Books that meet high moral standards and contain limited foul language, sexual content, and descriptions of violence.
- Before using this list, please read my disclaimer.
- Every book on this list meets “My Clean Reading Criteria” and is one that I finished, liked, and felt was worth my time to read. To learn more about the purpose of this list please see “About Novaun Novels.”
- For information on how I classify religious fiction, please see “Is Fiction Marketed to Latter-day Saints ‘Christian Fiction’?” For how I evaluate religious content in the books I read, please see “What About Doctrinal Differences?“
- All descriptions in quotation marks come from the book jackets or other descriptions from the publishers. Follow the author links to the corresponding Project Gutenberg pages. Follow the title links to the page, post, or Goodreads review that contains my commentary on the book.
Fairy Tales (Danish classics)
Famous titles include “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “The Little Mermaid,” “The Snow Queen,” “Thumbelina,” and “The Ugly Duckling.” Many additions and translations are available.
Belliston, Rebecca
Heart of Red, Blood of Blue (Young Adult medieval romance; feels like fantasy)
“Princess Gisela of Steinland was born without color. Albino. When her betrothal to Prince Jerrik of Kronga ends in his death, it starts a ten-year war her father is determined to win, even if it means bringing her out of hiding to do it. Now the savage Krongon war commander, Bloodless Kristoff, seeks the hearts of the entire royal family, especially Gisela’s. . . . Thrown into the center of a battle between three kingdoms, she finds herself fighting for her life and the right to be truly loved.”
Dickerson, Melanie
Fairy Tale Romance Series/Hagenheim (Young Adult Christian medieval romance, Evangelical)
“Rose has been appointed as a healer’s apprentice at Hagenheim Castle, a rare opportunity for a woodcutter’s daughter like her. . . .When Lord Hamlin, the future duke, is injured, it is Rose who must tend to him. As she works to heal his wound, she begins to understand emotions she’s never felt before and wonders if he feels the same. But falling in love is forbidden, as Lord Hamlin is betrothed to a mysterious young woman in hiding.”
2. The Merchant’s Daughter
“Annabel, once the daughter of a wealthy merchant, is trapped in indentured servitude to Lord Ranulf, a recluse who is rumored to be both terrifying and beastly. . . . Ranulf’s future, and possibly his heart, may rest in her hands, and Annabel must decide whether to follow the plans she has cherished or the calling God has placed on her heart.”
3. The Fairest Beauty
“Sophie desperately wants to get away from her stepmother’s jealousy, and believes escape is her only chance to be happy. Then a young man named Gabe arrives from Hagenheim Castle, claiming she is betrothed to his older brother, and everything twists upside down. This could be Sophie’s one chance at freedom—but can she trust another person to keep her safe?”
4. The Captive Maiden
“Gisela’s childhood was filled with laughter and visits from nobles such as the duke and his young son. But since her father’s death, each day has been filled with nothing but servitude to her stepmother. So when Gisela meets the duke’s son, Valten—the boy she has daydreamed about for years—and learns he is throwing a ball, she vows to attend, even if it’s only for a taste of a life she’ll never have. To her surprise, she catches Valten’s eye. Though he is rough around the edges, Gisela finds Valten has completely captured her heart. But other forces are bent on keeping the two from falling further in love, putting Gisela in more danger than she ever imagined.”
5. The Princess Spy
“Margaretha has always been a romantic and hopes her newest suitor, Lord Claybrook, is destined to be her one true love. But then an injured man is brought to the castle, claiming to be an English lord who was left for dead by Claybrook’s men. . . . She soon finds herself running for her life—and it may be up to her to save her father and her family from one man’s wicked plot.”
6. The Golden Braid
“Rapunzel can throw a knife better than any man. She paints beautiful flowering vines on the walls of her plaster houses. She sings so sweetly she can coax even a beast to sleep. But there are two things she is afraid her mother might never allow her to do: learn to read and marry. . . . As Rapunzel acclimates to life in a new city, she uncovers a mystery that will forever change her life.”
Hale, Shannon
Book of a Thousand Days (Young Adult fantasy)
“When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years because of Saren’s refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment. . . .With the arrival outside the tower of Saren’s two suitors—one welcome, the other decidedly less so—the girls are confronted with both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.”
Princess Academy series (Juvenile fantasy)
1. Princess Academy
“In a year’s time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of the village. The king’s ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess. . . . Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates.”
2. Princess Academy: Palace of Stone
3. Princess Academy: The Forgotten Daughters
The Jungle Book (Juvenile English classic)
“Set in Central India, Mowgli is raised by a pack of wolves. Along the way he encounters memorable characters such as the foreboding tiger Shere Kahn, Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear. Including other stories such as that of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a heroic mongoose and Toomai, a young elephant handler, Kipling’s fables remain as popular today as they ever were.”
Levine, Gail Carson
Ella Enchanted (Juvenile fantasy)
“At her birth, Ella of Frell was the unfortunate recipient of a foolish fairy’s gift—the ‘gift’ of obedience. Ella must obey any order given to her, whether it’s hopping on one foot for a day and a half, or chopping off her own head! . . . Ella goes on a quest to break the curse—once and for all.”
Fairest (Juvenile fantasy)
“In the Kingdom of Ayortha, Aza is most definitely not the fairest of them all. . . . But in a land of singers, Aza has her own gift . . . a voice that can do almost anything, a voice that captivates all who hear it.”
1. The Princess and the Goblin (Juvenile Christian classic)
“Princess Irene’s discovery of a secret stair leads to a wonderful revelation. At the same time, Curdie overhears a fiendish plot by the goblins. Princess Irene & Curdie must make sense of their separate knowledge & foil the goblins’ schemes.”
2. The Princess and Curdie (Juvenile Christian classic)
“Princess Irene’s great-grandmother has a testing task for Curdie. He will not go alone though, as she provides him with a companion—the oddest and ugliest creature Curdie has ever seen, but one who turns out to be the most loyal friend he could have hoped for.”
The Light Princess (Juvenile Christian classic)
“The story of a princess who ‘lost her gravity.’”
McKinley, Robin
Beauty (Young Adult fantasy)
“Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage. When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will.”
The King Arthur series (Juvenile American classics)
“Inventively retold and vividly illustrated, these stories describe the perilous and thrilling adventures of King Arthur and his knights in that glorious age of chivalry and honor.”
1. The Story of King Arthur and His Knights
2. The Story of the Champions of the Round Table
The featured image “Fractal Roses” is Copyright © 2022 by Katherine Padilla. All rights reserved.
