Most Read YA Fantasy Books

As Voldemort's grip tightens on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds, Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects dangers may even lie within the castle, while Dumbledore prepares him for the looming battle by exploring the Dark Lord's past. To help him navigate his difficult schoolwork, Harry relies on an old textbook annotated by the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.

Ketterdam is a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price — and no one knows that better than Kaz Brekker, a young criminal prodigy who runs the streets of the Barrel with cold precision. When Kaz is offered a payout large enough to set him up for life, the catch is a heist no one has ever survived: break into the impregnable Ice Court in Fjerda and free a prisoner whose knowledge could tip the balance of world power. The job is impossible for any one person, so Kaz assembles a crew of six dangerous outcasts — a convict, a sharpshooter, a runaway, a spy, a Grisha Heartrender, and a demolitions expert — each with their own reasons for taking the risk and their own secrets to protect. Told through rotating points of view, the novel unfolds as an intricate caper thick with double-crosses and improvised gambles, gradually revealing the old wounds and hard-won loyalties that bind the crew together. Set in the same world as the Shadow and Bone trilogy but standing fully on its own, Six of Crows pairs a twisting heist plot with morally complicated characters who feel real in their damage and their wit. It launched the Six of Crows duology and became one of the defining fantasy series for young adult readers.

• heist
• found family
• morally grey
• multiple povs

Jude was seven years old when a faerie knight murdered her parents and carried her and her two sisters across the sea to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude is a mortal girl raised among immortals — and she wants nothing more than to belong, even though the fey despise humans and take cruel pleasure in reminding her that she does not. Chief among her tormentors is Prince Cardan, the youngest and most vicious son of the High King. To secure a place at court and protect herself and her sisters, Jude defies him — and is drawn into a dangerous web of palace intrigue, shifting alliances, and outright treason. As rival factions maneuver for the throne, she discovers she is willing to do almost anything, and become almost anyone, to survive and to win power in a world that was never meant to be hers. The first book in Holly Black's bestselling Folk of the Air trilogy, The Cruel Prince is a sharp, seductive fantasy of ambition, betrayal, and the fine line between hatred and desire.

• enemies to lovers
• court intrigue
• morally grey

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swathe of near-impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters that feed on human flesh. Alina Starkov, an orphaned junior cartographer in the First Army, has never been remarkable at anything — until her regiment is attacked crossing the Fold and a dormant power erupts out of her, a light strong enough to save them all. Torn from everything she knows, including her lifelong friend Mal, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, Ravka's magical elite. There she comes under the wing of the Darkling, the enigmatic and dangerous leader of the Grisha, who believes Alina's gift as the Sun Summoner may finally be the key to unmaking the Fold. But as she is drawn deeper into a glittering world of luxury and intrigue, Alina begins to realise that nothing at court is what it seems — and that the fate of a nation may rest on her shoulders alone. The opening book of Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone trilogy and the gateway to the sprawling Grishaverse, this is Russian-influenced young-adult fantasy rich with magic, court politics, and a fraught love triangle.

• chosen one
• love triangle
• court intrigue
• coming of age

When Clary Fray discovers a hidden world of demon hunters, her ordinary life is turned upside down. She's drawn into a dangerous conflict in New York City, where vampires and werewolves are real, and forbidden love might be the least of her worries. This is the start of an epic urban fantasy adventure.

• chosen one
• found family
• secret identity
• forbidden love

Crooked Kingdom picks up in the aftermath of the crew's audacious Ice Court job. Back in Ketterdam and double-crossed out of their promised reward, Kaz Brekker and his band of outcasts find themselves hunted by rival gangs, corrupt merchants, and foreign powers all circling the city. To collect what they're owed — and to rescue one of their own — Kaz must spin a con more dangerous than any heist, playing Ketterdam's ruthless power brokers against one another. As the schemes escalate, the novel deepens each character's backstory and tests the loyalties that hold the crew together, building toward a conclusion that pays off the duology's threads of revenge, grief, and hard-won trust. Told through the same rotating viewpoints as Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom trades some of the first book's tight caper structure for a sprawling, city-wide chess match. The second and final volume of the Six of Crows duology, it closes out one of the most beloved character arcs in modern young adult fantasy while standing as a satisfying payoff to the crew's story.

