Thursday 27 August 2015

A Way Into YA Day Five: Across the Genres


Welcome to A Way into YA; a series of guest posts where some lovely YA loving bloggers will give you their best recommendations and try to get you to love YA as much as they do! If you've always wanted to give it a go but have been overwhelmed by the amount of choice then hopefully this week will help you find a place to start!

Hopefully you've been keeping up with all the great guest posts and YA related greatness we've had going on here all week. If not feel free to catch up, we'll wait!

Now that that's done, the final guest blogger in this series (but by no means the final post of the series) is Rachel of Confessions of a Book Geek. She is an eclectic reader as you will see and is here with her recommendations of amazing books from across the genres!

I’ve been reading Young Adult books for quite a while, in fact I’m now considered to be an Adult (whether I like it or not!) who reads YA fiction. But that isn’t all I read. In fact, I read across a broad range of genres and age ranges, so when I find something I really like, I think it makes for a quality recommendation!

YA literature has gone through a *boom* in recent years, with new book-to-movie adaptations being announced every other week (at least that’s how it feels!), and “hot” new authors springing up regularly. It’s not surprising then that knowing where to start with YA can be daunting, thanks to Bex and this feature, I’m bringing you some of my top YA picks!

Contemporary - I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

I'll Meet You There by Heather DemetriosWhen I’m reading a great contemporary YA, I like to feel the realism of the story, and I love being able to relate to the characters – not necessarily through like-for-like life scenarios, but at least relate to their thoughts, dreams and emotions. I love it when contemporary stories have “issues”, when there’s grit to the storyline and when characters face real-life predicaments that result in character development. I’ll Meet You There has all of the above by the bucket-load, and some beautiful writing, and a great romance. I highly recommend this read!



Romance - Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover (New Adult Cross-over)

Maybe Someday by Colleen HooverAlthough many of my recommendations from other genres may feature a romance, or elements of one entwined throughout the plot, my actual romance recommendation is anything by Colleen Hoover, but for newbies I’d specifically recommend Maybe Someday. Colleen Hoover is the master of the NA genre, which can still be overlooked sometimes, as early-NA had a bad rep for being soft erotica. Do. Not. Fear. Colleen Hoover is rarely that steamy (though if a little more steam is what you are after, then I recommend Ugly Love ;) ). Maybe Someday is a mixed media collaboration that has its own custom soundtrack that you can listen to (for free) as you read the book. It is immense!

If you still need persuading, just check out this non-spoiler, fan-made trailer, featuring the title track, Maybe Someday (coincidentally, also my favourite song from the book!).


Fantasy – A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

A Court of Thorns and RosesI believe someone else pipped me to the post to recommend Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas, so I’ve chosen her most recent release, A Court of Thorns and Roses, affectionately referred to as ACOTAR by the fans! Inspired by Beauty and the Beast, this story has amazing world-building, Fey, and a great romance element. Speaking as someone who was epically terrified of Fantasy for the longest time, I can safely say Maas is a sound choice to dip your toes in the water.





Dystopian - Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie BlackmanI’m sure everyone is familiar with The Hunger Games and the Divergent series, but one of the first dystopian novels I ever read (at the tender age of 12) was Noughts and Crosses. I reread the whole series at the age of 24, and loved it just as much as I did the first time around. Throughout the Noughts and Crosses series we follow different character points of view, across multiple generations, in a world where white people are heavily discriminated against, and black people hold all the power. It takes the world as we know it, and tilts it on its axis, offering fresh insights, and heart-breakingly good story-lines.

The titles all link to my review of each book or series, except for A Court Of Thorns and Roses, which I’ve yet to review on my blog. Many thanks to Bex for having me on her blog today, and I hope from my recommendations you find a new YA book to love!

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I read a lot of Malorie Blackman when I was an actual young adult and she's fantastic. I also have A Court of Thorns and Roses on my wishlist, I'm desperate to read it! The other two are new to me though and I'll definitely be checking them out! Anybody else have the song from that trailer in their heads now?

Check back tomorrow for my thoughts on Cinder by Marissa Meyer. One Saturday I'll have another edition of Make Mine an Indie featuring a YA publisher, and on Sunday I'll finish up with my own recommendations for some great titles and a giveaway. 

The series so far:
Make Mine an Indie: Alma Books
A Way into YA Day 1: Science Fiction
A Way into YA Day 2: Backlist Books
A Way into YA Day 3: A Bit of Everything!
A Way into YA Day 4: Some More Great Books and a Giveaway

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