Incredible New Release Fantasy Books in April 2024!
Best new release fantasy books in April 2024!
Some magical reads to hunt down this month! I’m particularly looking forward to A Magical Girl Retires by Seolyeon Park, translated from Korean by Anton Hur.
Check out this list, and I wish you a wonderful month of fantasy reading!
*This post contains affiliate links to products I recommend. If you make a purchase through these links I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.
April 2nd
1.Draw Down the Moon (Moonstruck #1) by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast
Fantasy | Young Adult | Romance | Magic
New York Times bestsellers P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast return with a new duology set in a dark and magickal world filled with incredible danger and irresistible romance.
Wren Nightingale isn't supposed to have any powers. Born of magickal parents but not under a moon sign, she was destined for life as a Mundane—right up until she starts glowing on her eighteenth birthday. In a heartbeat, Wren's life is turned upside down, and she's suddenly leaving her home for the mystical Academia de la Luna—a secret magickal school on a hidden island off the Seattle coast.
Lee Young has always known about his future at the Academia. He has one goal: pass the trials, impress the Moon Council, and uphold his family's reputation. But he wasn't expecting to be attending alongside the girl he's been secretly in love with for as long as he can remember.
As Wren and Lee are thrown into the Academie's gruelling trials, they quickly learn there's something different--and dangerous--about the school this year. Wren will have to navigate a web of secrets, prophecies--and murder. And Lee will have to decide who to protect--his family's legacy, or the girl he loves.
2. Fate Be Changed (A Twisted Tale) by Farrah Rochon
Fantasy | Young Adult | Fairytale Retelling | Brave Retelling | Disney
What if the witch gave Merida a different spell? This New York Times best-selling series twists Disney•Pixar's Brave into a fast-paced story in which Merida is sent back in time.
If you could change your fate, would you? Merida understands that as princess of Clan DunBroch, she has certain obligations—but that doesn’t mean she has to like it. Especially when one of those obligations means losing her freedom by becoming betrothed to a man she has never met. Merida balks at this tradition, but her mother Queen Elinor insists that Merida must do this to embrace her role as future queen.
Determined to chart her own path, Merida follows magical wisps to a witch’s cottage, where she is given a magic pastry and promised it will incite “a great transformation” in her mother. But instead of feeding Elinor the pastry, Merida eats it herself.
Merida awakens in the past, a now-teenage Elinor holding a knife to her throat and accusing her of espionage. She’s been transported to a time when the Clans MacCameron and DunBroch are bitter enemies. And it just so happens that the timing of Merida’s arrival has kept Elinor and Fergus from meeting.
Will Merida be able to bridge the rival clans, help her parents fall in love, and change her own fate?
April 8th
3. Wings of a Midnight Storm (The Epidmauri Saga #1) by P.N. Vang
Fantasy | New Adult | Epic Fantasy
A whisper in the shadows. An echo from the past. A melody of destruction.
Wortham is saved from the threat of magic, but the war for the West has just begun. The emperor’s army marches and Narwin Malancy can no longer pretend she is safe. When her path collides with a traitorous friend, secrets are exposed and a new betrayal changes the course of her future, including Splenor and Guy.
Hunted by the Romauri Paladins, Narwin’s only hope is to flee Wortham. But an unlikely ally shares with her the truth about the ancient past, binding her to Emperor Doroxau’s soul-eating dagger. And Princess Rayla, still grieving her loss, makes her move against the emperor to stop the war before it begins.
Now on uncharted paths, Rayla, Splenor, and Guy must forge their destinies—for better or for worse. And Narwin must brave the journey to seek the oldest of alliances before death consumes the world. To succeed, they must first face their fears, or fall to their destruction.
Read Book #1- Flight of a Thousand Embers
April 9th
4. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
Fantasy | Adult | Historical Fiction | Spanish Golden Age | Magic
From the New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House, Hell Bent, and creator of the Grishaverse series comes a highly anticipated historical fantasy set during the Spanish Golden Age
In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family's social position.
What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain's king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England's heretic queen—and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king's favor.
Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition's wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.
5. Lyorn (Vlad Taltos #17) by Steven Brust
Fantasy | Adult | High Fantasy | Epic Fantasy | Adventure
All The World's A Happy Stage. Until the knives come out... Lyorn is the newest adventure in Steven Brust’s bestselling Vlad Taltos series
Another Opening…Another Cataclysm?
Vlad Taltos is on the run. Again. This time from one of the most powerful forces in his world, the Left Hand, who are intent on ending his very lucrative career. Permanently.
He finds a hidey-hole in a theatre where the players are putting on a show that was banned centuries ago…and is trying to be shut down by the House that once literally killed to keep it from being played.
Vlad will take on a number of roles to save his own skin. And the skins of those he loves.
