Heidi Heilig
Heidi Heilig has published 8 books across 4 series. The recommended reading order starts with The Girl from Everywhere (2017).
Heidi Heilig is an American author who writes fantasy novels that bend time and geography, drawing on a life lived between worlds. Raised in Hawaii among horses and peacocks, she later moved to New York City, and that shift from island to metropolis runs through her fiction, where characters navigate impossible distances and reinvent themselves across eras and oceans.
Her debut series, The Girl From Everywhere, mirrors her own cross-cultural upbringing, grounding speculative adventure in the kind of emotional truth that comes from knowing more than one home. She followed it with the Shadow Players series, continuing to blend the theatrical with the fantastical. That theatrical sensibility is no accident: Heilig holds an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from New York University and has written books and lyrics for stage productions including The Time Travelers Convention, Under Construction, and The Hole.
Travel fuels her imagination as much as her past does. She has haggled for rugs in Moroccan markets, hiked the trails of the Ko'olau Valley in Hawaii, and huddled in a tent in Africa while lions roared in the dark. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, her son, and their pet snake.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of Anthologies
- Tagsshort-storiesyoung-adultromanceDescriptionWhat would you risk to rewrite a history that refuses to stay buried? Heidi Heilig’s *Unbroken* drags us back into a world where time is a weapon and the past is never truly dead. It is a story about the heavy cost of second chances. The narrative grabs you immediately and refuses to let go. This isn't just another fantasy adventure. It is a raw exploration of identity and the scars we carry. The protagonist is flawed, desperate, and incredibly human. You will feel their panic as timelines fracture. The stakes are personal, intimate, and devastatingly high. Heilig’s prose is sharp and evocative. She paints scenes with a cinematic clarity that lingers in your mind. The pacing is relentless. Short chapters drive the plot forward with precision. You turn the pages not just to see what happens, but to understand who these people truly are beneath the magic. This book matters because it challenges the idea of destiny. It asks if we can ever really escape our mistakes. The emotional resonance is deep. It hits you in the gut. If you love stories that blend complex magic with real heart, pick this up. It is a haunting, beautiful read.Publication dateSeptember 18, 2018Amazon rating4.4/5Print length310LanguageEnglishPublisherFarrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
- Tagsshort-storiesyoung-adulthorrorDescriptionThe night air hums with a familiar, dangerous energy. These aren't the vampires of old, lurking in gothic castles. They are modern, diverse, and unapologetically hungry. From ancient bloodlines to neon-lit cities, this anthology tears down the coffin lid. Eleven stories. Eleven distinct ways to die and live forever. The fangs are out, and the bite is sharp. This collection matters because it refuses to stagnate. It breathes new life into a tired mythos. You will find romance, horror, and deep questions about immortality here. What does it mean to never age? To watch the world change while you remain the same? These authors don't just write monsters; they write reflections of ourselves. It is a fresh, vital take on the undead. Pick it up. Let it sink its teeth into you.Publication dateSeptember 22, 2020Amazon rating4.3/5Print length272LanguageEnglishPublisherImprint
Order of Shadow Players Books
- Tagsyoung-adultfantasyromancechildrenepic-fantasyhistorical-fictionDescriptionIn the humid, oppressive air of a land teetering on the edge of revolution, the shadows seem to dance with a life of their own, defying the natural order through secrets whispered in blood. The atmosphere is thick with unspoken magic and the heavy dust of the stage, where the line between performance and reality blurs into something dangerous and ancient. Here, the art of storytelling is not merely a craft but a potent act of survival, rooted in a lineage that commands the spirits of the dead. Jetta belongs to a family renowned for their shadow plays, yet the true source of their fame is a dark gift she alone possesses. She can see the souls of the recently departed and bind them to her puppets, a forbidden power that flows through her veins and animates the inanimate with ghostly agency. As political unrest simmers and threatens to boil over, Jetta must navigate a world where her very existence is a performance, and the spirits she controls are as much a curse as they are a blessing, forcing her to confront the cost of her own survival.Publication dateSeptember 25, 2018Amazon rating4.2/5Print length512LanguageEnglishPublisherGreenwillow Books
