Written by Moriah

As I was working on my crocheted Valentine’s Day sweater, I quickly acknowledged that it would not be done in time for today’s post. Though I have enjoyed playing media in the background, audiobooks, and movies mostly. And it’s been a minute since I’ve done a themed recommendations list. So why not just lean into the theme connected to my Valentine name? It truly would be a waste to ignore it.

However, I’ve decided to focus on two witchy young adult books that focus more on familial love than it would other parts of the spectrum.

The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste

A witch, Venus Stoneheart, is put in a situation that calls for her to craft potions to poison politicians into following the will of a powerful woman. While Venus crafts love potions, the magic she uses has the ability for the potion to fall under the spectrum of love. Familial, platonic, self-love, persuasion, and others.

The only reason Venus is even crafting these potions is so she can protect her sister after the loss of their mother. The conversations held between those two and their cousin just hold so much care and trust that it would be difficult to ignore when it is a huge part of this story.

Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury

Voya Thomas has been given a task necessary for her family’s magic to stay intact, the problem is that she has to sacrifice her first love. Who she hasn’t met yet. But just in time, a matchmaking program hits the market that puts her in the company of the guy she might have to kill.

While this is a romance fantasy, I loved how this focused on Voya’s love of her family as she also wonders if she has the ability to do such a horrible thing. Thankfully the sequel to this duology is already out so if you enjoy the book, you won’t have to deal with the wait like I did.

While these two have very strong family dynamics, the way the main character navigates the world around them is so different. Obviously because the authors discuss different things for their own work, but the main characters themselves also have different approaches to their goals. Venus goes for the revenge route quickly, while Venus tries to avoid causing anyone harm. And the results that follow from those actions were written beautifully.

Also it’s Black History Month and I wanted to highlight some Black authors I’ve been reading from lately.