And along the way, he’s might find a part that was tailor-made for him.
One that he might not want…but was always his destiny.
Read Book #1- Jhereg
6. The Book That Broke the World (The Library Trilogy #2) by Mark Lawrence
Fantasy | Adult | Books About Books | Sci-fi Fantasy | High Fantasy
We fight for the people we love. We fight for the ideas we want to be true.
Evar and Livira stand side by side and yet far beyond each other's reach. Evar is forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover her book if she's to return to her life. While Evar's journey leads him outside into the vastness of a world he's never seen, Livira's destination lies deep inside her own writing, where she must wrestle with her stories in order to reclaim the volume in which they were written.
And all the while, the library quietly weaves thread to thread, bringing the scattered elements of Livira's old life – friends and foe alike – back together beneath new skies.
Long ago, a lie was told, and with the passing years it has grown and spread, a small push leading to a chain of desperate consequences. Now, as one edifice topples into the next with ever-growing violence, it threatens to break the world. The secret war that defines the library has chosen its champions and set them on the board. The time has come when they must fight for what they believe, or lose everything.
The Library Trilogy is about many things: adventure, discovery, and romance, but it's also a love letter to books and the places where they live. The focus is on one vast and timeless library, but the love expands to encompass smaller more personal collections, and bookshops of all shades too.
Read Book #1- The Book That Wouldn't Burn
April 10th
7. The Shadow Atlas Trilogy Boxed Set by Jenny Sandiford
Fantasy | new Adult | Urban fantasy | Magic Academy | Shadow Magic
The Shadow Atlas Trilogy is a must-read urban fantasy filled with dangerous secrets, entwined lives, and forbidden magic. Perfect for those seeking a darker, university aged Harry Potter.
Uncontrollable Shadow Magic, pleas from her dead father, a mysterious enchanted book, and enemies at her door.
Eighteen-year-old Azalea Sharp thinks life can’t get any worse until she is driven into hiding at a secret magic school in the Tower of London. Struggling to hide her dark powers, Azalea quickly learns that not all magic is equal.
Then she meets the enigmatic Torin Dumont, a notorious shadow mage with secrets of his own. With more than her own life at stake, will his help be enough? Or will the darkness she brought forth unleash itself on London?
April 11th
8. Burning Crowns (Twin Crowns #3) by Catherine Doyle
Fantasy | Young Adult | High Fantasy | Fantasy Romance
Twin queens Rose & Wren survived the Battle for Anadawn and brought back magic to their kingdom. But danger lurks in Eana’s shadows.
Wren is troubled. Ever since she performed the blood spell on Prince Ansel, her magic has become unruly. Worse, the spell created a link between Wren and the very man she’s trying to forget: Icy King Alarik of Gevra. A curse is eating away at both of them. To fix it they must journey to the northern mountains—under the watchful guard of Captain Tor Iversen—to consult with the Healer on High.
Rose is haunted. Waking one night to find her undead ancestor Oonagh Starcrest by her bed, she receives a warning: surrender the throne—or face a war that will destroy Eana. With nowhere to turn and desperate to find a weapon to defeat Oonagh, Rose seeks help from Shen-Lo in the Sunkissed Kingdom, but what she finds there may break her heart.
As Oonagh threatens all Rose and Wren hold dear, it will take everything they have to save Eana–including a sacrifice they may not be prepared to make.
Read Book #1- Twin Crowns
April 14th
9. Third Name's a Charm: Tales of Trios & Triple Threats (What's in a Name? #3) Anthology by Multiple Authors
Fantasy | Young Adult | Anthology | Romance | Fairytale Retelling | Sci-fi
All good things come in threes.
Once upon a time, a group of authors accepted the challenge from a fairy tale name generator. Not just once or twice, but thrice! Volume three of these quirky stories is a collection stories featuring trios and triple threats.
In this clean YA anthology, follow the fates of three IVF-manufactured (oops, sorry, potion-begotten) triplet princesses, be enlisted as the third lucky bodyguard to stave off monsters, see if the third wand works wonders for an unlucky mage, try to discover the true name of a unicorn prince, discover why the magical artefacts come in threes and climb towers with thieves to step into abductions of well-known fairytale characters.
Don’t forget, with the rule of three, there are always exceptions. Venture into this collection of adventurous stories by award-winning and up-and-coming authors and maybe you’ll be thrice enchanted.
All proceeds donated to a charity in support of reading and literacy.
Read Book #1- Once Upon a Name: Tales of the Strange and Unusual
April 16th
10. Spells & Shadows (Witch of Ware Woods #1) by Sonja F. Blanco
Fantasy | Young Adult | Contemporary Fantasy | Witches | Paranormal
A forbidden spell.
An evil forged by shadows.
And a defiance that will bring the magical world to its knees.
