Books like The Empty Grave
The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud reads as adventurous, witty. These 12 books share its genome — matched by how they actually read, not just their shelf label.
What The Empty Grave is like to read
The finale of a ghost-hunting series where a teenage agency confronts the origin of 'the problem' — series-culminating stakes with supernatural allies and a long-running mystery finally cracking open. Best for: YA readers who've followed Lockwood & Co. and want the series-long mystery resolved.
The Screaming Staircase
Jonathan Stroud · 2013
A brisk, genuinely creepy ghost-hunting adventure narrated with dry teen wit, balancing real scares against banter among a scrappy trio.
A Darker Shade of Magic
V.E. Schwab · 2015
A brisk portal-fantasy adventure across four parallel Londons, pairing a rare magician-smuggler with a scrappy cutpurse as a dangerous artifact drags them between worlds.
Nevermoor
Jessica Townsend · 2017
A whisked-away-to-a-magical-city adventure structured around escalating trials, with a cursed heroine finding belonging among eccentric mentors and rivals.
The Lost Hero
Rick Riordan · 2010
A fast, quippy demigod adventure that rotates through three teen POVs as an amnesia mystery snowballs into a cross-country quest.
Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality
Roshani Chokshi · 2022
A fast, funny mythological quest full of banter and found-family warmth, balancing a countdown-to-doom plot against comic set-pieces like a rock concert trial.
Spy school
Stuart Gibbs · 2012
An ordinary kid gets yanked into a secret spy academy where the classes are as dangerous as the missions — a brisk, joke-forward middle-grade adventure built on fish-out-of-water gags and escalating capers.
Exile
Shannon Messenger · 2012
A propulsive middle-grade/YA fantasy sequel that blends cozy magical-creature care with escalating mystery and peril — earnest, plot-forward, and easy to binge.
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky
Kwame Mbalia · 2019
A grief-stricken boy punches into a mythic realm and finds himself thrown headlong into fast, funny, high-stakes adventure alongside African American folk heroes and West African gods.
How to Steal a Dragon's Sword
Cressida Cowell · 2011
A brisk, whimsical Viking-and-dragon adventure told through a clever underdog hero who wins by wits rather than muscle, ending on a hook that pulls readers into the next installment.
Amari and the Night Brothers
B. B. Alston · 2021
A middle-grade-leaning YA adventure that drops a scholarship-underdog heroine into a hidden magical bureau, braiding a missing-brother mystery with class-outsider stakes and a rowdy magical-creature supporting cast.
The Witches
Roald Dahl · 1983
A young boy discovers witches are real, organized, and hungry to exterminate children—Dahl's macabre glee and a brave grandmother turn genuine menace into propulsive, darkly funny adventure with an earned victory.
The iron trial
Holly Black · 2014
A propulsive middle-grade/YA magic-school opener built around a trial, an ensemble of young apprentices, and secrets that hook readers into a series.
About The Empty Grave — what the genome says
Is The Empty Grave a complete story or a cliffhanger?
The main arc resolves, with wider series threads left open.
How scary is The Empty Grave?
Genuinely frightening — the genome rates its fear intensity high.
Who is The Empty Grave for?
It's young adult — teen protagonists with crossover appeal.
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