Books like 'Believe in the Magic'
Readers who enjoyed Believe in the Magic by Ann DeFee also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy horror supernatural ghosts magical-realism low-fantasy
-
Leave the Window Open by Victoria E. Schwab
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA free story from Wesley’s POV, set a few hours after the end of The Unbound...Categorized as:
ghosts low-fantasy magical-realism audiobook book contemporary dystopia female-author -
![Chapter and Curse by Nancy Warren]()
Chapter and Curse by Nancy Warren
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA quiet Irish village? Not so much!An ancient curse seems to be causing bad luck in the charming village of Ballydehag, Ireland—witch Quinn Callahan’s new home. When someone is murdered is it the curse? Or is there a very human murderer on the loose? Moving to a small Irish village was supposed to keep the middle-aged witch out of trouble. Yeah, that didn't happen... -
![The Ghost and the Mystery Writer by Bobbi Holmes, Anna J. McIntyre]()
The Ghost and the Mystery Writer by Bobbi Holmes, Anna J. McIntyre
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA killer strikes under Frederickport Pier. Before dawn the next morning, Marlow House’s celebrity guest, mystery author Hillary Hemingway, is busy writing about the crime for her upcoming novel—including details that only the real killer would know. Coincidence? If so, it isn’t the first time... -
![American Gods + Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman]()
American Gods + Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNewly updated and expanded with the author’s preferred text. A modern masterpiece from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction, Neil Gaiman...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook classics drama -
-
![Unbinding Love by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson]()
Unbinding Love by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen Atlanta-based psychic medium-turned amateur sleuth Angela Panther teams up with her best friend Mel and celestial super sleuth—and Angela's dead mother—Fran to help Detective Aaron Banner find a lost boy, the trio heads into ghostly territory they’ve never experienced. The mob and magic aren't part of the psychic medium handbook, and the trio's not sure they'll make it out of it alive... -
![Black Water: The Book of Fantastic Literature by Alberto Manguel, Julio Cortázar]()
Black Water: The Book of Fantastic Literature by Alberto Manguel, Julio Cortázar
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThis huge anthology offers a kaleidoscope of brilliant writing from the Magi of the imagination. Alberto Manguel has selected 72 fantastic tales from life on the edge of the twilight zone, with stories from Marguerite Yourcenar, Herman Hesse, Italo Calvino, Vladimir Nabokov, and many, many more...Categorized as:
ghosts low-fantasy magical-realism 20th-century absurdism adult anthologies audiobook -
![Three Times Removed by M.K. Jones]()
Three Times Removed by M.K. Jones
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMaggie Gilbert and her children, Jack and Alice, live a pretty normal life. That is, until Maggie starts looking into her family tree. In doing so, she uncovers a dark mystery that endangers her children. She has to solve a mystery in the past, if she is to save her family in the present... -
![The Thief Knot by Kate Milford]()
The Thief Knot by Kate Milford
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGhosts, a kidnapping, a crew of young detectives, and family secrets mix in this new standalone mystery set in the world of the best-selling Greenglass House, from a National Book Award nominee and Edgar Award–winning author.Marzana and her best friend are bored. Even though they live in a notorious city where normal rules do not apply, nothing interesting ever happens to them...Categorized as:
ghosts low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
![Moonlight and Vines by Charles de Lint]()
Moonlight and Vines by Charles de Lint
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsReturn to NewfordFamiliar to Charles de Lint's ever-growing audience as the setting of the novels Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, The Onion Girl, and many others, Newford is the quintessential North American city, tough and streetwise on the surface and rich with hidden magic for those who can see... -
![Rocks & Gravel by Catie Rhodes]()
Rocks & Gravel by Catie Rhodes
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPeri Jean Mace knows ghosts create chaos in her life. She also knows the Mace Treasure spawns blood, death, and sorrow. They’re both trouble and she wants nothing to do with either one.When a ghost steals secrets about the cursed fortune, Peri Jean is dragged kicking and screaming into the dangerous world of the treasure and the people who hunt it... -
![Styx & Stoned by Boone Brux]()
Styx & Stoned by Boone Brux
