Cover of City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

5 book recommendations

Books Like “City of Bones” by Cassandra Clare

If you fell in love with City of Bones for its hidden supernatural worlds, sharp banter, and thrilling urban fantasy romance, your journey does not have to end in the Shadow World. Explore this curated collection of gripping adventures to find your next unforgettable, magic-filled obsession.

  1. Cover of Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

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    Legendborn

    by Tracy Deonn

    An Instant New York Times Bestseller!
    Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award

    Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy reinvents the King Arthur legend and “braids together Southern folk traditions and Black Girl Magic into a searing modern tale of grief, power, and self-discovery” (Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles).

    After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

    A flying demon feeding on human energies.

    A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

    And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

    The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

    She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

    This paperback edition of Legendborn contains a teaser to the thrilling sequel, Bloodmarked, as well as an exclusive short story from Selwyn Kane's perspective!

    Why it's similar

    Both feature a teenage girl who uncovers a secret order of demon-fighting warriors descended from legendary lineage, discovering her own hidden magical heritage in the process.

    What's different

    Legendborn is set on a modern university campus and grounds its Arthurian mythology in ancestral magic, generational trauma, and American racial history.

  2. Cover of Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

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    Vampire Academy

    by Richelle Mead

    “We’re suckers for it.” — Entertainment Weekly

    Join the legion of fans who skyrocketed this six-book series to the top of the charts. Start here, with the first book that kicked off the international #1 bestselling Vampire Academy series.

    Love and loyalty run deeper than blood. St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger. . . .

    Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

    Why it's similar

    Both books feature a hidden supernatural society existing alongside the human world, focusing on teenage guardians trained to battle monstrous threats alongside high-stakes forbidden romance.

    What's different

    Vampire Academy takes place primarily within a secluded, gothic boarding school and focuses heavily on vampire class politics rather than an expansive urban demon-hunting setting.

  3. Cover of Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

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    Daughter of Smoke & Bone

    by Laini Taylor

    Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

    In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

    And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

    Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

    When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

    Why it's similar

    Both novels center on an artistic young woman living in a major city who discovers an unseen war between supernatural factions and learns that her true identity is tied to that conflict.

    What's different

    Taylor's novel employs a more lyrical, mythic prose style and quickly expands into an epic portal fantasy across other dimensions rather than staying rooted in contemporary urban streets.

  4. Cover of The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

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    The Iron King

    by Julie Kagawa

    Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

    Why it's similar

    Both books follow an ordinary teenage girl who enters a dangerous supernatural realm to save a loved one, finding an arrogant, lethal male ally who becomes her love interest.

    What's different

    The Iron King transports the protagonist almost entirely into the otherworldly fae realm of the Nevernever, emphasizing folkloric portal fantasy over modern metropolitan supernatural subcultures.

  5. Cover of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

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    The Raven Boys

    by Maggie Stiefvater

    An all-new series from the masterful, #1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!

    Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

    Why it's similar

    Like City of Bones, it is a contemporary YA fantasy where teens uncover a secret magical landscape intertwined with their everyday world, featuring complex friendships, prophecy, and a blend of romance and supernatural adventure.

    What's different

    Its pacing is quieter and more character-driven, focusing heavily on relationships, atmosphere, and a slowly unfolding mythic mystery rather than nonstop demon-hunting action.

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