Book picks similar to
The City of Nightmares (The Last Witch Hunter, #2) by Blaise Ramsay
fantasy
glbt
monsters
paranormal
Jenny Pox
J.L. Bryan - 2010
A lifetime of avoiding any physical contact with others has made her isolated and painfully lonely in her small rural town.Then she meets the one boy she can touch. Jenny feels herself falling for Seth...but if she's going to be with him, Jenny must learn to use the deadly pox inside her to confront his ruthless and manipulative girlfriend Ashleigh, who secretly wields the most dangerous power of all.* * *Not recommended for readers under eighteen.BONUS: Includes an excerpt of Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel.
Hollow Pike
James Dawson - 2012
Lis thinks she’s being paranoid - after all who would want to murder her? She doesn’t believe in the local legends of witchcraft. She doesn’t believe that anything bad will really happen to her. You never do, do you? Not until you’re alone in the woods, after dark - and a twig snaps... Hollow Pike - where witchcraft never sleeps.
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
Martina McAtee - 2015
Two worlds. One prophecy.
Seventeen-year-old Ember Lonergan has made an art of isolating herself. She prefers the dead. She spends her days skipping school in old cemeteries and her nights hiding from her alcoholic father at the funeral home where she works. When her own father dies, Ember learns her whole life is a lie.Mace is a monster, a soulless assassin tasked with a single purpose: follow Ember. He only has two rules. Do not interact with her. Do not to kill her. Simply watch and report. But Mace has never been good at following orders, and Ember is a temptation he simply can't resist.Whisked away to a small Florida town, Ember must learn to embrace a family she's never known, a supernatural world she never knew existed, and a power so vast it just might kill her. All that stands between Ember and destruction is that beautiful dangerous boy from the cemetery.Can she learn to trust him before it's too late?This edition features exclusive hidden art under the dust jacket.
Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales
Kelly LinkNalo Hopkinson - 2014
Welcome to a world where humans live side-by-side with monsters, from vampires both nostalgic and bumbling, to an eight-legged alien who makes tea. Here you'll find mercurial forms that burrow into warm fat, spectral boy toys, a Maori force of nature, a landform that claims lives, and an architect of hell on earth. Through these, and a few monsters that defy categorization, some of today's top young-adult authors explore ambition and sacrifice, loneliness and rage, love requited and avenged, and the boundless potential for connection, even across extreme borders.Moriabe's Children / Paolo Bacigalupi --Old souls / Cassandra Clare --Ten rules for being an intergalactic smuggler (the successful kind) / Holly Black --Quick hill / M.T. Anderson --The diabolist / Nathan Ballingrud --This whole demoning thing / Patrick Ness --Wings in the morning / Sarah Rees Brennan --Left foot, right / Nalo Hopkinson --The Mercurials / G. Carl Purcell --Kitty Capulet and the invention of underwater photography / Dylan Horrocks --Son of abyss / Nik Houser --A small wild magic / Kathleen Jennings --The new boyfriend / Kelly Link --The woods hide in plain sight / Joshua Lewis --Mothers, lock up your daughters because they are terrifying / Alice Sola Kim
Claw
Ellen Mint - 2021
Nor did she expect to find she’s a witch, tasked with protecting the mortal realm. And now her friend, fellow nursing student and impossible crush could be a potential killer? She’s silently lusted after Cal for a year, knowing a guy that hot, sweet, and kind wouldn’t look twice at her. All their flirting was innocent and went nowhere, until Ink—the incubus bound to her—ran into her life and bed. Next thing she knows, Cal’s growling at her while Ink flirts, and women are being ripped apart by wild animals. Couldn’t the murder monster mystery wait until after finals?She wanted to be a nurse, not a paranormal investigator, but Layla has no choice. Apparently only witches can stop these creatures that she didn’t even know existed a month ago. But the deeper she digs, the more it looks like Cal’s deep in the middle of it all. How can she save her friend from the claws of a cult, keep her sex-craved demon happy and find a way to let both into her heart or bed?
Hocus Pocus & The All New Sequel
A.W. Jantha - 2018
Diving once more into the world of witches, this electrifying two-part young adult novel, released on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1993 film, marks a new era of Hocus Pocus. Fans will be spellbound by a fresh retelling of the original film, followed by the all-new sequel that continues the story with the next generation of Salem teens.Shortly after moving from California to Salem, Massachusetts, Max Dennison finds himself in hot water when he accidentally releases a coven of witches, the Sanderson sisters, from the afterlife. Max, his sister, and his new friends (human and otherwise) must find a way to stop the witches from carrying out their evil plan and remaining on earth to torment Salem for all eternity.Twenty-five years later, Max and Allison's seventeen-year-old daughter, Poppy, finds herself face-to-face with the Sanderson sisters in all their sinister glory. When Halloween celebrations don't quite go as planned, it's a race against time as Poppy and her friends fight to save her family and all of Salem from the witches' latest death-defying scheme.
The Mind Readers
Lori Brighton - 2010
Fortunately, no one but her family knows the truth... that Cameron can read minds. For years Cameron has hidden behind a facade of normalcy, warned that there are those who would do her harm. When gorgeous and mysterious Lewis Douglas arrives he destroys everything Cameron has ever believed and tempts her with possibilities of freedom. Determined to embrace her hidden talents, Cameron heads to a secret haven with Lewis; a place where she meets others like her, Mind Readers.But as Cameron soon finds out some things are too good to be true. When the Mind Readers realize the extent of Cameron’s abilities, they want to use her powers for their own needs. Cameron suddenly finds herself involved in a war in which her idea of what is right and wrong is greatly tested. In the end she’ll be forced to make a choice that will not only threaten her relationship with Lewis, but her very life.
