Thousands of books are being published each year, and it can be hard to keep track of new releases. Plenty of authors write multiple series, but if you’re not following a particular author, you might not be up to date with so many books competing for your attention.
Some of the young adult authors I read more than 10 years ago have continued to write multiple other series. For instance, Cassandra Clare and Sarah J. Maas have written numerous series since their initial debuts. Popular as they are, I wouldn’t have known that they were still releasing additions to expand their series’ worlds had I not actively looked them up. There are just so many new books and series to keep track of.
If you’re like me and find yourself facing analysis paralysis when it comes to deciding which books to start with by which authors, then I’ve got a curation of six YA authors who’ve written multiple series, listing which series of theirs you should start with. For this selection, I’ve chosen authors who have published at least three YA series, regardless of whether they have branched out into writing adult fiction, are still writing YA, or write for both audiences.
Amélie Wen ZhaoZhao mainly writes YA romantasy. After the tumultuous release of Blood Heir back in 2019, she has since published two additional series: Song of the Last Kingdom and The Three Realms. If you’re starting out with reading Zhao, start with Blood Heir. Crown princess Anastacya Mikhailov is an Affinite in the Cyrilian Empire, where her kind are despised because of their unnatural powers. Her specific ability is to be able to control blood. When her emperor father is mysteriously killed, she’s the prime suspect. To clear her name, she must solve the mystery and find out the real killer. To do that, she must work with crime lord Ramson Quicktongue. |
 Hafsah FaizalFaizal is known for her Sands of Arawiya and Blood and Tea series. In 2027, she’s releasing Blade of Honey in her new series, The Lion & the Bee. To get a taste of Faizal’s writing, start with We Hunt the Flame. It follows two characters: Zafira, aka the Hunter, who often goes to the forest of Arz to scavenge food, and Nasir, the Prince of Death, who fakes being cruel by killing those who defy his tyrannical father. The curse is destroying the land, and Zafira must find a magical artifact to undo the damage it’s causing. Nasir is also tasked with the same mission, but he needs to beat Zafira to get his reward. As their narratives converge, they realize they may be facing a far greater danger. |
 Melissa de la CruzDe La Cruz has written multiple YA series, including the Alex & Eliza novels and the Sibylline series. Her most prominent one is her Blue Bloods series, first published in 2006. The first Blue Bloods book follows Schuyler Van Alen as she discovers she may not be fully human. Centuries ago, when the Mayflower set sail for America, it wasn’t just holding passengers escaping religious discrimination or people seeking a better life. Among the passenger manifest were vampires, too. As they assimilated into the population in the next centuries, they quickly earned wealth and power in American society, calling themselves Blue Bloods. For many years, this was a closely-guarded secret. But now the cracks are falling apart, and Blue Bloods risk being revealed to the public. |
 Sara RaaschThough Raasch put out recent books for adults, she has written and co-written many YA series, including Witch and Hunter, Stream Raiders, and Set Fire to the Gods. Her most notable work is the Snow Like Ashes series. The first Snow Like Ashes book follows Meira, an orphaned refugee whose kingdom, Winter, was razed and its magic vanished 16 years ago. Meira was among those refugees who escaped the attack, and she’s being trained to be part of a team that will reclaim their kingdom one day. As they prepare to launch that mission, Meira discovers an ancient locket that not only restores the kingdom’s magic, but also reveals a hidden truth about her true identity. |
 Alexandra BrackenBracken has written The Darkest Minds, Silver in the Bone, and Passenger series. The Passenger series is her most prominent, and the first book follows Etta Spencer and Nicholas Carter who meet in an unlikely way for a mission. Etta is alone, while Nicholas wants to free himself from the Ironwoods’ grip. This powerful clan has something only Etta knows how to find, and, for Nicholas to protect her passenger, he needs to make sure the object returns to the Ironwoods. The two embark on an impossible journey across time to find this mysterious object, even if it means their own demise. |
 Renée AhdiehAhdieh is the author of YA fantasy series Flame in the Mist and The Beautiful, but her first one, The Wrath and the Dawn, is the most successful. The series reimagines the classic tale One Thousand and One Nights. The first book follows the cruel boy-king of Khorasan named Khalid, who takes a new bride each night to the palace and murders them come dawn. Shahrzad, whose friend becomes the next victim, volunteers to avenge her friend and put an end to this murderous practice. But the impossible happens: she survives past one night, and she’s determined to stay alive to enact her true plan. Little by little, however, she learns more about this boy-king, and that she might be falling fast and hard. |
“So many books, so little time” indeed! If you’ve started a YA series in the past year or so, you might want to check if they’re wrapping up this year.