Book picks similar to
Insight by Terron James


fantasy
first-reads
young-adult
high-fantasy

Inhuman


Kat Falls - 2013
    Many of the people there exhibit varying degrees of animal traits. Even the plantlife has gone feral.Crossing from west to east is supposed to be forbidden, but sometimes it’s necessary. Some enter the Savage Zone to provide humanitarian relief. Sixteen-year-old Lane’s father goes there to retrieve lost artifacts—he is a Fetch. It’s a dangerous life, but rewarding—until he’s caught.Desperate to save her father, Lane agrees to complete his latest job. That means leaving behind her life of comfort and risking life and limb—and her very DNA—in the Savage Zone. But she’s not alone. In order to complete her objective, Lane strikes a deal with handsome, roguish Rafe. In exchange for his help as a guide, Lane is supposed to sneak him back west. But though Rafe doesn’t exhibit any signs of “manimal” mutation, he’s hardly civilized . . . and he may not be trustworthy.

Illumine


Alivia Anders - 2012
    Haunted by vivid nightmares and hallucinations of the event she does anything she can to pretend she's like every other normal girl in High School. Only Essallie is far from normal. Able to conjure blue fire and a shimmering silhouette of wings from her body, she seeks the only known solace left to her name; her first home in Belfast, Maine.But she soon realizes that her return home is only the beginning of a long and twisted road taking her as far from her humanity as possible, with Kayden, the demon originally summoned to slaughter her, leading the way. Unable to touch her but oddly curious, he joins Essallie in her search to find out just what she is. But neither of them were prepared for the secrets they've begun to unravel, secrets that will change Essallie and everyone around her forever.

Gravemaidens


Kelly Coon - 2019
    In the walled city-state of Alu, Kammani wants nothing more than to become the accomplished healer her father used to be before her family was cast out of their privileged life in shame. When Alu's ruler falls deathly ill, Kammani’s beautiful little sister, Nanaea, is chosen as one of three sacred maidens to join him in the afterlife. It’s an honor. A tradition. And Nanaea believes it is her chance to live an even grander life than the one that was stolen from her. But Kammani sees the selection for what it really is—a death sentence.Desperate to save her sister, Kammani schemes her way into the palace to heal the ruler. There she discovers more danger lurking in the sand-stone corridors than she could have ever imagined and that her own life—and heart—are at stake. But Kammani will stop at nothing to dig up the palace’s buried secrets even if it means sacrificing everything…including herself.

Whirl


Emma Raveling - 2011
    Pursued by Aquidae demons, she and her mother remain Rogue, hiding among humans to avoid becoming casualties in an ancient war.Everything changes when violence erupts on Kendra's seventeenth birthday. A dark stranger appears, promising answers to her mysterious past and stirring unexpected feelings in her fiercely guarded heart.But as Kendra uncovers the truth about her heritage and future, she realizes just how deep the lies and deception run.Now, in the face of unthinkable odds, she will need all her wits, skills, and magic to fulfill an extraordinary prophecy.The first in a sweeping urban fantasy series, Whirl is the beginning of a young woman's exhilarating journey for survival, love, and hope as she fights for her place in a world where she doesn't belong.

No Man Can Tame


Miranda Honfleur - 2018
    A dark-elf prince. A kiss of fire and powder.After a failed courtship in an ally kingdom, twenty-one-year-old Princess Alessandra returns home to a land torn apart by mutual hatred between the humans and the dark-elves. The "Beast Princess," as Aless is known by courtiers, confidently sets her mind to ways of making peace, but her father has already decided for her: she is to marry one of the mysterious and monstrous dark-elves to forge a treaty, and go on a Royal Progress across the kingdom to flaunt their harmonious union. While she intends to preserve the peace, the Beast Princess has plans of her own.Prince Veron has been raised knowing his life is not his own, but to be bargained away by his mother, the queen of Nozva Rozkveta, to strengthen the dark-elf queendom. When his mother tells him he is to marry a self-absorbed, vile human, he is determined to do his duty regardless of his personal feelings. After arriving at the human capital, he finds the "Beast Princess" rebellious and untamed—and not to be trusted.Aless and Veron face opposition at every turn, with humans and dark-elves alike opposing the union violently, as well as their own feelings of dissonance toward each other. Can two people from cultures that despise one another fall in love? Can a marriage between them bond two opposing worlds together, or will it tear them apart for good?If you like the fantasy and politics of Danielle L. Jensen’s Malediction Trilogy and the romance of Elizabeth Vaughan’s Chronicles of the Warlands, No Man Can Tame will lure you into its world and not let you go.Buy No Man Can Tame today, and journey into a medieval world of magic and Immortals, masquerades and games, love and blood, and a tale as old as time...

