Top 18 Books like SHATTER ME to Obsess Over

Content Warnings: Death of a Loved One, Torture

Eris will do anything to stop the tyrannical ruler and their giant mechanical Windups from enforcing a life of war and oppression on citizens. She is a rebel who can take any Windup down from the inside. Unfortunately, with one wrong move she finds herself in a prison. Now, she has to deal with Sona, a windup pilot cybernetically enhanced for the job. But when Sona reveals her plan to take down the Windup program, Eris cannot help but team up with her and cannot resist falling in love along the way.

Content Warnings: Internment, Islamophobia

The government is relocating Muslim American citizens to internment camps as a wartime precaution. Anyone the census identifies as dangerous risks immediate relocation. Layla and her parents suddenly find themselves in a detention center with no legal way out. Unexpected allies may be able to deliver information to the outside world, and her boyfriend is on the other side of the wall, ready to help. Layla might just be able to lead a revolution against the internment camp’s director, but when the biggest threat to freedom is silence, she will have to fight to be heard.  

Content Warnings: Death of a Loved One, Parental Abuse

Like any child of a rebel who wants to rise through military ranks, Lee is happy to leave his past behind to prove his loyalty. He will take on any mission, but when a weapons-development site recruits the young soldier, he is unsure what to do with his new partner. Tera is a test subject. Your classic supersoldier trained to kill. Respecting your partner is one thing, but when Lee begins to fall in love he questions his loyalty and begins to wonder if his father’s rebellion might just be right. Another book with a powerful girl stuck in a lab is always a great addition to your shelf.

Content Warning: Violence Against Children

One day, Ruby woke up and her parents forgot she ever existed. A mysterious disease killed children or left them with telekinetic abilities across America, and Ruby gained the ability to manipulate minds. Now, she is just one of the teens locked in government-run rehabilitation camps. When she escapes, she encounters a group of kids who are on the run, looking for a safe haven. She wants to blend into the background of the rebellion, that is, if she can avoid revealing her powers. If you enjoy character arcs about learning to embrace power instead of repressing it, this is the book for you.

Content Warning: Death of a Loved One

Kasey and Celia used to live together in an eco-city keeping people safe from natural disasters. Citizens agree to spend a third of their time in stasis pods and conduct work virtually in exchange for protection. As an introverted STEM gal, Kasey happily follows the rules, unlike her fun-loving sister Celia. Until Celia escaped on a boat, Kasey believed her sister’s complaints were harmless. Now Cee is on an empty island with no memory of her past except the knowledge that her sister Kay is across the ocean. Back in the city, Kasey knows she can find her sister if she follows the right clues. A path of secrets might just lead them back to one another or forever keep them apart.

Content Warnings: Death of a Loved One, Torture, Sexism

A Beauty and the Beast retelling equipped with a cruel enchantress, a loyal guard, and a prince cursed to repeat his 18^th autumn indefinitely. Prince Rehn’s only hope is to find true love. As his kingdom crumbles around him and his castle is ravaged by a monster he cannot control, his guard must collect a girl from a strange realm each season to break the cycle. Enter Harper, a teen girl living with cerebral palsy in Washington, D.C., with her dying mother and protective older brother. When a mysterious guard pulls her into a magic land, she knows she will do anything to get back home. Even if it means breaking a curse. Another tortured heir for all the Warner stans out there.

Content Warnings: Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Death of a Loved One, Torture, Animal Death

Poppy knows she’s just a figurehead. She cannot be touched, spoken to, or looked at. One day she will be judged by the gods, but until that day comes, she is willing to skirt every rule set out for her. Hawke is honor-bound to protect her as her completely platonic guard. But when one secret outing leads to a romantic encounter, the temptation for something more is irresistible. With the growing threat of a once-fallen kingdom, the confines of Poppy’s life start to unravel. The histories she learned are far from the truth, but will she have time to be brought up to speed before death catches up to her?

In a world where the oldest Stormling families control the storms, strong magic is the key to power. As the last remaining heir, Aurora should have effortless control to protect her people. Instead, she is powerless. She will be a smart queen, but her lack of power threatens to undermine her future rule. An arranged marriage to a dark and powerful prince should solve her problems, but when he reveals his intention to overthrow the crown, she will do anything to stop him- even if she has to run away in disguise to do so. Turns out the key to gaining magic might lay in the black market with a group of storm hunters who steal magic from the raging storms. What could go wrong?

Content Warnings: Homophobia, Emotional Abuse, Suicidal ideation, Self-mutilation, Child Murder

An Indian epic–inspired fantasy follows a princess in a tower and a maidservant with a deadly secret on a quest to save the empire. Having a dictator for a brother has not been easy for Malini. Trapped in a dilapidated ruin, she expects to rot away in obscurity, until her maidservant, Priya reveals her forbidden magic, and her dreams of a coup become achingly possible. Dethroning Malini’s brother will serve them both if they can pull it off. Hopefully, when magic flourishes and romance buds, rescuing an empire will be easy.  This book serves you the cruel-ruler-whom-I-am-unfortunately-related-to-but-want-to-overthrow trope on a platter.

