Books like 'The Cartographers: A Novel'
Readers who enjoyed The Cartographers: A Novel by Peng Shepherd also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary fantasy mystery action / adventure urban fantasy magical-realism dark-academia magic literary-fiction suspense
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Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee
Rated: 4.73 of 5 stars · 22 ratingsJade, the mysterious and magical substance once exclusive to the Green Bone warriors of Kekon, is now known and coveted throughout the world. Everyone wants access to the supernatural abilities it provides, from traditional forces such as governments, mercenaries, and criminal kingpins, to modern players, including doctors, athletes, and movie studios... -
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsAfter her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.A flying demon feeding on human energies...Categorized as:
dark-academia low-fantasy magic magical-realism poc-mc action-adventure arthurian audiobook -
Charms & Witchdemeanors by Amanda M. Lee
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTillie Winchester’s past is about to come back to haunt her, and what she sees as fun and games someone else sees as a recipe for murder. When a local woman is poisoned at Hemlock Cove’s senior center, Aunt Tillie is the prime suspect. Bay, Thistle and Clove don’t believe their great-aunt is guilty – although Thistle is fine if the police want to haul her away for a long weekend... -
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 70 ratingsPiranesi's house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant... -
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Market Forces in Gretna Green by Linzi Day
Rated: 4.79 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOK, I admit it. I didn’t think it through when I kidnapped the king. But it seemed like a good idea at the time—even Rollo agreed.Cut me some slack? The idiotic Galician emperor’s latest act of cowardice coming at the same time as the life changes my best mate was juggling—so badly—had thrown me off balance.Aysha’s always been my rock... -
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 79 ratingsNow that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life...Categorized as:
dark-academia low-fantasy magic magical-realism action-adventure audiobook boarding-school book -
Dead Serious Case #2: Mrs Delores Abernathy by Vawn Cassidy
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the business of unfinished business...It’s been over six months since a freak accident left pathologist Tristan Everett able to see ghosts, something he has yet to confess to his boyfriend... -
Shifted by C.P. Rider
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA telepath with a lethal twist.My name is Neely and I live among shapeshifters in the desert truckstop town of Sundance, California. As a wolf shifter, I'm not much of a threat. But as a telepath-spiker, I'm deadly.For six months, life has been peaceful... -
Betrayal of the Court by Heather G. Harris
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDeath. Theft. Marriage. It’s an average day in the Other Realm.Someone keeps bludgeoning people in the Other realm to death. A couple of the murders were virtually in our back garden, so Emory has asked me to try and find the culprit. I’d feel better if I didn’t have Shirdal along with me, cracking jokes and on the verge of a deadly killing spree of his own... -
Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe dreamers walk among us . . . and so do the dreamed. Those who dream cannot stop dreaming – they can only try to control it. Those who are dreamed cannot have their own lives – they will sleep forever if their dreamers die.And then there are those who are drawn to the dreamers. To use them. To trap them. To kill them before their dreams destroy us all.Ronan Lynch is a dreamer...Categorized as:
dark-academia low-fantasy magic magical-realism poc-mc action-adventure audiobook book -
Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn a tranquil neighborhood of Tokyo seven students are avoiding going to school – hiding in their darkened bedrooms, unable to face their family and friends – until the moment they find the mirrors in their bedrooms are shining. At a single touch, they are pulled from their lonely lives into to a wondrous castle straight out of a Grimm’s fairy tale...Categorized as:
literary-fiction low-fantasy magic magical-realism poc-mc 21st-century action-adventure asian-mc -
Brewing Trouble by Christine Gael
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter barely escaping the business end of the hangman’s noose, Cricket Hawthorne wants nothing more than to forget it all...Maude the magical typewriter, Zoe’s stolen cauldron, Patrick the betrayer, and definitely the witch-hating, robe-wearing cult who tried to end her. Unfortunately, pressing the reboot button isn’t an option... -
Shattered by C.P. Rider
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA telepath with a lethal twist.My name is Neely and I live among shapeshifters in the desert truckstop town of Sundance, California. As a telepath-spiker, I can read a person's thoughts.I can also spike deadly power straight into their brain... -
The Inquisitor's Mark by Dianne K. Salerni
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAfter the all-out Eighth Day war in Mexico, Jax, Riley, and Evangeline have gone into hiding. There are still rogue Transitioners and evil Kin lords who want to use Riley, a descendant of King Arthur, and Evangeline, a powerful wizard with bloodlines to Merlin, to get control over the Eighth Day... -
