What YA book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

adktd2bks said:

Started The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer a couple days ago, and I'm just kind of pulling my hair out and asking myself, why why why? I'm 2/3 of the way through, and I honestly don't know where the plot is in this book. I like the LI at first, but now even he's getting kind of boring. I'm told that something really weird happens soon so I'm just kind of holding out until then to see how WTF it can get.

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Keep with it! It definitely picks up towards the middle and through to the end. I think the main plot hook is the suspense of wondering whether she really is crazy or if something else is going on. If that doesn't draw you in, though, you may be disappointed...

E. B. Pike said:

I just finished Legend by Marie Lu last night.

LOVED it.

It would definitely appeal to anyone who liked The Hunger Games.

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Oh, gosh. I gave up on this one about 1/3 of the way through. The action was dragging out so slowly, the futuristic LA setting was not exciting me at all (I live in LA and I like to recognize the local landscape! But there was only one mention of anything LA-specific...), and I wasn't prepared to stomach the romance that was about to ensue. I think the book only got the huge marketing push BECAUSE of its similarity to the Hunger Games.

I will say I appreciated the strong female MC, but like Katniss she was fairly lacking in personality. I liked that the story was based on Les Mis, but I probably would have appreciated it more if it was full on Valjean/Javert slash. Maybe that's just me though...?

Kitty Pryde said:

Oh, gosh. I gave up on this one about 1/3 of the way through. The action was dragging out so slowly, the futuristic LA setting was not exciting me at all (I live in LA and I like to recognize the local landscape! But there was only one mention of anything LA-specific...), and I wasn't prepared to stomach the romance that was about to ensue. I think the book only got the huge marketing push BECAUSE of its similarity to the Hunger Games.

I will say I appreciated the strong female MC, but like Katniss she was fairly lacking in personality. I liked that the story was based on Les Mis, but I probably would have appreciated it more if it was full on Valjean/Javert slash. Maybe that's just me though...?

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Ditto... and the prose was a bit hard to push through too. But maybe it was meant for a younger YA audience? Read almost like MG to me. But not catchy MG...

Though, agreed on the Les Mis bit best musical evar. <.<

E. B. Pike said:

Keep with it! It definitely picks up towards the middle and through to the end. I think the main plot hook is the suspense of wondering whether she really is crazy or if something else is going on. If that doesn't draw you in, though, you may be disappointed...

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But you know something else is going on from literally the very beginning, or else what was the point of that whole ouija board scene? Then again, that book made me really angry, especially the ending, so I'm not the most unbiased.

Anyway, I recently finished PSYCHE IN A DRESS by Francesca Lia Block. It's in verse, which was distracting at times, and I'm not sure it's YA only because it follows her life from teen to mother of a teen. But, I still loved it -- it was really dark and beautiful. Next up for YA reads, either CINDER or THE NIGHTMARE GARDEN.

Just finished The Future of Us.

Dislike.

Good premise and the writing was fine but I just had this profound dislike for the main characters that I could not get over.

MttStrn said:

Just finished The Future of Us.

Dislike.

Good premise and the writing was fine but I just had this profound dislike for the main characters that I could not get over.

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I agree. I hated the female character.

Rereading Thomas E Sniegoski's FALLEN series. Loved it the first time. Love it now.

Pretties. It's just so bubbly.

Kitty Pryde said:

I'm reading Also Known As Rowan Pohi, about a kid from the bad side of town who creates a false identity on a whim and scams his way into a fancy expensive prep school. It's amazing so far, and I am just waiting for the shizz to hit the fan for him. My only complaint would be, I think it's too short!

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I absolutely adored this book. I wish more people would read it.

E. B. Pike said:

Keep with it! It definitely picks up towards the middle and through to the end. I think the main plot hook is the suspense of wondering whether she really is crazy or if something else is going on. If that doesn't draw you in, though, you may be disappointed...

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I finished it. Funny thing is even though I'm not even sure if I liked it, I'll probably read the second one just out of curiosity.

I've almost finished THE REPLACEMENT by Brenna Yovanoff and I honestly can't decide whether I like it or not. The descriptions are great and I love the eerie sense of wrongness that she slowly builds, but it is very slow and for the first quarter of the book pretty much nothing happens beyond the MC revealing his own weirdness and history and the general weirdness in Gentry. When the plot is in danger of developing, it's suffocated by the MC and other characters deliberately avoiding having conversations they need to have and which you would think they would have had. It's really frustrating because there's so much potential there and she's definitely putting a good spin on a well trodden area in YA fantasy but dear God it's sloooooooooow.

No idea what I'm going to read next. I'm kinda in the mood for a grown-up thriller but nothing on my massive To Read pile is immediately grabbing me.

MM

Reading The Summer I Turned Pretty and loving it!

Just finished reading Anna and the French Kiss and... I can't believe I'm saying this, but I enjoyed it. I picked it up expecting to hate it, but I really liked it.

About to start on Please Ignore Vera Dietz for my next book.

Finally finished Along for the Ride. While it was a struggle to get through the first half of the book, I did end up really liking the second half (once stuff started to, you know, happen).

Reading Willow, by Julia Hoban, now.

Just finished Going Underground by Susan Vaught.

Very good. I didn't think I would like it as much as I did.

cherita said:

But you know something else is going on from literally the very beginning, or else what was the point of that whole ouija board scene? Then again, that book made me really angry, especially the ending, so I'm not the most unbiased.

Anyway, I recently finished PSYCHE IN A DRESS by Francesca Lia Block. It's in verse, which was distracting at times, and I'm not sure it's YA only because it follows her life from teen to mother of a teen. But, I still loved it -- it was really dark and beautiful. Next up for YA reads, either CINDER or THE NIGHTMARE GARDEN.

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Maybe it's just me. I was wondering if Mara was crazy almost until the end (I'm a sometimes mystery reader, though, so I was thinking the Ouija board bit was just to throw the reader). Perhaps I wasn't picking up on the clues about the supernatural elements that popped out to others... Although Goldblatt was the agent that plucked Hodkin from obscurity --I always thought he was kind of a genius --surely there's something there?!

The other day I finished To Play The Lady by Naomi Lane and I was really disappointed by it. I've just started I Am Number Four (finally) and I can't decide if I'm enjoying it or not. The narration kind of grinds on me, but the story's still keeping me entertained.

Finished Glow today. The writing and characterisation clunked here and there, but what a great plot.

Just finished And Then Things Fell Apart by Arlaina Tibensky - it was great, loved the voice and Sylvia Plath references.

About halfway through PERCHANCE TO DREAM by Lisa Mantchev. I absolutely adore these characters. The plot hasn't picked up much, but I'm still intrigued!

Re-reading Anna and the French Kiss.

fredXgeorge said:

Re-reading Anna and the French Kiss.

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I LOVE that book

Anyways just finished THIS LULLABY by Sarah Dessen and I quite enjoyed it...About to start THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE....

fredXgeorge said:

Re-reading Anna and the French Kiss.

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Am I the only teen in the world who has never read that book? lol

I've just finished FRACTURE by Megan Miranda. I really liked it, especially the concept of being able to sense death, and how horrible that would be, rather than "oh, that's cool." The characters were great as well (although I've never heard the name 'Decker' before - I just kept thinking of double decker buses!)

Now I'm about to start AND BABY MAKES TWO by Dyan Sheldon.

Hanging by a Thread by Sophie Littlefield. It's a little slow right now, but it's got a great premise so I hope it picks up.

just started the anthology BOY MEETS GIRL.