Books like 'The Unwanted Guest'
Readers who enjoyed The Unwanted Guest by Tamsyn Muir also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
horror fantasy mystery wlw lgbtq magic gothic dystopia romantic-love necromancy
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The Magnus Archives: Season 4 by NOT A BOOK
Rated: 4.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Magnus Archives is a horror audiobook written by Jonathan Sims, directed by Alexander J. Newall and distributed by Rusty Quill. Sims narrates the stories in-character as the main character, Jonathan Sims, the newly-appointed head archivist of the fictional Magnus Institute; an institution based in London centred on research into the paranormal... -
The Magnus Archives: Season 5 by Johnathan Sims
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Magnus Archives is a horror audiobook written by Jonathan Sims, directed by Alexander J. Newall and distributed by Rusty Quill. Sims narrates the stories in-character as the main character, Jonathan Sims, the newly-appointed head archivist of the fictional Magnus Institute; an institution based in London centred on research into the paranormal... -
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsFrom holy cup comes holy light;The faithful hands sets world aright.And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,Mere man shall end this endless night.It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness... -
Arabistan Orchards by Osamah M. Al Muslim - أسامة المسلم
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAfter Moses’ Pharaoh and Solomon’s Seal,Before the Son of Man and The Master of All Living…Before Islam and its time, before the light and the straight path…A tale, not written by history, but Passed down viva voice from a teller to another.. -
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Curse of Strahd by Christopher Perkins, Tracy Hickman
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsUnravel the mysteries of Ravenloft® in this dread adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game Under raging storm clouds, the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of Castle Ravenloft. Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The wind’s howling increases as he turns his gaze down toward the village of Barovia... -
As Yet Unsent by Tamsyn Muir
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsCulled from Judith Deuteros’ secret report on Blood of Eden activities, this story was originally published in the trade paperback edition of Harrow the Ninth... -
The Liar's Knot by M.A. Carrick
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsTrust is the thread that binds. And the rope that hangs.In Nadežra, peace is as tenuous as a single thread. The ruthless House Indestor has been destroyed, but darkness still weaves through the city’s filthy back alleys and jewel-bright gardens, seen by those who know where to look.Derossi Vargo has always known... -
Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsHer city is under siege.The zombies are coming back.And all Nona wants is a birthday party.In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona's not like other people. Six months ago she woke up in a stranger's body, and she's afraid she might have to give it back... -
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 52 ratingsHarrow the Ninth, the sequel to Gideon the Ninth, turns a galaxy inside out as one necromancer struggles to survive the wreckage of herself aboard the Emperor's haunted space station.She answered the Emperor's call.She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend.In victory, her world has turned to ash... -
Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsAs alluring as it is unsettling, award-winning author CG Drews’ debut YA psychological horror will leave readers breathless and hesitant to venture deeper into the woods.Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him. Protect him. Lie for him. Kill for him... -
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 74 ratingsThe Emperor needs necromancers.The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse... -
The Ruin of Angels by Max Gladstone
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMax Gladstone returns with The Ruin of Angels, the sixth novel in the Craft Sequence, which The Washington Post calls "the best kind of urban fantasy" and NPR calls "sharp, original, and passionate"The God Wars destroyed the city of Alikand. Now, a century and a half and a great many construction contracts later, Agdel Lex rises in its place... -
Weak Heart by Ban Gilmartin
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSomething has gone very wrong on the sleepy Scottish Isle of Mab. The tides are angry. Reality has shifted. Selkies are coming up from the ocean, boys are missing, magic is going haywire, and memories are being pulled from people’s minds. Thomas Madigan is living in a nightmare. Isla just wants to go back to the sea. Kit Macrae thinks he’s drowning. Tanis Hughes needs to feed... -
Sworn to the Night by Craig Schaefer
