A list of YA high/epic fantasy books, published in 2016.

This list is only for books set in a fiction world, not for books set in our own world!
1

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3.78 avg rating — 420,262 ratings
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2

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4.19 avg rating — 53,564 ratings
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3

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4.15 avg rating — 72,299 ratings
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4

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4.57 avg rating — 762,800 ratings
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5

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4.22 avg rating — 195,679 ratings
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6

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3.85 avg rating — 53,321 ratings
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7

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4.03 avg rating — 99,495 ratings
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8

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3.74 avg rating — 21,804 ratings
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9

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3.93 avg rating — 15,982 ratings
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10

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3.55 avg rating — 11,512 ratings
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11

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4.20 avg rating — 17,508 ratings
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12

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3.95 avg rating — 66,230 ratings
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13

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4.10 avg rating — 48,310 ratings
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14

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4.05 avg rating — 6,780 ratings
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15

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3.79 avg rating — 12,969 ratings
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16

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3.81 avg rating — 53,159 ratings
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17

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3.82 avg rating — 19,394 ratings
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18

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4.02 avg rating — 17,128 ratings
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19

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4.09 avg rating — 254,656 ratings
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20

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4.22 avg rating — 12,583 ratings
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21

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3.66 avg rating — 5,931 ratings
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22

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4.23 avg rating — 459,049 ratings
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23

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3.65 avg rating — 8,809 ratings
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24

by
3.79 avg rating — 117,838 ratings
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25

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3.73 avg rating — 17,040 ratings
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25

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3.82 avg rating — 26,270 ratings
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27

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3.39 avg rating — 7,409 ratings
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28

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3.65 avg rating — 7,567 ratings
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29

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3.88 avg rating — 8,731 ratings
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30

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4.22 avg rating — 113,901 ratings
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31

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3.87 avg rating — 4,090 ratings
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32

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3.72 avg rating — 3,865 ratings
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33

by
3.54 avg rating — 3,461 ratings
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34

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3.32 avg rating — 5,311 ratings
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35

by
3.54 avg rating — 1,864 ratings
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36

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3.92 avg rating — 1,352,258 ratings
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37

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4.05 avg rating — 400,983 ratings
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38

by
4.04 avg rating — 5,463 ratings
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39

by
4.20 avg rating — 10,186 ratings
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40

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3.47 avg rating — 2,791 ratings
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41

by
4.15 avg rating — 206,283 ratings
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42

by
3.34 avg rating — 1,435 ratings
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43

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3.47 avg rating — 1,132,188 ratings
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44

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3.91 avg rating — 14,266 ratings
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45

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3.25 avg rating — 1,164 ratings
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46

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4.35 avg rating — 243,520 ratings
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47

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3.44 avg rating — 2,783 ratings
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48

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3.57 avg rating — 1,271 ratings
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49

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4.28 avg rating — 134,765 ratings
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50

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3.76 avg rating — 23,112 ratings
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51

by
4.19 avg rating — 105,489 ratings
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52

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3.56 avg rating — 28,309 ratings
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53

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3.68 avg rating — 22,115 ratings
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54

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3.91 avg rating — 254,204 ratings
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55

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3.80 avg rating — 919 ratings
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56

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4.23 avg rating — 70,101 ratings
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57

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3.83 avg rating — 1,536 ratings
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58

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3.69 avg rating — 97,987 ratings
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59

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4.98 avg rating — 40 ratings
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60

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3.87 avg rating — 1,955 ratings
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61

by
3.71 avg rating — 102 ratings
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62

by
4.12 avg rating — 50 ratings
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63

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4.06 avg rating — 12,976 ratings
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64

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4.01 avg rating — 656 ratings
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65

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4.03 avg rating — 11,399 ratings
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66

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3.71 avg rating — 4,393 ratings
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67

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3.77 avg rating — 882 ratings
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68

by
3.81 avg rating — 222 ratings
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69

by
4.41 avg rating — 309,630 ratings
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70

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3.40 avg rating — 578 ratings
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71

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3.62 avg rating — 2,091 ratings
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72

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3.89 avg rating — 18 ratings
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73

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3.75 avg rating — 1,472 ratings
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74

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4.32 avg rating — 77 ratings
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75

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4.49 avg rating — 3,929 ratings
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76

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3.74 avg rating — 65,066 ratings
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77

by
4.15 avg rating — 26 ratings
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77

by
3.95 avg rating — 387 ratings
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77

by
4.50 avg rating — 14 ratings
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80

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3.88 avg rating — 5,034 ratings
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81

by
4.08 avg rating — 2,686 ratings
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82

by
4.38 avg rating — 99 ratings
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83

by
4.22 avg rating — 11,398 ratings
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84

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4.19 avg rating — 1,100 ratings
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84

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3.82 avg rating — 7,847 ratings
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86