Content Warnings: Racism, Slavery

Jane barely knew a world before the dead rose on the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, amid the civil war. The Native and Negro Reeducation Act now demands children attend combat schools to fight the dead. Even Jane, a mixed child of wealthy white southern women, is not exempt. Now, she trains in the hope of returning home as a trained Attendant — that is, until she catches the eye of a particularly dangerous Baltimore official and finds herself stuck in a place where the living are more lethal than the restless dead.

Content Warnings: Non-Consensual Medical Procedures, Physical Abuse

Infected humans threaten Mara, the last free nation holding out from the Karensa Federation’s invasion. The Strikers are an elite combat force fighting in pairs that hold off the worst of the infected and the Federation. As a child, Talin became mute during a Federation invasion. Now, she is one of the only citizens with asylum status in Mara who is a Striker. When an unexpected death threatens her position, she must set out on one road trip to save the free world. Dramatic wasteland energy with a bit of a bodyguard love story thrown in is perfect for readers.

Content Warning: Torture

Bite into a post-apocalyptic vampire novel that examines what it means to be a monster. Allison is surviving on the fringes away from the vampire city where humans like her are kept around for their blood. So, when she is given a choice between death and vampirism, she chooses to become an immortal monster. Fleeing into the unknown and joining up with rebel humans looking for a cure is definitely a bad idea, but protecting the group is all that keeps her sane. Will she be able to pass for human, or will they reveal the monster in their midst?

Content Warning: Emotional Abuse

When a girl grows up in a bubble, the outside world is a scary place. Aria grew up in an enclosed community surrounded by an outer wasteland filled with cannibals, energy storms, and a deadly landscape to boot. Her exile should lead to certain death, but when she meets an outsider who is willing to help her survive, she might just stand a chance. As they make their way back to his community, Aria begins to understand the outside world and discover some hidden abilities up her sleeve.

The war is over, peace has settled between the humans and the Uroch, and Tegan is ready to set off on a journey as a ship doctor. Along for the ride, a warrior poet and the kindest girl around are ready to set sail. But when they come across Szarok, a Uroch vanguard, in the midst of battle, one more is added to their rank. An alien relationship on the high seas to mysterious lands — what more could you want? As a side note, this is a companion novel that can be read apart from the Razorland trilogy. A story about power, isolation, and friendship is a must on a list of books like Shatter Me.

Content Warning: Death of a Loved One

When you are a bean sidhe screaming for the souls of the dead, it is hard to lead a normal life. After her recent hospitalization for uncontrollable screaming, Kaylee just wants a date with a nice, normal guy. Only when her classmates start mysteriously dying do Kaylee and her supernaturally astute love interest begin to realize there is something demonic afoot. This is a backlist series I always find myself going back to. Fans of the bait and switch love triangle will be particularly pleased with this series.

Content Warning: Death of a Loved One

Blossoming into powers in rural New York should be easier for Bri, a girl with a supernatural green thumb. This summer, her family will go from Brooklyn to her late aunt’s estate. Their ideal getaway quickly turns poisonous when instructions for a traditional apothecary come with the keys to the house. It isn’t until Bri meets Marie that she discovers the dark secrets lying in wait. Between a group looking to her for the key to immortality, a dangerous curse, and a lethal plant, she has quite a bit to deal with if she wants to keep her family safe. I couldn’t help but pair a girl who can create poisons and a girl who has a poisonous touch.

Content Warning: Child Abuse

Getting your period is always a pain, but when it coincides with hallucinating the dead you know you have a bloody problem on your hands. Chloe is just a film buff with a distant father before hallucinations get her locked in a group home for troubled teens. One problem: those hallucinations are ghosts who can talk back and the group home is more sinister than it first appears. You see, the other teens are more supernatural than troubled, and the only way to dodge the plans the group home has in store for them is to escape. An iconic bait and switch love triangle for the records, so far in the backlist it is basically history at this point.

Content Warning: Death of a Loved One

When you are made to cull the souls of sinners, can you love the daughter of the city’s biggest crime lord? Every time violence takes place in the city, a monster is born. One monster just wants to be normal, go to school, be a good son, and avoid playing the violin around any living soul. That is becoming harder than August could have ever imagined, and Kate is at the center of it all. Kate longs to be just like her father, a ruthless man who charges humans for protection from the monsters he lets loose. As their paths converge, Kate and August begin to doubt their ability to be either the villain or hero of the story. Hidden powers, all-powerful parental figures, and a complicated love story make for a wonderful read-alike.