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLas Vegas! All expenses paid! Normally, a trip like that would be a dream come true for a widowed, mother of three, who just happens to be grim reaper. Here’s the thing though, situations rarely work out as I imagine they should. And usually not in my favor. This time isn’t any different... -
![The Missing Librarian by Raven Snow]()
The Missing Librarian by Raven Snow
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRowen Greensmith has been through a lot with her boyfriend, Eric Richardson. Greensmiths don’t have the best luck with men, but Rowen may prove the exception to that rule. She and Eric have stuck it out through thick and thin. No one is surprised when it looks like Eric is going to propose. Even so, it’s terrifying! Rowen isn’t sure if she’s wife material... -
![The Dog at the Door by Raven Snow]()
The Dog at the Door by Raven Snow
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRowen Greensmith and her new husband have finally done it. They’ve moved out of the Greensmith home and into a house of their own. It’s the house of Rowen’s dreams, a place she fell in love with the moment she laid eyes on it. Things are going great. Lainswich is getting ready for their annual marathon. Her aunts are opening a New Age store... -
![The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly by Rebecca Ansari]()
The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly by Rebecca Ansari
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCharlie O’Reilly is an only child. Which is why it makes everyone uncomfortable when he talks about his brother. Liam, his eight-year-old kid brother, who, up until a year ago, slept in the bunk above Charlie, took pride in being as annoying as possible, and was the only person who could make Charlie laugh until it hurt.Then came the morning when the bunk, and Liam, disappeared forever...Categorized as:
ghosts low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure book children children-books contemporary -
-
![Charleston Green by Stephanie Alexander]()
Charleston Green by Stephanie Alexander
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIf Tipsy Collins learned one thing from her divorce, it's that everyone in Charleston is a little crazy--even if they're already dead.Tipsy, a gifted artist, cannot ignore her nutty friends or her vindictive ex-husband, but as a lifelong reluctant clairvoyant, she's always avoided dead people... -
![Smoke City by Keith Rosson]()
Smoke City by Keith Rosson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMarvin Deitz has some serious problems. His mob-connected landlord is strong-arming him out of his storefront. His therapist has concerns about his stability. He’s compelled to volunteer at the local Children’s Hospital even though it breaks his heart every week.Oh, and he’s also the guilt-ridden reincarnation of Geoffroy Thérage, the French executioner who lit Joan of Arc’s pyre in 1431... -
![Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone by Sequoia Nagamatsu]()
Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone by Sequoia Nagamatsu
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“You should be here; he’s simply magnificent.” These are the final words a biologist hears before his Margaret Mead-like wife dies at the hands of Godzilla. The words haunt him as he studies the Kaiju (Japan’s giant monsters) on an island reserve, attempting to understand the beauty his wife saw...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magical-realism adult anthologies fiction horror literary-fiction poc-mc -
![Omulețul din perete by Marian Coman]()
Omulețul din perete by Marian Coman
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsȘi dacă ești doar un personaj în cartea altcuiva?Cala, o femeie superbă și misterioasă, în jurul căreia se învârtesc multe dintre poveștile din carte. Sevăn, un bătăuș get-beget dintr-un sat uitat de lume. Fifi, o bibliotecară care face o descoperire inedită. Tanti Teofana, o ghicitoare care ascunde tot soiul de enigme și comori... -
![Almost There and Almost Not by Linda Urban]()
Almost There and Almost Not by Linda Urban
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe story of a girl and her ghosts—and the welcoming home they find where they least expect it.California Poppy has been dropped off, yet again, with an unsuspecting relative. This time it’s her eccentric Great-Aunt Monica, a woman she’s never even met...Categorized as:
ghosts low-fantasy magical-realism audiobook book children children-books coming-of-age -
![Mistle Child by Ari Berk]()
Mistle Child by Ari Berk
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn life, in death: family remains. Silas Umber has finally come into his own as the Undertaker of Lichport when a mysterious invitation calls him beyond the marshes to Arvale, the ancestral manor of the Umbers... -
![Depart, Depart! by Sim Kern]()
Depart, Depart! by Sim Kern
