The Morganville Vampires, Volume 4 cover – Books Like Twilight

Books Like Twilight: The Best Romance and Fantasy Series for Fans

Updated September 2026

Books Like Twilight: The Short Answer

The best books like Twilight are Stephenie Meyer's own Midnight Sun, then Shiver, Beautiful Creatures, The Vampire Diaries, Shadow and Bone and The Selection, plus classics like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. They share its slow-burn romance, moody settings and dangerous supernatural secrets, without the explicit content of many newer fantasy romances.

More than twenty years on, Twilight is still one of the books teens pass around most. Here are our picks, grouped by what a fan loved most:

  • More vampires: The Vampire Diaries (1991), Vampire Academy (2007), City of Bones (2007).
  • Team Jacob, or a small town with a secret: Shiver (2009), Beautiful Creatures (2009), The Raven Boys (2012).
  • Romance in a fantasy world: Shadow and Bone (2012), The Cruel Prince (2018), The Selection (2012).
  • The classics Bella reads: Wuthering Heights, Romeo and Juliet, Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice.

Start with Stephenie Meyer's own two books outside the saga, then go through the list below. Every pick has a first book and year, an age range and a content note, because some of the books on other "like Twilight" lists are far more explicit than Twilight ever was.

In this guide:

More From Stephenie Meyer

Midnight Sun

Start with: Midnight Sun (2020). This is the events of Twilight told from Edward's side, and it's the book fans waited more than a decade for. It's long and introspective, and you can hear everything he wasn't saying to Bella. Read it after the four original books. Our Twilight books in order guide explains where it fits with Life and Death and The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner.
Ages: 13 and up. Content note: the same as Twilight, plus Edward's darker thoughts about Bella's blood.

The Host

Start with: The Host (2008). Aliens called Souls have taken over most human bodies, but Melanie refuses to give up hers, and the Soul inside her, Wanderer, starts to fall for the man Melanie loves. It was published for adults but reads a lot like Twilight: a love triangle with an unusual twist.
Ages: 14 and up. Content note: violence and some mature themes; romance is fairly restrained.

If They Loved the Vampires

The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith

Start with: The Awakening (1991). Elena, the most popular girl at school, is drawn to the mysterious new boy, Stefan. His dangerous brother Damon has other plans. These books came out well before Twilight and are the source of the long-running TV series. The first seven books are by Smith, and later ones were written by others.
Ages: 14 and up. Content note: vampire violence, some sensuality, a love triangle between brothers.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Start with: Vampire Academy (2007). Rose is a half-vampire guardian in training, sworn to protect her best friend Lissa, a vampire princess, at a boarding school where very little is what it seems. It's snarkier and more action-driven than Twilight. The series has six books.
Ages: 15 and up. Content note: sexual content, underage drinking and a self-harm storyline. This is one to check before handing it to a younger teen.

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Start with: City of Bones (2007). In New York, Clary sees a murder that no one else can see, and she's drawn into the world of the Shadowhunters, who fight demons, and the vampires, werewolves and faeries living alongside them. It has a big cast, fast action and a very tangled romance. It led to a whole Shadowhunter universe.
Ages: 14 and up. Content note: violence, language, an unsettling "are they siblings?" plot turn and some sensuality in later books.

If They Were Team Jacob, or Loved Forks

For many readers, the damp, gloomy town of Forks, where everyone knows everyone, was half of Twilight's appeal. These books have a place with that same weight.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Start with: Shiver (2009). As a child, Grace was saved from a wolf attack by a yellow-eyed wolf. Years later she meets Sam, who is a wolf every winter and a boy every summer, and who is running out of summers. It's quiet and lyrical, and it's the werewolf romance Jacob fans are looking for. It's the first of the Wolves of Mercy Falls books.
Ages: 14 and up. Content note: a non-explicit sexual relationship between the leads, some violence.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Start with: Beautiful Creatures (2009). In the small town of Gatlin, South Carolina, Ethan has been dreaming about a girl he's never met, and then Lena moves in. Lena's family are Casters, and on her sixteenth birthday she'll be claimed for either the Light or the Dark. It's Twilight with the roles reversed: here the boy tells the story and the girl has the secret. It's Southern gothic in style.
Ages: 13 and up. Content note: mild romance, spooky magic, a little language.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Start with: The Raven Boys (2012). Blue comes from a family of psychics, and she's been told that if she kisses her true love, he'll die. Then she gets tangled up with four boys from a private school who are searching for a sleeping Welsh king. It's atmospheric and character-driven, and many readers who outgrow Twilight love it. It's the first of four books in The Raven Cycle.
Ages: 14 and up. Content note: frequent profanity, an abusive father, some violence.

