TandeWrites

This was originally going to be a list of my favourite books of all time, but I realised that my favourites shelf on Goodreads is littered with books I haven’t read or thought about in five years, I thought I’d focus on the books that still do occupy my brain space to this day, some read more recently than others. And I know the ‘Roman Empire’ meme is dead by now, but I have no other way to describe the impact these books have had on me.

This list is accurate to my taste in books up to the age of twenty-one, as I know there are infinite books I’m planning to read that could potentially replace every single current entry. They are also predominantly young adult and fantasy, just because that’s what’s been scratching my brain right.

This list is in no particular order, except the order in which they appear on my bookshelves.

Let’s begin!

The Wicker King by K Ancrum

The Wicker King is a psychological young adult thriller that follows two friends struggling as one spirals into madness. When August learns that his best friend, Jack, shows signs of degenerative hallucinatory disorder, he is determined to help Jack cope. Jack’s vivid and long-term visions take the form of an elaborate fantasy world layered over our own – a world ruled by the Wicker King. As Jack leads them on a quest to fulfil a dark prophecy in this alternate world, even August begins to question what is real or not. August and Jack struggle to keep afloat as they teeter between fantasy and their own emotions. In the end, each must choose his own truth.

K. Ancrum, as I’ve said before, is truly just a once-in-a-lifetime author to me. Her prose and craft are so unique and endearing and every book by her feels like something that has done irreversible damage to my brain chemistry.

This book so deeply means a lot to me. I think the thing that stands out most to me is: how you can do your best and still fail, but it’s not your fault. It’s really brutal and sad and yet beautiful. It’s about mental illness and co-dependency and unhealthy relationships and neglect and kids just trying to cope the best they can. It is a flawed story about flawed boys. But can we rewind to the part where I just said: they are trying to cope and hold the world on their shoulders the best they can. And they absolutely mess up. But they try. I also think this is the kind of book that is more than the words on a page. There are lots of suppressed feelings and emotions and underlying psychological reasons and causes. So go in expecting kids to mess up because they do.

This book is dedicated to all the kids whose arms are filled with too much for them to hold, but who are trying their best not to drop a single thing. I see you and I am proud of you for trying. And a special shout out to Ellen Duda, the interior designer of this book, because the design is incredible, and the pages become darker along with the story.

The Wicker King is a good fit for readers interested in exploring the complexities of mental health, co-dependency, and the blurred lines between reality and madness, all woven into a dark and emotional thriller with a unique stream-of-consciousness style.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction – if they don’t kill each other first.

This book is a sweeping epic tale with six main characters, five perspectives, complex and detailed world-building that is seamlessly integrated into the story, flashbacks to the character’s histories, and a wonderful blend of darkness, magic, action, humour and romance. Bardugo crafts each of her characters with love and sensitivity, allowing them to be extremely badass, wicked sometimes, and unlikable in that multi-layered way that actually makes them completely likeable. They’re a ragtag band of misfits, and not exactly friends, but all are united for a common mission, and most importantly, they each have a purpose. There are no redundant, extraneous characters, but each character is doing this for their own reason.

A small shout out to Keith Thompson, who drew the map and ice court illustration for this book, and I assume the maps across the rest of the Grishaverse. I love them a lot.

Six of Crows is a great fit for readers who enjoy stories about unlikely teams coming together, overcoming their differences, and facing challenges while navigating a richly detailed fantasy world.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, and its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. There is one other person in the house – a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

This strange little book is my favourite book of possibly the last three years, and I could write essays about the metaphors for ambition and identity and religion. This is like a dream, slow, strange and intensely atmospheric, unbelievably immersive and engrossing. The point of this story for me was not the mystery of the house or of Piranesi’s identity; the clues are there and it’s not too hard to figure most of it out rather early on. No, the strength is the strange world that Clarke creates so vividly that I felt that I was walking the Halls and avoiding the Tides and listening to the messages the House sends and catching a glimpse of the Moon along with Piranesi. His hypnotic voice – the voice of the timeless scientist – transported me fully into this strange orderly confusion and left me spellbound. And that was the spell I did not want to end.

Piranesi is a good fit for readers who enjoy immersive, imaginative tales set in otherworldly environments, where the exploration of memory and the uncovering of hidden truths lead to a deeper understanding of one’s own reality.

Small Favors by Erin A. Craig

Ellerie Downing lives in the quiet town of Amity Falls, bordered by a nearly impenetrable forest from which the early townsfolk fought off the devils in the woods. Visitors are few and rare. But when a supply party goes missing, some worry that the monsters that once stalked the region have returned. More strange activities plague the town which point to a tribe of devilish and mystical creatures who promise to fulfil the residents’ deepest desires, however grand and impossible, for just a small favour. Their true intentions are much more sinister, and Ellerie finds herself in a race against time before all of Amity Falls, her family, and the boy she loves go up in flames.

