What YA book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

So sad isn't it?

I'm reading Beastly by Alex Flinn.

So I'm rereading C1TY OF BONES after a gap of several years, and there are so many revelations and de-revelations and re-revelations about people's parents throughout the series that I'm really confused. Who is the blond man whom Jocelyn claims is her dead husband, whose picture is on the wall, whose mementoes are in a box marked JC? If she made him up, it's kind of creepy that she gave her fictional dead husband the initials of her son. Why does everyone seem to think Michael Wayland is Jace's father? Jace in particular has so many parent revelations I can't keep up - it's Michael Wayland, no, it's Valentine, no, it's Stephen Herondale, ... Any Mortal Instrum3nts fans who can straighten me out here?

milkymoon said:

Just finished 'before i die' by jenny downham and my pillow is saturated by tears.

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Oh my goodness, that book freakin' destroyed me. So lovely, so sad. It's been a few years since I read it, but I still get chills when I think of those last several pages.

Parametric said:

So I'm rereading C1TY OF BONES after a gap of several years, and there are so many revelations and de-revelations and re-revelations about people's parents throughout the series that I'm really confused. Who is the blond man whom Jocelyn claims is her dead husband, whose picture is on the wall, whose mementoes are in a box marked JC? If she made him up, it's kind of creepy that she gave her fictional dead husband the initials of her son. Why does everyone seem to think Michael Wayland is Jace's father? Jace in particular has so many parent revelations I can't keep up - it's Michael Wayland, no, it's Valentine, no, it's Stephen Herondale, ... Any Mortal Instrum3nts fans who can straighten me out here?

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It's all explained later in the series, if you havent read the others, then you need to! lol. i don't want to spoil it. well.. i guess i could... dont read if you dont want spoilers.
>>>>> JC is Jonathan, who is actually a guy called "Sebastion" later on in the series. He obviously changes his name, and pretends to be a friend of the lightwoods. His real name is Jonathan, and is Valentines real son. Whereas Jace was the adopted son. i hope that helps. <<<<

Allaboutwords13 said:

It's all explained later in the series, if you havent read the others, then you need to! lol. i don't want to spoil it. well.. i guess i could... dont read if you dont want spoilers.
>>>>> JC is Jonathan, who is actually a guy called "Sebastion" later on in the series. He obviously changes his name, and pretends to be a friend of the lightwoods. His real name is Jonathan, and is Valentines real son. Whereas Jace was the adopted son. i hope that helps. <<<<

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I've read the whole series, but this stuff still doesn't make any sense. Why would Jocelyn Fray create a fictional husband, but name him after her son? Why would you make up a backstory about marrying and having sex with your own child? What on earth is she thinking when she puts up a picture of a handsome blond man claiming it's her husband who has the name of her son? Or when she sighs over the lock of hair that supposedly belongs to her husband but in fact belongs to her son? It's just creepy.

Parametric said:

So I'm rereading C1TY OF BONES after a gap of several years, and there are so many revelations and de-revelations and re-revelations about people's parents throughout the series that I'm really confused. Who is the blond man whom Jocelyn claims is her dead husband, whose picture is on the wall, whose mementoes are in a box marked JC? If she made him up, it's kind of creepy that she gave her fictional dead husband the initials of her son. Why does everyone seem to think Michael Wayland is Jace's father? Jace in particular has so many parent revelations I can't keep up - it's Michael Wayland, no, it's Valentine, no, it's Stephen Herondale, ... Any Mortal Instrum3nts fans who can straighten me out here?

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IIRC, the blond dude Joyce has a picture of was just some random guy -- a neighbor, I think? Maybe someone she dated briefly when she first left the Shadowhunter world (forget what it's called) who happened to have those initials (or maybe I'm making that up)? As for Jace, you've got it right about his parentage, but I think the reason they thought he was originally a Wayland was because Valentine was pretending to be Michael Wayland after the failed coup. Hiding out in Wayland manor or something like that.

Parametric said:

I've read the whole series, but this stuff still doesn't make any sense. Why would Jocelyn Fray create a fictional husband, but name him after her son? Why would you make up a backstory about marrying and having sex with your own child? And illustrate this backstory with a picture of a handsome blond man? And sigh lovingly over a lock of his hair? That's creepily incestuous.

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I know, but it's only fiction, and you can't read too much into it, otherwise we'd all drive ourselves nuts everytime we didn't understand something in a book. :/

Allaboutwords13 said:

I know, but it's only fiction, and you can't read too much into it, otherwise we'd all drive ourselves nuts everytime we didn't understand something in a book. :/

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Creepy incestuous overtones between the protagonist's mother and the protagonist's mother is a pretty big mistake in my book.

cherita said:

IIRC, the blond dude Joyce has a picture of was just some random guy -- a neighbor, I think? Maybe someone she dated briefly when she first left the Shadowhunter world (forget what it's called) who happened to have those initials (or maybe I'm making that up)? As for Jace, you've got it right about his parentage, but I think the reason they thought he was originally a Wayland was because Valentine was pretending to be Michael Wayland after the failed coup. Hiding out in Wayland manor or something like that.

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Aha, I see. That makes sense. I don't have a good grasp on all these dead Shadowhunters who are/supposedly were Jace's father, so I'm like, wait, which one was Michael Wayland again? This is why I need to reread.

