6 Russian-Inspired YA Fantasies to Read This Winter

Vassa in the Night, by Sarah Porter
What happens when you reimagine a Russian fairytale in a modern YA setting? You get Sarah Porter’s strange and enchanting Vassa in the Night. The Brooklyn of Vassa’s world isn’t the one we know. Here, magic seeps into the sidewalks, and Babs Yagg runs local convenience store BY’s. When Vassa’s sister sends her out to buy lightbulbs from BY’s in the middle of the night, Babs Yagg wants her head—but with canny talking doll Erg in her pocket, Vassa might be able to free herself from the witch’s curse.

Wicked Saints, by Emily A. Duncan
It doesn’t matter that Wicked Saints hasn’t come out yet, Duncan’s debut is already synonymous with the idea of eastern European YA fantasy. Nadezhda is a girl who can speak to the gods—and whose country is in danger of being destroyed. To save it, she must assassinate the king and stop a war with the help of two men with dangerous secrets of their own…and without losing herself in the process. Emily has quite a following from posting snippets of her works-in-progress on Tumblr over the past few years, and many readers are eager to see the final product. (You can read a snippet on the blog now.)

Blood Rose Rebellion, by Rosalyn Eves
Let’s go to Hungary—no, no, not the one that exists now, but the country in 1847, with an added dash of magic. Barred from society because of her inability to use magic, Anna would do anything to belong—until accidentally breaking her sister’s debutante spell lands her in exile in Hungary. But the magical nobles that made up her society are losing their grip on the place, and as discontent with their rule sweeps the nation, Anna’s ability to break spells puts her squarely at the center of the rebellion. Binge the first two books in the series now, before Winter War Awakening releases in March.

Shadow and Bone, by Leigh Bardugo
It would be criminal to make a list of Russian-inspired fantasy without including Shadow and Bone. Bardugo’s revered first foray into the Grishaverse follows Alina, a mapmaking soldier who seems completely ordinary—until monsters from the Shadow Fold attack, forcing her to unleash a power she didn’t know she possessed. Pulled away from the soldiers she knows and into the elite training squad of the Grisha, Alina must master her power, for the Darkling—who rules the country—thinks she can use it to destroy the Shadow Fold. But what if what the Darkling wants isn’t what’s best?

The Crown’s Game, by Evelyn Skye
The role of Russia’s Imperial Enchanter is coveted, competitive, cherished—and can only be held by one person. In Evelyn Skye’s debut fantasy, Vika Andreyeva and Nikolai Karmiov are the only two people in Russia who can work magic. And with war looming, the tsar needs an enchanter, but only one. A competition to the death is the tsar’s solution, meaning Vika and Nikolai will have to kill to survive, no matter how they feel about each other.

King of Scars, by Leigh Bardugo
And, of course, there’s the book we’ve all been waiting to get our hands on. King of Scars continues the exploration of the Grishaverse that Shadow and Bone began, but this time, we’re not following Alina: we’re following Nikolai and our dear friend Nina (from Six of Crows), along with some new and unfamiliar faces. The world doesn’t know what Nikolai endured to survive Ravka’s civil war, but he would do anything to banish the gift it wrought—even cross the country to find the places where the deepest magic lies. But healing isn’t always an option, even for men known to do the impossible.