Duologies are a good way to dive into a fantasy world without committing yourself to a bazillion volumes of series. Duologies are longer than a novel, so you have time to get comfortable in the new world, but it wraps up quickly.
After coming up with this list, I realized that most of my favorite duologies are enemies to lovers, but I can promise you, each one is unique and will entrance you in an equal way. So here are my top picks for the best YA duologies.
Flame in The Mist by Renée Ahdieh
This Mulan-inspired duology will drag you in from the first page.
In Feudal Japan, the story follows a noble lady Mariko, who is shipped off to the capital to marry the prince. But her journey is cut short when a band of thieves attacks her entourage, killing her servants and escorts. Being a sole survivor, she decides to infiltrate the Black Clan, a gang of thieves hiding in the forest, and execute her revenge.
But little did Mariko know what forces were actually at play, and what truth the forest conceal. Maybe her prejudices about dishonorable thieves were all wrong.
This enemies to lovers novel is filled with exciting adventures, political intrigue, and magic, all inspired by a marvelous Japanese culture.
We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya) by Hafsah Faizal
From the farthest corners of the east, we go to hot desert dunes on lavishing oases of Arabia.
This fantasy duology is set in a fantasy world inspired by middle eastern culture. This lady is disguised as a man too, and you will see our favorite enemies to lovers trope.
Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya–but neither wants to be.
These two will cross paths on the hunt for the same magical artifact that will be able to restore magic in the kingdom, but their purpose is drastically different. Zafira wants to save the people, but the Prince is on a mission to retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter.
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh
Yet another enemies to lovers duology by Renée Ahdieh.`
This retelling of 1001 Night was also adapted as one of my favorite Webtoons.
Those of you familiar with the original story will have a brief idea of the plot. The Caliph of Khorasan, eighteen-year-old Khalid, is a murderous boy-king. Each night he takes a new wife, but all those girls have one thing in common. Come dawn, they all end up dead.
Shahrizad goes all Katniss Everdeen and volunteers to become his next wife, but she has a keen plan fueled by her desire for vengeance.
Night after night, she weaves stories, dragging and tapping the Caliph into her imagination. Khalid becomes so intertwined in them that each dawn, he postpones her execution in the hope of hearing the end of stories.
Night after night, under the cover of darkness, something shifts between them, and Shahrazad begins to see that while she trapped Khalid in suspense of her stories, the castle and young Caliph are just as full of uncovered secrets.
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
I have a hypothesis about Laini Taylor’s books. You see one, you read it and you love it. So far, this statement continues to be proven correct.
Strange the Dreamer is about a young librarian, a mythic lost city, and the half-human children of murdered gods. Intriguing right?
“The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around,” so Lazlo Strange had little choice when the dreams of the mythical lost city Weep started hunting him when he was five years old. But huddled in a library, he needed to have the boldness to cross half the world in search of it.
Despite that, his dream didn’t give up on him and brought the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors right to his doorstep.
“Life won’t just happen to you, boy, you have to happen to it. Remember, the spirit grows sluggish when you neglect the passions”
What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What gods did the Godslayer kill, and what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?
And who is the blue-skinned girl who started visiting Lazlo in his dreams?
“Welcome to Weep”
Monsters of Verity by V.E. Schwab
“Sin City PLUS Romeo and Juliet MINUS romance PLUS monsters.
It’s the story of two teens in a broken world where violent acts breed actual monsters. Some are shadows with teeth that feed on flesh and bone. Some are corpses that feed on blood. And some can pass for humans. Those feed on souls.
It’s the story of Kate Harker, the only daughter of a crime boss, and August Flynn, the son of a man trying to hold his city together. She’s a human who wants to be a monster, and he’s a monster who wishes he were human.
It’s dark and violent, and existential, and a line from VICIOUS inspired the whole thing”
“Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.”
This is how the author herself describes the book, and I couldn’t have described it better.
I remember reading it ages ago, but I still feel a rush every time I return to this book. V.E Schwab never fails to deliver the original and wonderful worlds; the city of Verity, with its beautiful and ugly creatures, is a testament to that.
Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen
The Bridge Kingdom takes Enemies to Lovers to a whole new level. I think all wives have thought of killing their husbands at some point, but boy is this one dedicated.
Her whole life, Lara was raised as a warrior princess with one goal, to assassinate her future husband and bring his kingdom down to its knees.
But once Lara sets her plan in motion, something happens that she never anticipated. While she is trying to take away the kingdom from Aren, he already took her heart.
Technically, this is a book series, but the first two books focus on Lara and Aren and their story, which wraps up very nicely and gives you an opportunity to read these two as a separate duology.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
We already talked about this book in our post – fantasy books about assassins, but I have to include this here too since it’s not only one of the best duologies out there, but I think it’s safe to say that this book is one of the best YA books of all time.
With a steampunk feel, set in the original Grisha universe, this book about haste and underworld crime is without a doubt one of the best YA duologies out there. You’ll quickly fall in love with Kaz Brekker and his gang of misfits. This is one YA duology that you won’t want to miss out on!
Technically, Bardugo announced the third book coming up so I don’t think we can keep this book in this category for long, but the plot wraps up nicely, just like in Bridge Kingdom, and if you want to finish the book after two books, you will be able to do so without any major loose strings left.
Conclusion
As I said before, duologies are a good way to immerse yourself in a wide fantasy universe without the commitment to a lengthy series. I hope you guys will enjoy those books, and if you know of good duology books which we haven’t discussed here, please feel free to share them in the comments section below, here at the Library of Eleanor Rigby.
