Whimsical Standalone Fantasy Books to Add Magic to Your Life 

If you have a soft spot for fairy tales, especially The Beauty and the Beast, you’ll certainly find Naomi Novik’s standalone novel, Uprooted to be an enchanting read. Steeped in magic, romance and folklore, it follows the story of Agnieszka who leaves her quiet village home to live with a mysterious wizard known as the Dragon who demands a young woman every ten years as a payment to protect the villagers from the malevolent Wood bordering it. But Agnieszka soon realizes there’s more to the Dragon than what meets the eye, while the Wood is full of malicious secrets. 

With Uprooted, Novik carefully subverts tropes and surprises readers while delivering a compelling tale in breathlessly evocative prose. 

If you love meta-fiction, stories about stories and queer romances filled with literary allusions, The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern will transport you to a realm of fancy and imagination. Much of the narrative centers around Zachary Rawlins, a graduate student who follows a series of cryptic clues that leads him to an underground magical world, filled with all manner of strange peoples and things. The novel plays around with form and is interspersed with vivid vignettes, lending a puzzle-it-yourself vibe to the whole story. 

One is never too old to read fairytales and Tom Holt’s book, Snow White and the Seven Samurai is a comedic caper blending elements from different traditional fairytales in a hilarious, cyberpunk adventure. If you enjoy comedic fantasy in the vein of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, you’ll have plenty of fun with Snow White and the Seven Samurai by Tom Holt that manages to be entertaining and engaging at the same time. 

Those who adore Studio Ghibli films may find themselves utterly charmed by Samatha Sotto Yambao’s Water Moon. It’s a captivating and immersive experience wherein the owner of a magic pawnshop wakes up to find it ransacked and her father missing, and embarks on a magical and heartwarming journey to find answers, accompanied by a handsome stranger she’s just met. From exploring night markets to riding on paper cranes, this debut novel is filled with little whimsy details that will make you long for magic and wonder in your daily life. 

Gregory Maguire is perhaps best known for Wicked, his revisionist retelling of Frank L. Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, adapted to an acclaimed musical and now a two-part major motion picture starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. But he’s also the author of a lesser-known book, After Alice that revisits Lewis Carroll’s Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in a new light. The novel takes readers down the familiar landscape of Wonderland while taking into account the original story’s Victorian settings and political context, accompanied by musings on the nature of imagination. A thoughtful, clever and witty read.

A classic for a reason, Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn follows the mesmerizing journey of a unicorn who believes herself to be the last of her kind and sets out on a quest to find out what happened to the others. On the way, she meets an eclectic cast of memorable characters and discovers some fascinating and some cruel truths about the world. Filled with magic, adventure and poignant prose, The Last Unicorn is a bewitching book that stays with readers, young and old alike, long after they’ve closed the last page.

If you enjoy whimsy fairytale adventures in the vein of The Princess Bride, you must check out Brandon Sanderson’s Tress of the Emerald Sea which is set in his wider Cosmere universe but can be fully enjoyed as a standalone novel.  The story follows Tress, named after her unruly hair, a young woman with a quaint cup collection who embarks on a journey across the perilous seas to find Charlie, the Duke’s son and her close friend. En route, she befriends a talking rat, gets ambushed by pirates, stages a mutiny and becomes the captain of a ship. 

With a wondrously detailed magic system (designed around fungal spores), interesting characters and plenty of whimsy details, Tress of the Emerald Sea is a memorable and refreshing ride. And of course, long-time Sanderson fans will relish all the Easter Eggs and scenes with Hoid, the worldhopper. 

Finally, if you’re up for a dreamy retelling of a Korean folktale, Axie Oh’s standalone YA fantasy novel, The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea will take you on a grand underwater adventure. With plenty of demons, gods and spirits to keep you company, Axie Oh’s book is one that you judge by its beautiful cover and is utterly worth it. Overall, a very heartwarming and enthralling read.