Series

Books like Twelve Dancing Princesses: 9 series to read next

Twelve Dancing Princesses is fairy tale retelling and fantasy, about curses, set in secondary world, adventurous in register. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Twelve Dancing Princesses is 4 books, 2009–2014.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses page →Narrow this list →

Tolkien's legendarium
Narnia
Folktales
The Princess and the Goblin
Howl's Castle
Little Thieves
Nevermoor / Morrigan Crow
The School for Good and Evil
Once Upon a Broken Heart

Tolkien's legendariumUniverse

universe163 books1923

Fantasy, set in secondary world.

“Before the seas were bent and the mountains raised, there was Music — and from that Music came Arda, and in the west of Middle-earth the long defeat and stubborn hope of those who dwell there.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

NarniaUniverse

universe38 books1950

Portal fantasy.

“Once there is a wardrobe at the back of a spare room, and behind the fur coats the wood gives way to snow, and a lamp-post burns alone among the trees.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

FolktalesSeries

seriesRobin McKinley3 books1978

Fairy tale retelling and fantasy, set in secondary world.

“Almost 20 years later, McKinley returned to the same material with her 1997 novel Rose Daughter.”
from the catalogue description of Beauty

Start with Beauty →

The Princess and the GoblinSeries

seriesGeorge MacDonald2 books1871

About quests.

“Strahan had published the story and illustrations as a serial in the monthly magazine Good Words for the Young, beginning November 1870.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Princess and the Goblin →

Howl's CastleSeries

seriesDiana Wynne Jones3 books1986

Fantasy, adventurous and whimsical in tone, set in secondary world.

Start with Howl's Moving Castle →

Little ThievesSeries

seriesMargaret Owen3 books2021

About con artists.

“Vanja Schmidt, goddaughter to Death and Fortune, has stolen a princess's identity and jewels to fund her escape from a life of debt -- only to find herself cursed to slowly turn into jewels herself as punishment for her greed.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Little Thieves →

Nevermoor / Morrigan CrowSeries

seriesJessica Townsend4 books2017

About magic schools, set in big city.

“From copyright page: A cursed child destined to die on her eleventh birthday is rescued and whisked away to a secret realm called Nevermoor and given the chance to compete for a place in a prestigious society called the Wundrous Society.”
from the catalogue description of Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow →

The School for Good and EvilSeries

seriesSoman Chainani8 books2013

About magic schools.

“After their fortunes are reversed, Agatha is taken to the School for Good while Sophie is taken to the School for Evil, their friendship is put to the test.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with The School for Good and Evil →

Once Upon a Broken HeartSeries

seriesStephanie Garber4 books2021

Romantasy.

“Once Upon a Broken Heart and its sequels follow the fallout of that bargain across a fairy-tale-inflected world of curses and dangerous magic.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Once Upon a Broken Heart →

Why these

No sales rank, no star ratings, no readers also bought.

Shared terms are not a promise that a book feels the same. Two series can be far-future political intrigue and read nothing alike — what the ranking can say is what they are about, and each card says which parts it shares.

Questions readers ask

What should I read after Twelve Dancing Princesses?: Tolkien's legendarium — the closest match to Twelve Dancing Princesses on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Twelve Dancing Princesses?: Princess of the Midnight Ball. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Twelve Dancing Princesses.
How big is Twelve Dancing Princesses?: Twelve Dancing Princesses is 4 books, 2009–2014.

Books like Twelve Dancing Princesses: 9 series to read next

Read next in Twelve Dancing Princesses

Why these

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