The first house I lived in was a bi-level with a long, straight-shot hallway from the kitchen to the living room. Full length mirrors were set into the walls, in very 1980s fashion. My brother and I would turn off all the lights in the house and run up and down that hallway, catching ghostly glimpses of ourselves in the mirrors, playing “Night Faeries.”
A foreboding kind of rush would prickle through me as I held my arms out wide, making them wings, and swooping along in search of night flowers and glowing fruits (I think we were watching a lot of FernGully at the time). There was something illicit to the whole thing—being in the dark, transforming ourselves into something human but not quite. I couldn’t have recognized it at six years old, but there was a whiff of the uncanny to our game, and it was laced with “what if.” What if we were us, but we could fly? What if we were us, but magic?
That, I think, is one of the reasons fae stories are so enduring. They could be us. Fae are often portrayed as looking human, speaking like humans, interacting with humans, but they’re more. Immortal, bearers of powers that inspire both awe and fear. We want to get closer.
It’s no surprise that fae stories in YA fiction are often dark and full of glittering magic. If I kept an aesthetic board in my head while writing Beguiled, it was full of dark swaths of gauzy indigo fabric studded with silver stars. Something that could tent over the entire story before it fell and wrapped around my characters.
These five YA fantasy books centre fae and let us step into these unsettling but enticing worlds. I think you’ll enjoy your stay.
Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman
Okay, this book isn’t out yet but it sounds AMAZING. It also has an autistic changeling MC, and I love seeing that representation. I have an absolute soft spot for changeling stories, and this one promises treasure hunting and a fae realm. Sold.
Iselia “Seelie” Graygrove looks just like her twin, Isolde… but as an autistic changeling trying to navigate her unpredictable magic, Seelie finds it more difficult to fit in with the humans around her. When Seelie and Isolde are caught up in a heist gone wrong and make some unexpected allies, they find themselves unraveling a larger mystery that has its roots in the history of humans and fae alike.
Both sisters soon discover that the secrets of the faeries may be more valuable than any pile of gold and jewels. But can Seelie harness her magic in time to protect her sister, and herself?
A Cruel and Fated Light by Ashley Shuttleworth
This sequel to 2021’s A Dark and Hollow Star is dripping in fae world-lore, but it’s the characters who really pull you in—plus the fantastic queer rep. There will be a total of four books in the series, so this is a world you can get lost in for a while.
After thwarting the man behind the gruesome ironborn murders—and breaking several fae laws to do so—all Arlo wants is a quiet summer. As the deity of luck’s Hollow Star, capable of bringing about endless possibilities, this shouldn’t be too much to ask, right?
But someone is still trying to summon the mythical Seven Deadly Sins. All signs point to immortal meddling, and if this is the gods’ attempt at returning to the Mortal Realm, it’s Arlo they’re going to use to do it.
When Queen Riadne offers to host Arlo at the Seelie Summer palace, she jumps at the chance. She’ll get to see more of Vehan and Aurelian and perhaps even work out her complicated feelings for the gorgeous ex-Fury, Nausicaä. But no one trusts the infamous Queen of Light, even as Arlo wonders if she’s just been greatly misunderstood.
With the Summer Solstice quickly approaching, everyone expects Riadne to finally challenge the High King for his crown. And as Arlo struggles to get control of her powers and take charge of her destiny, she’ll soon be faced with a choice that won’t only change the fate of the Mortal Realm forever but could condemn it to a cruelty the likes of which the Courts have never known.
An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
Margaret Rogerson’s writing is just so gorgeous, and I fell fast into the world she creates in this book. The premise feels both fresh and like a long-established fairy-tale. Perfect for readers looking for comfort with engaging twists and turns.
With a flick of her paintbrush, Isobel creates stunning portraits for a dangerous set of clients: the fair folk. These immortal creatures cannot bake bread or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and they trade valuable enchantments for Isobel’s paintings. But when she receives her first royal patron—Rook, the autumn prince—Isobel makes a deadly mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes, a weakness that could cost him his throne, and even his life.
Furious, Rook spirits Isobel away to his kingdom to stand trial for her crime. But something is seriously amiss in his world, and they are attacked from every side. With Isobel and Rook depending upon each other for survival, their alliance blossoms into trust, perhaps even love…a forbidden emotion that would violate the fair folks’ ruthless laws, rendering both their lives forfeit. What force could Isobel’s paintings conjure that is powerful enough to defy the ancient malice of the fairy courts?
Isobel and Rook journey along a knife-edge in a lush world where beauty masks corruption and the cost of survival might be more frightening than death itself.
The Folk of the Air trilogy by Holly Black
Since they’re all out, I’m grouping them together—any list about fae books wouldn’t be complete with something from Holly Black. I absolutely love the way she blends fae stories and contemporary settings, and The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King, and Queen of Nothing are no exception. Plus, Jude is the morally gray protagonist that dreams are made of.
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two 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 many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she 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.
These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan
I love a good sibling-driven story, and this one doesn’t disappoint. It’s also darkly romantic, with a brooding love interest—and the sequel, These Twisted Bonds, published last month, so you can binge the duology!
