8 Books About Magic Tied To Emotions
Where spells ignite with sorrow and power pulses from the heart.
In some stories, magic isn’t merely cast with wands or written in ancient tomes—it lives within the deepest wells of feeling. It bursts forth in anger, weeps through grief, sings with joy, and trembles under the weight of love. When emotion fuels magic, the stakes become visceral. These are not just stories of incantations and rituals; they are tales of transformation, of hearts breaking and healing, of raw human power made supernatural.
Here are eight emotionally charged books where magic is inextricably tied to what the characters feel—where the inner world shapes the outer one.
1. The Emotionally Charged by Selina Fenech
💥 In this world, emotion isn’t weakness—it’s weaponry.
Teenagers develop magical abilities linked to their strongest emotions. Rage can create fire. Fear can shield. Love can heal—or destroy. But with great power comes terrifying instability.
🔥 Why it resonates: This is a high-stakes exploration of adolescence and the volatile magic of becoming.
2. The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk
💫 Love or power—what if you couldn’t have both?
In a regency-inspired world where women are forced to give up magic upon marriage, sorcery is fueled by spiritual pacts and emotional restraint. Beatrice must navigate her feelings to retain her freedom and her spellcraft.
🖋️ Why it resonates: A rich, feminist take on how emotion and autonomy shape one’s power.
3. The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
🎨 Grief becomes a portal.
After her mother’s suicide, Leigh travels to Taiwan and begins seeing a giant red bird she believes is her mother reincarnated. Magic seeps from sorrow, painting the world in vivid, surreal colors.
🕊️ Why it resonates: A hauntingly lyrical tale where grief births beauty, and emotion becomes revelation.
4. Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore
🌺 Love blossoms, curses bloom.
The women of La Pradera grow lush gardens with magic tied to their passion and pain—but loving too deeply causes those they love to vanish. When a mysterious boy appears, he stirs secrets, longing, and hope.
🌿 Why it resonates: A dreamlike story where queerness, family, and magic intertwine through tender and aching emotion.
5. Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
🔥 Enemies. Lovers. Magic on a razor’s edge.
Witches draw power from the elements and emotions—especially desire. When a witch and a witch-hunter are bound in holy matrimony, the tension crackles with forbidden attraction and unspoken magic.
⚔️ Why it resonates: Sensual, snarky, and steeped in slow-burn chemistry that fuels its spellwork.
6. The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante
💧 What if you could carry someone else’s pain?
Marisol agrees to take on another girl’s grief as part of an experimental treatment. But as she absorbs the weight of someone else’s trauma, she begins to understand the complex alchemy of love, pain, and identity.
💔 Why it resonates: A poignant story of sacrifice and found love, where emotion is both magic and burden.
7. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
🌒 Power isn’t given. It’s felt—then claimed.
Feyre’s journey through the courts of fae is drenched in emotional intensity—from heartbreak to rage to rapture. Her magic evolves as she does, each new ability born from deep personal upheaval.
🌹 Why it resonates: A sweeping saga of trauma, transformation, and passion—with magic that mirrors every heartbeat.
8. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
💗 Kindness is its own kind of magic.
Linus Baker is a rule-following caseworker sent to assess six magical children, including a boy who could end the world. As he opens his heart, the world around him changes—literally and metaphorically.
🌈 Why it resonates: A warm hug of a novel, where love, empathy, and acceptance shift the very fabric of reality.
✨Final Spell
In these stories, magic doesn’t live in dusty scrolls or arcane relics—it breathes in the tear shed for a friend, the anger of injustice, the flutter of first love. This is magic at its most intimate, most volatile, most human. If you crave fantasy that feels like a pulse beneath the skin, these eight books are your next emotional enchantments.
Read them when your heart is full—or when it’s breaking. That’s when the magic works best.
