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

paintitreadbooks said:

Just a courtesy to anyone who may be interested: All of the Vampire Academy and Bloodlines Books by Richelle Mead are only 2.99 a piece on Kindle, today only. I got all of my VA books with a similar sale back when the movie came out, and I was pleasantly surprised by them. You can bet I'm going to get the Bloodlines books now, too!

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Oh, very tempting!

paint: I may have mentioned this previously, but I love The Winner's Curse! Definitely my favorite read of 2014; so glad you enjoyed it. Also, thanks for the heads up! I've now read all the VA books and am starting on the Bloodlines ones--books 3 and 4 are waiting for me a few books down my library book pile. That Amazon sale is definitely tempting, though.

Just finished The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas, and really enjoyed it! Loved the world building and the characters (and their names, almost invariably).

I started I WAS HERE by Gayle Forman. Kinda conflicted about it. I adore Gayle's writing. The MC, however, annoys me a little...

Reading Untraceable by S. R. Johannes. Took me a little to get interested, but I'm liking it so far.

dancing-drama said:

I started I WAS HERE by Gayle Forman. Kinda conflicted about it. I adore Gayle's writing. The MC, however, annoys me a little...

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Same here. Gorgeous writing, but the story was kind of plain. Felt as if I had read it before.

I finished LIKE NO OTHER by Una LaMarche last night. Good book. Learned a lot about Hasidic Jews.

Just finished JUST CALL MY NAME by Holly Goldberg Sloan, the sequel to the wonderful I'LL BE THERE. I'm not sure what to think about JCMN. I adored the first book, with its great characters, unnerving villain, great pacing and tension, and fairytale-like plotting (a lot of coincidences/deus ex machina, but written in such a way that they all feel believable, just luck or fate). But the sequel just felt kind of unnecessary, too short, and the quirky coincidences grated a little. I still enjoyed it though, and I loved seeing the characters (especially Sam and Riddle, who were so damaged and struggling) grow and start to believe in themselves and their future.

I'm not doing as much reading as I'd like due to heaps of university deadlines, but hopefully next up is SHUT OUT by Kody Keplinger (because I loved THE DUFF) or RICH BOYS by Jenny O'Connell (because I loved LOCAL GIRLS, and she is sooo good at writing that lazy, hazy summer atmosphere).

I finished BEWARE THE WILD a few days ago. It's probably one of my favorites so far this year. I felt like Parker really managed to capture the atmosphere of living down south, and the superstitious small town mindset of, "We know it's there, we know it's a problem, but we're going to keep pretending nothing is wrong." I also liked having a romance that was more on the peripheral of everything else.

I'm now most of the way through Maggie Stiefvater's BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE. I was kind of hesitant to start off, because while I've loved a lot of her work, including THE RAVEN BOYS, I had mixed feelings about THE DREAM THIEVES. Turns out I didn't need to be worried, because I adore this one so far, especially some of the new characters who have been introduced.

For my next non-YA anthology adventure, I'm also reading through GHOSTS: RECENT HAUNTINGS, edited by Paula Guran.

I'm reading Katharine Edgar's 'Five Wounds', a Tudor historical. Really enjoying so far - it's refreshing to have something not set at the London court, plus it shows the Catholic perspective on the Reformation, which is not often explored.

I'm currently enjoying UNREST by Michelle Harrison. It's about sleep paralysis and ghosts and out-of-body experiences, many of which happen at this open-air village/living museum of historic buildings where the male MC has taken a job.

Just finished ONYX, the second book in the Lux series. I'm interested to see where the rest of the series goes.

But for now, I need to figure out what I want to read next from the books I have. I'm debating between INVADED, the second book in the ALIENATED series, or maybe reading HEIR OF FIRE. I have been wanting to read the third book in the series for so long now, but it's just SO. LONG. that I have had a hard time committing to it.

Sage said:

I figured out WWL pretty early (did anyone who knows me doubt that I would?), which I think made the rest of it more interesting than I would have found it if I hadn't known, but I was still just sorta meh about it.

Now I'm reading SIN EATER'S DAUGHTER, which engaged me right away, but I have no clue where it's going.

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Same here on WWL.

I started SIN EATER'S DAUGHTER but it feels a little too... medieval for my tastes.

RED QUEEN turned out to be pretty cool. It has that blockbuster movie feel. Very visual. It's trope-y (someone said X-MEN meets SELECTION meets HUNGER GAMES which is unintentionally funny but also fitting) yet engaging.

Netz said:

I'm currently enjoying UNREST by Michelle Harrison. It's about sleep paralysis and ghosts and out-of-body experiences, many of which happen at this open-air village/living museum of historic buildings where the male MC has taken a job.