After Abriella’s sister was sold to the fae, she thought life couldn’t get any worse. But when she suddenly finds herself caught in a web of lies of her own making—loving two princes and trusting neither—things are not quite as clear as she once thought.
As civil war wages in the Court of Darkness, Brie finds herself unable to choose a side. How can she know where she stands when she doesn’t even know herself anymore? In this darkly romantic thrill ride, the more Faerie is torn apart from the inside, the clearer it becomes that prophecies don’t lie and Brie has a role to play in the fate of this magical realm—whether she likes it or not.
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Beguiled
Cyla Panin lives in Calgary, Alberta, with her husband and two sons. Her debut novel, Stalking Shadows, was called “both beautiful and brutal” by Kirkus Reviews. She has a bachelor of arts in English with a concentration in creative writing from Mount Royal University.
Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter has faeries who definitely want to poke you until you bleed just in case it might be fun. And the two siblings they decide to poke (foster kids who are family-of-choice and the only constants in each others’ lives) have never read any of the right books and don’t know who and what they’re dealing with.
I second the recommendation for An Enchantment of Ravens, and will definitely be keeping an eye out for Unseelie.
I’d also nominate the Spiritwalker trilogy by Kate Elliott. In _Cold Magic_, Catherine Hassi Barahal first encounters one of the eru disguised as the servant of a cold mage, but doesn’t understand why such a being would give her a magically disguised sword while saying “Greetings, Cousin. I think you may need this.” But she doesn’t have much time to think about it, since she is fleeing from a mob in the company of the mage she has just met (and that’s not even all she has on her mind).
I don’t want to spoil too much, but the Master of the Wild Hunt has plans for Catherine, whether she likes it or not. And the Wild Hunt’s quarry are not limited to beasts…
_Cold Fire_ and _Cold Steel_ continue the series, and Catherine’s dangerous involvement in the plots of the courts of the spirit world.
I do like the take Ray Feist had in Faerie Tale; emphasizing the cyclical nature of the courts underhill.
A bit less dark but no less alien – L. J. Smith’s THE NIGHT OF THE SOLSTICE and its sequel, HEART OF VALOR. There are reasons that their realm is called the Wildworld….
A big recommendation for Feist’s A Faerie Tale. That one has stuck with me for 25 years.
Mention should be made of the Borderland series edited by Terri Windling et al. (with the last volume edited by Holly Black and Ellen Kushner).
Bones of Faerie, by Janni Lee Simner was an interesting take on Fae. Gist is war between Human and Fae occurred and the magical fallout is still affecting the world a generation later.
The Tree of Ages series seems like a good fit here. It gets pretty dark at times although it doesn’t go full Malazan on us (for the best in my opinion).
I am surprised to not see Melisss Marr’s “wicked lovely” series
I’ve really enjoyed The Return Of The Elves series by Bethany Adams. It can get quite dark at times, but nothing is taken too far. It’s set in current times (when on Earth and not one of the other planes) and each book focuses on a different character. I really like how you get an impression of someone from the main characters perspective, and then it flips it so you get the reverse. It really adds depth to the characters and the interactions between them are done really well with some good humour.
There was a pair of books I remember reading in my early teens–I believe the first was Tyger, Tyger, and the sequel In the Forests of the Night. I was never able to find the rest of the series–there had to have been at least one more–and the books vanished from the library one day, so I’ve forgotten the author, but they were beautifully written and definitely the darkest books about the Fair Folk I had read at that point.
I would add The Wee Free Men, the first and darker of Terry Pratchett’s books about dark fairies. And the beginning of his fine YA series about young witch-in-training Tiffany Aching. And the wee free men aren’t the dark creatures.
The Moorchild is highly recommended
Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series deals with a LOT of the Fae.
The Woodcutter is an exceptional book by Kate Danley
Weatherill’s Wild Magic retelling of the Pied Piper being a Fae who spirits away the children to Fairyland was brilliant. He took them, leaving the town that summoned him to make assumptions why he did it, while he hunted the child whose sacrifice would break his curse. Any extra children are turned into animals who will forget being human unless their enchantment is broken. This book has excellent representation of a shy kid with mobility challenges rising to when he’s needed after a lifetime of relying on other people. Beautiful story!
H.E. Edgmon’s ‘The Witch King’s and ‘The Fae Keeper’ are my recommendations for this list as well. i can’t decide what good things to say about that series because it’s my favorite thing I’ve read in years!
Thanks for the recommendations! I’ll have to look these up, especially Unseelie.
My recommendation is the 13 Treasures trilogy by Michelle Harrison. Book 1 follows Tanya, a girl who sees fairies– fairies who torment her when she does things they don’t like– as she works out the mystery of a girl who disappeared from her grandmother’s estate decades ago. Book 2 (my favorite) follows Red on her quest to rescue her little brother from the fairies; along the way she joins an underground group that works to return children who were kidnapped for the Changeling trade.
@11. Tyger Tyger and In the Forest of the Night were written by Kersten Hamilton. looks like there was a third book, When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears. The series is called The Goblin Wars. i haven’t read them but now i want to.
I was obsessed with the whole Tyger, Tyger series. I never knew anyone else read them!