As 2023 draws to a close, now is a great time to look back on all of the great young adult speculative fiction from this past year. By the end of the year, more than 320 science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels for teens will have gone through the traditional publishing machine. Of course I can’t talk about all of them, so I narrowed that big list down to 30. “Notable” can have whatever definition you want. For me it means books that pushed the envelope, did something compelling or extraordinary with a familiar premise or trope, or that stuck with me even after I finished it.
Anthologies
Magic Has No Borders edited by Samira Ahmed, Sona Charaipotra
Fourteen YA authors come together for an incredible anthology centered on South Asian folklore and cultural traditions. From fantasy to science fiction, warriors to gods, lovers to enemies, and everything in between, it has a little bit of everything. Naz Kutub’s “The Hawk’s Reason”, Preeti Chhibber’s “Unraveled”, and Nafiza Azad’s “Mirch, Masala, and Magic” were my personal favorites. Each story is accompanied by a piece of original, beautiful art.
Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror Delight edited by Shelly Page & Alex Brown
YA horror goes queer in this anthology from thirteen new and established authors. Set over the course of one night—Halloween, of course—BIPOC queer teens experience a wild night. I loved all the stories but especially “Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle” by Kosoko Jackson, “Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane” by Maya Gittelman, and “Knickknack” by Ryan Douglass.
Horror
I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea
Laure will do whatever it takes to get to center stage in the Parisian ballet. Even if it means descending into the Catacombs to make a deal with a monster. She gets what she wants, but the cost is higher than she anticipated. Laure’s actions transform her in horrifying ways. If nothing else, this book is at the top for having one of the best titles of the year.
Infested: An MTV Fear Novel by Angel Luis Colón
Manny is dragged halfway across the country by his stepdad to renovate a rundown apartment building in the Bronx. The building is infested with cockroaches…and something worse…something malevolent and undead. This is a terrifying tale of ghosts, cockroaches, and gentrification.
She Is a Haunting by Trang Tranh Tran
Jade needs money from her father in order to be able to afford to go to college, so she strikes a bargain to go to Vietnam and help him renovate an abandoned French colonial mansion. The house is not what it seems, and death permeates the walls. Jade tries to keep her little sister safe, but the horrors of colonialism and imperialism ripple from past to present.
What Stalks Among Us by Sarah Hollowell
Never take the backroads and never enter a corn maze. High school seniors Sadie and Logan break those rules while on a road trip and immediately regret it. Once in the corn maze, they’re trapped, but they’re not alone. Seemingly infinite versions of themselves are also stuck in the maze, and so far none of them have made it out alive.
Fantasy
Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker (Blood Debts #1)
Twins Clem and Cris Dupart are the youngest generation in an old, magical New Orleans family. Cris must come to terms with the consequences of her power while Clem must learn to channel his gifts from anger to action. After their mother is cursed nearly to death, they uncover a toxic conspiracy going all the way to the top of the region’s most politically connected magic families.
Of Light and Shadow by Tanaz Bhathena
Roshan, raised by a ruthless bandit, has taken over as leader of the Shadow Clan outlaws. They kidnap Prince Navin, the black sheep of the royal family, to blackmail the queen into stopping the oppression of the poor. Navin comes to terms with the system he benefits from and the harm it causes others, and as his mind changes, a romance blooms.
Spell Bound by F. T. Lukens
I’m a sucker for Lukens’ novels, and this may be the best one yet. Rook is desperate to become a magician, even though he has no talent for magic. He maneuvers his way into a job working for outcast magician Antonia and meets the fussy but adorable Sun, the assistant to Antonia’s rival Fable. Chaos and romance ensues, with some social commentary in there to keep everything grounded.
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
The only girl in the architecture department at Llyr University, Effy shocks everyone by earning a job to redesign the rundown Hiraeth Manor, owned by the family of a famous author, Myrddin. Also on premises is Preston, a literature student who wants to prove Myrddin was a liar. The author’s monstrous fairy tales may end up being more real than either of them expected.
Historical Fantasy
My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron
London, 1885. Gabriel is back in London after being run out of town over a queer scandal involving him and his friend Henry Jekyll. Gabriel meets Hyde, a boy who reminds him of Henry but with a darkness about him. Queerphobia and racism from the outside world push Hyde, Gabriel, and Henry into a twisted relationship.
That Self-Same Metal by Brittany N. Williams (Forge & Fracture Saga #1)
London, 1605. Siblings Joan and James work in William Shakespeare’s acting troupe, him on stage and her choreographing stage fighting. Secretly, they can channel the power of the Orisha, which she uses to manipulate metal. Fairies attack London, and Joan must protect her family and friends while pushing her power to its limits.
Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros
Lithuania, 1943. A daughter is killed by the Nazis, and in response her father creates Vera, a golem. With the dead girl’s memories and the help of the boy she loved, Vera is sent out into the world to get revenge on behalf of her maker. Vera was built for violence, but maybe there is more to life than wrath.
Gods & Demons
Damned If You Do by Alex Brown
Cordelia is already juggling a crush on her bestie Veronica, trying to pass her classes, and tech week for the latest school play, when demons crash the party. Two demons, one of whom is her school guidance counselor, are vying for her soul. They’ll do whatever it takes to convince her to do their bidding, even bringing her jerk of a dad back to life.
Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon (The Ouroboros #1)
Gem Echols, a nonbinary Indigenous teen living in rural Georgia, discovers they’re the reincarnation of an interdimensional god of magic and balance. The rest of the pantheon loathe Gem for not only killing several of them but dragging the survivors out of their homeworld and into ours. They must find their missing god-killing knife before the other gods do and use it to sentence Gem to a final, painful death.
