Books like 'The Tainted'

Readers who enjoyed The Tainted by Frost Kay also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

paranormal  fantasy  young adult  urban fantasy  dark romance  from hate to love  new adult  dystopian  horror

  • The Dark Mirror by Samantha Shannon

    The Dark Mirror by Samantha Shannon

    Rated: 4.73 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 27 ratings
    Paige Mahoney is outside the Republic of Scion for the first time in more than a decade – but she has no idea how she got to the free world. Half a year has been wiped from her memory. As she makes her way back to the revolution, her journey takes her to Venice, where she learns a dangerous secret – one that could change the face of the war between humans and immortals...
  • The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

    The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 2 of 5
    Behind closed doors [?] · 157 ratings
    The specter of graduation looms large as Naomi Novik’s trilogy continues in the sequel to A Deadly Education.In Wisdom, Shelter. That’s the official motto of the Scholomance. I suppose you could even argue that it’s true—only the wisdom is hard to come by, so the shelter’s rather scant...
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  • Between Decisions by W.R. Gingell

    Between Decisions by W.R. Gingell

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    Life is complicated.I mean, life has always been complicated, but there’s a difference between monsters-are-trying-to-kill-you complications and monsters-are-in-love-with-you complications. I’m still not sure which is more dangerous.G’day. I’m Pet. Two-thirds of a pet, anyway: the vampire isn’t claiming ownership these days, but he’s definitely encroaching...
  • Flightless Afternoon by Vanessa Nelson

    Flightless Afternoon by Vanessa Nelson

    Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    With one of their own dead, the ruling elite want answers.The unthinkable has happened. One of the Ageless has been killed, their body left in a public space, displayed for all to see.The Archon is furious and threatens to burn the entire city, unless the person responsible is found and turned over to her for justice.Thea March is called on to investigate again...
  • Morning Trap by Vanessa Nelson

    Morning Trap by Vanessa Nelson

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    Beneath the unrelenting sun of Accanter's summer, an ugly conspiracy is underway.A desperate mother asks Watch Officer Thea March for help. Her daughter has gone missing. No one else at Thea's Watch Station will help the mother.More bad news follows when a body is found. A young man who had gone missing some time before and whose death her superior officer wants to write off as natural causes...
  • On Demon Wings by Karina Halle

    On Demon Wings by Karina Halle

    Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars
    · 50 ratings
    When the life you wanted has crumbled beneath your fingers, there’s nothing left to do but pick up the pieces and soldier on. You’ve done this before. But what happens when you no longer feel like yourself anymore? When fires spontaneously start-up around you, when you hear growling coming from underneath your bed, and you no longer recognize your face in the mirror...
  • Assassin's Noon by Vanessa Nelson

    Assassin's Noon by Vanessa Nelson

    Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    One dead man. A fortified house full of innocent people.One of the city's wealthiest and most powerful residents is found dead in his own home. Murder is suspected, but the house was supposed to be absolutely secure against any intruder. Thea is faced with a hostile group of household servants inside the house and demands for swift justice outside its walls...
  • Between Family by W.R. Gingell

    Between Family by W.R. Gingell

    Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    When someone tries to threaten me by telling me they know my name, I take that personally.G’day. I’m not really a pet anymore, but you might as well keep calling me Pet. It’s not like I’m gunna tell you my name anyway. And if I sound stroppy, well, I am. First, I was threatened. Now, someone has cut off my house from the human world and left my emotional support vampire on the human side...
  • Master Mage by Chandelle LaVaun, Megan Montero

    Master Mage by Chandelle LaVaun, Megan Montero

    Rated: 4.66 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    One spell to save us all…No more miss nice mage. This is war. This is survival. This is my destiny.I am the Stone Keeper and I will win.No matter the cost...
  • Hail to the King by Michael Anderle

    Hail to the King by Michael Anderle

    Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    Men Will Be Men. Unfortunately, the women are in no position to stop nature's course.Tyler has figured out an additional way to make money off Brownstone. But Brownstone has to agree, first. Brownstone gets a request from his hacker support after doing a job for the Professor.It seems she might have upset someone close to home...
  • Eye for an Eye by Michael Anderle

