Fans pick 75 books like Falling Kingdoms

If we’re talking dragons and just dragons–technically, they’re wyverns, and technically, they didn’t show up until the third book, but I was absolutely captivated by the whole series. It drew me out of a years-long reading slump and left a hole in my chest since finishing. I felt each book becoming part of my being. 

Marie Lu knows how to craft an adventure and the premise of The Young Elites is fascinating: what if the hero of the story might be a villain?

The struggles of this novel’s characters draw the reader in and never flag in their authenticity. The world is brutal and beautiful with Lu keeping readers on their toes every step of the way. 

Karou is caught in a war between angels and demons (the ultimate simplified description). And Karou is a main character I love to cheer for. She's just so witty and full of angst on a totally relatable level. She's having the mother of all identity crises and feeling the ultimate tug of war between the human world and a dimension inhabited by the strange creatures that raised her.

Pair that awesome premise with Laini Taylor's incredibly lush writing, and the story is just fantastic. I kept turning page after page not only to immerse myself in Taylor's beautiful prose but also because this story is just compelling. I've reread this entire series, and I loved it even more the second time through.

Accidental necromancy is my cup of tea, so I was immediately drawn into the story of Tea—yes, that’s her name—and her resurrected brother.

I loved how Tea felt pulled in so many directions and how she was just looking for her own path. I found the inclusion of her power of necromancy to be such a strong commentary on how isolating it can be to be different. And how people fear differences, to begin with. 

If you’re a fan of reimagined classic fairy tales, you’ll love C. J. Redwine’s Robin Hood-esque take on Snow White (with dragons!)

Unlike the classic Princess Snow White of old, Princess Lorelai is no simpering miss. She’s a powerful magic-wielder with a cause. As Lorelai learns to control and develop her magic, friends (and dragon-shifters!) join the quest to rid her kingdom—and the young shifter king she loves—from its menace: her wicked aunt, who used magic to take over the land.

With some imagery loosely borrowed—and creatively adjusted!—from the classic Snow White story, this new tale features a fresh heroine who doesn’t expect anyone to rescue her kingdom for her. The Shadow Queen is a romantic and epically-reimagined fairy tale with beautiful themes of sacrificial love.

This book contains everything I love in a novel—deadly magic, mistaken identities, court intrigue, female friendships, and perhaps most importantly, romance! Exiled princess Wilhelmina has a vendetta against the Indigo Kingdom which long ago invaded her homeland and murdered her family. With the help of her best friend, she infiltrates the royal court in disguise and seeks to regain her throne. But obstacles are many—Wil harbors a magical secret that just might get her killed, a masked vigilante won’t leave her alone, and a magical blight is slowly sweeping through the land and destroying everything in its path. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time as I read this captivating book, and when it ended with a cliffhanger I nearly had a heart attack! Fortunately its sequel answered all my questions and more.

Set in a fantasy world inspired by North African folklore and mythology, A River of Royal Blood creates the perfect environment for magic not seen in the mainstream literary fiction.

Within the story, magic plays an integral part in the conflict known as the “Rival Heir” tradition, where the female heirs to the throne must fight one another to the death when the youngest turns of age. Only one of them can be queen. The magic is their greatest tool but is somehow Eva’s greatest curse as no one knows how to use her magic, least of all her. And when more than just her older sister wants her dead because of her powerful magic, I was on the edge of my seat and impatiently awaiting a sequel.

George MacDonald’s mystical adoration of nature shines through all his writings. His books take place in Nineteenth-Century Scotland and England, in an obviously much quieter age. His insights into the living chorus of the natural world transcend any I have ever read.

His characters walk everywhere and absorb the natural world as if through a loving relationship with another soul. I consider George MacDonald my teacher, as did C.S. Lewis. This was written for children, or the childlike in all of us. I read it every year and have dedicated my book, Whippoorwill Willingly to MacDonald.

Tamora Pierce was one of the authors that initially introduced me to my lifelong love of young adult fantasy, and all her books are wonderful. I picked Wild Magic because the protagonist has some really enviable magical abilities that I loved reading about and watching her develop. (True confession: I also may or may not have had a pretty tragic crush on the love interest in this book in high school...) This one will always be a favorite!

Holly Black co-wrote the Spiderwick Chronicles and knows her stuff. I found this series of graphic novels extremely entertaining, and chillingly true to the old legends. Black takes old legends from several Eurocentric cultures and has them coexisting in one single city, as just people, trying to make it. Poor Rue, the main character, is only half-human. When she finds out her mother is one of "the good neighbors"-- a fairy princess, she has to venture to her grandfather's realm to find her, meanwhile, a swan maiden is murdered up the street, and nixies steal her boyfriend. The drama of the series was riveting, as were the legends she called upon.