Freshmen


R.T. Lowe - 2015
    At the crossroads of destiny and self-determination the two shall collide. At stake, a young man's soul. And the fate of the world.Reeling from a terrible accident that claimed the lives of his parents, Felix arrives at Portland College hoping only to survive the experience. In time, however, with the help of his reality star roommate, and Allison, his friend from home, he immerses himself in the distractions of college life and gradually dares to believe he can put his past behind him.But a fateful storm looms on the horizon: In the nearby woods, two hikers become the latest victims in a series of gruesome murders; a disfigured giant embarks on a vicious cross-country rampage, killing teenagers who fail his ‘test’; an ancient society of assassins tasked with eradicating the wielders of a mysterious source of power awakens after a long silence; and a grassroots movement emerges from the shadows to capture the public’s imagination, its hidden agenda as revolutionary and terrifying as the man who created it. Only one man—the school’s groundskeeper—knows that the seemingly unrelated events are connected, and that an eighteen-year-old boy stands in the center of the storm.

The Mage's Tomb


Joshua Thomas - 2012
    Though Edwin may not stand out as the best looking or most charming fifteen-year-old boy in Chardwick, he has an unexplainable way of drawing unwanted attention to himself. Edwin would face dire consequences were anyone to discover that he has befriended a strange creature made of black smoke, or that he harbors dark secrets of sorcery. But Edwin isn't the only one with secrets. His best friend, Walt, has a few that will change the life of every person in the mysterious village of Chardwick. Walt is the key to unlocking Edwin's own great destiny... if Edwin can survive the encounter.

Everlasting


Angie Frazier - 2010
    But as a lady in 1855 San Francisco, her future is set: marry a man she doesn't love in order to preseve her social standing. On her last voyage before the wedding, Camille learns the mother she has always believed dead is in fact alive and in Australia. When their Sydney-bound ship goes down in a gale, and her father dies, Camille sets out to find her mother and a map in her possession - a map believed to lead to a stone that once belonged to a legendary civilization...

Tribesman


Paul Freeman - 2012
     With the dark god Morrigu haunting his dreams, the warrior and champion Culainn journeys north in search of a merchant's daughter abducted by clansmen. With a desert princess as a companion he will travel through a land baked by a scorching sun, where bandits roam free and dark beasts stalk the night. An ancient evil is rising from the desert. A Benouin myth of a ghost city inhabited by the souls of their ancestors, a bridge to the Underworld is unleashing demonic creatures on an unsuspecting world. Culainn and Persha, warrior and mage, stand alone against a tide of darkness. All the while the dark war god of the north seeks to use Culainn as her own tool, her own champion.

The Orchid Throne


Jeffe Kennedy - 2019
    Guided by a magic ring of her father’s, Lia plays the political game with the cronies the emperor sends to her island. In her heart, she knows that it’s up to her to save herself from her fate as the emperor’s bride. But in her dreams, she sees a man, one with the power to build a better world—a man whose spirit is as strong, and whose passion is as fierce as her own…A PRINCE AMONG MENConrí, former Crown Prince of Oriel, has built an army to overthrow the emperor. But he needs the fabled Abiding Ring to succeed. The ring that Euthalia holds so dear to her heart. When the two banished rulers meet face to face, neither can deny the flames of rebellion that flicker in their eyes—nor the fires of desire that draw them together. But in this broken world of shattered kingdoms, can they ever really trust each other? Can their fiery alliance defeat the shadows of evil that threaten to engulf their hearts and souls?

