After studying and work I want to relax; but as an avid reader I also want to read. So here are a list of 10 young adult books that I suggest when you are looking for a fun book to read. All summaries provided are courtesy of Wikipedia or Goodreads.
1. The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo
Leigh Bardugo is such an amazing writer and this series is absolutely no exception. It is perfect for any person who loves high fantasy books.
Summary: Narrated by Alina Starkov, a teenage orphan who grows up in the land of Ravka before her entire life changes after unexpectedly harnessing a power she never knew she had to save her best friend.
2. Six of Crows Duology by Leigh Bardugo
Summary: Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone... A convict with a thirst for revenge, A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager, A runaway with a privileged past, A spy known as the Wraith, A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums, A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Kaz's crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.
3. Maximum Ride by James Patterson
This was one of my favorite series when I was in middle school. It is perfect for the science fiction lover and has many books with short chapters so they are quick and easy reads.
Summary: The series is centered on the adventures of Maximum "Max" Ride and five other characters after their escape from the lab facility known as The School. Their group is labeled the Flock as each of the main characters are avian-human hybrids (they have wings), a result of the Flock's past involvement with The School.
4. Between Shades of Gray by Rita Sepetys
Summary: Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
5. Find Her by Lisa Gardner
This books though not technically in the young adult genre was one of the most gripping detective stories I have read recently.
Summary: Seven years ago, carefree college student Flora was kidnapped while on spring break. For 472 days, Flora learned just how much one person can endure.
Flora Dane is a survivor.
Miraculously alive after her ordeal, Flora has spent the past five years reacquainting herself with the rhythms of normal life, working with her FBI victim advocate, Samuel Keynes. She has a mother who’s never stopped loving her, a brother who is scared of the person she’s become, and a bedroom wall covered with photos of other girls who’ve never made it home.
Flora Dane is reckless.
. . . or is she? When Boston detective D. D. Warren is called to the scene of a crime—a dead man and the bound, naked woman who killed him—she learns that Flora has tangled with three other suspects since her return to society. Is Flora a victim or a vigilante? And with her firsthand knowledge of criminal behavior, could she hold the key to rescuing a missing college student whose abduction has rocked Boston? When Flora herself disappears, D.D. realizes a far more sinister predator is out there. One who’s determined that this time, Flora Dane will never escape. And now it is all up to D. D. Warren to find her.
6. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
This is another amazing historical fiction book. It is written in the perspective of death and is incredibly unique. It is very sad so unless you are ready to cry I wouldn't suggest it.
Summary: Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.
7. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
This is a lovely story of two young people meeting and a budding romance. It is a realistic romance novel. It does have many intense scenes of violence and vulgar language.
Summary: Two misfits.One extraordinary love. Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor. Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park. Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.
8. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
This is a light and sweet romance novel. The ending is either really good or really bad depending on the person. Despite the ending I did enjoy it and it is soon to be a major motion picture.
Summary: My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla. But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.
9. Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
Summary: milk and honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. It is about the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. It is split into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose, deals with a different pain, heals a different heartache. milk and honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.
10. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
This series is a post-apocalyptic, futuristic, retelling of fairytales. It is filled with action, adventure, and romance and is perfect for anyone looking for a good book to read.
Summary: Each book entails a new take on an old fairy tale, including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White. The story takes place in a futuristic world where humans, cyborgs, androids and a race of moon colonists all coexist.
