Dark With a Bit of Fluff
Dark With a Bit of Fluff
by Delilah
Whilst books cover a wide array of topics and feelings, some of the best ones weave a more mature, or “dark,” theme in with a more light-hearted, “fluffy,” tone. The books shown are not the only books that have these themes, however they are the ones that I, personally, have found cover them.
Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
Following a young woman in a kingdom where Cinderella has been dead for 200 years, as she fights against the King’s designed society.
The protagonist, Sophia, doesn’t want to get married to a man, and especially doesn’t want to be unable to choose who she marries. She wants to be with her girlfriend, without the fear of abuse, like many women face. But when she sees something during the annual ball, something the king can’t let anyone know about and be left alive, she has to run.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Set in 1939, Germany, this book follows a young girl through the narration of an unnamed figure, as she is adopted into a small town, as WWII starts, and as her family takes in a Jewish man, risking their lives to shelter him.
Liesel, a young girl, is adopted by a family in a small town, where she makes friends, grows close with her new parents, and discovers her passion for reading and words.
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
This short story collection showcases King’s ability to write horror in pieces both two and fifty pages. My personal favourites are the poems, as they span less than five pages, and still convey that sense of unnerving terror, and the shorter pieces in the book.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Full of swords, necromancy, gothic castles, and a healthy dose of lesbian attraction between the two main characters, this book is a must-read for any fantasy-loving, pro-LGBTQ+ readers. Despite being only halfway through reading it, I know that it is one of the best books of all time.
Rather than letting you know the blurb or the whole plot, I’ll leave you to read it yourself, like how the book uses the “show don’t tell” method to a perfect extreme.
Wings of Fire Series by Tui T. Sutherland
Whilst this series is not nearly as mature as the others mentioned, and is more suited to your mid to late primary schoolers and early high schoolers, it undoubtedly has some more mature themes that categorise it into this blog. Such themes include war, battles, deaths, injuries, and some body horror in the last few books.
The picture shown is from the third book’s cover, not of the first in the series.
Warrior Cats Series by Erin Hunter
Like Wings of Fire, the Warrior Cats series is much more directed towards primary and secondary school years, however it definitely deserves to be on this list. Among the large-scale battles, murder between animals, hunting of things such as mice or birds, religous beliefs around dead cats, and political tensions, there are other themes in the earlier books, such as a passingly implied sexual scene, an on-screen disembowlment, and a non-graphic birthing scene.
This is not to say that you shouldn’t read it or give to another person to read themselves, but to say that it may have themes beyond what you or another might wish to see in a book about cats. In fact, I, myself, first read it when I was in Grade Four or Five, and have loved it ever since. If you have any concerns about whether these books will be too mature, or if they’re the right fit, ask online or a friend who may have read it.
The most I will say against the series is that, after the fourth series arc, and the prequel series, they should have ended the main series, and focused on making the guidebooks and single-book side plots.