Curse of the Wolf King by Tessonja Odette book cover

Books Like Curse of the Wolf King

If you finished Curse of the Wolf King and want more fae, fairy tale retellings, curses, start here. Each pick shares at least two tropes with it, and we've rated every one for spice and darkness so you know what you're getting into.

For reference, Curse of the Wolf King is:

Spice 3/5 Darkness 1/5

Last updated

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The picks

  1. 1. A Deal with the Elf King

    Elise Kova · standalone

    Spice 2/5 Darkness 1/5

    Shares: fae, curses, slow burn

    A village healer gets claimed as the elf king's bride. Softer than most on this site, but it's a full fae-bargain story in one book.

    • Fae
    • Arranged Marriage
    • Deals and Bargains
    • Curses
    Content warnings

    Death of a loved one

  2. 2. A Court This Cruel and Lovely

    Stacia Stark · Kingdom of Lies #1 · complete series

    Spice 3/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: fae, forced proximity, curses

    Prisca has hidden her magic her whole life. Then a fae prince turns up who needs exactly that, with a curse sitting in the middle of it. Clear ACOTAR comp and a fine one to read next.

    • Fae
    • Enemies to Lovers
    • Deals and Bargains
    • Forced Proximity
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Physical or emotional abuse

  3. 3. A Curse So Dark and Lonely

    Brigid Kemmerer · Cursebreakers #1 · complete series

    Spice 0/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: fairy tale retellings, curses, forced proximity

    Harper, a girl from DC with cerebral palsy, gets snatched into Prince Rhen's cursed kingdom, where every autumn ends with him turning into a monster. The quiet guard commander Grey steals the whole book. Clean YA, more about duty than kissing.

    • Fairy Tale Retellings
    • Curses
    • Forced Proximity
    • Slow Burn
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Death of a loved one

  4. 4. A Dawn of Onyx

    Kate Golden · The Sacred Stones #1

    Spice 3/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: forced proximity, slow burn, fae

    A healer gets caught fleeing her village and ends up working in the enemy king's castle, and yes, the brooding commander is more than he looks. If you've read ACOTAR, you'll know exactly where this is going, and that's sort of the point.

    • Captor and Captive
    • Enemies to Lovers
    • Forced Proximity
    • Slow Burn
    Content warnings

    War, Graphic violence

  5. 5. For the Wolf

    Hannah Whitten · The Wilderwood #1 · complete series

    Spice 1/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: fairy tale retellings, curses, forced proximity

    Red, the queen's second daughter, is sent into the Wilderwood as a sacrifice to the Wolf and finds a grumpy Warden named Eammon bleeding into the trees to keep them back. Red Riding Hood meets Beauty and the Beast with forest horror. Slow and tender.

    • Fairy Tale Retellings
    • Curses
    • Forced Proximity
    • Slow Burn
    Content warnings

    Gore, Graphic violence

  6. 6. A Court of Thorns and Roses

    Sarah J. Maas · A Court of Thorns and Roses #1

    Spice 3/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: fae, fairy tale retellings, curses

    Beauty and the Beast with fae and a lot more blood. The first half is slow and the second half under the mountain is why everyone kept going. Book two is where it gets good, honestly.

    • Fae
    • Enemies to Lovers
    • Fairy Tale Retellings
    • Curses
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Torture, Murder, Dubious or non-consent

  7. 7. Bonded by Thorns

    Elizabeth Helen · Beasts of the Briar #1

    Spice 4/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: fae, fairy tale retellings, curses

    Beauty and the Beast, except there are four fae beasts and nobody has to choose. Cozier than most here, but steamy.

    • Fae
    • Why Choose
    • Fairy Tale Retellings
    • Curses
    Content warnings

    Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence

  8. 8. Quicksilver

    Callie Hart · Fae & Alchemy #1

    Spice 4/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: fae, forced proximity, slow burn

    Saeris is a thief who touches the wrong thing and gets hauled into the fae realm by a very rude fae warrior. Long, crude in a fun way and properly spicy once it gets there.

