Books like “The Winner's Curse”

What to read after “The Winner's Curse” by Marie Rutkoski: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
Angelfall
Susan Ee · 2011
Similar plot moves: “Enemies to Lovers” and “Forbidden Love”
Angels have destroyed the modern world, and seventeen-year-old Penryn is trying to keep her mother and sister alive. When soldiers take her sister, Penryn captures a wounded angel and offers to help him in exchange for a rescue, an alliance that grows into something neither expected.
2
The Wolf and the Woodsman
Ava Reid · 2021
Same genre: “Fantasy” and “Romantic fantasy”
Évike is the only woman in her pagan village with no magic, and her people treat her as an outcast. When the kingdom's holy warriors demand a sacrifice, she is handed to their one-eyed captain, a monster-hunter her village hates. To survive the winter forest, the two must rely on each other despite everything between them.
3
Sky in the Deep
Adrienne Young · 2018
Same genre: “Fantasy” and “Young adult fantasy”
Eelyn is a warrior of the Aska clan, raised to fight the rival Riki in a war older than anyone remembers. Captured and forced to live among her enemies, she begins to see them as people, and finds herself drawn to a young man she was always taught to kill.
4
The Last Namsara
Kristen Ciccarelli · 2017
Same genre: “Fantasy” and “Young adult fantasy”
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
Asha is the Iskari, a dragon slayer raised by a harsh king to atone for the night her mother died. Feared by her own people, she takes comfort in forbidden old stories and in a kind slave named Torwin. When the dragons offer her another way, everything she was raised to believe starts to break apart.
5
Divine Rivals
Rebecca Ross · 2023
Same genre: “Fantasy” and “Young adult fantasy”
- Enemies to Lovers
- Slow Burn
With the gods at war, two young journalists compete for the same columnist post at a dying newspaper. Iris hides her family's troubles, and Roman, her rival, seems to have everything. When anonymous letters begin to pass between them, neither suspects who is writing on the other side.
6
From Blood and Ash
Jennifer L. Armentrout · 2020
Same genre: “Romantic fantasy”
Poppy was born the Maiden, chosen and set apart, forbidden from friends, love or any life of her own. When a new guard, Hawke, enters her world, duty and desire collide for the first time. As attacks close in on the kingdom, she begins to doubt everything she was taught about the gods and her own fate.
7
The Cruel Prince
Holly Black · 2018
Same genre: “Young adult fantasy” and “Romantic fantasy”
- Enemies to Lovers
- Slow Burn
Jude was born mortal but was raised in the High Court of Faerie after her parents were killed. Mocked by the fae and drawn to the cruel prince Cardan, she schemes her way into the court's politics, trading secrets and taking dangerous risks to win a place among those who despise her.
8
The Shadows Between Us
Tricia Levenseller · 2020
Same genre: “Young adult fantasy”
- Enemies to Lovers
- Slow Burn
Alessandra will do anything to gain power, including marry the young king and then kill him. The Shadow King, feared and rumoured to have killed his own family, is the perfect target. But court intrigue and unexpected feelings complicate her cold plan, and someone is hunting them both.
9
The Wicked King
Holly Black · 2019
Same genre: “Fantasy” and “Young adult fantasy”
- Enemies to Lovers
- Slow Burn
Jude now controls the throne from behind the scenes, holding Prince Cardan bound to her for a year and a day. Court politics, undersea enemies and her own divided heart threaten the plan. She must keep her grip on power while denying the feelings growing between her and the wicked king she came to despise.
10
An Ember in the Ashes
Sabaa Tahir · 2015
Same genre: “Young adult fantasy”
- Rebellion
- Forbidden Love
Under the Martial Empire, Laia's brother is arrested as a traitor, so she goes undercover as a slave in a brutal military academy to spy for the rebels. There she meets Elias, a reluctant soldier whose future is bound to the regime she works against.
11
Captive Prince
C.S. Pacat · 2013
Same genre: “Romantic fantasy”
Damen, prince of Akielos, is betrayed by his half-brother and sent to Vere as a slave and a gift to Prince Laurent, the heir he once fought. Kept in the dark about the other's plans, the two enemies have to survive a court of shifting alliances and old hatred.
12
Serpent & Dove
Shelby Mahurin · 2019
Same genre: “Romantic fantasy”
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forbidden Love
Lou is a witch hiding in a city where the church hunts her kind. Reid is a captain of the witch hunters and a devoted servant of that church. When a reckless act binds them in a union neither wanted, both must choose between faith, duty and a feeling they were raised to despise.