The holiday season is the perfect time to rewatch the Harry Potter movies – and if you’re a fan of fantasy stories over Hallmark romances, that’s likely your go-to series for December. But sometimes, the movies just don’t cut it, and fans of the Harry Potter films will find themselves looking for a new story to dive into.
That’s where books come in handy. And thankfully, there are plenty of novels and series out there that will appeal to fans of the Harry Potter world. Here are 10 books you should read if you loved watching the Harry Potter movies.
The Mortal Instruments By Cassandra Clare
The lovable cast of characters is a big part of why so many people love the Harry Potter books and films, and readers will find a similarly large and complex cast in Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series. The six-book series – which also has a number of spin-offs – offers a host of interesting humans, vampires, werewolves and demon hunters to follow (and from that statement, you can tell there’s also plenty of magic).
Much like Harry Potter, The Mortal Instruments focuses on themes of love and friendship throughout its story, as well as the bigger picture of good versus evil. With so much in common, it’s hard to imagine Harry Potter fans not falling in love with Clare’s world.
His Dark Materials By Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials follows Lyra, a girl who’s almost as young as Harry is when the Harry Potter series begins – and who’s also faced with challenge after challenge to defeat great evils in her world. The similarities between these series don’t stop at their main characters though.
Just like Harry Potter, His Dark Materials offers viewers magic, interesting creatures, and a mysterious prophecy to unravel. It’s got a very different premise, sure, but it checks many of the boxes that made Harry Potter such a great story – and that’s exactly why fans will love it.
The Grisha Trilogy By Leigh Bardugo
Leigh Bardugo has created a world of intricate magic in her Grishaverse, and all that began with The Grisha Trilogy. Her first series set in a magical, Russian-inspired world, The Grisha Trilogy has a few things in common with Harry Potter. It offers viewers a coming-of-age story, a complex magic system, a magic-school setting and a dark lord (though the Darkling is way preferable to Lord Voldemort).
The Grisha Trilogy also has several other book series set in the same world and a Netflix show in the works. What better time to get into it than now?
The Inkworld Series By Cornelia Funke
Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart is a middle-grade story that can easily appeal to adults as well, putting it in the same timeless category as Harry Potter. It tells the story of a young girl whose world is turned upside down when she realizes her father can read characters out of books – and read people in the real world into the books’ pages.
The adventure in Inkheart continues into Inkspell and Inkdeath. And although it’s very different from the story we see in the Harry Potter movies, its balance of magic and darkness is on the same level as Harry Potter, meaning it will likely appeal to the franchise’s fans.
Carry On By Rainbow Rowell
Anyone who picks up Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On will quickly pick up on all of the references to Harry Potter. And that’s because Rowell’s novel is intentionally based on Rowling’s story, though it plays with all the tropes that commonly appear in “Chosen One” novels.
Carry On will especially appeal to readers looking for an LGBTQ+ take on the Harry Potter novels, as the main romance is one that very well could be based on the Harry and Draco ship (of course, Simon and Baz are way cuter than Harry and Draco ever would have been. Not sorry.)
The Wayward Children Series By Seanan McGuire
Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series offers Harry Potter fans a new take on children who discover magical worlds – because in McGuire’s story, these children are sent back to the real world when their time is up. Just imagine how difficult that transition has to be.
And McGuire dives into the aftermath of children returning to their world, highlighting how much they’ve changed and how little they can relate to their friends and family after living in an alternate world. This series is perfect for Harry Potter fans who have wondered what would happen if Harry woke up and it had all been a dream.
An Ember In The Ashes By Sabaa Tahir
Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes is one of the best young adult fantasy novels to be released in recent years, and while it doesn’t have all that much in common with Harry Potter, it does have magic and moral complexity for those who enjoyed those aspects of the films.
And while the plot of Tahir’s story has far more in common with tales like The Hunger Games, it does offer readers prophecies and an evil, inhuman villain. It also has two powerful women in its main cast – you know, for those looking for a story that follows the Hermiones and Ginnys of the world instead of the Rons and Harrys.
Children Of Blood And Bone By Tomi Adeyemi
Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone is another YA fantasy story that’s taken the internet by storm over the past two years, and its rich magical setting and complex cast of characters will draw anyone in – even fans of Harry Potter, despite the fact that Adeyemi’s story doesn’t have all that much in common with the movies either.
Children of Blood and Bone does, however, have a plot focused on bringing magic back to the world. And while it covers topics that are more political and mature than the Harry Potter films, that element makes it perfect for those who have grown up with the movies but are looking to move onto something with a bit more depth to it.
Mistborn By Brandon Sanderson
Anyone who appreciates the magic system in the Harry Potter movies will easily fall into Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn. Like Harry Potter, the story follows a young girl who’s tasked with overthrowing a dark lord. She also finds out that she has powers that enable her to manipulate metals, offering readers a story about mastering magic and a magic system that will make any fantasy lover applaud Sanderson’s works.
Where Mistborn deviates from Harry Potter is in the rest of its main cast. Most of the characters are thieves and criminals, but honestly, that just makes the series more interesting. Think the Order of the Phoenix, just as street urchins.
Harry Potter By J.K. Rowling
If you’re a fan of the Harry Potter movies, it stands to reason you’d also be a fan of the books! And if you’ve never picked up Harry’s story in novel form before, you’re in for a great time – because the books are so much better.
But even if you have read the Harry Potter series before, it’s never a bad time for a re-read. You’ll pick up on things you didn’t catch before, and you’ll get to fall back into the Wizarding World. And no matter how many other books you pick up, there’s really no substitute for that.
