What YA book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

I just finished reading THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER and I loved it so, so, SO much.

I admired how Michelle Hodkin was able to keep the reader questioning what was really going on with the MC. Everything paranormal/strange can be answered away as coincidence/and something that can happen in reality. As far as unreliable narrators go, Mara Dyer is awesome.

If you haven't read it yet, you seriously should. <33

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. It was pretty good. I'm just coming out of a long reading slump, so my thoughts aren't terrible eloquent as of yet.

JustJess said:

Just started Brenna Yovanoff's The Space Between...I really enjoyed The Replacement and have been waiting for this book to be released (pleasantly surprised to find it at the library)

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I liked The Replacement a lot, and I love Brenna Yovanoff's short stories, but the plot of this one sounds kind of 'meh.' I'm still undecided on whether to read it or not.

What do you think of it?

I finished Chime which I really enjoyed, though with a few qualifications regarding the plot. The voice and dialogue were terrific, though, and I loved the fantasy world.

I'm re-reading Tombs of Atuan by Ursula LeGuin at the moment.

Lydia Sharp said:

Totally devouring ALSO KNOWN AS ROWAN POHI by Ralph Fletcher. YA contemp with a male lead.

Haven't seen much talk about it, but it's been hard to put down since I started it last night. I hope more people pick it up soon.

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Hmmm. Just read the first page of this on Amazon. I may have to add this to my to-read list.

I am 60 or so pages into 13 REASONS WHY and for me it's a struggle. I find the technique of the narrated tapes (italics) and the narrated voice of the boy (non-talics) to be confusing. I get into one voice and then I realize I'm reading another voice. There's very little to no action. It's a boy listening to audio tapes of backstory.

I am compelled to plug through. Have to say, from all the buzz I heard about it, I expected something else.

Finished Daughter of Smoke and Bone. The pacing did stutter in the middle when Akiva arrived (she plopped in a whole chapter of languid flashback in the middle of a fight scene! Way to kill the tension), but I didn't think it went completely off the rails. I think part of the problem was she was trying to build up this non-existent mystery of who Karou was, which I had figured out pretty much as soon as Akiva came on the scene. But once that was out of the way, I got sucked in again. And I loved the ending, which is weird because I usually hate cliffhangers.

Now, on to Anna Dressed in Blood. Hopefully it's as good and fun as everyone says it is!

KYcactus said:

Hmmm. Just read the first page of this on Amazon. I may have to add this to my to-read list.

I am 60 or so pages into 13 REASONS WHY and for me it's a struggle. I find the technique of the narrated tapes (italics) and the narrated voice of the boy (non-talics) to be confusing. I get into one voice and then I realize I'm reading another voice. There's very little to no action. It's a boy listening to audio tapes of backstory.

I am compelled to plug through. Have to say, from all the buzz I heard about it, I expected something else.

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13 REASONS WHY takes a little bit of time to get into. In terms of emotional pull, it's much more effective near the end of the book.

Karen Mahoney's The Iron Witch and Divergent by Veronica Roth. I'm juggling between both of them.

I also picked up Betwixt by Tara Bray Smith and it was a DNF for me - I've never been a big fan of multiple POV where multiple POVs happen in sections (when it's omnipresent, it's fine, but when it's in sections, I"m not fine. It's weird that way).

breaking_burgundy said:

13 REASONS WHY takes a little bit of time to get into. In terms of emotional pull, it's much more effective near the end of the book.

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Not one of my favorite books, I'll confess. I did like it, and I think it's a good book for teens to read. But overall, I found it to be underwhelming.

I've just started Blood Ninja 2: Lord Oda's Revenge by Nick Lake (review copy). It hasn't really got going yet, partly because it's filling in backstory from the first novel, which I haven't read, and also because of time things I haven't really had a chance to read it more than piecemeal. Still, I'll have five hours on the train this coming weekend so should get through most of it then.

Finished The Iron King. I thought the MC was a little stupid and with all the fey from the Iron Kingdom attacking the MC, Ash, and Puck made me think of a really bad Sailor Moon episode. Now I'm onto Bruiser.

