The best books like Twilight to read now

It’s arduous to consider 10 years have handed because the cinematic masterpiece in any other case referred to as Breaking Dawn – Part 2 arrived in theaters. To assist rejoice this momentous event, we’ve compiled an inventory of younger grownup and grownup novels with a supernatural twist to read when you have been (or nonetheless are) a Twilight fan.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

The cover for Elatsoe, with a young person wearing a red coat surrounded by white wolves.

The world Elatsoe lives in shouldn’t be a lot completely different than our personal. There’s nonetheless highschool to navigate, homework to flip in on time, and pistachio ice cream. It simply so occurs there are additionally terrifying monsters and highly effective magic customers on this mirror-world. Elatsoe herself can talk with the useless, a present handed down by way of the generations of Lipan Apache ancestors that got here earlier than her. When her beloved cousin is brutally murdered, Elatsoe decides to put her distinctive ability set to use and, with the assistance of her best pal and her loyal ghost canine at her aspect, she quickly discovers not all is because it appears within the picturesque city the place her cousin’s physique was found.

Darcie Little Badger has written a stunning and, at occasions, deeply unsettling story that readers of all ages will get pleasure from concerning the injustices that Indigenous individuals nonetheless face at the moment and the significance of understanding the place we come from. And, whereas it doesn’t characteristic a love triangle like in Twilight, Elatsoe options really spectacular ace illustration and a number of the most terrifying vampires in YA literature.

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle

A group of girls looks forward (while one looks back at the reader) in the cover for the graphic novel Squad, with three wolf silhouettes howling against the moon in front of them.

What do you get if you cross Mean Girls with Teen Wolf? The reply is Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle’s attractive and nostalgia-inducing YA graphic novel, Squad.

Set within the prosperous suburbs of San Francisco, Squad introduces readers to Becca who, like most youngsters, needs nothing greater than to discover a group of pals she’ll slot in with. To Becca’s shock she’s rapidly adopted by a bunch of standard women in school. It’s solely below the sunshine of a full moon that Becca learns the reality: her new pals are werewolves.

Squad is a compelling, neon-colored vigilante story concerning the perils of peer stress, love (each the platonic and romantic varieties), and the way all of this stuff can carry pals collectively simply as simply as it might probably tear them aside.

The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl

A young girl wearing a studded choker has blood dripping down from her fangs in the cover for The Lost Girls

If you’ve ever watched any of the Twilight films and located your self wishing Alice had extra display time (otherwise you shipped Bella with Alice as a substitute of with Edward), then The Lost Girls, Sonia Hartl’s sapphic vampire novel, is perhaps the right ebook for you.

Immortality isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. When 16-year-old Holly Liddell is changed into a vampire by her boyfriend in 1987, the very last thing she’s anticipating is to be caught with crimped hair for all eternity. Thirty-four years later, Holly meets Rose and Ida, two vampires who, like Holly, have been turned and left for un(useless) by her ex. Rose and Ida are hellbent on revenge, however issues change into sophisticated when Holly meets the brand new lady her ex has set his sights on.

The Lost Girls is an completely charming tackle John Tucker Must Die with a sapphic twist to it. It’s a wild journey from begin to end and a very good reminder that lady gangs are usually not to be trifled with.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

The cover for Aiden Thomas’s Cemetery Boys, featuring two young brown men, candles, tombstones, and a skeletal figure in the background.

Despite what Twilight could have led you to consider, not all slow-burn supernatural romance takes place between a human and a vampire. Sometimes it’s between a human and the ghost of their college’s resident dangerous boy. This, because it simply so occurs, is strictly the case in Aiden Thomas’ enchanting and extremely tender YA debut, Cemetery Boys.

Yadriel, a 16-year-old homosexual Latino boy, needs nothing extra on this planet than for his household to settle for his gender. After Yadriel efficiently performs a ritual to show to his household he’s a brujo, two issues occur: He inadvertently unlocks his powers and unintentionally summons the ghost of Julian Diaz, the college’s just lately deceased troublemaker. In loss of life, Julian is endearing and full of heat in a means that appears at odds with the rumors of his troubled previous. Determined to discover out what actually occurred earlier than he strikes on, Julian convinces Yadriel to assist him.

Needless to say, Cemetery Boys is an emotional rollercoaster of a ebook. Aiden Thomas pulls no punches as Yadriel is embraced at arm’s size (no less than at first) by his household. The journey to acceptance and self-discovery is a bumpy one, however Yadriel has assist alongside the way in which and learns that you simply don’t want permission from anybody to be your self.