- Tagsyoung-adultfantasyromanceparanormal-romanceepic-fantasyhistorical-fictionDescriptionJetta is on the run, a ghost in her own land. The army hunts her for treason and murder, but they want something far more dangerous than her head. They crave the magic in her blood, the power to bind spirits to flesh and bone. They offer a cruel trade: the elixir that quiets the madness in her mind in exchange for becoming a weapon of the crown. It is a bargain that tempts her desperation, yet the rebels also clamor for her aid, believing she is the key to toppling a tyrant. She is caught between two fires, forced to choose her side in a war tearing Chakrana apart. But the true terror lies in her reflection. Jetta fears her power makes her a monster, a shadow of Le Trepas, the necromancer father who once enslaved their country. She has already crossed the line, raising her brother from the dead. The magic feels like a sickness, a curse that threatens to consume her humanity if she lets it loose. The stakes are higher than a battlefield victory. With Le Trepas looming and the clash between armies inevitable, Jetta must decide what she is willing to sacrifice. Is saving her nation worth the cost of her soul? She stands at the precipice, terrified that using her gift might destroy the very people she loves.Publication dateOctober 8, 2019Amazon rating4.2/5Print length464LanguageEnglishPublisherGreenwillow Books
- Tagsepic-fantasyyoung-adultfantasyromancehistorical-fictionDescriptionThe stage is set, but the players are not who they seem. A girl stands in the wings, her hands trembling as she grips a prop that feels far too real in her palm. The audience waits, unaware that the drama unfolding before them is nothing compared to the dangerous magic crackling in the rafters. She is not just acting; she is surviving. Heidi Heilig weaves a tale where theater and espionage collide with breathtaking precision. This isn’t a simple story of a performance; it is a high-stakes game of deception played out under the glare of the footlights. The Order of Shadow Players uses art as a weapon, and every line of dialogue could be a coded message or a death sentence. The atmosphere is thick with tension and the smell of greasepaint. Heilig captures the grit behind the glamour, the exhaustion masked by costume, and the sharp fear that comes from knowing one wrong move could bring the curtain down permanently. It is a world where trust is a luxury and the script is constantly being rewritten by enemies unseen. For those who crave intrigue wrapped in the velvet of historical fantasy, this book delivers. It is a gripping, heart-pounding read that respects the intelligence of its audience. The final bow is a long way off, and you will be desperate to see how the scene ends.Publication dateApril 27, 2021Amazon rating4.2/5Print length368LanguageEnglishPublisherGreenwillow Books
Order of Standalone Novels
- Tagsmiddle-gradefantasysuspensemysterythrillerDescriptionWhat would you sacrifice to break a cycle of bad luck that feels suspiciously like a curse? Heidi Heilig’s Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker dives headfirst into this question, blending the weight of family history with the thrill of the unknown. It’s a story that feels both ancient and urgently modern, asking us to consider how much of our destiny is truly written in stone. The atmosphere here is thick with humidity and secrets, wrapping around you like a heavy summer evening in the city. Heilig builds a world where the mundane and the magical bleed together, creating a mood that is at once unsettling and deeply inviting. You can almost smell the rain on the pavement and feel the static electricity in the air before the storm breaks. Cincinnati Lee is a protagonist you can’t help but root for, flawed and fierce in equal measure. The stakes are personal and immediate, driving the plot forward with a momentum that makes the pages fly. This isn’t just about magic; it’s about reclaiming your own story when the world tries to write it for you.Publication dateMarch 25, 2025Amazon rating4.4/5Print length302LanguageEnglishPublisherGreenwillow Books
Order of The Girl from Everywhere Books
- Tagsfantasyromancechildrenhistorical-fictionDescriptionNix has spent her entire life on the *Temptress*, a legendary ship that doesn’t just sail the ocean but navigates the currents of history itself. With her father, a captain obsessed with maps and myths, she has visited 19th-century Singapore and the courts of ancient China, living a life that feels like a fever dream of ink and salt. But when her father discovers a map that leads to 1868 Honolulu, the one place and time where Nix’s mother died and Nix herself was born, the adventure turns perilously personal. The stakes are no longer about discovery but about erasure, for Nix knows the terrifying paradox of their travel: if they alter the past, she could cease to exist. Her father’s desperation to save the woman he lost wars against his love for the daughter he still has, creating a tension that hums through every page. It is a story about the heavy cost of second chances and the selfishness inherent in grief. Heidi weaves a tapestry of lush, atmospheric settings that make the world feel vast and magical, yet the heart of the story is painfully intimate. The romance that blooms against the backdrop of time travel is tender and fraught, reminding us that connection is fleeting. You can feel the spray of the sea and the weight of the maps in your hands as you read. This is more than a fantasy; it is a meditation on memory and the courage it takes to let go of the…Publication dateFebruary 7, 2017Amazon rating4.2/5Print length480LanguageEnglishPublisherGreenwillow Books
