Take This Genre Blend Quiz to Find Your Perfect Book Mix
Set in the Spanish Golden Age, during a time of high‑stakes political intrigue and glittering wealth, The Familiar follows Luzia, a servant in the household of an impoverished Spanish nobleman who reveals a talent for little miracles. Her social‑climbing mistress demands Luzia use her gifts to win over Madrid’s most powerful players but what begins as simple amusement takes a dangerous turn. Luzia will need to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even the help of Guillén Santángel, an immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo is on sale now.
Welcome to Genre Blend Day! We’re celebrating books that blur the lines between familiar genres, making space for something new and unexpected. Romantasy (a combo of romance and fantasy) has taken the literary world by storm, but it’s not the only one. Readers are falling in love with all kinds of genre blends, from cozy horror to historical sci-fi. Take this genre blend quiz to find out which bookish mashup is your perfect mix. You’ll also get a book recommendation of where to start in your new favorite genre blend!
Are genre blends new? Certainly not. Authors have been pushing genre boundaries for centuries. Romance has been a part of fantasy stories since even before the Brothers Grimm. Paranormal fiction has long crossed over into mysteries, sci-fi, historical fiction, and more. Even nonfiction can break boundaries. Think nature-focused memoirs, pop-science, and humorous history books. Genre blending might not be a recent creation, but it’s a great way to get outside of your reading comfort zone. This genre blend quiz asks about your bookish tastes, as well as your favorite unexpected combos in entertainment, food, design, and more. To explore even more exciting genre mashups, check out the full list of quiz results at the bottom of this page.
Genre Blend Quiz
Genre Blend Quiz Results
Cook-moir
Slow Noodles by Chantha Nguon
Are you a foodie who also loves a moving true story? Your perfect genre blend is cookbook memoirs (AKA cook-moirs)! What we eat shapes who we are and the memories we keep, so food-centric memoirs have a special sensory power. Check out Chantha Nguon’s Slow Noodles, a powerful memoir about growing up as a Cambodian refugee packed with delicious recipes.
Graph-Nonfic
Fine by Rhea Ewing
Learning! With pictures! Your perfect genre blend is graphic nonfiction. Comics have a way of making complicated concepts easier to comprehend, and sometimes art can introduce a whole new perspective on nuanced issues. Check out Rhea Ewing’s Fine for a fascinating look at social science and gender theory presented in a fresh illustrated format.
Hist-Horror-cal
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
Fascinated by history and love a good scare? Your perfect genre blend is historical horror, or hist-horror-cal, if you will. Start with Tananarive Due’s The Reformatory, a powerfully frightening book set at a haunted reform school for boys in 1950s Florida.
Para-Noir-Thriller
One Last Breath by Ginny Myers Sain
Do you like otherworldly beings and stories that keep you on the edge of your seat? Your perfect genre blend is paranormal noir/thrillers! You’ll never guess what’s coming next when it’s outside the realm of our observable universe. Start with Ginny Myers Sain’s One Last Breath, a thrilling Floridian adventure about a teen girl with a strange fascination with an unsolved murder in her hometown.
Romantasy
The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang
Every love story is magical in its own way, but you like them with extra magic. Your perfect genre blend is the one that started the recent craze: romantasy! Check out Justinian Huang’s The Emperor and the Endless Palace, an epic love story of two soulmates searching for each other across many lifetimes from the ancient Asian wilderness to modern-day L.A.
Sci-Cozy
Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes
Good, light-hearted fun in space? Sign me up! Your perfect genre blend is cozy sci-fi, where the future is less terrifying and more likely to put a smile on your face. To start, check out Valerie Valdes’s Chilling Effect, a quirky space opera full of adventure and psychic cats.
Self-Helpoetry
The How by Yrsa Daley-Ward
Nothing inspires like poems. Your perfect genre blend is self-help and poetry (AKA self-helpoetry)! Poetry has an incredible ability to make us look at the world a little differently, and it’s even better when it changes how we look at ourselves. Check out Yrsa Daley-Ward’s The How, a moving blend of poetry and prose about finding and empowering your true inner self.
Space Mystery
The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
Murder! In space! If you love a high-stakes whodunit, your perfect genre blend is space mystery. The twists and turns can include comets and black holes, and the big reveals are out of this world. Start with Yume Kitasei’s The Deep Sky, an inventive locked-door mystery set aboard a spaceship holding humanity’s last hope.
Thanks for taking this genre blend quiz! Check out more of our Genre Blend Day posts next!
Also In This Story Stream
- 8 Genre-Blending Nonfiction Books You Need To Read
- 8 Fantasy Horror Books to Delight and Frighten You
- All the Punks! An Introduction
- 9 Historical Romantasy Books
- 8 Sci-Noir Books that Blend Genres
- 10 Genre-Blending Short Story Collections That Defy Limitations
- What Even Is This?: 8 Books That Blend & Transcend Genre
- 8 Creepy and Compelling Historical Horror Novels
- 8 Out-of-this-World Romances in Space
