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

AuthorAmandaR

Registered
Joined
Mar 7, 2018
Messages
14
Reaction score
2
Location
New Jersey
I just started reading Uglies by Scott Westerfield.

Just got down reading Divergent by Veronica Roth. I wasn't too thrilled with it. I am finding a lot of YA dystopian books do not have a solid world. For example, Roth gives no reason as to why the world? Country? Is broken up into these factions other than the emotions the factions are named after caused or is it prevents war? Who knows. The romantic subplot was lame. I'd love to read a book with a strong female protagonist who feels worthy of her loves interests attention. The trope hot guy and Plain Jane is so saturated in this genre. The plot twists are super predictable too. The plus side is the action was fast paced so it didn't take long to read.

I'm hoping Westerfield is a lot better in his world building and character development.
 

AuthorAmandaR

Registered
Joined
Mar 7, 2018
Messages
14
Reaction score
2
Location
New Jersey
I'm currently reading ZENITH by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings. Picked it up because I loved the idea of a SF novel that's actually set in space (so much YA SF seems to revolve around takes on dystopias) and because it is pitched at fans of Star Wars so I thought it would have a bit of a space opera adventure vibe. I'm about a quarter of the way in and I'm finding it very disjointed - the shifting POVs (5 so far) keeps throwing me out and prevents me from empathising with the characters or their respective plights, the romance is making my eyes roll (partly because I just can't bear the whole arrogant male jerk romance interest thing) but also because for a book that's built on an idea of an all female spaceship crew, I think the side characters are under developed. It's not helping that the characters all seem to be more New Adult age than YA age (the 2 mains are in their early 20s while only a couple of the side characters are teenagers) and the world building is throwing too much at me for me to get to grips with it. I'll push on with it because I always finish my books but I'm disappointed not to be loving it as much as I thought I would.

MM

I have found the same. There are a lot of awkward info dumps in that book that seem clunky as well as unnecessary. I'm not trying to sound mean but I don't think they edited that book well if at all.
 

Momento Mori

Tired and Disillusioned
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 25, 2006
Messages
3,389
Reaction score
802
Location
Here and there
AuthorAmandaR:
I have found the same. There are a lot of awkward info dumps in that book that seem clunky as well as unnecessary. I'm not trying to sound mean but I don't think they edited that book well if at all.

I don't think you're mean - I think the editing is pretty poor too. But I am going to be mean when I say I cannot, for the life of me, work out why Andi keeps getting called the Bloody Baroness when she's never been a member of the nobility on her home world. It's like they decided to call her that because it sounded cool rather than for any actual underlining reason. In fact, I think that's true of a lot of the book - big disappointment and I'm not going to bother with the sequel.

I'm about to start a re-released copy of The Whitby Witches by Robin Jarvis, which I keep seeing described as a modern classic of YA horror. I've never read any of his books before but know he has a good reputation so am looking forward to reading this.

MM
 

Cobalt Jade

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 21, 2015
Messages
3,289
Reaction score
1,441
Location
Seattle
Finished Simon and the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Enjoyed it a lot, especially the mystery of who the secret admirer was... though I guessed correctly about 3/4 in. It was the rare case where a first person present tense viewpoint both fits the story it tells and is done so well I didn't even notice it was there. Other writers should take a look-see. On the down side, things were perhaps too perfect for Simon, and Abby was too "Go go girl" towards the end. But still, I'd give it four stars and an enthusiastic recommendation.
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
In between books on Kindle and hardcopy. I'm not sure what I want to read next for those (and can't have Wuthering Heights be my only non-audio read). I'm having trouble that I have to avoid certain themes because they remind me of my anxiety going on in my life, and I'm using books to escape that at the moment. Will update with my list when I make decisions, I guess.
 

SKara

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 29, 2014
Messages
203
Reaction score
51
Sage, I hope whatever is bothering you blows over soon. I've been using books to escape (no exaggeration - I literally didn't want to live in real life) ever since April started - so I'm right there with you :Hug2:

I'm reading The Selection series right now, but really enjoyed Carry on by Rainbow Rowell - it's very Harry Potter-like (obviously) and humorous. I love all of Rowell's YA books and I really wish she'd write more of those. Part of the reason I finished Carry On in two days is that it was really good - and part of the reason is also that I didn't want to think about my real life.

It's a great thing that there are people who write entertaining books and provide fictional escapes for us - what would we do without them? :)
 

Cobalt Jade

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 21, 2015
Messages
3,289
Reaction score
1,441
Location
Seattle
I've been using books to escape (no exaggeration - I literally didn't want to live in real life) ever since April started - so I'm right there with you :Hug2:

I'm reading The Selection series right now, but really enjoyed Carry on by Rainbow Rowell - it's very Harry Potter-like (obviously) and humorous. I love all of Rowell's YA books and I really wish she'd write more of those. Part of the reason I finished Carry On in two days is that it was really good - and part of the reason is also that I didn't want to think about my real life.

It's a great thing that there are people who write entertaining books and provide fictional escapes for us - what would we do without them? :)

I felt this way about Tanith Lee's YA series called The Claidi Journals. I was going through the end of a toxic marriage and they were my escape.
 

Siwyenbast

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 20, 2013
Messages
230
Reaction score
26
Location
Houston area
Currently reading A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah Maas when I have time in between homework assignments. I'm about roughly a third of the way through it. The stack after that is the next in the series, then Magic's Child by Justine Larbalstier and rereading its series and Holly Black's Tithe​ series since I finally got copies of those trilogy ends.
 

