Yesterday we saw bookriot’s post of read-alikes for Robin LaFevers’s His Fair Assassin trilogy and were so, so excited: one, because that’s one of our favorite YA series, ever, and two, because the list features Jennifer McGowan’s Maids of Honor books - Jennifer will be here tomorrow for our next NaNoWriMo workshop, talking publishing and critiquing short pieces, and we can’t wait!
Naturally, that got us thinking about some of our other favorite YA novels in which thieves, spies, and assassins appear, so here’s a small compilation of historical, fantasy, and historical fantasy fiction for your weekend reading!
Maid of Secrets and Maid of Deception, Jennifer McGowan
Thieves
- The Demon King, Cinda Williams Chima
- Star Crossed, Elizabeth Bunce
- Scarlet, A.C. Gaughen
- Midnight Thief, Livia Blackburne
- The Thief, Megan Whalen Turner
- The Outcasts, John Flanagan
- The False Prince, Jennifer A. Nielsen
- Illusive, Emily Lloyd-Jones
Spies
- Palace of Spies, Sarah Zettel
- Etiquette & Espionage, Gail Carriger
- Sekret, Lindsay Smith
- Across a Star-swept Sea, Diana Peterfreund
Assassins
- Graceling, Kristin Cashore
- Throne of Glass, Sarah J. Maas
- The Assassin’s Curse, Cassandra Rose Clarke
- The Kiss of Deception, Mary E. Pearson
I’ve read and liked, even loved, the books by Cinda Williams Chima, Elizabeth Bunce, Megan Whelan Turner, Jennifer A. Nielsen, Sarah Zettel (set in England during what we called the French and Indian War and what Europe called the Seven Years War between Britain and France, with a princess’s lady-in-waiting who has a line of spying on the side!), Diana Peterfreund, Kristin Cashore, and Sarah J. Maas (another spy/assassin who gets into deeper, deadlier, and more complex waters).
I hope to check out some of the rest—in my copious free time!