The autumn season is finally upon us, with it’s chilly, knitted jumper days, dark and spooky nights (and cosy vibes that would make even Taylor Swift jealous.) Which means it’s time for me to share an Autumn Reading List with books suit all moods.
Whether you’re looking for your next spooky read or are in desperate need of a cosy, comforting and swoon worthy romance, Artfully Bookish has got you covered.
Krystal Sutherland’s urban fantasy is a decadently dark and enchantingly creepy Modern fairy tail (in fact it’s one of my all time fave creepy books) with a setting that is hauntingly lush and undeniably sinister—the perfect read for an autumn evening.
“Dark, dangerous things happened around the Hollow sisters.”
Ever since they disappeared as children (reappearing a month later with no memories of what happened to them),frighteningly weird occurrences have followed Grey,Vivi and Iris.
When Grey goes missing again it’s up to to Iris and Vivi to unravel the clues Grey has left behind—but they’re not the only ones looking for her...
As they’re drawn ever closer into the supernatural, Iris realises that what happened to them as children and whatever took them ten years ago—might just be calling them back.
“The old gods may be great, but they are neither kind nor merciful…If you insist on calling them, take heed:be careful what you ask for, be willing to pay the price. And no matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark.”
This is a book that needs no introduction. With over six hundred thousand reviews on Goodreads and countless Tiktok, Instagram and YouTube posts dedicated to it, V.E Schwab’s intricately woven plot and beautifully crafted prose has quickly made this a must read for historical fantasy lovers.
Immersive, suspenseful and dripping with the most intoxicating slow-burn romance, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue follows a young woman who makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and inadvertently finds herself cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Spanning several continents and three centuries of Addie’s extraordinary life, across history and art as she tries to leave her mark on the world.
But after 300 years, everything changes when Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore, and he remembers her name…
Lauren Blackwood’s Ethiopian inspired, paranormal reimagining of Jane Eyre is a deliciously dark and magical YA fantasy that—although not an exact retelling, still manages to keep the eerie (and atmospherically spooky) essence of the original alive without descending too far into horror territory.
“The wind. The stinging cold. Those violent hands. Everything had felt so real, now all reduced to the memory of a nightmare.”
Andromeda is a debtera—an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. When a handsome young heir named Magnus Rochester reaches out to hire her, Andromeda quickly realizes this is a job like no other, with horrifying manifestations at every turn, and that Magnus is hiding far more than she has been trained for.
Death is the most likely outcome if she stays, but leaving Magnus to live out his curse alone isn’t an option. Evil may roam the castle’s halls, but so does a burning desire.
Deeply spellbinding and vividly detailed, Hannah Whitten expertly blends Horror and Dark Fantasy with fairytale elements from Red Riding Hood,Beauty & the Beast and Snow White to create a captivatingly original story.
“The First Daughter is for the throne. The Second Daughter is for the Wolf. And the Wolves are for the Wilderwood.”
Redarys or ‘Red’ is a second daughter and due to a centuries old bargain, in her twentieth year she must be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wilderwood. In doing so, Red’s kingdom hopes the wolf will return the five kings, their Gods.
But the stories aren’t entirely truthful and the Wolf, isn’t the monster he’s portrayed as. For the Wilderwoods are actually a Prison and the Wolf, it’s Warden. Over time the Wilderwoods are weakening and Red must help to strengthen it before Sinister forces break free.
Spectacularly Spellbinding and exceptionally funny—Rachel Hawkins, writing as Erin Sterling has written one of the best witchy rom-coms I’ve read in a while. The magical mishaps, small town setting and general witchy-ness is the perfect read to ease you into the Halloween season.
"You broke my heart, Rhys Penhallow. And we curse you. You and your whole stupid, hot line."
Vivi Jones handled the biggest breakup of her life the way any girl would—Vodka, a bubble bath and putting a curse on her ex.
Nine years later, Rhys Penhallow, defendant of the towns’ founders (and Vivi’s ex) is back! He’s returned Graves Glen to recharge the ley lines and make an appearance at the annual founders festival. But when his every move results in calamity, Vivi realises hexing him might not have been so harmless after all...
As the curse starts to affect the town, with murderous windup toys, an outraged ghost and surprisingly talkative cat. Vivi and Rhys must put their personal feelings aside to work together to break the curse to save not only the town—but also Rhys’ life.