Wicked Hunt
Megan Montero - 2020
I know everything about him. I know all of his dirty secrets and his evil deeds. He is more of a monster than my father ever was...because Dario just likes it.He needs to go down for what he did. He needs to pay for his crimes and I’ve dreamt of this day for a long time. So when Matteaus asks me and Cross to hunt him down, I don’t hesitate to say yes. I want the man dead, the problem is…he’s Cross’s father. Deep down I know he doesn’t want his own father dead and I’ll do anything to spare him that pain. Now I must find a way to stop Dario without killing him. If I don’t, I may lose Cross forever.And that would be the biggest problem ever because I kind of, sort of, accidentally fell in love with Cross.To win, I’ll have to walk that fine line between good and evil…but a little bad never hurt anybody, right?
Love & Other Curses
Michael Thomas Ford - 2019
Sam doesn’t plan to fall for anyone in the nine weeks before his birthday. He’ll spend his time working at the Eezy-Freeze with his dad; cooking up some midsummer magic with his grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother (the Grands); and experimenting with drag with the help of the queens at the Shangri-La, the local gay club. But when a new guy comes to town, Sam finds himself in trouble when they strike up a friendship that might be way more than that.As Sam’s birthday approaches and he still hasn’t quite fallen in love, the curse seems to get more powerful and less specific about who it targets. A mysterious girl Sam talks to on the phone late at night and a woman he’s only seen in a dream might have the answers he’s been looking for—but time is running out to save the people he cares about.
Dark Metropolis
Jaclyn Dolamore - 2014
Her mother is cursed with a spell that's driving her mad, and whenever they touch, Thea is chilled by the magic, too. Thea must make a living for both of them in a sinister city, where danger lurks and greed rules.Thea spends her nights waitressing at the decadent Telephone Club, attending to the glitzy clientele. But when her best friend, Nan, vanishes, Thea is compelled to find her. She meets Freddy, a young, magnetic patron at the club, who agrees to help her uncover the city's secrets - even while he hides secrets of his own.Together, they discover a whole new side of the city. Unrest is brewing behind closed doors as whispers of a gruesome magic spread. Soon, Thea and Freddy begin to realize nightmarish truths about the city's dark underbelly, and that time is running out for Nan. And if they're not careful, the masterminds behind the disappearances will be after them, too.Jaclyn Dolamore weaves a chilling tale with a touch of magic in this lyrical thriller, where the dead don't always seem to stay that way.
This Spell Can't Last
Isabel Sterling - 2020
But a weekend away with her best friend, Gemma, and her girlfriend, Veronica, still has its advantages. After all, it’s hard to complain when you’re making out with the Statue of Liberty in the background.With Veronica’s graduation on the horizon, Hannah is determined to enjoy every second of their time together, even if that means hanging out with Veronica’s new friends, a group of Caster Witches determined to stir up trouble with a local Blood Witch.Thrust into the middle of a terrifying magical feud, Hannah begins to question if she can really trust Veronica, especially with her heart. And with a vengeful Blood Witch on their trail, she’ll have to use every ounce of her powers to make sure she gets back to Salem alive.
Silence of Winter
Avery Blake - 2018
At least that's what Oliver Cromwell tells himself when he's being bullied for being different. He's a lover of all things paranormal, and when his nose isn't shoved into his sketchpad, drawing haunted houses and monsters, he and his best friend Bailey hang out in abandoned buildings and take long—very non-romantic—walks through graveyards looking for ghosts.Everything changes when they actually find one.Freaked out because he seems to be a sudden ghost magnet, Oliver befriends Mrs. Glass, a psychic who lives in the Victorian manor at the end of his street. With her help, he discovers his special bloodline and uncovers abilities that allow him to begin helping the ghosts move on. As if being sixteen wasn't already complicated.When Oliver meets Victor, the charming and mysterious boy who lives with Mrs. Glass, he finds himself falling and falling hard. Chasing ghosts is a lot less nerve-wracking than falling in love, though, especially when the person you fall for has secrets of their own.The sleepy town of Iris Hollow has plenty of spooky legends and history that entices tourists from all over. And Oliver is about to find himself in the center of it all.This is a young adult paranormal LGBT story with magic, ghosts, and heartwarming romance. Guaranteed to make you smile, laugh, and maybe sleep with the light on.Trigger Warning: this story contains material that may be sensitive to some readers, including bullying and self harm.
Winter Trials
K.S. Marsden - 2016
Learning witchcraft shouldn't be too difficult, right?Balancing school, magic, and the distractions of the gorgeous new guy, should make this a very interesting winter.
The Shape of Fire
D.K. Holmberg - 2020
Serving as the Master of Spirit leaves Tolan with little time for anything beyond teaching. There’s no time for the research he enjoys, no time to explore ancient ruins, and no time to search for strange elementals in the land beyond the bleak waste where no magic can exist. During a Selection of new students, Tolan uncovers a strange village where the elementals are worshipped, along with power he didn’t believe possible within his homeland. When a threat all thought long ago defeated returns, Tolan finds his service to the Academy will require more than a Master of Spirit. Stopping this threat will need a master of all the elements—and the elementals, but can he still be that person?
Heart of Thorns
Bree Barton - 2018
The same women who killed her mother without a single scratch.But when Mia's father announces an alliance with the royal family, she is forced to trade in her knives and trousers for a sumptuous silk gown. Determined to forge her own path forward, Mia plots a daring escape, but could never predict the greatest betrayal of all: her own body. Mia possesses the very magic she has sworn to destroy.Now, as she untangles the secrets of her past, Mia must learn to trust her heart…even if it kills her.Fans of Leigh Bardugo and Laini Taylor won’t want to miss this gorgeously written, bold novel, the first in the Heart of Thorns trilogy.