Fairy Tales Gone Dark, Fated Wolves, and a Seventeen-Year-Old Pilot Saving Mars

by Abigail Manning

The Shadow Realm bundles retellings of The Invisible Man, Pinocchio and Dracula, all set around the Silver Shadow Ball in the kingdom of Umbria. Readers mention gender-bent twists, hidden identities and enemies to lovers, and the story rotates between Garnet, Aethera and Ebony. It's sitting at 4.5 with over 50 ratings, the strongest showing of the week for a pure Halloween mood read.

“༄˖°..ೃ࿔*:･༄˖°..ೃ࿔*:･༄˖°..ೃ࿔*:･༄˖°..ೃ࿔*:･༄˖° 🍂~Genres~🍂 Fantasy/Retelling/Romance/Gender bent/Hidden identity/Enemies to lovers/Anthology... kinda A Shadowy Retelling of The Invisible Man, Pinocchio, and Dracula... 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 🫥~Characters~🫥 (Aethera "Talia") FMC I really lik”

by Kelly King

Emillie Cooper wakes up in the dirt of Oak Creek with no memory and a moon that burns in her blood, and the local pack treats her like a ghost. The fated mate she can't remember is also the guy who was supposedly born to destroy her, which is a lot of baggage for book one. It sits at 4.18 with 45 ratings and no written reviews yet, so you'd be going in blind, but werewolf romance fans probably won't mind.

by Adelle Summers

Roland is a prince turned frog who's losing his memories, and honestly he's fine with that until Clara shows up with a plan. One reviewer admitted the Frog Prince is one of her least favorite fairy tales and still got pulled in, which says something. A 4.03 from 39 readers is solid, and this is a good pick if you like your retellings with some snark.

by Ian E.S. Adler

The Dragonkin were wiped out in a genocidal war, yet they're humanity's only hope, and a crew of five sails the Archipelago of Cynna hunting ancient song pieces. It has a Kirkus pull quote and a 4.89, though that's only 18 ratings and one of the reviews is the author talking about their own book, so take the number with a grain of salt. Still, if you want big epic fantasy with a found-team feel, free is a fine price to find out.

“The Last War is a great read! Who doesn’t like a high epic fantasy with a Team of 5 sailing around an archipelago in search of ancient song pieces to defeat a snake-like enemy? The action is immediate and moves quickly, but it is the range of deep relationships between the characters that stands...”

by Rich Marcello

This one is the quiet outlier. A lonely sixteen-year-old genius is convinced everything connects, then a mysterious mentor and an artist enter his life and turn the theory into something personal. Longtime Rich Marcello fans are happy about it, one telling you to grab tea or wine and settle in, and it holds a 4.39 across 18 ratings. Best for readers who like coming-of-age stories heavy on ideas.

“I have read, reviewed, and loved several of Rich Marcello’s novels, and I am always happy to hear he has a new book out. His are novels of big ideas populated by interesting characters, and they make readers ponder and reconsider things that perhaps they have never given much thought to. This novel ”

by Cidney Swanson

The Star We Call Home is a 10th anniversary edition of Saving Mars, with seventeen-year-old pilot Jessamyn and her brother raiding ex-ally Earth to save the colony. At 3.47 from 15 ratings it's the lowest rated of the bunch, so this is more of a curious sci-fi pick than a sure thing. If you like younger-skewing space adventure and don't mind a mixed reception, it costs nothing to try.