Small Favors is a beautifully creepy gothic tale loosely based on the fairy tale of Rumpelstiltskin. I am always keen on claustrophobic small-town mysteries: people get trapped in the place; harsh winter comes out as the monsters start lurking around the woods. The atmosphere is so realistically spooky – it’s the perfect setting. Every character gives off the vibe that there’s something not quite right with them, but you can’t put your finger on it. I enjoyed how ominous it felt, even when nothing overtly scary was happening. This book gave me the creeps, in the best way possible. Not quite nightmare-inducing, but it definitely makes you wary of things that go bump in the night.

This book is dedicated to my mama, thank you for never backing down when I challenged you to tell a scary story. But also thank you for always making the endings happy. And a special shout out to Ken Crossland for the beautiful interior design of this book, and Casey Moses for the cover which has dominated my brain space ever since I saw her posting TikTok’s about designing it.

Small Favors is a good fit for readers who enjoy fantastical, creepy tales with a small-town setting and a fresh twist on classic fairytales.

Unraveller by Frances Hardinge

In a world where anyone can create a life-destroying curse, Kellen has the power to unravel them. He doesn’t fully understand his talent but helps those transformed maliciously – including Nettle, who recovered from entrapment in bird form and is now his constant companion and closest ally. But Kellen has also been cursed, and unless he and Nettle can remove his curse, Kellen is in danger of unravelling everything – and everyone – around him.

This is the first book in recent memory that I’ve rated five stars and not had a single doubt about that rating. It’s one of those books that I could gush about forever: the style of the writing, the beautiful, twisted woods aesthetic, and the characters who are all interesting and dynamic and complex and leap off the page. Both of the main characters are uniquely flawed. Kellen is utterly angry and stubborn and brilliantly brave. Nettle is the exact opposite of Kellen: she is gentle and caring and a lot of her emotions are internalised, and I adore her with my entire heart. I love how the author explores the lasting trauma of Nettle’s curse and how her softness and kindness is a conscious choice as a result of it. The world is sprawling and lush and full of detailed care. It’s a complicated web of a tale with more depth and more layers than I can explain in one brief review, and it was a delight to be tangled up in it. It’s one of those books where not a single element of it is grounded in reality, yet somehow it just works.

This book is dedicated to Ulrike, my not-at-all-wicked stepmother, whose magic takes the form of photography, origami, lemon marmalade, and kindness. I would also like to give a special shout-out to the artist of the map because I adore the art style and crave it for my own fantasy novels, but I cannot find their name anywhere on the copyright page or online.

Unraveller is a good fit for those seeking a story that explores the power of friendship and the challenges of anger management, set in a fantastical world with a unique magic system.

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

As the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter, Marra escaped the traditional fate of princesses, to be married away for the sake of an uncaring throne. But her sister wasn’t so fortunate—and after years of silence, Marra finally realized that no one was coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself. On her quest, Marra is joined by the grave witch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the prince’s throat and frees Marra’s family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last.

There are so many elements here that make me feel like the book was written for me specifically, including this being a quest fantasy with a found family element, and also being fairytale-esque. It plays with fairytales in a way where we have the comfort and cosiness of the story with a dark thread running through it. I think that tonal dissonance might be off-putting for some readers, but I think the darkness is well-woven with the cosiness, and I greatly enjoyed reading it. It’s one of my favourite ways to see fairytales explored. It’s also not a retelling in any way that I can tell, just heavy on the fairytale vibes.

The writing is what really made this book. It’s not a long book, somewhere in the mid-200 pages. It’s definitely short and contained. The imagery and the setting were immaculately described, and the tone in places was almost blunt and very to the point which was quite refreshing. This is my first T. Kingfisher read, and I am already deeply in love with her fantasy work and how unique the worlds are. It was also just nice to read about characters in their thirties (and older) going on adventures, even if that adventure is a quest for revenge. I think this book is marketed as ‘horror fantasy’ on Goodreads, and I can see why based on some of the more disturbing elements, but it’s not particularly scary or gruesome, just a little creepy in places.

Nettle & Bone is a good fit for those seeking a story that subverts traditional fairytale tropes, featuring a shy and unlikely heroine who embarks on a dark, adventurous, and often funny journey to save her sister and challenge an abusive prince. The author takes the bones of fantasy and fairytale and makes them into something entirely new with what I have learned is a signature mix of the grim and the delightful.

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

When risen corpses called ‘bone houses’ threaten Ryn’s village because of a decades-old curse, she teams up with a mapmaker named Ellis to solve the mystery of the curse and destroy the bone houses forever.

