What YA book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

adktd2bks said:

I'm reading Graceling now. The beginning was kind of slow to get through, but now it's picking up and I love the strong female character.

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I liked Graceling a lot, but I thought Fire (second book in the series, but different timeline and protagonist, sort of a prequel) was even better more strong female characters, wooo! Plus it touches on some risky subjects in a really well-done way <3

egoodlett said:

I liked Graceling a lot, but I thought Fire (second book in the series, but different timeline and protagonist, sort of a prequel) was even better more strong female characters, wooo! Plus it touches on some risky subjects in a really well-done way <3

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I want to read Fire but I didnt enjoy Graceling. I was expecting an ultra power hungry ruthless female warrior. Tis not what I got.

egoodlett:
I liked Graceling a lot, but I thought Fire (second book in the series, but different timeline and protagonist, sort of a prequel) was even better more strong female characters, wooo! Plus it touches on some risky subjects in a really well-done way

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I didn't like Fire. The MC was too passive, too reliant on others to save her, the key central decision that she takes happens off-page and lacks drama (suggesting to me that Cashore bottled the chance to really discuss the issue) and she repeats her device in Graceling of having really long journeys where her male MC and female MC talk to each other so their relationship develops without having any real action to keep it interesting.

Finished The Inferior which was really good. Seriously, if you're looking for something a bit different in your YA fiction then you can't go wrong with cannibals, monsters and space ships (Oh my!).

MM

adktd2bks said:

I'm reading Graceling now. The beginning was kind of slow to get through, but now it's picking up and I love the strong female character.

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I thought the same. If I had randomly picked it up without knowing anything about it, I probably would have given up by 60 pages in, but I persevered because I had heard all kinds of good things about it. I'm glad, as I ended up really enjoying it.

egoodlett said:

I liked Graceling a lot, but I thought Fire (second book in the series, but different timeline and protagonist, sort of a prequel) was even better more strong female characters, wooo! Plus it touches on some risky subjects in a really well-done way <3

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I've ordered Fire. I'm really looking forward to it. it seems some people like Graceling better and others, Fire. I wont be getting my copy until June, because I ordered the cheaper paperback version that hasn't been released yet. I'm cheap like that

Momento Mori said:

I didn't like Fire. The MC was too passive, too reliant on others to save her, the key central decision that she takes happens off-page and lacks drama (suggesting to me that Cashore bottled the chance to really discuss the issue) and she repeats her device in Graceling of having really long journeys where her male MC and female MC talk to each other so their relationship develops without having any real action to keep it interesting.

MM

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I do agree with your sentiment here, MM. (regarding Graceling). I particularly felt the climax with Leck was more of an anticlimax after all the build-up. Almost like Cashore rushed the scene to get to the end (wont go into details for spoilers). Still, I enjoyed the chapters where the two MC's were just chilling out on the journey.

DrummerGirl:
I enjoyed the chapters where the two MC's were just chilling out on the journey.

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To be fair, I enjoyed those journey chapters in Graceling because there was more going on in the story so it slotted in by giving some breathing space between the action.

When I saw the exact same device being used in Fire however, it just felt repetitive and there wasn't enough oomph to the rest of the plot for it to work for me. Really, very little indeed happens in Fire when you think about it and I have a big personal issue with books where the central character's main problem is that she's just too damned beautiful for her own good, particularly when she does nothing except dwell on how beautiful she is and how it causes her problems and have her try (and fail) to hide it as a coping mechanism, rather than find a different way of addressing the issue that's more dynamic.

But now I'm ranting ... Sorry!

DrummerGirl:
I particularly felt the climax with Leck was more of an anticlimax after all the build-up. Almost like Cashore rushed the scene to get to the end (wont go into details for spoilers).

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Actually, I'd ditto this.

MM

I'm reading Impossible by Nancy Werlin. I'm not in love with the writing style, but I am enjoying the story. It didn't seem to really get into it until the Eleventh chapter (a lot of background) so the beginning was slow, but now I'm speeding toward the end.

I just finished reading Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. It was recommended by several people but I just couldn't get into it. The cover art is pretty so I bought the next book in the series before I was even 3 chapter into Wicked Lovely. I'll eventually get around to reading for the sake of my OCD and completing the series.

I am now reading The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King, it definitely pushes the safe bubble that usually surrounds most YA novels. It's graphic in all the right places and the plot is...unique.

This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer - I'm a big fan of Life as We Knew It and am really excited to find out what happens next.