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen an unprecedented hurricane devastates the city of Houston, Noah Mishner finds shelter in the Dallas Mavericks’ basketball arena. Though he finds community among other queer refugees, Noah fears his trans and Jewish identities put him at risk with certain "capital-T" Texans. His fears take form when he starts seeing visions of his great- grandfather Abe, who fled Nazi Germany as a boy...Categorized as:
magical-realism ghosts fiction lgbtq horror trans-mc sci-fi pollution-climate-change -
![Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo]()
Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA tightly woven blend of myth, magic, and the ties of a found family.Ghosts that speak in smoke. Spirits with teeth like glass. A parasitic, soul-eating spirit worm has gone into a feeding frenzy, but all the Jong-ro Police Department’s violent crimes unit sees is a string of suicides. Except for Kim Han-gil, Seoul’s only spirit detective. He’s seen this before... -
![Fantastic Tales: Visionary and Everyday by Italo Calvino]()
Fantastic Tales: Visionary and Everyday by Italo Calvino
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCompiled by Italo Calvino, one of the essential writers of the twentieth century (and editor of the best-selling Italian Folktales), Fantastic Tales is a rich and wide-ranging collection of twenty-six classic, uncanny tales from the nineteenth century written by an intriguing panoply of European and American authors... -
![Open House on Haunted Hill by John Wiswell]()
Open House on Haunted Hill by John Wiswell
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAuthor’s Note: At the World Fantasy Convention in 2018, I went to dinner with some lovely people who let me babble about Horror. I read, watch, and play Horror every week, but I barely ever write it. Instead I tend to put Horror-y things back out as humorous stories or heartwarming stories... -
-
![Dark Game by Michael Robertson Jr.]()
Dark Game by Michael Robertson Jr.
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLess than twenty-four hours after the horrific events that forced him to flee his hometown, Lance Brody steps off a bus into a whole different nightmare.The small town of Westhaven seems ordinary on the surface, but Lance can feel the evil lurking in the air … and it knows Lance has arrived... -
![Baby of the Family by Tina McElroy Ansa]()
Baby of the Family by Tina McElroy Ansa
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn evocative, delicately comic story of a girl’s coming of age. From the moment of her birth in a rural black hospital in Georgia, Lena McPherson is recognized as a special child, with the power to see ghosts and predict the future. Named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times... -
![Fancies and Goodnights by John Collier, Ray Bradbury]()
Fancies and Goodnights by John Collier, Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJohn Collier's edgy, sardonic tales are works of rare wit, curious insight, and scary implication. They stand out as one of the pinnacles in the critically neglected but perennially popular tradition of weird writing that includes E.T.A. Hoffmann and Charles Dickens as well as more recent masters like Jorge Luis Borges and Roald Dahl...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magical-realism 20th-century adult anthologies classics fiction historical -
![Necroscope: Avengers by Brian Lumley]()
Necroscope: Avengers by Brian Lumley
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThey're on the run! Now that their monstrous vampire 'gardens' under London, in Australia, and on the Greek island of Krassos have been razed, two 'Lords' and a 'Lady' of the Wamphyri Malinari the Mind, Lord Szwart, and the hag Vavara have joined forces, leaving a trail of undead destruction as they flee headlong from Ben Trask's E-Branch and the dead-waking Necroscope, Jake Cutter... -
![Gilda Joyce: The Ghost Sonata by Jennifer Allison]()
Gilda Joyce: The Ghost Sonata by Jennifer Allison
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen her best friend, Wendy Choy, qualifies to compete in an international piano competition in Oxford, England, irrepressible Gilda Joyce finds a way to get an invitation herself—as a page-turner. Wendy settles into an exhausting practice schedule, made worse by strange nightmares, while Gilda finds herself falling in love with a British boy...Categorized as:
ghosts low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
![The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie]()
The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSunshine Griffith can communicate with ghosts. Even more amazing—to herself; her boyfriend, Nolan; and her adoptive mom, Kat—she’s recently learned she’s a luiseach, one of an ancient race of creatures who have lived among humans for centuries, protecting them from dark spirits and helping them move on to the afterlife... -
![Angel of the Overpass by Seanan McGuire]()
Angel of the Overpass by Seanan McGuire
