Books like The Awakening

The Awakening by Caroline Peckham reads as dark, intense. These 12 books share its genome — matched by how they actually read, not just their shelf label.

What The Awakening is like to read

A brash, banter-heavy magical academy romp where a twin heir dropped into a lethal fae school has to bully-fight her way to a throne — propulsive, trope-stacked, and unapologetically horny. Reads fast, escalates hard, and clearly the opening move in a long serialized arc. Best for: readers who want bully-romance academy chaos with reverse-harem energy and constant escalation.

Fourth Wing

Rebecca Yarros · 2023

A propulsive, trial-by-fire academy fantasy where lethal dragon-bonding trials braid into a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers arc with a smart-mouthed underdog narrator.

happy-for-nowhigh heatcreepy, not gory

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Sarah J. Maas · 2015

A Beauty-and-the-Beast retelling that opens grim and hungry, warms into a lush faerie romance, then pivots into a trial-driven final act — propulsive, sensual, and unabashedly tropey.

happy-for-nowhigh heatcreepy, not gory

The Never King

Nikki St. Crowe · 2022

A dark Peter Pan retelling that trades whimsy for hate-kissing, bickering, and possessive Lost Boys — enemies-to-lovers with morally gray love interests and an escalating captor-captive tension.

high heatcreepy, not gorycliffhanger

Zodiac Academy 2

Caroline Peckham · 2019

A fast, plotting revenge-and-survival read at a magic academy, told through an ensemble of voices scheming against powerful rivals.

mildly eerieYAcliffhanger

Fearless

Lauren Roberts · 2025

A propulsive, emotionally charged trilogy finale that leans hard into the love-versus-loyalty dilemma, with dual-POV chapters and cliffhanger beats keeping the pages turning.

guaranteed HEAmildly eerie

Gleam

Raven Kennedy · 2021

A captive heroine narrates her own turn from repression toward dark anger and dangerous attraction, caught in the schemes of rival kings — a plot of revenge, entrapment, and forbidden pull.

cliffhangerdeep cut

Spirit Bound

Richelle Mead · 2010

A fast, emotionally charged YA paranormal read driven by Rose's guilt and fear over Dimitri's transformation, with academy drama and romantic longing propelling the plot forward.

creepy, not goryYAcliffhanger

The Cruel Prince

Holly Black · 2018

A sharp, morally-gray faerie court intrigue where a mortal girl claws for power among those who despise her — cool, calculating prose that builds to escalating betrayals and a barbed enemies-to-lovers charge.

YAcliffhanger

Daughter of the pirate king

Tricia Levenseller · 2017

A brash teen pirate captain lets herself get captured on purpose, turning the enemy ship into her playing field — a plot-forward YA adventure built on banter and cat-and-mouse tension.

mildly eerieYAcliffhanger

Kings rising

C. S. Pacat · 2016

The series finale delivers escalating political maneuvering and a hard-won alliance-turned-romance between two rival princes, with tension sustained through betrayal and shifting l

deep cut