    Eye for an Eye by Michael Anderle

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    The Harriken have decided James Brownstone needs to die. So, they put out a hit on him valued at $500,000.Shay is working her way back to California from a raid on artifacts in Asia, but she could be too late to help. With all of Los Angeles and Southern California's hitmen trying to take out Brownstone, even the cops are sitting this one out...
  • The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag

    The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    From Molly Knox Ostertag, writer-illustrator, comes a darkly beautiful story of identity, family, love, loss, and magic.Everyone has secrets. Mags’s has teeth.Magdalena Herrera is about to graduate high school, but she already feels like an adult with serious responsibilities: caring for her ailing grandmother; working a part-time job; clandestine makeouts with a girl who has a boyfriend...
  • Fatal Mistake by Michael Anderle

    Fatal Mistake by Michael Anderle

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    The government is trying to take down the Council... But they get their asses handed to them.One of the senators wanted to play hardball from the beginning but got outvoted.Now, the head of the task force is killed.Will they wise up and swallow their pride to get the best? Lt...
  • Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto

    Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto

    Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 35 ratings
    Gideon the Ninth meets the Game of Thrones White Walkers in this dark young adult fantasy about a disgraced ghost-fighting warrior who must journey into a haunted wasteland to rescue a kidnapped prince.Ready your blade. Defeat the undead.In the Dominions, the dead linger, violent and unpredictable, unless a bonesmith severs the ghost from its earthly remains...
  • Bring the Pain by Michael Anderle

    Bring the Pain by Michael Anderle

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    The Harriken have decided James Brownstone is an unacceptable dishonor to their clan. This time, Grandfather has hired the best assassins in the business and Shay knows them.Shay won't allow Brownstone to go to Japan without backup. Her backup...
  • Vax Humana by Michael Anderle

    Vax Humana by Michael Anderle

    Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    James was raised by some good men. What would have happened if twisted cultists like the Brotherhood had found him instead of Fathers McCartney and Thomas? It's time to find out more about the Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone.James isn't from Earth or Oriceran. Where he is from has been a question for years...
  • Reign of Mist by Helen Scheuerer

    Reign of Mist by Helen Scheuerer

    Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 29 ratings
    The realm’s darkest secret is out. The cruelty of the capital and the power-hungry King Arden have scattered Bleak and her companions across the continents. On the run in a foreign land, Bleak finds herself tied to some unexpected strangers...
  • Dwellers of Darkness by Stacey Marie Brown

    Dwellers of Darkness by Stacey Marie Brown

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 39 ratings
    Some days feel like years, but in Ember Brycin’s case just the opposite is true. Em would be 22 now—if she were human. She’s not. She is a Dae—part Demon and part Fay—with a little Dark Dweller thrown in to make her more of a freak. Life has become further complicated for Ember since returning from the Otherworld...
  • Marvel Mage by Chandelle LaVaun, Megan Montero

    Marvel Mage by Chandelle LaVaun, Megan Montero

    Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    Now the spells are mine…I used to say I worked better under pressure…I was wrong. This countdown clock on my arm might just break me.Stellan is missing. Someone stole him from me. They ripped him right out of my hands and hid him somewhere I can’t find. I’m desperate to save my soulmate but Second Realm is dying…without me, they have no chance but neither does Stellan...
  • The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

    The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 164 ratings
    Philip Pullman takes readers to a world where humans have animal familiars and where parallel universes are within reach.Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal—including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world...
  • Fateborne by G.K. DeRosa

    Fateborne by G.K. DeRosa

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    I’m not alone. There are other Mystic wolves out there, and now I have to find them.And win the Alpha Trials, get my revenge on the supreme alpha and of course, break my mate’s curse. Phew… And I thought things would be easier now that we’d finally completed the mate bond.I was very wrong.When Hunter takes matters into his own hands, a desperate decision escalates the situation from bad to worse...
  • Wonder by Cameron Jace

