Great Reads For Potterheads

Accio books!

Potterheads may never truly get over the end of Harry Potter (thank goodness for Fantastic Beasts, The Cursed Child, Pottermore, and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, right?), but that doesn't mean there aren't some other great books out there to keep our love of fantasy and fandom alive. Here are five great book suggestions based on some aspects of our beloved Harry Potter.

If you like the world building…Read the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor

Karou’s life has never exactly been normal. She has blue hair, a necklace of wishes, and was raised by monsters—or creatures who look like monsters, anyway. Straddling the human world and a much more magical one, Karou doesn’t know exactly who or what she is, much less where she belongs. But when a group of winged beings come to Earth and cut Karou off from her family, she is thrust irrevocably into the world of magic, and forced to trust the last person she ever expected to: Akiva, the beautiful and dangerous ‘angel’ who is trying to kill the people she loves.

The world building in this series is colorful and has a lot of depth much like the Wizarding World in Harry Potter, but the mythology itself is unlike anything I’ve seen in any other fantasy series. It is completely unique, and although it initially appears to be an ‘angels v. demons’ story, it quickly becomes apparent that this story goes far deeper than that. This is a series you won’t be able to put down, and you won’t soon forget.

Books in the series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Days of Blood & Starlight, and Dreams of Gods & Monsters

Companion Novella: Night of Cake & Puppets

If you like the cultural phenomenon…Read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Via theabsolutemag.com

To say Cath is a Simon Snow fan would be an understatement. She lives and breathes the fictitious fantasy series and is famous fandom-wide for her Simon Snow fics. Of course, things have gotten more complicated since Cath started college where she has to deal with a surly roommate, fights with her twin sister who used to be her best friend, a creative-writing professor who disapproves of fan fiction, her fragile father’s increasingly worrisome episodes, and a handsome new friend who maybe likes her and who she maybe likes, too. Cath has to discover if growing up and moving on means leaving behind the people—and things—that made you who you are, or if it’s possible to make your own way without completely leaving the past behind.

The phenomenon of Simon Snow in Fangirl is a clear parallel to the Potter mania that swept the world after the publication of Harry Potter in the early 90s. If you were one of those people who stayed up late reading Harry Potter, wrote fanfiction under a penname like Weasley_King77, or dressed up for midnight book releases and movie premieres until you were older than altogether socially acceptable then you will definitely find a kindred spirit in Cath.

If you like the Chosen One...Read Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Via weheartit.com

Based on the fictional series that first appeared in her novel Fangirl, Carry On is Rowell’s take on the Chosen One trope with Simon Snow who may just be the worst Chosen One to ever be chosen. Simon is entering his eighth year at Watford School of Magicks and he has a lot on his plate. The Insidious Humdrum has been suspiciously quiet, the Mage is basically ignoring him, things with his girlfriend Agatha are strained, and the worst part is Simon can barely focus on any of that because his roommate, suspected vampire, and arch nemesis Baz is missing and probably up to no good. But when Baz returns to Watford half-dead Simon sets out on a journey to help avenge the death of Baz’s mother that might just bring the two enemies together and save all of magic.

Carry On is a homage to the classic Chosen One stories and is very much built upon the legacy of Harry Potter. Even though I found myself drawing a lot of connections to that famous series about a boy wizard, it never felt like a cheap imitation. Rowell’s magical world is very different from Rowling’s with a magical system build on the power of language and a hero who can barely control his own powerful magic. It's a fantasy novel with all the magic you could ever want, British teens, a dash of intrigue, and a great love story to boot! What's not to love?

If you like the prophecy… Read the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins

Via fanpop.com

Gregor is sucked into a secret world deep below the streets of New York City after his little sister falls through a grate in the laundry room. The Underland is a mysterious and dangerous place where giant, intelligent cockroaches, rats, mice, and spiders live alongside humans, though not always peacefully. But Gregor’s arrival is no accident, because the Underland is on the brink of all-out war and an ancient prophecy foretells the arrival of a great warrior who will play an important role in the coming trials.

This series deals heavily with prophecy, and particularly with the extent to which prophecies control us or vise versa. If you enjoyed the prophecy elements in Harry Potter then you will definitely enjoy this series, and particularly the ways in which it pushes back against notions of prophecy and fate.

Books in the series: Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, and Gregor and the Code of Claw

If you like the magical teens… Read The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Via thereaderscompass.wordpress.com

Adelina Amouteru has been an outcast to society and her family ever since she survived the blood fever, a deadly illness that marked her with silver hair and an unseemly scar where her left eye once was. Her father calls her a “malfetto”, an abomination cursing the family, but there are those in society that believe that the fever marked it’s young survivors with more than just scars—they believe it left them with powerful gifts, and they have come to be known as the Young Elites. After being banished from her home, Adelina’s path crosses that of Enzo Valenciano, a member of the Dagger Society made up of Young Elites. But Adelina’s powers are unlike any the Young Elites have ever seen before, and there is a darkness in her soul that may put her at odds even with those that would help her.

This isn’t the origin story of a hero; it’s the origin story of a villain.

Books in the series: The Young Elites and The Rose Society