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I LOVE THIS BOOK! I keep recommending it to everyone but I think the cover and lack of popularity/exposure puts them off. So creepy, and one of the best twists I've read in a long time - my jaw was on the floor at the end. Please let me know what you think of it when you finish it!

Just about done THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE by Cynthia Hand. I hoped for more from this book it could be considered a comp for my novel, MAYBE IN PARIS, since it's about the sister of a suicidal boy. Only in Hand's book, the brother succeeded in killing himself, in mine he does not. Unfortunately TLTWSG is very, very mundane -- it's mostly about the MC going about her daily business and applying to college and being a math dork and blah, blah, blah. I wish it had had more *oomph* about it. I don't know. I'm sad and disappointed.

I went book shopping yesterday and discovered Nick Lake had a new book come out -- THERE WILL BE LIES. Excited to get to that one but I think I'm going to read GONE GIRL next. Finally.

Ooh, yes, I'd highly recommend UNREST too (the cover certainly doesn't do it any favours, I agree). Darn it, now I'm going to be wondering what the twist is (although my mind had been speculating about some things anyway). *Shakes fist at LadyA for telling me there's a twist* I'm nearly at the end (maybe 50 or so pages to go?) - the MC has just been possessed for a second time. Creepy!

Netz said:

Ooh, yes, I'd highly recommend UNREST too (the cover certainly doesn't do it any favours, I agree).

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I hadn't heard of UNREST, but since it just got three approvals in a row, I tossed it onto my TBR list.

I'm currently re-reading THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS by John Connolly.

Netz said:

Ooh, yes, I'd highly recommend UNREST too (the cover certainly doesn't do it any favours, I agree). Darn it, now I'm going to be wondering what the twist is (although my mind had been speculating about some things anyway). *Shakes fist at LadyA for telling me there's a twist* I'm nearly at the end (maybe 50 or so pages to go?) - the MC has just been possessed for a second time. Creepy!

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*slaps own wrist* sorry Netz! It's just that I always love to know if there's a twist in a book (if it's a good one) so I can spend the book in delicious anticipation. Having said that, you'll probably have worked out the twist or find it rubbish now, sod's law!

Kyla Laufreyson said:

I hadn't heard of UNREST, but since it just got three approvals in a row, I tossed it onto my TBR list.

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Yay!

I enjoyed THERE WILL BE LIES, Lady A. I did figure out the twists early on but the writing was fun. I have never read anything by him.

I just read CLOCKWORK ANGEL (which I liked…not sure I will finish the trilogy but I dug CITY OF BONES,etc.). I also read A SENSE OF THE INFINITE (out in May by Hilary T Smith), about a girl who just follows her best friend along until about the last third when she stops *sigh* It had abortion in it and bulimia and depression and college applications. I liked it a lot. Also read: MY HEART & OTHER BLACK HOLES which I liked a lot but didn't love; about a girl who wants to kill herself and befriends a boy from a neighboring town and together they form a pact to kill themselves on April 7th (I found some of it hokey and the romance moved too quickly for me BUT I liked the author's writing a lot). I also read A TIME OF DANCE, which I liked A TON!! It was about a girl who is Indian/lives in India and wants to become a professional dancer but gets into a car accident and loses her leg It was in verse/poetry which made it a very fast read.

Now reading middle grade, AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS. So far liking the voice a lot but I am only 20 pages in.

…and jeeez I read a lot. (I think it's because I never come on this thread lol)

I'm reading Half Bad.

I'm writing a YA contemporary so I'm staying away from that genre for now. Once, I finish the first draft, I'm going to go on a serious binge.

Moved on to James Dawson's new book, Under My Skin.

Currently reading Mary Pearson's THE KISS OF DECEPTION. Do. Not. Like. I'm determined to finish it for some reason, but I don't think it'll be redeemed at this point. The whole story feels like set-up for the world's blandest love triangle. It's about 98% romance, 2% intrigue and vague world-building. The "twists" are telegraphed about 5 gazillion miles away. Okay, sorry--feeling a bit rant-y about this one.

Finished Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. I really enjoyed it. There's so much in the summary that screams "generic YA fantasy," but Bardugo wrote it in a way that felt fresh and engaging.

LadyA said:

*slaps own wrist* sorry Netz! It's just that I always love to know if there's a twist in a book (if it's a good one) so I can spend the book in delicious anticipation. Having said that, you'll probably have worked out the twist or find it rubbish now, sod's law!

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Lol, I'll let you off. When you mentioned a twist, I was expecting something like the dad was actually a ghost or it turned out Ophelia or Hodge had been the hit and run driver. Anyway, I enjoyed it.