They might be fighting words but I think these books/series are better than the series you know the author for.
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden [You know The Bear and the Nightingale]

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn’t think–she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with “the smiling man,” a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.
Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she’s been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn’t have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: “Best get moving. At nightfall they’ll come for the rest of you.” Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie’s previously broken digital wristwatch, a keepsake reminder of better times, begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.
Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver’s warning. As the trio head out into the woods–bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them–the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: “Avoid large places. Keep to small.”
And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.
Summary
Curse Workers series by Holly Black [You know The Cruel Prince]

Cassel is cursed. Cursed by the memory of the fourteen year old girl he murdered. Life at school is a constant trial. Life at home even worse. No-one at home is ever going to forget that Cassel is a killer. No-one at home is ever going to forget that he isn’t a magic worker.
Cassel’s family are one of the big five crime families in America. Ever since magic was prohibited in 1929 magic workers have been driven underground and into crime. And while people still need their touch, their curses, their magical killings, their transformations, times have been hard. His granddad has been driven to drink, his mother is in prison and his brothers detest him as the only one of their family who can’t do magic.
But there is a secret at the center of Cassel’s family and he’s about to inherit it. It’s terrifying and that’s the truth.
Summary
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins [You know The Hunger Games]

When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. This world is on the brink of war, and Gregor’s arrival is no accident. A prophecy foretells that Gregor has a role to play in the Underland’s uncertain future. Gregor wants no part of it — until he realizes it’s the only way to solve the mystery of his father’s disappearance. Reluctantly, Gregor embarks on a dangerous adventure that will change both him and the Underland forever.
Summary
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness [You know A Monster Calls]

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him — something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn’t she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd’s gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.
Summary
Unwind by Neal Shusterman [You know Scythe]

In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would “unwind” them.
Connor’s parents want to be rid of him because he’s a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev’s unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family’s strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can’t be harmed — but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.
Summary
How about you? Any lesser known titles/series by a well known author you’d like to recommend?
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I enjoyed Small Spaces and can’t wait for the third! I also really liked the Overlander series, but eventually it got a bit repetitive for me, so I never finished all the books. Perhaps I should try again!
Unwind was highly recommended to me by a teacher who said her teens loved it. I didn’t like it that much, unfortunately. I thought it was kind of a standard YA book, except the premise made no sense, so it was difficult for me to buy into the world. No way would pro-life people accept a compromise when you can save the baby, but kill off a teenager instead. And no way would pro-choice people think it makes sense to have raise a kid years before you can choose to have them removed from your life. Many of the pro-choice arguments are about how having a child would be difficult because of cost/job loss and so forth. You’d still have to deal with all of that, just for years instead of carrying for nine months and then choosing adoption. It just…isn’t logical. I think the teacher probably just liked that her students could debate pro-life and pro-choice arguments and wasn’t too invested in the story itself, though.
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Unwind is a little fantastical but I still found it interesting. The later books explore topics that would make great discussions for a class or book group (one character is a person literally made from other people. Is he is own person? ; they also raise the question of the “legality” of selling your body parts because you need the money; there’s also a debate of having prisoners for life giving up body parts since they’ll be spending the rest of their lives in jail.)
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Shusterman does seem to enjoy exploring hot topics, I’ll give him that! I just never wanted to read the sequel to Unwind. But I have his latest book on hold at the library!
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Haven’t read his newest yet but look forward to reading your thoughts on it!
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I really need to read Small Spaces and have been meaning to for a while!
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I can’t recommend it enough! It’s the perfect level of spooky.
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I’ve been meaning to read Small Spaces for a while, I think I will definitely plan for it with my spookier reads this year =)
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Oh I hope you love it!
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[…] Alison @Alison in Bookland shared a great list of lesser know series by popular authors you need to read ASAP! I don’t need anymore books on my endless TBR, but I couldn’t help myself! Whoops! Anyway, she includes some great series, so be sure to check it out! […]
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I LOVE the Underland Chronicles! Great post!
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