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The Unbound by Victoria E. Schwab
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsEach body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.Last summer, Mackenzie Bishop, a Keeper tasked with stopping violent Histories from escaping the Archive, almost lost her life to one. Now, as she starts her junior year at Hyde School, she’s struggling to get her life back... -
Burned by Benedict Jacka
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsMage Alex Verus is back in the seventh in the “gorgeously realized”* urban fantasy series from the national bestselling author of Veiled. I’m used to people wanting me dead. But, this time, I’m not the only one on the hit list—and time is running out... Diviner Alex Verus finally made one too many enemies on the Council of Mages, and now one of them is angry enough to have him executed...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism suspense action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook -
Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsA mutilated body in Crawley. Another killer on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil - an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man? Or just a common garden serial killer?Before PC Peter Grant can get his head round the case, a town planner going under a tube train and a stolen grimoire are adding to his case-load.So far so London...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism poc-mc suspense 21st-century action-adventure audiobook -
A House for Keeping: an urban fantasy by Matteson Wynn
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat would you give to add some magic to your life? Finn Foster is done with the dismal, dusty desert of the Southwest, and is determined to add a little excitement to her existence...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism suspense action-adventure animals book contemporary -
Dark Debt by Chloe Neill
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsA vampire never gets old. But neither do his enemies. When a figure from Ethan's dark past makes a splashy debut in Chicago, Merit and her Master don't know whether he's friend or foe. But they'll have to figure out soon, because trouble is brewing in the Windy City...Categorized as:
literary-fiction low-fantasy magic suspense action-adventure alpha-mc audiobook book -
Charlie Foxtrot 101 by Martha Carr, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsIdina Moorfield is officially a soldier in the army – with a little extra firepower. Her dark and magical little secret.Can she keep the new powers under control?Jump School may be her undoing.It takes focus, determination, and steely courage to face her fears and jump out of a C-130 aircraft from 1,200 feet. That’s exactly what brings Idina’s abilities forward at inconvenient moments...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magical-realism suspense action-adventure book coming-of-age contemporary fiction -
Get Smoked or Go Home by Martha Carr, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsIt’s been so long, Warrior… I can feel you…Is Idina Moorfield going crazy or has an ancient magic found its source?Her family says she’s not a true Moorfield and will never be good enough for the family business.Sometimes what looks like the worst day ever, is the beginning of our best adventure.Idina takes that first step into a new life and gets the hell away from them to forge her own future...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism suspense action-adventure aliens book coming-of-age -
The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction by Neil Gaiman, Marlon James
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn outstanding array—52 pieces in all—of selected fiction from the multiple-award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, curated by his readers around the world, and introduced with a foreword by Booker Prize-winning author Marlon JamesSpanning Gaiman’s career to date, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is a captivating collection from one of the world’s most beloved... -
The Forgotten Mountain by Heather Lyons
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter years spent in Wonderland, Alice Reeve learned the impossible was quite possible after all. She thought she left such fantastical realities behind when she finally returned to England. Now Alice has become a member of the clandestine Collectors’ Society, and the impossible has found her again in the form of an elusive villain set on erasing entire worlds... -
Angel Falls by Colleen Helme
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSent away because she let someone die, her burgeoning powers leave her with more questions than answers. Now her only chance for redemption comes at a price... one she may not survive.As a trauma nurse in a New York City hospital, Ella St. John had no idea that refusing to help a known killer would have such dire consequences... -
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Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsPeter Grant—cop, magical apprentice, and Londoner to the core—is being forced out of his comfort zone and into the English countryside. His latest case involves the disappearance of children in the small village of Herefordshire, and the local police are unwilling to admit there might be a supernatural element involved... -
Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSal and Gabi have to try to make everything right with our world when there is a rogue Gabi from another universe running loose.Sal Vidon creates wormholes. But Sal's father, a calamity physicist, is trying to shut down all the wormholes Sal creates, because Papi thinks they are eroding the very fabric of our world... -
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsDarkness blooms in bestselling author Kalynn Bayron's new contemporary fantasy about a girl with a unique and deadly power.Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch.When Briseis's aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism poc-mc action-adventure audiobook bisexuality book -
A Trip to the Stars by Nicholas Christopher
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA young boy and his adopted aunt become separated when the youngster is kidnapped by his wealthy, eccentric great-uncle, but mysterious ties continue to link the two unknowingly over the fifteen-year separation... -
Amari and the Despicable Wonders by B.B. Alston
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe highly anticipated third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Supernatural Investigations series that began with Amari and the Night Brothers! Perfect for fans of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and Nevermoor.War has come to the supernatural world, and Amari’s two worst enemies are leading the charge... -
Whisper by Lynette Noni
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA compelling, addictive fantasy with romance and real-world resonance.Teenaged Jane Doe (aka Alyssa) has been locked in a secret underground government facility for over two years, as authorities have tried — unsuccessfully — to get her to speak. She knows her words have a dangerous power, and she’s vowed never to unleash it again... -
Paper & Blood by Kevin Hearne
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsKevin Hearne returns to the world of the Iron Druid Chronicles in book two of a spin-off series about an eccentric master of rare magic solving an uncanny mystery in Scotland.There’s only one Al MacBharrais: Though other Scotsmen may have dramatic mustaches and a taste for fancy cocktails, Al also has a unique talent. He’s a master of ink and sigil magic... -
What Man Defies by Clara Coulson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“It was all fun and games until a vengeful ghost threw a washing machine at your head.” Three weeks after his disastrous showdown with Abarta, Vincent Whelan is well on his way to recovering from the fight and putting the whole nightmare behind him...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism suspense action-adventure adult alternate-universe apocalyptic -
Shadowshaper Legacy by Daniel José Older
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe epic conclusion to the acclaimed Shadowshaper Cypher series!A house dividedSierra and the shadowshapers have been split apart. Juan, Anthony, and Izzy are in jail, anxiously waiting to find out what will become of them...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism poc-mc action-adventure audiobook book coming-of-age -
The Midwest Witch: The Revelations of Oriceran by Flint Maxwell, Martha Carr
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWelcome to the Midwest, America's Heartland, home to a hidden community of witches and wizards. When Maria Apple receives a strange music box for her nineteenth birthday, everything changes. She begins to showcase odd magical abilities, glowing blue, seeing ghosts, and talking to creatures that shouldn't be able to talk, all while trying to juggle the task of being a typical teenaged girl... -
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Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDarcie Little Badger's Elatsoe launched her career and in the years since has become a beloved favorite. This prequel to Elatsoe, centered on Ellie's grandmother, deepens and expands Darcie's one-of-a-kind world and introduces us to another cast of characters that will wend their way around readers' hearts... -
Disembodied Bones by C.L. Bevill
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLeonie Simoneaud was once one of the elusive Lake People, Acadian descendants in Louisiana with odd psychic powers. As a thirteen year old she rescued a child from a maniacal pedophile. Consequently she was shunned by most of the Lake People for imperiling them to the external world. As an adult she has been targeted by another madman, for a reason that has everything to do with that rescue... -
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 49 ratingsA missing God.A library with the secrets to the universe. A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts...Categorized as:
dark-academia low-fantasy magic magical-realism suspense 21st-century action-adventure apocalyptic -
Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Raven Boys, a mesmerizing story of dreams and desires, death and destiny.Something is happening to the source of the dreamers' power. It is blocked. Diminished. Weak. If it goes away entirely, what will happen to the dreamers and those who depend on them?Ronan Lynch isn't planning to wait and find out...Categorized as:
dark-academia low-fantasy magic magical-realism poc-mc action-adventure audiobook book -
