Book picks similar to
Witch's Dice by Kaylie Smith


2023-releases
young-adult
fantasy
2023

The Impostor Queen


Sarah Fine - 2016
    The only life Elli has known has been in the temple, surrounded by luxury, tutored by magic-wielding priests, preparing for the day when the queen perishes—and the ice and fire find a new home in Elli, who is prophesied to be the most powerful Valtia to ever rule. But when the queen dies defending the kingdom from invading warriors, the magic doesn’t enter Elli. It’s nowhere to be found. Disgraced, Elli flees to the outlands, home of banished criminals—some who would love to see the temple burn with all its priests inside. As she finds her footing in this new world, Elli uncovers devastating new information about the Kupari magic, those who wield it, and the prophecy that foretold her destiny. Torn between her love for her people and her growing loyalty to the banished, Elli struggles to understand the true role she was meant to play. But as war looms, she must choose the right side before the kingdom and its magic are completely destroyed.

The Devouring Gray


Christine Lynn Herman - 2019
    The fact that she’s descended from one of the town’s founders doesn’t help much, either—her new neighbours treat her with distant respect, and something very like fear. When she meets Justin, May, Isaac, and Harper, all children of founder families, and sees the otherworldly destruction they can wreak, she starts to wonder if the townsfolk are right to be afraid.When bodies start to appear in the woods, the locals become downright hostile. Can the teenagers solve the mystery of Four Paths, and their own part in it, before another calamity strikes?

Jade Fire Gold


June C.L. Tan - 2021
    Ahn sees a way to finally unlock her past and understand her arcane magical abilities.But they may have to pay a far deadlier price than either could have imagined.Ferocious action, shadowy intrigue, and a captivating romance collide in June CL Tan’s debut, a stunning homage to the Xianxia novel with a tender, beating heart, perfect for fans of The Bone Witch and We Hunt the Flame.

Relic and Ruin


Wendii McIver
    They have the power to save the world―or destroy it.In a place unlike any other, two brothers set off an ancient, epic, and never-ending battle. This world is controlled by the Necromancers and Reapers―one side pulls people back up through the earth, and the other cuts them down again. One ancient family, the Laheys, have been tasked again and again with keeping the balance between the worlds. And Nyx Lahey, born a Necromancer, but raised a Reaper, is on the front lines. Lately, though, Nyx is wrestling with her identity as she’s thrown into an adventure filled with prophecies and the kind of danger you can cut down with a giant scythe.While chasing a creature that’s killing young girls, Nyx runs headlong―and gun drawn―into Erebus Salem. A hunter who has the ability to turn into a raven to escape danger, Erebus also harbors a secret: he’s not alive. He lives in Dewmort, a world in-between, where the souls of the dead reside, and where memory is all but erased. With no memory of who he is, his only connection to the past is a locket which ends up in Nyx’s hands. Determined to get it back, Erebus and his friends set watch on the Laheys, but they aren’t the only ones.Other beings are lurking in the shadows. They know the truth about Erebus and Nyx. They know that the pair are the Relics, the only two powerful beings in the world capable of taking down the greatest evils known to any kind. Soon, Nyx and Erebus become the hunted, and must try and escape the evil plans of the war lord, Bellum.Bellum wants the Relics for his own purposes. He needs them to raise his father, the original Necromancer, Neco. With his father by his side, Bellum believes he can rule the world―all of them―and destroy the Reapers once and for all.Can Nyx and Erebus master their new found powers, and even if they do, can they survive?

The Initiation


L.J. Smith - 1992
    Cassie is initiated into her hometown's coven of witches but her love for the coven leader's boyfriend could prove deadly.

Daughter of Shades


Sylvia Mercedes - 2019
    A rival with a secret.A kingdom’s fate hangs in the balance . . . Ayleth and her shade move as one, ever hungry for the hunt. Under her mentor’s tight control, she fears her memories are being stolen. Now nineteen, apprenticed for as long as she can remember to the mysterious Holy Order, she longs to rise in the ranks and banish untamed spirits for the prophesied Golden Prince.When shadowy threats descend on the crown, Ayleth seizes a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove her worth in open competition. Seeking to win the prince’s favor and escape her scheming mentor, she resolves to hold her own against Terryn, a handsome, arrogant opponent who may be more than a match for her untested powers. But as the two rivals follow a trail beyond the Great Barrier and confront legendary evil, the stolen secrets of Ayleth’s past may return to haunt her . . .Can Ayleth win the trial and reclaim her true self? Can she even survive her first day?Daughter of Shades is the first breathtaking book in The Venatrix Chronicles YA fantasy series. If you like kick-butt heroines, intriguing worlds of magic, and slow-burn romance then you’ll love Sylvia Mercedes’s action-packed story.

The Cerulean


Amy Ewing - 2019
    She is curious about everything and can’t stop questioning her three mothers, her best friend, Leela, and even the High Priestess. Sera has longed for the day when the tether that connects her City Above the Sky to the earthly world below finally severs and sends the Cerulean to a new planet.But when Sera is chosen as the sacrifice to break the tether, she doesn’t know what to feel. To save her City, Sera must throw herself from its edge and end her own life. But something goes wrong and she survives the fall, landing in a place called Kaolin. She has heard tales about the humans there, and soon learns that the dangers her mothers warned her of are real. If Sera has any hope to return to her City, she’ll have to find the magic within herself to survive.

