Looking for a riveting, magical story without the need to commit to a full series? In this article, you’ll find the 20 best stand-alone fantasy books I’ve read.
Sometimes, you want just one book to get you out of a reading slump. Other times, you’re in the need of a comforting novel to binge on a rainy day. Whatever the case may be, stand-alone fantasy books can be like a balm for the reader (particularly, the worn-out reader).
I’ve never been able to nail down whether I prefer a series versus a stand-alone, but I have to admit that there are so many favorites on this list that I’m beginning to believe that I have my answer after all. Several of these titles are ones that I read in one sitting, a few of them are ones that I’ve read more than one time, and still others are novels that I find myself constantly recommending to get back into reading! My hope is that by sharing this list, you’ll find a new favorite.
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20 Stand-Alone Fantasy Books You Should Add to Your Reading List
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Into the Heartless Wood
by Joanna Ruth Meyer
Why I Love It
This is one of my favorite fantasy books of all time. It’s a little dark, a bit romantic, and absolutely hauntingly beautiful. I’ve never read anything else like it and I sometimes think I was just put on this earth to scream about it from the rooftops. I want everyone to read it!
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
by V.E. Schwab
Why I Love It
I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this book when I first picked it up, but now it’s in my top three favorite novels of all time. It starts slow, but the story morphs into something so breathtaking. It’s also filled with incredible quotes. I just adore it.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Starless Sea
by Erin Morgenstern
Why I Love It
I can’t recommend the audiobook for this one (and Morgenstern’s The Night Circus) enough. Reading the physical copy was a bit too confusing for me, but the “no plot, just vibes” feeling worked brilliantly as full-cast audio. It’s like a bedtime story for adults.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Nature of Witches
by Rachel Griffin
Why I Love It
THIS BOOK. I read it in a day because I truly couldn’t put it down. It made me feel so absorbed in the story that I forgot I was reading. It’s so atmospheric and makes me appreciate our earth so much more.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Bone Houses
by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Why I Love It
After reading this one, I came up with the description “cozy creepy” because that’s the best way to explain how this book feels. It has chronic pain rep and as my friend lovingly put it, “it’s a love letter to zombies.” But have no fear, I hate zombies and I loved this book. It’s not scary at all!
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Heartless
by Marissa Meyer
Why I Love It
I read this book the year it came out and it’s been fun to see it resurface as a popular novel. It’s so heart-wrenchingly sad but also so good! I recently did a reread for it and enjoyed getting my heart shattered all over again.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
by Alix E. Harrow
Why I Love It
This is another book that gives me the “no plot, just vibes” feeling and I’m all about it. If I were to try and describe those vibes, I’d basically tell you that it’s a book filled with magical stories within stories and lots of grand adventures.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Girl, Serpent, Thorn
by Melissa Bashardoust
Why I Love It
If you’re a fan of fairytales with wicked twists, you will love this book. I gobbled it up in a very short amount of time. It constantly makes you wonder what will happen next!
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Winterwood
by Shea Ernshaw
Why I Love It
This is another “cozy creepy” book. Plan to read it during the winter because the snowy vibes are immaculate. I wouldn’t say that it’s scary but there are definitely some eerie moments. Just enough to make you pull your blanket a little closer.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Barnes & Noble
Lost in the Never Woods
by Aiden Thomas
Why I Love It
Peter Pan, but make it a little nefarious. This one had some fantastic plot twists and the fast pace made it really easy to read in one sitting. I’m kind of desperate for this to not be stand-alone and I’m hoping Aiden decides to expand it in the future!
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Gallant
by V.E. Schwab
Why I Love It
A little bit of Secret Garden with a whole lot of Haunted Mansion, and a main character that doesn’t speak. There are illustrations in this book, which made it stand out so much to me. It feels slightly more like middle grade but I’d like to say that it’s ageless more than anything else.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern
Why I Love It
As I mentioned for The Starless Sea, Morgenstern’s novels are best enjoyed as audiobooks. This one also has a full cast! It’s very whimsical and magical, with a touch of darkness.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Afterlife of Holly Chase
by Cynthia Hand
Why I Love It
I’ve read this book each December for the past several years because I love it so much. It’s a YA reimagining of A Christmas Carol (which, though not my favorite holiday story, makes a great jumping-off point for this novel) and is honestly so much fun.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Wild is the Witch
by Rachel Griffin
Why I Love It
I’ve never been to the Pacific Northwest, but Rachel’s books make me feel like I’m living there while I’m reading. They completely envelop you in the atmosphere of the book. This one gave me a completely different version of witches than anything else I’d read before and I loved it!
