What YA book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

vfury - I LOVE that book. It is a perfect book to read for the holidays. It also makes me wish I could go to New York and visit all of the places in the book.

Finished CLOCKWORK PRINCE by Cassandra Clare, which never worked for me. You could easily shave a third off the word count, the constant poetry and 19th century literary quotes became too much of a shortcut for underlying emotions and there's a bit of a hole in a final pivotal action scene.

Have started BEASTLY by Alex Flinn, which is okay. The chatroom segments don't quite work for me because the knowing humour seem to undercut the main thrust of the story, but it is trundling along at a brisk pace.

MM

Lydia Sharp said:

ASH by Malinda Lo. Great read so far (I'm about 1/4 through it)

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It's on my tbr pile. Can't wait to see what you think.

Plus, if that's your hair in the avi, it's all kinds of awesome! It's awesome even if it isn't your hair, but especially so if it's yours.

cherita said:

Reading Leviathan... it reads more like middle grade than YA, which is probably why I'm breezing right through it. And I like it okay, but... I prefer my YA to sound like YA.

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I'm reading this now and feel the same. I'm enjoying it, but the characters are definitely coming off on the young side. Wonderfully imaginative though.

Finished Blood Red Road. Tons of action. Loved the Mad Max vibe.

Lydia Sharp said:

ASH by Malinda Lo. Great read so far (I'm about 1/4 through it).

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I've just finished it. I don't know how to describe my impression clearly without spoiling things, so I'll just say I wished for a different twist at the end but not for the reason everyone might suspect. Also, I thought it was beautifully written, it really was like a fairy tale.

The REPL@CEMENT is nicely creepy and atmospheric, though once again I fail to be enamored by the main character. I'll be getting back to Dystopia/Sci-Fi though, I think I've read a little too much Fantasy recently.

Just about to start New Girl by Paige Harbison.

Finished Dash and Lily's Book of Dares. I LOVED it. I want to visit NYC again right now.

Just about to start Jennifer Donnelly's Revolution.

vfury said:

Finished Dash and Lily's Book of Dares. I LOVED it. I want to visit NYC again right now.

Just about to start Jennifer Donnelly's Revolution.

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Loved Revolution.

Just finished A Million Suns by Beth Revis. It's not officially out until January, but I managed to get an ARC in a contest and it was sooooo good. Stayed up until 2:30 last night finishing it. Better than the first and a lot fewer plot holes!! Those who liked the first will not be disappointed.

Also finished Saving June today. Enjoyable and the hot LI was sufficiently hot, so I was satisfied.

Moving on to Name of the Star tomorrow.

Just finished Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. I may be in the minority but I was bored through most of the book. The story could have been interesting but the treatment was superficial and predictable.

I think I am done with dystopia/wannabe dystopia for a while.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. It's...interesting.

vsrenard said:

Just finished Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. I may be in the minority but I was bored through most of the book. The story could have been interesting but the treatment was superficial and predictable.

I think I am done with dystopia/wannabe dystopia for a while.

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Me too. It seems that the genre was interesting for a while but there were many newish/interesting concepts that were executed too poorly for me to get into it. I was actually turned off from the genre because of one too many books I couldn't finish/was bored by/was disappointed in. Especially the ones that supposedly got six-figures advances. I'm willing to read a really good one, but I'm just not up to looking through the miles of slush to find it.

Sage said:

I got several YA books for Christmas, but I think I'm going to read THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson on my Kindle next, which I bought before I left for vacation.

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Yes, do! I finished it a little over a week ago. It's fantastic and does a lot of brave things you just don't see much in YA (and I'm not talking a fat heroine, though that counts).

Going to take a little break and wait for some books I won to get here. Then it's off to tackle. Anna Dressed in Blood.

KateSmash said:

Going to take a little break and wait for some books I won to get here. Then it's off to tackle. Anna Dressed in Blood.

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Loved both Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Fire and Thorns. It took me a while to get into GFT, but then I loved it so much.

About to start Love Story by Jennifer Echols. Finished New Girl by Paige Harbison and really, really enjoyed it.

I read Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick today. The story focuses on survival in a post-apocalyptic world that has zombies in it. There are not typical zombies, if such a creation even exists, but had I known it was a zombie book, I probably would not have picked it up.

The story started off strong with character-based telling surrounding protags who were compelling and sympathetic. They took their survival in their own hands but weren't perfect either, were realistic with strengths and weaknesses. Halfway through the book though, the story took an unexpected turn that led us to way too many new characters and along a direction that has already been explored well. The ending left some matters unfinished as an obvious hook to a sequel. I am not vested enough to read that sequel.

Still, this author writes well. I will keep an eye out for future works.

Maramoser said:

I picked that up in a bookstore and was "meh" after the first chapter. Might find it again anyways because I've heard good things about the female protagonist, like you said. But not so many good things about the two guys.

Anyways, I'm about to start Wither. After all these glowing reviews (haha) we'll see how I like it.

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re: Glow

The two guys are a bit one-dimensional but their actions were sadly believable for guys that age. Neither one really takes up the "hero" mantle and the girl protag easily outshines both.

Read The Scorch Trials and am reading The Death Cure. I'm really enjoying it. I was pretty frustrated with the constant changing of alliances, but I am still reading because I'm absorbed and I need to find out how the story ends. I have no clue what to read next. I've been reading so much lately that I haven't gotten any writing done. :/

I finished BEASTLY by Alex Flinn, which was okay but too saccharine for me. I'd been hoping for a bit more grit in the story and as an updating of a fairy tale, it never felt really contemporary to me and all of the characters are amazingly one dimensional. I kinda felt that Flinn wanted to do an update but didn't want to lose the mythological element and she didn't marry them enough for me.

Have started VARIANT by Robison Wells because a couple of people here said was an interesting read. Not sure I'm quite buying the premise at the moment (would a teenage boy - even one in care - go out and deliberately research private schools?) but am sticking with it.

MM

Finished Love Story. It was okay, not great. Not as good as Forget You. Moving onto Lola and the Boy Next Door. Very excited for this one.

I just got an ARC of LIVING VIOLET by Jaime Reed in the mail. The book is out now, but it's pretty cool to have an ARC. About to make some tea and start reading it!

I finished GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson too - and while there were definitely good things about it, it just wasn't to my taste. Reading Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund.

Took me forever, but I finally managed to finish City of Bones. I feel like I'm one of the few who didn't care for the book. Clary was incompetent and there were too many plot holes and convenient "twists" for my liking.

Now onto Rot and Ruin.

The Piper's Son is taking me forever to read, despite liking it at the start. Definitely my least favourite of them. On a happier note, I started reading Saving June by Hannah Harrington yesterday and absolutely love it.

I'm reading Beige by Cecil Castellucci because the library hadn't finished processing First Day on Earth yet. Then I may try "Spoiled." Or just keep watching NOVA documentaries....

"Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins.

Divergent by Veronica Roth.. AMAZING STUFF.

WHITE CAT by Holly Black. I started it a long time ago, but never finished because I got too bored or too busy or something. But now that I'm farther into it, I like it! So far, I've figured out most of the twists beforehand, but I don't mind because she just kind of reveals things rather than make it overly dramatic. And the world she's creating kicks so much ass! I don't even like gangsters and mafia stories. I guess magic makes everything better.