Get Yer YA Recommendations Here!

[ULTRAGOTHA]

I'm looking for things to read and enemies-to-lovers is my favourite romance trope. If anyone has suggestions, drop them below
As for other genres, I read basically anything. Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thrillers, Fantasy... As long as the story is good, I hold no qualms.

Have you read Diana Wynne Jones? She's one of my favorite Fantasy YA writers. The Merlin Conspiracy is my favorite of her books.

 

[lamensa]

I'm looking for things to read and enemies-to-lovers is my favourite romance trope. If anyone has suggestions, drop them below
As for other genres, I read basically anything. Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thrillers, Fantasy... As long as the story is good, I hold no qualms.

Just started SOCIAL INTERCOURSE and it's definitely an enemies-to-lovers kinda book - also its synopsis compares it to The Parent Trap sooo ... totally amazing. (It's also VERY funny.)

 

[mwatchornbooks]

I'm looking for YA fantasy standalone novels. I've been obligating myself to too many series lately.

 

[MaryLennox]

I'm looking for YA fantasy standalone novels. I've been obligating myself to too many series lately.

I would also be interested in finding standalone YA fantasy! It seems like everything is a series.

There are the three books by Kristin Cashore (Graceling, Fire, Bitterblue). I mean, technically they go together because they take place in the same world, but they are also their own separate books. Other than that, I can't think of any.

 

[mwatchornbooks]

I would also be interested in finding standalone YA fantasy! It seems like everything is a series.

There are the three books by Kristin Cashore (Graceling, Fire, Bitterblue). I mean, technically they go together because they take place in the same world, but they are also their own separate books. Other than that, I can't think of any.

Unfortunately I've read those already. Thank you for recommending them, though! I've also read Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken, but I can't think of any, either. I don't mind if it isn't a recent release, if anyone has other ideas.

 

[MaeZe]

And now for something completely different, try Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer.

A darkly funny and spectacularly original exploration of friendship, goodbyes—and spontaneous combustion.

Mara Carlyle’s senior year is going as normally as could be expected, until—wa-bam!—fellow senior Katelyn Ogden explodes during third period pre-calc. ...

It was surprisingly good.

Another stand alone is The Doubt Factory by Paolo Bacigalupi (he has other excellent books: The Water Knife and Windup Girl are two more but they are not YA.)

 

[EvilPenguin]

Unfortunately I've read those already. Thank you for recommending them, though! I've also read Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken, but I can't think of any, either. I don't mind if it isn't a recent release, if anyone has other ideas.

Have you read Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races? It's not super fantasy, but I still thought it was very interesing. Another "not really fantasy" that I've read and loved was The Coldest Girl in Cold Town by Holly Black. Yes, it's another vampire book, but there's no sparkle to it.

Oh! And anything by Charlie N. Holmberg. She does have one series (The Paper Magician) that's really could, but she has a couple of stand alone books that are interesting and quick reads. I'm not sure if they're really classified as YA, but they read a lot like a YA to me.

 

[ULTRAGOTHA]

Our own Ursula Vernon has some stand alone books on the YA scale writing as T Kingfisher. Bryony and Roses, Summer in Orcus, and The Raven and the Reindeer spring most immediately to mind. But the rest of her Kingfisher books would be enjoyed by YAs also.

 

[Netz]

I'm looking for YA fantasy standalone novels. I've been obligating myself to too many series lately.

Poison by Br1dget Z1nn
My Lady Jane by Cynth1a Hand, Brod1 Ashton, Jod1 Meadows
The Swan K1ngdom by Zoë Marr1ott
Illus1ons of Fate by K1ersten Wh1te
A Curse Dark as Gold ​by El1zabeth C. Bunce
M1stwood by Leah Cype$$

 

[Brightdreamer]

I'm looking for YA fantasy standalone novels. I've been obligating myself to too many series lately.

Last I looked, D. C. Pierson's Crap Kingdom was still a standalone, though it's not new-new. It's a twist on portal fantasy, where an average insecure teen is supposed to be the "hero" to a less-than-impressive world. There's more to this one than is initially apparent, though it can also be quite hilarious.

Also not new-new, Carrie Vaughn's Steel is (very light) fantasy/time travel, where a magical sword pulls a teen girl back into the age of pirates.

 

[Girlsgottawrite]

YA Horror / Fantasy Recommendations?

I'm working on a book right now that is a YA fantasy, but with some horror elements.

I used to be a huge reader of adult horror when I was younger, but read mostly YA fantasy now. I would really like to read a few scary YA novels to help me brush up on the genre, but I've been having a hard time finding much of anything in YA that seems well and truly frightening. I read Long Lankin which was pretty good and And the Trees Crept In which I did not like at all, as well as a bunch of supernatural-fantasy books that had some horror elements like the Raven Boys (awesome!!).

I would really appreciate some recommendations for good scary YA (the scarier the better) preferably with some speculative elements.

Thanks so much!

 

[soulrodeo]

I found The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín to be super creepy but it might be way more out there than what you're after. It's about teens who are taken to a fae world and tortured, their bodies broken and twisted, etc. The fae are more on the demonic creature side than the current trend of big handsome men.

 

[edutton]

The Call was amazing. (I still need to read the second book.)

Pretty much anything by Brenna Yovanoff should fit the bill.

John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things is good, as is Patrick Ness' A Monster Calls.

Holly Black's "dark fae" series (Tithe/Valiant/Ironside), maybe?

