15 Standalone Fantasy Books for When You Can’t Commit

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Beautifully written with a lush, atmospheric setting, The Night Circus follows two dueling magicians who have been training since childhood for a magical competition they do not understand the rules of.

The Night Circus spans several decades and follows the lives of the magicians Celia and Marco, as well as others who have become entwined in the mysterious and marvelous Cirque des Rêves.

2. Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years. When Agnieszka is chosen to serve, she discovers she possesses a powerful magic that may be able to save her people from the threat of the Wood.

3. To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Lira is an exiled siren princess, the daughter of the fearsome Sea Queen. Elian is a prince whose calling is hunting down sirens. Lira’s only chance to get back into her mother’s good graces is to kill Elian and bring his heart to the Sea Queen.

Disguised as a human girl, she sneaks aboard Elian’s ship, but things get complicated when these two sworn enemies begin to develop feelings for one another.

4. Circe by Madeline Miller

Circe is a beautiful reimagining of Greek mythology, giving a voice and fully developed backstory to the powerful witch Circe from The Odyssey.

Born into one of the most powerful families of gods, Circe, the daughter of Helios, was a strange child–not powerful like Helios or alluring like her mother, Perse. However, she does possess a power–one that could menace the gods themselves!

Zeus banishes her to the island of Aiaia, where she hones her witchcraft, lives among dangerous animals, and faces down mythical figures such as Daedalus, Odysseus, Medea, and her nephew the Minotaur.

5. House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

A dark retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale, perfect for anyone who loves suspense, dark magic, curses, intrigue, and suspicious deaths.

In a manor by the sea, live Annaleigh and her sisters. There once were twelve sisters, but now there are only eight–four having died in tragic circumstances. The villagers–and the sisters themselves–believe they’ve been cursed by the gods!

Plagued by ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes suspicious and starts to investigate whether her sisters’ deaths were in fact accidents. Her sisters have been slipping out in the night to attend parties, dancing the night away. But who are they dancing with and should Annaleigh put a stop to their high jinks or join them?

Once she meets a mysterious stranger, Annaleigh finds herself getting sucked into this world. Will she unravel the dark curse before it claims her next?

6. The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Hazel and her brother, Ben, live in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and faeries live in relative harmony. In the woods, there’s a glass coffin wherein a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointy as knives sleeps. He’s been there for generations, never once waking.

Until he does…

As their world turns upside down, they feel drawn to find the find the boy with the horns who they were obsessed with as children.

This is a coming of age teen drama full of suspense, friendship, and romance.

7. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

A epic fantasy all in one book, The Priory of the Orange Tree is set in a rich world filled with dragons, forbidden magic, romance, and strong female characters.

The House of Berethnet has rules Inys for a thousand years, but with no heir, Queen Sabran must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction–and soon!

Ead, an outsider who has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, keeps a watchful eye over her queen, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Tané, a dragonrider from the East, is prone to screw-ups, but she’s also courageous and honorable.

As West and East disagree over their beliefs, the young queen must defend her realm against fire-breathing dragons.

8. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom. But her plan has always been to marry him–and then kill him!

On her seventeenth birthday, Nyx marries the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex with plans to seduce him, destroy his castle, and release her people from a nine-hundred-year curse.

But her husband is not all he seems. Ignifex is charming and beguiling. How can she kill her sworn enemy if she loves him?

With time running out, Nyx must choose between the future of her kingdom and the man she was never supposed to fall in love with.

9. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth grew up surrounded by a treasure trove of books, including the magical grimoires they keep locked up in vaults.

When an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire, Elisabeth is forced to seek help from her sworn enemy, sorcerer Nathanial Thorn, and his demon servant, Silas.

She has always believed that all sorcerers are evil, so can she trust him? And together can they stop the monster capable of killing all in its path?

10. The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

Constantly in her sister’s shadow, Alessandra has come up with a way to gain power: she’s going to woo and marry the Shadow King, and then kill him.

She’s not the only one who wants to kill him though… Now Alessandra must keep him alive long enough to marry her.

Something happens that put her whole plan at risk though; she starts to fall in love with him.

An unforgettable story filled with dark and vengeful characters who may not be as corrupt as they first seem.

11. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, Addie LaRue makes a Faustian bargain to live forever―and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far Addie will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man named Henry in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name…

12. Heartless by Marissa Meyer

In a dazzling prequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, we the infamous Queen of Hearts when she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine is one of the most desired girls in Wonderland destined to become the future Queen of Hearts. But all she really wants is to open a bakery with her best friend. Not an option for a future queen!

When Catherine meets Jest, a handsome court joker, she feels true attraction for the first time. To avoid offending the king, she and Jest enter into a secret relationship.

Against the backdrop of a familiar world and a cast of characters like the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit, we come to understand how Catherine became the bitter queen we love to hate!

13. The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Since the death of their parents, seventeen-year-old Ryn and her siblings have the working as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren. One problem though… the dead don’t always stay dead!

These zombies, or bone houses as they’re called, are the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker who suffers with chronic pain, arrives in town, the bone houses launch a fresh attack on the town.

Together, Ryn and Ellis journey deep into the mountains to find the source of the curse and destroy it to save the village, while also facing up to long-hidden truths about themselves.

14. Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar

We’ve all got secrets we want to keep hidden. Seventeen-year-old Sheetal has been keeping a secret her whole life–she’s half star, half mortal!

When she accidently burns her human father with a flare of starfire, she needs a full star’s help to heal him. She needs her mother, a star who returned to the sky years ago.

Sheetal has no choice but to ascend to the sky and ask her celestial family for help. But they need her help too… they need her to act as their human champion in a competition to decide the next ruling house of heavens. She must win or risk never returning to Earth–and her father-at all.

15. Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

A mesmerizing retelling of Greek mythology perfect for fans of Circe.

Ariadne is princess of Crete and brother of the Minotaur who resides in the labyrinth underneath the palace and demands blood every year.

Theseus, prince of Athens, arrives to kill the beast, and Ariadne falls in love with him, but helping him kill her brother will betray her family and cost her everything.

In a world ruled by men, will Ariande’s betrayal of her family and country lead her to happiness with Theseus? Or is she just a pawn?