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Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore

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These picks are popular with readers who enjoyed this book. Complete a quick Shelf Talk to get recommendations made just for you! Warning: possible spoilers for Blanca & Roja below.

In Blanca & Roja, did you enjoy ...

... lush, feather-brushed magical realism about girls shaped by a family curse?

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

If you loved how Blanca and Roja navigate a legacy of enchantment with prose that feels like a spell, Walton’s tale of a girl born with wings will sing to you. Like the swan-curse haunting the del Cisne sisters, Ava’s family history is steeped in myth and longing, and the storytelling unfurls in sumptuous, sensory language that turns every page into a charm. You’ll find the same aching beauty, the same sense that fate can be rewritten by tenderness and defiance.

... folklore-rooted defiance of a fate bargained with ancient powers?

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

If the swans’ generational bargain and the sisters’ refusal to be pitted against each other gripped you, you’ll be drawn to Vasya’s struggle against the old spirits of the Russian wilderness. As in Blanca and Roja’s dance with a curse older than they are, Arden weaves a tale where myth presses on a girl’s life until she pushes back, negotiating with forces that speak in riddles and winter-wind. It’s that same delicious edge between fairy tale and choice.

... sisterhood told in alternating voices as love and loyalty pull two girls apart and back again?

The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth

If you were moved by how Blanca and Roja take turns telling a story of rivalry-turned-solidarity—and how each sister’s voice reframes the same fate—you’ll appreciate Evelyn and Philippa’s intertwined narratives. Weymouth’s alternating perspectives track the aching distance and fierce devotion between sisters, much like the way Blanca and Roja each carry a piece of the swan-curse and a different hope for breaking it.

... fairy-tale magic that might be real or metaphor, hovering at the edge of a harsh, beautiful landscape?

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

If you loved how the swans’ magic in Blanca and Roja felt undeniable yet slipperily unexplained—more a presence than a rulebook—this Alaskan retelling of a snow-girl myth will captivate you. The enchantment sits just out of reach, as ambiguous and haunting as the sisters’ curse, letting the characters’ love and choices, not a system of spells, decide what’s possible.

... queer, Latinx magical realism where identity and love outwit small-town superstition?

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

If what stayed with you was how Blanca and Roja’s story centers brown girls, queer tenderness, and a community’s whispers—then Miel, who grows roses from her wrist, and Sam, a trans boy who hangs moons, are waiting for you. Their romance faces the same kind of rumor and pressure that surround the swan-curse, and the resolution lands with that McLemore blend of gentleness and bravery you felt when the sisters chose each other over the fate stacked against them.

Unlock your personalized book recommendations! Just take a quick Shelf Talk for Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore. It’s only a few questions and takes less than a minute.