Four Compelling YA Books to Read Today
Admittedly, I don't read as many Young Adult books as I used to. Richelle Mead, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Ellen Hopkins were my high school jam. Now, I'm uninterested in YA Contemporary and have trouble connecting with some of the YA Fantasy trends. However, here are four recent YA books I adore. They're all fantasy, but hopefully they have aspects everyone can enjoy. Alongside that, most of them are pretty diverse, which is both rare and great!
Also, I have an image you can click on for each book so you can find out more about each of them.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
A steampunk Cinderella retelling set in future dystopian China where the Cinderella character is a cyborg mechanic. Come on, this is a fairy tale retelling. My only gripes are that, while I appreciated the fast pace, I wish the book would've slowed down in more emotional moments to keep the impact strong. Also, a few of the plot reveals are, well, unsurprising.
Still, this is a quick, engaging, fun read that introduces an incredibly fascinating world. I read it in one sitting.
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Nyx was raised to marry a monster. This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling that takes place in a magical world where people still worship Greek gods, funnily enough.
Hopefully this isn't a spoiler if you've read or seen any Beauty and the Beast adaptations, but have you ever read a book where the two lovers are separated for a period of time and your reaction is terror and a desperate need to know if they see each other again?
I rarely feel that, but boy, did I feel it here. If anything, I couldn't get enough of this book and long for a re-read. It's a shame this is overshadowed by less deft YA BatB adaptations that shall go unnamed.
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh
What's this, a YA 1001 Nights retelling focusing on Shahrazad and the king? 1001 Nights, one of my favorite stories involving death, demons, and orgies? Wait, it's actually ethnically accurate in a book and film scene swamped with pseudo-European fantasy lands? A female protagonist who wants to avenge her best friend?
I couldn't get enough.
Both this and Cruel Beauty have a marriage where the heroine starts off wanting to murder her husband. What can I say? I have a type.
My only complaints are the interludes involving, Shahrazad, or Shazi's, childhood friend/crush. Also, your mileage may vary about how Ahdieh side-steps the king's (or Khalid, in this retelling) status as a misogynistic abuser, rapist, and killer in the original story. Still, it's a tall order to create a successful retelling of this story with a sympathetic king, and Ahdieh delivers.
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
Rot & Ruin is a zombie novel starring a biracial protagonist and his fully Japanese-American half-brother. Admittedly, I'm not a big zombie fan despite my love of horror, but this novel won me over with its heartfelt depictions of how people deal with grief when they're loved ones are not just dead, but undead. There's one particular thing where people will request portraits from an artist that involve their loved one re-imagined as a zombie, which may sound morbid to some, but it's a coping mechanism to deal with loss that I found compelling.
Do you have any recent YA books you love? I'd love to hear some recommendations!
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