This is another book that I’ve fallen completely in love with due to it hitting so many of my niche interests. A tough gravedigger girl, a soft mapmaker boy who can never find his way, and their undead goat adventure through mountains and folklore to face the curse of risen corpses and long-hidden truths about themselves. It’s a story about folktales and magic and family and undead corpses.

This book is set in a village within a forest where the people have let history die because they no longer believe in magic. The Welsh influences and folklore was the perfect choice for a horror/influenced novel as I’ve grown up near Wales and heard about all the ghost hauntings and supernatural sightings and other assorted spooky stuff. The author did such a wonderful job of showing the zombies – for the lack of a better description – through the perspective of myths and legends, and also removed a lot of the horror element, creating something that felt like it could’ve held a role in a fairytale rather than a nightmare.

The Bone Houses is a good fit for readers who enjoy young adult fantasy stories about family bonds, grappling with loss, and facing supernatural threats in a mysterious and atmospheric setting.  

Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz

Rudy’s life is flipped upside-down when his family moves to a remote island where there are magical fish that can cure serious illnesses, hoping to cure his younger brother’s cystic fibrosis. With nothing to do but worry, Rudy sinks deeper and deeper into loneliness, until he meets and starts a tentative friendship with Teeth, the ugliest half-human half-fish (not quite a merman) that he has ever seen. Rudy can’t remember the last time he felt so connected to someone, but being friends with Teeth is more than a little bit complicated. He soon learns that Teeth has terrible secrets. Violent secrets. Secrets that will force Rudy to choose between his own happiness and his brother’s life.

The Rudy and Teeth relationship stole my heart, but it broke it, too. Their relationship is completely flawed and dysfunctional, but the characters are so beautifully written that I was in love with their complexity and desperation and charm. The writing is so raw, emphasising all the brutality and blood and darkness. I love the setting of this book so much because it reminds me of home. The descriptions were incredibly vivid, saying so much in a few words. If you’re looking for a twisted fairytale of magic and miracles and teeth and tears, this is for you. It deserves all the love and the reads and the stars. I want to throw myself into the ocean.

This book is dedicated to my mom, who read me stories, and my dad, who made them up.

Teeth is a good fit for readers who are interested in exploring complex themes of survivor’s guilt, the power of relationships, and the blurred lines between reality and fantasy, all woven into a dark and absorbing modern fairy tale.

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

When Paul enters university in early 1970s Pittsburgh, it’s with the hope of moving past the recent death of his father. When he meets the worldly Julian in his freshman ethics class, Paul is immediately drawn to his classmate’s effortless charm, and he will stop at nothing to prove himself worthy of their friendship. But as charismatic as he can choose to be, Julian is also volatile and capriciously cruel, and Paul becomes increasingly afraid that he can never live up to what Julian expects of him. As their friendship spirals into all-consuming intimacy, they each learn the lengths to which the other will go to stay together, their obsession ultimately hurtling them toward an act of irrevocable violence.

This is a story of obsession, violence, intellect, passion, and cruelty. And it consumed me entirely. I finished reading it over a year ago and still don’t have the words for a review. It’s a slow, intoxicating book of violence and mental illness and subtle cruelty and consuming, obsessive love. It’s a mess, and it’s so beautifully written, and I am perpetually devastated that this author doesn’t have any other books released at the moment.

The prose is incredible. The absolutely phenomenal level of detail just made each scene alive. It made the book slow and thoughtful but in the best way. You aren’t just viewing the world like Paul would – you are so deep in his mind. The way his sensory overload seeps through the pages…I felt every word of it.

These Violent Delights is a good fit for readers interested in exploring a dark and intense story of a toxic friendship between two male college students with queer identities, set in a world of academia, that ultimately leads to a shocking act of violence.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Controversial opinion, but this beats out The Raven Cycle as my favourite Stiefvater work.

Every November, the Scorpio Races are run beneath the chalk cliffs of Skarmouth. Sean Kendrick is the only man on the island capable of taming the beasts. Puck enters the races to save her family, but the horse she rides is an ordinary little mare. They both enter the Races hoping to change their lives. But first, they’ll have to survive.

This book is a set of brilliant moments woven together with a sure hand, and structured around a simple plot that illuminates, with rich prose and richer structure, a set of very real, very damaged, very hopeful characters learning the courage it takes to reveal their authentic selves to each other and to the world. It’s the kind of story I’ve come back to so many times because I’m drawn into this oddly poetic tale of magic and desire and longing, and the familiarity of Stiefvater’s storytelling and characterisation is a comfort blanket. It’s also obvious that Stiefvater has a genuine love for myths and folklore and horses: she writes about it all convincingly and there’s a deep respect in her words that seeps out of every page.

The Scorpio Races is a good fit for readers seeking an immersive and atmospheric story that combines elements of fantasy, adventure, and reflection, with a focus on the complexities of human relationships and the power of nature.