Books Like The Wretched Divine
If you finished The Wretched Divine and want more demons, forbidden love, enemies to lovers, 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. Gild
Shares: morally gray, enemies to lovers
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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2. These Violent Delights
Shares: enemies to lovers, forbidden love, morally gray
Romeo and Juliet in 1926 Shanghai. Juliette is heir to the Scarlet Gang, Roma is heir to the rival White Flowers, and a contagion is making people tear their own throats out. Atmospheric and gory, with a monster in the Huangpu River.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Gore, Graphic violence, Murder, Suicide or suicidal thoughts
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3. The Serpent and the Wings of Night
Shares: enemies to lovers, morally gray
A human girl raised by the vampire king enters a deadly tournament where the prize is a goddess's favor. Hunger Games energy, gorgeous writing and a rival who's very hard not to like.
- Vampires
- Deadly Trials
- Enemies to Lovers
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Gore, Physical or emotional abuse, Death of a loved one
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4. Fortuna Sworn
Shares: morally gray, enemies to lovers
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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5. The Emperor's Enemy
Shares: enemies to lovers, morally gray
Zora Ravenal, a knight mage from the north, gets forced into a partnership with a terrifying Royal Mage in the middle of a war. Real enemies to lovers with great banter. The secret-keeping gets repetitive, and the warnings are heavier than you'd guess.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced Proximity
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, War, Murder
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6. Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Shares: forbidden love, demons
Karou is a blue-haired art student in Prague whose foster father is a monster, literally, and whose errands go through doors that open anywhere. Then an angel shows up and the doors start burning. The back half turns into a long flashback, and that's where the heartbreak is.
- Forbidden Love
- Demons
- Found Family
Content warnings
War, Genocide, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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7. House of Earth and Blood
Shares: demons, 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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8. Kingdom of the Wicked
Shares: demons, enemies to lovers
Sicilian witch summons a prince of hell to find out who killed her twin. Wrath is the best part, and the spice goes up a lot in book two.
- Witches
- Demons
- Enemies to Lovers
- Revenge
Content warnings
Murder, Gore, Death of a loved one
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9. One Dark Window
Shares: morally gray, forbidden love
There's a monster living in Elspeth's head, and it talks. Gothic, foggy, strange in the best way. Feels like a dark fairy tale someone forgot to tame.
- Curses
- Morally Gray
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Death of a loved one, Murder
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10. The Book of Azrael
Shares: enemies to lovers, morally gray
Dianna is a shape-shifting monster who does terrible things for her maker. Liam is a god-king forced to work with her. The main characters really aren't nice people, and it's dark and very horny.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Morally Gray
- Gods and Mythology
- Forced Proximity
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Gore, Torture, Murder
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11. Wicked Saints
Shares: forbidden love, morally gray
A girl who talks to gods, a blood mage prince and a war that never ends. Moody and extremely Slavic. The romance is with someone who's very clearly a villain.
- Gods and Mythology
- Villain Gets the Girl
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Self-harm, Gore, War, Torture
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12. The Cruel Prince
Shares: enemies to lovers, morally gray
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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13. A Cursed Kiss
Shares: enemies to lovers, morally gray, forbidden love
Keelynn's sister died from a Gancanagh's cursed kiss, so she teams up with a witch and the half-fae Tadhg to bring her back. Irish folklore all the way down. There's a lot of miscommunication, but Tadhg carries it.
- Fae
- Curses
- Enemies to Lovers
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Death of a loved one, Murder, Graphic violence
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14. The Stolen Heir
Shares: 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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15. From Blood and Ash
Shares: enemies to lovers, forbidden love, morally gray
Poppy is the Maiden, veiled and untouchable, and her new guard Hawke is far too interested in her. Very talky, very horny, and the twist lands if you don't see it coming.
- Vampires
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forbidden Love
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Physical or emotional abuse, Kidnapping
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