Cobalt Jade

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 21, 2015
Messages
3,289
Reaction score
1,441
Location
Seattle
Reading Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone. This book has been highly hyped, but, well, I'm underwhelmed. The setting is interesting for its African flavor, but that's all it is... a flavor. The plot structure, subject matter, and writing style are still very much in the YA fantasy style. The heroines, both of them, have good hearts but are impulsive, which are not real character flaws but mcguffins to set the plot in motion. The writing is in first person present, which IMO is done correctly only very rarely... it worked well in Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda for the voice of the narrator, but here, it's like the characters are just microphones for the author, if that makes sense. I don't get a sense of their individuality. And there's constant stomach clenching, grip tightening, fear trembling, etc. from them. Maybe it gets better, but so far it's all cookie-cutter at this point.
 

Sam Artisan

Held captive by angry blue elves.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
323
Reaction score
64
Location
Under a Hat
I recently finished "Aeronaut's Windlass" by Jim Butcher. It was fun, with a healthy amount of variety and personality in the lead characters! It wasn't the most compelling, though, and some of the extremes of eccentricity felt overdone. I do prefer his work in The Dresden files...
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
Hardcopy: THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON by Kelly Barnhill
Kindle: A GATHERING OF SHADOWS by V.E. Schwab and THE HOUSE OF SPIRITS by Isabel Allende
Audiobook: AGENT TO THE STARS by John Scalzi and HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE by JKR

I'm realizing that none of these are, in fact, YA.
 

Sam Artisan

Held captive by angry blue elves.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
323
Reaction score
64
Location
Under a Hat
I read that "Girl Who Drank the Moon" book and found myself tempted to call the main character a mary sue for more than one reason! What do you think of it?
 

Sam Artisan

Held captive by angry blue elves.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
323
Reaction score
64
Location
Under a Hat
Luna! I actually quite enjoyed everyone else...just not so much her.
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
Hmm, not sure I agree that Luna is the main character, nor a Mary Sue. Sure, she's super-powerful (when she has any power at all), but it's only used once in the book as anything but a burden or curiosity, and when she uses it, it's after most of the conflict has already been taken care of. For much of the book, Luna is actually more of an object to be acted upon, rather than a character in her own right. The only reason to consider her the MC is that she's middle-grade age for the last half (maybe only a third) of the book. I feel like Xan was more of a main character, although the book was shared among many.
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
Hardcopy: STARGLASS by Phoebe North
Kindle: A GATHERING OF SHADOWS by V.E. Schwab and THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS by Isabel Allende
Audiobook: AGENT TO THE STARS by John Scalzi and HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE by JKR

Amazingly, even though a major part of Starglass so far has been the MC learning a new job (a science job, no less), it has not stressed me out the way some other books and shows have when reminding me of my stressful new job.

The House of the Spirits is disappointing me so far. Maybe because it's coming off of Wuthering Heights, and here's another book that follows one horrible guy and how he affects multiple generations of a family. I did not expect that from where my tHotS recs came from.
 

MynaOphelia

lost her spaceship again
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 18, 2014
Messages
290
Reaction score
27
Currently reading DREAD NATION by Justina Ireland and LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Hardcopy: STARGLASS by Phoebe North

Are you liking this one so far? I was thinking of this being one of my next reads.
 

Sam Artisan

Held captive by angry blue elves.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
323
Reaction score
64
Location
Under a Hat
Hmm, not sure I agree that Luna is the main character, nor a Mary Sue. Sure, she's super-powerful (when she has any power at all), but it's only used once in the book as anything but a burden or curiosity, and when she uses it, it's after most of the conflict has already been taken care of. For much of the book, Luna is actually more of an object to be acted upon, rather than a character in her own right. The only reason to consider her the MC is that she's middle-grade age for the last half (maybe only a third) of the book. I feel like Xan was more of a main character, although the book was shared among many.

To me she felt like the main character as most of the plot revolved around her, but I grant you that Xan was as well (and I preferred her by far!)
I think what made her come off as sue-ish to me was not her power alone, but that combined with the way the people around her responded to her. She was cruel and careless (in a childish way, yes, but I still found it frustrating. I may also be biased against anyone who would intentionally make a little dragon cry) and yet everyone still loved her and forgave her with what seemed very little remorse on her part. Also the way strangers seemed drawn to her (as when Xan took her to the other side of the forest and everyone loved her) felt sue-ish to me, even if it was just a side effect of the overabundance of magic within her.
 

Bugjune

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 24, 2017
Messages
52
Reaction score
12
Location
I live in the South, but I'm not a Southerner
Finished The Mortal Coil in less than a day... It was fun. My son (13) had read it and said it was cool. I like reading after him so I can get credit for correctly guessing the plot twists.

Back to reading love in the time of cholera!
 
Last edited:

Kjbartolotta

Potentially has/is dog
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 15, 2014
Messages
4,197
Reaction score
1,049
Location
Los Angeles
I'm struggling with ​Children of Blood and Bone. There's a pretty standard YA plot formula to it, which I try to be forgiving about, though I tend to like the books (like Forest of a Thousand Paper Lanterns) that subvert or do unexpected things with it. It's a little more predictable than I expected, but teens are usually fine with that. The worldbuilding...is kind of all over the place. There's a lot of texture and verisimilitude in some places, and 'fantasy Africa' is an easy sell for me, so when I like it, I like it a lot. Other aspects feel kind of like a mish-mash of elements from IRL cultures, some of it done carelessly IMHO. Dunno, gonna keep going until I have a clear idea what I'm talking about, hard to tell if I'm just being a hater or not.

Gonna try Sky in the Deep or The Traitor's Blade next, I think one of those is going to finally win me over.