    • Fae
    • Enemies to Lovers
    • Forced Proximity
    • Morally Gray
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Gore, Murder

  9. 9. An Enchantment of Ravens

    Margaret Rogerson · standalone

    Spice 1/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: fae, forced proximity, curses

    Isobel paints portraits for fae patrons who pay in enchantments. She paints human sorrow into the eyes of Rook, the autumn prince, and he hauls her off to stand trial for it. Short and pretty, a little thin on romance, but the fae are genuinely uncanny.

    • Fae
    • Forbidden Love
    • Forced Proximity
    • Curses
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence

  10. 10. Half a Soul

    Olivia Atwater · Regency Faerie Tales #1 · complete series

    Spice 0/5 Darkness 1/5

    Shares: fae, curses, slow burn

    A faerie stole half of Dora's soul when she was a child, so she can't feel fear or embarrassment, which makes her a menace at Regency balls. Then she meets Lord Elias Wilder, the rude court magician. Austen with faeries and a very soft heart.

    • Fae
    • Curses
    • Slow Burn
    Content warnings

    Harm to children, Physical or emotional abuse

  11. 11. Losing Wendy

    T.A. Lawrence · The Lost Girl Series #1 · complete series

    Spice 2/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: fairy tale retellings, fae, slow burn

    Peter Pan retold as a mystery, with Wendy Darling, winged fae, mating marks and something killing in Neverland. Enemies to lovers on a very slow fuse. Darker than the premise sounds, and not everyone liked where it takes Wendy.

    • Fairy Tale Retellings
    • Fae
    • Fated Mates
    • Enemies to Lovers
    Content warnings

    Murder, Graphic violence

  12. 12. The Wren in the Holly Library

    K.A. Linde · The Oak and Holly Cycle #1

    Spice 4/5 Darkness 3/5

    Shares: fairy tale retellings, forced proximity, fae

    Kierse is a thief in a New York still scarred by a war with monsters, and she gets caught breaking into the house of Graves, a centuries-old something who offers her a job instead of killing her. Beauty and the Beast bones and plenty of heat. The first act is slow.

    • Enemies to Lovers
    • Fairy Tale Retellings
    • Morally Gray
    • Forced Proximity
    Content warnings

    Graphic violence, Murder, Death of a loved one

  13. 13. Ash

    Malinda Lo · standalone

    Spice 0/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: fairy tale retellings, fae, slow burn

    Cinderella with a fairy named Sidhean who wants to take Ash away forever, and the King's Huntress Kaisa, who teaches her to love the woods again. A quiet, lyrical sapphic retelling where the fae are cold and the human is warm.

    • Fairy Tale Retellings
    • Fae
    • Forbidden Love
    • Slow Burn
    Content warnings

    Physical or emotional abuse, Death of a loved one

  14. 14. Gilded

    Marissa Meyer · Gilded #1 · complete series

    Spice 0/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: fairy tale retellings, curses, fae

    Rumpelstiltskin from the miller's daughter's side. Serilda's tall tales catch the Erlking's attention, he locks her in his haunted castle to spin straw into gold, and a ghost boy named Gild does it for her. Long and slow in the middle, but the Wild Hunt is properly creepy.

    • Fairy Tale Retellings
    • Curses
    • Deals and Bargains
    • Captor and Captive
    Content warnings

    Kidnapping, Murder, Death of a loved one, Physical or emotional abuse

  15. 15. Hunted

    Meagan Spooner · standalone

    Spice 0/5 Darkness 2/5

    Shares: fairy tale retellings, curses, slow burn

    Yeva, a huntress in a snowy Russian-style kingdom, tracks the Beast that killed her father and ends up his prisoner, being trained to hunt for him. Beauty and the Beast with folktales, a bow and a heroine who hates the ballroom.

    • Fairy Tale Retellings
    • Captor and Captive
    • Curses
    • Slow Burn
    Content warnings

    Kidnapping, Animal death, Death of a loved one

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