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMarie Reinhart is an NYPD detective on the trail of a serial killer. When she sleeps, though, she dreams of other lives; she dreams of being a knight, in strange wars and strange worlds. On the other side of the city, Nessa Roth is a college professor trapped in a loveless marriage, an unwilling prop in a political dynasty... -
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Wolf's Bane by Kelley Armstrong
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPaperback & ebook release of 2018’s serialized novel about the teen children of Elena & Clay from my Otherworld series. When Kate and Logan Danvers are targeted by a pack of Australian werewolves, they aren’t nearly as concerned your average sixteen-year-olds might be. The twins are werewolves themselves, children of the American Pack Alpha and her enforcer mate... -
The Witches of Santo Stefano by Wendy Webb
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn investigative journalist uncovers the haunting secret history of her own ancestors in a bewitching novel by the bestselling author of Daughters of the Lake.When Cassie Graves discovers her husband’s affair, it’s enough to chip away at the foundation of her life. But after researching her family’s Italian ancestry, it completely crumbles beneath her... -
Storm by Skye Knizley
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOn a rainy night in 1971 the cruise ship Crescent Star vanished in the North Atlantic without a trace. No crew, no lifeboats and no wreckage was ever found, in spite of a three-week search. Two days ago, she crashed through and sank a pleasure yacht off the coast of New York, leaving five people dead. The ship has answered no hails and no one appears to be aboard... -
Stained Glass by James Osiris Baldwin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTwenty shapeshifter children are kidnapped from a group home and their guardians murdered in a bizarre Occult ritual, and the werecreatures of New York City are baying for blood. Frustrated by weeks of botched Government investigation, they are taking the law into their own hands and need an Occult expert capable of doing the dirty work the police cannot... -
The Heir of Death by Becca Andre
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsElysia Mallory has never embraced her magic, not when doing so comes at the price of her sanity. Her family is cursed with bizarre necromantic gifts that have driven each recipient mad, and she doesn’t want to be another dead branch on the family tree... -
The Empath by Jody Klaire
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAeron Lorelei is a young woman with a troubled past and a troubling gift. Blessed and cursed with the ability to sense the feelings, past, and future of those around her, Aeron lived as a misfit child. When she was sixteen, she took the blame for the death of her best friend’s little brother... -
Raven by Skye Knizley
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAll Hallows Eve approaches and for once Raven Storm has plans to spend the holiday enjoying a party at Isle of Night with family and friends, something she hasn't done since high school.But someone has other plans and Raven is called to investigate the grisly murder of Monsignor Quinn, a priest left to drown in his own blood... -
A Clever Sacrifice by A.J. Merlin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEverything was supposed to have gone back to normal. After watching and waiting for weeks, I’d been sure that the threat of more ritual sacrifices was over. However, when I wake up in the middle of an unfamiliar swamp during a storm that’s the worst I’ve ever seen only to stumble on an unwelcome surprise, I have to admit that I was right all along. Something worse is out there... -
Bury Their Bones by A.J. Merlin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMy magic never warned me about the Loa, and these voodoo deities must be desperate if they’re looking for help from a witch like me. A bit of downtime after the incident with the witches is a good time to work on my magic and my relationships. Or so I thought... -
Murder on the Lamplight Express by Morgan Stang
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAll aboard for mysteries, murders and monsters on the Lamplight Express .The orders given to Isabeau Agarwal and her partner are simple: ensure the safety of all passengers and crew until point of destination. But on the maiden voyage of this luxury train, nothing is quite what it seems... -
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The Lamb by Lucy Rose
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMargot and Mama have lived by the forest ever since Margot can remember. When Margot is not at school they spend quiet days together in their cottage, waiting for strangers to knock on their door—"strays," Mama calls them, people who have strayed too far from the road. Mama loves the strays. She feeds them wine, keeps them warm... -
The Prey by Joseph Delaney
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe second instalment of Joseph Delaney’s exhilarating new ARENA 13 series.Sixteen-year-old Leif continues on his quest to find out the truth about his legendary father... -
