Books like Throne of Glass
by Sarah J. Maas · 2012
Updated June 2026
Book data: Open Library · Taste signals: BookTaste model
✨ Throne of Glass is a high-fantasy series by Sarah J. Maas following Celaena Sardothien, a legendary assassin who must compete in a deadly tournament at the king's court — only to discover her fate is tangled with something far darker. Fans adore it for its fierce, unapologetic heroine, slow-burn romantic tension woven through palace intrigue, and the way the stakes escalate from a personal survival story into a world-shaking epic. 🗡️ It hits that rare sweet spot of lush world-building, swoon-worthy love interests, and a protagonist who is genuinely dangerous.
Picked by taste overlap — not popularity alone.
What to read next
Start here
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas · 2015
💞 Slow burn👑 Court intrigue🔮 Dark magic🌹 The most direct next step for Throne of Glass fans — same author, same DNA of a fierce mortal heroine pulled into a deadly fae court, with slow-burn romance that builds across multiple books.
- Matches
- enemies-to-lovers tension · dangerous fae court politics · heroine grows into her power
- Differs
- much heavier romance focus · fae world not human kingdoms · darker and more adult in later books
- Skip if
- Skip if you want the action-forward assassin plot; ACOTAR leans harder into romance and fae mythology.
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●●● strong · ●●○ medium · ●○○ light · ○○○ none
Solid = this book · dashed = Throne of Glass
An Ember in the Ashes
Sabaa Tahir · 2015
🗡️ Assassin heroine💞 Slow burn💔 Grief & loss⚔️ Set in a brutal Roman-inspired empire, this dual-POV story features a deadly soldier and a slave girl entangled in a gladiatorial trial, delivering the same mix of political danger, slow-burn attraction, and a heroine who survives through sheer grit.
- Matches
- lethal competition / trials plot · slow-burn enemies-to-lovers · brutal oppressive regime backdrop
- Differs
- no magic system (mostly) · grimmer and more grounded tone · dual POV alternates male and female
- Skip if
- Skip if you need a lighter touch — this is consistently darker and more violent with fewer moments of levity.
Solid = this book · dashed = Throne of Glass
Red Queen
Victoria Aveyard · 2015
👑 Court intrigue🔮 Dark magic💞 Slow burn👑 A commoner girl with a secret power is forced into a silver-blooded royal court, delivering the same palace scheming and chosen-one energy with a love triangle and constant threat of betrayal.
- Matches
- court intrigue and political scheming · heroine hiding her true power · enemies-to-lovers tension
- Differs
- dystopian-fantasy hybrid setting · less action-focused assassin plot · faster pacing, shorter books
- Skip if
- Skip if you dislike YA dystopian vibes or found-power tropes — Mare's arc feels more reactive than Celaena's.
Solid = this book · dashed = Throne of Glass
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Taste radar — read from the themes shared across Throne of Glass and the picks below
Strongest taste signals: 🗡️ Assassin heroine · 💞 Slow burn · 👑 Court intrigue
How taste signals are generated
BookTaste's model reads the themes, moods, settings, and reader hooks of the base book, then scores every pick across those same axes — what overlaps, what diverges. Ordered by taste fit, not by popularity.
Shadow and Bone
Leigh Bardugo · 2012
🔮 Dark magic🌍 Epic world-building💞 Slow burn🌑 Bardugo's Grishaverse delivers a richly imagined Russian-inspired court with a morally complex villain-love-interest and a young woman discovering she holds power that could reshape the world.
- Matches
- lush fantasy world-building · morally grey love interest · heroine uncovering hidden abilities
- Differs
- protagonist starts powerless, not trained · villain romance is central hook · slower early pacing
- Skip if
- Skip if you need an already-badass heroine from page one — Alina's power growth is much slower than Celaena's.
Solid = this book · dashed = Throne of Glass
The Cruel Prince
Holly Black · 2018
👑 Court intrigue💞 Slow burn😂 Humor & wit🍄 A mortal girl determined to claw power away from cruel fae royalty — the enemies-to-lovers slow burn here is arguably the sharpest in the genre, wrapped in court backstabbing and a heroine who schemes as well as she fights.
- Matches
- enemies-to-lovers at its peak · deadly fae court politics · mortal heroine outmaneuvering faeries
- Differs
- shorter, faster books · no assassin training arc · more political scheming than action combat
- Skip if
- Skip if you want an epic multi-book world-build — The Cruel Prince is tighter and more intimate in scope.
Solid = this book · dashed = Throne of Glass
Six of Crows
Leigh Bardugo · 2015
🗡️ Assassin heroine😂 Humor & wit🌍 Epic world-building🎭 A gang of morally grey misfits pulls off an impossible heist in a sprawling fantasy city — the tactical, cunning-over-brute-force energy mirrors Celaena at her most strategic, with crackling banter and a cast you'll love fiercely.
- Matches
- morally grey, highly competent protagonist · heist and intrigue plotting · sharp ensemble wit and banter
- Differs
- ensemble cast not single heroine · no romance is central to the plot · heist structure over tournament/court arc
- Skip if
- Skip if you need a solo female protagonist and a central love story — Six of Crows spreads attention across six characters.
Solid = this book · dashed = Throne of Glass
Frequently asked
- What makes Throne of Glass different from other YA fantasy series?
- The biggest hook is Celaena herself — she is already the most feared assassin in the world before page one, which flips the usual chosen-one power-up arc. The series also grows noticeably darker and more epic in scope with each installment, so readers who start for the palace romance often stay for a genuinely large-scale world-ending conflict.
- Should I read the Throne of Glass series in order or can I start anywhere?
- Start with book one. The character arcs and plot revelations are tightly sequential — jumping in mid-series spoils major twists. If you want a shorter entry point first, the prequel novella collection The Assassin's Blade can be read before or after book one. 📚
- Is Throne of Glass similar to A Court of Thorns and Roses?
- Same author, same swoony slow-burn DNA, but different in key ways. Throne of Glass leans harder into action and assassination, while ACOTAR shifts toward romance and fae mythology — especially from book two onward. Fans of one almost always enjoy the other, but ACOTAR gets significantly more explicit as the series progresses.
- Are there books like Throne of Glass but for adults?
- Yes — An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo both skew older in tone and content. For full adult romantasy with similar court-intrigue energy, try Holly Black's The Cruel Prince or Jennifer L. Armentrout's From Blood and Ash. 🗡️
Book data and covers from Open Library. Picks and taste signals are generated by BookTaste's taste model.