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLady of shadows, keeper of changes, plant the seeds of faith within me, that I might grow and flourish, that I might find my way through danger and uncertainty to the safety of your garden. Let my roots grow strong and my skin grow thick, that I might stand fast against all who would destroy me... -
![Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho]()
Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsNineteen sparkling stories that weave between the lands of the living and the lands of the dead. Spirits Abroad is an expanded edition of Zen Cho’s Crawford Award winning debut collection with nine added stories including Hugo Award winner “If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again.” A Datin recalls her romance with an orang bunian... -
![The Keepers of Metsan Valo by Wendy Webb]()
The Keepers of Metsan Valo by Wendy Webb
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe spirits of Nordic folklore come calling in this entrancing tale of family secrets and ancient mysteries by the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Haunting of Brynn Wilder.In Metsan Valo, her family home on Lake Superior, Anni Halla’s beloved grandmother has died. Among her fond memories, what Anni remembers most vividly is her grandmother’s eerie yet enchanting storytelling... -
![Peace by Gene Wolfe]()
Peace by Gene Wolfe
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsMesmerizing sci-fi from the author the Denver Post calls "one of the literary giants of science fiction." The melancholy memoir of Alden Dennis Weer, an embittered old man living in a small midwestern town, reveals a miraculous dimension. For Weer's imagination has the power to obliterate time and reshape reality, transcending even death itself...Categorized as:
ghosts low-fantasy magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult book classics -
-
![In the House of the Wicked by Thomas E. Sniegoski]()
In the House of the Wicked by Thomas E. Sniegoski
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOnce he was known as the angel Remiel, but generations ago Boston PI Remy Chandler chose to renounce Heaven and live on Earth, where he found a secure place among us ordinary humans… Though he may appear human, Remy has always been able to rely on Remiel—the embodiment of his angelic nature—whenever the situation called for it... -
![The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Volume 1 by James D. Jenkins, Pilar Pedraza]()
The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Volume 1 by James D. Jenkins, Pilar Pedraza
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhat if there were a whole world of great horror fiction out there you didn't know anything about, written by authors in distant lands and in foreign languages, outstanding horror stories you had no access to, written in languages you couldn't read? For an avid horror fan, what could be more horrifying than that?For this groundbreaking volume, the first of its kind, the editors of Valancourt... -
![The Memory Thief by Jodi Lynn Anderson]()
The Memory Thief by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTwelve-year-old Rosie Oaks’s mom is missing whatever it is that makes mothers love their daughters. All her life, Rosie has known this...and turned to stories for comfort...Categorized as:
ghosts low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
![The Girl with the Ghost Machine by Lauren DeStefano]()
The Girl with the Ghost Machine by Lauren DeStefano
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen Emmaline Beaumont's father started building the ghost machine, she didn't expect it to bring her mother back from the dead. But by locking himself in the basement to toil away at his hopes, Monsieur Beaumont has become obsessed with the contraption and neglected the living, and Emmaline is tired of feeling forgotten... -
![Dark Carnival by Nancy K. Duplechain]()
Dark Carnival by Nancy K. Duplechain
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratings"I noticed countless eyes following me. They belonged to shop-keeps closing up for the night, the homeless watching me from their makeshift beds, call girls pretending to wait for their next tricks on the corners, but all the while, wary of my every move. I didn’t belong here and they knew it... -
![A Spectral Hue by Craig Laurance Gidney]()
A Spectral Hue by Craig Laurance Gidney
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor generations, the marsh-surrounded town of Shimmer, Maryland has played host to a loose movement of African-American artists, all working in different media, but all utilizing the same haunting color... -
![Salamanca by Dean Francis Alfar]()
Salamanca by Dean Francis Alfar
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDean Alfar's first novel is about the sorcery wrought by love, lust, and literature, by friendship, family, and the Filipino nation...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult anti-hero book coming-of-age drama -
