Some say March is the most magical month…or maybe that’s just me. Anyway, here’s an awesome list of fantasy and sci-fi new young adult reads to make it magical regardless.
Check out the March 2023 titles (organized by release date):
March 1st
by authors of YA SFF Addicts Group
(exclusive Kickstarter)
An enchanting collection of young adult sci-fi and fantasy stories featuring magical books and libraries—now available in a stunning special-edition hardcover!
You won't want to miss the other bookish swag and luxe book boxes being offered as well. Perfect for any magical bookworm in your life—including you!
by Klaudia Sonas
Explore the mesmerizing underground world of Sednaam with the riveting clean young adult fantasy novel! Journey through breathtaking scenery, get to know the fascinating culture of the dwellers and be awed by the marvellous creatures that inhabit this realm. Embark on an extraordinary adventure filled with vibrant descriptions and captivating dialogue—where your wildest imagination can run free! Lilia is a young dreamer with her head in the clouds and an inexplicable longing in her heart. She feels like she doesn't belong in this ordinary world, though she can't quite put her finger on why. Jack, Lilia's teenage neighbour and a major crush, tries to keep his head down at school and endure his family's woes until he can leave the small town behind. Overnight, their lives are flipped upside down. They find themselves in a wonderous underground world of Druids, Vikings and otherworldly creatures. It soon becomes obvious that nothing is a coincidence.
March 2nd
by Kristin L Hamblin
Denied the crown. Denied their love. Yet she will rise.
Faelyn just wants to be loved and accepted for who she is. But when her own father wants nothing to do with her, and the entire kingdom shuns her, it becomes hard to even love herself. Her fae ears and out-of-control magic only make things worse.
From the realm that provides souls to the human world, Ardenis suffers in silence, hiding away his forbidden love for Faelyn. An enemy kingdom, long seeking conquest, is poised to strike Faelyn’s city at its weakest, and he is powerless to save her.
But when natural disasters from the mortal realm begin occurring in Ardenis’s perfect world, their lives are thrown into chaos. The balance between worlds is in danger. While Faelyn fights for her life and kingdom, Ardenis must uncover the reason for the imbalance and fight for their existence.
March 7th
by Emily McPherson
May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you are going, and the insight to know when you have gone too far.
Ianthe was only six years old when her mother vanished and the strange statue appeared in the river near her home. Now, eleven years later, the statue stands as a memorial and a place where Ianthe often visits to tell her mother about her life. But when an old acquaintance returns to town and suggests the statue isn’t just a statue, the presence of a mythical creature comes into question, and Ianthe begins to wonder what really happened all those years ago. With her best friend Fintan by her side, Ianthe searches for a lost legend and discovers fantastical dangers, family secrets, and the magic of Ireland. But finding the myth may not be enough to mend the past. And finding the truth just may threaten her future.
by Sarah Underwood
Each spring, Ithaca condemns twelve maidens to the noose. This is the price vengeful Poseidon demands for the lives of Queen Penelope’s twelve maids, hanged and cast into the depths centuries ago.
But when that fate comes for Leto, death is not what she thought it would be. Instead, she wakes on a mysterious island and meets a girl with green eyes and the power to command the sea. A girl named Melantho, who says one more death can stop a thousand.
The prince of Ithaca must die—or the tides of fate will drown them all.
March 9th
by Becky James
(exclusive Kickstarter)
Stripped of her magic, Tuniel MasterMage and the Rangers face an impending war of succession that could destroy Oberrot.
But regaining her powers means endangering those she cares about most. Can she risk all for the sake of the kingdom?
This Kickstarter is for a limited edition colour paperback of this anticipated sequel. Grab bookish swag while you're there, including metal personalised bookmarks! But be quick: when it's gone, it's gone!
March 14th
by Catherine Bakewell
Clara’s magic has always been wild. But it’s never been dangerous. Then a simple touch causes poisonous flowers to bloom in her father’s chest.
The only way to heal him is to cast an extremely difficult spell that requires perfect control. And the only person willing to help is her former best friend, Xavier, who’s grown from a sweet, shy child into someone distant and mysterious.
