What YA book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

yellowhammer said:

I'm reading Ship Breaker now too, Smish. I like it so far!

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Loved it. Can't wait for The Drowned Cities.

Started The Future of Us, by Caroyln Mackler and Jay Asher, this afternoon.

Oh man just finished DEAD TO YOU and the ending was fantastic. Definitely going to check out her other books now.

I'm about a third into A Long, Long Sleep and I'm in two minds about it. The premise is amazing, I wanted this book since the moment I'd seen the blurb on goodreads. But there is something about the novel itself that makes it a bit too even, almost dull. Like it sounds more exciting when retold than it actually is in the book. And I can't quite put my finger on the reason: there are mysteries and secrets, there is danger, the writing style is emotional. What else do I need?

UPD: Huh, I take it back, it has just gotten terribly exciting. xd

Just got an ARC of The Catastrophic History of You and Me. 25 pages in and it's still got me hooked!

I just finished Katie Kacvinsky's Awaken. I loved the premise and actually liked the romantic elements far more than I usually do in YA. I did have a hard time with it in that the world she built up was really too close to our own. As a result I think the force of her critique lost a lot of its power/scope.

I'm now a quarter of the way into SOMEONE ELSE'S LIFE by Katie Dale and I'm completely turned off. It's got an interesting premise but it's completely over-written and suffers from 'MC is a ninny' syndrome, wherein the MC does really stupid things for the sake of moving the plot forward. For example, she makes an assumption about the identity of her real mother without any real basis for doing so, which sees her going to New York to confront a British actress working in a successful US sitcom (so successful that it isn't apparently shown in the UK) by dressing up as room service from a hotel (which would just never happen in a million years). I'm really disappointed and will only finish it in the hope that (a) it gets a little better and (b) because I've never been beaten by a book.

MM

yellowhammer said:

I'm reading Ship Breaker now too, Smish. I like it so far!

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Smish said:

Loved it. Can't wait for The Drowned Cities.

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Count me in the "I love this one" club.

POSSESSED by Kate Cann

Tried reading this mystery but found the pacing tediously slow and the MC was uninteresting (read: selfish brat). Not my cup of tea.

Just finished A L0NG, L0NG SL$$P. It became more exciting and interesting in the second half, though it was like it never managed to decide whether it wanted to be a Sci-Fi fairytale or an issue YA disguised as a Sci-Fi fairytale. It must be a fresh trend, CINDER might be technically called the same thing, though I thought CINDER did it better.

Though of course I'm a plebeian lover of instalove and action and teh drama xd. When I read the blurb, I expected a Sci-Fi romp with lots of fairytale references, then I started to think it was a dreamy Futuristic Gothic, but it's neither. It's quiet, passive and introspective, just like the main character, and it leaves the impression that the author was most interested in the parents thing and the nuances of an unusual relationship which would be a spoiler to reveal, whereas the rest served as an unimportant background and some plot twists seemed more like afterthoughts. So, I'd say it's Science Fiction for those who don’t like Science Fiction and a Fairytale for those who don't like Fairytales. It is, for the lack of a better word, realistic [is there a term for that?] It takes some family situations which are not technically possible in a contemporary issue type YA and treats them in a similar style. The genre is merely a device to bring those situations into being, but it sort of clashes with the parts of the external plot which are kiss kiss bang bang blockbuster movie. Because, a story of a girl who wakes up from an artificial dream state to discover that nearly a hundred years passed, she now owns half the high-tech Earth and some space colonies, and there is a price on her head... who wouldn't expect a grand adventure?

I must say I was surprised when I read through quite a lot of goodreads reviews (I like finding out what other people thought of the books I've read), and not a single person recognized the word "stass" for its origins: the term stasis, a staple of the genre. Also, surprised when people said it was similar to SILVER METAL LOVER, because SML, even though it also uses a futuristic rich area as a backdrop, is all about intense dramatic Romeo & Juliet style passionate first romance.

Got myself a literary YA contemporary titled ILLYRIA, pretty curious to read it because it seems people either hate it or love it fiercely.

