1. The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld (26,102 Goodreads Ratings)
This is the first book in the Midnighters trilogy, and they are the only three books I've read by Scott Westerfeld. I read them when I was about 13 and I thought they were terrifying, and I never understood why they got far less attention that his other books.
2. Secret of the Sirens by Julia Golding (4,115 Goodreads Ratings)
The Companions Quartet was another series I read in my early teens. I don't remember much other than it being set beside the sea and being filled with mythological creatures that only a small group of people knew about, and I really enjoyed it.
3. Flood Child by Emily Diamond (945 Goodreads Ratings)
I never read the sequel to this, although knowing now that it has a sequel makes a lot more sense. I got this free from school and it was about a future where London is largely underwater and people have no recollection of technology.
4. The Shapeshifter: Finding the Fox by Ali Sparks (702 Goodreads Ratings)
I still own all 5 of The Shapeshifter books and they are what keep my bookshelves colourful! It's about a boy who can shapeshift into a fox and is sent to a school filled with other children with supernatural abilities. It's kind of like the X-men, but the people in charge of this school were a lot shadier.
5. Storm Runners by Barbara Mitchellhill (12 Goodreads Ratings)
This book is clearly not well known about, because only 12 people have rated it on Goodreads! The author visited my school when I was about 10, although her book might have been a little too dark for me at the time. It's about two kids stuck alone on an island when everyone else has been killed by a storm that seems too powerful to be natural.
6. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (36,513 Goodreads Ratings)
This actually has quite a few Goodreads ratings so it probably shouldn't be on this list, but I never hear people talk about it! It reminds me a lot of David Mitchell's books in that it's about a man and several others who reincarnate with all their past memories.
7. Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine (11,991 Goodreads Ratings)
You might be new here if you haven't heard me ramble about The Great Library series before. The synopsis is just awesome: what if the Library of Alexandria was never destroyed? And what if they continued to possess all books, allowing them to be the only source of knowledge in the world? The series is basically about a group of scholars who fall upon information they shouldn't have that could literally change the world.
8. Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson (8,375 Goodreads Ratings)
Another tragically underhyped series. I might have never come across it had Ultraviolet not been in my school library, and if its sequel Quicksilver hadn't been on the Goodreads Asexuals in Fiction list. Ultraviolet is about a girl with synesthesia who believes she murdered her classmate, but I personally prefer the sequel because it focuses on another character I loved a lot more and had a more accessible writing style.
9. Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas (3,270 Goodreads Ratings)
I'll never stop talking about this duology. It's about two boys writing letters to each other from different parts of the world. One is allergic to electricity, the other's heart uses a pacemaker. If they meet one of them could die, but even though they can't meet they become close friends and learn about their shared past. It's too cute and tragic and adorable for this world.
10. Pantomime by Laura Lam (2,203 Goodreads Ratings)
I've only read the first in the Micha Gray trilogy so far but I really enjoyed it! It's about a genderfluid intersex kid who runs away to join the circus, and I'm super interested to see more of the world Lam has created for her characters.
11. Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero (542 Goodreads Ratings)
The cover for this is very misleading, because it's 100% an adult fantasy/horror novel. It's heavily inspired by Scooby-Doo and features a similar gang reuniting in their 20s to solve a mystery that tore them apart, forcing them to finally come to terms with the things they saw in their town several years ago.
12. Timekeeper by Tara Sim (1,467 Goodreads Ratings)
I'm so excited to read the rest of this series and continue reading about the cuteness of Danny and Colton. It's set in a steampunk version of Victorian London where clocktowers maintain the smooth running of time in each town. And it's about a clock mechanic and the adorable clock spirit he falls in love with.
Have you heard of or read any of the books on my list? Are there any you think you'd give a try? What hidden gem SFF books have you read?
This post was inspired by the prompt 'Ten Hidden Gem Books in X Genre' on Top 10 Tuesday, which is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
Ink and Bone sounds fascinating. The UK covers are also gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteCarmen / Carmen`s Reading Corner
I love that series, and I'm obsessed with the covers I have <3 Thanks for visiting!
DeleteI love Ink and Bone and Timekeeper! Pantomime is on my TBR. I had never heard of that Scott Westerfeld book, I'll have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2017/08/29/top-ten-tuesday-122/
Ink and Bone and Timekeeper are both really great books and I'm sad they don't get more love. Pantomime kind of fits in with those two in that they all have a kind of old-and-classical vibe with a dash of magic and a lot of diversity so I hope you like it. I don't think I would've heard of the Midnighters trilogy had I not spotted it in my school library. I remember little about them other than reading them late at night and not being able to sleep because of some of the monsters, and that I loved them!
DeleteI really liked the first couple books in the Companion's Quartet, but the last two fell flat for me. I read this in my Post-PJO-Mythology phase. I've read Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld and really liked it, so I might have to give his Sci-Fi a go as well. Ink and Bone sounds amazing, and Timekeeper keeps popping up on your blog so much that I'm going to have to get it soon. Great list!
ReplyDeleteThat's a shame - I don't actually remember much about them other than the vague premise behind them. I actually read them before PJO which I actually read only a couple of years ago, so I'm still a bit in that PJO-Mythology phase :D
DeleteI also don't remember much about The Midnighters series other than that I really liked them. Ink and Bone is probably my favourite under-loved series, and Timekeeper might be on it's way depending on the next book in the series! I just read it last month which is why I've mentioned it a lot lately! Thanks Rekha!
I have read Knife by R.J Anderson and I really liked that one! :) So I might like Ultraviolet too. Especially if it has asexual character...we need more of that in literature!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I once send fanmail to Anderson and she seemed a bit cold o.O so now I always think of that when I pick up her books to read.
I haven't read anything else by R.J. Anderson but I think I ought to because of my love for Ultraviolet and Quicksilver. The asexual character is actually in both books, but it's not mentioned until the second where they are the focal character (but I would avoid looking into it too much because just the synopsis of the second book might spoil the first!).
DeleteI'm sorry the author seemed cold. I'm always really stressed about author interractions and I get how that could impact your perception of her books (heck, once *I* messed up in an interraction with one of my favourite authors and now reading their books stresses me out a little). So I'd get not wanting to read these books. But if you are looking to read more ace rep, I've found this list really useful!
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/61456.Asexuals_In_Fiction_