What YA book are you reading RIGHT NOW?, issue 2

edutton

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Just got an ARC of QUEENS OF GEEK! So excited!
QoG turned out to be less thrilling than hoped - the love stories are cute and I liked all the right characters, but there was some clunkiness in the first half that put me off a bit. I'm not sorry I read it, there's great positive bi rep and decent handling of a non-neurotypical MC. Also con geeks. And did I mention the love stories are cute? :)

Next up - an ARC of THE GIRL WITH THE RED BALLOON!
 

jtrylch13

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QoG turned out to be less thrilling than hoped - the love stories are cute and I liked all the right characters, but there was some clunkiness in the first half that put me off a bit. I'm not sorry I read it, there's great positive bi rep and decent handling of a non-neurotypical MC. Also con geeks. And did I mention the love stories are cute? :)

Next up - an ARC of THE GIRL WITH THE RED BALLOON!

My jealousy at that arc knows no bounds! I already have it on pre-order though. ;)
 

jtrylch13

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Finished THE SHIP BEYOND TIME by Heidi Heilig and it was really good. Up next is FEAR THE DROWNING DEEP by Sarah Glenn Marsh.
 

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As it's recommended by everyone, I downloaded THE HATE U GIVE, unsampled. Actually, most of my books are recs right now.

I finished THE BOOK JUMPER, which was fun because it felt very nostalgic for teen fantasy I read when I was a teen (with the exception of the backstory with the nude photographs, which I bet would have kept me from reading past the first chapter back then). I suspect that that makes it feel less mature than most YA today, but it was still fun for me.

Currently reading:

Kindle: THE FORGETTING by Sharon Cameron and THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas
Hardcover: BRIGHT SMOKE, COLD FIRE by Rosamund Hodge and WONDER by RJ Palacio
Audiobook: BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS by Shannon Hale
 

pinkbowvintage

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Currently reading BONE GAP by Laura Ruby. Really enjoying it. The writing is excellent.

Also started my ARC of AFTERCARE INSTRUCTIONS by Bonnie Pipkin, and just couldn't wait to also start THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas. So many books at once.
 

jtrylch13

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THE HATE U GIVE was absolutely the best!! I'm reccing it to everyone! And BONE GAP was such a beautiful book. I adored it too.

Finished FEAR THE DROWNING DEEP by Sarah Glenn Marsh and I have a mixed review. The story, plot, premise is phenomenal and I was flipping pages pretty fast. But the writing and characters didn't live up to what could have been an amazing novel. If you get a chance, the story is decent, but I found myself annoyed at some of the writing at times.

Next up is THE LIE TREE by Frances Hardinge.
 

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BRIGHT SMOKE, COLD FIRE was ultimately disappointing to me, but being sick did give me a chance to go through it instead of giving up early on. I never really liked any of the main characters, and after a build up of "OMG, it's going to be the end of the world," the climax really fizzled. It was a Romeo and Juliet retelling, but so different that I found it distracting to have some things match up so directly to the play, including some names, and have other things be completely foreign. I wish it had been written as a complete reimagining or as being inspired by with no direct references to the original story. On the other hand, I really respect the author's writing and world-building, so I wish I had liked the characters and story more.

Currently reading:

Kindle: THE FORGETTING by Sharon Cameron and THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas
Hardcover: WONDER by RJ Palacio
Audiobook: THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS by M.R. Carey

Half my currently reading books are contemporaries! All of them are recommendations :greenie
 
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Kjbartolotta

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Finished The Hate U Give, enjoyed it consistently, but felt the book really picked up past the 'Five Weeks After It' mark. Sometimes, I feel like YA's growing up.
 

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Currently reading:

Kindle: THE FORGETTING by Sharon Cameron and EMPIRE OF STORMS by Sarah J. Maas
Hardcover: WONDER by R.J. Palacio and SPINNING STARLIGHT by R.C. Lewis
Audiobook: THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS by M.R. Carey


Only sorta started EoS and SS, so we'll see if I actually stick with them as my new books.

Mad at WONDER at the moment. I wanted to start SCYTHE as my next hc book, but I was waiting to finish tF because there were some similar things in the beginning and I didn't want to confuse the two. But since WONDER went back to being a bathroom book :tongue I decided to go for a sci-fi hardcopy in the meantime, and since I have no fairy-tale retellings going on either, it seemed like a good time to pick SS up.
 

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I'm currently reading GEMINA sequel to ILLUMINAE.

