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40 Royal Reads for YA Fans
Bow down, readers. We've rounded up the most popular royal books in the young adult fandom. How are we qualifying their noble pedigree? If their story contains court intrigue, palace drama, or kingdoms in peril, you'll likely find it below.
For this list, we measured popularity by looking at the number of times readers have added these books to their Want to Read shelves. To keep it focused, we only included royal reads published within the last ten years (sorry, Graceling and The Princess Diaries).
Additionally, if an author wrote more than one regally themed series (looking at you, Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo), we only included a single title. We also have a section of the most beloved monarchs currently holding court in 2019. Long may they reign.
As you can see, YA sci-fi and fantasy titles take the lion's share of this list. Though there are a few new contemporaries that have recently popped up, including Rachel Hawkins' Her Royal Highness and American Royals by Katherine McGee.
Which ones will you be raising your banners for? Let us know in the comments!
Royal Reads from 2019 (So Far)
For this list, we measured popularity by looking at the number of times readers have added these books to their Want to Read shelves. To keep it focused, we only included royal reads published within the last ten years (sorry, Graceling and The Princess Diaries).
Additionally, if an author wrote more than one regally themed series (looking at you, Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo), we only included a single title. We also have a section of the most beloved monarchs currently holding court in 2019. Long may they reign.
As you can see, YA sci-fi and fantasy titles take the lion's share of this list. Though there are a few new contemporaries that have recently popped up, including Rachel Hawkins' Her Royal Highness and American Royals by Katherine McGee.
Which ones will you be raising your banners for? Let us know in the comments!
Which royal reads would you recommend for YA fans? Let us know in the comments!
Check out more recent articles:
The Best Young Adult Books of September
Heroes Hit the Road in Rainbow Rowell's 'Wayward Son'
Jacqueline Woodson Shares Her Favorite Books
Check out more recent articles:
The Best Young Adult Books of September
Heroes Hit the Road in Rainbow Rowell's 'Wayward Son'
Jacqueline Woodson Shares Her Favorite Books
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madison (masquerade) ♫
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Sep 10, 2019 06:36AM
YES! I'm so happy they did an article about all the best royal YA books! I'm always flocking to this genre.
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Couldn't have gotten here at a better time. Need a new read 🥰🥰
Another great one that I REALLY loved was Red, White & Royal Blue
Look for Annie Sullivan's royal YA titles "A Touch of Gold," and "Tiger Queen," which released today!
Love that And I Darken is up here.Not quite a 'royal' setting, but there is a prince so... adding The Merciful Crow to the list.
Where is "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas? That is one of my favorites. Also "Ghosts of the Shadowmarket" by Cassandra Clare is really good. I just finished it last week.
The Black Jewel Trilogy by Anne Bishop and A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness are two of my all time favorites
omg yasss throne of glass definitely deserves the spot but a court of thorn and roses should be up there too!!
"if an author wrote more than one regally themed series (looking at you, Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo), we only included a single title."🙂
Madison wrote: "YES! I'm so happy they did an article about all the best royal YA books! I'm always flocking to this genre."Me too I love them so much.
kylie wrote: "Another great one that I REALLY loved was Red, White & Royal Blue"Yes I just finished it.
This is an incredible list! yay - more to add to my wish list.
Alya wrote: "I'm starting the Cruel Prince this week!"I loved it sooooo much
Jenny wrote: "Where is "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas? That is one of my favorites. Also "Ghosts of the Shadowmarket" by Cassandra Clare is really good. I just finished it last week."I so agree with this "A Court of Thorns and Roses" is so good!!
looking at the list I realize I read like half of the books on it. xD I really love royal YA books. lol
Thank you for this! I found some new reads. I am so happy to see Mary E. Pearson on this list. The Remnant Chronicles and Dance of Thieves are some of my favorites! I also loved The Queen’s Rising and Everless!
I've read a fair good number of these. :P
I've read only TWO of these so far so reading time .Any recommendations on books that have the TRULY DEVIOUS feel please do suggest
Looking at this list, I've either read them or they're on by TBR list. :D(And to those who're interested in reading 'The Queen of the Tearling', do NOT read past book 1. It changes genres in the second book and, looking at spoilers, becomes a complete waste of time in the last book.)
Here are some more suggestions:
I just finished Children of Blood and Bone and it was an amazing book, had me glued to my seat with suspense
Check out The Golden Pearl and The Lotus Pearl, both by Cassandra Beck!
I liked King of Flames, but you have to be certain to read King of Shadows right after. By itself, Flames is a blah book with a meh ending. Fortunately, Kat Kingsley herself reached out to me on here and said, "Hey, my editor cut my story off in the wrong place. Here's a copy of Shadows!" and it was much better.
So is royalty the new hot trend in YA then (similar to the dystopian craze from a few years ago, and vampires before that)?
Autumn wrote: "So is royalty the new hot trend in YA then (similar to the dystopian craze from a few years ago, and vampires before that)?"I think royalty has been hot for quite a few years, it's just been underground. Two of these series (Red Queen and The Selection) have already finished; Selection even went on to have two spin-offs with the protagonist's daughter.
I wish The Shadow Prince had made the list. The Mortal Enchantment series is all about the battles between the ruling elemental families.
THANKS GOODREADS for this!! I love these types of books and so many are on my TBR!!
3 months later, and I am STILL struggling with 'Glass Sword', book #2 in the Red Queen series... Mare is just so angsty and complains all throughout the book it seems!!
The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson is amazing as well!!
Read quite a few of these before seeing this list and I just wanted to say that Girls of Paper and Fire and And I Darken are definitely worth reading.
Katey wrote: "Alya wrote: "I'm starting the Cruel Prince this week!"I loved it sooooo much"
i loved it too much!! i can't even read another book because i'm still in elfhame!!
I don't normally read this sort of fiction but I may give it a try. Who knows? Maybe I'll find what I'm looking for. Any recommendations? What do I absolutely have to read?
Carissa wrote: "3 months later, and I am STILL struggling with 'Glass Sword', book #2 in the Red Queen series... Mare is just so angsty and complains all throughout the book it seems!!"If you ever get past book 2, I'd stop after book 3. I never read book 4 because (for me) the story line just went downhill.
Lina wrote: "Katey wrote: "Alya wrote: "I'm starting the Cruel Prince this week!"I loved it sooooo much"
i loved it too much!! i can't even read another book because i'm still in elfhame!!"
There is a new book coming out soon about Carden! I am so excited for it!!
