8 Adult And Young Adult Fantasy Books With A Villain Protagonist

Evie Sage’s a bit accident-prone and unfortunately out of a job. While struggling to figure out how to support her family, she finds herself accepting a job offer from the town’s literal Villain . On the plus side, her family doesn’t know who she’s working for.

Evie might be one of the most innocent-acting, sunshiney persons you know, but she takes her job assisting the Villain very seriously. The big question, however, is can she convince herself her crush on the boss is bad for her health?

This was such a fun read, full of snarky banter. Some of the concepts are, of course, a bit dark (he is an evil villain protagonist after all), but in the most lighthearted and amusing way. There are some fun twists and creative characters. I look forward to continuing the series and can see why it’s gotten so popular!

Adelina Amouteru survived when many others died from the deadly blood fever that swept through their nation. Some survivors find themselves with special powers and are dubbed the young elites, but not everyone is happy they survived. The leader of the Inquisition aims to destroy all young elites before they can cause any harm, claiming to protect the kingdom.

The Dagger Society works to recruit Young Elites to their cause before the Inquisition can find them, claiming to know what’s best for everyone. Now that Adelina’s starting to show potential powers, can she really trust anyone, or do they all just want to use her? What if she chooses to embrace her own vengeance instead and decides exactly how to use her own power?

This was a captivating story with a main character who finds herself being challenged from all angles and has to make her own dark choices.

Our protagonist Nimona is a spunky aspiring villain, ready to take her evil-ness to the next level . With her uncanny shapeshifting ability, her ambition and creativity know no bounds. She attaches herself to Lord Ballister Blackheart, the big bad villain in town, and is ready to bring some chaos. If Nimona has her way, Blackheart’s arch nemesis, Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin, is going down!

But something seems a bit off about the Institution of Law Enforcement. And something is certainly questionable about Nimona’s powers. Maybe together they will get to the bottom of it and cause just the right amount of mischief.

Full of chaos and snarky comments, this graphic novel will keep you thoroughly entertained.

Joan’s got the perfect summer planned out. She’s working a great summer job at a cool historical house hanging out with Nick, who might just be the boy of her dreams. So what’s the catch? Well, she’s just found out her entire family are literal monsters, including her.

And Nick? He’s definitely an infamous monster hunter on a mission to destroy all the monsters, including her family. According to her grandma, it’s up to Joan to stop the hero and save the monsters. Can Joan embrace her villain side?

This paranormal coming-of-age story will take you on a journey alongside heroes and monsters and the family secrets you were better off not knowing. This is one of my favorite series, and I cannot wait to see how it all wraps up.

What if not everyone who had superpowers used them for good? What if, instead, they were more like a hero than a villain? Victor and Eli, college roommates, were two of a kind until that fateful day that changed everything and left them at unresolvable odds.

Together they relentlessly researched the concept of a near-death experience triggering ExtraOrdinary abilities. But what happens after, when things go from theoretical to literal and someone winds up dead? Who is the real villain?

Full of the best morally gray dilemmas you’ll face, this is one of my top favorite series with some of the absolute best characters. I cannot wait to see how it all wraps up with Victorious.

Mia Corvere’s father was executed as a traitor, which left her with nothing as she was cast out from proper society. Not one to flee, she’s going to fight, odds be damned. With the plan to be the deadliest assassin there ever was, she works to join the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, AKA a murder/assassin cult. With colleagues like this, who needs enemies?

Mia’s tale takes place in the Republic of Itreya, which, inspired by ancient Rome, is full of political intrigue, death, and romance . There’s also a snarky talking shadow cat and a creative use of footnotes to keep the tale incredibly entertaining. Come decide for yourself if our protagonist Mia is a villain or hero or something in between.

This cozy story follows our villain protagonist, Gav, who has amnesia. Gav is having a pretty rough day. After waking up in a trashed workshop with things literally on fire, he comes to the harsh realization that he is in fact the dark wizard in residence, Dread Lord Gavrax, and it’s his goblin staff waiting on standby to put out the fires.

If only he could figure out just why he has a princess locked away in his dungeon and what his master plans were. What’s even more troubling is he’s not even sure he wants to be a dark wizard anymore, but what’s an evil lord with memory loss to do but carry out their evil plots?

Featuring a garlic festival, over-eager heroes, a castle staffed with creative goblins, many evil wizards, and a clever princess, this snarky story will keep you rather entertained. 

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra , Immortal Longings is a tale full of intrigue and backstabbing. In the kingdom of Talin, persons skilled in jumping between bodies compete to the death each year for a chance at winning big.

This year Calla’s playing for a chance at killing the king while Anton’s playing as a last-ditch chance to save his childhood love. Working together they might just win, but there can only be one true victor. That’s enough drama without even mentioning that Prince August may be slightly rigging the games while trying to help Talin the only way he knows how.

Just who is the villain here, and is anyone really a hero? Can more death and destruction bring about the change this kingdom needs?