The I’m supposed to kill you trope is a book trope where the FMC is sent to kill the MMC and they end up falling in love instead. It’s a very popular book recommendation trope query. If you want more posts like this, check out Specified Enemies to Lovers Trope – Fantasy Edition, where I added even more book recommendations with the I’m supposed to kill you trope but specifically for fantasy books on Kindle Unlimited!
The romance of Beauty and the Beast meets the adventure of Graceling in this dazzling fantasy novel about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.
Perfect for fans of bestselling An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses, this gorgeously written debut infuses the classic fairy tale with glittering magic, a feisty heroine, and a romance sure to take your breath away.
Betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom, Nyx has always known that her fate was to marry him, kill him, and free her people from his tyranny. But on her seventeenth birthday when she moves into his castle high on the kingdom’s mountaintop, nothing is what she expected—particularly her charming and beguiling new husband. Nyx knows she must save her homeland at all costs, yet she can’t resist the pull of her sworn enemy—who’s gotten in her way by stealing her heart.
A beauty and the beast re-telling. It’s an older book for the I’m supposed to kill you trope but was really popular years ago. I feel like it can be a hit or miss depending on the person reading it, but I really enjoyed the aesthetic and vibe of the story! The author did a great job incorporating the I’m supposed to kill you trope with the mythology to a point where I found myself once forgetting that the beauty actually never tried to kill the beast haha. Got my memory mixed up back then.
The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel
Series: The Book of Ivy #1
Genre: Dystopia, Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic
After a brutal nuclear war, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more conflict over which family would govern the new nation. The Westfalls lost. Fifty years later, peace and control are maintained by marrying the daughters of the losing side to the sons of the winning group in a yearly ritual.
This year, it is my turn.
My name is Ivy Westfall, and my mission is simple: to kill the president’s son—my soon-to-be husband—and return the Westfall family to power.
But Bishop Lattimer is either a very skilled actor or he’s not the cruel, heartless boy my family warned me to expect. He might even be the one person in this world who truly understands me. But there is no escape from my fate. I am the only one who can restore the Westfall legacy.
Because Bishop must die. And I must be the one to kill him…
A dystopian hidden gem with a post-apocalyptic setting. This world-building added a more saddening, dreadful, and hopeless atmosphere to the Im’ supposed to kill you trope in the story. Other books on this list are more fun, slow, romantic fantasy but this one feels a bit more scary (in my opinion) because of the dystopian setting. Fulfills the I’m supposed to kill you trope very well but I don’t see this book recommended a lot. I enjoyed it enough that I finished the whole thing. So worth a try.
The Wrath and The Dawn by Reneé Ahdieh
Series: The Wrath and the Dawn #1
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Retellings, Historical Fiction
Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.
She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.
This a really popular recommendation for the I’m supposed to kill you trope and is often brought up. Khalid and Shazi’s romance was like a soft and gentle flame and is definitely more slow-burn than enemies to lovers. I say this because there isn’t as much banter and direct animosity you see in real enemies to lovers, but more slow growth in the relationship as the book progress (i.e. slow burn). Not perfect, but popular for a reason.
A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
Series: A Thousand Nights #1
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Fairy Tales, Magic, Romance
Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next. And so she is taken in her sister’s place. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.
Far away, back in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air. Then at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.
Recommend if you enjoyed the Wrath and the Dawn. It’s just as slow-paced and dense in its romance and story. Needs to have patience and not the book if you are looking for a fast-paced book with the I’m supposed to kill you trope.
A warrior princess trained in isolation, Lara is driven by two certainties. The first is that King Aren of the Bridge Kingdom is her enemy. And the second is that she’ll be the one to bring him to his knees. The only route through a storm-ravaged world, the Bridge Kingdom enriches itself and deprives its rivals, including Lara’s homeland. So when she’s sent as a bride under the guise of peace, Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to fracture its impenetrable defences. And the defences of its king.
Yet as she infiltrates her new home and gains a deeper understanding of the war to possess the bridge, Lara begins to question whether she’s the hero or the villain. And as her feelings for Aren transform from frosty hostility to fierce passion, Lara must choose which kingdom she’ll save… and which kingdom she’ll destroy. Passionate and violent, The Bridge Kingdom is a seductive fantasy perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Really similar to Bring Me Their Hearts (it’s the last one on the list). The pacing for the I’m supposed to kill you trope in the story is also similar to Bring Me Their Hearts, which I elaborated on below. Recommend if you want action fantasy adventure.
Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power: 1) Woo the Shadow King. 2) Marry him. 3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.
No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King’s power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she’s going to do everything within her power to get it.
But Alessandra’s not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen―all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?
This book went viral on TikTok a while back because of how this book has the I’m supposed to kill you trope. Personally, I enjoyed this book a lot because I like the heroine. She is cut-throat, straight to the point, not weak-hearted, and goal-oriented. Recommended if you want a strong and ruthless heroine! And because of her personality, the I’m supposed to kill you trope really shone her. She really stuck to her goal while the romance still felt natural.
To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
Series: Hundred Kingdoms #1
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Retellings, Pirates
Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.
Do you want a book with I’m supposed to kill you trope with pirates at sea? Well, I got one for you. This book is one of the more common recommendations for this trope. Also has an action adventure!
Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf
Series: Hundred Kingdoms #1
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Magic, Witches, Paranormal
Zera is a Heartless—the immortal, unaging soldier of a witch. Bound to the witch Nightsinger, Zera longs for freedom from the woods they hide in. With her heart in a jar under Nightsinger’s control, she serves the witch unquestioningly.
Until Nightsinger asks Zera for a prince’s heart in exchange for her own, with one addendum: if she’s discovered infiltrating the court, Nightsinger will destroy Zera’s heart rather than see her tortured by the witch-hating nobles.
Crown Prince Lucien d’Malvane hates the royal court as much as it loves him—every tutor too afraid to correct him and every girl jockeying for a place at his darkly handsome side. No one can challenge him—until the arrival of Lady Zera. She’s inelegant, smart-mouthed, carefree, and out for his blood. The prince’s honor has him quickly aiming for her throat.
So begins a game of cat and mouse between a girl with nothing to lose and a boy who has it all.
Winner takes the loser’s heart.
Literally
One of my favorite books with the I’m supposed to kill you trope. The romance pacing is the first book he falls in love with her, and then he discovers that she lied to him at the end of the first book. And she tries to win him back starting from the second book.
