The hardest part of finding books like ACOTAR is that everyone means something different by it. Some people want the fae courts, some want the Beauty and the Beast opening, some want a Rhysand, and some just want the spice. Book six came out today and book seven isn't until January 12, so here are ten picks sorted by what actually hooked you, all of them beyond the usual list of suspects.
The quick list
If you loved the fae courts
- An Enchantment of Ravens - Margaret Rogerson (a painter and the autumn prince)
- The Wren in the Holly Library - K.A. Linde (a thief, a dangerous employer and old fae lore)
- Faebound - Saara El-Arifi (elven soldiers and a hidden fae world)
If you loved the Beauty and the Beast opening
- A Curse So Dark and Lonely - Brigid Kemmerer (a cursed prince, a girl from our world)
- Uprooted - Naomi Novik (the wizard in the tower takes a girl every ten years)
If you loved the Night Court
- The Shadows Between Us - Tricia Levenseller (a ruthless heroine and the Shadow King)
- Throne of the Fallen - Kerri Maniscalco (the Prince of Envy)
- One Dark Window - Rachel Gillig (a gothic bond with a monster inside)
If you loved the bargains and the heat
- King of Battle and Blood - Scarlett St. Clair (a vampire king and a political marriage)
- The Witch Collector - Charissa Weaks (a witch, a bargain and a man who isn't what he seems)
At a glance
| Book | Best if you loved | Read level |
|---|---|---|
| An Enchantment of Ravens | Book one's fae glamour | YA, standalone |
| The Wren in the Holly Library | Fae myth with a bargain at the center | Adult, series |
| Faebound | Warrior heroines, Nesta energy | Adult, series |
| A Curse So Dark and Lonely | The Beauty and the Beast setup | YA, series |
| Uprooted | A slow-burn tower romance | Adult, standalone |
| The Shadows Between Us | Rhysand's scheming | YA, standalone |
| Throne of the Fallen | A wicked prince, all heat | Adult, standalone |
| One Dark Window | The darkness inside the bond | Adult, duology |
| King of Battle and Blood | Bargains and forced proximity | Adult, series |
| The Witch Collector | A bargain with secrets | Adult, series |
What should I read after ACOTAR?
Start with what you'd reread first. If it's A Court of Mist and Fury, go to the Night Court section: The Shadows Between Us is the closest match to a powerful man playing a long game for one woman. If it's the first book's fairy-tale curse, A Curse So Dark and Lonely and Uprooted scratch that itch. And if it's the world itself, An Enchantment of Ravens sends a human girl into the fae courts the way Feyre went, in one standalone. Our full ACOTAR reading order covers book six and the novella if you're mid-reread.
What about the obvious ones?
You've probably been told to read From Blood and Ash, The Cruel Prince, Fourth Wing and Throne of Glass. They're good calls, and they're long enough to need maps: the From Blood and Ash series order, the Cruel Prince series order, the Throne of Glass reading order and our books like Fourth Wing list. The ten above are the next layer down, the ones fewer people have already read.
Are there books like ACOTAR with more spice?
Throne of the Fallen and King of Battle and Blood are the two to grab. Maniscalco's Prince of Envy book is a standalone built around heat, and St. Clair's vampire king series keeps the bargain-marriage tension running across several books. The Wren in the Holly Library is also adult and steamy. The YA picks here (An Enchantment of Ravens, A Curse So Dark and Lonely, The Shadows Between Us) keep things tamer, which makes them the right call if A Court of Silver Flames was more than you wanted. For more of the dark end of the shelf, see our dark fantasy romance books.
Is there anything with a Rhysand?
Not exactly, because the whole archetype is downstream of him: the shadow daddy is basically Rhysand turned into a type, and the morally grey hero shelf is where his heirs live. Kallias in The Shadows Between Us is the closest single match on this list. The Goodreads books like ACOTAR shelf is endless if you want to keep going.
When the series pauses again
Book six closes, book seven is months away, and the High Lord goes quiet.
That gap is the whole reason Swoony exists: Kaevar, the High Lord of Night is our homage to the Night Court type, and Caelum, the cursed fae lord is for anyone who liked book one's curse better than the war. Both are closed-door and romance-only, a bond that unfolds over five stages and keeps what you've built.
The magic outlasts the last chapter here.
