I’m so excited because I get to tell you all about my favorite young adult novels of the year. These are the books that I couldn’t put down, that warmed my heart or made me cry or laugh out loud.
Confession: this list was supposed to be the ten best YA books, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t narrow it down to that. I built a bracket, and kept shifting books around, and yeah, it was not happening. So here are my fifteen favorite young adult novels of 2021, listed in order of when they were published:
Roman and Jewel
About the Book
Roman and Jewel by Dana L. Davis
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release date: Jan. 5, 2021
Book Review
A hip-hop interpretation of Romeo and Juliet? Yes, please! I totally want to watch this on Broadway.
Jerzie James knows she’s the perfect person to play Jewel. She’s been working for this her whole life. So she’s crushed when they pick the famous singer Cinny instead to boost ticket sales, hiring Jerzie as her understudy. And to make matters worse, she and Cinny get off on the wrong foot when Jerzie has an immediate connection with the boy playing Roman.
Ah, young love! This book captures the feeling of seeing someone across the room and being instantly obsessed with them. And the kissing scenes managed to be both hot and sweet.
The setting was perfection. The author made the backstage of a Broadway musical come to life. And all the petty jealousies of who outranked who and who got the better part were so true to life.
The supporting characters were great. Cinny was the perfect villain, sweet in public and terrible once the cameras were gone. And Jerzie’s Aunt Karla was the perfect foil to her personality, with some of the best lines!
This is a must-read for contemporary ya fans.
Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Love in English
About the Book
Love in English by Maria E. Andreu
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: Feb. 2, 2021
Book Review
This is a super cute romance! The author’s style reminds me of Elizabeth Acevedo, but sweeter.
Ana wants to be seen. Struggling with English and in a new country, she’s feeling lost. She gets a crush on Harrison, an American boy who is folding 1,000 origami cranes for a good luck charm for his sister’s wedding to a Japanese man. But she also bonds with Neo, a Greek boy in her ESL class who invites her to watch movies with him to better learn English. When both boys seem interested, Anna has to decide which one makes her heart soar.
I love how the author showed you how at first Ana only caught key words, but by the end, she’s understanding most of the words. Ana is a poet, and that poetry carries through every word on the page. The prose is absolutely beautiful, and many chapters have a poem by Ana in-between them. The language is so beautiful that this is a book I will re-read again and again.
“I am always worried I’m reading the situation wrong. I don’t have all the words. But right now: I am a battalion of the most delicate cranes, wings wide, flying high into the sky.”
Thank you to the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is Not the Jess Show
About the Book
This is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey
Genre: Suspense
Release Date: Feb. 2, 2021
Book Review
How is this book not getting more attention? It’s a perfectly delightful trip back to the 1990’s, complete with references to Blockbuster and Pogs.
Jess is mostly living a normal teen life: having a crush on her best friend who’s grown distracting new muscles, getting grounded by her parents for sneaking out with her friends and getting asked to homecoming by a popular boy at a party. But her family is also dealing with a major strain: her sick sister, whose health continues to decline.
But when weird things start happening – her dog gets replaced with an imposter, odd devices fall out of her friend’s backpack – no one, not even her parents or her best friends, will take her seriously.
Jess is seriously sympathetic as the girl who wants to fall in love with her best friend, despite her friends, parents and even, it seems, the entire town, steering her in a different direction. As Jess digs deeper into her world, the layers of deceit grow. This book was a delightfully charming thriller.
Amelia Unabridged
About the book
Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher
Genre: Contemporary
Release Date: Feb. 16, 2021
Book Review
This book is for every girl who’s dreamed of meeting and falling in love with their favorite author. Hopefully that wasn’t just me!
When Amelia’s family falls apart, she’s staring into a bookstore window when Jenna sees her. Jenna pulls her into her happy life and family, and the two girls bond over their favorite books: The Orman Chronicles. The two girls plan to best friends forever, and sign up to be roommates at the same college.
