So, I was recently alerted that there are some members of our community who are dying for some clean but awesome reads. Maybe you would like to read some upper age stories but feel stuck in the younger section just to avoid content that you don’t want to read.
I have your back.
Here are almost 90 clean, upper audiece book recs. (Okay, there are a couple of middle grade, but they’re so good that I think anyone of any age will get something from it.) I’ve labeled the age range of the intended audience after each title.
I’ve also broken the recs up into three categories and labeled them with an overarching idea of their content.
In addition, these books come from a variety of worldviews, not all of which align perfectly with mine (ours, likely, since you’re on this Substack), so a lot of them at least mention something that I don’t agree with; but the best fiction is a deep dive into real life, and in real life, a lot of people don’t believe the same things we do either. Or, the books might not even subscribe to that worldview, but only discuss and confront it, which I think we’re all called to do.
And the core stories and content are still to die for.
I hope you find some good reads. Enjoy!
Fantasy- or mystery-level danger/violence. Mild or sweet romantic scenes. Possible sparse language.
Six Crimson Cranes, Elizabeth Lim—YA
The Dragon’s Promise, Elizabeth Lim—YA
Her Radiant Curse, Elizabeth Lim—YA
S.T.A.G.S., M.A. Bennett—YA
Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book, Jennifer Donnelly—MG
Chains, Laurie Halse Anderson—MG
Forge, Laurie Halse Anderson—MG
Ashes, Laurie Halse Anderson—YA
Incarceron, Catherine Fisher—YA
Sapphique, Catherine Fisher—YA
Song of the Sending, Corinne O’Flynn—YA
Blade of Ash, C.F.E. Black—YA
Calvin, Martine Leavitt—YA
Queen of the Tiles, Hanna Alkaf—YA
Fever 1793, Laurie Halse Anderson—MG
King of Scars, Leigh Bardugo—YA
The Davenports, Krystal Marquis—YA
Everything Sad is Untrue, Daniel Nayeri—MG
Scythe, Neil Schusterman—YA
Chasing Liberty, Theresa Linden—YA
Testing Liberty, Theresa Linden—YA
Legend, Marie Lu—YA
The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen, Isaac Blum—YA
Unseelie, Ivelisse Housman—YA
Somewhere In the Deep, Tanvi Berwah—YA
The Lost Girl, Allison Spooner—MG
The Crown’s Game, Evelyn Skye—YA
Chasing Shadow: A Tale of Two Dogs, P.G. Barnes—MG
Dread Nation, Justina Ireland —YA
The Only Girl In Town, Allie Condie—YA
Gallant, V.E. Schwab—YA
Stepsister, Jennifer Donnelly—YA
Poisoned, Jennifer Donnelly—YA
Dracula, Bram Stoker—Adult
Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens—Adult
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens—Adult
Before the Devil Knows You’re Here, Autumn Krause—YA
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Axie Oh—YA
Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Toshikazu Kawaguchi—Adult
Half a King, Joe Abercrombie—YA
The Nightward, R.S.A. Garcia—Adult
This Savage Song, Victoria Schwab—YA
What Feasts At Night, T. Kingfisher (includes a version of the Catholic Faith with acknowledged creative liberties taken) —Adult
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins—YA
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins—YA
Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins—YA
Thieves’ Gambit, Kayvion Lewis—YA
The Darkening, Sunya Mara—YA
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries, Heather Fawcett—Adult
Contains intense action/violence and discusses darker topics, but always in terms of good overcoming evil.
May be strong swearing, but sparse.
Little or no romantic elements—if present, never followed through with or explicit.
(Titles with * contain more frequent strong swearing.)
Don’t, Gabriella Batel—YA
Done, Gabriella Batel—YA
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins—YA
What Beauty There Is, Cory Anderson—YA
Long Way Down, Jason Reynolds—YA
Babel, R.F. Kuang—Adult
Thin Air, Kellie M. Parker—YA
The Getaway, Lamar Giles—YA
Such a Good Liar, Sue Wallman—YA
Greymist Fair, Francesca Zappia—YA
Trigger, N. Griffin—YA
The Magnus Archives, Season 5* —Adult
The Fox Wife, Yangtzee Choo—Adult
Vicious, V.E. Schwab—Adult
Hilltop House, S.Q. McGrath—Adult
A Crane Among Wolves, June Hur—YA
Bird Box, Josh Malerman—Adult
Dark Room Etiquette, Robin Roe*—YA
Worlds Beneath, K.A. Emmons—Adult
Clean (Category 1) with one skippable involved romance or intimacy scene
The Reader, Traci Chee—YA
Spice Road, Maiya Ibrahim—YA
Six of Crows, Leight Bardugo—YA
Crooked Kingdom, Leigh Bardugo—YA
Monsters Born and Made, Tanvi Berwah—YA
Carve the Mark, Veronica Roth—YA
These Violent Delights, Chloe Gong—YA
The Unconsoled, Kazuo Ishiguro—Adult
Truly Devious, Maureen Johnson—YA
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands, Heather Fawcett—Adult
When I Was the Greatest, Jason Reynolds—YA
The Blood Race, K.A. Emmons—Adult
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers—Adult (No romantic scenes, but a couple adult references.)
We Were Liars, E. Lockhart—YA (A couple adult references.)
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