Strange Creatures


Phoebe North - 2021
    Alike in almost every way, they promised to always take care of each other while facing the challenges of growing up different in suburban America. And when life became too much for them, they created their own space in the woods behind their house: a fantasy world of their own making, where no one else could find them. And it was enough, for a while. But then came middle school when Jamie grew dark and distant. He found new friends, a girlfriend, and a life away from Annie and their shared world. By the time Annie was in eighth grade, it was as if she hardly knew the brother who was her other half.And then, one day, he disappears.Annie, her family, and the entire community are devastated. And as the days turn into months turn into years, everyone begins to accept that Jamie is gone for good. Everyone, that is, except Annie, who believes that Jamie, somehow, has entered the world they created, and who believes that she's the only one who can bring him back. But as Annie searches for answers and finds a new relationship with a girl she did not expect, she makes startling discoveries about her brother's disappearance—and has to decide how much of herself she’s willing to give up in order to keep hope alive.

Mooncakes


Suzanne Walker - 2019
    She works at her grandmothers' bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

Ledge


Stacey McEwan - 2021
    She will crawl to the bottom if she must. But even so, as the frost steals through her clothes and claims her by inches, she wonders if it wouldn’t be wiser not to follow him any longer. She wonders if it would hurt less to lie here and let the cold take her.Dawsyn does not know what it is to live below. She was born on the Ledge—a prison with no need for walls and chains, an icy mountain shelf. When an opportunity to escape the Ledge presents itself for the first time in half a century, Dawsyn must take it. All she has to do is trust the very creature who kept her captive in the first place.

Reign the Earth


A.C. Gaughen - 2018
    Willing to trade her freedom to ensure the safety of her family, Shalia becomes Queen of the Bonelands.But she soon learns that her husband, Calix, is motivated only by his desire to exterminate the Elementae—mystical people who can control earth, wind, air, and fire. Even more unsettling are Shalia’s feelings for her husband’s brother, which unleash a power over the earth she never knew she possessed—a power that could get her killed. As rumors of a rebellion against Calix spread, Shalia must choose between the last chance for peace and her own future as an Elementae.This intense, richly drawn high-fantasy by the author of Scarlet will hold readers spellbound.

Salt & Storm


Kendall Kulper - 2014
    She will be murdered. And she's never been wrong before.Desperate to change her future, Avery finds a surprising ally in Tane—a tattooed harpoon boy with magic of his own, who moves her in ways she never expected. But as time runs out to unlock her magic and save herself, Avery discovers that becoming a witch requires unimaginable sacrifice.Avery walks the knife's edge between choice and destiny in Kendall Kulper's sweeping debut: the story of one girl's fight to survive the rising storm of first love and family secrets.

Ever Cursed


Corey Ann Haydu - 2020
    They are cherished, admired. Cursed. Jane, Alice, Nora, Grace, and Eden carry the burden of being punished for a crime they did not commit, or even know about. They are each cursed to be Without one essential thing—the ability to eat, sleep, love, remember, or hope. And their mother, the Queen, is imprisoned, frozen in time in an unbreakable glass box. But when Eden’s curse sets in on her thirteenth birthday, the princesses are given the opportunity to break the curse, preventing it from becoming a True Spell and dooming the princesses for life. To do this, they must confront the one who cast the spell—Reagan, a young witch who might not be the villain they thought—as well as the wickedness plaguing their own kingdom…and family. Told through the eyes of Reagan and Jane—the witch and the bewitched—this insightful twist of a fairy tale explores power in a patriarchal kingdom not unlike our own.

The Babysitters Coven


Kate Williams - 2019
     Seventeen-year-old Esme Pearl has a babysitters club. She knows it's kinda lame, but what else is she supposed to do? Get a job? Gross. Besides, Esme likes babysitting, and she's good at it.And lately Esme needs all the cash she can get, because it seems like destruction follows her wherever she goes. Let's just say she owes some people a new tree.Enter Cassandra Heaven. She's Instagram-model hot, dresses like she found her clothes in a dumpster, and has a rebellious streak as gnarly as the cafeteria food. So why is Cassandra willing to do anything, even take on a potty-training two-year-old, to join Esme's babysitters club?The answer lies in a mysterious note Cassandra's mother left her: "Find the babysitters. Love, Mom."Turns out, Esme and Cassandra have more in common than they think, and they're about to discover what being a babysitter really means: a heroic lineage of superpowers, magic rituals, and saving the innocent from seriously terrifying evil. And all before the parents get home.

Island of Exiles


Erica Cameron - 2017
    Perfect for fans of Graceling and Snow Like Ashes.In Khya’s world, every breath is a battle.On the isolated desert island of Shiara, dying young is inevitable. The clan comes before self, and protecting her home means Khya is a warrior above all else.But when following the clan and obeying their leaders could cost her brother his life, Khya's home becomes a deadly trap. The only person who can help is Tessen, her lifelong rival and the boy who challenges her at every turn. The council she hoped to join has betrayed her, and their secrets, hundreds of years deep, reach around a world she's never seen.To save her brother’s life and her island home, her only choice is to trust Tessen, turn against her clan, and go on the run—a betrayal and a death sentence.