What YA book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Status
Not open for further replies.

adktd2bks

addicted to books
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 17, 2009
Messages
1,402
Reaction score
330
Location
midwest
Just finished The Future of Us. I'd read the synopsis a while back and thought it sounded interesting and unique, so I was excited to read it. It did not live up to my expectations at all. In fact, I found it very disappointing.

I picked it up based solely on the authors' names. Big disappointment here too.
 

Smish

Reads more than she writes.
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Messages
8,636
Reaction score
3,087
Location
in the Bouncy Castle
Just finished The Future of Us. I'd read the synopsis a while back and thought it sounded interesting and unique, so I was excited to read it. It did not live up to my expectations at all. In fact, I found it very disappointing.

I picked it up based solely on the authors' names. Big disappointment here too.

Yep, I was disappointed with that one, too.
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,369
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
I will be reading GONE GONE GONE on Tuesday, and as I just finished a book and I can't read anything in one day (with rare exceptions), I guess I'll plod my way through IRON THORN until then.
 

fredXgeorge

I heart sexy elves and wizards.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
944
Reaction score
81
Location
Australia
Finally starting Paranormalcy by Kiersten White. Really excited to start this one, I've heard it's amazing.
 

LadyA

Always lurking, never posting...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 26, 2010
Messages
1,700
Reaction score
245
Location
The wilds of Devon, England
Just finished reading Please Ignore Vera Dietz which I enjoyed.
I was going to start reading 13 Little Blue Envelopes until I realized that I accidentally picked up the sequel, so I suppose I'll just read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer instead.

I read I Hunt Killers, very dark, intriguing read.

I will be reading GONE GONE GONE on Tuesday, and as I just finished a book and I can't read anything in one day (with rare exceptions), I guess I'll plod my way through IRON THORN until then.

I want to read all these books - but my TBR pile is higher than my bedside table and I need to get through the books at the bottom of the pile before I read new ones *sadface*. There're a couple right down at the bottom that I never quite get to read, mainly because they look a bit meh. The only reason I'm persevering is because one of my favourite books of all time, THE LOST ART OF KEEPING SECRETS by Eva Rice, was a bottom-of-the-pile book for months.

ATM I'm reading THE OPPOSITE OF AMBER by Gillian Philip. I loved her book CROSSING THE LINE and TOoA is looking to be awesome too. I don't think she's that well known in the states (her books are written and set in bonny Scotland) but she's well worth a read for really good characters, voice, and descriptions.
 

alpaca

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
75
Reaction score
3
Location
Texas
Just yesterday I started reading Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver.
 

Kats

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 21, 2008
Messages
519
Reaction score
111
Location
California
Just finished Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick.

And this one isn't YA, but I'm about two thirds through White Horse by Alex Adams (an AWer) - this book is so, so good. The writing is beautiful and poetic (I have serious writer envy!), I love the main character, I love the plot, and I like both the 'now' and 'then' parts equally (so often I will be more invested in one and be disappointed to swap, but not with this book). Highly recommended.
 

eyeblink

Barbara says hi
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Messages
6,358
Reaction score
893
Location
Aldershot, UK
Gone, Gone, Gone has just arrived from Amazon UK and is in my TBR pile. I'm looking forward to it.

I've just finished Moira Young's Blood Red Road, which won the Costa Prize. It superficially resembles Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking trilogy, in its use of first-present vernacular narration - which Young takes further, as the dialogue has no quote marks. She does handle this well - I don't remember ever being confused as to what was dialogue and what was narrative.

Young and Ness part company from that point - where Ness's trilogy is set on an alien planet, Young's novel (which is the first of a trilogy) is set on a future post-apocalyptic Earth. Our protagonist is Saba, who goes in search of her twin brother Lugh when he is abducted, her younger sister Emmi in tow.

While the novel is fast moving and did hold my interest, I do have reservations with it. Some vital parts of it are told to us rather than convincingly shown - Saba's overwhelming love for Lugh which causes her to set out after him and to face much danger, we have to take on trust. Also, Saba's transformation into a champion cage fighter (after being captured) is not really conveyed to us. The chief villain is something of a caricature, and a love interest feels shoehorned in.

I also noticed a softpedalling which I've seen in other YAs, such as The Hunger Games. Saba is a dab hand with a bow and arrow, but like Katniss she doesn't actually kill anyone in cold blood. Most deaths are indirectly caused, and the only time both actively kill someone it's to put them out of their misery. It's as if Young (and Suzanne Collins) is trying to avoid making her novel too dark. The violence isn't especially graphic and with the lack of swearing and sex this makes the age range for this novel around 12 upwards.

After that, I'm starting on the Carnegie Medal shortlist. Of the eight books, I've already read one, Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls, which has to be a strong contender. The other seven are either here from the library or on reservation from there. I'm starting with Lissa Evans's Small Change for Stuart, which is MG.
 

JKRowley

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
Messages
969
Reaction score
59
I am reading "The Maze Runner," by James Dashner. My 7th grader recommended it, and it must be good because it is 374 pages and he still read it.
 

Momento Mori

Tired and Disillusioned
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 25, 2006
Messages
3,389
Reaction score
802
Location
Here and there
I've been taking a break from YA for a while because I've been so jaded with it, but I just finished an ARC for a MG book - DEADWEATHER AND SUNRISE by Geoff Rodkey, which will be released in the US next month. It's the first in a trilogy and is a pirate adventure that moves quite quickly but I was a bit disturbed by the idea of a 13-year-old boy deciding that he wants to marry the 13 year old female main character.

Not sure what YA book I'm going to read next, but I am eying up a YA steampunk anthology.

MM
 

Chanelley

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
2,967
Reaction score
316
THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER by Michelle Hodkin. It's not as smooth as I generally like my narrative, but I'm enjoying it so far.
 

cherita

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 20, 2011
Messages
642
Reaction score
131
I read BLACK HEART cover to cover on the last leg of my loooong flight to Germany. Amazing book. What a fantastic trilogy. :heart:

Yay! I'm happy to hear it -- BLACK HEART is next on my list once I finish this (pretty awesome) non-YA book I'm reading atm, OSAMA.
 

dawinsor

Dorothy A. Winsor
VPXI
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 21, 2005
Messages
2,108
Reaction score
635
Location
Amid the alien corn
I just finished THE WICKED AND THE JUST by J. Coats. Great example of an unlikeable MC who's still compelling.
 

Smiley0501

Lurker, now activated. :-)
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 2, 2010
Messages
2,948
Reaction score
264
Location
The Northeast, USA
I'm reading BZRK by Michael Grant - it was rec'd to me in the YA Recommendations board :) love love lovin' it so far.
 

Opal

The Designated No-Stress Friend
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 20, 2009
Messages
83
Reaction score
4
Location
Virginia
I just finished reading The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. I'm about to start reading 13 Little Blue Envelopes.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.