Whumpy Book List

Hello and welcome to my first whumpy book list! I am a huge fan of books and I think they are even better when there is whump in them.

The books in this list are all ones that I have read and enjoyed. I have tried to include some of the whump tropes found in these books, but it has been a while since I read some of them and I can’t remember everything that happened in each book. If you can think of any tropes that I missed for any of these books, please let me know and I will add them.

I am also going to include a summary of the books (taken from goodreads) so this list post will get long.

If there are more books you would like to see, please let me know. I will collect books to make another list in the future.

List under the cut…

A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding #1) by Freya Marske

Summary:“Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.

Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.

Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.”

Whump tropes: Magic curses that cause (seemingly) sporadic increasing pain, sudden onset of magical powers, drowning, attack by waterfowl, threats of unlawful imprisonment…

Witchmark (The Kingston Cycle #1) by C.L. Polk

Summary:“Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family’s interest or to be committed to a witches’ asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans’ hospital, Miles can’t hide what he truly is.

When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles’ healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.”

Whump tropes: Stalking, broken bones, threats/fears of (forced) magical binding, abusive family…

All for the Game Trilogy by Nora Sakavic

The Foxhole Court, The Raven King, andThe King’s Men

Summary:“Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He’s short, he’s fast, he’s got a ton of potential—and he’s the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher.

Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile and he doesn’t need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny and the truth will get him killed.

But Neil’s not the only one with secrets on the team. One of Neil’s new teammates is a friend from his old life, and Neil can’t walk away from him a second time. Neil has survived the last eight years by running. Maybe he’s finally found someone and something worth fighting for.”

Whump tropes: On the run, secret identity, drugging, torture, kidnapping, found family, protective coach and friends…

Warning: *These books (mostly in book two) include sexual assault and mention of attempted suicide. Neither are graphic, but they are present.*

Note:I love these books so much. I read them in December and I have not been able to get them out of my head.

Magic’s Pawn (Valdemar: The Last Herald-Mage #1) by Mercedes Lackey

Note:This is the first book in a trilogy, but I have only read the first one.

Summary:“Though Vanyel has been born with near-legendary abilities to work both Herald and Mage magic, he wants no part of such things. Nor does he seek a warrior’s path, wishing instead to become a Bard. Yet such talent as his if left untrained may prove a menace not only to Vanyel but to others as well. So he is sent to be fostered with his aunt, Savil, one of the famed Herald-Mages of Valdemar.

But, strong-willed and self-centered, Vanyel is a challenge which even Savil can not master alone. For soon he will become the focus of frightening forces, lending his raw magic to a spell that unleashes terrifying wyr-hunters on the land. And by the time Savil seeks the assistance of a Shin'a'in Adept, Vanyel’s wild talent may have already grown beyond anyone’s ability to contain, placing Vanyel, Savil, and Valdemar itself in desperate peril…”

Whump tropes: Uncaring family, sudden (and violent) onset of magic powers…

Warning: *This book includes scenes and talk of suicide and attempted suicide. This one is graphic. *

Villains by V.E. Schwab

ViciousandVengeful

Summary: “Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?”

Whump tropes: Electrocution… (this is one that I don’t remember in detail, sorry)

Obsidian Mountain Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

The Outstretched Shadow, To Light a Candle, andWhen Darkness Falls

Summary:“Kellen Tavadon, son of the Arch-Mage Lycaelon, thought he knew the way the world worked. His father, leading the wise and benevolent Council of Mages, protected and guided the citizens of the Golden City of the Bells. Young Mages in training-all men, for women were unfit to practice magic-memorized the intricate details of High Magic and aspired to seats on the council.

Then he found the forbidden Books of Wild Magic-or did they find him? The three slim volumes woke Kellen to the wide world outside the City’s isolating walls. Their Magic was not dead, strangled by rules and regulations. It felt like a living thing, guided by the hearts and minds of those who practiced it and benefited from it.

Questioning everything he has known, Kellen discovers too many of the City’s dark secrets. Banished, with the Outlaw Hunt on his heels, Kellen invokes Wild Magic-and finds himself running for his life with a unicorn at his side.”

Whump tropes: Terrible father, hunted, sick/wounded, learning to use new magic that is centered around give and take, threats of demons…

Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, andA Conjuring of Light

Summary:“Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.”

Whump tropes: Magic, “one of the last of his kind” situation, kidnapping, protective brothers, White London is creepy…

Note:I adore these books. I know that there are more whump tropes in these books, but I can’t think of them at the moment. Also, V.E. Schwab is the sweetest person and you should go read all of her books.

The Ruin of Kings (A Chorus of Dragons #1) by Jenn Lyons

Note:The main character of this book is 15 when the book starts (and I can’t remember how much time passes over the span of these books).

Summary: “Kihrin is a bastard orphan who grew up on storybook tales of long-lost princes and grand quests. When he is claimed against his will as the long-lost son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds that being a long-lost prince isn’t what the storybooks promised.

Far from living the dream, Kihrin finds himself practically a prisoner, at the mercy of his new family’s power plays and ambitions. He also discovers that the storybooks have lied about a lot of other things too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, true love, and how the hero always wins.

Then again, maybe he’s not the hero, for Kihrin is not destined to save the empire.

He’s destined to destroy it.”

Whump tropes: Abusive family, attempted kidnapping, hunted, murder, hiding out on an island…

That is all for this list. Thanks for reading. I hope this list helped you find a new book to read. :)

Another note: I know that the whump community loves The Lies of Locke Lamora, but that book and I are fighting and I do not want to include it on my lists.

“Some people were matches, a bit of light and no heat. And some were furnaces, all heat but little light. And then, once in a blue moon, there was a bonfire, something so hot and bright you couldn’t stand too near without burning.”

-vengeful, v.e. schwab

Eli: I learned some very valuable lessons from this.

Victor: I’m guessing they are all horrible distortions on the lessons you actually should’ve taken away.

Eli: Death isn’t real, and I’m basically God.

Vicious

Quote of the Day: November 2, 2020

“I’m not chic, I could never be chic.” ~ Sid Vicious

v.e. schwab books headers

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