I have a co-worker (I work at a Children's bookstore), who is obsessed with Bloody Jack and will swear up and down it's the best YA series. I haven't read it, though I own it, and would generally take my co-worker's rec at face value.
Hello! I'm looking for something that features a character with a mental illness that is NOT (just) depression and does it well - - no stereotypes or full personalities based on, but a major plot point is good. Best case scenario is bipolar but I'd take anything involving some form of heightened experience of reality.
Hello! I'm looking for something that features a character with a mental illness that is NOT (just) depression and does it well - - no stereotypes or full personalities based on, but a major plot point is good. Best case scenario is bipolar but I'd take anything involving some form of heightened experience of reality.
<snip> and anything that has a femme fatale character (to the extreme - - think aphrodite personified. I'm trying to get inspiration for doing a character who female-attracted people are automatically inclined towards, in a way that is more on the edgy YA side but still YA.)
Gotcha. Hang on while I merge with the recommendation thread.
Any suggestions would be great, thanks!
Any further specifics - genre, type of character, single or multi/shifting POVs, triggers/things you'd rather not wade through, etc?
ETA - I'll throw out a couple random suggestions...
Vengeance Road, by Erin Bowman - A YA Western tale of revenge, growing up, and a lost gold mine. Flawed but strong heroine with a compelling arc.
The Bartimaeus books by Jonathan Stroud - They're MG, and some chapters are in third person, but the titular Barimaeus is a great character in first-person POV. Plus it's just a danged great series, particularly the main trilogy. Alternate-world fantasy, where magicians rule with an iron fist by enslaving spirits; the title character is a sarcastic djinn.
You'll have to look to see about fantasy, but there are some GR lists for YA/mental health stories:Any YA fantasy? Or even some YA fantasy that deals with mental health issues from 1st person? That would be super great, thank you.
You'll have to look to see about fantasy, but there are some GR lists for YA/mental health stories:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/42092.Best_Teen_Fiction_about_Mental_Illness
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/106876.YA_Books_about_Mental_Health
Any YA fantasy? Or even some YA fantasy that deals with mental health issues from 1st person? That would be super great, thank you.
Okay - got a few relatively random fantasy suggestions. Some are older, though.
The Everworld series, by K. A. Applegate. Four modern Chicago teens are pulled into a world created by forgotten gods... a world under attack by an alien god that eats other deities. Rotating first-person POVs in each successive book, including one (Jalil) who is OCD.
The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde. A humorous alternate world where magic is slowly fading. Not my cup of cocoa, as the humor felt very heavy handed, but Fforde's a popular author, so you might give it a skim and see what you think.
Uprooted, by Naomi Novik. A retelling of a Polish fairy tale about a malevolent forest. An award-winning standalone.
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians, by Brandon Sanderson. It skews MG, but Sanderson's a great author, and this book twists tropes and cliches in a way any reader should enjoy.
This is sooo specific and I'm sorry in advance.
But can you recommend me books where two people are competing against each other in some kind of competition? Doesn't matter what circumstances they are competing or whether both are girls, boys or mixed gender.
Any particular genre?