• found family
• morally grey
• multiple povs
• revenge

Scarlett Dragna has spent her whole life on a small, isolated island under the thumb of a cruel and violent father, dreaming of Caraval, the legendary once-a-year performance where the audience doesn't just watch the spectacle but becomes part of it. With her arranged marriage looming, she has all but given up hope of ever seeing it. Then the long-awaited invitation arrives, and her reckless, magnetic sister Tella whisks her away to the mysterious island where the game is held. Almost at once, Tella is kidnapped by Legend, Caraval's enigmatic master of ceremonies, and made the prize at the center of this year's game. Scarlett has just five nights to find her sister before Caraval ends, navigating a world where nothing is quite what it seems and where losing herself in the illusion could cost her everything. Aided by a charming, secretive sailor named Julian, she is pulled deeper into a dazzling, dangerous puzzle in which love, deceit, and magic are impossible to tell apart. Stephanie Garber's debut is a lush, atmospheric young-adult fantasy built on a central warning: it's only a game. Rich with sensory magic and sleight-of-hand twists, Caraval launched a bestselling series and a wider fairy-tale universe.

• quest
• coming of age
• mystery box
• fake dating

Iris Winnow is a young typist at a newspaper in the city of Oath, competing for a columnist position against the infuriatingly talented Roman Kitt. But Iris has more pressing worries: her brother has vanished to the front of a war between the gods Enva and Dacre, and her mother is drinking herself into ruin. When Iris begins slipping letters beneath her wardrobe door, they are magically delivered to a stranger who writes back — a correspondence that becomes her one source of comfort, and whose author's identity she cannot guess. When Iris leaves the newspaper to work as a war correspondent, she travels to the small town of Avalon Bluff, close to the fighting, determined to find her brother and report the truth of a conflict most people would rather ignore. There the war stops being an abstraction, and the connection she has built through her letters follows her in ways she never expected. The first book in Rebecca Ross's Letters of Enchantment duology, Divine Rivals blends a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance with a lightly historical, roughly early-twentieth-century setting and a mythology of feuding gods. It is a story about writing as a way of reaching another person, and about the ordinary courage of those caught up in a war they did not choose.

• enemies to lovers
• epistolary
• slow burn

Mare Barrow lives in a world divided by blood. The Reds are common laborers, ruled by a Silver elite whose god-like abilities, controlling fire, metal, minds, make them all but untouchable. Mare is a Red from the Stilts, scraping by as a thief until an accident at the Silver palace reveals that she, too, has a power, one no Red should possess. To keep the impossible a secret, the king disguises Mare as a long-lost Silver noble and betroths her to a prince, dropping her into a dangerous royal court where every smile hides a knife. Torn between the boy she is promised to, the brother who watches her too closely, and the growing Red rebellion that sees her as a symbol, Mare learns that anyone can betray anyone. The first book in Victoria Aveyard's bestselling series is a propulsive fantasy of court intrigue, uprising, and the treacherous cost of power.

• betrayal
• love triangle
• court intrigue
• secret identity

Jude rules Faerie from behind the throne, the cruel king Cardan bound to obey her — but power in Elfhame is never safe. As the Undersea presses its claims and a traitor moves within her own circle, Jude must outwit enemies on all sides while the dangerous attraction between her and Cardan grows harder to deny. The second book of Holly Black's Folk of the Air trilogy: sharp, romantic, and full of betrayal.