![The Novellas by Kealan Patrick Burke]()
The Novellas by Kealan Patrick Burke
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn omnibus collection of four novellas by Bram Stoker Award-winning author Kealan Patrick Burke (Kin, The Turtle Boy).Featured in this book are:THE TENTThe perfect getaway...The perfect place to hide...Hocking Hills, Ohio is an oasis for campers, hikers, nature enthusiasts, and for those who just want to get away and lose themselves in the wild... -
![The Nocere by Heather Carson]()
The Nocere by Heather Carson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA Dystopian future, a world forgotten, a twisted eternal paradise... After portals were built to access the spirit realm, humans abandoned the world to escape their earthly existence. All that remains for the few living souls left behind is a haunting reminder of life forgotten. The realm is a magical place where rules are scarce and vices are plenty...Categorized as:
magical-realism low-fantasy dystopia young-adult paranormal insta-love horror supernatural -
![Sleeping in Flame by Jonathan Carroll]()
Sleeping in Flame by Jonathan Carroll
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWalker Easterling is a retired actor turned successful screenwriter living in the Vienna of strong coffee, fascinating friends, and mysterious cafes. When he falls in love with Maris York, a beautiful artist who creates cities, his life becomes alive in fantastic and unsettling ways... -
-
![A Child Across the Sky by Jonathan Carroll]()
A Child Across the Sky by Jonathan Carroll
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLibrarian's Note: this is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 071263441X / 9780712634410.Just as the the word "weird" has many implications and shades of meaning, so too does the latest--weird--work by this gifted and perplexing writer. As Carroll ( Bones of the Moon ; Sleeping in Flame ) himself says, "Life has a habit of turning dark corners... -
![Whatshisface by Gordon Korman]()
Whatshisface by Gordon Korman
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsGordon Korman's next stand-alone novel, a fun, funny ghost story about a nobody kid who becomes a somebody while helping a ghost right a wrong from the past.Cooper Vega's family moves so often that he's practically invisible at any school he attends. Now they've relocated to the town of Stratford - where nobody even makes an effort to learn Cooper's name. To them, he's just . . . whatshisface...Categorized as:
ghosts low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
![The Arabian Nightmare by Robert Irwin]()
The Arabian Nightmare by Robert Irwin
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThe hero and guiding force of this epic fantasy is an insomniac young man who, unable to sleep, guides the reader through the narrow streets of Cairo—a mysterious city full of deceit and trickery.He narrates a complex tangle of dreams and imaginings that describe an atmosphere constantly shifting between sumptuously learned experiences, erotic adventure, and dry humor... -
![Best Nerds Forever by James Patterson, Chris Grabenstein]()
Best Nerds Forever by James Patterson, Chris Grabenstein
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsFinn McAllister was a normal middle school nerd--now he’s a ghost with a big mystery to solve.One minute, Finn was biking home from school, and the next, he was run off the road by a maniac in a big van. Now, he's a ghost. He can do lots of fun things, like try every ice cream flavor in the store, sneak up on people, and play as many video games as he wants...Categorized as:
ghosts low-fantasy magical-realism audiobook book children children-books contemporary -
![The Eyes of the Amaryllis by Natalie Babbitt]()
The Eyes of the Amaryllis by Natalie Babbitt
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen the brig Amaryllis was swallowed in a hurricane, the captain and all the crew were swallowed, too. For thirty years the captain's widow, Geneva Reade, has waited, certain that her husband will send her a message from the bottom of the sea. But someone else is waiting, too, and watching her, a man called Seward. Into this haunted situation comes Jenny, the widow's granddaughter...Categorized as:
ghosts low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure book children children-books family -
![A Stir of Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman]()
A Stir of Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA Stir of Bones is the stand-alone prequel to acclaimed fantasist Nina Hoffman's award-winning adult novels A Red Heart of Memories and Past the Size of Dreaming. It is every bit as remarkable, warm, and heartwrenching.Fourteen-year-old Susan Backstrom seems to have a charmed life -- she's smart and beautiful, the only child of wealthy, attentive parents...Categorized as:
ghosts low-fantasy magical-realism book fiction friendship historical-fiction horror
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
