12 YA Fantasy Fiction Books for Teens
I blame Enid Blyton for our teenager’s love of fantasy fiction! I am pretty sure it was those early days of reading The Wishing Chair and Magic Faraway Tree series’ together that started it all. Then there was The Land of Stories series, and even now, when she’s not too far off adulthood, she still prefers fantasy fiction to other genres. Which is why I recruited her to help me collate this list of fantasy book recommendations for teens.
As with all of the lists in our Best YA Novels collection, each title in this list links to an Amazon page (these are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you) where you can find more information and reviews for titles you might not be personally familiar with.
12 YA Fantasy Books for Teens
Keep the pages turning with this fabulous collection of fantasy books for teens, guaranteed to transport them into mysterious new worlds that will continue to stir the imagination, well beyond the final page!
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Jude was just seven when her parents were murdered and she and her sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But most of the fey despise humans, especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. To win a place in Court, Jude must defy him– and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
The Stolen Heir by Holly Black
In this duology, we return to the world of Elfhame eight years after the Battle of the Serpent. Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth, hides in the human world, mercilessly tormented by all she endured in the past. Her mother, Lady Nore has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel where she uses an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow that are more than willing to exact her revenge.
When Oak, the prince heir of Elfhame, takes on a mission into the north, he knows he will need Suren’s help to succeed but can he convince her to face the horrors she has fled from, and overcome his past betrayal, to help him in his quest.
The Extinction Trials by Susan Wilson
In Stormchaser and Lincoln’s ruined world the only way to survive is to risk everything. To face a contest more dangerous than anyone can imagine. And they will do anything to win.
But this land is also full of monsters – both human and reptilian – and you can’t afford to trust anyone. Perhaps not even each other. Welcome to the Extinction Trials.
Gilded by Marissa Meyer
Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller’s daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding… and entirely untrue. Or so everyone believes.
When one of Serilda’s outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods.
In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her… for a price. Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever.
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite with god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. That is until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own- one that threatens to destroy the entire balance of power.
Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, to bring down the Silver regime. But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance—Reds against Silvers, princess against prince, and Mare against her own heart.
Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte
Seventeen-year-old Keralie Corrington may seem harmless, but in fact she is one of Quadara’s most skilled thieves, and a liar. Varin, on the other hand, is an honest, upstanding citizen of Quadara’s most enlightened region, Eonia.
Varin runs afoul of Keralie when she steals a package from him, putting his life in danger. When Varin attempts to retrieve the package, he and Keralie find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara’s queens dead. With no other choices and on the run from Keralie’s former employer, the two decide to join forces, desperate to discover who has killed the queens and save their own lives in the process. When their reluctant partnership blooms into a tenuous romance, they must overcome their own dark secrets in hopes of a future together that seemed impossible just days before.
But first they have to stay alive and untangle the secrets behind the nation’s four dead queens.
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Orphaned soldier Alina is fully aware that she may not survive her first trek across the Shadow Fold – a place of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. But when her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes powerful magic that no one, not even Alina herself, knew she possessed.
When Alina enters a lavish world of royalty and intrigue to train with the Grisha, her country’s magical military elite, she falls under the spell of their notorious leader, the Darkling. He believes Alina can summon a force capable of destroying the Shadow Fold and reuniting their war-ravaged country, but only if she can master her untamed gift.
The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni
Seventeen-year-old Kiva has spent the last ten years working as the prison healer and fighting for survival in the notorious death prison, Zalindov. When the Rebel Queen is captured, Kiva is charged with keeping the terminally ill woman alive long enough for her to undergo the Trials by Ordeal: a series of elemental challenges against the torments of air, fire, water, and earth, assigned to only the most dangerous of criminals. Then a coded message from Kiva’s family arrives, containing a single order: “Don’t let her die. We are coming.”
Aware that the Trials will kill the sickly queen, Kiva risks her own life to volunteer in her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom. But no one has ever survived. With an incurable plague sweeping Zalindov, a mysterious new inmate fighting for Kiva’s heart, and a prison rebellion brewing, Kiva can’t escape the terrible feeling that her trials have only just begun.
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She’ll eat the best meals, have a room in the palace – and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia!
And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster, whilst secretly also forming a plan to escape. When the Chief of Security deliberately feeds her butterfly’s eust, and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison, Yelena struggles to find a way to escape her new dilemma. And the disasters continue to mount – the rebels are plotting to seize Ixia, and Yelena discovers magical powers she can’t control. When her life is threatened again, Yelena must make her choice. But this time the outcome isn’t so clear.
Only a Monster by Vanessa Len
It should have been the perfect summer: sent to stay with her late mother’s eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. She loves her nerdy job at the historic Holland House, and when her super cute co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place. But she soon learns the truth. Her family aren’t just eccentric: they’re monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And Nick isn’t just a cute boy: he’s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down.
As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. She’ll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Because in this story, she is not the hero.
For more like Only a Monster, check out This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab in our collection of Dystopian Books for Teens.
Lore by Alexandra Bracken
Every seven years, the Agon begins, a punishment for a past rebellion, which forces nine of the Greek gods to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.
Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family’s sadistic murder by a rival bloodline, turning her back on the hunt’s promises of eternal glory. For years she’s pushed away any thought of revenge against the man, now a god, responsible for their deaths. But as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help – Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods. The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore’s decision to bind her fate to Athena’s and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost, and it still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Kaz Brekker, a teenage criminal mastermind, has been offered the opportunity to achieve wealth beyond his wildest dreams. How? By breaking into the Ice Court, a heavy guarded military stronghold, to smuggle out a scientist with the knowledge to amplify and weaponize magic.
Kaz knows enough about the dangers of the Ice Court to know this heist is virtually impossible, but he begins to assemble the team he believes can achieve the impossible – a deadly gang of young thugs, thieves, and runaways who are just desperate enough to agree to be part of this crazy mission.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
After centuries of sleep, the gods are at war again. As eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow struggles to hold her family together, she knows her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette. To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother, currently stationed on the front line, and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish. What Iris doesn’t know is that her letters are falling into the hands of Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a deep connection. But what will happen when Iris discovers the identity of her secret penpal?
More Books For Teens
For more great books for teens, check out these collections