    Wonder by Cameron Jace

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    Ever Wondered... Who You Really Are? Alice Wonder gets an offer from a Wonderland Monster. A little help to locate the Six Impossible Keys in exchange of knowing who she really is and why she killed her classmates in the school bus. Alice agrees, knowing the consequences might put the whole world in danger.One step into the truth, she realizes she needs the Pillar for help...
  • The Scarlet Veil by Shelby Mahurin

    The Scarlet Veil by Shelby Mahurin

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 2 of 5
    Behind closed doors [?] · 33 ratings
    A dark and thrilling vampire romance set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Serpent & Dove series.Six months have passed since Célie took her sacred vows and joined the ranks of the Chasseurs as their first huntswoman. With her fiancé, Jean Luc, as captain, she is determined to find her foothold in her new role and help protect Belterra...
  • Midnight Mage by Chandelle LaVaun, Megan Montero

    Midnight Mage by Chandelle LaVaun, Megan Montero

    Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    He put a spell on me...Or at least he must have, because none of this makes any sense. None of this can be real. I’m not a mage with magical powers…I’m just me. Ellie Sutton. Your average, everyday seventeen-year-old high school human student. My biggest concerns are bullies, failed exams, and missing the express subway twice in one day...
  • Fire in the Darkness by Stacey Marie Brown

    Fire in the Darkness by Stacey Marie Brown

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 43 ratings
    Fire In The Darkness, Book #2 in the Darkness Series Paranormal Romance ***This is NOT a YA Series but a New Adult(17+). Sexual Content and Language.*** It's been four weeks since Ember Brycin witnessed what her powers are capable of. The Electrical Current Storm has turned Seattle, Washington into a natural disaster zone...
  • The Storm We Face by Katie May

    The Storm We Face by Katie May

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    Well... So far, my apocalpytic upbringing has not been peaches and daisies (if that is how the saying goes). Or is it peaches and pansies? Fighting off feral beasts, surviving natural disasters, and coming face to face with the worst that humankind has to offer is quite tiresome. Psycho ex-girlfriends? Check. Creepy monsters/zombies? Check. Orgasms? Not check. Yet...
  • Magic Marked: Complete Trilogy by Chandelle LaVaun, Megan Montero

    Magic Marked: Complete Trilogy by Chandelle LaVaun, Megan Montero

    Rated: 4.62 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    He put a spell on me...Or at least he must have, because none of this makes any sense. None of this can be real. I’m not a mage with magical powers…I’m just me. Ellie Sutton. Your average, everyday seventeen-year-old high school human student. My biggest concerns are bullies, failed exams, and missing the express subway twice in one day...
  • All the Inside Howling by Gregory Ashe

    All the Inside Howling by Gregory Ashe

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 16 ratings
    Vie Eliot has survived a new high school, an abusive father, and the murderous Mr. Big Empty. Now, as Vie searches for Mr. Big Empty, he also finds himself facing an unexpected how to be a good boyfriend.When a mysterious drifter named River disappears, though, Vie finds himself dragged into finding the missing boy...
  • A Step into the Dark by Donna Augustine

    A Step into the Dark by Donna Augustine

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    Ollie Wit is the strongest Shadow Walker born in decades but it’s a gift with a steep price. Walking in the Shadowlands can bring untold powers and spells, and even greater risks. Every step into that other world brings her closer to the monsters that have haunted her since a child, destroyed her family and wreaked havoc all around her...
  • Hookah by Cameron Jace

    Hookah by Cameron Jace

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    A Plague Scarier than Death Alice and the Pillar have to stop a Wonderland Monster who'd lashed out an incurable disease onto the world. Their biggest challenge is that the world loves this monster so much. A Cure Larger than Life The only way to save the world is to travel to the other side of the globe, and peek into one of Lewis Carroll and the Pillar's darker pasts...
  • Full Blood by Donna Augustine