RANGER'S APPRENTICE by John Flanagan

Well written and engaging, though eerily similar to Raymond Feist's MAGICIAN.

ULTRAVIOLET by R.J. Anderson

Interesting story and MC up until the very end which came out of nowhere. The ending was a really unfortunate way to take the book, I thought, and ruined the story as a whole for me.

I am just finishing the second book in the series by 'Pittacus Lore' - The Power of Six. I like it more than the first one, but it has the same problems of feeling a bit emotionally hollow in places and I really do hate the two different type faces used to differentiate between the two narrators, especially when they have a paragraph each one after the other in a single chapter. It just feels lazy and messy.

Before that, I finished reading two books:

The Fault in our stars - by John Green
&
How to save a life - by Sara Zarr.

I can't even express how mind-blowingly awesome the new John Green book was. Both books were of course really strong, great Contemporary YA. Must reads.

I'm reading Hold Still by Nina Lacour. So far, I love it. Reminds me a bit of Courtney Summers, as both narrators' voices are very minimal and stark.

I recently finished Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. I read it late at night in one sitting (despite having to wake up early the next day) because I couldn't wait to see what happened to the narrator. It's heartbreaking!

Also, just finished Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales, which is completely different from these other two. It's humorous and mostly light-hearted. I thought the characters were so realistically normal.

Finally reading Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. I know, ridiculously late to the party. I wasn't sure I'd like it because paranormal romance isn't something I generally like but I'm almost halfway through and omg, I'm in love with it.

Still reading The Unidentified. I can't get into it so it makes the reading very slow. Probably going to get something new soon.

Reading ILLYRIA, which I mentioned earlier. I think now I truly know what it means when people say the voice is "too adult" in a YA book. Though later we find out the heroine is telling her backstory as an adult, so it makes sense.

I think I'm not that into magical realism.

Also got back to ACR0SS THE UNIVERSE. Yay mysterious forbidden places. I also can't help but think that having two protagonists does wonders for your word count. Not that the book needs it, there is a lot of plot. I like Amy, she's got spunk. Though I guess a lot of people would say she's a brat. I wish Elder would hook my attention, but he doesn't, which means I'll be reading very quickly once romance arrives.

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally. Only a few pages in, but I'm loving it so far.

strawberryblondie said:

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally. Only a few pages in, but I'm loving it so far.

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I just reviewed it today. (-: Really enjoyed it.

fredXgeorge said:

Finally reading Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. I know, ridiculously late to the party. I wasn't sure I'd like it because paranormal romance isn't something I generally like but I'm almost halfway through and omg, I'm in love with it.

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I'm reading Shiver right now, too. It's been on my TBR list for a long time, and I'm finally getting around to it. I'm 3/4 of the way through it now. I wasn't sure if I'd like paranormal romance, but I'm LOVING this book and these characters!!!!



I really like how strong Grace is. And Sam is SUCH a sweetie pie.

About a quarter of the way into With or Without You by Brian Farrey. It's addictive! I freaking love these characters. And the romance is swoony.

But it's one of those good books you don't want to finish too fast. So I keep putting it down and walking away because I don't want it to be done.

I'm also rereading Pride and Prejudice for the fourth time. Looooove.

I think I'm about to dive into FURY by Elizabeth Miles. The cover is so so gorgeous. Still inching my way through DARKNESS BECOMES HER. Not sure if I'll finish it, but I like the voice.

I'm having a really hard time making it through Richelle Mead's BLOODLINES. It's one of those off-spins that make it very obvious how much the previous series was carried by the kick-ass MC (I mean, come on, Rose was awesome) and this one's just not holding up to snuff. It's one of those books that I'm reading because I like to see what's happening to characters I liked from the previous series, but also one that really frustrates and bores me, because there really only is a light dusting of plot to carry the whole thing...

I'm reading Kayla Perrin's Spring Break for the "New Adult Project." I don't like the style, but I really respect the author's treatment of rape survivors. (I know a lot of people have been complaining about pointless or poorly-done instances of rape, and it's good to see a book that actually did it right.)