Books Like The Sweetest Fiend
If you finished The Sweetest Fiend and want more fairy tale retellings, fae, captor and captive, 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. Fortuna Sworn
Shares: fae, captor and captive, deals and bargains
Fortuna is a Nightmare who can see the fears of anyone she touches, and when her brother goes missing she ends up a prisoner of the Unseelie Court. Getting out costs her something very fae. Bleak, messy, and the love interest debate is half the fun.
- Fae
- Captor and Captive
- Deals and Bargains
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, Human trafficking, Graphic violence
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2. The Wren in the Holly Library
Shares: fairy tale retellings, morally gray, 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
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3. Wintersong
Shares: fae, deals and bargains, captor and captive
Liesl trades herself to the Goblin King to get her sister back from the Underground, and the bargain turns into a marriage. Labyrinth for grown-ups, with music at its heart. Lush and moody, though some readers feel the second half drifts.
- Fae
- Deals and Bargains
- Captor and Captive
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Kidnapping, Death of a loved one
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4. A Court of Thorns and Roses
Shares: fae, fairy tale retellings, deals and bargains
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
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5. The Ever King
Shares: captor and captive, fae, morally gray
Erik Bloodsinger, the sea fae pirate king, is mostly teeth and grudges, and he kidnaps the earth fae princess Livia Ferus right off her own shore. Salty, Viking-flavored and a blast once she starts biting back. You can skip the Broken Kingdoms books.
- Captor and Captive
- Enemies to Lovers
- Fae
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Kidnapping, Graphic violence, Torture, Murder
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6. Gilded
Shares: fairy tale retellings, deals and bargains, captor and captive
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
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7. Rhapsodic
Shares: deals and bargains, fae, morally gray
Callypso is a siren with a wrist full of black beads, each one a favor she owes Des, the Bargainer. Seven years after he vanished, he shows up to start collecting. The flashback chapters are heavy, and the burn is slower than the cover suggests.
- Deals and Bargains
- Fae
- Slow Burn
- Possessive Hero
Content warnings
Sexual assault, Harm to children, Physical or emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Graphic violence
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8. The Never King
Shares: fairy tale retellings, captor and captive, fae
Peter Pan snatches Winnie Darling, a descendant of Wendy, because he thinks she knows where his shadow went. Vane and the fae twins Kas and Bash come with the package. Neverland as a violent, hedonistic island. Check the author's content warning page first.
- Why Choose
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Villain Gets the Girl
- Captor and Captive
Content warnings
Kidnapping, Murder, Graphic violence
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9. Quicksilver
Shares: fae, morally gray
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
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10. Gild
Shares: captor and captive, fae, morally gray
Auren is King Midas's gilded favorite, living in an actual birdcage and calling it love. Then raiders grab her on the road and a fae commander named Rip becomes her problem. Gild is slow and mostly setup. Glint is where the series takes off.
- Captor and Captive
- Fae
- Slow Burn
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Sexual assault, Human trafficking, Physical or emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder
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11. Voidwalker
Shares: deals and bargains, morally gray
Fi is a smuggler who can walk the Void between worlds, and a job gone wrong drops her in front of Antal, an antlered daeyari lord whose species eats humans. He'll spare her if she helps him find whoever attacked his city. Predator and prey, with claws and tails and a lot of heat.
- Deals and Bargains
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Gore, Murder
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12. Bonded by Thorns
Shares: fae, fairy tale retellings
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
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13. House of Earth and Blood
Shares: fae, morally gray
Urban fantasy Maas: phones, clubs, angels and a half-fae party girl hunting whoever killed her best friend. The first 200 pages are a slog and the last 200 are a sprint.
- Fae
- Demons
- Morally Gray
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Gore, Murder, Drug or alcohol abuse, Death of a loved one
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14. When the Moon Hatched
Shares: morally gray, captor and captive
An assassin with a huge chip on her shoulder, a sky-king with a dragon and a lot of history between them. Huge, purple-prosed and divisive. People either love it or bounce off hard.
- Dragons
- Fated Mates
- Possessive Hero
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Torture, Physical or emotional abuse, Kidnapping
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15. A Court This Cruel and Lovely
Shares: fae, deals and bargains
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
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