Books Like Gods of Jade and Shadow
If you finished Gods of Jade and Shadow and want more gods and mythology, forbidden love, slow burn, start here. Each pick shares at least two tropes with it, and we've rated every one for spice and darkness so you know what you're getting into.
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The picks
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1. Belladonna
Shares: forbidden love, slow burn, gods and mythology
Signa can't die, which is how she ends up orphaned at a gloomy Victorian estate where a ghost wants her to solve her own poisoning. Her love interest is Death himself, mostly in shadow form. Cozy-spooky and very October.
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
Murder, Death of a loved one
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2. For the Wolf
Shares: forced proximity, slow burn
Red, the queen's second daughter, is sent into the Wilderwood as a sacrifice to the Wolf and finds a grumpy Warden named Eammon bleeding into the trees to keep them back. Red Riding Hood meets Beauty and the Beast with forest horror. Slow and tender.
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Curses
- Forced Proximity
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Gore, Graphic violence
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3. One Dark Window
Shares: forbidden love, slow burn
There's a monster living in Elspeth's head, and it talks. Gothic, foggy, strange in the best way. Feels like a dark fairy tale someone forgot to tame.
- Curses
- Morally Gray
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Death of a loved one, Murder
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4. Wicked Saints
Shares: gods and mythology, forbidden love
A girl who talks to gods, a blood mage prince and a war that never ends. Moody and extremely Slavic. The romance is with someone who's very clearly a villain.
- Gods and Mythology
- Villain Gets the Girl
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Self-harm, Gore, War, Torture
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5. A Curse So Dark and Lonely
Shares: forced proximity, slow burn
Harper, a girl from DC with cerebral palsy, gets snatched into Prince Rhen's cursed kingdom, where every autumn ends with him turning into a monster. The quiet guard commander Grey steals the whole book. Clean YA, more about duty than kissing.
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Curses
- Forced Proximity
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Death of a loved one
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6. Ash
Shares: forbidden love, slow burn
Cinderella with a fairy named Sidhean who wants to take Ash away forever, and the King's Huntress Kaisa, who teaches her to love the woods again. A quiet, lyrical sapphic retelling where the fae are cold and the human is warm.
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Fae
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Death of a loved one
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7. Daughter of No Worlds
Shares: slow burn, forbidden love
A former slave with a talent for magic gets recruited into an order of warriors. Broadbent before Nyaxia, and the slow burn here is properly slow.
- Slow Burn
- Forbidden Love
- Found Family
- Deadly Trials
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence, War
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8. Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Shares: gods and mythology, slow burn
Xingyin, the moon goddess Chang'e's secret daughter, flees the moon and ends up training as an archer beside the Celestial crown prince. Lush and episodic, pulled from Chinese myth. The middle drags a bit and the love triangle stays mild.
- Gods and Mythology
- Love Triangle
- Slow Burn
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
War, Graphic violence
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9. Lament
Shares: forbidden love, slow burn
Deirdre, a shy harpist, plays the competition of her life alongside a gorgeous flute player named Luke, who happens to be an assassin sent by the Faerie Queen to kill her. Early Stiefvater, a bit rough, steeped in Irish folk music.
- Fae
- Assassins
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Death of a loved one, Murder
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10. Sorcery of Thorns
Shares: slow burn, forced proximity
Elisabeth grew up in a library where grimoires growl and turn into monsters if you damage them. When one gets loose, she's stuck with Nathaniel, a snarky sorcerer, and Silas, his demon servant, who steals every scene. Cozy and creepy at once.
- Demons
- Enemies to Lovers
- Slow Burn
- Forced Proximity
Content warnings
Murder, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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11. Wicked Fox
Shares: gods and mythology, forbidden love
Miyoung is a gumiho in modern Seoul who has to feed on men's energy to survive, and Jihoon is the boy she saves from a goblin in the woods. K-drama structure, lots of family grief and food. Sweet, sad and a little slow in the middle.
- Gods and Mythology
- Forbidden Love
- Curses
Content warnings
Death of a loved one, Graphic violence, Murder
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12. A Discovery of Witches
Shares: forbidden love, slow burn
Diana is an Oxford historian and reluctant witch who calls up a bewitched manuscript at the Bodleian, and suddenly every creature in town is watching her, including the very old vampire Matthew Clairmont. Lots of wine, research and yoga. Slow, and people love it anyway.
- Witches
- Vampires
- Forbidden Love
- Possessive Hero
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Stalking
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13. A Fate Inked in Blood
Shares: gods and mythology, slow burn, forbidden love
Viking romantasy. Freya is a shield maiden with a prophecy on her head and a jarl's son who is very much not her husband. Feels like Vikings meets a political chess game.
- Gods and Mythology
- Slow Burn
- Forbidden Love
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
War, Graphic violence, Physical or emotional abuse
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14. An Enchantment of Ravens
Shares: forbidden love, forced proximity
Isobel paints portraits for fae patrons who pay in enchantments. She paints human sorrow into the eyes of Rook, the autumn prince, and he hauls her off to stand trial for it. Short and pretty, a little thin on romance, but the fae are genuinely uncanny.
- Fae
- Forbidden Love
- Forced Proximity
- Curses
Content warnings
Graphic violence
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15. Divine Rivals
Shares: slow burn, gods and mythology
Iris and Roman are rival reporters at the same paper while a war between two gods creeps toward their city. She types letters to her missing brother on a magic typewriter, and someone writes back. Soft, sad and very You've Got Mail.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Slow Burn
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
War, Death of a loved one, Drug or alcohol abuse
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