Babel is an impressively complex and ambitious book—It’s an incredible, dark academia-centred fantasy rooted in the (very real) history of imperialism and expertly explores themes such as identity, class, racism, colonialism and the power of language.
In 1828, Robin Swift is left orphaned from the spread of Cholera in Canton and finds himself whisked off to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There he spends his days relentlessly studying Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese in preparation for the day he’ll enroll at Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation — also known as Babel.
At first Babel—and the tight knit group of friends he finds there—seem like paradise… but Babel’s pursuit of knowledge is geared solely towards accumulating power—with the help of Silver-working (the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation into enchanted silver bars, to create magic-like effects.) Thus allowing the empire to use its wealth to colonise everything in sight.
For Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel means betraying his motherland and, as his studies progress he finds himself caught between Babel and a shadowy rebel organisation dedicated to bringing down the empire.
When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can a powerful institution really be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? And what is Robin willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?
Belladonna is a beautifully haunting, gothic infused YA fantasy about a girl (Signa) who confronts death—her own deadly powers— to solve a murder in this enthralling tale of magic, mystery and a deadly betrayal.
For as long as Signa Farrow’s has been alive, the people around her have all succumbed to an early grave. Orphaned as a baby, nineteen year old Sign has has a string of guardians, each more interested in her vast inheritance than her well-being—and each has met and untimely death.
Her only remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, an eccentric family who live at the gloomy and imposing Thorn Grove, an estate still steeped in the patriarch’s grief for his late wife—a wife who still haunts its walls and a daughter who suffers a similar ailment.
But when said wife’s spirit appears to Signa claiming she was poisoned, Signa realises the family she depends on could be in grave danger, and enlists the help of a surly stable boy to help hunt down the killer.
Dark, gritty and superbly weird, Leigh Bardugo’s incredible adult debut was the perfect book to snuggle up with this autumn.
“Peace was like any high. It couldn't last. It was an illusion, something that could be interrupted in a moment and lost forever.”
The most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class, Galaxy ‘Alex’ Stern (a dropout and sole survivor of a horrific unsolved crime) is hoping for a fresh start.
But this free ride comes with a catch. She has been tasked with monitoring the university’s secret societies—notorious haunts of the rich and powerful.
Now there’s a dead girl on campus and Alex is the only lot one trying to catch her killer. Because the societies are far more sinister and extraordinary than anyone ever imagined.
They tamper with forbidden magic.They raise the dead. And sometimes they prey on the living.
Fans of whimsical fantasy Rom-coms, enemies to lovers or the sunshine/grump trope rejoice, as Megan Bannen’s brilliant new book The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy—has all three.
Set in a world full of magic, demigods and zombies and follows Mercy (sunshine personified) who’s been single-handedly keeping her families’ Undertaking business afloat and Hart, a grumpy demigod Marshall, whose duty involves patrolling the magical wilds of Tanria and protecting people from the Zombie-like drudges who can possess the dead.
Their chosen fields lead Hart and Mercy into constant contact but despite the similarities the pair just despise one another. Until one day, after yet another run-in with Mercy, Hart pens a letter addressed simply to “A Friend”. Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return and a tentative friendship is born.
If only Hart knew he’s been baring his soul to the person who irritates him the most—Mercy. As the dangers in Tanria grow closer so do the unlikely pair, but can their blossoming romance survive the discovery that their pen pals are their worst nightmare—each other?
An expertly crafted and atmospherically creepy, Victoria Lee’s psychologically twisty YA Thriller is a must read this October. The uncanny, occult-like visuals are absolutely stunning and perfect for all you Dark Academia lovers out there.
Felicity Morrow is back at Dalloway to finish her senior year after the tragic death of her girlfriend. She even has her old room in Godwin house back—the exclusive dormitory supposedly haunted by five former students,girls that some claim were witches. Felicity was once drawn to the school’s dark legacy but she’s determined to leave it behind her.
But when new girl, Ellis Haley (the Pulitzer-winning novelist), prodigy and “method writer” asks Felicity to assist in her research of The Dalloway Five—the girl’s whose gruesome deaths are still shrouded in mystery—Felicity reluctantly agrees, and is swept right back into her obsession with witchcraft and the occult which may have caused her girlfriend’s death.
And when history begins to repeat itself Felicity will have to face the darkness in Dalloway—and in herself…
Yes, it’s yet another dark academia—and a deliciously cerebral one too!
