What's Trending? 5 YA Fantasy Books Teens Love

I’m a #BookTok-er. It’s basically my entire For You Page (#FYP). And when you’re on BookTok, you come across repetitive recommendations.

If you’re tapped into what's popular in YA books,  it's all about Fantasy, and it's not just on TikTok. I’ve stopped and asked what my students are reading and they're thrilled to tell me about magic, dragons, and unfamiliar worlds. 

It's exciting as a teacher to know students have a community to go to learn about new books. Why not take advantage of what's trending on their For You pages and add these titles to your classroom library? 

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong - This book is a historical fantasy following the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet. Set in a city with rival gangs,  deaths are starting to pile up and many begin to blame a contagion, a madness, or a monster in the shadows. Roma and Juliette, both from different gangs, are forced to come together to try to save their city before there’s no one left.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes - This now four-book series follows Avery who has mysteriously been left the entire inheritance of the Hawthorne family, but has no connection to them and no clue why. This series follows Avery as she gets to know the four Hawthorne brothers and plays the games the patriarch left them in his death, unraveling the why to Avery and the brothers’ big question.

Caraval series by Stephanie Garber - Many people have said this series is a whimsical one that combines Alice In Wonderland and The Hunger Games. It centers on two sisters whose bond is tight and a dream to visit the Caraval, a faraway, once-a-year performance with lots of audience participation. Tella gets tickets for Scarlett and when they arrive, Scarlett finds out the goal of the game is to find Tella first. Even though Caraval is known for its elaborate performances, but is skeptical that it’s actually true—can Scarlett find Tella first or will Caraval prove to be more dangerous than its reputation says?

Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington - A Black teen is desperate to regain her acceptance into her dream Ivy League school. She enrolls in a competition to prove herself, but she finds out the rules aren’t just strict, they’re deadly.

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross - An enemies-to-lovers, light dose of fantasy book where after centuries of sleep, the gods have declared war. Two young journalists form a magical connection through writing letters back and forth as the war rages on. It’s heavy on character development and is written at a slower pace, but soars high with poetic voice and emotion.

Jennifer Epping is a high school English and journalism teacher in Des Moines, Iowa. She has a passion for reading, writing, and making lame jokes to her students just to see them laugh or roll their eyes. She just concluded her tenth year of teaching. Epping graduated from Iowa State University with a BS in journalism and mass communication (2010) and BA in English Education (2013). She attended New York University’s Summer Publishing Institute (2010), and spent some time in children’s book publishing in New York.