Illinois Teen Choice Book Award 2025: Belladonna

Ren Scarborough has been collecting souls in the London streets for centuries...When her failure to control her Shinigami abilities drives Ren out of London, she flees to Japan to seek the acceptance she's never gotten from her fellow Reapers. Accompanied by her younger brother, the only being on earth to care for her, Ren enters the Japanese underworld to serve the Goddess of Death, only to learn that here, too, she must prove herself worthy.

Two sisters, Scarlett and Tella, leave their cruel father to attend Caraval--a faraway once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show--and, along the way, Tella is kidnapped and Scarlett is aided by a mysterious sailor and finds herself enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic.

Ismae avoids an arranged marriage by making a place for herself at the convent of St. Mortin, where she learns of her unique gifts and must determine whether she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death.

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe - witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family's renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin ... desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister's killer and to seek vengeance at any cost - even if it means using dark magic that's been long forbidden.

Nineteen-year-old Signa Farrow must solve a duke's murder and contend with a seemingly all-powerful deity, Fate.

As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer--the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it's never been a choice.