- Tagsyoung-adultfantasyromancechildrenhistorical-fictionDescriptionWhat would you sacrifice to rewrite the past, and is the price of preserving history worth the cost of a future with the one you love? In Heidi Heilig’s sweeping sequel, sixteen-year-old Nix has finally mastered the art of navigating time aboard her father’s ship, yet she finds herself anchored by a devastating prophecy that threatens to shatter her hard-won stability. As the crew sails beyond the edges of known maps, Nix is forced to confront a terrifying reality: she is destined to lose the person she cherishes most, turning her journey through myth and history into a desperate race against fate itself. Heilig deepens the emotional stakes of this time-travel saga by focusing on the agonizing tension between destiny and free will, particularly through Nix’s complex bond with the roguish thief Kashmir. The narrative does not merely rely on the thrill of jumping between eras but instead lingers on the poignant, often painful realization that some timelines cannot be altered without breaking the heart. This is a story that matters because it explores the courage required to let go, asking readers to consider whether the love we hold is worth the grief we risk when the tides of time inevitably turn.Publication date2017Amazon rating4.4/5Print length356LanguageEnglishPublisherHot Key Books
Frequently Asked Questions about Heidi Heilig
Heidi Heilig's books are best read within their specific series or collections. For the Order of Anthologies, read Unbroken (2018) and then Vampires Never Get Old (2020). The Order of Shadow Players Books includes For a Muse of Fire (2018), A Kingdom for a Stage (2019), and On This Unworthy Scaffold (2021). The Girl from Everywhere Books are The Girl from Everywhere (2017) and The Ship Beyond Time (2017). The standalone novels Cincinnati Lee and Curse Breaker (2025) are separate. Reading within these groupings will provide the intended narrative flow, especially for the series.
A good starting point for Heidi Heilig's work is The Girl from Everywhere (2017). This is the first book in The Girl from Everywhere series and introduces readers to her imaginative storytelling. It sets the stage for the subsequent book in that series, The Ship Beyond Time (2017). Alternatively, For a Muse of Fire (2018) is the first in the Order of Shadow Players Books and offers another entry point into her distinct fictional worlds.
Some of Heidi Heilig's books are designed to be read in order, particularly those within a series. The Girl from Everywhere series, consisting of The Girl from Everywhere (2017) and The Ship Beyond Time (2017), should be read sequentially. Similarly, the Order of Shadow Players Books, which includes For a Muse of Fire (2018), A Kingdom for a Stage (2019), and On This Unworthy Scaffold (2021), follows a narrative progression. Standalone novels and anthology contributions can be read independently.
Heidi Heilig writes both series and standalone novels. Her series include The Girl from Everywhere Books, with The Girl from Everywhere (2017) and The Ship Beyond Time (2017), and the Order of Shadow Players Books, comprising For a Muse of Fire (2018), A Kingdom for a Stage (2019), and On This Unworthy Scaffold (2021). She also has standalone novels, such as Cincinnati Lee and the upcoming Curse Breaker (2025). Additionally, she has contributed to anthologies like Unbroken (2018) and Vampires Never Get Old (2020).
Heidi Heilig has written a total of eight books across her various series and standalone works. This includes two books in The Girl from Everywhere series (2017, 2017), three books in the Order of Shadow Players Books (2018, 2019, 2021), and two standalone novels, Cincinnati Lee and Curse Breaker (2025). She has also contributed to two anthologies, Unbroken (2018) and Vampires Never Get Old (2020).
The first book Heidi Heilig wrote was The Girl from Everywhere, published in 2017. This novel launched her series of the same name and introduced readers to her unique blend of fantasy and adventure. It was followed later in the same year by The Ship Beyond Time, the second book in that series. This marked her debut in the realm of young adult fiction.
Heidi Heilig's most recent book is On This Unworthy Scaffold, published in 2021. This is the third installment in her Order of Shadow Players Books series. She also has an upcoming standalone novel titled Curse Breaker, scheduled for release in 2025, which will be her latest published work.
Heidi Heilig writes young adult fantasy novels. Her books often incorporate elements of adventure, mythology, and unique magical systems. The Girl from Everywhere series features a magical map and a ship that travels through time and dimensions, while the Order of Shadow Players Books delves into themes of performance, magic, and destiny. Her work is characterized by imaginative world-building and strong character development within the fantasy genre.
R.J. Palacio
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Erin Bowman
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We verified the reading order for Heidi Heilig's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: April 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “Heidi Heilig Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/heidi-heilig