures are real and they’re offering to fulfil the residents’ deepest desires for just a small favour… Ellerie Downing was waiting for something to happen and she soon finds herself in a race against time to stop Amity Falls, her family and the boy she loves from going up in flames.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

When Zachary Rawlins stumbles across a strange book hidden in his university library, it leads him on a quest unlike any other. Determined to solve the puzzle of the book, Zachary follows the clues he finds on the cover – a bee, a key and a sword. Zachary is thrust into a world filled with stories, hidden far beneath the surface of the world as we know it. Will he be able to find the end of his story?

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

A cyborg science-fiction filled retelling of Cinderella, Cinder is a unique story of a gifted mechanic living in New Beijing. When her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen – and a dangerous temptation. Now Cinder must uncover the secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth’s future… This is not the fairytale you remember but it’s the one you won’t forget.

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu

Born with a gift for music, Nannerl Mozart has just one wish – to be remembered forever. But she has little hope of ever becoming an acclaimed composer. Especially because she is a young woman in 18th century Europe and composing is forbidden to her.As her younger brother Wolfgang’s brilliance begins to eclipse her own, a mysterious stranger from a magical land appears with an irresistible offer. He has the power to make her wish come true, but his help may cost her everything.

When Days Tilt by Karen Ginnane

It’s 1858 and there are two queens on the throne. Victoria reigns over London. And the Green Witch rules over London’s secret shadow city – Donlon. Ava, a fourteen-year-old Londoner, feels trapped by the limited life of a young Victorian woman and by her watchmaking apprenticeship with her father. But when Ava goes in search of her real mother and her true identity, she is thrust into the dark world of Donlon and must fight a battle to save those she loves and the future of both worlds . . .

I’M NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS

The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni

When the Rebel Queen is captured, Kiva, the seventeen-year-old prison healer at Zalindov, is charged with keeping the terminally ill woman alive long enough until her trials. Then a coded message from Kiva’s family arrives containing a single order: Don’t let her die. We are coming. Aware that the trials will kill the sickly queen, Kiva risks her own life to volunteer in her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom. But no one has ever survived.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Vasya has heard all of the stories of sorcery, folkore and the Winter King that have been told to the children of her family, tales of old magic that are frowned upon by the church. But for Vasya, these are far more than just stories. She alone can see the house spirits that guard her home, and senses the growing forces of dark magic in the woods . . .

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

In Ethan Wate’s hometown there lies the darkest of secrets. There is a girl, a curse and in the end, there is a grace. Lena and Ethan become bound together by a deep, powerful love. But Lena is cursed and on her sixteenth birthday, her fate will be decided. Ethan never even saw it coming. Is falling in love the beginning? Or the end?

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray (Out 28 September 2021)

Magic doesn’t exist in the broken city of Lkossa anymore, especially for girls like sixteen-year-old Koffie. Ekon is all but destined to become an elite warrior until he is cast out with a reputation left in ruins. Fate binds these two teenagers as they strike a dangerous alliance to hunt down the ancient creature terrorising their home. The hunt begins – but are they the hunters or the hunted?

MORALLY GREY VILLAINS

Malice by Heather Walter

Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who cursed a line of princesses to die, and could only be broken by true love’s kiss. You’ve heard this one before, haven’t you? The handsome prince. The happily-ever-after.Utter nonsense. The princess isn’t supposed to fall for an evil sorceress. But in this darkly magical retelling of Sleeping Beauty true love is more complicated than a simple fairy tale.

City of Lies by Sam Hawke

Jovan has been trained for most of his life to detect, concoct and withstand poisons in order to protect the ruling family. Until now, peace has reigned in Silasta for hundreds of years, but when the Chancellor succumbs to an unknown poison and an army storms the gates, it falls to Jovan and his sister Kalina to protect the heir and save their homeland.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter – and he always works alone. But when he is engaged to find a child who disappeared three years ago, he must break his own rules, joining a group of eight very different mercenaries working together to find the boy. Drawing from vivid African history and mythology, Marlon James weaves a saga of breathtaking adventure and powerful intrigue – a mesmerising, unique meditation on the nature of truth and power.

The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska

Every year, Caldella’s Witch Queen lures a boy back to her palace. An innocent life to be sacrificed on the full moon to keep the island city from sinking. Lina takes the place of her brother and crush and the two girls are forced to spend time together as they wait for the full moon. But Lina is not at all what Queen Eva expected and the queen is nothing like Lina envisioned… Against their will, the two girls find themselves falling for each other. As water floods Caldella’s streets and the dark tide demands its sacrifice, they must choose who to save: themselves, each other, or the island city relying on them both.