Xavier asks a terrible price in return, knowing Clara will give anything to save her father. As she struggles to reconcile the new Xavier with the boy she once loved, she discovers how many secrets he’s hiding. And as she hunts for the truth, she instead finds the root of a terrible darkness that’s taken hold in the queendom—a darkness only Clara’s magic is powerful enough to stop.
by Zeba Shahnaz Seventeen-year-old Anaïs just wants tonight to end. As an outsider at the kingdom’s glittering anniversary ball, she has no desire to rub shoulders with the nation’s most eligible (and pompous) bachelors—especially not the notoriously roguish Prince Leo. But at the stroke of midnight, an explosion rips through the palace, killing everyone in its path. Including her. The last thing Anaïs sees is fire, smoke, chaos . . . and then she wakes up in her bedroom, hours before the ball. No one else remembers the deadly attack or believes her warnings of disaster. Not even when it happens again. And again. And again. If she’s going to escape this nightmarish time loop, Anaïs must take control of her own fate and stop the attack before it happens. But the court's gilded surface belies a rotten core, full of restless nobles grabbing at power, discontented commoners itching for revolution, and even royals who secretly dream of taking the throne. It's up to Anaïs to untangle these knots of deadly deceptions . . . if she can survive past midnight.
by Cayla Fay Neve has spent lifetimes defending the mortal world against the legions of hell with her two sisters. Unfortunately for Neve, in this lifetime, she is the only one of the Morrigan—a triad of Irish war gods—still stuck in high school and still without her full power. She’s been counting down the days until her eighteenth birthday, when she finally gets to shed the pretenses of humanity and grow into her divine power. But then she meets Alexandria. And Alexandria is as determined to force Neve into some semblance of teenage normalcy as she is haunted by her own demons—both figurative and literal. As they grow closer, Neve decides that humanity—and, perhaps, love—isn’t so detestable after all. Which makes it all the more dangerous when she realizes that something in Hell wants Alexandria, and it’s be up to Neve and her sisters to save her before Alexandria’s past catches up to all of them.
by Candace Kade
Lee Urban is living a lie. In a society where everyone's DNA determines their destiny, being a Natural means automatic relegation to the gritty and dangerous Outskirts. With the harnessed power of gene-editing, the ability to create a super-human race has transformed the world and offered the opportunity of a genetically enhanced life. But only to those who can afford it. Born a Natural, Lee Urban was adopted into the Enhanced high society of the Asian Federation and forced to conceal her genetic roots. When her dream of attending Peking University becomes a reality, she is determined to go despite a warning from a mysterious source. Targeted by a hacker bent on exposing her true DNA, Urban faces off with an Artificial Intelligence Game that puts her—and her lies—to the test. What was supposed to be a dream come true turns into a lethal gamble of hide-and-seek with her genetics. Can Urban continue the act, or will the cracks in her story expose her and endanger her family?
March 16th
by Abigail Manning
Cinderella meets Persephone and Hades.
Priscilla Korinder has been forced to work the fields of Mortalia ever since her mother disappeared when she was nine.
Unfortunately for her, Mortalia is plagued with a curse that punishes any being who uses divine magic, leaving Priscilla covered in bruises at the end of each day. Despite her constant injuries, Priscilla’s stepmother is in disbelief that Priscilla could possibly be a divine one. She’s convinced her stepdaughter’s exhaustion is mere laziness…
King Hayden is the lone ruler of Underworth, a kingdom utilized only as a mass graveyard. He typically resides in solitude with his three-toed cat, until one day his peace is disrupted by his eager nephew. Prince Aaron of Olympia has grown infatuated with a nameless maiden in Mortalia and insists Hayden use his divine portal magic to deliver her to him. When he refuses, the prince decides to take matters into his own hands, and lure the girl out with an enchanting ball.
Will Hayden be able to stand by and do nothing as he watches his nephew draw the girl into a trap? He could always try to stop him, but how does one prevent a divine prince from getting what he wants? Hayden could always kidnap her first...
