Books that Make You Feel Like You’re Walking Through a Magical Wood
Maybe it’s the leaves, or the crisp cool air, but there’s something about fall that makes me think about walking through the forest. And of course, probably from reading so many books, my mind immediately goes to an enchanted, magical forest. Although I think there’s just something about walking in the woods in general that feels inherently magical! It’s full of possibility—good and bad. It feels unknown, untouched, and you’re not quite sure what’s around the next grove of trees. If you’re looking for that feeling, these books make you feel like you’re walking through a magical wood. But there just might be some sinister things in these woods. Prepare yourselves accordingly.
The Wild Huntress
Emily Lloyd-Jones is back in another lush, fast-paced novel, inspired by Welsh mythology, with The Wild Huntress. Even before reading it, my mind went to a kick-butt heroine flying through a forest, and I was NOT disappointed! This is a stunning adventure, following a deadly competition, where the characters must band together against a monstrous creature in the woods.
Every five years, two kingdoms take part in a Wild Hunt. Joining is a bloody risk, and even the most qualified hunters can suffer the deadliest fates. Still, hundreds gamble their lives to participate—all vying for the Hunt’s life-changing prize: a magical wish granted by the Otherking.
BRANWEN possesses a gift no other human has: the ability to see and slay monsters. She’s desperate to cure her mother’s sickness, and the Wild Hunt is her only option.
GWYDION is the least impressive of his magically talented family, but with his ability to control plants and his sleight of hand, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep his cruel older brother from becoming a tyrant.
PRYDERI is prince-born and monster-raised. Deep down, the royal crown doesn’t interest him—all he wants is to know where he belongs.
A trickster, a prince, and a wild huntress—all in pursuit of the Champion’s prize. If they band together against the monstrous creatures within the woods, they have a chance to win. But nothing is guaranteed. After all, all are fair game in love and the Hunt.
Set in the same world as The Bone Houses and The Drowned Woods but with a whole new, unforgettable cast of characters—The Wild Huntress will have readers hooked from the very first page.
Poems for Tortured Souls
by Liz Ison
I laughed in your face and said
“You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith
This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’re modern idiots” For those that like their walks in the woods with a moody playlist accompaniment, I recommend more moody stanzas from some of the English language’s most famous poets. These poets have inspired Taylor Swift, but even if you’re not in a Swiftie era, we can almost guarantee that this poetry collection will hit you in the feels.
Soothe your spirit with this emotional, romantic, must-have collection, an homage to some of the poets and writers who have inspired Taylor Swift.
This collection of timeless poems is a beautiful introduction to the passionate words that have inspired artists and lyricists for generations. Discover poetry that overflows with folklore, love, heartbreak, revenge, and peace – the perfect balm for any tortured soul.
Featuring poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay, Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Lewis Carroll and more, this moody and melancholy anthology celebrates the English language’s most famous poets, and the emotions that unite us.
Warning: these poems might make you cry!
Belladonna Series
by Adalyn Grace
I did not include this just because you find deadly belladonna, flowering foxglove, or maybe even beautiful, wisteria in the woods and forests. I included it because the vibes of this series are eerie, decadent, deadly, and yet, intriguing and enticing. It’s why we keep exploring and going deeper and deeper into the woods even when the darkness envelops us. It’s impossible to resist, just like this series.
The Belladonna Collection allows fans and new readers alike to fully experience a Gothic-infused world of dark mystery and seductive romance. This set features limited-edition enhancements, including special case covers and endpapers. Read them all—Belladonna, Foxglove, and Wisteria—and get ready to fall in love with this deathly irresistible series.
The Darkest Part of the Forest
by Holly Black
We could not put together a list of titles that make you feel like you’re walking in a magical wood without include the QUEEN, Holly Black. While any of your favorite faerie titles from Holly Black fit the bill, The Darkest Park of the Forest especially gives that feeling of mystery and magic in the woods. Hazel and her brother grow up telling stories of the boy in the glass coffin because they know he will never wake. Except he DOES!
A girl makes a secret sacrifice to the faerie king in this lush New York Times bestselling fantasy by author Holly Black.
In the woods is a glass coffin. It rests on the ground, and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives….
Hazel and her brother, Ben, live in Fairfold, where humans and the Folk exist side by side. Since they were children, Hazel and Ben have been telling each other stories about the boy in the glass coffin, that he is a prince and they are valiant knights, pretending their prince would be different from the other faeries, the ones who made cruel bargains, lurked in the shadows of trees, and doomed tourists. But as Hazel grows up, she puts aside those stories. Hazel knows the horned boy will never wake.
Until one day, he does….
As the world turns upside down, Hazel has to become the knight she once pretended to be.
Briarheart
A walk in the woods always makes me think of traditional fairy tales, filled with princesses, faraway kingdoms, and secret curses. Briarheart is a feminist retelling of Sleeping Beauty, so really, what more could you want?