As a graduation present, they travel to a convention to meet the legendary, reclusive author, N.E. Endsley. But only Jenna meets him when she bumps into him shortly before he cancels his scheduled appearance. Amelia is bitter, but when Jenna dies two weeks later in a car accident, Amelia’s world is ripped apart again.
When a mysterious limited-edition copy of the book arrives in the mail, Amelia is sure it’s a sign from Jenna. Following a clever wind, she tracks down the sender, finding the damaged N.E. Endsley himself. Do they recognize kindred hurting souls in each other? As Amelia learns more about him and how he built the world of Orman, she begins to doubt everything. Does Amelia still want to follow Jenna’s plan for her life or forge her own way?
This left me with tears in my eyes (the good kind) and a smile on my face. This book is like one giant hug for everyone who’s ever fallen in love with the world of a book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing this advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Firekeeper's Daughter
About the Book
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: March 16, 2021
Book Review
This book will haunt you long after you finish it.
Daunis was raised between two worlds – that of her wealthy white grandparents who have buildings named after them and her Native relatives on her father’s side. She’s learned to navigate both worlds, honoring her Native traditions and helping her mother care for her sick grandmother. She even starts to fall for her brother’s mysterious hockey teammate, Jamie, who came out of nowhere. But when someone she cares about deeply is murdered, she questions everything and everyone she thought she knew. Someone is trafficking meth, and it threatens to tear apart the community she loves.
This book deals with prejudice in a powerful way. As someone who’s got a foot in both worlds, Daunis is sheltered from some of it, until violent acts of betrayal drive home what it truly means to be a tribal member.
I also loved Daunis! She’s a confident, fearless girl who played hockey on a boy’s team. She’s a vulnerable grieving friend. And she’s super smart and not afraid to carve out her own path.
This thriller will keep you turning pages to find out who’s behind the influx of meth and what will happen to the main characters as the threat closes in.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
House of Hollow
About the Book
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
Genre: Horror
Release Date: April 6, 2021
Book Review
“What you don’t understand is that I am the thing in the dark.” – Grey Hollow
The perfect Gothic horror fairytale! Three little girls vanished into thin air, then came back, a month later, with no memory of what happened. But they were just a little bit different. Their blue eyes turned black. Their brown hair turned white. Even their extraordinary, intoxicating beauty couldn’t explain all the odd things that happen around the Hollow sisters.
Grey Hollow’s the biggest supermodel out there, with her picture in the cover of Vogue. Vivi Hollow channels her energy as a punk rocker. And Iris Hollow tries her best to be a normal teenager, getting good enough grades to get into med school. But anytime her sisters come to town, the weirdness that Iris works so hard to ignore seeps back in. But this time, Grey disappears, and Iris keeps seeing a man with the head of a bull. She may finally have to face the mystery of what happened all those years ago.
This book is intoxicatingly gorgeous from the very first page, as you immediately fall under the spell of the Hollow sisters. It’s perfectly paced, leading you down the dark path towards . . . Somewhere you wouldn’t want to visit. But you’ll feel like you can smell the scent of rot and death even after you’ve finished the last page.
This is so well-done! The best horror I’ve read in a long time.
Thank you to Penguin Teen for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Don't Breathe a Word
About the Book
Don’t Breathe a Word by Jordyn Taylor
Genre: Historical Thriller
Release Date: May 18, 2021
Book Review
A historical thriller with a secret society set at an elite boarding school? Yes, please!
I enjoyed Jordyn Taylor’s first book, The Paper Girl of Paris, which is why I preordered this one. I LOVED this one! Taylor has taken her storytelling to the next level with this dual-timeline novel.
It’s the 1960’s, and everyone’s talking about the atomic bomb. A bomb shelter has just been constructed at Harwick Preparatory Academy, and a charismatic, young teacher is recruiting students to agree to be locked inside for four days. Connie’s best friend convinces her to sign up, along with Connie’s long-time crush, his girlfriend and two other students.