The Secret Country


Pamela Dean - 1985
    In the Secret, they can imagine anything into reality, and shape destiny. Then the unbelievable happens: by trick or by chance, they actually find themselves in the Secret Country, their made-up identities now real. The five have arrived at the start of their games, with the Country on the edge of war. What was once exciting and wonderful now looms threateningly before them, and no one is sure how to stop it… or if they will ever get back home.   "An intricate sparkling web of intrigue and magic. One of me very favorites.”—Patricia C. Wrede, author of Dealing with Dragons

Attrition: the First Act of Penance


S.G. Night - 2013
    The Humans are in shackles. The Elves are in exile. And the race of Majiski battle-mages have been all but eradicated by the Demons and their ilk.Racath Thanjel is among the few remaining Majiski surviving in secret. A strong but opinionated young assassin, he works from the shadows against the Demonic Dominion. But how can he and the others hope to defeat such a terrible adversary? Especially when their patriarch is keeping more secrets than the Demons themselves.Now, as a tangle of conspiracies, secrets, and ancient prophecies sweeps Racath away, he must choose his destiny: will he become the long-awaited Savior of Io, or allow it to suffocate beneath the Dominion's iron fist?Witness ATTRITION: THE FIRST ACT OF PENANCE - the stunning debut novel by the young S.G. Night. Set in a rich, dynamic world brimming with a cast of unforgettable characters, this new epic fantasy brings to life a tale of sword-and-sorcery, tyranny and rebellion, conspiracy and assassination, demons, love, and magic.

Broken Aro


Jen Wylie - 2012
    What do you see? Does the darkness frighten you? Now imagine the darkness being the cargo hold of a slave ship. Your city has fallen. Your family is most likely dead. You don't know anyone around you, and some of them aren't even human. Giving up would be so easy to do, but not for Arowyn Mason. Not after being raised in a military family with seven brothers. Every great story should begin with a plan. Aro's was to escape and to survive.Escape comes, but at a price. As they reach the shore, Aro and the other survivors learn that freedom doesn't mean safety. The slavers want their property back and will do anything to get it. The party uses every ounce of their brute strength, a hearty helping of cunning, and even ancient magics to keep themselves alive. Sickness, danger, and even love surprise them at every turn. Dealing with danger becomes their way of life, but none of them ever considered that nothing can be quite as dangerous as a prophecy. Running turns into another race altogether as her world falls to pieces again and again.Novel length over 70k words.

Nightrender


Jodi Meadows - 2022
    In the middle of nothingness is the continent of Salvation.Reality bends easily here. Villages disappear. Forests burn forever. Pockets of inconsistent time are everywhere, their boundaries strung with yellow ribbon. And the three kingdoms of Salvation have been at war for a thousand years.But the greatest threat is the Malice, an incursion from the demon plane slowly tearing its way through the world's weakest seams. Seams that--once split--will lead to the total unraveling of night and day, light and dark, life and death.Not that the human world takes much interest. Of more concern is the upcoming marriage of Rune Highcrown, Prince of Caberwill, and Johanne Fortuin, Princess of Embria--the serpent bride, a girl of famous cunning--which offers a possible end to the ancient conflict. But Rune has noticed the growing darkness, and he is determined to summon mankind's only defense: Nightrender, the hammer of the gods, an immortal warrior more weapon than girl.There is only one problem. The last time she was summoned, she slaughtered every royal in Salvation, and no one knows why. Will she save humanity from the Malice... or plunge it deeper into the fires of eternal war?

Looking for Dei


David A. Willson - 2018
    Yet it seems that her life is filled with them, from the ugly scar on her back to the strange powers she possesses. Her adoptive father refuses to say anything about her origins. And when Nara is invited to the town’s announcement ceremony, which tests youths for magical gifts, he forbids her from revealing her powers.The poor village of Dimmitt has not announced a gifted youth for decades. But when Nara discovers that the town priest has been keeping secrets of his own, she draws upon her hidden magic to correct the injustice. Her rash decision sets her on a path of danger, discovery, and a quest for the divine. But will the truth she reveals set her people free? Or unlock a curse that could spell her doom?