19 Dark YA Fantasy Books That Will Give You Chills This Fall

Kendare Blake's Three Dark Crowns takes dark fantasy to a whole new level by pitting three sisters against one another. In every generation, a set of triplets is born on the island of Fennbirn: three sisters, each with a magical ability, whose destiny is to fight each other to the death if they want to become the queen. Atmospheric and daring, this series is full of machinations and twists that will make you gasp.

Ghosts, blood magic, and a fairy tale-esque plot means Crystal Smith's Bloodleaf oozes Fall vibes. The story follows Princess Aurelia, a young woman who uses an assassination attempt to escape her royal fate for a simpler life where she can hone her magic skills. Destiny comes calling soon enough, and Aurelia is forced to step up for the sake of the kingdom.

Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood is a modern fairy tale with enough Gothic touches to send goosebumps down the spines of even the most seasoned fantasy reader. Alice has been plagued by bad luck her whole life, and when her eccentric grandmother dies, things only get worse. The 17-year-old is forced to face that the fact that her grandmother's fantastical world, Hinterland, is real when one of its residents takes her mother, and sends Alice on a trip into a strange new world.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi is a triumph on every level. Zélie Adebola must fight for justice and for magic as she journeys into a land where danger and darkness lurks around every corner. All the while she has to stay one step ahead of an evil prince determined to eradicate magic for good in this stunning novel.

Nothing says Fall quite like a carnival, even if it's the ominous carnival at the center of Stephanie Garber's Caraval. Two sisters find themselves playing a dangerous game when they become part of the performance that is Caraval. Don't be surprised when you get swept away in their terrifying adventure as they try to fight their way back to each other while everyone around them seems to be conspiring to keep them apart.

Kristina Cashore's Graceling is all about creating the darkest mood possible. The book's heroine, Katsa, has a special gift — killing — and she uses her skill to serve justice to the king's enemies. However, she soon learns that there is more to her gift than she knows, and it's up to her to not only discover her true self, but also to save the Seven Kingdoms.

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He is perfect for fans of Game of Thrones. Hesina is an unwilling queen surrounded by enemies in this fantasy where court intrigue is downright deadly. Add in a soothsayer tasked with figuring out who murdered Hesina's father, and you have a complex tale that's impossible to put down.

This bloody story of three unlikely allies on a quest to kill an evil king is addictive. Emily A. Duncan's world-building in Wicked Saints creates a lush and snowy landscape where impossible choices and brutal betrayals are the norm. And just to keep things interesting, there's an unexpected (and dangerous) romance thrown in for good measure.

Renée Ahdieh's The Wrath and the Dawn puts a new spin on Arabian Nights. Each night, the king takes a new bride, and by sunrise, she's dead. Then one day Shahrzad volunteers in hopes of ending the king's reign of terror and finding vengeance for her friend who she believes died by his hand. In true fantasy fashion, she soon learns that things are more complex than they appear.

Garth Nix's Sabriel is a YA classic for a reason. The story of Sabriel, a young girl who ventures into the Old Kingdom, a place where the dead don't stay dead, to save her father is one of the original dark YA fantasies. Thanks to its fascinating and frightening world, it's just as enthralling now as it was when it was first published in 1995.

Pretty much any of Victoria Schwab's books will put you in a Fall state of mind, but This Savage Song is an excellent choice thanks to its monstrous protagonists. In a city where monsters roam, the two most unlikely people find themselves on the run after a failed assassination attempt forces them to work together to survive in a world where danger is unavoidable.

If you love moody fantasies, then you must pick up House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig. This retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" is an eerie story about the bonds of sisterhood set in a foreboding manor that might just be cursed. With four of her sisters dead after mysterious accidents, Annaleigh is on a quest to save her family from the darkness threatening to destroy them from within.

Rin Chupeco's The Bone Witch creates a vivid world where witches are the norm, but raising the dead most definitely isn't. However, Tea can't help that she was born a necromancer, a skill she discovers when she accidentally raises her brother from the dead. Now the siblings must seek shelter with a wiser bone witch as something wicked descends upon their land.

Proving that not all fantasy series are set in medieval-style worlds, Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys finds magic in a world just like our own. Blue Sargent is clairvoyant, and she discovers her gift when she meets one of the Raven Boys, a group of young men who attend a prestigious private school. Soon Blue finds herself entrenched in their circle, where she must face a dark prophecy about her life: she'll cause her true love to die.

Leigh Bardugo's gift for building engrossing fantasy worlds is on full display in Shadow and Bone, the first book set in her acclaimed Grishaverse. Alina is a soldier on her first journey across the Shadow Fold, a place where monsters lurk in every corner, when she discovers she possesses a magical gift that could make her powerful to the Grisha. Soon, she's joining the Grisha ranks as she becomes entangled in the elite military unit where she can't help but be drawn to their dangerous leader, The Darkling.

L.L. McKinney gives Alice in Wonderland a major upgrade with A Blade So Black. Alice's life is complicated to say the least. Sometimes, she's a normal girl living in Atlanta, and other times she's a warrior fighting monsters in the dark realm of Wonderland in this story that will give readers Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibes in all the best ways.

Brigid Kemmerer's A Curse So Dark and Lonely flips the traditional Beauty and the Beast tale on its head. Prince Rhen is cursed to repeat the Fall of his 18th year over and over again until he falls in love. But that's no easy task when each Fall ends in him destroying the people he holds dear.

Sabaa Tahir draws on the harrowing realities of ancient Rome to craft An Ember in the Ashes, a story of survival and rebellion. Laia's quest to rescue her brother leads to her becoming a rebel spy in a city where defying the Empire means death. Now she must hone her skills as a warrior and a keeper of secrets to bring the corrupt rulers down from the inside.

An eerie all-girls boarding school, a 19th century England setting, and a heroine with prophetic dreams combine to make Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty the ultimate Fall fantasy read. The 16-year-old Gemma has a destiny, even if she doesn't want to face it, and her fellow classmates at Spence aren't going to let her run from her unique and potentially dangerous powers.