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

I'm half way through WHITE RABBIT, RED WOLF by Tom Pollock (I think it's being released in the US as THIS STORY IS A LIE) and it's excellent - a YA thriller that's intelligent, has an MC with mental health issues and there's a cool speculative vibe as well. I've got an array of YA ad children's books to read next as I'm going on a bit of a YA reading spree for a change but am finding it difficult to decide which to start with.

MM

Still reading CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber, though it's a little slow so it's taking a bit of a push. I'm also just starting ONE OF US IS LYING by Karen M. McManus for my library's YA book club. It sounds right up my alley so I'm excited about it!

Also beta reading for someone I met on another writing forum, as you do.

Checking out Munmun by Jesse Andrews. Even though I like him, I kind of eyerolled at the premise, which is that in the setting wealth=size. So the very poor are the size of rats, and the very rich are the size of skyscrapers. You get where he's going with that.

But holy crap it's a lot of fun. The 1st person narration is perfectr, and the characters all speak in a weird patois where they run all their words together, it ends up being funny and oddly authentic. The characters are good, and it runs the gamut from silly to brutal pretty easily. Great for fans of offbeat YA.

Reading The Dream Thieves (book 2 in the Raven Cycle series). The pace is a bit slower than the first one but I guess it's an enjoyable story.

Truly Devious, Maureen Johnson.

As usual, it's well done, well paced, well written, but I'm pretty sure it'll end in a cliffhanger shocker, and I'll lose track of following up on the sequels. It happened last time with that Ripper boarding school series. MJ is perfectly fine, but never quite grips my heart.

SKara said:

Reading The Dream Thieves (book 2 in the Raven Cycle series). The pace is a bit slower than the first one but I guess it's an enjoyable story.

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I loved The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves, but it definitely slowed down as the series went. The last two books in the series sort of left a bad taste in my mouth -- very slow, too purple prose-y, and sort of like a caricature of the first two books. I think the plot was stretched pretty thin over four books, and could have been condensed into three.

Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell. Excellent! I am giggling and nodding at all the Simon Snow references.

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.

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I felt the same way. The book does get stronger and more emotionally effective in its second half, to be fair. The last third packs a hell of a whallop. I'd rate it 3 stars just because the beginning was so flawed, but I'd read the sequel, too.

Cobalt Jade said:

Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell. Excellent! I am giggling and nodding at all the Simon Snow references.

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I read Fangirl last year and loved it! Rowell's YA novels are always always amazing. I recently read Carry On (based on the fictional book mentioned in Fangirl) which didn't disappoint. Do check it out after Fangirl

I finished FINDING FELICITY by Stacey Kade last night, which is a YA featuring a freshman in college (yay!), but about a girl so awkward at forming new relationships she's made up a set of friends based on the 90s television show FELICITY. Curious how many actual teens relate to a 20-year old show or if this appealed more to the old folks like me who watched it live. Also so uncomfortable to read the most-awkward-scene-ever which was an exact replica of a scene from the pilot of the show. (Maybe it's good it gave me so many feels?) Anyway, back to fantasy while I'm waiting for some newer releases to move up in my library queue. Starting THE DIVINERS by Libba Bray.

Just finished THE WONDER OF US by Kim Culbertson, which is an interesting contemporary that takes the European road trip concept but builds a believable friendship around it - particularly in relation to how friendships change over time and distance. I wasn't struck on the obligatory romance element though.


MM

Just finished THE HATE U GIVE, well written, enjoyed it, but nothing really occurred that I wasn't expecting, I suppose the idea was to feel connection which I did.

Nearly at the end of READY PLAYER ONE, brilliant, even if I do glaze over a bit at some of the long ass descriptions.

Forcing myself to keep going with CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE, hasn't so far lived up to the hype for me, but glad to see it gets better.

pingle said:

Just finished THE HATE U GIVE, well written, enjoyed it, but nothing really occurred that I wasn't expecting, I suppose the idea was to feel connection which I did.

