What YA Friendly Book Are You Currently Reading? Showing 1,301-1,350 of 1,359

[Clay]

Andreas wrote: "I just finished The State of Us by Shaun David Hutchinson and I'm still shaken what a mess that book was. If you take the romance plot alone, it's quite cute even i..."

Date Me, Bryson Keller was so great. Thanks for the recommendation!

[Avid Reader and Geek Girl]

I just finished an eARC of Throwaway Girls by Andrea Contos, It's a YA Mystery/Thriller with a lesbian protagonist. It was a good book with lots of good talk about societal issues, especially around race and economic status.

[Kaje]

Avid Reader and Geek Girl wrote: "I just finished an eARC of Throwaway Girls by Andrea Contos, It's a YA Mystery/Thriller with a lesbian protagonist. It was a good book with lots of good talk about..."

Thanks for the advance heads up.

[Meghan]

I recently read The Ghosts of St. Grimald Priory by Hayden Thorne, one of my favorite authors. It's a light-hearted, very cute ghost-story told in a Miss Manners style through short journal entries between an aunt and her nephew. It almost falls over the edge into horror in a few spots but doesn't quite go there.

I personally am focusing on more light-hearted stuff at this point in time.

[Kaje]

I'm currently reading Jay Bell's Straight Boy which I picked up when it was free (briefly, not now, sorry) - enjoying it so far. I like his writing.

[Avid Reader and Geek Girl]

I read The Good Girls recently, it doesn't come out until December, but it was really good and had some LGBTQIA+ MCs, it's a feminist mystery

[Felix]

I'm currently reading I Wish You All the Best, which is one of your books of the month.

[Steven]

I'm just starting Loveless, about an aro/ace college freshman

[Kaje]

Tiffany wrote: "I'm currently reading I Wish You All the Best, which is one of your books of the month."

I really enjoyed it - let us know what you think on the book thread, if you like.

[Kaje]

Steven wrote: "I'm just starting Loveless, about an aro/ace college freshman"

Not many books with aro characters - I'll have to check that one out. I really enjoy Alice Oseman.

[Andreas]

I just finished Bonds of Brass and I'm still shaken. It's the first book in series of three and the hanging ending is unnerving. I'd probably better waited for all three books to be released before reading it.

[Felix]

I'm currently reading Tash Hearts Tolstoy, which has a heteroromantic asexual protagonist. I enjoy it overall, but I do find a few aspects to be problematic.

[Quaint]

I have just done reading criminal intentions S2 E6 (Divine proportion), and it was such a heart-warming and domestically adorable ride. Malcolm and Seong-jea has eternally placed their presence in my heart like an imprint. I cannot seem to get enough of them, and if you enjoy solving crimes and detectives, this book is totally right up your alley. I am head over heels and I do not really want an out. so, look no further and do yourself a favor.

[Heather]

I've just finished reading The heartbreak boys by Simon james green. It was good.

[Juuso]

Not sure, but i think i am gonna start Hunger games soon. The hobbit is another one i would love to start soon.

[Andreas]

Heather wrote: "I've just finished reading The heartbreak boys by Simon james green. It was good."

Good to know. It's next on my list. I just have to finish The Friend Scheme by Cale Dietrich first.

[Kaje]

I just read a book that's not specifically marketed as YA, but that would work very well, about an asexual autistic femme homoromantic college student, and his awakening to a polyamory situation.

Izzy and the Right Answer is a slow and sweet and a bit word-wandery because that's the MC's personality. Sometimes I wondered if any college students would respond quite the way his neurotypical friends did. But it was also refreshing and interesting, in an exploration of feelings by an MC whose forte is not emotional intelligence or awareness.

[Iamshadow]

Just finished The Brightsiders after it sat in my to-read for over a year. I'm embarking on the next book from the stack - Junior Hero Blues. I have so many awesome books to read right now, I just wish I could read about ten at once. I am feeling so impatient to get to them. There are ones that have been waiting ages for me to get to them, and then others like You Should See Me in a Crown that I only just bought. So impatient! So excited!

[Rez]

Andreas wrote: "Heather wrote: "I've just finished reading The heartbreak boys by Simon james green. It was good."

Good to know. It's next on my list. I just have to finish The Friend Scheme by [a..."

Both of those are sitting in my TBR pile and I'm not sure which to read next...

[Andreas]

Rez wrote: "Both of those are sitting in my TBR pile and I'm not sure which to read next..."

