A selection of YA fiction and more challenging reads for those who enjoyed the timeless themes and plot within Shakespeare’s play Romeo & Juliet! Love Romeo and Juliet but wish for a fresh twist? Whether you adore the star-crossed romance, the family feuds, or the high-stakes drama, there’s a YA novel out there for you. From modern retellings to stories that capture the same themes of forbidden love, fate, and tragedy, these books will have you swooning, gasping, and turning pages late into the night. Get ready to fall in love with these Romeo and Juliet-inspired reads.
1. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
A beautiful fantasy that is hauntingly captivating. A blue-haired, tattoo-covered Art student in Prague with no (apparent) background tries to understand who she is and quell the intense sense of longing. When she meets what she feels in her bones is her mortal enemy her world is sealed off from her. But in him she discovers a life she only saw shadows of before.
2. Delirium by Lauren Oliver
A New York Times bestselling trilogy about forbidden love. For readers who love dystopias such as Rebel Born, Hunger Games and Divergent series.
3. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Almost a rite of passage for secondary school-aged readers. Uplifting and made all the more poignant by the inevitability the characters we invest in hurtle towards.
4. Tristan and Isolde
A tragedy borne from legends; thought to have influenced the Arthurian legends of Sir Lancelot and Lady Guinevere. Delve into this historical romance and you’ll find the similarities undeniable.
5. Pride and Prejudice
Such a classic. Lacking the world-ending intensity of love that drives you to a double suicide, yet a timeless exploration in love that germinates in the most unlikely of pairings.
6. Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay
A twist on the classic tragedy, can it get any darker? Juliet doesn’t kill herself…
7. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
A stunning dark portrayal of love so intense and powerful that it can cause the world axis to shift. A gothic, romantic tale of beauty and savagery in many forms.
8. Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
Set in a parallel modern-day universe where the Crosses, people with darker skin, are held as superior in society over the Noughts, people with light skin. There is no equality and interracial relationships are discouraged, seen as threatening the status quo. Suicide, conflict, warring rivals and forbidden relationships are all themes in Noughts and Crosses that mirror Romeo & Juliet.
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