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Drowned Woods
by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Why I Love It
Set in the same world as The Bone Houses, this book makes you rethink everything you’ve ever known about heist stories. It’s adventurous, diverse, and has a corgi that can sniff out magic! A must-read.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
In the Shadow Garden
by Liz Parker
Why I Love It
This book had some of the coolest magic… a garden where everything that grew there was embued with magical properties of some sort. I was hooked from beginning to end!
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
by T. Kingfisher
Why I Love It
This felt more like a middle-grade novel to me than YA, but it was such a fun time! The main character’s familiar is a sourdough starter, there are fighting gingerbread men, and even more interesting is the murder to solve!
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
Bring Me Your Midnight
by Rachel Griffin
Why I Love It
Whenever someone asks for romantasy recommendations, this is what I give them. Romantasy to me is a swoony romance in a fantastic fantasy world. Bring Me Your Midnight has all of that. Forbidden love, witches, and moonlight seaside magic. Perfection!
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
The Wicked Deep
by Shea Ernshaw
Why I Love It
Shea definitely does an excellent job at cozy creepy novels. While this one felt a little more eerie to me than Winterwood, I still enjoyed it thoroughly and flew through it. I didn’t want to put it down, especially when people started being lured into the sea…
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Barnes & Noble
Illuminations
by T. Kingfisher
Why I Love It
My first novel by this author and I was absolutely hooked! I had so much fun while reading this book and didn’t want it to end. Now if someone could teach me how to create magical paintings, I think I’d be set.
Buy the book: Amazon | Blackwell’s | Bookshop | Waterstones | Libro.fm | Barnes & Noble
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Do you have a favorite stand-alone fantasy book?
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So many books from this list are on my TBR and I just need to get to them! I especially want to read Into the Heartless Wood. Another book on my radar is For The Wolf. I haven’t been in a fantasy mood lately so my fantasy TBR is growing rapidly, sadly.
It makes me SO happy to hear that you want to read Into the Heartless Wood! I hope you love it as much as I do 🙂 And so much YES to For the Wolf. The Wilderwood duology is one of my forever favorites!
Great post! I love theses Best of post from someone very familiar with the genre. You’ve given me lots of amazing ideas for books for those in my life who love Fantasy. Thanks for sharing!
Haha! It’s definitely the genre I’ve been reading for the longest amount of time. I sure hope it sounds like I know what I’m talking about 😉
I love that these are all stand alone. Wonderful list!
They really are so excellent and they pack such a huge punch in just one book!
Wow so many wonderful books on the list, I have never read a fantasy book. Sounds interesting and thank you for sharing your recommendations and reviews on which book to read or not to read. Will have to check it out! 💕
My best friend is part of a book club and she was looking for some suggestions. I will let her know your recommendations for her group. Thanks!
We haven’t read any of these, but we’ve heard great things about Winterwood.
I’ve only read 4 of the books on your list, but I LOVED all 4. That means that most of these just got added to my TBR!
Fantasy books are among my favorite!! SO many of these sound amazing! I swear, my book list grows every time I read your posts lol.
Lizzie
http://www.lizzieinlace.com
I’m thrilled to see some of my favorite books on this list. I love love love The Drowned Woods!!!
Great list! So many of these are among my favorites, Heartless in particular is such an amazing read!
I’ve read a few of these and out of the list here, I love that VE Schwab is mentioned twice (both books are amazing).
I would add my favorite stand alone of all time is “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.
It is a beautifully written novel with brilliant interweaving of characters and highly poetic and relatable descriptions…best fantasy book, of all time.
I’ve heard excellent things about Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell as well as Piranesi by the same author. I plan to try them out in the future! 🙂
Piranesi is awesome. Not quite to that the level of JS&Mr.N but as a standalone novella it is full of rich details and an intriguing plot.
That’s great to know! I look forward to giving them both a read at some point 🙂
Thank you so much for the fantastic book list! I’ve read about half of the ones on your list and loved every single one. Erin Morgenstern in particular is my favorite standalone author. From the first two lines of The Night Circus I was hooked. I would also suggest The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, a wonderful standalone book that transports you through a story within a story.
I’ve never heard of The Thirteenth Tale, but I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for the suggestion!
I am SO grateful to you for this AMAZING list. I thought no one ever would compile a list like that, the list that this girl needs, thank you!!! Off to the library!
PS one fabulous stand alone fantasy book that will leave you breathless is Uprooted by Naomi Novik 💕
I love a good stand alone book. If feels like everything is a series, and I can only handle being in the middle of a few series while waiting to get my hands on the next book. I haven’t read any of these so I have a ton added to my list. One of my favorite fantasy authors is Brandon Sanderson. Most of his books are series, but Elantris is a great stand alone book. Or if you want a great short story that seems to fit this list better you could try “Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell.”
I had never been to this blog, nor know anything about the author, but when I read what you said about The heartless wood, I immediately went and got a copy from the library. And you were right! It is an amazing read and now I’m telling everyone about it. Thank you so much for sharing!