I'm remembering why I enjoy Cassandra Cl4re - the dialogue and the description.

Up to chapter 18 on Anna and the French Kiss now.

So far? Really liking it. The way that the flow of time is being handled is good, the way that we are seeing friendships develop is interesting. The news that St. Clair receives at Halloween is really sad and I hope he finds the strength to stand up for himself. I like how Anna has gradually gotten braver about exploring Paris. I remember being like that my first year of university.

I definitely wasn't ready for how funny I find the book. Some of the things that characters say or that Anna thinks have made me laugh out loud.

This book is quite a change for me since I normally read paranormal or urban fantasy but I am having a good time with it.

I just finished Forever this morning and loved it.

Now starting on Wildefire by Karsten Knight. It's very interesting so far.

I really liked Wildefire! Enjoy it.

I'm still reading Wither. Enjoying it.

Started I am the Messenger today. I meant to read it while I was on vacation in July, but I didn't get around to it.

Loving it so far.

Does anyone know of any young adult books that take place entirely in a character's subconscious?

lilly1326001 said:

Does anyone know of any young adult books that take place entirely in a character's subconscious?

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If I Stay.
I am the Cheese.

Are there any young adult books that center on emotions and the internal turmoil of growing up? Hopefully with a lavish descriptive voice?

Smish said:

Started I am the Messenger today. I meant to read it while I was on vacation in July, but I didn't get around to it.

Loving it so far.

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GUH GUH GUH isn't it amazing?

Harper K said:

Oh my goodness, that book freakin' destroyed me. So lovely, so sad. It's been a few years since I read it, but I still get chills when I think of those last several pages.

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I don't think I've ever been so sad about a character's death! I think being in first person really helped because you read it as though you were dying too. It was also really beautifully written which all added to the tragedy. (And my boyfriend's called Adam too which made it feel a little too real!)

Definitely made me sit back and think a lot about my own work and the characters who die in that.

I finished Anna and the French Kiss. I enjoyed it, but unfortunately I did not love it. Why? Because in my opinion, St. Clair could have dealt with his problems with Ellie at any time and saved himself and Anna a lot of suffering. Further, if he's behaved this way once already -- and we know how his father behaves, to boot -- who's to say Anna won't be next on the chopping block?

Aside from this I enjoyed it. But since this was a romance, what was happening between these two was the central focus of the novel. I did not like the form of conflict chosen (he won't leave his girlfriend because he's too scared) and I didn't like the way that he behaved with Anna (yes, it takes two to tango, but he was the one with a girlfriend.)

I realize that the things which happened were minor. Yet they were still enough to lower my respect of these characters. And that's really too bad, because for a large portion of the book I really liked them.

Am I glad I bought it and read it? Yes. Is it going to be listed as a favorite for me? No. Would I recommend it? Yes. My issue with it is very personal and aside from that issue, everything else about the book was very well done.

Finished rereading Fire by Kristin Cashore, and loved it all over again. Her humour, particularly in her dialogue and offhand remarks, is far more noticeable in this book. A few made me burst out laughing on public transport.

Now going to start The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab, which I've been excited about for... oh, over two years.

LOVE LOVE LOVE The Near Witch! Enjoy!



ETA: Here's my review of THE NEAR WITCH

I've started reading Bumped. So far I am enjoying it. An interesting society, two very distinct narrators and Zen is cracking me up. Only 60-some pages in, so it's too soon to reach a conclusion. I'm interested to see what happens next, though.

Harper K said:

Oh my goodness, that book freakin' destroyed me. So lovely, so sad. It's been a few years since I read it, but I still get chills when I think of those last several pages.

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I have this on my nightstand. Thinking that I better get cracking on it.


I finished Specials last night, #3 in the Uglies series. I didn't like this one as much. With the previous two books, Tally had a lot of redeeming qualities and always seemed able to steer from the path of wrong into right. With this book I felt like she had no sense of morals. I hated the way some things in the story were presented, and the ending was soo heavy handed with environmental messages. I won't be reading the next one. It's not officially part of Tally's story anyway, so I'm not going to feel too bad about it.

Also have been reading The Land of Painted Caves, which is the last of the Clan of the Cavebear series. This is an adult series, but one that I read many many times before and loved. I was really looking forward to the last book, but now I'm having troubles with it. I'm 150 pages in and NOTHING has happened yet. Plus the omni POV is really bugging me because it is little more than head hopping. I didn't notice this before I started writing, but now I do and it's driving me crazy!!

Going to the library now. They have Where She Went, Entwined, and Shine waiting for me. Lots of reading to do this weekend.

Not sure if I mentioned this already but I'm almost done with THE BOY BOOK by E. Lockhart, second in the Ruby Oliver series (and better than the first one, in my opinion).

Also reading THE DAY BEFORE by Lisa Schroeder. I've never read a novel in verse before, so I have nothing to compare it to, but... this novel is beautiful. So in love with it.

Lydia Sharp said:

Not sure if I mentioned this already but I'm almost done with THE BOY BOOK by E. Lockhart, second in the Ruby Oliver series (and better than the first one, in my opinion).

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I haven't read the first one, but I really enjoyed The Boy Book. Ruby Oliver is probably my favorite YA chick-lit-ish heroine.