I read THE HATE U GIVE this week and really really enjoyed it. It was smart and an eye opener for me (as a white person), and also surprisingly funny. I laughed A LOT when reading. Also strong/positive family dynamics in it (blended with half siblings) and I really liked that.
 

Cobalt Jade

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I'm reading Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. I know I'm late to the show, but I wanted to see what all the hype was about. The answer: Not Much. The first 3/5 of the book was tedious and could serve as a "How Not to Write" lesson. After that point, things start to jump and happen. It's still not good, but at least it's interesting and fun (so says my inner 13-year-ol,d who would have adored it.) As an adult, I like the SF and fantasy related high concepts of a lot of YA, but for every one I've read, the execution falls way, way, short of how it could have been handled.

I wish to hell there was a big, fat, market for adult high concept novels. Say, in Romance. There's a ripe genre for it, but the mass market publishers seem stuck on shapeshifters.
 

hester

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I just finished THE HATE U GIVE (which I absolutely LOVED). Now reading DONE DIRT CHEAP, which was recommended elsewhere on this thread. Great so far!
 

jtrylch13

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I am so excited about all the THUG love in this thread! Favorite book I read this year so far! Like Smiley said, it was an eye opener (as a white person) and I adored the family dynamics (coming from and being a parent of a broken home myself). Just everything was so amazing about that book!

Finished THE LIE TREE by Frances Hardinge ad it was pretty great. My only complaint is that by the description you think the book is going to start AFTER Dad's murder, but we get 112+ pages before the murder. It was necessary set up and character development, but it could have been a little less or used in flash back fashion or maybe change the blurb, but really it was THE inciting incident. Yeah, I think the set up should have been a lot shorter. Anyway, once you get passed some of the slow moving stuff it gets really interesting and creepy. I love how macabre it all was, very in keeping with Victorian England. And I wasn't expecting it to be such a feminist book. By the end I simply adored the whole thing!

Also finished REBEL OF THE SANDS by Alwyn Hamilton. I thought it was a good entertaining read. I need to research the representation in the book, because I am assuming it isn't own voices. I like to know what to take away from (and what not to take away from) a book.

Now reading MONSTER by Walter Dean Myer. 30% in and it is a hard thing to read.
 

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Just finished (rereading) CHIME, by Franny Billingsley. It wowed me just as much as it did the first time with it's brilliant word-play and fantastically layered characters...
 

Smiley0501

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Oh I loved REBEL OF THE SANDS. I am sad about the new covers though (I love them for their representation but I loved the pretty original design).

I finished GEMINA but noooo way did I like it more than ILLUMINAE. I just didn't connect as much, though a coollllll wormhole thing happened?

Now reading WINTERSONG by S. Jae Jones. I'm really liking it. It's sort of a retelling of the movie Labyrinth (w/Bowie)?
 

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I thought it was based on the poem The Goblin Market. I'm actually disappointed to hear that it's meant to be a Labyrinth retelling.
 

jtrylch13

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I want WINTERSONG in my TBR pile!

Finished MONSTER and I need a break from Contemporary issue books. They are breaking me. I just want every kid in my community to read these books and learn about what it's like to be something other than white middle class.

Next up is BLOODCHILD by Octavia Butler. Not YA I don't think, but it's next in line on my Kindle and I have this need to get through every book I own but haven't read.
 

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Currently reading:

Kindle: EMPIRE OF STORMS by Sarah J. Maas
Hardcover: SPINNING STARLIGHT by R.C. Lewis, MECHANICA by Betsy Cornwall, and GENIUS: THE GAME by Leopoldo Gout
Audiobook: THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS by M.R. Carey

Not YA, but I'm getting bored with TGwAtG. It's supposed to be about the little girl (who seemed to be the MC from the description and first part of the story), her teacher, and a scientist--all female--and for the last several chapters it has been about the sergeant and how he's going to keep the humans alive and how annoyed he is at them questioning him and the little girl for existing. It also feels like standard traveling/survivalist zombie fare at this point, even though the beginning was fascinating.
 

jtrylch13

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Finished BLOODCHILD by Octavia Butler. Not YA but very good. I've never liked short stories in the past, but this last year+ I've been reading more and I"m really liking them.

Reading SALT TO THE SEA by Ruta Septys. Very good so far, though I expect everyone to die, so that's depressing. But still some how good? Hoping to finish it by Tuesday because THE GAUNTLET (MG) by Karuna Riazi is released and I have it on pre-order.