10 YA Fantasy Books You should Read if You've Never Read YA

THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater

Five young people in a contemporary rural town search for a legendary Welsh King. Even with bit parts, the adults are just as interesting as the young protagonists, who are beautifully rendered individuals. And there are some fabulous villains. Blue, the girl whose first kiss will lead to the death of the boy who kisses her, is a beguiling hero, and the four boys each have their own personal demons. The beginning of a four book series.

IN THE SERPENT'S COILS by Tiffany Trent

Set after the Civil War, this fantasy series is about a group of young women who have been targeted by the malevolent fairy folk. The fairy prince is seductive and terrifying, not the typical romantic villain. Each book in this series features a different heroine and her battle against some truly monstrous fairies.

SERVANTS OF THE STORM by Delilah Dawson

Truly creepy. Set in contemporary Savannah after a hurricane--which turns out to be a horrifying entity in itself. The heroine, Dovey, tries to save a dead friend's soul while discovering an original world of demons and otherworldly creatures. When she meets the seductive trickster Isaac, she's drawn even deeper into this world.

THE GOLDEN COMPASS by Phillip Pullman

A race of good witches, martial and intelligent polar bears, animal familiars, and a tough young heroine and hero make this an original fairy tale for all ages. It's got a steampunk flare and wonderful villains.

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor

A romance between an angel and a demon, but not what you think. The angels are a warrior race who have tried to conquer what they feel is the inferior race--the monstrous looking Chimerae. Karou is a young woman living in Prague, raised by benevolent Chimerae. When she meets Akiva, a fierce, winged, young man, an ancient romance is revealed between them.

NAMELESS/WAYFARER/KIN by Lili St. Crow

Darker shades of 'Once' in this fantasy series about a friendship between a contemporary Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Snow White, in a future that has been transformed by the arrival of magic. Detailed, original worldbuilding and the genuine way in which the three girls care about each other make this series highly enjoyable for fairy tale lovers.

THE WINTER PRINCE by Elizabeth E. Wein

A different and disturbing take on King Arthur, centering around Medraut, King Artos's eldest, bastard son. His half-brother Lleu is their father's favorite. Medraut both loves and hates him. Artos's sister--Medraut's mother--is horrifying and bewitching. Themes of abuse and twisted family dynamics make this myth poignant and suspenseful.

THE DARKANGEL by Meredith Ann Pierce

Set in an alternative world on the moon, this strange and beautiful fantasy is about a girl named Aeriel who is stolen away, with her friend Eoduin, by one of the feared darkangels--a heartless and lovely creature who wants Eoduin as one of his wives and Aeriel as his servant. His wives are all phantoms because he's a vampire, and captive of an evil witch.

THE WHITE CAT by Holly Black

Cassel is a young man who lives, gypsy-like, in a secret world of almost gangster-like magic. Curse workers are a distrusted minority in this not-too-distant future. When he's betrayed by people he trusts, he must run a con of his own on the best magic-using con artists he knows. An urban fantasy with a dash of noir.

THE SILVER KISS by Annette Curtis Klause

Zoe is losing her mother to cancer. She's targeted by a feral and strange young man named Simon--whose enemy, a creature pretending to be an innocent little boy, stalks him. It's an exquisite tale of defeating monsters and accepting death. 

The Mythology of Briars, Nettles, and Thorns

Natural and beautiful, sharp and serpentine, usually found in the wild and unwanted in most tamed gardens, these plants have been used in folklore and witchcraft for centuries.

In the story of 'Sleeping Beauty,' the slumbering princess is surrounded by a wall of briars and brambles. (Brambles are also blackberry bushes and notorious faery fruit.) Briar Rose is another name for Sleeping Beauty, suggesting that her beauty might conceal prickles.

The nettle is known for its healing properties, despite being a stinging plant. Blind nettles are called Lamium album (A lamia is a female demon who kills babies.) The nettle plant wards off ghosts. It's the plant of the Noridic storm god Thor. In the fairy tale 'The Wild Swans,' a girl releases her brothers from their enchanted swan forms by placing nettle shirts over them.

Blackthorn and hawthorn are traditionally faery trees. Infamous for crowning sacrificial kings, thorns also blind the prince in the original 'Rapunzel.' Thorns pierce, shed blood. In 'Sleeping Beauty,' the princess punctures her finger on a spindle and falls under the spell. Snow White's real mother pricks her finger on a needle and uses that drop of blood to wish for a child. In 'Little Red Riding Hood,' Red Riding Hood is offered a choice by the wolf; the Path of Needles or the Path of Pins.

The spindle and the needle, symbolic thorns, set a story on its path.

Briars, nettles, and thorns symbolize barriers, pain, enchantment, but they also keep the vulnerable from being breached. In storytelling, they signify that life has teeth. And, like most faery things, they are beautiful, and something to be wary of.