The best YA romantic fantasy series with a strong female protagonist

Shadow and Bone has two of my favorite tropes: unrequited love and a dark handsome antagonist who may, or may not, turn out to be a romantic lead. But what makes this book unforgettable for me is the world the author has created.

Based on 19th Century Russia, with a tzar-like king, a powerful church, and saints loving peasantry, Ravka is a world in constant war; its people divided between those who have powers (Grisha) and those who don’t. It’s also physically divided in two by the Unsea, a dark sand desert haunted by monsters, that runs north to south and restricts vital trade coming from the western coast.

When Alina is revealed to have the power to summon light, she becomes Ravka’s most precious weapon, for her light, they hope, will destroy the darkness of the Unsea and give Ravka the ultimate power over its enemies.

Katniss is her family’s breadwinner. Against all odds she has managed to keep her mother and younger sister alive after her father’s death.

We meet her on the day of the Reaping, the day the tributes are chosen to fight in the Capitol. When her sister is chosen, Katniss volunteers in her place, and the crowd’s refusal to clap in celebration of this annual ritual is the first act of defiance she will inspire. Others follow, culminating, at the end of the games, with her clever challenge to the cruel rules of a contest that pits children against each other, to murder or being murdered.

The ultimate survivor, Katniss is a magnificent heroine. She loves and fights fiercely, and the fact that she does not delude herself sugarcoating her actions makes her even more real and relatable.

The second book in The Thief series, The Queen of Attolia is also, IMO, the most romantic.

It starts with a bang, Eugenides of Edis, the thief who can steal anything, is caught spying on the queen of Attolia, the sworn enemy of his own queen. Attolia’s brutal punishment of her rival’s cousin sends Eugenides into a downward spiral of regret and self-loathing.

Yet, when his cunning and skills are the only thing that stands between victory and defeat, Eugenides once more must rise to the call and try to steal the most precious prize of all, the queen’s heart.

An impressive world building, a lovable, if irritating, protagonist, and a most inventive and clever plot make for an unforgettable read.

One of my all-time favorite series, The Shamer Chronicles, forces us to take a harder look at the nature of power and the real meaning of courage.

In The Shamer’s War, Dina, our protagonist, is thirteen and in love for the first time. The object of her unrequited affections is none other than Nico, the rightful heir to Dunark who has taken refuge with her family. When Nico decides to challenge his half-brother to stop his thirst for blood, Dina follows him. But this time, even her powers may not be able to protect them from the war that’s coming.

Unrequited love, dragons, magical powers, a reluctant hero, a strong antagonist, and a well-plotted story makes The Shamer’s War a worthy conclusion to this series.

When Birle finds Orien stealing a boat by the river that runs through her village, and tries to stop him, she ends up falling in love with the young lord and his disturbing blue eyes.

Despite her infatuation, Birle is no fool. She knows that, as an innkeeper’s daughter, she has no chance to win Orien’s affections, yet she joins him in his ill-planned adventure, for she doubts the pampered lord will survive without her practical skills.

Together they enter a world that’s more dangerous than any of them could have imagined, a world that will bring them together and apart, as the wheel of fortune turns, moving the story to an unexpected, yet satisfying conclusion.

The Tale of Birle is a heartbreaking story of love and courage, that stole my heart from the first page.