Emoji Book Recs: Fantasy Edition! (part 2)

Before I start, I want to say I got this idea from Michelle at Magical Reads! It’s such a wonderful idea Michelle!

Hopefully you saw my part one post yesterday with fantasy recs for emojis! If not, you’re welcome to check that one out here. There is no order at all to these posts haha. But anyway, the gist of the posts is: I had people give me an emoji, and for each one I chose a book to rec based on it! Some are straightforward, some I got creative with. I’ll write a little bit about why I chose each book! So here we go with part two of the fantasy recs!

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🦉: Over the Woodward Wall (A. Deborah Baker; MG) – So yeah a giant talking owl features in this book, pretty straightforward! It’s magical and charming and a great novella.

🗡: The Warrior Heir (Cinda Williams Chima; YA) – An older and very underrated book!! Our main character is the titular warrior heir, and trains in sword fighting.

😶‍🌫️: Girl, Serpent, Thorn (Melissa Bashardoust; YA) – Okay I love this emoji haha. This one made me think of hidden things, or things being not as they seem. So that led me to Girl, Serpent, Thorn! There are a lot of things going on that aren’t quite what you think they are.

⛈: All the Stars and Teeth (Adalyn Grace; YA) – One of the big aspects of this book is an island that is surrounded by a dangerous magical storm. So of course the story takes our heroine there…will she survive??

🦷: The Bone Maker (Sarah Beth Durst; adult) – I guess I could have used the previous book for this emoji haha. BUT!! It also works for this book, since the characters use teeth and other bones to fuel their magic. Find my review here!

🥋: Burning Roses (S.L. Huang; adult) – The two main characters of this novella are both badass warriors, which is what the karate gi emoji makes me think of! I really hope there are more novellas in this world.

👻: Resurrection Road (Hannah Marae; YA) – This book is all about ghost hunters! So it’s perfect! And you know what else? It makes the perfect read for spooky season. Don’t worry, it’s not all that scary. It’s good spooky. I have a review for it here!

💀: Sabriel (Garth Nix; YA) – One of my favorite books off all time! There is necromancy and lots of dead stuff, hence the skull emoji haha. Please read it!!

🦭: The Unkindest Tide (Seanan McGuire; adult) – I chose this book even though it’s the 13th book in the series because it primarily deals with Selkies. If you didn’t know, Selkies are basically fae seal folk! So it’s a perfect fit.

🐺: Assassin’s Apprentice (Robin Hobb; adult) – Sadly you don’t meet the best wolf companion ever until the second book of this series. But the first one still has some great dog characters! And seriously, Nighteyes is the best wolf. Direwolves who?

🏴‍☠️: The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water (Zen Cho; adult) – So for some reason I couldn’t think of a fantasy book with pirates?? Or I’ve used them already for other emojis lol. But that means I have to get creative. So Pirate are thieves right? This book is all about a band of thieves and it’s wonderful.

🖤: The Gutter Prayer (Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan; adult) – A black heart for a grimdark book that I love! The setting of this book is incredible. Also I can’t believe this is a debut!! It’s so well done.

🦋: Strange the Dreamer (Laini Taylor; YA) – Blue butterflies will always make me think of this book. I mean, that’s exactly what the cover is haha.

🌲: The Queen of Blood (Sarah Beth Durst; adult) – This books has CITIES IN TREES!!! HOW COOL IS THAT??

🎭: An Ember in the Ashes (Sabaa Tahir; YA) – So it’s been a long long time since I’ve read this book. But it will always be one of my favorite YA fantasy series. Even though I haven’t finished reading the series yet….DON’T LOOK AT ME. Anyway, the students at the military academy wear metallic masks!

🔮: Legendborn (Tracy Deonn; YA) – Legendborn is an Arthurian legend retelling, and is full of mysterious magic and prophecies and fortellings. So a crystal ball for prophecies! Also if you haven’t read this…please. Do it. And I’ve got a review for it here!

😈: The Maleficent Seven (Cameron Johnston; adult) – All of the characters in this book are villains haha. But they’re so much fun to read about!! I feel like each one of them is the epitome of this emoji. Just devils wrecking shit, getting revenge and having fun. Here’s my review!

🏳️‍⚧️: Phoenix Extravagant (Yoon Ha Lee; adult) – The author is a trans man, and the main character is nonbinary! Also, there is a giant mecha dragon in this so, obviously you need to read it.

🏳️‍🌈: When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (Nghi Vo; adult) – Firstly, Nghi Vo’s writing is gorgeous. Secondly, this book is hella queer! W’ve got a nonbinary main character and narrator, a handful of sapphic side characters, and more! Oh, and also talking tigers. It’s the best. Read my review here!

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I hope you enjoyed part two of the fantasy emoji recommendations! The only one that stumped me was the gorilla emoji haha. Do any of you have any ideas for that…? Lol. Stay tuned for the science fiction emoji recs that will come next week!