Books Like The Wolf and the Woodsman
If you finished The Wolf and the Woodsman and want more enemies to lovers, forbidden love, gods and mythology, 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. Uprooted
Shares: the same feel
Every ten years a wizard takes one village girl. This time it's Agnieszka, which nobody expected. The real villain is the Wood, which is properly creepy.
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Curses
- Slow Burn
- Witches
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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2. Juniper & Thorn
Shares: the same feel
A retelling of the Grimm story The Juniper Tree, set in an industrializing city with a monster loose in it. Marlinchen and her sisters are the last witches, kept locked up by their abusive father. This is gothic horror first. Check the warnings, they're heavy.
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Witches
- Curses
- Revenge
Content warnings
Sexual assault, Physical or emotional abuse, Harm to children, Gore, Self-harm, Murder
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3. Children of Blood and Bone
Shares: forbidden love, enemies to lovers, gods and mythology
The king wiped out the maji and stripped the magic from the land when Zélie was a kid. Now she has a chance to bring it back, with the king's daughter along and his son hunting them. West African-inspired quest with a lot of grief under it.
- Forbidden Love
- Enemies to Lovers
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
Genocide, Torture, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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4. The Wretched Divine
Shares: forbidden love, enemies to lovers
Grace's adult debut: a knight bonded to an angel has to team up with a demon to find a cure. Way darker than Belladonna and a bit overstuffed, but the emotional core is the most complicated thing she's written.
- Demons
- Forbidden Love
- Enemies to Lovers
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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5. The Serpent and the Wings of Night
Shares: enemies to lovers, gods and mythology
A human girl raised by the vampire king enters a deadly tournament where the prize is a goddess's favor. Hunger Games energy, gorgeous writing and a rival who's very hard not to like.
- Vampires
- Deadly Trials
- Enemies to Lovers
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Gore, Physical or emotional abuse, Death of a loved one
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6. The Book of Azrael
Shares: enemies to lovers, gods and mythology
Dianna is a shape-shifting monster who does terrible things for her maker. Liam is a god-king forced to work with her. The main characters really aren't nice people, and it's dark and very horny.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Morally Gray
- Gods and Mythology
- Forced Proximity
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Gore, Torture, Murder
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7. 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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8. Gideon the Ninth
Shares: enemies to lovers, gods and mythology
Lesbian necromancers in space solving murders in a haunted palace. Gideon is a swordswoman with a meme for every occasion. Confusing for 100 pages, then you're hooked.
- Deadly Trials
- Enemies to Lovers
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
Gore, Murder, Harm to children, Suicide or suicidal thoughts
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9. These Violent Delights
Shares: enemies to lovers, forbidden love
Romeo and Juliet in 1926 Shanghai. Juliette is heir to the Scarlet Gang, Roma is heir to the rival White Flowers, and a contagion is making people tear their own throats out. Atmospheric and gory, with a monster in the Huangpu River.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Gore, Graphic violence, Murder, Suicide or suicidal thoughts
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10. Gods of Jade and Shadow
Shares: gods and mythology, forbidden love
Casiopea scrubs floors for her awful grandfather in 1920s Mexico until she opens an old chest and frees Hun-Kamé, the Maya god of death. They road-trip to get his throne back. More fable than romance, with a bittersweet ending.
- Gods and Mythology
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
- Forced Proximity
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence
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