The Wall and the Wing

by Jorge Teillier

Like Gurl, Morrigan arrives in a magical city as an outsider with a mysterious past and discovers she possesses an unusual gift that sets her apart. Townsend builds her world with the same sense of wonder and danger that Ruby creates—a place where magic exists alongside gritty urban reality, and where a nobody can become somebody through sheer determination and discovering what makes them different.

by George MacDonald

This is my surprise pick for you—it's quieter and more introspective than The Wall and the Wing, but it shares that same DNA of an underestimated outsider navigating a complex world they don't fully understand. Where Ruby gives you action and invisibility, Addison gives you political intrigue and a protagonist learning to read people instead of disappearing from them. Both explore what it means to survive when the world wasn't built for you.

by Garth Nix

Nix constructs his world with the same meticulous attention to rules and consequences that Ruby does—magic here isn't whimsical, it's dangerous and has a cost. Sabriel, like Gurl, is a young woman thrust into circumstances beyond her control who must rely on her wits and an unexpected companion. The pacing has that same propulsive energy, moving you through a richly imagined landscape where nothing is quite safe.

by Diana Wynne Jones

Published in 1986, this gives you that decade-spanning perspective while maintaining the whimsical-but-dangerous tone you loved in Ruby. Jones writes magic as something both playful and consequential, and her protagonist Sophie—like Gurl—is underestimated by everyone around her until circumstances force her to discover her own capabilities. The banter between characters has that same sharp, witty edge.

by Megan Whalen Turner

Turner plays with perspective and revelation the way Ruby does—you think you're reading one kind of story, then the ground shifts beneath you. The protagonist is clever and resourceful like Gurl, navigating a world of politics and danger where his greatest weapon is his mind. Both books reward careful readers who pay attention to what characters aren't saying as much as what they are.