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100 of the Most Popular YA Books of the Past Five Years
While it’s hard to truly quantify what catches on in the realm of pop culture, it’s often fun to try. Looking forward is basically impossible—if book publishers knew how to do that, they’d be gazillionaires. But looking back in time? That’s generally fascinating.
We’ve collected below the 100 most popular YA books on Goodreads over the past five years, as determined by overall shelvings—books that Goodreads members have already read or Want to Read. We’ve also selected for enthusiasm: We’ve culled anything that scored under a 3.5 in average star ratings. Finally, we’ve collapsed popular series into a single representative book. If multiple titles from a series made the list, we included only the first book from the time period in question.
You’ll find several familiar names on the list and an eclectic mix of genres, themes, and styles—from existential romance to classic sci-fi, from labyrinthine mystery to insightful contemporary fiction. Also: enchanted cranes and snow leoponaires.
Scroll over the book covers below for more details about each title. If you see any interesting books conspicuously absent from your own shelves, don’t forget about your Want to Read list.
How many of these popular YA books have you read? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments Showing 1-50 of 312 (312 new)
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Bookdragon
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Aug 16, 2022 03:11AM
22
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Only 7. I have some catching up to do. I'm going to bookmark this page.
Aack, only 4. Guess I'm drawn more to MG than YA!
I still have five to read out of the ones listed but did not like a single one of the 39 I've read/tried. I think YA is no longer something I enjoy
22. Some of these are favorites, some were pretty bad. It’s a mixed bag.
I thought you said you'd roll all series titles under the first book in the series? Tower of Dawn? One of Us is Next? Two Can Keep a Secret? Daughter of the Siren Queen? Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World? A Reaper at the Gates? Queen of Air and Darkness? War Storm? I can understand more why Midnight Sun and Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes get their own listing, but the others are a little misleading being listed as multiple additional titles when they're from other series.
11. Most were good, though a few are merely fine. One of the books is one of my favorite punching bags even though I still semi-like the book.
14 or 15. Most were good, a few were great, and one broke my heart.
26 not counting ones I started and didn’t finish!
28. Of those, here’s my middle school teacher’s humble opinion ... Best sci-fi series: Arc if the Scythe by Shusterman. Best fantasy series: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. Mysteries: The Good Girl’s Guide to Murder & the Truly Devious series. Favorite single titles: With the Fire on High, Long Way Down, Concrete Rose, Aristotle & Dante & Secrets of the Universe (book 1). Titles I did not enjoy: Cinderella Is Dead, The Hazel Wood, Lore.
only 9 :/ Need to keep reading seeing as YA is my fav!
7! Some of them are my favourite books, and I am def going to read a lot of recommended here!
Zero. This is pathetic. Most of The Nephews really are nephews not nieces, and they like action movies and cartoon videos but what they read is mostly nonfiction and Serious Literature. And the novels about teenagers I've seen lately make me glad this is the case.
I've read 22 and really enjoyed most of the ones I've read!! So glad to see some of my favs on here 💕
17 read and 37 on my tbr list! Not bad but not that good either XD
18 read and 37 on my tbr list! Not bad but not that good either XD
I've read three on the list, currently reading one :)
18. I absolutely loved The Skyward series, The Firekeeper's Daughter, and The Grace Year. The rest weren't that great.
I've read 45 and am working on the 46th (Realm Breaker).
