Young Adult Fantasy Books: Best Reads

Young adult fantasy focuses on teenage characters navigating magic, identity, and first big choices. Stories often mix school life, quests, and romance for YA fans.

Curated by Fabled Tome

168 Books in subgenre
Apr 13, 2026 Last updated
Content filters Expand or collapse to refine what appears in this ranking. NSFW hidden Illustrated included LGBTQ+ included Any Protagonist

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Protagonist

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145 The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys

By

Rated 4.05 out of 5 stars, based on 405,024 reviews.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater opens in a small Virginia town where Blue Sargent, the non-psychic daughter in a family of clairvoyants, witnesses a spirit for the first time and learns he is destined to die within the year. The boy is Gansey, a…

Book 1 of The Raven Cycle series


146 Book of Shadows

Book of Shadows

By

Rated 4.05 out of 5 stars, based on 27,933 reviews.

In Book of Shadows, Cate Tiernan introduces Morgan, a seemingly ordinary high school student whose life in a contemporary small town is disrupted by unexpected signs of magic. As she begins to sense hidden energies and abilities that set her apart fr…

Book 1 of Wicca series


147 Nine Princes in Amber

Nine Princes in Amber

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Rated 4.05 out of 5 stars, based on 61,253 reviews.

Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny opens with Corwin, a powerful but amnesiac man who wakes in a modern Earth hospital with only fragments of his identity. As he uncovers his connection to Amber, the one true world from which all others are shado…

Book 1 of The Chronicles of Amber series


148 Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot

Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot

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Rated 4.04 out of 5 stars, based on 21,807 reviews.

Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer is a Regency-era fantasy told through letters between two cousins, Kate in London and Cecelia in the countryside. As Kate navigates a social season entangle…

Book 1 of Cecelia and Kate series


149 The Amulet of Samarkand

The Amulet of Samarkand

By

Rated 4.04 out of 5 stars, based on 135,525 reviews.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud introduces Nathaniel, a gifted young magician-in-training raised within a rigid, magician-ruled Britain after being given up by his parents to serve the state. Humiliated by the ambitious sorcerer Simon Love…

Book 1 of Bartimaeus series


150 The Princess and the Goblin

The Princess and the Goblin

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Rated 4.04 out of 5 stars, based on 41,885 reviews.

In The Princess and the Goblin, George MacDonald follows Princess Irene, a sheltered child living in a remote mountain residence that is part castle, part farmhouse, while her royal father travels his realm. Beneath the mountain, goblins prepare a se…

Book 1 of Princess Irene and Curdie series


151 The Last Magician

The Last Magician

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Rated 4.04 out of 5 stars, based on 23,633 reviews.

The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell follows Esta, a young time-manipulating thief trained to steal powerful artifacts from a secretive organization known as the Order. In a version of modern New York where magic has been nearly eradicated and remaining…

Book 1 of The Last Magician series


152 Sandry's Book

Sandry's Book

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Rated 4.04 out of 5 stars, based on 45,198 reviews.

Sandry's Book by Tamora Pierce introduces four young mages whose unusual talents set them apart from the world around them. Noble-born Sandry, whose magic works through thread and light, is taken to Winding Circle, a temple community where she is pla…

Book 1 of Circle of Magic series


153 Akata Witch

Akata Witch

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Rated 4.03 out of 5 stars, based on 38,700 reviews.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor follows twelve-year-old Sunny, an American-born girl living in Aba, Nigeria, who struggles with albinism, bullying at school, and feeling out of place. Her life changes when she befriends Orlu and Chichi and discovers sh…

Book 1 of The Nsibidi Scripts series


154 Pathfinder

Pathfinder

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Rated 4.03 out of 5 stars, based on 25,201 reviews.

Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card follows Rigg, a young man in a rigid, politically fraught world who can see the lingering traces of where people have been. After his father’s death, Rigg discovers that this ability is tied to hidden truths about his o…

Book 1 of Pathfinder series


155 A Darker Shade of Magic

A Darker Shade of Magic

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Rated 4.03 out of 5 stars, based on 437,122 reviews.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab introduces Kell, a rare magician who can cross between four parallel versions of London, each with its own history and relationship to magic. As the Red Traveler and reluctant smuggler, he moves between Grey Lon…

Book 1 of Shades of Magic series


156 Revenge of the Witch

Revenge of the Witch

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Rated 4.03 out of 5 stars, based on 54,505 reviews.

Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney, illustrated by Patrick Arrasmith, introduces Thomas Ward, the seventh son of a seventh son, who is bound to a dangerous apprenticeship with the local Spook. Tasked with learning how to confront ghosts, restrain…

Book 1 of The Last Apprentice / Wardstone Chronicles series


157 The Golden Compass

The Golden Compass

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Rated 4.03 out of 5 stars, based on 1,628,061 reviews.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman follows Lyra Belacqua, a sharp and headstrong girl growing up in an alternate Oxford where science, theology, and magic intersect. When children begin disappearing, including her friend Roger, Lyra travels to the…

Book 1 of His Dark Materials series


158 The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

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Rated 4.02 out of 5 stars, based on 146,375 reviews.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee follows Henry “Monty” Montague, a young bisexual aristocrat whose love of gambling, alcohol, and romantic entanglements clashes with his father’s rigid expectations. Sent on a Grand Tour of Eur…

Book 1 of Montague Siblings series


159 I Hunt Killers

I Hunt Killers

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Rated 4.02 out of 5 stars, based on 43,335 reviews.

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga follows Jasper “Jazz” Dent, a seemingly ordinary and charismatic teenager whose childhood was shaped by his father, a notorious serial killer. When a series of murders unsettles the small town of Lobo’s Nod, Jazz uses his…

Book 1 of I Hunt Killers series


160 The Summoning

The Summoning

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Rated 4.02 out of 5 stars, based on 176,952 reviews.

In The Summoning, Kelley Armstrong introduces Chloe Saunders, a teenager whose ordinary life unravels the day she begins seeing ghosts. After a disturbing incident at school, she is sent to a group home for troubled teens, where the residents and sta…

Book 1 of Darkest Powers series


161 Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted

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Rated 4.02 out of 5 stars, based on 425,242 reviews.

In Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine reimagines the Cinderella story as a young adult fantasy about autonomy, courage, and choice. Cursed at birth by the fairy Lucinda to obey any direct command, Ella grows into a sharp-witted, strong-willed girl de…

Book 1 of Ella Enchanted series


162 Nightshade

Nightshade

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Rated 4.02 out of 5 stars, based on 84,636 reviews.

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer introduces Calla Tor, a young alpha werewolf raised to believe her future is fixed: she will lead alongside Ren Laroche and serve the powerful Keepers who control their world. After she secretly rescues a human boy in the…

Book 1 of Nightshade series


163 A Winter's Promise

A Winter's Promise

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Rated 4.01 out of 5 stars, based on 126,101 reviews.

A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos, translated by Hildegarde Serle, introduces Ophelia, a reserved young woman whose talent for reading the past of objects and traveling through mirrors sets her apart on the ark of Anima. When she is forced into…

Book 1 of La Passe-Miroir series


164 A Wizard of Earthsea

A Wizard of Earthsea

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Rated 4.01 out of 5 stars, based on 366,610 reviews.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin follows Ged, a gifted boy from a remote island whose early arrogance in learning magic unleashes a destructive shadow he does not understand. As he trains at a wizard school and travels across the archipelago…

Book 1 of Earthsea Cycle series


165 Dragon Rider

Dragon Rider

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Rated 4.01 out of 5 stars, based on 85,881 reviews.

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke follows Firedrake, a young dragon who sets out to locate a hidden refuge where silver dragons might finally be safe. Joined by Sorrel, a wary brownie, and Ben, a human boy without a family, he crosses oceans and remote…

Book 1 of Dragon Rider series


166 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

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Rated 4.00 out of 5 stars, based on 517,386 reviews.

In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum and illustrator W. W. Denslow introduce Dorothy, a Kansas farm girl swept by a tornado into a vividly imagined magical land. Guided by the Good Witch of the North, she follows the yellow brick road toward…

Book 1 of Oz series


167 The Cruel Prince

The Cruel Prince

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Rated 4.00 out of 5 stars, based on 1,780,644 reviews.

In The Cruel Prince, Holly Black introduces Jude, a mortal girl raised in the High Court of Faerie after witnessing her parents’ murder as a child. Now a teenager, she is determined to secure power and status among the immortal fae who scorn her, esp…

Book 1 of The Folk of the Air series


168 A Marvellous Light

A Marvellous Light

By

Rated 3.93 out of 5 stars, based on 51,987 reviews.

A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding, #1) by Freya Marske is set in an alternate Edwardian England where magic exists alongside societal expectations. The story follows young baronet Robin Blyth, who unexpectedly becomes the parliamentary liaison to…

Book 1 of The Last Binding series