• enemies to lovers
• court intrigue
• morally grey
• betrayal

Hunted across the True Sea, Alina Starkov and her childhood friend Mal are trying to outrun the reach of the Darkling and the burden of Alina's growing power. But a life of quiet anonymity was never truly possible for the Sun Summoner, and the ties that bind her to Ravka — and to the Fold — cannot be severed by distance alone. Soon Alina is pulled back into the fight for her country, and into a widening war for its throne. Back on Ravkan soil, Alina must take up the mantle of leadership she never wanted, uniting the Grisha and the common people against a threat that grows stronger with every passing day. Her search for a legendary second amplifier to boost her powers brings danger, temptation, and a charismatic new ally: the daring privateer prince Nikolai Lantsov, whose ambitions for Ravka may rival even the Darkling's. The second book in Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone trilogy raises the stakes of the Grishaverse, deepening its political intrigue and its central conflict as Alina is forced to choose what kind of leader — and what kind of person — she intends to become.

• chosen one
• love triangle
• court intrigue
• quest

The second Mortal Instruments novel. With her mother in a coma and Valentine loose in New York, Clary Fray must free Jace from the Inquisitor's custody and stop her father claiming the Soul-Sword — while discovering she can draw runes no Shadowhunter has seen before.

• love triangle
• forbidden love
• betrayal
• found family

The final book in Holly Black's Folk of the Air trilogy brings Jude Duarte's story to its blazing conclusion. Stripped of her power and cast out of the only home she has fought so hard to claim, Jude is living in exile in the mortal world, restless and furious, when her twin sister arrives with a desperate plea that offers a way back to Faerie. Returning means walking straight into the danger she was banished from — a court on the brink of war, old enemies circling, and the unresolved bond with Cardan that she can neither escape nor name. To win back what was taken from her and protect the realm from destruction, Jude will have to gamble everything on a single, audacious deception. The Queen of Nothing is a fast, satisfying finale that pays off the trilogy's long game of ambition, love, and betrayal, and asks what Jude is truly willing to become to hold on to power and to the people she loves.

• enemies to lovers
• court intrigue
• morally grey

In the kingdom of Ilya, the Purging rid the population of the "Ordinary" — those born without powers. Only the Elites, gifted with supernatural abilities, are meant to remain. But Paedyn Gray, a thief surviving in the slums, is an Ordinary who has kept herself alive by pretending to be a Psychic, reading people rather than minds. When Paedyn instinctively saves the life of Prince Kai, the Enforcer whose duty is to hunt and kill people exactly like her, she is thrust into the Purging Trials — a brutal, public competition among Elites where any misstep could expose her as powerless. As she fights to survive round after round, Paedyn and Kai are drawn together by a dangerous attraction neither can afford, each hiding a secret that could destroy the other. The first book in Lauren Roberts's bestselling Powerless trilogy, this is a fast-paced YA romantasy of forbidden romance, deadly competition, and a heroine forced to hide who she truly is in a world that wants her dead.

• secret identity
• enemies to lovers
• forbidden love
• slow burn

Evangeline Fox has always believed in true love and happy endings — until she learns that the boy she loves is about to marry her stepsister. Desperate to stop the wedding, she turns to the one person legend says can help: Jacks, the beautiful and dangerous Prince of Hearts. He agrees, on a single condition — three kisses, to be claimed at the time and place of his choosing. The bargain works, but not at all the way Evangeline hoped. Swept from her small town into the glittering, treacherous world of the Magnificent North, she discovers that deals with immortals always cost more than they promise, and that Jacks wants something from her far greater than a stopped wedding. Caught among wicked princes, cursed fairy tales, and her own stubborn hope, Evangeline must decide who to trust in a place where every happily ever after seems to come with a catch. Set in the world of Caraval, Once Upon a Broken Heart is a lush, romantic fantasy about heartbreak, dangerous bargains, and the fine line between a fairy tale and a curse.