Meanwhile, at modern day Harwick, a mysterious secret society is recruiting Eva, a transfer who struggles to feel like she belongs. She jumps at the chance to be part of something, but the secrets keep getting darker and darker.
Taylor is the queen of dual timelines, using the technique to build suspense and revealing twists and turns as both stories finally intersect in a chilling but empowering conclusion. Taylor explores brainwashing, peer pressure and how looming threats like the bomb can be used to make people behave in ways they would not otherwise.
This was an enthralling read.
You're So Dead by Ash Parsons
About the Book
You’re So Dead by Ash Parsons
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: June 15, 2021
Book Review
A deliciously clever romp through Instagram influencer culture.
When Plum intercepts an invitation to the exclusive Pyre Festival, intended for her half-sister, Instagram influencer Peach, she thinks its her chance to have a spring break to remember. She convinces her two best friends to tell their parents they’re headed to a beach in Florida, leaving out the private island in the Caribbean part. But when they arrive, there’s only a few other Instagram influencers there. It soon becomes apparent that someone wants them all dead, and they just might be trapped with a serial killer.
This book is wickedly amusing, mocking the influencers and their “thing” that made each of them go viral. But it also takes a more serious dive into influencer culture, including how people exploit others for likes and how some of them can make into a very successful, lucrative job.
Plum, Marlowe and Sofia are lovable as three fashion-forward teens who aren’t supposed to be there. But as the body count stacks up on the private island, it brings their own secrets to light, including feelings that some of them have for each other.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
You and Me at the End of the World
About the Book
You and Me at the End of the World By Brianna Bourne
Genre: Dystopian/Science Fiction/Speculative
Release Date: July 20, 2021
Book Review
This book has a killer hook. Imagine waking up to an empty city. No people. That’s what happens to Hannah, until she finds the only other person left in Houston. Leo, the gorgeous bad boy musician who she vaguely knows from school, but would never hang out with. Leo skips school, parties and has a new girl every week. Hannah only dates fellow ballet dancers because they understand that almost all of her time has to be spent practicing to be the best.
It may have taken an end-of-the-world-type event to bring them together, but they’re great for each other. Leo encourages Hannah to let loose, and Hannah may actually teach Leo to have real feelings for someone. But first they need to figure out what happened to all the other people.
Bourne is an expert at the tease! This book has super hot chemistry for a ya novel. Leo and Hannah long for each other, but just as soon as they’re about to finally explore all their feelings, something happens or one or the other pulls back. Multiple times. But they’re so perfect together, that you’re just rooting for them to get their act together and end up together, before it’s too late. I don’t want to spoil anything, but their world keeps getting stranger and stranger, and they both deal with that in different ways.
The pacing is perfection! Bourne takes the readers on a journey from love scene to creepy paranormal scene, giving you just enough to keep you fully invested in the romance and hooked on the mystery! This one is an instant favorite, and I can’t believe it’s her first book! I’ll definitely buy whatever else this author writes.
Dark and Shallow Lies
About the Book
Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: Sept. 7, 2021
Book Review
“The dead? They lie. Just like the rest of us.”
I read this book in one afternoon because I could not put it down! This is going in my top ten reads of 2021.
Deliciously creepy and atmospheric, this book brings the Louisiana bayou to life. Brimming with supernatural phenomena, the small, swampy island town of La Cachette, Louisiana, is the kind of place where you can’t necessarily trust your own eyes and ears.
The last time Grey saw her best friend, they got into a huge fight, but then Elora disappears before they can make up. When Grey returns to La Cachette the next summer, the missing posters all over town may have begun to fade, but the pain of not knowing what happened hasn’t. Even with all the town’s supernatural gifts, which they play up for tourists, no one seems to have many clues. Grey’s determined to spend her summer with her psychic grandmother solving the mystery, even as her own newly emerging gift gives her scary flashes. But the tiny town is hiding big secrets, and the deeper Grey digs, the more confusing everything gets.