Sara is reeling from a twisted betrayal and her unexpected part in increasing the Shadow Mother’s strength. Now she is forced to trust the secretive Global Council to vanquish the wicked entity. Except Sara isn’t one to place her fate in the hands of others.
When her intentions go horribly awry and dissent fractures the Global Council, Sara scrambles to convince the individual sacred sites of witches, shifters, and vampires to set aside centuries of deep-rooted distrust and join Ware Woods against the growing darkness. But not everyone believes in Sara.
Needing to stop the Shadow Mother before she claims Thomas, Sara risks everything on a bloody spell for knowledge—and discovers a fiery revelation.
As Ware Woods shatters around her and the safety of everyone she loves hangs in the balance, Sara must do the inconceivable. Become the sacrifice.
This breathtaking finale to the Witch of Ware Woods series is a fierce embrace of heart-pounding twists, fiery romance, wit, fury, and spine-tingling magic.
Perfect for fans of fierce females, swoony bonded mates, found family, banter, magical forests, treehouses, grimoires, and happily ever afters.
Read Book #1- The Witch of Ware Woods
11. To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods (To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods #1) by Molly X. Chang
Fantasy | Young Adult | Chinese Mythology Inspired | Romance | High Fantasy
She has power over death. He has power over her. When two enemies strike a dangerous bargain, will they end a war . . . or ignite one?
Heroes die, cowards live. Daughter of a conquered world, Ruying hates the invaders who descended from the heavens long before she was born and defeated the magic of her people with technologies unlike anything her world had ever seen.
Blessed by Death, born with the ability to pull the life right out of mortal bodies, Ruying shouldn’t have to fear these foreign invaders, but she does. Especially because she wants to keep herself and her family safe.
When Ruying’s Gift is discovered by an enemy prince, he offers her an impossible deal: If she becomes his private assassin and eliminates his political rivals—whose deaths he swears would be for the good of both their worlds and would protect her people from further brutalization—her family will never starve or suffer harm again. But to accept this bargain, she must use the powers she has always feared, powers that will shave years off her own existence.
Can Ruying trust this prince, whose promises of a better world make her heart ache and whose smiles make her pulse beat faster? Are the evils of this agreement really in the service of a much greater good? Or will she betray her entire nation by protecting those she loves the most?
April 23rd
12. Song of the Six Realms by Judy I. Lin
Fantasy | Young Adult | Historical Fiction | Romance | Mythology
Xue, a talented young musician, has no past and probably no future. Orphaned at a young age, her kindly poet uncle took her in and arranged for an apprenticeship at one of the most esteemed entertainment houses in the kingdom. She doesn’t remember much from before entering the House of Flowing Water, and when her uncle is suddenly killed in a bandit attack, she is devastated to lose her last connection to a life outside of her indenture contract.
With no family and no patron, Xue is facing the possibility of a lifetime of servitude playing the qin for nobles that praise her talent with one breath and sneer at her lowly social status with the next. Then one night she is unexpectedly called to the garden to put on a private performance for the enigmatic Duke Meng. The young man is strangely kind and awkward for nobility, and surprises Xue further with an irresistible offer: serve as a musician in residence at his manor for one year, and he’ll set her free of her indenture.
But the Duke’s motives become increasingly more suspect when he and Xue barely survive an attack by a nightmarish monster, and when he whisks her away to his estate, she discovers he’s not just some country noble: He’s the Duke of Dreams, one of the divine rulers of the Celestial Realm. There she learns the Six Realms are on the brink of disaster, and incursions by demonic beasts are growing more frequent.
The Duke needs Xue’s help to unlock memories from her past that could hold the answers to how to stop the impending war… but first Xue will need to survive being the target of every monster and deity in the Six Realms.
April 24th
13. Umbra: Sentient Stars by Amber Toro
Science Fiction Fantasy | Adult | Space Opera | Adventure | Enemies to Lovers
Earth That Was has faded into myth. After millenia spent wandering, humans are no longer nomads. Twelve tribes stand allied under the United Tribal Axis; but there is a signal in the darkness that threatens to destroy everything. All Skyla wanted after leaving the Navy was to be left alone. Just her ship, the stars, and a new adventure. But when a strange virus disables her ship, she is thrown into the middle of a conflict she doesn’t understand, forcing her to take on responsibilities she swore she never would again.
Hinata always followed the rules, honor above all else. He always won, until he didn’t. Sentenced to exile for his failures, he is determined to prove himself, until a mysterious woman arrives on his station and chaos threatens to break already fragile alliances. Freyja was always angry, an outcast, playing the part of admiral and black ops operative. But she is tired of being a pawn in the Empress’ games and when she’s stranded on the wrong side of enemy lines after a vengeful battle, she’s forced to ally with her adversaries to clear her name.