Heart, Haunt, Havoc by Freydís Moon
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsLaced with romance, gothic imagery, Catholic mysticism, diaspora, and horror…When lonely transgender exorcist, Colin Hart, finds himself challenged by an unruly haunted house in Gideon, Colorado, he’s kept awake by ghosts, demons, ghouls, and the handsome nonbinary owner of the house, Bishop Martínez... -
The Witch of Tin Mountain by Paulette Kennedy
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn Depression-era Arkansas, something wicked has come to a haunted mountain town in a novel of uncanny suspense by the author of Parting the Veil.Blood and power bind three generations of women in the Ozark Mountains. So does an evil that’s followed them across the decades.1931. Gracelynn Doherty lives peacefully on Tin Mountain, helping her adoptive granny work her cures... -
Rebel Robin by A.R. Capetta
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDiscover the backstory of the new Stranger Things fan favorite, Robin, played by Maya Hawke! The perfect read while you're waiting for Season 4 to drop on Netflix! High school is a monster, and it's eating everyone Robin knows. As sophomore year starts, Robin's Odd Squad friends have decided to try to be just like everyone else... -
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 63 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats. Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar... -
Foreshadow: Stories to Celebrate The Magic of Reading & Writing YA by Emily X.R. Pan, Nova Ren Suma
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThirteen Short Stories from Bold New YA Voices & Writing Advice from YA IconsCreated by New York Times bestselling authors Emily X. R. Pan and Nova Ren Suma, Foreshadow is so much more than a short story collection...Categorized as:
dystopia lgbtq action-adventure anthologies contemporary fiction horror magical-realism -
Lake Ephemeral by Anya Allyn
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSix children without memories of their early years can never leave the valley that gave them life.Seven manors surround Lake Ephemeral, and their residents are hiding terrifying secrets. Seraphin Ferón was first brought to the valley of Lake Ephemeral as an eleven-year-old orphan, to meet a mother she’d never known she had... -
Carmilla: The Wolves of Styria by David Brian, J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIs it ever possible for the undead to find true love? You'll find no definitive answer here. Be aware of this much though: When werewolves and vampires clash; there can be no winners.When fate draws together the lives of two young women, their mutual attraction quickly flourishes into a bond which threatens the boundaries of social etiquette in 1860s Styria... -
The Teras Trials by Lucien Burr
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTeras ravage England. Only London is safe. In an England where monsters have spilled into the world out of myth, only London is magically protected from the monstrous threat. The University runs the city, allowing family of graduate Hunters, Healers, Scholars, and Artificers to live behind the wards. Cassius Jones is nineteen and ready for the University... -
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Death Enraptured by Richard Amos, Cooper North
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsFollow my heart and make a mess...That’s putting it mildly.My life has really taken a complicated turn here in Oakthorne. I keep hoping some fairy godmother will show up and offer me a nice bit of time reversal. Not too much, just enough to ease this pain.Yeah. Right.Anyway, as much as there’s hurt, there’s also Death... -
The Wavering Knife by Brian Evenson
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBrian Evenson's fifth story collection constructs a human landscape as unearthly as it is mundane. Replete with the brutality, primordial waste, and savage blankness familiar to readers of his earlier works, Evenson's Kafkaesque allegories entice the mind while stubbornly disordering it... -
Over My Dead Husband's Body by Etta Faire
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsShe wanted a free house. She got a dead roommate. The first in the paranormal series The Ghosts of Landover Mysteries. Carly Taylor thought her luck was finally changing. Being broke, divorced, and living in her mother’s basement wasn’t where she thought she’d be at thirty-one. So when her ex suddenly dies and leaves her his family’s Victorian, she can’t sign the paperwork fast enough... -
Ash and Silver by Carol Berg
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn Dust and Light, national bestselling author Carol Berg returned to the world of the award-winning Flesh and Spirit. Now she continues the saga of a man whose past is veiled in shadows.... Ever since the Order of the Equites Cineré stole his memory, his name, and his heart, thinking about the past makes Greenshank’s head ache... -
Somewhere Beneath Those Waves by Sarah Monette
