Books Like She Who Became the Sun
If you finished She Who Became the Sun and want more morally gray, revenge, forbidden love, 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.
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The picks
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1. The Poppy War
Shares: revenge
It starts as a school story about a war orphan who aces the exam into a military academy. Then the war arrives. Based on the Second Sino-Japanese War, including the Nanjing Massacre. Read the warnings, seriously.
- Academies and War Colleges
- Gods and Mythology
- Grimdark
- Revenge
Content warnings
Genocide, War, Sexual assault, Drug or alcohol abuse, Graphic violence, Torture
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2. The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Shares: court intrigue, revenge, morally gray
Baru wants to destroy the empire that conquered her island, so she joins it as an accountant. Yes, accountant. Colonialism, ledgers and a rebellion she can't afford to care about. The ending is cold enough that some readers never forgave it.
- Court Intrigue
- Revenge
- Morally Gray
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Genocide, Torture, War, Gore, Death of a loved one
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3. Jade City
Shares: morally gray, court intrigue, revenge
The Godfather with martial arts magic. The Kaul family's warriors draw power from jade, a rival clan wants their territory, and a new drug lets anyone use it. Slow start while it builds the city, then the clan war hits and it doesn't let up.
- Morally Gray
- Court Intrigue
- Revenge
- Found Family
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Drug or alcohol abuse, Death of a loved one
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4. Tithe
Shares: court intrigue, forbidden love, morally gray
Kaye is a sixteen-year-old living out of her mom's band van in New Jersey, and the faeries who used to visit her as a kid have plans for her. Grungier and more 2002 than The Cruel Prince, but you can see where Jude came from.
- Fae
- Court Intrigue
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Drug or alcohol abuse, Murder, Physical or emotional abuse
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5. The Cruel Prince
Shares: court intrigue, morally gray, revenge
A mortal girl raised in Faerie after the man who murdered her parents adopted her. Jude wants power, Cardan wants her gone, and nobody in this court is nice. No spice, all knives.
- Fae
- Enemies to Lovers
- Court Intrigue
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Physical or emotional abuse, Death of a loved one
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6. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
Shares: morally gray, forbidden love
Three women turned into vampires across five centuries: María in 1500s Spain, Charlotte in 1800s London, Alice in modern Boston. Their stories wind together slowly. Addie LaRue's structure with much more blood and some genuinely toxic sapphic relationships.
- Vampires
- Morally Gray
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Murder, Gore, Physical or emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide or suicidal thoughts
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7. The Stolen Heir
Shares: court intrigue, morally gray, forbidden love
Suren, the runaway child queen of the Court of Teeth, has been living feral in the New England woods when Prince Oak turns up asking for help on a quest. Set after The Folk of the Air, sadder than Jude's books, and Oak is far more slippery than he looks.
- Fae
- Court Intrigue
- Morally Gray
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence, Murder
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8. The Warded Man
Shares: morally gray, revenge
Every night demons rise from the ground, and people survive behind magic wards. Arlen watches his mother die because his father froze, and decides he'll fight back. Great first half. The handling of sexual violence in the back half is a common complaint.
- Demons
- Found Family
- Morally Gray
- Revenge
Content warnings
Sexual assault, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one, Physical or emotional abuse
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9. The Wretched Divine
Shares: forbidden love, morally gray
Grace's adult debut: a knight bonded to an angel has to team up with a demon to find a cure. Way darker than Belladonna and a bit overstuffed, but the emotional core is the most complicated thing she's written.
- Demons
- Forbidden Love
- Enemies to Lovers
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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10. We Ride the Storm
Shares: court intrigue, morally gray
Three narrators in a crumbling empire: a princess forced to marry for alliance, a soldier from the plains, and an assassin who hears the voices of the dead. The first chapter has a severed head and it sets the tone. Starts confusing, then locks in.
- Assassins
- Court Intrigue
- Morally Gray
- Grimdark
Content warnings
Graphic violence, War, Torture, Murder
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11. The Blade Itself
Shares: morally gray, court intrigue
A torturer, a barbarian and a vain nobleman walk into a war. Abercrombie is funny, which is the only reason the darkness goes down so easily.
- Grimdark
- Morally Gray
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
Torture, Graphic violence, War
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12. A Game of Thrones
Shares: court intrigue, morally gray
The Starks go south to serve a king who is drinking himself to death, and the Lannisters smile at them the whole time. Even if you've seen the show, the book is worth it for the chapters inside Ned's and Tyrion's heads. And yes, still waiting on book six.
- Court Intrigue
- Morally Gray
- Arranged Marriage
- Dragons
Content warnings
Sexual assault, Graphic violence, Murder, War, Harm to children
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13. Blood Over Bright Haven
Shares: revenge, forbidden love
A woman finally makes it into the all-male magic academy and finds out what the city's magic actually runs on. A gut punch of an ending.
- Dark Academia
- Revenge
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Genocide, Graphic violence, Physical or emotional abuse
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14. Certain Dark Things
Shares: forbidden love, morally gray
Atl is a vampire on the run from a rival clan in Mexico City, where vampires are banned and the narcos are worse. Domingo, a sweet street kid who collects trash, offers to help. A noir with fangs, short and mean.
- Vampires
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Gore, Murder, Drug or alcohol abuse, Graphic violence
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15. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Shares: morally gray, forbidden love
Tana wakes up after a party surrounded by bodies, with her infected ex tied up and a chained vampire in the next room. She drives them to Coldtown, a walled city where vampires livestream their parties. Black's sharpest standalone.
- Vampires
- Morally Gray
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Gore, Murder, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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