Dia Reeves writes in this vein as well -- I've only read Bleeding Violet (which was creepy and oddly violent but not really horror per se), but her latest, Heartsick, looks like it might be worth checking out.

 

[Girlsgottawrite]

I found The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín to be super creepy but it might be way more out there than what you're after. It's about teens who are taken to a fae world and tortured, their bodies broken and twisted, etc. The fae are more on the demonic creature side than the current trend of big handsome men.

Sounds awesome to me! Thanks!

The Call was amazing. (I still need to read the second book.)

Pretty much anything by Brenna Yovanoff should fit the bill.

John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things is good, as is Patrick Ness' A Monster Calls.

Holly Black's "dark fae" series (Tithe/Valiant/Ironside), maybe?

Dia Reeves writes in this vein as well -- I've only read Bleeding Violet (which was creepy and oddly violent but not really horror per se), but her latest, Heartsick, looks like it might be worth checking out.

I loved The knife of Never Letting Go. I don't know why I didn't consider A Monster Calls! I will definitely check these out. Thanks so much!!

 

[edutton]

I loved The knife of Never Letting Go. I don't know why I didn't consider A Monster Calls!

Considering how much I like both AMC and The Rest of Us Just Live Here, I really should read the rest of his stuff.

AMC was recently made into a movie, which reminds me of another good horror-adjacent story that got the same treatment - the graphic novel I Kill Giants. It's not exactly what you're looking for, I don't think, but it is an amazing story that will tear a little piece of your heart out.

 

[Fuchsia Groan]

I think about this a lot because I attempt to write scary YA. The Call, definitely. I think that’s the scariest modern YA I’ve read. The whole concept is just so freaking disturbing. I love Patrick Ness’s books but don’t find them scary per se. Anna Dressed in Blood has some very creepy moments, though for me the scares were mostly in the first half.

Amy Lukavics and Kim Liggett seem to have a lot of fans; I haven’t read them yet, but the books look scary, with supernatural elements. My debut is about a serial killer, based on a real one, with a slight spec angle. But I tried to make it gritty and psychologically disturbing while leaving the gore off-screen, which doesn’t work for, well, a lot of horror readers. My new WIP has more gore and a higher on-screen body count, but whether that actually makes it scarier I have no idea. (Personally, I don’t mind gore, but the stories that really scare me suggest more than they show, like The Haunting of Hill House.)

 

[Girlsgottawrite]

Thanks, Fuchsia! I was able to find Lukavics at the library so score!

And I finished The Call. I don't know that it was so scary to me, but definitely disturbing and a great read! Thanks for the rec!

 

[goddessofgliese]

YA fantasy books with little magic?

Can anyone recommend some YA fantasy books with little magic in them? I can think of some adult fantasy books, such as ASOIAF series, The Lies of Locke Lamara, American Gods. But I don’t think I’ve read any YA fantasy without much magic in it.

Thanks!

 

[Sage]

Can anyone recommend some YA fantasy books with little magic in them? I can think of some adult fantasy books, such as ASOIAF series, The Lies of Locke Lamara, American Gods. But I don’t think I’ve read any YA fantasy without much magic in it.

Thanks!

No magic (that I can remember):

False Prince
Four Dead Queens (sci-fantasy)
Winner's Curse
Mask of Shadows
A History of Glitter and Blood


Light magic or just one magical element or, like, god magic (since you mention American Gods):

Strange the Dreamer (god magic)
Damsel
The Game of Love and Death (god magic)

 

[Brightdreamer]

Can anyone recommend some YA fantasy books with little magic in them? I can think of some adult fantasy books, such as ASOIAF series, The Lies of Locke Lamara, American Gods. But I don’t think I’ve read any YA fantasy without much magic in it.

Thanks!

There's minimal "magic" (more like spiritual/New Age concepts: astral projection, etc., but not magic per se) in Isabel Allende's Alexander Cold trilogy.

Rae Carson's Walk the Earth a Stranger (first of a trilogy) has minimal magic, in that the MC can sense gold, but is more a historical fiction tale.

Depending on if your definition of magic includes dreams-that-aren't-dreams, Laekan Zea Kemp's The Girl In Between (also first of a series) might qualify.

Tanith Lee's Piratica series is fantasy due to being secondary world, but doesn't have magic.

 

[Kjbartolotta]

Might also mention Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke, Sky In the Deep by Adrienne Young, and Black Wings Beating by Alex London.

 

[edutton]

My debut is about a serial killer, based on a real one, with a slight spec angle. But I tried to make it gritty and psychologically disturbing while leaving the gore off-screen, which doesn’t work for, well, a lot of horror readers. My new WIP has more gore and a higher on-screen body count, but whether that actually makes it scarier I have no idea.

Have you read Dan Wells' "John Cleaver" series? I've only read the first one, I Am Not a Serial Killer, but remember it being good...

 

[goddessofgliese]

Sage, Brightdreamer, kjbartolotta, thank you all for your recommendations. You guys are awesome!

 

[NINA28]

Looking for good YA recommenations?

Been looking on Google at some recent YA books that are considered some of the best, but when on Goodreads people just seemed to leave reviews that slaughtered the book, Amazon as well. I would prefer Fantasy and historical Fiction but I'm not that picky. Recently read "The Book Thief" and enjoyed it.

Something very well written, with well developed characters and not "dumbed down". Interesting plot and themes.

Any recommendations? Thanks

 

[be frank]

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