    Full Blood by Donna Augustine

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 22 ratings
    One monster wants my soul. One man wants my magic. Me? I want to be left alone to live my life out like a dull, one of the lucky people who were born devoid of magic. But that won’t happen because being born a Wyrd Blood gives me two choices in ruler or slave. I’d rather die than be a slave and I’m not cut out to rule. Instead I’ve been hiding out in the Valley...
  • The Hunt by Donna Augustine

    The Hunt by Donna Augustine

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    Living in the Wilds isn't any picnic, but I thought I had a handle on things: avoid the beasts and I won't get eaten, avoid the waterways and the pirates won't kill me, and stab every Dark Walker I see. That was before I found out Tiffy's friends were real and back when I’d never heard of the Skinners. Now my magic is on the fritz, and people are disappearing...
  • Fatal Fae by Chandelle LaVaun, Megan Montero

    Fatal Fae by Chandelle LaVaun, Megan Montero

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    Welcome to chaos…My life is falling apart, it’s unraveling at the seams. One second I’m an ordinary college girl living her best-broke-boring life with her bestie…the next I’m being hunted.Maybe I shouldn’t have talked to him. Maybe I shouldn’t have flirted. Maybe I should have known human boys don’t look like that. But I’m drawn to him like a moth to a flame. I can’t look away from those eyes...
  • White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

    White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

    Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 151 ratings
    One kiss could be enough to kill in the first book in the fan-favorite Dark Elements trilogy, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Blood and Ash series.Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal—fit in at school and go out on a real date with the gorgeous Zayne, who she's crushed on since forever. Trouble is, Zayne treats Layla like a sister—and Layla is anything but normal...
  • The Exiled by Frost Kay

    The Exiled by Frost Kay

    Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    An ENEMIES TO LOVERS post-apocalyptic fantasy perfect for fans of Holly Black, Kiera Cass, and Sarah J Maas!In a ravaged world full of sickness, devastation, and monsters, it was kill or be killed.After a disastrous second escape attempt, Hazel found herself blood indebted to her savior Noah, but he was no saint...
  • Shatter Me Series 4-Book Box Set: Books 1-4 by Tahereh Mafi

    Shatter Me Series 4-Book Box Set: Books 1-4 by Tahereh Mafi

    Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    The first four novels in Tahereh Mafi's New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series (Shatter Me, Unravel Me, Ignite Me, and Restore Me) are available together for the first time in this paperback box set collection!No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own...
  • A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs

    A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 47 ratings
    Having defeated the monstrous threat that nearly destroyed the peculiar world, Jacob Portman is back where his story began, in Florida. Except now Miss Peregrine, Emma, and their peculiar friends are with him, and doing their best to blend in...
  • Vampish: Kiss of Death by G.K. DeRosa

    Vampish: Kiss of Death by G.K. DeRosa

    Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    never should’ve trusted him.My entire life I was certain of one thing: vampires were the enemy. Then I met him and let my guard down. That witty banter, those mischievous eyes and gorgeous smile lulled me into complacency. Now I was a prisoner, captured by the very vampire who was responsible for my parents’ death...
  • Crystal Crowned by Elise Kova

    Crystal Crowned by Elise Kova

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 2 of 5
    Behind closed doors [?] · 67 ratings
    The epic conclusion of the Air Awakens Series is an instant USA Today Bestseller! Long live Solaris. One bloodthirsty ruler has been overthrown by another, casting the shadow of death over the Solaris Empire. Vhalla Yarl stands upon the stage of fate, prepared to do battle one final time. Fragile alliances will be tested and new bonds will be formed as the world is reshaped...
  • The Rose Mark by Connie Suttle

    The Rose Mark by Connie Suttle

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 22 ratings
    Sherra We belong to the King--those of us with the black roses tattooed on our left wrist, directly over our pulse. As if every beat of our hearts reminds us that we are not our own. All the women with the fire burning within them are culled, tattooed and taken to the warriors, to provide more energy. Energy that the warriors will then use to defeat the barbarians from the ocean of sand...
  • The Conference of the Birds by Ransom Riggs