• morally grey
• enemies to lovers
• slow burn
• betrayal

Donatella Dragna has escaped Caraval alive, but she is far from free. To save herself and her sister, Tella struck a bargain with a mysterious benefactor, and the price is Legend's true name, a secret the master of Caraval has guarded for as long as anyone can remember. When a new game begins in the imperial capital, this time with the fate of an empire in play, Tella returns to the board determined to win the answer she owes. Told largely from Tella's bold, impulsive point of view, this sequel trades the closed island of the first book for the glittering intrigue of the Meridian Empire's court. As Tella chases Legend's identity through a maze of masked players, ancient Fates stirring back to life, and a dangerous attraction to a magnetic and lethal suitor, she learns that the game's magic reaches far beyond a single performance, and that the people she is playing against may be immortal. Stephanie Garber's Legendary raises the stakes of the Caraval world, deepening its mythology of Fates and cursed cards while keeping the sensory spectacle and twisty misdirection that defined the first book. It sets the pieces for the trilogy's finale.

• court intrigue

The Darkling rules Ravka from the shadows, and the Shadow Fold has swallowed the land in darkness. Weakened and half-broken, Alina Starkov is hidden away underground, kept from the daylight that fuels her power and increasingly at the mercy of the fanatical priest known as the Apparat, whose followers have begun to worship her as a living Saint. Cut off from the throne and the war she once tried to lead, Alina must find a way to break free. Reunited with Mal and the ragged remnants of her friends, Alina sets out on a final, desperate hunt for the last of Morozova's amplifiers — the legendary firebird — the one thing that might give her the strength to face the Darkling and end the ruin he has unleashed. But the deeper she digs into the mystery of the amplifiers, the more she learns about their true cost, and about the ties that bind her to the enemy she is sworn to destroy. The concluding book of Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone trilogy brings Alina's story to its reckoning, testing every loyalty and every sacrifice as the fate of Ravka hangs in the balance.

• chosen one
• love triangle
• sacrifice

To save her mother, Clary must venture into the forbidden City of Glass, the Shadowhunters' hidden home. But entering without permission means death, and Jace doesn't want her there. As secrets of her family's past surface and Valentine gathers his forces, Clary must find a way to unite Downworlders and Shadowhunters against a common enemy, even if it means confronting deadly truths and making impossible choices.

• quest
• betrayal
• found family

A curse threatens everything Evangeline Fox thought she'd won, forcing her into an uneasy alliance with Jacks, the Prince of Hearts. Together they chase legends across the Magnificent North toward an arch that can rewrite a story's ending — if they can trust each other long enough to reach it. The twisty second book in the series.

• morally grey
• enemies to lovers

Farm boy Eragon finds a mysterious blue stone that hatches into a dragon, binding him to Saphira and to the lost legacy of the Dragon Riders. Hunted by the servants of the tyrant Galbatorix, he flees into a wider world with the old storyteller Brom. The first book in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle: a sweeping epic fantasy of dragons, destiny, and coming of age.

• chosen one
• coming of age
• mentor figure
• quest

Lyra Belacqua is content to run wild among the scholars of Jordan College, her wolf-like daemon always by her side. But when her formidable uncle Lord Asriel arrives with a desperate mission, Lyra is drawn into a struggle that spans worlds — against the Gobblers who steal children and the Magisterium's attempt to bind every soul through their alethiometers.

• coming of age
• betrayal
• quest

Paedyn Gray has killed the King of Ilya and lit the fuse of a Resistance — and now she is running from the one person she had wanted to run to. Kai Azer, sworn Enforcer to his brother Kitt, the new King, has vowed to hunt her down and bring her to justice. Their chase carries them across the killing heat of the Scorches and into Dor, a hostile city where no Elite holds power and the line between hunter and hunted begins to blur. The second book in Lauren Roberts's Powerless trilogy.

• enemies to lovers
• forbidden love
• slow burn
• multiple povs

In a republic where witches are hunted, Rune Winters plays the vapid socialite by day and smuggles condemned witches to safety by night as the masked Crimson Moth. To protect her secret she courts the enemy: Gideon Sharpe, a Blood Guard witch hunter closing in on the Moth. A dual-POV enemies-to-lovers romantasy, first of a duology.

