For those of you who are yelling at me for starting a list at number six: you must not have read the first installation.There are way too many amazing paranormal YA novels in this world, and they all deserve recognition. Onward and upward. Or... downward?
6. "The Vampire Academy" series by Richelle Mead.
Book's flap copy:
Only a true best friend can protect you from your immortal enemies...
Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi, the fiercest vampires -- the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.
After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger... and the Strigoi are always close by.
Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever...
My two cents:
Vampire Academy sets the idea of vampirism on its head, which is why it's made its way onto this list. The vampire lore is re-imagined into the refined, high-society vampires that can wield magic (the Moroi), and their morally absent counterparts and ex-Moroi (Strigoi). Throw some vampire/human spawn into the mix and you've got a force of highly trained Strigoi killers, one of which is our supremely sarcastic and reckless heroine, my favorite, Rose Hathaway. Magic, vampires, boarding school, forbidden romance, and plenty of snarky one-liners. What more could you ask for? Human Secret Service helping to hide vampires? That'll come later. Read it -- you won't regret it!
7. The "Anna Dressed in Blood" series by Kendare Blake.
Book's flap copy:
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.
So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.
But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.
My two cents:
Firstly, I've just gotta get this off my chest: why doesn't "Anna Dressed in Blood" have a fancy series title like the "Newsouls" series, or the "Lux" series or something like that? This one is literally just the title of the first book! “Ghostly Encounters" series could have been a thing. Don't get me wrong, "Anna Dressed in Blood" is a really evocative and thrilling title that pulls you in, but personally, I think it's a bit long-winded and unimaginative for a series title. Anyway, I only read "Anna" once, but it was a well-wrought love story with some really interesting New Orleans voodoo magic sprinkled in. I wanted to dress up as Anna for Halloween one year, but I couldn't find the right white dress, so I ended up going as a living dead doll. Whether or not you choose to dress up like her, you should definitely read Anna's story!
8. The "Fallen" series by Lauren Kate.
Book's flap copy:
SOME ANGELS ARE DESTINED TO FALL.
Instant. Intense. Weirdly familiar...
The moment Luce looks at Daniel, she knows she has never felt like this before. Except she can't shake the feeling that she has... and with him -- a boy she doesn't remember ever setting eyes on.
Will her attempt to find out why enlighten her -- or destroy her?
Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a thrilling story about forbidden love.
My two cents:
The "Fallen" series is your classic star-crossed lovers scenario, but with a twist that starts at the beginning of humanity. Lauren Kate uses reincarnation and Christian lore to fuel a love stronger than even hell itself. Another boarding school and roughly six more fallen angels for you to read about. This is your textbook paranormal YA romance, so get your groove on and fall in love with Daniel, or Luce. Or, if you're enjoying Cam, you can enjoy him even more in his spin-off book! Caution, this spin-off could be better than the original… just saying.
9. The "House of Night" series by P.C. and Kristin Cast.
Book's flap copy:
The "House of Night" series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed. In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire -- that is, if she makes it through the Change. Not all of those who are chosen do. It's tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling. She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx. But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers. When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny -- with a little help from her new vampyre friends.
My two cents:
See, I knew that boarding schools were somewhat of a YA trope, but jeeze. I certainly didn't think that a third of the entire list would include boarding schools. The "House of Night" is another vampire series seeking to re-imagine the overused broody bloodsuckers. However, the Casts create a world based off of wiccan and vampire lore, which adds a really unique flavor to this particular vampire series. Can you tell that I started my love of YA with vampires yet? Well, if you missed it, you'll see the next entry soon enough. The "House of Night" series is extensive -- last I checked, there were about 14 or 15 books. I haven't even finished this series, because the sixth book was about to be released when I first encountered it. Despite that, I've read about 10 or 11 of the books. Try it, just to see if you like it.
10. The "Twilight" saga by Stephanie Meyer/
Book's flap copy:
Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife -- between desire and danger. Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, "Twilight" captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.
My two cents:
I almost didn't include Twilight on this list. It was really kind of an ordeal. My thoughts are that "Twilight" deserves to be on this list for three reasons: 1. It wormed its way into pop culture and turned millions of girls and women alike into crazy people. 2. I read the series (sans "New Moon") eight times when I was 14. I grew out of it, though, and have come to realize that the relationships aren't healthy, but that really doesn't stop a teenage girl from mowing through those books. 3. This may be the most important reason yet… My mom is a Twihard. I couldn't really get away with making this list and not including Twilight. If anything, read this series just to make fun of it! (#secretly still in love with "Twilight"… shhhhh!)
So now that I've swamped you with such a specific niche of books, I guess I'll have to branch out a little bit. I'm quite the reader, so keep looking for my must read lists! May you fall in love with many fictional characters.
