Vampire Books for Young Adults

Vampire Books for Young Adults/Teenagers

The interest in vampire fiction has reached a fever pitch and one of the most popular subgenres of fantasy has fast become the Paranormal Romance genre, which is stacked with urban fantasy featuring vampires, witches, and werewolves heroes and villains. 

This sort of fiction touches a number of genres: paranormal romance, the vampire genre, the romance genre, and the urban fantasy genre.

Vampire books are popular these days. In fact, it's some of the most popular category of fantasy out of all the subgenres. If you've looked around at all the various indie fantasy, you'll see hordes and hordes of vampire fiction on the market.

Perhaps the most popular vampire books for young adults are/were the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. This helped set the gold standard for vampire romance fiction -- and proved just how much money can be made from these types of books.

And millions and millions of people -- tween, teens, and older women -- loved the books, gaining an appetite for this type of fiction.

So if you loved TWILIGHT, you are left with a pressing question: what should you read AFTER Twilight? 

We've compiled a list of the top ten best vampire books for teens right here to make life after Twilight bearable! 

These fantasy books focus on YA readers. There is, of course, a whole horde of paranormal fiction that focus on adults (see our best vampire romance books for adults list).

Keep in mind that many of the Vampire Books for the YA also have strong romance plots and can also be categorized as YA romance books too. So you might want to check out our Romantic Fantasy Books list for more romance recommendations (if that's what you are looking or) or look at our Best YA Fantasy Book List for some YA Fantasy that covers multiple genres, not just Vampire or Romance.

While we've given a selection of some of the more serious works of Vampire fiction, sometimes you want a more low brow read, one full of teen angst, young adults, and some of the trappings that made the Twilight books a hit.In that vein, Richelle Mead created a pretty solid YA masterpiece when she penned the ‘Vampire Academy’ series, a lighter, more romantic take on the vampire genre, set in a schoolyard stage. These books, typically targeted at young adults, perfectly combined a classic teenage vampire story and twisted it into a truly unique and detailed vampire fantasy. While this book does stick to some tradition vampire lore, Mead creates an entirely new narrative and unprecedented take on the vampire world that is free of awkward phrasing and sappy characterization. The use of a highly trained ‘guardian’ to protect a mortal vampire princess from immortal vampire assassins is certainly a twist on the classic vampire novel that no reader has seen before. Although the various subplots of this series are fairly predictable (hint: the protagonist falling in love with her trainer/vampire princess falling in love with a naïve nerd), it is the entire vampire reality that Mead creates which makes this series a far more intriguing and compelling read than most other vampire novels. While the film adaptation of these novels wasn’t exactly a box-office hit, this novel and its accompanying film are an entertaining and easy read that can give you a good hit of vampire fiction to keep you going until another vampire novel hits the shelves.

Books in Vampire Academy Series (6)

Goth girl meets vampire and falls in love. This book will appeal to young adults who adore the Twilight style of vampire romance. This is the classic girl-torn-between-two-different-guys story. If you want a vampire series for teens that’s ALL about teen romance, this is your best bet. Now there's even a Manga spawned by the series.
Another vampire romance series, but one that has a pretty interesting vampire character. The plot follows Kerry, a young woman, who saves Ethan – a vampire – from vampire hunters. It’s a choice that she may regret as Ethan turns out to be an untrustworthy character. Of course, Kerry also falls madly in love with him which makes things complicated.
As one of the most popular fantasy series in history, it would be remiss not to include Stephanie Myers Twilight series on this list. The 4-book series has had an enormous impact on the young adult fantasy, shaping the genre into what it is today. This corny, teenage vampire romance series, while not entirely ground-breaking, sent the world into a frenzied vampire obsession, with Myers captivating her readers with an attractive teenage heart throb and a romance to stand the test of time. Myers must be given credit for her ability to write for an audience. Appealing to teenagers and young adults, the author chose Bella, a young high school student out of her depth, as the narrative voice of the series. Bella is a smart, pretty and shy arrival at her school, when she catches the eye of the sullen yet "dazzling" vampire Edward Cullen. Myer quickly throws her readers into a world of sparkling vampires and shirtless werewolves. However, while some sections of the series feel vibrant and exciting, there are long stretches of boredom and clunky dialogue, especially during the numerous Edward-Bella bonding sub-plots…feel free to skip that part. This generation defining series includes a number of intriguing ideas, however, the constant melodrama will irritate veteran fantasy readers.

Books in Twilight Series (6)

This is a vampire tale that's different from the rest of the books/series on this list. Peeps is a much more edgy and gritty type of modern vampire tale. If you are looking for a vampire romance novel for preteens or teens with simplistic characters and a high school drama fest, look elsewhere on this list. But if you want a more mature vampire tale, Peeps is one of the most interesting vampire tales I've read in a long time.

Books in Peeps Series (1)

This series is a supernatural fest with vampires, werewolves, and witches involved in the plot. Night World is a supernatural society that’s “hidden” from normal humans. The story centers around the Night World cardinal rule, which is ‘Humans can never under any circumstance know that Night World exists.” Each story follows what happens when this rule is broken. This is a darker series than many may be used to, but it’s also incredibly fascinating too.
This series follows sassy 16-year-old Zoey Redbird as she transforms into a vampire after being marked out by a vampire tracker. She’s forced to move from home into a sort of “school for new vampires” which is called House of Night. Life, as expected, proves to be pretty tough in this new school, from stuck up popular girls who take bullying to a new level to  a string of mysterious deaths at the school. This novel is entertaining, if a little dark, with some adult features. Don’t expect a novel as sappy and happy-go-lucky as Twilight –the series has more of an edge to it.

Books in House Of Night Series (4)

A vampire series that has a bit more of a bite than Twilight. Unlike Twilight, these novels actually have some “scary” moments in them. Vampires are not very nice in this series. The book explores the “what if I lived in a town that vampires completely controlled” question. It makes for a bit of a chilling and highly entertaining read.

Books in The Morganville Vampires Series (14)

If you are looking for a revamped version of the traditional vampire story, this book is for you. It follows a group of wealthy kids as they go to a privileged school. What these teens don’t realize is that they are “Blue Bloods” or vampires. The plot centers around their struggle to live with what they are, and to survive as another vampire group seeks to murder them.Blue Blood really spends a lot of time following the activities of the privileged high society with a good dose of the usual teen high school drama thrown in. The vampire aspect adds an interesting twist, but the story is more about “life as a spoiled rich kid” than about vampires. The story itself is pretty entertaining and a lot more solid than some of the other vampire fiction on the market.

Books in Blue Bloods Series (5)