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

sharpierae

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Or just finished reading? I know there are a lot of threads with recommended YA books, favorites and stuff, but I'm curious to know which books people here are actually reading (whether or not they would recommend them later on).

I just finished reading What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucci.

I'd never heard of it, and was surprised by how much I liked it.
(Shady and reen, I think you two would especially enjoy it: Possible angels and gender ambiguities. What's not to like?)

Please let us all know, what are you reading?

xxxrae
 

Sage

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Cheering you all on!
Welcome to your shiny new reading thread. May we have 10K more posts of wonderful (or not) reading experiences. The original can be found here: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101907

I'm reading DANGEROUS by Shannon Hale, and I will probably pick up something on my Kindle for this week's trip and possibly one of the paperbacks I got for my birthday as well.
 

bertrigby

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A new edition of my favourite thread?:hooray:

Just re-read 'The Raven Boys' and 'The Dream Thieves', plus finally got my hands on Moira Young's 'Raging Star' and trying not to tear my way through it. I love the series so much and will be terribly sad when it's over.
 
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JoyMC

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Ooh, new thread.

I just finished EVERYTHING LEADS TO YOU by Nina LaCour, which is super lovely. Love her writing, love the development of the relationship. The characters felt older than 18, but I still really enjoyed it.

I'm halfway through JUST ONE YEAR. I'm liking it, but kind of just wanting to finish so I can read JUST ONE NIGHT.
 

LadyA

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Yay, I'm on the first page :)

I went to America for my hols, so lots of time for reading (and visiting your amazing, huge, bookshops).

First I read THE LIST by Siobhan Vivian, which I've been looking forward to for ages. It didn't disappoint - excellent characterisation, with flawed MCs and no stereotypical bitchy cheerleader antags. The bittersweet ending was also extremely well-done.

Next was UNQUIET SPIRITS by the maginificent K.M. Peyton. One of her more recent ones (1997) but all of her books feel pretty timeless - it could have been set any time between 1970-2014. It was a ghost story and a love story at once - about a London girl who moves to the countryside and falls in love with the heir to a run-down, haunted manor house - their relationship (and names) mirroring a doomed love story 500 years before. Sounds cliche but it's done well, all beautiful, haunting prose and description, and just general creepiness (although it's not a horror). Definitely worth a read, even if the ending is a bit too neat.

Then I read WE WERE LIARS by e lockhart. It cost me $17.99 for the US hardback which I wouldn't have paid if I'd known they were doing a UK paperback for £6.99, but I had been looking forward to it so much I blew some of my holiday money and got it.
Most of the book was boring, with the occasional bit of weird, trippy, try-hard prose that jolted me out of the story, and then the ending was desperately sad and depressing. That was not the twist I was hoping for. While WWL was well-written, mostly, and clever, thoughtful, with bits of lovely description, it just didn't come even close to the hype. So disappointed.

Next was TROUBLE by Non Pratt. A good UKYA contemp about a 15-yr-old girl who gets pregnant and the new boy at school who offers to pretend to be the father. While not particularly new or groundbreaking, it was well written and made me want to read on to discover the two POVs' respective secrets (who the babydaddy was and why the boy, Aaron, had moved schools). I guessed both pretty early on, but by then I was into the book. Definitely worth a read, but one I'll probably forget pretty easily.
 
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Undercover

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Crank by: Ellen Hopkins. I don't ever remember reading a novel in verse before. It's definitely different, but I'm really enjoying it.
 

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I've just finished the super-scary SAY HER NAME by James Dawson - great fun if you like to be terrified; I may never look in a mirror again! Just started BLUE by Lisa Glass, fun so far.
 

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I just finished City of Heavenly Fire. Loved it. Perfect end to the series.
 

EMaree

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Reading EARTH GIRL by Janet Edwards just now. I've met Janet, and she's an absolute star, so I expect to have a great time reading her stuff.
 

Yeasayer

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First I read THE LIST by Siobhan Vivian, which I've been looking forward to for ages. It didn't disappoint - excellent characterisation, with flawed MCs and no stereotypical bitchy cheerleader antags. The bittersweet ending was also extremely well-done.


I can still recall most of the eight (!) main characters and I read it two years ago. So, yes, I agree with you on the characterization. Hard enough to do with one or two, let alone eight.
 

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Will finally start Cat Clarke's A KISS IN THE DARK when I go to bed tonight.
 

ZachJPayne

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I'm currently rereading WHERE SHE WENT by Gayle Forman. I'm thinking of re-reading Richelle Mead's BLOODLINES next, in preparation for SILVER SHADOWS.
 