Dark Nebula by W.J. May
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNothing is as it seems anymore. Leery from the horrifying incident at the end of her first year at Guilder Boarding School, Rae Kerrigan is determined to learn more about her new tattoo. Her expectations are high, an easy senior year and a happy reunion with Devon, the boy she’s not supposed to date. All hopes of happiness turn into shattered dreams the moment she steps back on campus...Categorized as:
magic magical-realism suspense action-adventure audiobook book coming-of-age contemporary -
The Name of This Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsWarning: this description has not been authorized by Pseudonymous Bosch. As much as he'd love to sing the praises of his book (he is very vain), he wouldn't want you to hear about his brave 11-year old heroes, Cass and Max-Ernest. Or about how a mysterious box of vials, the Symphony of Smells, sends them on the trail of a magician who has vanished under strange (and stinky) circumstances... -
Opal by Maggie Stiefvater
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsAn enchanting story from Maggie Stiefvater featuring Opal, Ronan, and Adam from her bestselling Raven Cycle, taking place after the events of The Raven King...Categorized as:
dark-academia low-fantasy magic magical-realism 21st-century action-adventure audiobook bisexuality -
Redwood by Mark Z. Danielewski
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Season One finale of this riveting multisensory masterpiece from the visionary author of House of Leaves...Categorized as:
magical-realism literary-fiction low-fantasy fiction fantasy horror mystery contemporary -
Derivation by Lyn Gala
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDarren and Kavon have committed to each other, but magical rules are changing and that tests the strength of their bond. The death of a prominent Egyptian shaman and the shadowy remains of O'Brien's conspiracy to kill adepts and steal their magic also pressure the new couple... -
The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez by Adrianna Cuevas
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA Cuban American boy must use his secret ability to communicate with animals to save the inhabitants of his town.All Nestor Lopez wants is to live in one place for more than a few months and have dinner with his dad.When he and his mother move to a new town to live with his grandmother after his dad’s latest deployment, Nestor plans to lay low...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism poc-mc suspense action-adventure animals anthropomorphism -
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The Elusive Elixir by Gigi Pandian
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDorian Robert-Houdin, the three-and-a-half-foot gargoyle chef who fancies himself a modern-day Poirot, is slowly turning into stone, and it’s up to Zoe Faust to unravel the alchemical secrets that can save him. When they discover that a long-lost stone gargoyle with a connection to Dorian has reappeared in Europe, the stakes are even higher... -
Price of Magic by Stephanie Foxe
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAll magic has a price, and I’m paying it. I was able to rescue my friend and save the vampire clan I work for, but my actions have attracted the kind of attention I’ve tried my whole life to avoid.A dangerous vampire shows up at my house uninvited, and with an offer I can’t refuse. He has information on my mother, someone I’ve long believed to be dead... -
Skin After Skin by Jordan Castillo Price
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFierce. Audacious. Independent. Curtis Ash can’t be bothered to settle down. He’s too busy enjoying his cushy job as a high-paid stylist, caught in a whirlwind of hookups, parties, and obscenely priced cocktails. The only snarl in an otherwise charmed life is the salon’s hotshot colorist, Red Turner...Categorized as:
magic magical-realism poc-mc suspense action-adventure adult alternate-universe angst -
Little Free Library by Naomi Kritzer
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSharing stories we love with one another is one of the most magical forms of connection there is. This is especially so for Meigan, who develops an unexpected friendship with a mysterious borrower of books from her Little Free Library.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism action-adventure adult anthologies contemporary female-author -
I’m Glad You’re Dead by Hunter Blain
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAfter helplessly witnessing the execution of his family, John is approached by a strange man that promises the power of revenge, for a price; his life for the ability to walk the mortal plane for eternity. Fast forward several hundred years where John finds himself with an unlikely ally, Father Thomes Philseep... -
Tales from the Folly: A Rivers of London Short Story Collection by Ben Aaronovitch
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsReturn to the world of Rivers of London in this first short story collection from #1 Sunday Times bestselling author, Ben Aaronovitch. Tales from the Folly is a carefully curated collection that gathers together previously published stories and brand new tales in the same place for the first time...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism suspense action-adventure adult alternate-history anthologies
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