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4.01 avg rating — 1,367 ratings
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86

by
4.11 avg rating — 651 ratings
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88

by
3.95 avg rating — 107 ratings
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89

by
4.61 avg rating — 33 ratings
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90

by
4.56 avg rating — 9 ratings
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91

by
4.83 avg rating — 6 ratings
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92

by
3.77 avg rating — 48 ratings
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93

by
3.74 avg rating — 23 ratings
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94

by
4.31 avg rating — 3,199 ratings
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95

by
4.25 avg rating — 8 ratings
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95

by
4.55 avg rating — 779 ratings
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95

by
4.19 avg rating — 43 ratings
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95

by
4.09 avg rating — 67 ratings
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95

by
liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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100

by
4.20 avg rating — 2,136 ratings
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104 books · 569 voters · list created March 11th, 2015 by C (votes) .
114 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


C 2159 books
195 friends
Tommy 53 books
29 friends
Jamie 4174 books
374 friends
Henni 1006 books
63 friends
Jessica 24021 books
77 friends
Elizabeth 29 books
0 friends
Melissa 158 books
210 friends
patricia 700 books
67 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-10 of 10 (10 new)

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message 1: by Elias (last edited Aug 31, 2015 03:07PM) (new)

Elias Not all of these count as epic fantasy. Glass Sword is a dystopia. And let's face it: it's a romance novel more than anything. An enjoyable romance novel, but a romance novel nevertheless. If you don't have any battles or magic, you're not epic fantasy. The Throne of Glass series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, The Rose and the Dagger, The Shadow Queen and the confusingly-named The Great Hunt are all fairy tale retellings, so they don't count either. And I Darken (which I am REALLY excited for, for the record), The Blood Rose Rebellion, A Criminal Magic and My Lady Jane are alternate history. Also, as awesome as The Dark Days Club is going to be, it's fantasy of manners, and The Devil and the Bluebird is pure urban fantasy. With so little legit YA epic fantasy coming out, classifying dystopias and fairy tale retellings as epic fantasy will only hide the sad truth that there's just not enough of the real thing anymore. I'd like more The Hero and the Crown and less The Selection, please.

I don't mean any of this as a criticism toward anyone, and I'm very much looking forward to all books on this list. I'd go on the same rant if someone said that The Hero and the Crown was realistic fiction.


message 2: by C (new)

C Elias wrote: "Not all of these count as epic fantasy. Glass Sword is a dystopia. And let's face it: it's a romance novel more than anything. An enjoyable romance novel, but a romance novel nevertheless. If y..."

As mentioned in the description, this is a list for all epic/high fantasy novels as in books set in alternative, entirely fictional worlds and this applies to a lot of the books you mentioned.

I agree thought that there are some titles that definitely don't belong.


message 3: by Crimson Tala (new)

Crimson Tala What fairy tale is Throne of Glass based on?


These Violent Delights (Robin) Elias wrote: "Not all of these count as epic fantasy. Glass Sword is a dystopia. And let's face it: it's a romance novel more than anything. An enjoyable romance novel, but a romance novel nevertheless. If you d..."

Throne of Glass is NOT a fairy tale retelling, ACOTAR is though.


message 5: by Tana (new)

Tana Elentiya wrote: "What fairy tale is Throne of Glass based on?"

Robin wrote: "Elias wrote: "Not all of these count as epic fantasy. Glass Sword is a dystopia. And let's face it: it's a romance novel more than anything. An enjoyable romance novel, but a romance novel neverthe..."

Cinderella. Sarah built the story around the question of what if Cinderella went to the ball to assassinate the prince.


message 6: by Danielle (new)

Danielle Muse of Nightmares is 2017, not 2016


message 7: by Elias (new)

Elias Allow me to clarify: I did not mean to say that Glass Sword was enjoyable-- I was there referring to Red Queen. Glass Sword was excruciating. And seriously: you can love it, you can even name your daughter Mare Barrow if you want. But it is NOT epic fantasy. It's a romance novel, one step away from Twilight and The Selection.

Frankly, most of the books here are lacking in any sort of epicness. They're light, fluffy chick lit first and foremost. And I don't mean that in a sexist way, it's just how that sort of book is classified. There ARE true epic fantasy books on this list: A Torch Against the Night, Crooked Kingdom, Truthwitch, Crystal Storm, Rebel of the Sands, The Reader, Flamecasater, Bound by Blood and Sand, Three Dark Crowns, Keeper of the Mist and my beloved Goldenhand. But they are few and far between. And don't get me started on the sheer amount of books that are for adults, scripts for plays or came out before 2016.


♡Meme♡Reads love♡ Elias wrote: "Allow me to clarify: I did not mean to say that Glass Sword was enjoyable-- I was there referring to Red Queen. Glass Sword was excruciating. And seriously: you can love it, you can even name your ..."

Hi Elias Could you give me a list of the epic one for adults I'd appreciate that :)


Nina Brilliant Nemesis I removed A court of mist and fury and Empire of storms because the characters are all older than 18 and because pornographic scenes:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

More than 1200 people have added A court of mist and fury to their new adult shelves and more than 400 added Empire of Storms to new adult .

You can vote for ACOMAF and EOS in this list instead
https://www.goodreads.com/list/edit/4...


Nina Brilliant Nemesis I removed Heir of Fire (2014)


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