Grey spends her winters in Little Rock with her dad, but summers in La Cachette with her grandmother Honey feel like her true life. In between selling salt lamps and mystical stones to tourists arriving on the boat every day, Grey reunites with the Summer Children – ten babies born in the same year who grew up together. Only two died long ago, and now Elora’s disappearance fractures the group further. Grey’s long-time crush, Hart, is heading into troubled waters as he struggles to deal with his grief, while Elora’s boyfriend, Case, is persona non grata until he clears his name. The town is haunted by its past and its present, and each person holds a different piece of the puzzle. Each twist and turn builds a deeper mystery, and I loved how the author incorporated some of Louisiana’s French legends, such as the rougarou, which is similar to a werewolf, and the fifolet, mysterious ghost lights that appear in the swamp. Grey ends up with two romantic possibilities, and the chemistry with both is fire.
This is one that I will definitely reread!
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the Advance Review Copy of this book.
The Splendor
About the Book
The Splendor by Breeana Shields
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: Sept. 28, 2021
Book Review
If you could get rid of your worst memories, would you?
Juliette and her older sister Clare have always wanted to visit The Splendor. The magical hotel brims with decadence and luxury, promising to once in your life make your wildest dreams come true. Juliette dreams of it fulfilling the emptiness of growing up without parents at a children’s home. When Juliette finally saves enough to send one of them, she chooses to send Clare, the older sister who loved her and made the children’s home bearable. But then Clare comes back, and she doesn’t want to be around Juliette anymore.
Heartbroken, Juliette steals the rainy day fund she and Clare were saving to buy their own place and books herself a reservation at The Splendor to find out what took Clare away from her.
The glitz of the The Splendor and its magical illusionists will draw you in as much as it does Juliette, until you find out that all that glitters is not gold. Imagine being the star of a masquerade ball, or being able to wish a dragon chariot race into existence. But someone has to pay the price of all that magic, and slowly but surely, The Splendor’s sinister side is revealed.
Juliette bonds with Henri, the foster son of the Splendor’s owners and heir apparent. He blames himself for breaking her heart, since he’s the reason Clare doesn’t want anything to do with Juliette anymore. Henry removes unwanted memories, then reworks them for other people. He can take a perilous battle scene that’s giving one person PTSD and change it into a heroic experience for someone who wants memories of saving the day. He can rework the shape of a person’s life – at least in their memory. Henry sees himself as using his power for good, so learning of Juliette’s pain shakes him.
But the secrets of The Splendor go far deeper than either of them have dreamed, weaving a tapestry of lies around everyone associated with it. Henri and Juliette will have to work together if either of them will have a chance at escaping.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Review Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When Night Breaks
About the Book
When Night Breaks by Janella Angeles
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: Oct. 5, 2021
Book Review
With vibes reminiscent of Night Circus, When Night Breaks brings you into the glittering, shimmering world behind the mirrors, giving a whirlwind tour of a place that is part circus, part nightmare. It’s a place held together by a pact between The Dealer and the devils. The City, a glamorous shadow of Glorian, belongs to The Dealer, the most powerful magician of them all, but everywhere else belongs to the devils. In the city, the fallen magicians have built a world of ambition, performances and parties.
Kallia finds herself with Jack, the man she once trusted above all else and who trained her in magic, but also the mans she fled when she realized he had her in a gilded cage. He’s familiar with the world they find themselves in, but Kallia struggles to believe a word he says. Instead, she seeks out The Dealer, who shares secrets of her past and pushes her to attempt to regain her stolen magic for purposes of his own. Meanwhile, back in the real Glorian, DeMarco and the friends she left behind are following every lead to try to find Kallia and bring her home. Kallia and DeMarco must find out if there’s a way to bridge between the two worlds they find themselves in.
The descriptions of the magic and magic shows are stunning, and the Phantom of the Opera vibes are back, with Jack playing the part of the Phantom and DeMarco playing the part of Raul.This sequel delivers on all the promise and fireworks of the first book. Once I started it, I could not put it down.
Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass
About the Book
The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass by Anna Priemaza
Genre: Speculative/Magical Realism/Fantasy
Release Date: Nov. 16, 2021
Book Review
“Witches in a graveyard. Holes in my happiness. Questions that need answering.”
An achingly beautiful story of loss and the lengths we’ll go to for the ones we love.
In Vera’s world, everyone has a little bit of magic, such as the ability to unlock doors or turn on lights or sense what others need to hear. But when someone taps into deeper magic, things start to go very, very wrong. Vera’s lost someone, but she doesn’t know who it is. Instead, she feels a person-shaped hole in her heart. She and her best friend Riven try to solve the mystery, but meanwhile, people keep disappearing. The reader realizes it, but the characters don’t realize their loss, until the moment they do.
The first few chapters introduce a LOT of characters, but you’re going to want to stick with this one. Once people started disappearing, I was hooked as Vera and her friends fight to find out what’s happening. I loved how unexpected the final answer was.
This book felt contemporary, but the magic provided an interesting twist to Vera’s high school experiences. It was woven into the story well, with Vera’s parents working at an institute researching the magical aptitudes.
The ending was perfect. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Our Violent Ends
About the Book
Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong
Genre: Historical fantasy
Release Date: Nov. 16, 2021
Book Review
Oh my goodness! This book picks up where the other left off, so stop reading if you don’t want spoilers for the first book, These Violent Delights.
Juliette and Roma, heirs to rival gangs and lovers, eradicated the city of one monster spreading a violent plague, only to discover that the creator has five more that he ordered unleashed upon his death. The political situation in the city is fragile as well, as the gangs, the Communists and the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-Shek battle for control of the city. Somebody’s blackmailing both gangs – Scarlets and White Flowers alike – for money to stop them from unleashing the monsters, and it’s unclear what their affiliation and motives are. Roma and Juliette are determined to get to the bottom of it, while fighting their growing feelings for each other.
This book was a page turner, as loyalties are tested as the city falls to pieces, forming unlikely alliances and breaking apart long-standing ties. The reader was never quite sure what’s coming next.
I loved all the scenes with Roma and Juliette, as they continue to choose each other, despite the consequences. Their chemistry is electric, and the moments when Juliette allows herself to be vulnerable are swoon-worthy. Their love of the city and the people living in it is admirable as well.
The ending was both surprising and inevitable.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Diamond Keeper
About the Book
The Diamond Keeper by Jeannie Mobley
Genre: Historical
Release Date: Nov. 16, 2021
Book Review
Have you ever seen the Hope Diamond at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.? It’s one of my absolute favorite exhibits. This book seeks to fill in some holes in its story when historians are unsure of its exact location.
This is a grand adventure tale set in revolutionary France, The Crown Jewels of France, including the stone that will become the Hope Diamond, have been stolen, and the king and his family are imprisoned. But the war seems far away from sisters Claudie and Mathilde’s family inn in a tiny village, only entering through tales told by the mail courier, Jacques. But then escaping fugitives and a plotting group called the Legion bring soldiers and destruction to their very doorstep.
This galloping romp brings its characters across war-torn France all the way to the French refugee community in England. Danger lurks around every corner, whether the characters are taking shelter in a burned out village or attending an elegant ball. When they are forced from their village, Claudie and Mathilde must bargain with the enigmatic Rooster, leader of a secret organization called the Legion, to attempt to secure their future.
Claudie is a strong, sympathetic character, and the witty dialogue and electric chemistry between her and The Rooster is a delight. Mathilde is fun as the dramatic flirt who wishes she could be taken seriously every now and again.
I appreciated the historical accuracy of the ending. We all know what happened to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, so the book had to stay true to that. It was fun to speculate on how the Hope Diamond ended up where it did. Don’t skip the author’s note at the end. I found the additional history of the diamond fascinating.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in an exchange for an honest review.
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