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Expect a grim, disorientating fairy tale rather than a reassuring adventure: Otto is often frightened and uncertain, while magic offers power without straightforward control.

Expect a high-action fantasy about survival, loyalty and choosing what sort of person to become, rather than a romance-led story. Aina’s assassin role and the consequences of her choices are prominent.

A fantasy mystery built around missing magical objects and unusual animal behaviour, with two friends at the centre of the search.

Ava’s central challenge is deciding what to wish for when she wants to put her family back together. The story’s magic makes that hope depend on choices with potentially high stakes.

This instalment combines supernatural peril with a romantic dilemma: Ever’s efforts to help Damen unfold alongside an unexpected attraction to Jude.

This is a birthday-centred fantasy adventure in which Tara’s search for unusual objects brings her into contact with eccentric townspeople and new friends.

This is a fantasy about a child hoping to repair a family in distress, with consequences that reach beyond her home. Its blend of magic, loss and jeopardy may appeal to readers who enjoy emotionally rooted adventures.

This is a high-stakes fantasy adventure built around teamwork, magical objects and opposing forces. Its fourth-in-series position means some character relationships or earlier events may already be established.

A fantasy adventure combines a mystery about sick sea dragons with Emily’s effort to develop as a healer. The overview also promises peril, magical discovery and companionship, without revealing how the quest ends.

A fantasy adventure links unusual forms of magic with a mystery: Sandry must teach a young dancer while helping confront a killer threatening local merchants.

This is a fantasy adventure built around magical threats, uncertain loyalties and a plan that puts the twins at its centre.

This is a fantasy about managing powerful magic alongside travel, friendship and uncertain relationships. Undine’s inner conflict and Trout’s feelings give the story a personal focus as well as a magical one.

Secret spellcasting gives Eliza and her housemates a taste of freedom and power, but a spell’s deadly consequence changes the stakes. The book pairs boarding-school life and sisterhood with supernatural danger.

A spirited family adventure combines inherited magic, sisters’ relationships and the social expectations placed on girls in Regency England.

This is a fantasy rescue quest set among Arthurian characters, with friendship, a kidnapped companion and growing magical powers at its centre.

A fantasy mystery pairs Cat’s investigation of a strange egg with Marianne’s decision about her own magic, while family secrets and disruptive spells complicate their efforts.

This is a fantasy adventure about siblings facing a threat involving an enchanted amulet. University and laboratory settings sit alongside witchcraft, sorcery and a plot to develop a youth serum.

The book aims to help children understand a discipline system their parents will use, rather than simply presenting rules from an adult’s perspective.

A portal-fantasy adventure about three girls tasked with protecting magical animals, with friendship and the natural world among its stated themes.

A set of thirteen suspenseful horror tales, with folklore and urban-legend elements and child characters encountering supernatural threats.

This is a fantasy adventure built around a frightening dream figure, a prophecy and a young protagonist facing a threat. The story also promises secrets and magic.

A fantasy about a young woman facing a consequential choice over magic, with a London debut and relationships at Spence Academy alongside a conflict over the enchanted realms.

This is a magical adventure shaped by bereavement, with a quest to retrieve a stolen nut and restore balance.

A misdeed at school leads Clay to an unusual camp, where ghostly and magical threats complicate his stay. The premise combines mischief, eccentric companions and supernatural suspense.

This is a family-centred fantasy adventure: Birdie discovers a connection to fairy godmothers and travels to Aventurine to address a problem involving a broken talisman and a spreading shadow.

This is a high-stakes fantasy finale centred on three young mages, their animal friends and a last chance to fulfil a shared destiny.

A supernatural school story combines Lily’s new magical abilities with friendship, a crush and a conflict involving Reapers. Sebastian’s offer introduces uncertainty about whom she can trust.

A playful fantasy built around a clear but awkward rule: wishes come true only halfway. The fun appears to come from figuring out what that rule means in practice.

This is a fantasy adventure built around a mistaken trade, a journey to set things right and a frozen kingdom. The central predicament leads Rudi and Susanna Louisa into danger.

A lively fantasy adventure pairs a magical creation that may have a mind of its own with a separate rescue mission. It could suit a child who enjoys mischievous characters and two strands of danger to follow.

This is a magical retrieval adventure about Scarlett’s power to make things grow and shrink, set within a larger quest involving seven jewels.

This is an imaginative fantasy adventure about books, duty and power, combining library humour with danger and political intrigue. The story offers active quests, unusual allies and a continuing series arc rather than a fully closed world.

A vivid fantasy about discovering belonging, forming friendships and investigating a magical mystery. Its imaginative school setting and chapter-ending tension may draw readers onwards, but Harry’s neglect, bereavement and frightening final confrontation give the adventure a darker emotional edge.

This is a fantasy road-trip sequel about life after saving the world: Simon, Baz and Penny face new danger while struggling with identity, relationships and the aftermath of earlier events.

A fast-moving fantasy quest built around a magical timepiece, a threatened fairy queen and a race to save an entire kingdom. Expect imaginative creatures, magic, a witch’s spell and a humorous heroic tone.

A lively fantasy adventure combines school settings, friendship, humour, magic and imaginative creatures. Felix and Betony must use their wits across conflicts involving Rhino, a djinn and the Japegrins, while the story builds towards a threat affecting two worlds.

A familiar fairy tale becomes a villain-centred story about how family harm, bereavement and magical influence may contribute to the Queen’s transformation. Its emotional approach is sympathetic, but the character’s inner motives are not always fully sustained.

A gentle fantasy adventure about two girls helping fairy allies tackle litter on a beach. Environmental care is central, alongside friendship, teamwork and a search for a missing wand.

This offers energetic fantasy adventure, imaginative magical abilities and a friendship group facing escalating challenges. Its tone appears playful as well as perilous, with candy-based humour alongside imprisonment, manipulation and attempts to control young characters.

A good choice to explore alongside a reader who enjoys imaginative fantasy with an emotionally unsettled protagonist. Its strongest interest appears to lie in how magical danger intersects with loneliness, family belonging and friendship.

This offers a plot-led fantasy involving assassination, magic, royal duty, secrets and romance. Its central appeal is the partnership between an ambitious apprentice and a highly dangerous royal agent, while the volume leaves major messages unresolved.

A magical adventure about practising powers, protecting others and managing a secret. Friendship and courage sit alongside uncertainty about strange events and the threat posed by dark spirits.

A dark, intense revenge fantasy about a teenager confronting sexual violence, seeking to save someone important to her and using magic that comes at a stated price. Expect horror, suspense and graphic imagery.

This is an atmospheric supernatural mystery about identity, family neglect and an attempt to change a dangerous future. Its humour sits alongside isolation, approaching evil and difficult family relationships.

Choose this for a reader who enjoys ambitious fantasy, mythic worlds and protagonists who challenge restrictive communities. It is better approached as an imaginative, sometimes confusing journey than as a straightforward adventure.