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMonette's diverse collection delves deeply into the mythic and reaches far beyond everyday reality. Readers cannot resist journeying with her into realms-dangerously dark or illuminatingly revelatory-they could never imagine without her as their guide. From ghost stories in the tradition of M. R... -
Syzygy by J.P. Valentine
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn Winter, Storm, in Deep, and Dark,The many threads they’d see,But in their rage they overstepped,And then the Courts were three.Beware, oh love, the nothing mage,A vengeful man is he,So if you dare to draw his wrath,Then nothing ye shall be.The stars align, the planets shift,Their walls are split in twain.Behold, behold, the syzygy,Now we shall feast again... -
The Curse of Eelgrass Bog by Mary Averling
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDark secrets and unnatural magic abound when a twelve-year-old girl ventures into a bog full of monsters to break a mysterious curse.Nothing about Kess Pedrock’s life is normal. Not her home (she lives in her family’s Unnatural History Museum), not her interests (hunting for megafauna fossils and skeletons), and not her best friend (a talking demon’s head in a jar named Shrunken Jim)... -
Heart Burn by C.J. Archer
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTime is running out for Hannah. With her life hanging by a thread and Tate trying to kidnap her, she finds help in an unusual quarter - the man who put the narcoleptic memory block on her as a child. Yet the powerful hypnotist may not be all that he seems... -
Dust and Light by Carol Berg
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNational bestselling author Carol Berg returns to the world of her award-winning Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone with an all-new tale of magic, mystery, and corruption... -
Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? by Paul Cornell
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe ghost of Sherlock Holmes is dead, but who will solve his murder?The Great Detective's ghost has walked London's streets for an age, given shape by people's memories. Now someone's put a ceremonial dagger through his chest. But what's the motive? And who - or what - could kill a ghost?When policing London's supernatural underworld, eliminating the impossible is not an option... -
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Kaleidoscope of Death Vol. 1 by Xi Zi Xu
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOpen the wrong door… and you may never return.One ordinary day, Lin Qiushi discovers a black door in the corridor outside his flat—a door that shouldn’t exist. When he steps through, he finds himself in a world governed by a deadly set of rules, where cryptic villagers speak in riddles, and the only way out is to take their obscure “tests”. The reward for passing: a key... -
Knock Knock, Open Wide by Neil Sharpson
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsKnock Knock, Open Wide weaves horror and Celtic myth into a terrifying, heartbreaking supernatural tale of fractured family bonds, the secrets we carry, and the veiled forces that guide Irish life.Driving home late one night, Etain Larkin finds a corpse on a pitch-black country road deep in the Irish countryside. She takes the corpse to a remote farmhouse... -
Hell's Teeth by James Fahy
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsNew Oxford. A third of the human population has been lost. The wars came, and they created a monster. The Pale, a subhuman, vampire-like drone. Then they lost control.In the thirty years that followed, humankind sought to rebuild itself within the walls of New Oxford. But society had become fractured – humans now lived incongruously among Genetic Others, themselves a group of many subspecies... -
The Bone Key: The Necromantic Mysteries of Kyle Murchison Booth by Sarah Monette
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe dead and the monstrous will not leave Kyle Murchison Booth alone, for an unwilling foray into necromancy has made him sensitive to--and attractive to--the creatures who roam the darkness of his once-safe world. Ghosts, ghouls, incubi: all have one thing in common. They know Booth for one of their own . . -
Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror & Delight by Ryan Douglass, Kalynn Bayron
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsNight of the Living Queers is a YA horror anthology that explores a night when anything is possible, exclusively featuring queer authors of color putting fresh spins on classic horror tropes and tales.No matter its name or occasion, Halloween is more than a Hallmark holiday, it’s a symbol of transformation... -
The Witching Vault by Kathrin Hutson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRun the witching vault. Protect the Gateway. Say please. And don’t get killed.After her release from magical prison, Jessica Northwood can’t hold a job to save her life. So when an apprenticeship opens up at a spellbound bank, no questions asked, she can’t exactly say no… But she definitely should have...
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