March 21st
by Francesca Flores Ava and Kaye used to be best friends. Until one night two years ago, vampires broke through the magical barrier protecting their town, and in the ensuing attack, Kaye’s mother was killed, and Ava was turned into a vampire. Since then, Ava has been trapped in her house. Her mother Eugenia needs her: Ava still has her witch powers, and Eugenia must take them in order to hide that she's a vampire as well. Desperate to escape her confinement and stop her mother's plans to destroy the town, Ava must break out, flee to the forest, and seek help from the vampires who live there. When there is another attack, she sees her opportunity and escapes. Kaye, now at the end of her training as a Flame witch, is ready to fulfill her duty of killing any vampires that threaten the town, including Ava. On the night that Ava escapes, Kaye follows her and convinces her to travel together into the forest, while secretly planning to turn her in. Ava agrees, hoping to rekindle their old friendship, and the romantic feelings she'd started to have for Kaye before that terrible night. But with monstrous trees that devour humans whole, vampires who attack from above, and Ava’s stepfather tracking her, the woods are full of danger. As they travel deeper into the forest, Kaye questions everything she thought she knew. The two are each other's greatest threat—and also their only hope, if they want to make it through the forest unscathed.
by Ben Green
With his friends and family on the line, Clayson must find a way to heal the world. Rimduum is Shattered. Stranded on the surface, my friends and I search for survivors of the mithrium crown's terrible power. Desperately, we track down refugees as we build a network of safe houses to shelter the vulnerable from roaming bands of darksmiths. But the more we help, the more our power shrinks.
Until new clues force me to strike a strange alliance. My search for a power strong enough to fight back will lead us all into dangerous territory. To the forest of Gamgim, filled with wraiths. To a city of fallout where the living buildings want nothing more than to absorb you into the machine. To the dungeon of the champion Erikzin Brightstorm.
Darksmiths lie around every corner. The mystery of the very foundation of this world will be revealed. But what will be the cost? Will the power add up to something I can use to protect those I love? Or will the secrets I uncover increase the deadly cost born by all who find themselves prisoners in the world of Rimduum?
March 28th
by Tessa Gratton Darling Seabreak cannot remember anything before the murder of her family at the hands of House Dragon, but she knows she owes her life to both the power of her Chaos Boon and House Kraken for liberating her from the sewers where she spent her childhood. So when her adoptive Kraken father is captured in battle, Darling vows to save him—even if that means killing each and every last member of House Dragon. Talon Goldhoard has always been a dutiful War Prince for House Dragon, bravely leading the elite troops of his brother, the High Prince Regent. But lately his brother’s erratic rule threatens to undo a hundred years of House Dragon’s hard work, and factions are turning to Talon to unseat him. Talon resists, until he’s ambushed by a fierce girl who looks exactly like the one his brother has painted obsessively, repeatedly, for years, and Talon knows she’s the key to everything. Together, Darling and Talon must navigate the treacherous waters of House politics, caught up in the complicated game the High Prince Regent is playing against everyone. The unlikeliest of allies, they’ll have to stop fighting each other long enough to learn to fight together in order to survive the fiery prophecies and ancient blood magic threatening to devastate their entire world.
by Bonnie Jacoby
A dragon’s vision. A girl’s curse. A quest to save dragons from extinction. Dragons disappeared long ago. Now they’ve returned, and magic pours back into a world that has buried its existence. Becca is ridiculed for believing dragons are more than the plague-bringers of history. When a fever sweeps through her village, igniting fears that the dragon plague has returned, her belief becomes dangerous. To make matters worse Becca can suddenly sense emotions. It’s a curse, exposing secrets she’d rather not know and making life almost unbearable. The youngest dragon, Gregor, watched his family die because he didn’t know his power could’ve saved them. Defying the rules, he risks exposure to search for a human girl from his vision, certain she’s the key to dragon survival. But when Gregor finds Becca violence erupts. Now the fate of the world rests on these unlikely heroes finding the courage to save dragons without losing everyone they love.
March 30th
by Brendan Noble
A fallen goddess cursed for eternity.
An undying sorceress sworn to slay her.
Only one can be The Lady of Rolika.
Kostroma once held the earth in her grasp. But that time has long passed. Cursed because of the gods’ lies, she’s spent lifetimes clawing back her power to punish them for betraying her. Now, she’s known only as ‘The Lady,’ and Rolika is her city.
Then the witch arrived.
Bringing promises of destruction at the hand of the goddess of winter and death, Minna has met Death too often to count. Each time, her goddess has brought her back, and each time, less of her soul survived the return. It doesn’t matter. Her goddess demands she kill The Lady and take her place. Minna won’t fail.
This article was written by Allison Rose.
Allison Rose writes YA fantasy featuring magic and otherworldly beings. Her current series feature a truly unique world of Faerie. Click the covers below to check them out.
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