The Friend Scheme is a little bit straining to read. The whole mobster thing is not my cup of tea and it's somehow also not done very well. Most of the book is YA teen romance and pretty fine, but then from time to time the mobster plot comes and hits you in the face hard and then leaves until the next time. It's a litte bit like cancer. I'm currently at 58% and thinking about DNF and starting Heartbreak Boys instead.

[Andreas]

Update: I finally gave up on The Friend Scheme because (as Marie Kondo would say) it does not spark joy. I've even written a small review if anyone is interested. There are far better reviews than mine, just look for the one and two star ratings, which I probably should have also done before.

Now I've started reading Heartbreak Boys and this one actually does spark joy. It's really fun to read. Simon James Green does not disappoint.

[Juuso]

I am currently reading Drive by James Sallis and The sun is also a star by Nicola Yoon

[Iamshadow]

I finished Junior Hero Blues, and it's so cute! If you wish there was something that felt like a fusion of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Not Your Sidekick, then you'll probably love it! It's a short read - less than 200 pages - so it doesn't go very deep, but I really liked the main character and the writing style. Javier reminded me a little of Spider-man. Less of the wise-cracking, but the same struggle to balance school, family, and a secret superhero sideline.

[Juuso]

Just started Drive by James Sallis.

[Andreas]

Just finished Heartbreak Boys and it was so good and so much fun to read, I just want to read it again and again.
That just won't happen too soon since I've already got ten books waiting for me, so I probably go with The Extraordinaries next.

[Kaje]

Andreas wrote: "Just finished Heartbreak Boys and it was so good and so much fun to read, I just want to read it again and again.
That just won't happen too soon since I've already got ten books w..."

I do love a book that makes me want to turn around and do a reread.

[Juuso]

Just started It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne.

[Andreas]

I just finished Pages I Never Wrote by Marco Donati. I totally fell in love with this book.

[Ron-Michael]

Just finished Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye and thoroughly enjoyed it. Quick read, too.

[Mila]

I finished Her Royal Highness early today and I'm half way thru Love, Creekwood

[Meghan]

I'm disappointed in myself for missing this series from last year but happy I found it:
The Icefjord Saga: Claws (Book 1) and Teeth (Book 2) by Zaya Feli. A fantasy set in an ancient Nordic region with Viking mythology, magic and beasts, some violence. Main couple is boy/boy but there's also a girl/girl side-pair. Fairly well-written and immersive world with more of a focus on adventure. Low-grade romance

[a bunch of rats]

Here's my top five ya novels for last year:
I'll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson (This was my favorite book ever for so long! It is beautifully written, love the alternating past/present, sister/brother chapters. I'm into embroidering my favorite book quotes, and the next thing on my list is "All ten fingers")
Simon Vs the Homosapiens Agenda, by Becky Albertalli (Love this book too! Likable characters, amazing and perfect and super cheesy ending, and nice writing. Unfortunately I can't say the same things about the movie adaptation: Love, Simon. But that's not what this is about! Just don't watch it, it has different plot points, same characters but so underdeveloped that when I watched it with my friend who hadn't read the book she only knew the names of Bram, Martin, and Simon by the end. But yeah! Amazing book.)
The Infinite Noise, by Lauren Shippen (Ok, so I might be a bit biased for this one... Caleb and Adam are my favorite ship ever!!!!!! I'll admit, I'm a little bit obsessed with The Bright Sessions. I have read this book twice and I love the alternating chapters and characters. It's good even if you haven't listened to the podcast, but I think it's better to listen to the podcast at some point because a) it's amazing and b) it'll give you a better idea of what these characters sound like and some information about what's happening elsewhere to other atypicals and the rest of the story)
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, by Mackenzi Lee (Normally I don't like reading books about unlikable characters, but Lee does a good job of making Monty, no matter how selfish or annoying or unhelpful he is, seem like a good person at his core. After just a few chapters, you'll be rooting for him. The story takes an unexpected turn, making it not only a historical fiction-ya lgbt romance, but an adventure-historical fiction-ya lgbt romance.)

So yeah! These are just a few of the books I read last year, lgbtq or not, and I recommend them! I mean, obviously. I just wrote practically a whole short essay on them.

[Kaje]

a bunch of rats wrote: "Here's my top five ya novels for last year:
I'll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson (This was my favorite book ever for so long! It is beautifully written, love the alternating past/present, sister/..."

Those are some great books. The only one I haven;t read is The Infinite Noise - I'll have to add that to my TBRs. Thanks for the rec.

[kate]

I just finished and I cannot express how much I adored this book!!

[Kaje]

Daddy Phantom [Kody] wrote: "I just finished and I cannot express how much I adored this book!!"

I own it, have it cued up, and haven't gotten to it. Must do so. Maybe one to nominate for next month's book of the month read.

