Oh god I was SO sad (and dumbfounded) after reading about Orson Scott Card. Like how do you write some of the most thought-provoking and awe-inspiring pieces of fiction and then turn into a racist?

Keeper of the lost cities series by Shannon Messenger is the closest I've ever come to reading something that gave me Harry Potter vibes and I say this as someone who's been reading fiction for over 10 years.

While some of the dialogue and actions of the characters can make you cringe at times( pre-teen to teenage characters so it makes sense), it has a lot of magic and world-building that I loved about the Harry Potter series. Give it a try and check it out!

Reading the Malazan Book of the Fallen series has ruined pretty much all other fantasy books for me and I read a LOT of fantasy books.

A bit late to comment but I've read the Dune series at least 4 times and I'm on my 3rd re-read of the Malazan Book of the Dead series. I am constantly amazed at what new pieces of information I learnt during a new read through.

Neither, I pirate all my books. I don't believe in buying any form of literature so I try to find any and all types of books online.