Today’s Top Ten Tuesday Topic is a Halloween/Creepy Freebie (hosted, as usual, by That Artsy Reader Girl). I’ve decided to write about books with dark magic and/or darkness in them. I don’t celebrate Halloween, so I had to alter the topic a bit.
So a little bit about my Halloween story. Back when I was in college, I went to Knott’s Scary Farm with my future husband, a couple of his friends, and his future fiancée (perhaps you notice that this is already getting weird). So my husband had broken up with his future fiancée, then we went out for a while, and then he went out with her again. And we were all at Knott’s Scary Farm together. Needless to say, it didn’t really go all that well. But I was at this Beetlejuice show, and this fake Beetlejuice character was telling jokes about death and I was just thinking “this really isn’t funny. Death isn’t really funny.” I’m sure that being there with my future husband and his then-girlfriend didn’t help anything, but I haven’t really been into Halloween since.
But I digress. Back to our Top Ten List:
Slasher Girls and Monster Boys – This will probably be the closest thing that I get to a “Halloween” read this year. It’s an anthology with several stories from various authors. Like most anthologies, some stories are better than others. It has a lot of stories where bad boys and girls get the justice that they deserve. And there’s creepiness and in many of these stories, a little bit of magic. If you’re looking for something to read tomorrow while you’re handing out candy, maybe this is your book.
Enchantée ~ Gita Trelease – Enchantée is not a creepy book at all, but there is a creepy villain in this book that uses his magic for evil and not for good. There has to be some force that works against the heroine of a story or it’s not a good book, right?
Give the Dark My Love ~ Beth Revis – In Give the Dark My Love, our main character is literally practicing necromancy. If I was going to put “necromancy” under a dark magic or a light magic umbrella, it would definitely go under dark magic.
Frequency ~ Christopher Krovatin – At first glance, Frequency seems to be a contemporary novel about high school students that are into music and use a few too many drugs. This book has it’s own kind of magic in it: music. Maybe you’ve gotten so into a song that you feel like the beat is controlling you (I know I have). In this book, the magic of music takes that feeling a step farther and is actually controlling people.
The Young Elites ~ Marie Lu – Not everybody in The Young Elites is dark: just our main character, Adelina Amouteru. Maybe she could have been a good person if life had treated her a little differently. At any rate, the main character in this series does some pretty evil things and her powers granted from the gods are pretty magical.
Ember in the Ashes ~ Sabaa Tahir – While the main characters in the Ember in the Ashes series are neither evil or magical, there is some evil magic afoot in this story. And there are evil characters. Plus, this series is pretty darned good.
Ever the Hunted ~ Erin Summerill – Ever the Hunted (and its sequel, Ever the Brave) is not one of those stories that feels creepy, but there is definitely some dark magic in this story. Our main characters are amazingly sweet, but there are some mind-controllers out there, and they’re not so sweet.
Throne of Glass ~ Sarah J. Maas – The Throne of Glass series has some pretty dark and creepy magic in it (although the first book doesn’t have a lot of magic in it). Our main character is also a pretty wicked assassin. I still have to read the last three books in the series (it’s really long) but it’s definitely worth reading.
Ace of Shades ~ Amanda Foody – The setting of Ace of Shades is very much like Las Vegas with a little bit of magic. It’s dark and gritty and dangerous. Definitely not a place that you’d want to be wandering alone in after dark.
The Mortal Instruments series ~ Cassandra Clare – This series has all the creepy crawlies in it: demons, werewolves, vampires, and the like. Yet, I don’t really feel like these are creepy books at all. Nevertheless, since I’m writing about books that contain dark magic or darkness in them, these books qualify. And they are probably going to make my list of Top Ten Books I Read for the First Time in 2018 (I lump all books in series together) so they should make it to today’s list.
Well, that’s today’s Top Ten List. Next week, I’ll list ten older books that I still want to read.
What books have you read that have dark magic or darkness in them?