OctoberLee

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Just read Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I enjoyed it, didn't put it down about page 100. still looking for the next Robin McKinley's Sunshine... next in line are Bitterblue and Imaginary Girls
 

Rachael_A

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Yay! Shiny new thread!

I recently read two PHENOMENAL YA debuts. LIV, FOREVER by Amy Talkington in which the main character is murdered and turns into a ghosts and has to solve the mystery of why there are all these other female ghosts at her boarding school. It was a really cool mix of gothic and contemporary, there were all these cool art references, the story of each of the other ghosts were told in vignettes scattered throughout the story and the voice in each of these was awesome, and the love story was fabulous (if you like the movie Ghost, you will love it).

The other one is OPEN ROAD SUMMER by Emery Lord. It's pitched as Taylor Swift meets Sarah Dessen and it totally lives up to this. The story is told through the eyes of a country music star's best friend (who happens to be deliciously broken) as they go on a summer road trip. The friendship in this book was AMAZING, and I will now read everything Emery Lord ever writes.
 

Judy Koot

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Am reading UK YA "Soulmates" by Holly Bourne.
A bit of a far-fetched premise: 'What if meeting your soulmate is bad for the world and causes all kinds of natural disasters and therefore, just can't be?' *rolls eyes*.
I normally hate those types of books.
However, the teenage voice is very believable, as is the whole meeting-your-first-love stuff, making this kind of a guilty pleasure.
 

LadyA

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Am reading UK YA "Soulmates" by Holly Bourne.
A bit of a far-fetched premise: 'What if meeting your soulmate is bad for the world and causes all kinds of natural disasters and therefore, just can't be?' *rolls eyes*.
I normally hate those types of books.
However, the teenage voice is very believable, as is the whole meeting-your-first-love stuff, making this kind of a guilty pleasure.

SOULMATES was a DNF for me, mainly because the LI was cliched beyond belief and I wanted to strangle the sulky, irritating MC! Apparently the ending is really good though.
 

lucyfilmmaker

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Just finished DIE FOR ME and SECOND CHANCE SUMMER, which made me ugly cry like nobody's business (thank goodness I was home alone!)

Now I'm starting PARALLEL, but already wondering why someone so intent on going to Northwestern would ever agree to take off for LA...
 

Smiley0501

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I got an early copy of THIS SHATTERED WORLD by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, the sequel to THESE BROKEN STARS. Looooved it! I did find there was a slight 'love at first sight attraction but we're enemies' type of thing going on, subtle but still there, and it really annoyed me and distracted from the rest of the plot. But overall, love. Out in December.

I think judging by this thread - I need to try THE LIST again :)
 

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YA read

I am reading "Delirium" by Lauren Oliver. Beautifully written, reads like poetry, rave reviews. And. I. Just. Can't. Seem. To. Get. Through. It. Put it down a few days ago and haven't picked it back up just yet, but I will :eek:)
 

Momento Mori

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The next YA book I'm going to read is When Mr Dog Bites by Brian Conaghan but I've got a couple of 'grown up' books to get through before I get there.

MM
 

Apologue

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I also just read EVERYTHING LEADS TO YOU by Nina LaCour and absolutely loved it. It is one of the few contemporaries that had me riveted from page one and never let me go. Now I'm reading an advance copy of GET EVEN by Gretchen McNeil (out 9/14).
 

QueenofLALALand

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Just re-read 'The Raven Boys' and 'The Dream Thieves', plus finally got my hands on Moira Young's 'Raging Star' and trying not to tear my way through it. I love the series so much and will be terribly sad when it's over.


I just finished RAVEN BOYS and am almost done with DREAM THIEVES. I can't believe I have to wait until October for the next one :cry:
 

endearing

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Just finished Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (good, but I'm overwhelmed by love triangle/more graphic violence than I can handle/more paranormal than I can handle), and now finally reading To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han. So far, SO cute. I have a feeling this is going to be an addition to my all-time favorites. I hope I'm right. :)
 

Yeasayer

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Finished WE WERE LIARS tonight. Loved the writing style, spare and as literary as YA can get without bogging down plot. I flew through it because I was dying to know what the big twist was. It's one of the few times I had no real guess as to what happened, which maybe gave me too high of expectations. Needless to say, I was let down by what it turned out to be. I thought it would be something more intricate, with all the little pieces fitting together just so. Still would recommend it though.
 

Ellaroni

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The next YA book I'm going to read is When Mr Dog Bites by Brian Conaghan but I've got a couple of 'grown up' books to get through before I get there.

MM

I have this one on my to read shelf too.