Guest post written by author Cyla Panin
Cyla Panin is an YA and adult author who prefers to look at the world through a dusting of magic. After spending most of her childhood wanting to escape into the wonderful worlds her favorite authors created, she’s now using her own words to craft magical places. When not writing, Cyla can be found playing dinosaurs with her two young boys, watching swashbuckling and/or period TV shows with her husband, and, of course, reading. Find out more at her website.
There’s something about the dark—the unknown, the possibilities in the shadows. It’s thrilling, alluring, and makes an atmospheric backdrop for page turners. When Horace Walpole released what’s considered the first gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto, in 1764, he proclaimed that he was attempting to blend two kinds of romance, the ancient and the modern. What does that mean? In my understanding, he wanted to give readers an entry point into the gothic through both romantic relationships and familial ones.
I love that, and it’s an ongoing tradition. While the definition of “gothic novel” may have changed and expanded over the years, these 2021 YA fantasy reads draw readers in with a few enduring gothic features—their dark, twisty settings, hauntings, the unknown, and relationships with a lot of heart.
SING ME FORGOTTEN by Jessica Olson (March 9, 2021)
This spellbinding retelling of The Phantom of the Opera gives us a perfectly dark heroine, Isda, and a love interest sweet enough to eat up. Isda is stuck in the opera house, isolated in its shadows, and when she meets Emeric, she sees a way out.
With a morally grey female main character and a heartfelt romantic relationship that feels so real in all its imperfections (and one that will realllly make you want some caramels), Olson delivers on the gothic elements we’ve come to expect with exciting new twists.
LAKESEDGE by Lyndall Clipstone (September 28, 2021)
A dark mansion, a brooding young man, the lord of the underworld—what else could you want in a gothic fantasy? Well, Clipstone has even more in store with a dedicated brother-sister relationship that will make you fall in love with both our main character Leta and her brother Arien.
I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy, and with both sizzling romance and strong sibling bonds, Lakesedge nails both of these gothic expectations. Inject this one in my veins, stat.
DOWN COMES THE NIGHT by Allison Saft (March 2, 2021)
A snow-drenched crumbling mansion sets the scene in Saft’s debut, and it’s the stage for an enemy-to-lovers romance between the main character, Wren and the love interest, Hal. Wren’s a healer called on to treat her enemy, but they both discover there’s something bigger at play than their animosity.
Saft paints the setting in the soft-blue, muted tones of a dark, frozen landscape but the romance is all heat.
A DARK AND STARLESS FOREST by Sarah Hollowell (Sept. 14, 2021)
A dark, spooky forest is a cornerstone in gothic fiction and this book looks like it has acres of it. According to the blurb, the main character, Derry, must confront the darkness in the forest and the darkness within herself when her siblings start to go missing—confronting the darkness within is one of my favourite gothic elements.
With a found family of 9 sisters and what sounds like it’s sure to be a twisty mystery, this is one of my most anticipated gothic reads of the year.
WITHIN THESE WICKED WALLS by Lauren Blackwood (Nov, 9, 2021)
Another advanced copy I was so fortunate to read, because people—this one exudes gothic atmosphere. In an old mansion in the middle of the desert, Andromeda goes to work as an exorcist hired to expel the evil eye from the house. The premise is incredible and I loved, loved, loved the way Blackwood wove Ethiopian culture into both the setting and Andromeda’s work.
This is a book with visual thrills—think bleeding rooms and spider-infested cupboards—and a romance that kindles between the walls of a creepy library and the haunted estate. Within these Wicked Walls manages to make us thrill us with both the romance and the mystery in its pages.
SMALL FAVORS by Erin. A. Craig (July 27, 2021)
Another of my most anticipated 2021 releases, Craig’s sophomore novel has been compared to M. Night Shyamalan’s movie, The Village and I am *here* for that kind of claustrophobic atmosphere in a gothic novel. Add in mysterious disappearances, a quest to save both family and a love interest, and a monster in the woods and it sounds like we’re in for a dark treat.
STALKING SHADOWS by Cyla Panin (yep, that’s me!) (Sept. 14, 2021)
Stalking Shadows is a feminist, gothic retelling of Beauty and the Beast, where Marie must select her sister’s victims to protect her, but when a child turns up dead she’s forced to break the curse or face who’s really become a monster.
Okay, so that’s the pitch. Let me tell you about the heart. I wanted this book to focus on sibling relationships, particularly the nearly-unshakeable bond that can be born of shared trauma. There’s also a thread of romantic love because hey, that’s fun. Oh yeah, there’s also a creaking mansion, dark forest, brooding lord. Gothic elements—check, check, and check.
Stalking Shadows is my next read! Can’t wait – it sounds fantastic! And I loved Down Comes the Night and Lakesedge. Saft’s upcoming release, A Far Wilder Magic, is also amazing. 🙂
I’m seeing a lot of hype for Lakesedge this month! I still need to read Down Comes The Night, I was so excited for it and then just haven’t read it, typical.