Ooh I didn’t know Ever the hunted had magic like that. And The Young Elites sounds so good- I really need to go back and read those after enjoying Marie Lu’s Warcross (I know they’re probably very different, but Warcross was my first book by her and I like it a lot).
Greg recently posted…Top Ten Halloween Freebie
The Spiritists can do that.
Evidently, Marie Lu has said that she imagines that The Young Elites is a part of the Warcross game. There is a scene in Warcross where they’re fighting the ice monsters (the one-eyed wolf is an Easter egg representing Adelina Amouteru) and in the distance there is a location that looks like Kenettra (from The Young Elites). Asher Wing is evidently Daniel Wing’s (from Legend) ancestor.
I haven’t read any of these books yet, but they do sound good!
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
One thing that’s great about these lists is that there are always books on there that you haven’t read yet. Bad for the TBR though!
I think Slasher Girls and Monster Boys is a perfect anthology for Halloween. Definitely like the sound of the Ace of Shades world. Great list!
Thank you!
I got Ace of Shades for $1.99 earlier this year, so I bet when King of Fools comes out next year there will probably be another sale on that book.
Ooh fab list! Slasher Girls is on my TBR, and I always forget how dark TOG can be.
Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/
Cora @ Tea Party Princess recently posted…Ten Magical Reads
I really have to go back to the ToG series and read the last books. Since NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow at midnight I’ll probably do that in December.
“Ever the Hunted” is on my shelf, but I haven’t yet read it! Here’s hoping I remedy this soon because I have heard lots of good things about this specific book. Haven’t heard much about the follow up sequels, though…
Happy Top Ten Tuesday, Brooke – and thanks for the Finding Wonderland visit!
Rissi JC recently posted…Charmed Review – A ‘Charming’ Story with an Agenda
They’re really sweet books. I haven’t read Once A King, which deals with one of the minor characters in the first two books.
So many awesome books!!!! I’h very curious about Enchantée!
It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year!
That does sound like a very awkward Halloween trip. I like your list! Someday I’ll get around to reading An Ember In The Ashes.
Aj @ Read All The Things! recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: How I’d Die In A Horror Story
It was a very strange time… it gave me the idea for a story I hope to write next year though!
Adelina went so dark in the Young Elites. It crushed my heart!
The ending did mine. But it was kinda redemptive at the same time though.
Awesome list! Give the Dark My Love is on my wishlist. It sounds like a great read.
I hope you like it! It wasn’t my favorite book on this list, but if you’re looking for dark magic, that one definitely belongs here.
I LOVE books with dark magic and this list has given me a few new ones to add to my TBR, so thank you! I’m especially excited to read Ace of Shades, as it has been sitting on my shelf for almost a year and I’ve heard such great things about it!
Niamh @ nuggets of niamh recently posted…spooky books & tv shows // Top Ten Tuesday
Yeah, I have books like that. I know they had a great sale on Ace of Shades earlier this year. I picked it up for $1.99. I have other books that I’ve gotten for cheap that I haven’t read yet. I still need to read A Thousand Perfect Notes. I’ll probably have to wait until December to get to that though, since it’s NaNoWriMo time, and I have ARCs and library books to read first.
Oooh I like your take on this! I like a dark book too- I am definitely not really a fan of gore and such, so dark is the way to go! I definitely agree about The Young Elites and AEITA. And ToG is pretty dark too, for sure. I really want to read GIve the Dark My Love, and Enchantee, so I am glad to see you liked them!
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…December 2018 Of Books Giveaway Hop Sign Ups
I’m sooo looking forward to Ember 4. At the moment, with less than 2 months left in the year, Enchantée looks like it might be in the #1 or #2 spot for best book I read for the first time this year. I seriously considered calling in late for work so I could finish reading it. It was nearly unbearable waiting for 4 hours at work to finish reading it! Then when I finished reading it at lunch, one of my coworkers thought I was going home (instead of clocking back into work) because I was smiling so much about that ending! And I’ve heard it is supposed to be a duology too!