Best Young Adult Books Compared
Twelve YA series starters side by side, from dystopian survival stories to faerie courts, heists and swoony rom-coms. Compare length, tone and content so teen and adult readers can find the right first book.
| Book | Rating |
|---|---|
 The Hunger Games | 5/5
|
 Six of Crows | 5/5
|
 Throne of Glass | 4/5
|
 The Cruel Prince | 4/5
|
 Children of Blood and Bone | 4/5
|
 An Ember in the Ashes | 4/5
|
 Red Queen | 3/5
|
 Divergent | 3/5
|
 Legend | 4/5
|
 We Were Liars | 4/5
|
 Twilight | 3/5
|
 To All the Boys I've Loved Before | 3/5
|
Jim's Quick Takes
The Hunger Games
The benchmark for YA dystopia. Katniss narrates in a tense first-person present as she survives a televised fight to the death, so the pace never lets up. It is sharper about media and power than Divergent or Red Queen, and violent in a way the story takes seriously. At 374 pages it opens a trilogy, with prequels that came later.
Read full review →Six of Crows
The best pick for readers who want a heist. A crew of outcasts tries to break into an impregnable prison, told through several narrators with tight plotting and constant reversals. It's grittier than Throne of Glass, with violence and references to trafficking. Set in the Grishaverse, but it works without reading Shadow and Bone first, and it's one half of a duology.
Read full review →Throne of Glass
An assassin fights her way through a deadly royal competition to win her freedom. The first book is a contained tournament story, which makes it an easy entry point compared with the court politics of The Cruel Prince. It opens a long series that grows much longer, darker and more mature as it goes, which suits readers ready for a multi-year commitment.
Read full review →The Cruel Prince
The top choice for scheming and enemies-to-lovers tension. A mortal girl raised in the High Court of Faerie plots her way toward power while clashing with a cruel prince. It's more about politics and betrayal than battles, and sharper and meaner than Twilight's romance. At 370 pages, it opens the Folk of the Air trilogy.
Read full review →Children of Blood and Bone
The richest magic system on this page, drawn from West African mythology. Zélie sets out to bring magic back after a king's purge, and the story moves among several narrators across a big, cinematic quest. At 544 pages it is the longest book here, and it opens a series. Choose it over Red Queen for deeper world-building.
Read full review →An Ember in the Ashes
The darkest fantasy on the page. A spy inside a brutal military academy and a soldier who wants out of the empire tell the story in alternating chapters, in a setting modeled on ancient Rome. It contains harsh violence and threats of sexual assault, so it suits older teens and adults. It opens a four-book series.
Read full review →Red Queen
A fast, twisty mix of superpowers and palace intrigue: a commoner discovers a power she shouldn't have and is forced to pose as royalty. It covers ground similar to Children of Blood and Bone and The Hunger Games with a lighter touch and simpler world-building. A good pick for readers who want plot over depth, and it opens a series.
Read full review →Divergent
Dystopia built around a single big idea: a future Chicago sorts everyone into five factions by virtue. It's more action-driven and less political than The Hunger Games, with a romance near the center. At 487 pages it's longer than it reads, and it opens a trilogy that divides fans with its ending.
Read full review →Legend
The quickest dystopian read here at 305 pages. A wanted criminal and a military prodigy hunt each other through a future Los Angeles, in alternating chapters that keep the cat-and-mouse tension high. It's less brutal than The Hunger Games and tighter than Divergent, and it opens a trilogy.
Read full review →We Were Liars
The only standalone on this page and the shortest at 227 pages. A girl from a wealthy family tries to remember what happened during one island summer, in short, fragmented chapters. It's a suspense novel rather than fantasy or dystopia, and it depends on a twist, so avoid spoilers. A later prequel exists, but this book stands alone.
Read full review →Twilight
The vampire romance that defined a YA era. A new girl in a rainy town falls for a mysterious classmate who turns out to be a vampire. It's all about romantic tension, with a thinner plot than anything else here. Pick it for nostalgia or pure swoon rather than world-building; it opens a four-book saga.
Read full review →To All the Boys I've Loved Before
The only contemporary rom-com here. Lara Jean's secret love letters get mailed to every boy she's had a crush on, which leads to a fake relationship and real feelings. It's warm, funny and centered on her Korean American family, with no magic or violence. It opens a trilogy that was also adapted into Netflix films.
Read full review →How to Choose
Start with genre. For dystopian survival and rebellion, the choice is The Hunger Games, Divergent or Legend; The Hunger Games has the most bite and Legend is the quickest. For fantasy, Six of Crows is the heist, The Cruel Prince is court scheming, Throne of Glass is an assassin's competition, and Children of Blood and Bone has the most original magic. For romance, Twilight is paranormal swoon and To All the Boys I've Loved Before is a cozy rom-com. We Were Liars is for readers who want a single, short, twisty novel.
Then weigh content. To All the Boys and Legend are the gentlest picks here. An Ember in the Ashes and Six of Crows are the darkest, with brutal violence and mature themes, and the later Throne of Glass books grow more adult. Parents choosing for younger teens may also want to look at our best books for teens page, which leans toward contemporary and classic novels.
Series Commitments
Eleven of these twelve books open a series, so check how far you want to go. Six of Crows is a duology. The Hunger Games, Divergent, Legend, The Cruel Prince and To All the Boys I've Loved Before are trilogies at their core. Twilight runs four books and An Ember in the Ashes four. Children of Blood and Bone opens the Legacy of Orïsha series. Throne of Glass and Red Queen are the longest commitments.
Plenty of adults read YA, and these books work well for book clubs that mix ages. For a quick taste of an author before a long series, Legend and We Were Liars are the shortest entries on the page.