• enemies to lovers
• secret identity
• multiple povs
• forbidden love

Evangeline Fox came to the Magnificent North chasing a happy ending, and from the outside it looks as if she found one: a handsome prince, a legendary castle, a fairy-tale life. But she has no memory of what that ending truly cost her, and the people closest to her are determined to keep it that way. As old enemies close in and buried truths refuse to stay buried, Evangeline is caught between two villains, each certain he knows what is best for her — and only one of whom she may be able to trust. With hearts, crowns, and lives on the line, the story that began with a single broken heart races toward its final, dangerous reckoning. The conclusion to the Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy, A Curse for True Love brings Evangeline and Jacks's story to a heady, romantic close in the world of Caraval.

• morally grey
• forbidden love

Following clues in his late grandfather's stories, teenage Jacob finds a time-looped home on a Welsh island where children with strange gifts shelter from the monsters that hunt them. An atmospheric YA fantasy built around eerie vintage photographs; first in the series.

• found family
• time loop

The game everyone thought they understood is over, and the real danger has only begun. In the final book of the Caraval trilogy, the Dragna sisters face a world where the boundaries between performance and reality have all but collapsed. Legend's power is ascendant, ancient Fates once trapped in a deck of cards now walk free, and the choices Scarlett and Tella make will decide the fate of hearts, thrones, and an entire empire. Alternating between both sisters, Finale braids their two arcs together: Scarlett believes she has finally seized control of her own future, torn between two very different suitors, while Tella races to stop a coronation and untangle the truth about her mother, Legend, and the immortal beings pulling strings from the shadows. Alliances shift, loyalties are tested, and every player must decide what they are willing to risk when the game no longer has any rules. Stephanie Garber's conclusion delivers the romance, spectacle, and reversals the series is known for, resolving the tangled destinies of Scarlett, Tella, Julian, Legend, and the Fates. It closes the central Caraval story while leaving the door open to the wider magical world Garber would go on to explore.

• court intrigue
• multiple povs
• love triangle

Bree Matthews infiltrates a secret society of Arthurian descendants after witnessing something impossible on her first night at a UNC-Chapel Hill early-college program. Her search for the truth behind her mother's death uncovers a magic of her own — and a legacy of power and racism inside the Order itself.

• chosen one
• secret identity
• coming of age
• dark academia

In the land of Ingary, where seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, Sophie Hatter has resigned herself to a dull future. As the eldest of three sisters, she is sure she is doomed to fail first and worst, so she settles quietly into the family hat shop. Then the fearsome Witch of the Waste sweeps in and curses her, turning Sophie into a stooped old woman who cannot tell anyone what has happened to her. With nothing left to lose, Sophie leaves home and bluffs her way into the magical, ambulatory castle of the notorious Wizard Howl — a vain, slippery heartbreaker rumored to devour the souls of young women. Inside she finds Howl's young apprentice Michael and a sardonic fire demon named Calcifer, who is bound to Howl by a secret contract. Calcifer offers Sophie a bargain: break the spell that ties him to Howl, and he will break the spell that has aged her. Diana Wynne Jones's beloved fantasy is a witty, warm-hearted tangle of curses, contracts, and mistaken assumptions, in which a supposedly ordinary young woman discovers she is anything but. The first book in the World of Howl trilogy, it later inspired Studio Ghibli's celebrated animated film.

• coming of age

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie's Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

• chosen one
• quest
• revenge
• coming of age

Fearless is the finale of Lauren Roberts's Powerless trilogy. Reunited with Kai but bound to a throne she never wanted, Paedyn Gray must cross the Shallows to broker peace with the kingdom of Izram — and decide what she will sacrifice to remake an Ilya built on the persecution of the Ordinary.

• forbidden love
• court intrigue
• marriage of convenience
• sacrifice