Favourite YA Books of 2012
That time of year again… my favourite YA books of 2012.
The list
(in no particular order)
John Green – The Fault In Our Stars
Sarah Ockler – Bittersweet
Sarra Manning – Adorkable
Beth Revis – A Million Suns
Andy Robb – Geekhood
Laura Jarratt – Skin Deep
Ilsa J Bick – Drowning Instinct
Caragh M O’Brien – Promised
The breakdown
Dystopian/sci-fi: 2
Contemporary/realistic: 6
Authors I’d read before: 4
Authors new to me: 4
The trends
- where is the paranormal/fantasy this year? I think I read slightly less of it this year than previously, which may explain its absence.
- there is a lot of contemporary fiction on this list, and a little bit of sci-fi; I think this probably represents my reading tastes quite accurately.
- I mentioned last year I expected more UK lit; there are three UK writers there this year which is not doing too badly, although it wasn’t a conscious reading decision this year.
- there are more stand-alone titles there, only two in a series (the two sci-fi/dystopian ones, actually).
- this is a shorter list than I’ve ever had before; I read a lot of great YA fiction this year but these are my absolute favourites. Mostly I knew when reading them that they would be favourites; they were just immensely enjoyable or satisfying (even if heartbreaking or distressing – John Green and Ilsa J Bick, looking at you guys).
Bonus mentions
- read in 2012, but originally published in 2011: Sara Zarr’s How To Save A Life and Stephanie Perkins’s Lola and the Boy Next Door. Both great.