Miriam may be the daughter of Queen Alethia of Tirendell, but she’s not a princess. She’s the child of Alethia and her previous husband, the King’s Champion, who died fighting for the king, and she has no ambitions to rule. When her new baby sister Aurora, heir to the throne, is born, she’s ecstatic. She adores the baby, who seems perfect in every way. But on the day of Aurora’s christening, an uninvited Dark Fae arrives, prepared to curse her, and Miriam discovers she possesses impossible power.
Soon, Miriam is charged with being trained in both magic and combat to act as chief protector to her sister. But shadowy threats are moving closer and closer to their kingdom, and Miriam’s dark power may not be enough to save everyone she loves, let alone herself.
The Devouring Gray
by C. L. Herman
The Devouring Gray gives that feeling where you’re in the midst of trees, there’s a cool mist, you hear a twig snap behind you and you’re trying to tell yourself EVERYTHING IS FINE but you know that danger really does abound. The Gray is a lifeless dimension that contains a terrible monster, and when it’s unleashed, the characters must join together before the Gray destroys everything.
After her sister’s death, seventeen-year-old Violet Saunders finds herself dragged to Four Paths, New York. Violet may be a newcomer, but she soon learns her mother isn’t: They belong to one of the revered founding families of the town, where stone bells hang above every doorway and danger lurks in the depths of the woods.
Justin Hawthorne’s bloodline has protected Four Paths for generations from the Gray—a lifeless dimension that imprisons a brutal monster. After Justin fails to inherit his family’s powers, his mother is determined to keep this humiliation a secret. But Justin can’t let go of the future he was promised and the town he swore to protect.
Ever since Harper Carlisle lost her hand to an accident that left her stranded in the Gray for days, she has vowed revenge on the person who abandoned her: Justin Hawthorne. There are ripples of dissent in Four Paths, and Harper seizes an opportunity to take down the Hawthornes and change her destiny—to what extent, even she doesn’t yet know.
The Gray is growing stronger every day, and its victims are piling up. When Violet accidentally unleashes the monster, all three must band together with the other Founders to unearth the dark truths behind their families’ abilities…before the Gray devours them all.
So Witches We Became
I promise I didn’t intend for all the books on this list to have a dark side, but it just happens. This is a queer horror novel about friendship and finding your own power despite shadows and trauma of your past. While the characters are trapped on an island because of a curse, it gave me the feeling of walking in the woods. Sometimes the woods is a dark and scary place, but you do have the strength and courage within you to come out the other side.
A queer, feminist spin on Stephen King’s The Mist, this ode to female-rage is a perfect pick for fans of She Is a Haunting, and a reminder that if “boys will be boys”, girls will fight back.
For high school senior Nell and her friends, a vacation house on a private Florida island sounds like the makings of a dream spring break. But Nell brings secrets with her—secrets that fuse with the island’s tragic history, trapping them all with a curse that surrounds the island in a toxic, vengeful mist and the surrounding waters with an unseen, devouring beast.
Getting out alive means risking her friendships, her sanity, and even her own life. In order to save herself and her friends, Nell will have to face memories she’d rather leave behind, reveal the horrific truth behind the encounter that changed her life one year ago, and face the shadow that’s haunted her since childhood.
Easier said than done. But when Nell’s friends reveal that they each brought secrets of their own, a solution even more dangerous than the curse begins to take shape. Reading like a YA feminist spin on Stephen King’s The Mist, So Witches We Became is a diverse, queer horror about female friendship, the emotional aftermath of surviving assault, and how to find power in the shadows of your past.
Step into your witchy power or be swallowed by the curse–the choice is yours.
Witches of Ash and Ruin
by E. Latimer
I’m not entirely sure why witchcraft and woods go hand in hand, but I’m here for it! It’s all about the moody and the mysterious. Witches of Ash and Ruin follows a modern witch, a rival coven practicing black magic, and serial killers. This is definitely a read for those who want a dark, eerie, walk in the woods.
Modern witchcraft blends with ancient Celtic mythology in an epic clash of witches and gods, perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic trilogy and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
Seventeen-year-old Dayna Walsh is struggling to cope with her somatic OCD; the aftermath of being outed as bisexual in her conservative Irish town; and the return of her long-absent mother, who barely seems like a parent. But all that really matters to her is ascending and finally, finally becoming a full witch—plans that are complicated when another coven, rumored to have a sordid history with black magic, arrives in town with premonitions of death. Dayna immediately finds herself at odds with the bewitchingly frustrating Meiner King, the granddaughter of their coven leader.
And then a witch turns up murdered at a local sacred site, along with the blood symbol of the Butcher of Manchester—an infamous serial killer whose trail has long gone cold. The killer’s motives are enmeshed in a complex web of witches and gods, and Dayna and Meiner soon find themselves at the center of it all. If they don’t stop the Butcher, one of them will be next.
