3 Young Adult Fantasy Novels You Have to Read

by MK French

If you love young adult fantasy novels, then you will want to add these books to your list of books to read.

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Reign of the Talon by Sophie Kim

February 2025; Entangled: Teen; 978-1649374288
audio, ebook, print (480 pages); YA fantasy

Shin Lina is caged within her own mind, and chaos sweeps across the Three Kingdoms. Haneul Rui continues to fight against the serpentine Imugi, fighting against the prophecy filled with death and destruction. The Prophecy has a life of its own, using the red thread of fate to tie them all together; wounding one is to wound them all. To kill the Child of Venom is to kill them all.

Reign of the Talon is the conclusion of the trilogy which began in Last of the Talons and Wrath of the Talon. The Korean underworld and the dangerous gangs of Shin Lina's world play a central role in this trilogy. Caught by grief and pulled in different directions by her alliances, Lina had let the voice in the back of her mind take control, and now she's a passenger helplessly watching terrible things unfold. She's caught by her guilt, a literal demon using her worst thoughts against her, and the prophecy wanting to keep her contained. Rui still hopes to save her, especially once he discovers that there are actually two red threads: one of love tying him to Lina and one of hate to the prophecy. Even those who should have been close to them can see there are differences, though they don't initially know what that means.

War isn't pretty, and the war in these three kingdoms kills humans, dokkaebi and imugi alike. The gods themselves eventually take notice, as the prophecy is large enough to have taken on a life of its own with Lina trapped. Some hidden truths come out; nothing that rocks the plot, but it shifts the foundations for the characters and helps them make different decisions over time. There are challenges Lina must undertake to get her body back, and Rui works hard to try to hold off the warriors intent on killing her body or him to get to her. They both strive to be together again, to limit the bloodshed around them, and thwart the prophecy. But they usually don't mean what others think they do, so the final third of the novel contains twists and then a bittersweet denouement that fits the story and all of the characters involved. It's a beautiful way to close out the trilogy.

Buy Reign of the Talon at Amazon

The Wildest Things by Andrea Hannah

February 2025; Wednesday Books; 978-1250884497
audio, ebook, print (320 pages); YA fairy tale

Snow White awakens to a ravaged world when her glass coffin shatters. Her kingdom of Roanfrost suffered under the Blight, and now Snow wants to restore her kingdom. She must go on a dangerous journey to become the Seasonkeeper and access the life-giving magic that will heal the plague. She must be careful because the wild things have awakened and Snow’s darker impulses want to set them free.

The world this takes place in has seasonal magic, with Nature choosing who wields it in balance to maintain the seasons. After her mother's death, Snow White's father had her stepmother installed as Seasonkeeper even though she didn't hear the call of Nature, further destabilizing the land. Snow grew up thinking she was good for nothing but running away, singing, and crying. She starts off her reawakening in this frame of mind, and we learn about the land and the magic along with her. She thinks that her worth is in being beautiful and pure, and the journey she takes in the book shakes the foundation of that belief.

The book has the premise "What if Snow White fights back?" It's not necessarily the kind of fight where she takes on an army, but where she uses the skills she has and the allies she made to effect change. The magic of winter is subtle, so she misses for a long time what actually works for her. The conflict with the new Evil Queen hovers throughout the novel; both girls are made to feel less than, trapped by the expectations of the evil stepmother. The balance of life and nature must be maintained, so there are hints that another book will continue this story.

Buy The Wildest Things at Amazon

The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor

February 2025; G.P. Putnam's Sons; 978-0593404546
audio, ebook, print (416 pages); YA fantasy

Maeve Abernathy had to go into hiding after her father was accused of terrible crimes. When she receives a letter saying Your father was innocent, she plans to uncover the truth. She poses as an apprentice for the Otherwhere Post to be trained in scriptomancy, the dangerous magic allowing people to enchant letters and deliver them to various worlds. Searching for the truth is drawing too much attention, and her mentor knows she's lying about her identity. She's being threatened, and being told to stop her investigation or else.

Three worlds were linked together by Written Doors allowing travel and trade between them. Other worlds were infected with Aldervine, a plant that sank into people and put them to sleep as it consumed them. Maeve’s father was reviled as the man who brought it to Inverley, which devastated the world and killed everyone in it before it was sealed and the Written Doors destroyed. The people who were trapped in the other two worlds remain there, and only the people trained in scriptomancy and are able to use the traveling scripts can become couriers. Once thinking she could run away, Maeve decides to steal the identity of a potential student to discover the truth about her father. Her mentor has secrets and heartbreak of his own, and someone is using scriptomancy to send Maeve subtle threats and scares in the school.

The world details are really fun to read about. The quality of quills, ink, and paper and how to stop the magic from bleeding through the paper are discussed, as well as the rigid rules required to be a courier. The couriers are the only ones able to move between the two remaining worlds due to the time and energy to hone the magic talents involved. While Maeve only wanted to discover the truth about her father, she learns about scribing, and even makes friends in spite of herself. The threats she faced are really inventive, and the showdown in the final quarter of the book was tense and drew me in. I really enjoyed the world here, and the characters portrayed in it.

Buy The Otherwhere Post at Amazon

Born and raised in New York City, M.K. French started writing stories when very young, dreaming of different worlds and places to visit. She always had an interest in folklore, fairy tales, and the macabre, which has definitely influenced her work. She currently lives in the Midwest with her husband, three young children, and a golden retriever.

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