As I gathered ideas for this Staff Picks, I noticed that a lot of these books have “bone” in the title. Maybe that’s because these stories portray magic as dangerous. Not only the magic itself, but the intrigue, politics and power struggles that surround it.
The word “bone” calls to mind the potential for injury or death. It might also make you think of buried things and secrets.
Every story has a different take on magic and how the world reacts to it. If you want to take a walk on the darker side, check out these titles.
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Tea’s gift for death magic means that she is a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community, but when an older bone witch trains her to become an asha–one who can wield elemental magic–Tea will have to overcome her obstacles and make a powerful choice in the face of danger as dark forces approach. You can also check out this title as eBook on Overdrive/Libby, as eAudio on Overdrive/Libby or as eBook on Hoopla.
In a world where the Great Library is a ruthless and supremely powerful presence in every major city and the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden, the inadvertent creation of a device that could change the world puts Jess and his friend in danger. You can also check out this title as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.
Alex is a bruja and the most powerful witch in her family. But she’s hated magic ever since it made her father disappear into thin air. When a curse she performs to rid herself of magic backfires and her family vanishes, she must travel to Los Lagos, a land in-between as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland, to get her family back. You can also check out this title as eBook on Overdrive/Libby or as eBook on Hoopla.
Orphaned by the Border Wars, Alina Starkov is taken from obscurity and her only friend, Mal, to become the protegé of the mysterious Darkling, who trains her to join the magical elite in the belief that she is the Sun Summoner, who can destroy the monsters of the Fold. You can also check out this title as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.