NewsQueer Witchy YA Stories for the Season

Queer Witchy YA Stories for the Season

queer witchy ya books cover collage

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Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen.

View All posts by Kelly Jensen

Is there anything queerer than a witch? There might be plenty right up there in such a fake ranking, but witches are among some of the queerest beings imaginable. Witches wear what they want, they believe in magic, they cast spells, and they can fall anywhere on the spectrum of Glenda the Good to the darkest and most evil of spirits imaginable. That’s what makes witchy stores so dang good.

There has been such a welcome uptick in queer horror in YA over the last several years. While not all witch stories are horror, you could make a compelling case that they are. The witch elicits a fear or disgust or slight sweaty feeling for many readers, even in the most mundane situations.

Let’s take a look at a handful of the most outstanding queer YA witch stories. These are perfect to read as we enter into Halloween season, as much as they’re delightful to read at any other time.

Psst: if you think to yourself “I’ve read this list before,” that might be because it originally ran in the Our Queerest Shelves newsletter in mid-September. It’s too good not to also share here.

Spells to Forget Us by Aislinn Brophy book cover

Spells to Forget Us by Aislinn Brophy

Luna is a powerful, talented witch, set to take over as as head of the Boston Witch Council. Except she does not want that role.

Aoife is not at all magical or powerful. She’s also extremely well known, as her influencer family used her for content since she was born. She wants nothing but a quiet, private life.

When the two girls’ paths cross, they fall for each other hard. Magic law decrees that when Luna dates, she must cast a spell that will erase the memories of that relationship from the person she dated in the event they break up. But when the romance between Aoife and Luna ends, it’s not just Aoife who loses the memory of the relationship. Luna does, too.

The girls meet again. Date again. Then they both recover the memories from that prior relationship.

And so it goes, again and again.

A time loop story with a witch and non-witch? This sounds so fun.

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