A Song of Salvation by Alechia Dow
Although officially a standalone, this book functions as the third in a series where alien colonizers conquer Earth and a bunch of queer Black teens, alien and human alike, fight back. In this, Zaira, the reincarnation of a god of creation, is on a collision course with the alien invaders. Helping her are a charming gremlin of a podcaster and social outcast spaceship pilot. Romance, drama, and space opera make for a thrilling adventure.
Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou
The gods abandoned Io’s world generations ago, but the power of the Moirae still runs through her blood. She and her two sisters have the ability to manipulate and sever the threads of fate. Now an investigator eking out a living in the drowning city of Alante, Io is thrust into a mystery where women are forcibly turned into murderous wraiths. What do her sisters have to do with it? Everything, as Io soon discovers.
The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa
Mar, a nonbinary transmasc pirate, loses their family to a demon. Keeping their fire and ice magic a secret, they join a new crew dedicated to helping rebels defeat Spanish colonizers. When another demon, Demi, offers Mar the opportunity to save their father’s soul, the two of them and the cute son of the pirate captain, Bas, work together. Queerness and anti-colonial sentiment collide in the Caribbean in the 1820s.
Science Fiction
If I See You Again Tomorrow by Robbie Couch
It’s Palm Springs but teens in Chicago. Clark has spent the last 300 some odd days repeating the same Monday over and over again. Until he meets Beau, cute, fun, compelling Beau. The two set off on a grand adventure across the city. Will Clark be able to break out of his time loop and will Beau be the one to help him do it?
Monstersona by Chloe Spencer
On homecoming night, monsters attack. Riley isn’t too thrilled at being dragged from Portland to middle-of-nowhere Maine after her parents divorce, even less so when she has to make her way back to Oregon without being killed by the terrifying creations of mad scientists. Complicating matters is having to road trip through an apocalyptic wasteland with a very cute girl that Riley can’t help but fall for.
Promises Stronger Than Darkness by Charlie Jane Anders (Unstoppable #3)
The final book in the Unstoppable series offers action and answers. Tina is lost to the person she was cloned from, Captain Thaoh Argentian. Elza, Tina’s girlfriend, and Rachel, Tina’s best friend, reluctantly team up with Thaoh to save the world one last time.
Ghost Stories
Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline
Winifred’s father runs the crematory at a Toronto cemetery that’s about to go out of business. That sucks for a lot of reasons, not least of which she’d lose access to Phil, the ghost of a 15-year-old boy who died of a drug overdose. Winifred and Phil have a bond that not even death can tear asunder.
Harvest House by Cynthia Leititch Smith
This novel uses light gothic influences to explore Indigeneity and generational trauma. Here, Hughie tries to push back on his community hosting a haunted house full of racist iconography. Meanwhile, the spirit of a Native woman who died tragically is haunting locals and trying to tell someone what really happened to her that fateful night.
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
Violet-eyed trans boy Silas lives in London in 1883. Mediums like him can communicate with spirits, and his mother demands he get married and become a dutiful Speaker wife. As punishment, he’s sent to Braxton’s Sanitorium and Finishing School, but instead of learning how to become an obedient girl, he and the school ghosts try to find justice for all the school’s dead girls.
Series Openers & Sequels
The Everlasting Road by Wab Kinew (Walking in Two Worlds #2)
In this sequel, Anishinaabe teen Bugz is reeling from the grief of losing her brother, Waawaate, to cancer. That pain has pushed her away from her Uighur boyfriend, Feng, and deeper into the virtual reality Floraverse with a bot she created that is inspired by her brother. She loses control over the bot and it wreaks havoc on the Floraverse. Meanwhile Waawaate’s spirit journeys down the Gaagigewekinaa, the Everlasting Road, to the next stage of death.
Lion’s Legacy by L. C. Rosen (Tennessee Russo #1)
One of my favorite things about this book is the main character’s name: Tennessee Russo. It’s so deliciously off kilter. After a humiliating breakup, Tennessee takes a vacation with his archaeologist father, who he hasn’t seen in several years. The chance to discover the Rings of the Sacred Band of Thebes, an army of queer Greek warriors, is too tempting to pass up.
Painted Devils by Margaret Owen (Little Thieves #2)
Junior Prefect Emeric Conrad is surprised to find that former thief Vanja Schmidt has somehow become the leader of a cult. Although her followers believe she’s the Scarlet Maiden, another woman claiming to be the revered figure arrives and claims Emeric as her virgin sacrifice. It’s up to Emeric to figure out who this other Scarlet Maiden really is and to Vanja to find a replacement sacrifice just in case.
The Siren, the Song, and the Spy by Maggie Tokuda-Hall (The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea #2)
The main characters of The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea take the backseat in the sequel. The vast cast of characters and POVs all tell the story of an empire, its colonies, and those resisting oppression. It’s a powerful story about colonization and decolonization and the high costs of both.
Under the Radar
Daughters of Oduma by Moses Ose Utomi
Dirt maybe sixteen, but that makes her practically an elder in her community. Now retired from fighting, she spends her days training the next generation of the sisters of the Mud Fam in the elite sport of Bowing. After a crisis, Dirt must once again step into the Bowing ring and compete to save her family.
Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues by H. S. Valley
I will never stop thinking about or recommending this book. Tim and Elliott have never gotten along, but a school project to take care of an egg pulls them together. It’s a lovely, warm, emotional story about a Māori teen attending a magical boarding school and reluctantly yet inexorably falling in love with his nemesis.
Alex Brown is a Hugo-nominated and Ignyte award-winning critic who writes about speculative fiction, librarianship, and Black history. Find them on twitter (@QueenOfRats), bluesky (@bookjockeyalex), instagram (@bookjockeyalex), and their blog (bookjockeyalex.com).
