The best YA fantasy books to read in one sitting

If you want a book that balances lush worlds, well-developed characters, romance, political intrigue, and beautiful writing, this is the book I will always recommend. 

After fleeing on her wedding day, Princess Lia begins a new life and identity as a tavern maid, but what she doesn’t know is that two young men who arrived also have their secret identities: one is the prince she jilted, the other an assassin meant to kill her. 

The reader is left in the dark as to which young man is which, with each character getting their own point of view chapters labeled simply as “the assassin” or “the prince.” What results is a heart-pounding and unputdownable ride that will leave you racing through the pages to see if your guesses were right and how the story unfolds. The suspicion and uncertainty I felt while reading and trying to figure out who was who was a feeling I’ll never forget. 

Within fifteen pages of picking up this book, I was stressed. The plot began on the first page and did not stop until the last. 

While Elias is a soldier and Leia is a slave, neither are free. They are both servants of a cruel and brutal empire that shows no mercy on its people. A rebellion rises, and Leia and Elias find themselves thrown together while fighting on separate sides of the conflict. 

There is no good stopping place within this book to break for food or change the laundry. Each chapter ends in such a way that you’re compelled to read the next to find out what happens. I still think about these characters and everything they went through. 

This was the book that I brought on vacation with me, and then it forced me to ignore my entire family. 

It’s a dark and gothic medieval murder mystery with Criminal Minds vibes but in a YA Fantasy setting. A rare moon magic gives our protagonist Catrin, the ability to see through the eyes of victims as they’re claimed by a serial killer, and the suspect may be closer to her than she thinks. 

This book kept me up late into the night, trying to figure out who the culprit was and leaving me to suspect almost the entire cast. It’s incredibly unique, and I’m not sure I’ve come across another book like it. It was just as riveting the second time through.

I happened upon a pristine hardcover of this book for $2 at the thrift store, and it was one of the best finds I have ever made. Magic is the best way to describe Stephanie Garber’s writing, and she delivers every time. 

Tella receives an invitation to the magical game of Caraval, and the winner receives one wish. Only this game revolves around her sister, and she has to find her before the five nights of the event are up. Each chapter leads you deeper into the game, and it had me at the edge of my seat until all was revealed at the end.

I love the whimsical nature of this world that makes you imagine throughout its pages that maybe anything is possible. 

I love a good mystery, and this book provided me with that small-town creepy vibe with just a dash of fantasy. No matter how many other things I needed to be doing, I couldn’t put this book down.

It follows a girl named Ellerie as her world slowly falls apart. They’re trying to find the people who went missing from an attack on a supply wagon and are afraid the monsters that once lived in the woods have returned.

Every moment had me guessing, had me suspecting one person or another, and as it neared the end, I wondered how the author was going to resolve and explain everything. I loved it because it was a book that sucked me in but left me unable to figure it out until the very end.