If They Loved the Romance More Than the Vampires

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Start with: Shadow and Bone (2012). Alina, a mapmaker, turns out to have a rare power that might destroy the wall of darkness splitting her country. She's torn between her childhood best friend and the powerful, magnetic Darkling. The setting is inspired by tsarist Russia. It's a trilogy, and Netflix adapted it as a series in 2021. For more fantasy in this vein, see our list of best fantasy books for teens.
Ages: 13 and up. Content note: battle violence, some kissing, a manipulative love interest worth talking about.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Start with: The Cruel Prince (2018). Jude is a mortal girl raised in the High Court of Faerie after her parents were murdered. She wants power in a world that despises her, and she gets tangled up with the cruelest prince of all. It's an enemies-to-lovers story with sharp political scheming. It's the first of the Folk of the Air books.
Ages: 14 and up. Content note: violence, bullying, cruelty and some sensuality.

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Start with: The Selection (2012). Thirty-five girls compete to marry Prince Maxon on live television, and America Singer enters only because her family needs the money. It's light, sweet and about as clean as teen romance gets. There are five books: the first three follow America, and the last two are set twenty years later.
Ages: 12 and up. Content note: kissing, some mild rebel attacks.

The Classics Twilight Was Built On

This is the section we'd most like parents to notice, because Meyer built her sequels around classics. New Moon was inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and Eclipse by Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847), with Edward and Jacob lining up with Heathcliff and Edgar Linton. A teen who loved the brooding hero is ready for the originals. The Brontës and Austen all appear on our British literature reading list for high schoolers.

  • Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: wild, stormy and much darker than its reputation as a love story. Ages 14 and up.
  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, published the same year: a plain, principled heroine, a moody hero with a secret, and a gothic house. It's probably the best "next Twilight" of all. Ages 13 and up.
  • Romeo and Juliet: read it after New Moon and ask whether the story is really a romance or a warning. Our Shakespeare plays in order guide suggests a sensible order for teens tackling more of the plays.
  • Pride and Prejudice: the classic romance about first impressions being wrong, and a natural next step for any Twilight reader. See our Jane Austen reading guide.

A Caution About Fourth Wing and ACOTAR

Search for "books like Twilight" and you'll see A Court of Thorns and Roses and Fourth Wing near the top of most lists. They're popular fantasy romances, but they were published for adults and contain explicit sex scenes. Twilight, remember, kept everything off the page until after the wedding. If your reader is a young teen, the books above are much closer to what they actually liked.

Twilight Read-Alikes from Cleanest to Most Mature

If they want... Try Cleanest to most mature
Sweet and clean The Selection, Beautiful Creatures Gentlest
Moody and romantic Shiver, Jane Eyre, Midnight Sun Mild
Fantasy adventure Shadow and Bone, The Cruel Prince Moderate
More vampires The Vampire Diaries, City of Bones Moderate
Older teen Vampire Academy, The Raven Boys Most mature on this list

Find Used Copies

Teen romance series are some of the easiest books to find used, since readers tend to go through them fast. Browse our young adult and romance shelves, look at classic literature for the Brontës, or use the search links above. Each copy is one of a kind, and shipping is free on orders over $15.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I read after Twilight?

Start with Midnight Sun, which retells Twilight from Edward's point of view. Then try Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater for werewolf romance or Beautiful Creatures for a small-town supernatural secret.

What books are like Twilight but clean?

The Selection by Kiera Cass and Beautiful Creatures are the cleanest picks here. Jane Eyre is a classic with the same moody romance and nothing explicit.

What book is Eclipse based on?

Stephenie Meyer said Eclipse was inspired by Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847). New Moon was inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Is The Vampire Diaries older than Twilight?

Yes. L.J. Smith's first Vampire Diaries book, The Awakening, came out in 1991, well over a decade before Twilight in 2005.

Is A Court of Thorns and Roses like Twilight?

It's a fantasy romance with a brooding immortal love interest, so the comparison comes up often. But it was published for adults and has explicit sexual content, so it isn't a good match for younger Twilight fans.

What age is Twilight appropriate for?

Most families are comfortable from about 12 or 13. The romance is intense but not explicit, and the violence is limited mostly to the climax of each book.

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