The Cruel Prince is Holly Black's 2018 YA fae romance — the book that cemented enemies-to-lovers as romantasy's defining trope. Jude Duarte, a mortal girl raised in the faerie courts, refuses to be powerless in a world that sees her as prey. Prince Cardan despises her. She schemes to outmaneuver him. Then it gets complicated. The blueprint every fae romantasy after it was measured against.
Curated from real reader threads on Reddit (r/RomanceBooks, r/Fantasy, r/suggestmeabook) and cross-referenced against Goodreads and BookTok. Updated regularly.
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by Sarah J. Maas
Feyre Archeron, a mortal huntress, is dragged into the enchanted fae lands after killing a wolf — and pulled into a world of dangerous courts, dark magic, and a love that will unmake and remake her. The adult version of what Cruel Prince built, with full romance and explicit scenes. Mentioned in 11 of 20 books-like-Cruel-Prince threads on Reddit.
by Sabaa Tahir
Laia of Serra infiltrates a brutal military academy as a spy to free her brother, while a soldier named Elias questions the empire he was raised to serve. Same brutal power dynamics, same slow-burn tension across enemy lines. Mentioned in 6 of 20 Cruel Prince threads on Reddit.
by Renée Ahdieh
Shahrzad volunteers to marry the Caliph of Khorasan — the king who killed her best friend and takes a new wife each morning. She plans to avenge her — and discovers the caliph hides secrets darker than his reputation. Same political scheming, same enemies-to-lovers realization wrapped in gorgeous prose.
by Rebecca Yarros
Dragon-rider war academy with a morally grey love interest and a protagonist who shouldn't survive. Adult and explicit, but structurally the closest heir to Cruel Prince's energy in the current market.
by Sara Hashem
A survivor of a destroyed magical kingdom must compete in a deadly tournament while hiding her magic from the ruthless general hunting her kind. Court politics, enemies-to-lovers, and a slow burn that pays off.
by Sue Lynn Tan
Xingyin grows up hiding on the moon — her mother imprisoned by the Emperor of the Immortal Realm — and must enter the Celestial Kingdom disguised to earn her mother's freedom. Lush prose, Chinese mythology, and a slow-burn romance with a morally complex love interest.
It's YA — violence is present (torture, death, manipulation) but the romance is not explicit. Most Reddit parents put age appropriateness at 14+. The themes of power, manipulation, and consent are handled with more nuance than most adult romantasy.
Yes — the trilogy (The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King, The Queen of Nothing) is one complete arc and should be read in order. Don't stop at book 1. Book 2 is where Cardan becomes the character readers obsess over.
The Book of Night (2022) is her adult debut — a dark fantasy about a woman who can steal shadows, set in a world where shadows do magic. Book of Day is the companion novella. Both are excellent entry points for older readers.
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