    The Conference of the Birds by Ransom Riggs

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 45 ratings
    “Do you trust me?”With his dying words, H—Jacob Portman’s final connection to his grandfather Abe’s secret life entrusts Jacob with a mission: Deliver newly con­tacted peculiar Noor Pradesh to an operative known only as V. Noor is being hunted. She is the subject of an ancient prophecy, one that foretells a looming apocalypse. Save Noor—Save the future of all peculiardom...
  • Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

    Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 63 ratings
    Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle. But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving...
  • Fearscape by Simon Holt

    Fearscape by Simon Holt

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    The Vours: Evil demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on Sorry Night, the darkest hour of the winter solstice. It's been a year since Reggie first discovered the Vours, and the winter solstice is approaching once again. It will be another night of unspeakable horror for those unlucky enough to be taken by the Vours, because this time, she won't be able to stop them...
  • The Magic by Donna Augustine

    The Magic by Donna Augustine

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    For as long as I’ve lived, Dark Walkers have been hunting Plaguers, seeking them for their magic. But there’s one Plaguer they want most of all. Me. Since the fall of civilization, the human race has been barely surviving. Another outbreak of the Bloody Death could be our final straw and there’s only one way to ensure that doesn't happen. I need to kill the leader of the Dark Walkers...
  • Midnight Lies by Leia Stone, Raye Wagner

    Midnight Lies by Leia Stone, Raye Wagner

    Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars
    · 33 ratings
    Nai thought nothing could be worse than Alpha Academy’s midyear games…The first few months of school weren’t exactly easy: fated-mate from the rival clan, selkie attacks, and that minor, aka huge, plot to kill her.But things seem to be going from bad to worse.After watching a loved one’s horrific death at the hands of the alpha king, Nai decides another visit to Dark Row is in order...
  • Wyrd Blood by Donna Augustine

    Wyrd Blood by Donna Augustine

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Sometimes I wonder what life was like before magic burst into existence, before the Magical War of 810 destroyed our world. What it was like before there were Wyrd Blood, or we were forced into hiding. And that's what I've been doing for years, hiding me and my crew. But that's about to end.My crew is starving and things are getting dire...
  • Blood Binds by Donna Augustine

    Blood Binds by Donna Augustine

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Ryker calls it an accident. I call it another betrayal. He didn't want me to leave but didn't fight to keep me by his side. Wronged magically and devastated emotionally, I exile myself to another country, Dorley. Now I perform tricks under a tent, my mystical gifts a common sideshow. Just as I’m accepting my self-inflicted fate, Ryker makes a move that forces me back to the Valley...
  • Fiery Fae by Chandelle LaVaun, Megan Montero

    Fiery Fae by Chandelle LaVaun, Megan Montero

    Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Chaos beckons me … I feel it in my bones. I hear it in the wind rushing through my hair. That veil has been lifted, the fog is gone. My magic is alive inside of me, burning and begging to be unleashed. There’s no turning this off and going back to the life I had. I know who I am now and I know what I have to do. But things have gone from bad to worse. It’s one step forward and two steps back...
  • The Faerie Games by Michelle Madow

    The Faerie Games by Michelle Madow

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · 33 ratings
    I’m Selena Pearce, and in the past few days I’ve been kidnapped by faeries, gifted with powerful magic, and forced by the gods to compete in a twisted game to the death. Growing up on the magical island of Avalon should be great... but I have no magic to speak of. And my parents forbid me from leaving...
  • Angel Sanctuary, Vol. 7 by Kaori Yuki

    Angel Sanctuary, Vol. 7 by Kaori Yuki

    Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars
    · 22 ratings
    Life as an angel can be hell!The angel Alexiel loved God, but she rebelled against Heaven when she saw how disgracefully the other angels were behaving. She was finally captured, and as punishment sent to Earth to live an endless series of tragic lives. She now inhabits the body of Setsuna Mudo, a troubled teen in love with his sister Sara...
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