**Currently on sale for $2.99 for those who are thinking about it. - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07TVZXQ5V

[kate]

You should definitely read it! Or we could read it next month! Either way hopefully you like it!!

[Meghan]

a bunch of rats wrote: "..."

Can I just say, I love your "name"?!
:-D

[Kim]

Cemetery Boys was my favorite book of 2020. Loved it.

[Jamie]

a bunch of rats wrote: "Here's my top five ya novels for last year:
I'll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson (This was my favorite book ever for so long! It is beautifully written, love the alternating past/present, sister/..."

Kaje wrote: "a bunch of rats wrote: "Here's my top five ya novels for last year:
I'll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson (This was my favorite book ever for so long! It is beautifully written, love the alternati..."

Love all of these, especially The Infinite Noise Caleb and Adam are one of my favourite ever books couples! Have you read We Contain Multitudes This is another one of my favourite reads from last year.

[John]

Just ordered and am looking forward to , sequel to the excellent by Marsh Myers

[Jay]

John wrote: "Just ordered and am looking forward to , sequel to the excellent by Marsh Myers"

Thanks for posting about those. I haven't seen either of them mentioned in the group before.

[Angie]

I've been reading the LGBTQ Jake Weston Mystery Series by Marko Realmonte. It's YA, main characters are teens and the characters are so well written...I'm in love with the style. The 3rd book in the series just came out. The Michaelmas Killer! . Read the books in order though, they are awesome.

[Andreas]

Angie wrote: "I've been reading the LGBTQ Jake Weston Mystery Series by Marko Realmonte. It's YA, main characters are teens and the characters are so well written...I'm in love with the style. The 3rd book in th..."

Sorry to disagree, but in my experience it's exactly the opposite.

(view spoiler)[I've tried to read the first book because the plot ("gay ghost story") sounded really interesting. I stopped reading after half of the book because of how terrible it is written. The characters are the opposite of "well written". Jake is a overpowered super-hero who's not only super rich but excels in everything and solves every problem within seconds without even trying. Tim is a poor damsel-in-distress whose only purpose is to get himself into trouble so Jake can safe him. Again and again. That's the whole plot.

And the writing itself is also terrible. Every character goes by half a dozen of names that are used randomly. Some Chapters start with long paragraphs in which characters are only referenced by "he" and you can absolutely not tell who he is. Consecutive paragraphs of direct speech end with "he said" and you simply don't know who "he" is. (hide spoiler)]

tl;dr It's badly written, annoying and boring.

[Kaje]

Which just goes to show there is no book everyone can agree on. When I get sad that someone hates my favorites, I go look at all the one star reviews of something like Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter - there is no book someone didn't hate. It's so individual.

One of my favorite older gay male reviewers who is really picky loved the series and The Michaelmas Killer (5 stars) and said "it’s fun, replete with oddball characters and a strange subtext of paranomality and time-travel. In the end I decided I love the characters so much, and am so excited at the prospect of more adventures in a slightly new format, that I just have to give this book all the stars."

And then a couple of friends didn't like it much. "It needed a big dose of suspension of belief" etc.

So maybe read a few reviews and see if the style is likely to be up your alley.

[Anya]

Just finished one called It Goes Like This, that was AMAZING. Reads a little like fanfiction, but in a good way.

[Kaje]

Bee wrote: "Just finished one called It Goes Like This, that was AMAZING. Reads a little like fanfiction, but in a good way."

It Goes Like This? Added to my (long) TBRs thank you.

[JLo]

Wayward Son

Loved the first book. Such a treat to have one more to go after this!

[Willis]

I just finished reading and which are both YA friendly! The MC is ~26 so it's more on the NA side but nothing happens that is not YA friendly.

Highly recommend, the books are so much fun and have lots of great rep (ace, gay, poly-coded, nonbinary, trans, etc)

[Kaje]

Willis wrote: "I just finished reading I Am Not Your Chosen One and So What If I Am The Chosen One? which are both YA friendly! The MC is ~26 so it's more on the NA side ..."

Those sound like fun! Added to my TBRs.

I just finished and enjoyed Like Real People Do - This was really fun and cute and warm. Two very young men (eighteen and nineteen) meet and fall for each other in a slightly hapless and unintentional way, while fighting the idea. No sex so far. One POC main character with a traumatic brain injury and disability, handled what I thought was respectfully but minimal angst.

It's from an AO3 fic so some fic readers may recognize it - and there is a part 2 coming but this one ends on a nice HFN

[Isha ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ]

Kingsbane, The Midnight Girls, and A Monster Calls