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I think it's more than that. Basically it's a book about Starr and how she changes in reaction to the tragic incident. Before that happens, Starr is special among her own kind...she goes to a mostly white kids prep school, doesn't hang out with her childhood buddies, has a white boyfriend, is slated to go to college and when she returns, she'll get a job her dad can't dream of, will live outside of the hood. She will not be a part of them. Khalil's death changes all that. She questions who she is. She realizes whatever she does, she is still one of them, which complicates her goal in life.

I once read a nonfiction book called Inside the Rikers (NYC's jail) by a (then) aspiring criminologist. One of the themes it examined was why kids in housing project aspired to become drug dealers. Why not doctors, lawyers, cops, etc, that the projects occasionally produced? A conclusion the book reached was that the docs, lawyers, etc moved to nicer neighborhoods as soon as they could afford, so the kids didn't see them, didn't know these accomplished ex-project-dwellers were one of them. What they saw everyday were the pushers wearing nice clothes, driving nice cars, eating nice meals.

You're not wrong, I guess I'm being overly dismissive, I just didn't feel surprised by a single move in the book, but it wasn't setting out to create mystery and suspense, it was social commentary. Secondary school kids in the inner city London school my sister teaches at are raving about it so it's clearly hitting the spot for many.

I started reading This Shattered World again. Couldn't finish it the first time, because decided to give it another shot after learning that the main characters from the first book of the trilogy show up again. Nearly done with it now, and glad I gave it a second chance. Love me some Lilac LaRoux.

About to start DEFY THE STARS by our own Claudia Gray

I've giving Morgan Matson a try, after seeing her praised by several bookstagrammers. Got "The Unexpected Everything" from my library's digital collection. So far I've really enjoyed it. Several laugh out loud moments, which is fun with a book. (My emotional responses are much more suppressed compared to TV/movie watching.)

Currently reading Skulduggery Pleasant: Midnight by Derek Landy.

Not sure if it's YA as such, as it's marked as 12+. After book 4 the Harry Potter effect seems to set in and the books grow in maturity to reflect an ageing readership. I really enjoy the visual and spoken humour Landy puts into his writing, no matter how dark.

fergusj said:

I finished FINDING FELICITY by Stacey Kade last night, which is a YA featuring a freshman in college (yay!), but about a girl so awkward at forming new relationships she's made up a set of friends based on the 90s television show FELICITY.

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Teens seem to like it well enough, anyone over thirty needs to accept that 90's nostalgia (even late 90's nostalgia) is A Thing. *shudders* But it's not Felicity unless the final act includes your goth roomie casting a magick spell to transport you to an alternate dimension.

Have I mentioned how much I'm liking LIBRARY OF SOULS by Aditi Khorani. Can't even articulate why it hits my sweet spot when so many related & similar titles I've been meh on. Very evocative and mystical without overlapping into exoticism, a colleague of mine (who also liked it) felt it was a bit overwritten. I agree, if I were the book's editor there would be a lot of stuff that makes nervous, but those are also the same thing I end up liking about it.

I just finished MONDAY'S NOT COMING by Tiffany Jackson and LOVED it--it's a grim story, but beautifully told and painfully relevant.

pingle said:

Just finished THE HATE U GIVE, well written, enjoyed it, but nothing really occurred that I wasn't expecting, I suppose the idea was to feel connection which I did.

Nearly at the end of READY PLAYER ONE, brilliant, even if I do glaze over a bit at some of the long ass descriptions.

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I'm finding it really hard to give The Hate U Give a chance. As an employee in a law enforcement profession, I find it really hard to accept the generalization that is tossed over our occupation. There are good and bad apples in every situation and the classic 'white police officer shooting black kid' is extremely sensitive in my career field right now. Heck, I don't even get to carry a gun and I'm still as likely to be shot at as those who do.

Ready Player One was a great read! I think I finished it in like two or three days surprisingly. Reminded me of a lot of the good entertainment things from my youth and some even before that. Even better though? The author is from Ohio, shout out to all those other authors from Ohio (where I'm originally born and raised).

I'm currently reading:
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. I will honestly say that this is one of those novels where I was inspired to pick up and read the books by the movie. I've only just gotten into the novel and so far I'm enjoying it.

Google Books: The Zombie Chronicles by Chrissy Peebles and Fearless: Book One of the King Series by Tawndra Kandle