Fangs by Sarah Andersen

Cover image for Sarah Andersen’s Fangs, with a young woman wearing a black dress and bat wings. The book is a stark red color.

I dare you to discover a slice-of-life graphic novel a couple of vampire and a werewolf falling in love that’s as witty, charming, or downright enjoyable as Fangs by Sarah Andersen.

Originally a webcomic, Fangs tells the story of Elsie, a 300-year-old vampire in search of love, and Jimmy, an completely charming, flannel-wearing werewolf. Each web page is its personal self-contained caricature that offers readers a glimpse into Elsie and Jimmy’s life collectively as their fondness for each other grows. They watch horror films, go on dinner dates, and be taught to navigate one another’s quirks (Jimmy hates the mailman, whereas Elsie struggles to take selfies and avoids the solar on the seaside).

The mixture of Andersen’s attractive, gothic illustrations and her signature, wry humorousness highlights the trials and tribulations of modern-day relationships and makes Fangs a must-read when you’re a fan of supernatural romance.

Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison

Cover image for Rachel Harrison’s Such Sharp Teeth, which promises it as a werewolf novel. A silhouette of a werewolf appears in a red circle, which drips like blood. The title is written in big pink letters, in the style of a sharpie or highlighter.

If you have been Team Jacob moderately than Team Edward, Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison is perhaps simply the ebook for you. You’re assured to have a superb time studying any of Harrison’s books (take a look at The Return when you’re achieved with Such Sharp Teeth). Harrison is a grasp when it comes to making horror enjoyable, and her feminist and body-positive tackle werewolves is not any exception.

Like many individuals, Rory Morris isn’t thrilled concerning the thought of transferring again to the small city she grew up in, however that’s precisely what she does when her pregnant sister asks for her assist. Rory abandons her dream job and impressive social life, returning to the city she grew up in and the rumor mill she left behind. Things change into extra sophisticated when, after grabbing drinks with an previous almost-flame, Rory hits a big, red-eyed animal together with her automobile. Her investigation leads to a violent assault within the woods and, not lengthy after, Rory develops an uncommon longing for pink meat, is all of a sudden tremendous sturdy, and has a sudden aversion to silver.

With the following full moon developing quick, Rory has to find out how to juggle her new predicament, supporting her sister as best she will, and a possible love curiosity all whereas attempting to cease one other assault from occurring.

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

Cover image for Alexis Henderson’s House of Hunger, with a young woman in a red dress, with blood dripping down her neck.

Unlike the vampires in Twilight, those in Alexis Henderson’s horny, gothic new novel, House of Hunger, don’t sparkle. Henderson has change into an writer to look out for when it comes to cosmic horror, darkish fantasy, and issues that go bump within the evening. In House of Hunger, she deconstructs the hedonistic, blood-soaked vampire lore we’re all accustomed to and flips it on its head.

Marion Shaw has longed to go away town and the slums the place she has lived for her whole life, so when the chance to work as a bloodmaid on the notorious House of Hunger arises, she jumps on the probability for a brand new begin. Upon her arrival Marion discovers a lavish and debaucherous world through which the rich drink the blood of these of their service. At its middle is the fearsome and seductive Countess Lisavet, and whereas Marion would do something to please her new mistress, it’s troublesome to ignore the truth that her fellow bloodmaids have begun to go lacking through the evening.

As alluring as it’s unforgiving, this gory and gripping novel shouldn’t be one to be missed.

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

Cover image for Megan Banne’s The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy. It is a light blue cover with yellow drawings of skulls, flowers and candles. In the middle, two skeletal hands form a heart, which is shaded in pink. Two white silhouettes are seen next to a tombstone in the heart.

If you’re a fan of romance novels and also you one way or the other haven’t heard of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen but, then you must cease studying this and go get your arms on a replica proper now.

The titular Hart is a marshal (suppose Timothy Olyphant in Justified), steadfast and severe, tasked with patrolling the magical land of Tanria. He’s additionally extremely lonely. Desperate for a connection, Hart pens an nameless letter that leads to the arms of his nemesis: Mercy Birdsall. The last item Hart is anticipating is for Mercy to reply to his letter or, even worse, to romantic develop emotions for her.

Set in a world that options previous gods, new gods, speaking animals, the undead, and nearly all the pieces in between, it’s important studying for anybody who swoons on the mere considered a sluggish burn, epistolary, enemies-to-lovers plot.

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