A Rogue. A Commander. And an Admiral. Brought together by circumstance, held together by duty. Can they find a way to work together to save humanity?
April 25th
14. How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler
Fantasy | Adult | Science Fiction | Time Travel
Groundhog Day meets Guardians of the Galaxy in Django Wexler’s laugh-out-loud fantasy tale about a young woman who, tired of defending humanity from the Dark Lord, decides to become the Dark Lord herself.
Davi has done this all before. She’s tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she’s rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she’s killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while. But she’s been defeated every time.
This time? She’s done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that’s who she needs to be. It’s Davi’s turn to play on the winning side.
15. A Letter to the Luminous Deep (The Sunken Archive #1) by Sylvie Cathrall
Fantasy | Adult | Cozy Mystery | Fantasy Romance | Twin Queens
Dive into the curious correspondence of Sylvie Cathrall’s delightful debut novel, A Letter to the Luminous Deep.
A beautiful discovery outside the window of her underwater home prompts the reclusive E. to begin a correspondence with renowned scholar Henerey Clel. The letters they share are filled with passion, at first for their mutual interests, and then, inevitably, for each other.
Together, they uncover a mystery from the unknown depths, destined to transform the underwater world they both equally fear and love. But by no mere coincidence, a seaquake destroys E.’s home, and she and Henerey vanish.
A year later, E.’s sister Sophy, and Henerey’s brother Vyerin, are left to solve the mystery of their siblings’ disappearances with the letters, sketches and field notes left behind. As they uncover the wondrous love their siblings shared, Sophy and Vyerin learn the key to their disappearance – and what it could mean for life as they know it.
Perfect for fans of A Marvellous Light and TJ Klune, A Letter to the Luminous Deep is a whimsical epistolary fantasy set in a mystical underwater world with mystery and heart-warming romance.
16. A Ballad of Beasts and Brothers (Shadow and Starlight #2) by Morgan Gauthier
Fantasy | New Adult | Fantasy Romance | High Fantasy | Adventure
After making a deal with the King of Tronovia, Shaye attends the School of Magic to master her power and learn more hand-to-hand combat. With unlimited access to Calmara, the biggest library in the known world, she seeks answers to all of her burning questions.
Why does she have magic reserved only for the Celestials?
Is she the true Heir to the Midorian Throne?
Is Bastian, her childhood friend and fiancé, the monster everyone believes him to be?
And if all that wasn’t weighing on her enough, her growing feelings for Atlas and the revelation that their connection may be deeper than just attraction, has her fighting to keep afloat.
When the opportunity to travel to the Kingdom of Elowen arises, Shaye jumps at the chance to go, curious to see if her Frost Elf features mean she has familial ties to the northernmost kingdom. With her friends in tow, Shaye discovers more about herself than she ever dreamed possible – though she can’t shake the feeling that she isn’t safe.
With Soul Eaters still hunting her, a rare magical connection at work, and Bastian allegedly stirring an ancient evil from dormancy, Shaye must stay a step ahead and find out who she is before it’s too late.
Read Book #1- A Song of Shadow and Starlight
April 30th
17. A Magical Girl Retires by Seolyeon Park, Anton Hur
Fantasy | Adult | Cozy Fantasy | LGBT | Korean Translation | Novella
A millennial turned magical girl must combat climate change and credit card debt in this delightful, witty, and wildly imaginative ode to magical girl manga.
Twenty-nine, depressed, and drowning in credit card debt after losing her job during the pandemic, a millennial woman decides to end her troubles by jumping off Seoul’s Mapo Bridge.
But her suicide attempt is interrupted by a girl dressed all in white—her guardian angel. Ah Roa is a clairvoyant magical girl on a mission to find the greatest magical girl of all time. And our protagonist just may be that special someone.
But the young woman’s initial excitement turns to frustration when she learns being a magical girl in real life is much different than how it’s portrayed in stories. It isn’t just destiny—it’s work. Magical girls go to job fairs, join trade unions, attend classes. And for this magical girl there are no special powers and no great perks, and despite being magical, she still battles with low self-esteem. Her magic wand . . . is a credit card—which she must use to defeat a terrifying threat that isn’t a monster or an intergalactic war. It’s global climate change. Because magical girls need to think about sustainability, too.
Park Seolyeon reimagines classic fantasy tropes in a novel that explores real-world challenges that are both deeply personal and universal: the search for meaning and the desire to do good in a world that feels like it’s ending. A fun, fast-paced, and enchanting narrative that sparkles thanks to award-nominated translator Anton Hur, A Magical Girl Retires reminds us that we are all magical girls—that fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight can be anyone's game.
Make sure you add the ones you like to your TBR pile! Which ones do you like the look of? Let me know in the comments☺️
