More like Once Upon a Spell

anchored on:fairy tale retellingsecondary worldshort story cyclefantasycurseswhimsical

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Tolkien's legendariumUniverse
universe163 books1923
Fantasy, set in secondary world.
“Before the seas were bent and the mountains raised, there was Music — and from that Music came Arda, and in the west of Middle-earth the long defeat and stubborn hope of those who dwell there.”
from the catalogue
Start with The Fellowship of the Ring →
includes The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The History of Middle Earth, The Fall of Gondolin, The History of the Lord of the Rings
Nevermoor / Morrigan CrowSeries
series4 books2017
Adventurous in tone, about coming of age, set in big city.
“From copyright page: A cursed child destined to die on her eleventh birthday is rescued and whisked away to a secret realm called Nevermoor and given the chance to compete for a place in a prestigious society called the Wundrous Society.”
from the catalogue
Start with Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow →
Howl's CastleSeries
series3 books1986
completed
Adventurous in tone.
Start with Howl's Moving Castle →
Once Upon a Broken HeartSeries
series4 books2021
Romantasy, about forbidden love.
“Once Upon a Broken Heart and its sequels follow the fallout of that bargain across a fairy-tale-inflected world of curses and dangerous magic.”
from the catalogue
Start with Once Upon a Broken Heart →
Monster HighUniverse
universe61 books2010
Fantasy.
“New Salem High has a dress code problem: the daughter of Frankenstein's monster has bolts, the sea monster's daughter has scales, the werewolf sheds, and all of them are supposed to blend in with the normies.”
from the catalogue
Start with The Storybook of Legends →
includes Ever After High, Ever After High School Stories, Epic Winter, Once Upon a Twist, Monster High / Ever After High Metaverse, Monster High: Ghoulfriends Forever, Monster High: Electrified, Monster High
The White DeerNovel
James Thurberstandalone novel1945
Adventurous in tone, about quests.