Crossing Over: Historical Fantasies With Atmospheric Settings

Hey all. It's been awhile Crossing Over post. If you're not familiar with Crossing Over it's a feature that stemmed from my desire to recommend an adult book with crossover appeal based on a YA or sometimes Middle Grade book that are similar. I hate that we pigeonhole books into a specific age range and so I try to combat that. Plus it's basically an if you liked, then try but for crossover books. It runs once a month (usually) here and I pick the books based on the theme of what I'm reading. So this month my focus is historical fantasy or historical mystery. This is one of my favorite subgenres because it combines elements of my three favorite genres to make something totally fun.

The Diviners by Libba Bray
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I love this series. It seemed like the kind of book I would enjoy but it took me forever to read it and I kind of regret that. It's surprisingly complex and incredibly engaging. For one thing it combines basically everything that I love: magic, mystery, adventure, and a historical setting that pulls you in (more on that later). Plus the way that this book is written, it is full of this atmospheric tone that borders on spooky. I mean at times it is downright scary. Plus it's a book full of surprises and a mystery that will keep you guessing and reading from beginning to end.

This is also a book with great characters. It changes perspectives many many times giving you a well rounded look at the what is happening and it's surprsingly easy to relate to every character. Many of them are kind of dubious and a few are super villainous in the best possible way. It's definitely got some unlikable main characters but I kind of like that.  You still totally root for them especially when they go through terrible things because the antagonists are so sinister.

But I think my favorite thing about this book is the setting. Libba Bray was able to perfectly take a familiar historical setting and show it to you in an interesting way. She takes real people and real things and then puts her own spin on them. And that spin is an amazing supernatural elements and an amazing magical system. It was incredibly complex and so engrossing. It all shouldn't work but it totally does,

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
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I loved this book. It seemed like the kind of book I would enjoy but it took me forever to read it and I kind of regret that. It's surprisingly complex and incredibly engaging. For one thing it combines basically everything that I love: magic, mystery, adventure, and a historical setting that pulls you in (more on that later). Plus the way that this book is written, it is full of this atmospheric tone that is so emotional and beautiful. I mean at times it is downright sad. Plus it's a book full of surprises and a mystery that will keep you guessing and reading from beginning to end.

This is also a book with great characters. It changes perspectives a few times giving you a well rounded look at the what is happening and it's surprising easy to relate to every character. . It's definitely got some unlikable main characters but I kind of like that.  You still totally root for them especially when they go through terrible things because the antagonists are so sinister.

But I think my favorite thing about this book is the setting. Libba Bray was able to perfectly take a familiar historical setting and show it to you in an interesting way. She takes real people and real things and then puts her own spin on them. And that spin is an amazing supernatural elements and an amazing magical system. It was incredibly complex and so engrossing. It all shouldn't work but it totally does,

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone. It has something for everyone. If you like fantasy, horror, historical fiction, mystery, doesn't matter. They combine all the things that I love to create an amazing novel. These are both good examples of books I think can combine genres really well. It combines fantasy and mystery in a way that is thrilling and interesting on it's own but then you add an atmospheric historical setting and things are taking to the next level. If you have read one of things I think you would really like the other.

Have you read The Diviners and/or The Golem and the Jinni? What did you think? What steampunk novels with crossover appeal do you like? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!