Old YA paranormal romance has a reputation problem and a nostalgia problem, and they are the same books. The boy who knows too much about her is either the best part of the genre or its biggest red flag, depending on whether you are sixteen or thirty. I went back through the best-known titles of the post-Twilight rush, roughly 2005 to 2009, and checked what critics said then and what parents’ guides flag now. I have not reread them for this guide, so every verdict below is attributed to a source.
The short answer: for the old mood with the fewest regrets, start with Beautiful Creatures or Fallen. For the era’s most notorious danger romance, try Hush, Hush with your eyes open. For the book that started the rush, Twilight. And first, one later arrival from our own shelf.
First, one from our own shelf: The Scarlet Thread
The Scarlet Thread by D.S. Murphy is book one of the Fated Destruction series. A teenager in juvenile detention who sees how people will die when she touches them learns she is a target, flees into a hidden world of Greek myth, and is pulled between a rugged protector named Sitri and the fallen angel who once tried to kill her. It belongs here because it works the same fallen-angel, forbidden-danger vein as Hush, Hush and Fallen, just later and wrapped in Greek myth; the author has described it as Percy Jackson meets Fallen. Amazon shows 4.1 stars from 1,809 ratings, and it is on Kindle Unlimited.
Honest weakness: it is the first of five, so you are committing to a series, and its central triangle includes a man who once tried to kill her. If danger-as-chemistry is where your line sits, skip it. Disclosure: this one is ours, from the site owner’s own pen name or imprint, so weigh it like any author recommending their own book.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (2005)
The one that started the rush: Twilight came out from Little, Brown in October 2005, sent seventeen-year-old Bella Swan from Phoenix to Forks, Washington, and set the bar every book below was measured against. It was the best-selling book of 2008, per Wikipedia, and the film grossed more than $392 million. Critics at the time were rough on the prose: the New York Times called it amateurish and Kirkus found Edward overly Byronic. The adult-hindsight problem is the relationship. Common Sense Media says Edward is possessive and prone to stalking Bella and watching her sleep, and that the book presents obsessive, controlling behavior as protective and caring. Read it as a period piece, not a model, and if you want to compare, the 2008 film is the other half of the era.
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (2009)
Hush, Hush (Simon & Schuster, October 2009) follows sixteen-year-old Nora Grey, still reeling from her father’s murder, who gets seated next to Patch Cipriano in biology and finds he knows personal details about her life. Kirkus called it a thrilling debut with a cover that grabs attention, then docked it for too many coincidences, a rushed ending and a helpless heroine. Common Sense Media notes that Patch repeatedly says he wants sex, and its reviewer found no real redeeming characters. A 2018 Daily Dot piece quotes a Vox writer’s summary of the romance as the love interest stalking her and planning to kill her. Skip it if a love interest who will not leave her alone is a hard no.
Fallen by Lauren Kate (2009)
Fallen (Delacorte, December 2009) sends Luce Price to Sword & Cross, a reform school in Savannah, after she is blamed for a fire that killed a classmate; she is drawn to Daniel Grigori, a boy she feels she has met before. Kirkus called the Southern Gothic atmosphere the best part, then said Luce lacks personality and the angel story fails to rise above. Publishers Weekly summed the plot up as pining. Common Sense Media says the romance stays at kissing and dreams. Wikipedia reports more than 10 million copies sold worldwide. Come for the mood, not the plot. Wikipedia lists a 2016 film adaptation, if you want to see how that mood translated.
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (2009)
Beautiful Creatures (Little, Brown, December 2009) has sixteen-year-old Ethan Wate in Gatlin, South Carolina, dreaming about a girl who turns out to be Lena Duchannes, a Caster who will be claimed as Light or Dark on her sixteenth birthday. Kirkus praised Ethan’s narrative voice, Publishers Weekly called the mythology compelling and dimensional, and Common Sense Media describes the romance as more dreamy than steamy. Wikipedia also lists a 2013 film that was a box office bomb. The honest weakness is length: Booklist said the roughly 600 pages could have been trimmed, and PW found the climax protracted.
House of Night: Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (2007)
Marked (St. Martin’s, May 2007) marks sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird as a fledgling vampyre and sends her to the House of Night boarding school in Tulsa. Wikipedia reports 12 main novels and more than seven million copies sold in North America. Publishers Weekly was lukewarm in 2007: it tries a bit too hard to be cool and spends too long on teen chatter. Content note, in plain words: Common Sense Media rates this one 15+ and flags an offhand oral-sex reference between students, teen drinking and pot. Skip it for younger teens.
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (2007)
City of Bones (Margaret K. McElderry, March 2007) opens with Clary Fray watching a killing at a Manhattan club that no one else can see, then her mother vanishes and she meets the demon-hunting Shadowhunters. Publishers Weekly called it a compelling story, while School Library Journal found it predictable but entertaining. Common Sense Media calls it an action-packed start and flags gory fights, a teen’s description of past abuse by his father, and characters who shove and insult each other. The weakness is predictability, and the violence is the loudest flag in its parents’ guide.
How these age on consent and power
Using the same parents’ guides, the split is clear. Twilight and Hush, Hush are the two where sources flag controlling or stalking behavior inside the romance itself, and in both the flagged behavior is presented as part of the romance. Fallen and Beautiful Creatures stay at kissing and dreams, though Kirkus found it unclear why the two boys compete over Luce at all. City of Bones has more of a violence problem than a romance problem, with knife and sword fights, throat cutting and a character’s account of abuse. Marked is the one with the older-teen content flag. None of this is a reason to feel bad about having loved them at sixteen. It is a reason to know what you are handing a younger sibling.
Two I left out on purpose
Shiver and Vampire Academy are on the usual lists. I am not recommending them here. Common Sense Media says Shiver’s seventeen-year-old Grace and eighteen-year-old Sam have intercourse once, in a fade-to-black scene, and the sources I opened for Vampire Academy did not say what the series does with its seventeen-year-old lead and her older mentor, so I will not point you at it blind. Publishers Weekly’s 2009 review of Shiver was favorable, calling it a lyrical tale, which is why this is a judgment call and not a dismissal.
Where to start
If you want the gentlest rerun, Beautiful Creatures. If you want atmosphere and can live with pining, Fallen. If you want the cultural touchstone, Twilight. Save Hush, Hush for when you want to argue with a book.
Questions readers ask
What counts as old YA paranormal romance here?
Books from the post-Twilight rush, roughly 2005 to 2009. A November 2009 Daily Beast piece, “The Next Twilight,” shows the scramble, profiling Vampire Academy and Fallen among possible heirs and mentioning Hush, Hush only in passing as part of the fallen-angel wave.
Which of these hold up best on healthy relationships?
By parents’ guides, Fallen and Beautiful Creatures, since both stay at kissing. Twilight and Hush, Hush are the ones flagged for controlling behavior.
What ages are these for?
Common Sense Media lists Twilight, Hush, Hush, Fallen, Beautiful Creatures and City of Bones at 13+, and Marked at 15+.
Are any of these only worth reading for nostalgia?
Critics at the time said as much about several of them, including Twilight’s prose and Fallen’s plot. I would read for the mood and keep expectations on the writing modest.
If you want more vampire-school and angel romance, try our House of Night review, the Archangel’s Kiss review and A Shade of Vampire.
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More like this: Old-School YA Dystopian Books to Read After The Hunger Games.
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