Fall is coming a good moment to look at what to read this fall. If you are looking for anything new and magical coming out this fall you are at the right place here.
For you I have selected five fall releases that will bring you to a realm full magic things, witches, mages folklore and a little bit of horror.
1. Bindle Punk Bruja by Desideria Mesa
I have noticed that the fantasy books have become more divers, at the start of specifically the young adult genre there was a lot of white based books, the last 10 years the fantasy genre got a lot more divers. And I love that new authors are bring us stories about their own cultures.
Now Bindle Punk Bruja is not a young adult, but an adult book. It is also not your typical fantasy story. It has witched like the title implies Bruja means witch in Spanish. It is also a story of racism, gangs, sexism and witches. And interesting mix no doubt and to top it off, it has an historical setting. From the synopsis it is not all that clear but I am guessing the 1920s. The synopsis is a bit non telling about the magical extend of the this story, but I think it will be hard hitting on the emotional side.
Luna--or depending on who's asking, Rose--is the white-passing daughter of an immigrant mother who has seen what happens to people from her culture. This world is prejudicial, and she must hide her identity in pursuit of owning an illegal jazz club. Using her cunning powers, Rose negotiates with dangerous criminals as she climbs up Kansas City's bootlegging ladder. Luna, however, runs the risk of losing everything if the crooked city councilmen and ruthless mobsters discover her ties to an immigrant boxcar community that secretly houses witches. Last thing she wants is to put her entire family in danger.
But this bruja with ever-growing magical abilities can never resist a good fight. With her new identity, Rose, an unabashed flapper, defies societal expectations all the while struggling to keep her true self and witchcraft in check. However, the harder she tries to avoid scrutiny, the more her efforts eventually capture unwanted attention. Soon, she finds herself surrounded by greed and every brand of bigotry--from local gangsters who want a piece of the action and businessmen who hate her diverse staff to the Ku Klux Klan and Al Capone. Will her earth magic be enough to save her friends and family? As much as she hates to admit it, she may need to learn to have faith in others--and learning to trust may prove to be her biggest ambition yet.
2. Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott
Release date: 13 September 2022
So we are getting a story based on American soil, I don't know how I feel about that, but I am glad that these legends do make it across the world, the word of them still being spread through new stories. And I hope that the people that are reading them get intrigued enough that they will also look up the original story and will enjoy that one too. This book is definitely going on my TBR when I will get to it will be a mystery, but that is fine with me.
The Yaga siblings—Bellatine, a young woodworker, and Isaac, a wayfaring street performer and con artist—have been estranged since childhood, separated both by resentment and by wide miles of American highway. But when they learn that they are to receive a mysterious inheritance, the siblings are reunited—only to discover that their bequest isn’t land or money, but something far stranger: a sentient house on chicken legs.
Thistlefoot, as the house is called, has arrived from the Yagas’ ancestral home in Russia—but not alone. A sinister figure known only as the Longshadow Man has tracked it to American shores, bearing with him violent secrets from the past: fiery memories that have hidden in Isaac and Bellatine’s blood for generations. As the Yaga siblings embark with Thistlefoot on a final cross-country tour of their family’s traveling theater show, the Longshadow Man follows in relentless pursuit, seeding destruction in his wake. Ultimately, time, magic, and legacy must collide—erupting in a powerful conflagration to determine who gets to remember the past and craft a new future.
An enchanted adventure illuminated by Jewish myth and adorned with lyrical prose as tantalizing and sweet as briar berries, Thistlefoot is an immersive modern fantasy saga by a bold new talent.
3. One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
Release date: 27 September 2022
End of September seems a good time to dive in to a horror right? If you are as slow a reader as I am you might just finish around Halloween. This was described as a lush dark gothic fantasy. The concept of this one sounds fascinating a spirit being trapped in a human. A nightmare, I haven't read many books with this premise except maybe one, called Legacy of a Dreamer the link will bring you to the review I wrote about that one back in the day. It was an indie book, but a really good one. Anyway this is a debut author, and I really like what I am reading below, it just sounds like my kind of read. Maybe it will be as good as Mexican Gothic, which was incredible! I really hoping it will be.
Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.
Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom she calls home—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.
But nothing comes for free, especially magic.
When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it. Except the highwayman just so happens to be the King’s own nephew, Captain of the Destriers…and guilty of high treason.
He and Elspeth have until Solstice to gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.
4. Legacy Witches by Cass Kay
Release date: 11 October 2022
I was looking for anything truly witchy and I found this, and this story sound like bad ass witch, maybe not ones from the good variety. And I read coven, that gets me excited! I haven't had a good witch coven story in years so I could use one. The book also is an adult one, and borders on horror if I have read correctly. Legacy Witches gives my all the vibes I want for a book filled with witchcraft. Actually this kind of gives me the Craft vibes, which is one of my favorite movies ever. Another one for my already too full TBR.
Coming from a long line of murderous witches hasn’t exactly been sunshine and rainbows for Vianna Roots. When she inherits the family’s haunted house after her mother dies, she decides flipping the rundown dump is her smartest move—but the ghosts that haunt her have a different plan.When Vianna finds the ghost of her childhood friend Nancy, she’s drawn into the mystery surrounding her friend’s death. Her meddling attracts the attention of the oldest coven in Salem. In order to get her out of town, they make an offer on the house, but Vianna hesitates. She’s no longer sure she wants to abandon the demon familiar who possesses her home, the transgender outcast witch—who may just be the best friend she never knew she needed—and her high school crush, who now wants her in his life.
Vianna must find a way to solve the case of her murdered friend, stay out of the hands of the most powerful coven in Salem, and face the past she’s so desperately tried to run away from.
5. The Luminaries by Susan Dennard
This cover is what has drawn my attention to start with, it is so incredibly beautiful! It get me in the mood for fall and gives me halloween vibes. Susan Denard, is best know for here Witchland series, the first book in that series being Truthwitch. She is now coming with a new story, you can read the synopsis down below:
Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie's town—and the rest of humanity—from the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night.
Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and a traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal—and restore her family's good name. Or die trying.
But in order to survive, Winnie enlists the help of the one person who can help her train: Jay Friday, resident bad boy and Winnie’s ex-best friend. While Jay might be the most promising new hunter in Hemlock Falls, he also seems to know more about the nightmares of the forest than he should. Together, he and Winnie will discover a danger lurking in the forest no one in Hemlock Falls is prepared for.
Not all monsters can be slain, and not all nightmares are confined to the dark."
This sounds so good! It sound mysterious, and magical at the same time. I am not entirely
sure for which age category this is meant it sounds more like a YA book than an adult book, but I could be wrong. I read spooky forest with monsters and nightmares and was like yes that is what I need for fall!
That was it for the magical books, I ended up with more horror books than I thought. Imagine that, I guess that is what I am feeling at the moment. I do like horror, I just dipped my toes in a bit, and read Mexican Gothic, House of Hollow and Annihilation. So I am not yet an expert in the field. I would love to try out some more. I think the above all fit the magic bill, maybe not in the most typical way but I think these stories will be very original.
What will you be reading this fall?
