Books like 'Between Despair and Hope'
Readers who enjoyed Between Despair and Hope by Jess Wisecup also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical fantasy paranormal dark romance science fiction young adult magic royalty tortured hero strong heroine
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Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 50 ratingsThe searing conclusion of the thrilling epic fantasy trilogy that saw a young girl trained by an arcane order of nuns grow into the fiercest of warriors...They came against her as a child. Now they face the woman. The ice is advancing, the Corridor narrowing, and the empire is under siege from the Scithrowl in the east and the Durns in the west. Everywhere, the emperor’s armies are in retreat... -
Shards of Time by Lynn Flewelling
Acclaimed author Lynn Flewelling brings her beloved Nightrunners series to a close—at least for now—with a thrilling novel of murder, mystery, and magic. The governor of the sacred island of Korous and his mistress have been killed inside a locked and guarded room... -
A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir
Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire. Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival... -
A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir
Beyond the Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger. The Blood Shrike, Helene Aquilla, is assailed on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable, while the Commandant capitalizes on his madness to bolster her own power...Categorized as:
magic strong heroine royalty mystery competent heroine high fantasy m-f found-family -
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East by Edith Pattou
Rose has always been different. Since the day she was born, it was clear she had a special fate. Her superstitious mother keeps the unusual circumstances of Rose's birth a secret, hoping to prevent her adventurous daughter from leaving home... but she can't suppress Rose's true nature forever...Categorized as:
magic mystery high fantasy strong heroine contemporary fantasy young adult shapeshifters -
The Sight by David Clement-Davies
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsIn the wilds of Transylvania a legend is about to be born, as a wolf pack race through the bitter snows, to find a birthing den for two cubs, one black, one white. In the birth of Fell, and his sister Larka, a race is on to defeat the wicked Morgra, and to come to terms with the extraordinary powers of The Sight... -
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life... -
The Midnight Star by Marie Lu
There was once a time when darkness shrouded the world, and the darkness had a queen.Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows...Categorized as:
magic royalty vengeance independent heroine found-family fantasy young adult dystopian -
Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis
17 hours 27 minsTruth of the Divine is the riveting sequel to Lindsay Ellis’ blockbuster NY Times bestseller, Axiom’s End.The human race is at a crossroads. We know we are not alone, but don’t fully understand who has arrived... -
Rook by Sharon Cameron
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsHistory has a way of repeating itself. In the Sunken City that was once Paris, all who oppose the new revolution are being put to the blade. Except for those who disappear from their prison cells, a red-tipped rook feather left in their place...Categorized as:
magic mystery independent heroine high fantasy futuristic science fiction dystopian fantasy -
Winterspell by Claire Legrand
Rated: 3.70 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThe clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince . . . but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums. New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor's ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother's murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer. Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes... -
Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again...Categorized as:
magic royalty mystery multicultural forbidden love queer friends to lovers competent heroine -
Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston
Cerys is safe in the kingdom of Aloriya.Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden... -
Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday
Rated: 3.36 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsA romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times best-selling author. Summoned to her father's home in 1820's Philadelphia, a girl finds herself in the midst of a rash of gruesome murders in which he might be implicated... -
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Cinder & the Prince of Midnight by Susan Ee
Rated: 3.20 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn orphan girl. A dark and twisted kingdom. An ongoing shadow war resulting in enslaved fairies.This is the world of Cinder. A world where a girl like her can be sold to be human prey for a ritualistic hunt.But on this night, even the predators might have something to fear. On this night, even a royal prince might find himself trapped by the expectations of the Dark King…and a girl like no other... -
Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu Vol. 2 by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù, 墨香铜臭
THE TOUCH OF A HAND, A ROLL OF THE DICEXie Lian has confirmed that the bewitching youth San Lang is actually Hua Cheng, one of the Four Calamities and a supreme ghost despised by all heavenly officials. Still, he has trouble matching the terror of his companion’s reputation with the charming, clever, and protective young man he’s come to know...Categorized as:
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Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong
Shanghai is under siege in this captivating and searingly romantic sequel to These Violent Delights, which New York Times bestselling author Natasha Ngan calls “deliciously dark.”The year is 1927, and Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution.After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on the warpath...Categorized as:
from hate to love mystery forbidden love friends to lovers magic vengeance found-family fantasy -
Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 85 ratingsKylar Stern has rejected the assassin's life. The Godking's successful coup has left Kylar's master, Durzo, and his best friend, Logan, dead. He is starting over: new city, new friends, and new profession... -
The Ancient Magus' Bride, Vol. 1 by Kore Yamazaki, Adrienne Beck
Enter the Magician's ApprenticeHer name is Chise Hatori, a penniless orphan troubled by visions. Sold as a slave to an inhuman mage, she is about to begin a strange new life, filled with magic, fairies, and other beings of a fantastical nature... -
Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray
New York City.1927.Lights are bright.Jazz is king.Parties are wild.And the dead are coming...After battling a supernatural sleeping sickness that claimed two of their own, the Diviners have had enough lies. They're more determined than ever to uncover the mystery behind their extraordinary powers, even as they face off against an all-new terror...Categorized as:
mystery magic found-family gifted heroine young adult fantasy 20th century historical -
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsHer story begins on a train.The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule. To commemorate their Great Victory, Hitler and Emperor Hirohito host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The victor is awarded an audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor’s Ball in Tokyo...Categorized as:
mystery independent heroine young adult fantasy historical science fiction dystopian war -
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever-and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world...Categorized as:
magic mystery bisexual m-f from hate to love independent heroine tortured heroine tortured hero -
The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness
After traveling through time in Shadow of Night , the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches --with one significant exception...Categorized as:
mystery magic forbidden love strong heroine competent heroine gifted heroine m-f contemporary -
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary France, now Lestat is a rockstar in the demonic, shimmering 1980s. He rushes through the centuries in search of others like him, seeking answers to the mystery of his terrifying exsitence. His story, the second volume in Anne Rice's best-selling Vampire Chronicles, is mesmerizing, passionate, and thrilling... -
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Never a Hero by Vanessa Len
This sequel to the contemporary fantasy Only a Monster will take Joan deeper into the monster world, where treacherous secrets and even more danger await. Despite all of the odds, Joan achieved the impossible. She reset the timeline, saved her family – and destroyed the hero, Nick. But her success has come at a terrible cost. She alone remembers what happened...Categorized as:
magic from hate to love m-f multicultural fantasy young adult paranormal contemporary -
The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them —the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle...Categorized as:
mystery strong heroine slow burn magic forbidden love competent heroine m-f science fiction -
The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
Kelsea Glynn is the Queen of the Tearling. Despite her youth, she has quickly asserted herself as a fair, just and powerful ruler.However, power is a double-edged sword, and small actions can have grave consequences... -
Midnight Poison by A. Kirk, E. Kirk
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA new paranormal urban fantasy romance thriller from the bestselling authors of The Divinicus Nex Chronicles! It's action, adventure, suspense, and crazy fun characters! - No Memory. No Mind. No Mercy. Kiara Blackwood has a few problems.She's older than she looks - by several centuries. She can't remember who she is... -
The Rose Society by Marie Lu
Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all.Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she flees Kenettra with her sister to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies...Categorized as:
magic mystery vengeance strong heroine royalty high fantasy betrayal political-intrigue -
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
In an exhilarating new series, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine rewrites history, creating a dangerous world where the Great Library of Alexandria has survived the test of time.… Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses...Categorized as:
mystery magic slow burn found-family paranormal futuristic science fiction dystopian
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