For this Valentine’s Day, love is in the air and between the pages of these five book recommendations. Though one may immediately think of romance for Valentine’s, these stories cover a wider range of love; romantic, platonic, and complicated.
“Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries” by Heather Fawcett
This was a notable romance from the in-vogue genre referred to as “cozy fantasy.” The book followed the scholar Emily Wilde, who lived in a fantastical version of 1909 where faeries were real. While studying faeries in the Norwegian village Hrafnsvik, Ljosland, she fell in love with her academic rival Wendell Bambleby.
“Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries” struck a great balance between romance and fantasy. Wilde and Bambleby had charming banter and yearning as they shifted from a rivalry to a romance. Those who enjoy faeries being strange and mysterious are also in for a treat in “Emily Wilde” and will end up wishing they could major in faeries in real life.
“This Is How You Lose the Time War” by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
By far the strangest book on this list, “This Is How You Lose the Time War” was hard to describe. It followed two agents on opposite sides of a time travel war, finding unlikely love amongst each other through fantastical letters.
The world of “This Is How You Lose the Time War” was nonsensical, leaning into the weirdness of time travel and the multiverse. Though it might be confusing, it was vividly imaginative. At its core was a deeply moving, queer love story between two women. The agents grew a deep, longing, and poetic connection with each other, showing love can bloom even seemingly-impossible places.
“Love in the Big City” by Sang Young Park
First published in South Korea and translated into English, “Love in the Big City” followed the young adulthood of Young, a gay writer living in Seoul. The novel focused on his complicated relationships with his family, friends, and romance.
“Love in the Big City” was about how difficult relationships are to navigate in one's 20s, particularly when struggling with building a career and having a queer identity. The book was written in a snarky way that handled heavier subject matter with wit. The overall drama of the novel hit close to home.
“Loveless” by Alice Oseman
“Loveless” was a coming out story for aromantic and asexual people. It followed Georgia, a college girl who had never been in love, as she questioned why. Throughout the story, she discovered she was aromantic and asexual.
Most people know of Alice Oseman through the webcomic-turned-Netflix-series “Heartstopper.” Oseman has a great collection of young adult coming-of-age stories, most of them centering queerness. “Loveless” was one of the highlights among them. It was a touching, personal story which despite its title, was full of love- just not romantic- showing how friendship can be just as fulfilling.
“Raybearer” by Jordan Ifueko
A West African inspired, young adult fantasy novel, “Raybearer” followed Tarisai, a teenage girl with a magical purpose, who makes the Crown Prince love her, and then kill him. Tarisai traveled to the capital and became a part of the prince’s council, torn between loyalty to her new friends and her fate.
Although there was a great romance in “Raybearer,” that was not the main focus. Rather, the book was about love in general, particularly found family. Though one would expect the prince to be Tarisai’s love interest, he was not, but they had a lovely dynamic nonetheless. As cheesy as it might sound, “Raybearer” was about the power of friendship. No, literally, the prince’s council had magical powers due to their platonic love of each other.
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These recommendations have shades of multiple forms of love for however you are spending Valentine’s Day. Whether you’re spending the day reading, treating yourself to some new books, or getting them as a gift for a loved one. There’s a little something for most people, though of course it would be impossible to cover every shade of love with only five book recommendations. These books also all clearly had another type of love in them, and that was the authors’ clear love for storytelling.
Frank Remski is a film and theater reviewer for The Eastern Echo. He is majoring in media studies and journalism and minoring in public relations. He has worked for The Echo since summer of 2023 and has written both news stories and opinion pieces.
