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The Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean

Each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple. Survive the palace's enchanted seasonal rooms. Conquer Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Marry the prince. All are eligible to compete--all except yokai, supernatural monsters and spirits whom the human emperor is determined to enslave and destroy. Mari has spent a lifetime training to become empress. Winning should be easy. And it would be, if she weren't hiding a dangerous secret. Mari is a yokai with the ability to transform into a terrifying monster. If discovered, her life will be forfeit. As she struggles to keep her true identity hidden, Mari's fate collides with that of Taro, the prince who has no desire to inherit the imperial throne, and Akira, a half-human, half-yokai outcast. Torn between duty and love, loyalty and betrayal, vengeance and forgiveness, the choices of Mari, Taro, and Akira will decide the fate of Honoku in this beautifully written, edge-of-your-seat YA...

Animorphs Book 33: The Illusion by K. A. Applegate

Tobias volunteers to be captured in order to trick the Yeerks, knowing he might be tortured. He accepts the unsettled nature of his existence and gains a piece of his heritage. This closes the several-book AMR arc for the team.

This book contains depictions of psychological torture, extended sequences of it. It's a tricky bit of world-building, because the nature of the torture involves using painful memories alternating with pleasant memories, most of which haven't been specifically shown in the books. It puts more detail into Tobias's backstory without being sudden revelations, and I think it manages the balance well.

A hawk (Tobias) turns into a blue centaur-like alien (Andalite)

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