Olivie Blake’s TikTok sensation, The Atlas Six follows six of the world’s best young magicians as they are invited to join The Alexandrian Society. It’s a secret society of academicians—whose members are the caretakers of lost knowledge from some of the greatest ancient civilisations (a.k.a the not really lost but hidden Library of Alexandria.) All who earn a place will secure a life of wealth, power and prestige beyond their wildest dreams.
When recruited, they’re told they must spend one year together to qualify for initiation, during which they’ll be permitted access to the society’s archives and judged on their innate magical abilities—But only five will be initiated. One will be eliminated. If they can prove themselves the best they will survive. Most of them, anyway.
The first in a new spin-off Duology, Chloe Gong’s Foul Lady Fortune—set years after the events of These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends—masterfully weaves a tale of romance, political intrigue and block buster worthy action scenes that had me on the edge of my seat.
Set in 1930s Shanghai, it follows former showgirl turned assassin, Rosalind Lang who, after life a saving procedure, cannot die. Working for the nationalist’s covert branch, Rosalind must work with playboy spy, Orion Hong on an undercover mission. A mission which requires them to pose as a married couple.
Waking The Witch is a deliciously witchy, feminist and delightfully creepy YA fantasy that’s full of atmospheric prose and steeped in Welsh mythology and Arthurian legend.
It follows seventeen year old Ivy, who after years spent in the foster system has finally tracked down her biological mother (who abandoned her at a motorway service station) to a remote Welsh island which some experts claim to be the legendary isle of Avalon.
But, in finding her mother Ivy has uncovered at dark secret about her past. Now, an ancient and corrupt power is stalking Ivy and her only chance of survival to look deep within herself. For not every story in Legend is true and some evils are not what they seem…
Steeped in Greek mythology and full of such endearing characters, Daughter of Darkness is a richly detailed and enthralling start to an irresistibly magical new Duology from the authors of A Throne of Swans, Katherine and Elizabeth Corr.
“Sing, O muse, a song of Death”
In a desperate bid to evade her future as a soul severer (and gain her freedom), Deina embarks on a deadly quest to the underworld to retrieve the soul of Eurydice, wife of Orpheus the tyrant king. But in order to succeed she must team up with a group fellow soul severers she neither likes or trusts.
The journey into the realm of Hades is perilous and the price of freedom is before her….but what will it take to reach it?
A delicious YA fantasy that’s full of witchcraft, forbidden love and an incredible enemies to lovers romance that I couldn’t get enough of!
Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.
Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou's, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.
The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou's most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.
And love makes fools of us all…
Erin Morgenstern’s vividly detailed, sprawling historical fantasy was the book that ignited my love for historical (fantasy) fiction. Full of lush evocative scenes, immersive world-building, a whimsical cast of characters and a life affirming love story between two rival magicians —historical fantasy lovers simply must check this out!
“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”
In 1886, a mysterious travelling circus becomes an international sensation. Open only at night, constructed entirely in black and white, Le Cirque des Rêves delights all who wander its circular paths and warm themselves at its bonfire.
Although there are acrobats, fortune-tellers and contortionists, the Circus of Dreams is no conventional spectacle. Some tents contain clouds, some ice. The circus seems almost to cast a spell over its aficionados, who call themselves the rêveurs - the dreamers. At the heart of the story is the tangled relationship between two young magicians, Celia, the enchanter's daughter, and Marco, the sorcerer's apprentice.
At the behest of their shadowy masters, they find themselves locked in a deadly contest, forced to test the very limits of the imagination, and of their love...
A deeply moving and undeniably empowering tale that ensnared me from the very start!
Set in 1893, The Once and Future Witches follows three witches, the Eastwood sisters:Beatrice Belladonna, Agnes Amaranth and James Juniper.
After years of separation, the sisters are finally reunited in the city of New Salem- where they join the suffragists, learning the forgotten words and ways to turn the women’s movement into the witches movement.
But with sinister shadows stalking them, a nefarious illness sweeping the city and being hunted by forces who won’t suffer a witch to vote—or live;they’ll need to delve into the oldest magics, form new alliances and heal their sisterly bond if they want to survive.
“There's still no such thing as witches.But there will be.”
Under The Whispering Door is a remarkably heartfelt exploration of death,love and friendship;with enough wit and charm to keep it lighthearted—perfect for fans of The Good Place.
“Welcome to Charon’s Crossing. The tea is hot, the scones are fresh and the dead are just passing through.”
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