Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by the wonderful Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm.
This week’s topic was a challenge for me because I do not read a lot of fantasy and my favourite Magical Creatures are all from Harry Potter. So, I decided that talk about books I love that feature vampires, witches, mermaids, dragons, and ghosts.
Vampires
The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
Blood of Eden is such an underrated vampires series. I know that Kagawa’s other books are popular but I never see anyone talking about Blood of Eden, which is such a shame. I love her take on vampires and this series has my favourite villains of all time. He is so complex and you never know whose side he is truly on. I highly recommend giving The Immortal Rules a chance!
Witches
Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
I have read many books about witches but none have lived up to The Rules of Magic. It is the prequel to Practical Magic and it has somehow managed to be even better than that book. I loved that the story follows three siblings and we get to see how they each embrace their magic in different ways. Watching them grow up and interact with one another was a complete joy. The magic was interesting as well but also felt very authentic.
Mermaids
Wake by Amanda Hocking
This series is just plain fun! If you are going to read it you can not take it too seriously. It reads like you are watching a CW show and I loved every single second of it. I distinctly remember impatiently waiting for the next books in the series to come out because I needed more! I also loved that this series portrayed mermaids as dark and evil behind their pretty facade- made for entertaining reads that you can devour in one sitting.
Dragons
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Classic! I talked about my love for Smaug recently on my blog but he truly is my favourite dragon- so iconic!
Ghosts
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Sing, Unburied, Sing is not your typical ghost story and it is much more literary than the other books on this list. I just couldn’t pass on the opportunity to talk about it. I read this book last year and I have grown to appreciate it even more over time. The ghost in the story adds an element of sadness and gives us greater inside in to the other characters in the novel. This is a book that is difficult to read but the pay off is worth it.
What is a book with magical creatures that I must read?
ooo this makes me very curious about the Rules of Magic and Sing Unburied Sing. Will definitely need to look into both of these books. Thanks for the heads up!
Both such great books with a unique take on magical realism!
All of these sound so interesting to me and have been added to my TBR. I am definitely most interested in The Rules of Magic. I love a good witch story.
Ah that is so awesome! I think you will love Rules of Magic!
YES TO ALL OF THESE!!! How could I forget dragons, they’re amazing!!
hahah they really are!
Mermaids are on my list too! I’ll have to check out the series you mentioned. I haven’t read a lot of great mermaid books recently so I’m always interested in finding more!
I feel like mermaid books can be hit or miss. Wake is just fun and I thought did some interesting things with mermaids!
All of my magical creature knowledge and love mostly comes from Harry Potter also ❤ I’ll have to check out some on your list!
Happy I’m not alone in that!
Can we ever get enough of Vampires. Nope. I don’t think we can. They’re too awesome.
They really are. I never get sick of them!
I really need to read the immortal rules! I love all her work but for some reason haven’t read this one yet.. 🙈
(Www.evelynreads.com)
It’s so good! I think a lot of people skipped it because there were so many vampire books out there by the time it came out.
Yes that’s definitely true!
I love The Hobbit but am yet to read any Vampire books. Have you read Twilight? Is it any good? Fantasy books are awesome because of the magical Creatures. Harry Potter’s and Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them’s magical creatures tops all others. I especially love the Nifflers and bowtruckles!
I have read Twilight. They are cheesy but they are fun. I’m not sure how they would hold up now though!
Yes! Nifflers were the first thing that I thought of!
I have been meaning to try Immortal Rules, even though I’m not crazy about vampires, cos I do love Kagawa’s writing. And Smaug is one hundred percent my favourite dragon!! Fantastic list!
Thank you! I think there is a chance you will love The Immortal Rules. Not your traditional vampires and such great characters.
Oh I love vampires and witches too. And I had dragons on my list as well. They are some of the best fantasy creatures.