While waiting for the first batch of Carnegie shortlistees to arrive in Aldershot library (I collected the first four today) I started one of the shorter books in the pile, Meg Rosoff's The Bride's Farewell. I'm a quarter of the way through, enjoying it so far.

eyeblink said:

I started one of the shorter books in the pile, Meg Rosoff's The Bride's Farewell. I'm a quarter of the way through, enjoying it so far.

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Certainly different than her other works, but like everything of Rosoff's, I enjoyed it.

Just started Charles Benoit's YOU.


(squeeeeeeee!!)

I'm about to start Draw the Dark by Ilsa Bick.

Just finished the third Imaginarium Geographica book, "The Indigo King". Loved it! The wwriting is not the strongest ever, but the storytelling is amazing. If you love mythology it is a necessary read!

YAY, 3 of my 11 books have arrived!!!!

I finished the Iron King a second time, I will never ever tire of Ash, ever!

Now I *think* I'm going to read Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols. Unless I change my mind and pick one of the other 2 first It's a hard choice even though they will all be read...because they were 3 I was very eagerly anticipating!

I'm reading Jenny Downham's Before I Die and I'm floored..!

Shadow_Bee said:

I'm reading Jenny Downham's Before I Die and I'm floored..!

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Just wait until you get to the end. Have some tissues handy.

Momento Mori said:

When I saw the exact same device being used in Fire however, it just felt repetitive and there wasn't enough oomph to the rest of the plot for it to work for me. Really, very little indeed happens in Fire when you think about it and I have a big personal issue with books where the central character's main problem is that she's just too damned beautiful for her own good, particularly when she does nothing except dwell on how beautiful she is and how it causes her problems and have her try (and fail) to hide it as a coping mechanism, rather than find a different way of addressing the issue that's more dynamic.


MM

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Haha. I'm not sure if I'd like Fire based on your explanation here. I'm still only half way through Graceling. i only got it because I was at the half price book store and I had heard that Fire was good but I wanted to pick up the first one. I guess it'll be on my library list now.

CalynMorgan said:

I just finished reading Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. It was recommended by several people but I just couldn't get into it. The cover art is pretty so I bought the next book in the series before I was even 3 chapter into Wicked Lovely. I'll eventually get around to reading for the sake of my OCD and completing the series.

I am now reading The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King, it definitely pushes the safe bubble that usually surrounds most YA novels. It's graphic in all the right places and the plot is...unique.

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I liked Wicked Lovely. I did not like the second book, but the main character is quite different.

I'm reading You are so Undead to Me by Stacey Jay. So far, it's really good!

I'm currently reading "Radiant Shadows" by Melissa Marr. I love the Wicked Lovely series.

adktd2bks:
I'm not sure if I'd like Fire based on your explanation here. I'm still only half way through Graceling. i only got it because I was at the half price book store and I had heard that Fire was good but I wanted to pick up the first one. I guess it'll be on my library list now.

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Well to be fair, there have been quite a few people here who enjoyed Fire. Just not me ... I will read whatever Kristin Cashore publishes next though because she is a good writer.

I've switched to 'grown-up' fantasy for a bit but I think the next YA I read will be The Lost Art by Simon Morden.

MM

I just finished CRACKED UP TO BE by Courtney Summers. Review is here. I'm so looking forward to SOME GIRLS ARE.

I'm reading HUSH, HUSH right now, and I'm enjoying it. I'm only a couple of chapters in, so we're still working up to the main storyline, but I thought the prose in the start was very fresh and engaging. Anyway, I left the book at school yesterday, so I have to wait to continue on.

And I cracked open NUMBERS, which seems pretty awesome so far. Very distinct characters and voice (British! which I wasn't expecting). I love the concept, and the author really hooked me with the first chapter, which makes sense, because on the back of the book it says that it used to be a short story and won a contest before she expanded it. This seems like the type of book I can reeeeeally get into.

So many books! So little time.

I finished "The Dead Tossed Waves" yesterday. I liked it. The MC had a few moments of TSTL, but it was a great engaging story. I'm hoping for another sequel!

I'm reading After, by Amy Efaw. I've read about 2/3 of it, and as much as I want to like it, I'm just not connecting with the character. It's about a teenager who throws her newborn baby away with the trash and has been charged with attempted murder. Since I work with juveniles in court, the subject matter is right up my alley.

I think the problem I'm having is that it's written in third-person, present-tense. It's just weird to me. There's an immediacy to the writing, since it's written in present tense, but the third-person narrative is too distant for me to really connect with the character. This may have been done for artistic effect, since the character is having trouble processing things herself, but it's not working for me.