I've almost finished THE THIEF-TAKERS APPRENTICE by Stephen Deas and to be honest with you, I'm struggling to say what actually happens. It's well written, the descriptions and secondary world building is vivid (as you'd expect given Deas's success as a writer of 'adult' secondary world fantasy) but there isn't actually a lot of plot here. It's predominantly set-up for the main character of Berren who appears to have a secret past that he's not aware of and his realisation that he wants more than a life as a petty thief, together with the development of his relationship with the titular thief-taker, Master Sy. There's a loose mystery about smuggling in the town where they live, which gives rise to a couple of well-drawn fight scenes but the overall pace was slooooow and I kept waiting for something big to pop in it and it hasn't. That said, with all this set-up there should be more happening in the next book, which I'm tempted to check out.

I've lined up STRANGE ANGELS: DEFIANCE by Lili St Crow, which is the fourth in her STRANGE ANGELS series and I've got to admit, I haven't read 2 or 3 so this should be interesting ...

MM

Finally started FORBIDDEN. It's been sitting in my pile forever.

Also reading SPEAKING OUT, a collection of short stories about LGBTQ teens and their different coming out experiences. Will be reviewing this one on the Gay YA blog when I'm done.

cherita said:

OMG, yes! I thought Tess was meh, and didn't like this book as much as The Mortal Instruments, but I loved Jem! He was a fabulous character because he was interesting, something a lot of authors seem to forget to make their nice guys. The Asian dudes are always the most interesting characters in Cassandra Clare novels (all two of them, lol).

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I also liked his understated sort of sarcasm, the way he's always like "xd lulz" at Will's antics. I don't know how Ms Clare managed it, considering he doesn't take up that much space in the novel, but he makes an impression of still waters running deep.

I'm currently on chapter 12 of Divergent by Veronica Roth. Struggling. Hope it improves.

I really enjoyed THE SCORPIO RACES. It's more reminiscent of her faerie books than her werewolf ones, and the romance is very much secondary to everything else. Family is big in this one. Different to a lot of what's currently out there. (A lot of reviews have said it has a Scottish feel, but it's setting off my Irish setting radar, not least because the water horses are referred to in Irish. It also reminded me of the town I grew up in.)

Just about to start THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS. Very excited for this one.

Just started Supernaturally. Just as good as the first so far. I love Evy as a narrator. Not sure why, but the covers initially put me off from reading either of these books. I'm glad I listened to my friends' recommendations after all.

I liked The Replacement a lot, and I love Brenna Yovanoff's short stories, but the plot of this one sounds kind of 'meh.' I'm still undecided on whether to read it or not.

What do you think of it?

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The description doesn't do the book justice, so far I'm enjoying it even more than The Replacement.

I'm rereading some of Scott Tracey's Witch Eyes so I can write a review for it.

Perfect Chemistry, by Simone Elkeles. I haven't read a YA romance (as in straight up romance as opposed to it being part of another genre) for a while. It's been really enjoyable so far.

Kado - I just finished reading Divergent, though I rushed through the last chapters.

Almost finished with The Summer I Learned to Fly. Love the prose in this. The characters and setting are very unique, but I'm having a hard time figuring out when it actually takes place. It doesn't feel like modern day, more like the 70s or 80s, but there really aren't any clues in the book. I suppose I should go look it up or something...

KTC said:

I'm rereading some of Scott Tracey's Witch Eyes so I can write a review for it.

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Just checked this out from the library, also for review purposes. I have no expectations whatsoever--going in totally blind. I haven't done that in a while.

I went back to City of Ash3s and I'm suddenly loving it. I even went and preordered the December book. Clary grew a backbone. Faeries are cool. I want a book about Isabelle. And I thought the kiss--don't want to spoil it because it's a cornerstone of many events--was a very cool idea, plot-wise.

Currently started On A Dark Wing by Jordan Dane. So far, not too drawn in, but I'll give it until 100 pages before I decide to continue or not.

Didn't finish Darker Still. Wasn't my kind of thing. Moved on to The Predicteds and loved it. Great book and would recommend to all.

Just finished Enthralled, which is a collection of short stories. I liked some of them, wasn't too hot for others. I also discovered something that annoys me: why oh why would an anthology editor choose a short story that's set in the middle of a series and spoils it? Do they assume every reader of their anthology has already read everything by those authors?