Look at me, writing these posts weeks in advance and scheduling them. It's almost like (*gasp*) I'm being organised. Anyhow, today is part four (of four) of my fantasy recs. This final part is going to be YA urban fantasy. As ever, I've ignored a number of other books I would rec in favour of these five so. They're good, folks.
Iron Cast by Destiny Soria
Content Warnings: period typical racism, torture, violence
Synopsis: In 1919, Ada Navarra—the intrepid daughter of immigrants—and Corinne Wells—a spunky, devil-may-care heiress—make an unlikely pair. But at the Cast Iron nightclub in Boston, anything and everything is possible. At night, on stage together, the two best friends, whose “afflicted” blood gives them the ability to create illusions through art, weave magic under the employ of Johnny Dervish, the club’s owner and a notorious gangster. By day, Ada and Corinne use these same skills to con the city’s elite in an attempt to keep the club afloat.
When a “job” goes awry and Ada is imprisoned, she realizes they’re on the precipice of danger. Only Corinne—her partner in crime—can break her out of Haversham Asylum. But once Ada is out, they face betrayal at every turn.
Comments: Think 1910s X-Men with heists and murder mysteries. Think really really good friendships, and angsty relationships. Now think about reading it. (And then do read it.)
Shadowshaper by D J Older
Synopsis: Sierra Santiago was looking forward to a fun summer of making art, hanging out with her friends, and skating around Brooklyn. But then a weird zombie guy crashes the first party of the season. Sierra's near-comatose abuelo begins to say "Lo siento" over and over. And when the graffiti murals in Bed-Stuy start to weep.... Well, something stranger than the usual New York mayhem is going on.
Sierra soon discovers a supernatural order called the Shadowshapers, who connect with spirits via paintings, music, and stories. Her grandfather once shared the order's secrets with an anthropologist, Dr. Jonathan Wick, who turned the Caribbean magic to his own foul ends. Now Wick wants to become the ultimate Shadowshaper by killing all the others, one by one. With the help of her friends and the hot graffiti artist Robbie, Sierra must dodge Wick's supernatural creations, harness her own Shadowshaping abilities, and save her family's past, present, and future.
Comments: To be honest, I don't remember enough of this to tell you why you should read it specifically but. You should read it. Trust past me who rated it 4 stars.
The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman
Synopsis: London, April 1812. On the eve of eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall’s presentation to the queen, one of her family’s housemaids disappears-and Helen is drawn into the shadows of Regency London. There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of demons infiltrating every level of society. Dare she ask for his help, when his reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her intelligence and headstrong curiosity wind up leading them into a death trap?
Comments: OK, so yes, I have a bit of a thing for urban fantasy but in historical settings, alright? It's just. Some real good shit. And also lets you have a disgustingly tense slowburn romance. Just what I like.
Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz
Content Warnings: violence, death
Synopsis: He always knew he was different.
First there were the dreams.
Then the deaths began.
When Matt Freeman gets into trouble with the police, he's sent to be fostered in Yorkshire. It's not long before he senses there's something wrong with his guardian: with the whole village.
Then Matt learns about the Old Ones and begins to understand just how he is different. But no one will believe him; no one can help.
There is no proof. There is no logic. There is just the Gate.
Comments: This has been one of my favourite series for years. I love all the characters and the world, and the ending will never fail to make me tear up just thinking about it.
Wonders of the Invisible World by Christopher Barzak
Synopsis: Aidan Lockwood feels like he’s been sleepwalking through life, each day as hazy and unremarkable as the one before it. But when his former best friend, Jarrod, suddenly moves back to town, the veil that has clouded Aidan’s mind begins to lift. Yet what Aidan discovers is that his world is haunted by stories of the past; stories that he has somehow been prevented from remembering.
But visions from the past come to him unbidden, starting with an old apple tree—a gnarled, dead thing—that haunts Aidan’s sleep, and seems to beckon to him from across his family’s orchard. And then there are the dreams that show him people and places he’s only heard of in family stories: a great-grandfather on the field of battle; his own father, stumbling upon an unspeakable tragedy; and a mysterious young boy whose whispered words may be at the heart of the curse that now holds Aidan’s family in its grip.
But there’s another presence lurking within this invisible world—someone who has been waiting to collect on a debt set into motion generations ago. As the lines between the past and the present, stories and truths, friends and lovers begin to blur, Aidan will be forced to spin a story of his own to protect those he loves, and keep the invisible world at bay.
Comments: Think The Raven Cycle but actually good gay rep and you've got something along the lines of this book. It's fantasy and psychics, plus best friends to lovers. What's not to like?
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