M.A. Nichols
happily ever after starts here
Young Adult
I think it goes without saying that I love young adult books. The first book I ever wrote is YA, after all. But I really do love them. I know I'm an adult, but it doesn't matter. They're fun and light reads that entertain, so what does it matter that they're intended for a high school audience?
And no, it's not because I loved high school. It was hell on earth and an experience that you couldn't pay me enough to relive. I won't even go to my high school reunions. I broke free of that mess years ago and have no interest in going back, thank you very much.
To be honest, it's not so much that I particularly care about the high school politics or the requisite love triangle in these books, but I do like the fact that most of the time, I know I'm getting a clean book. Some may call me a prude, but I like that most YA are fairly clean. I don't care for cursing and really don't like sexual content in my books, so it's nice to have a genre that is fairly safe on both counts. It's not a guarantee, unfortunately, but it's safer than a lot of adult books.
And as this is really more of a reading group than a genre, I'm going to break down these recommendations by genre.
Urban/Contemporary Fantasy
Darkest Powers Series by Kelley Armstrong
Sense Thieves by Corrine Jackson
Shifters and Seers by Tammy Blackwell
Timber Wolves Trilogy by Tammy Blackwell
Warriors of Ankh by Samantha Young
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
See Me by Wendy Higgins
Traditional/Historical Fantasy
The Princesses of Westfalin Trilogy by Jessica Day George
Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede
Shadowmagic Trilogy by John Lenahan
Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Bartimaeus Series by Jonathan Stroud
Sci-Fi
Penryn and the End of Days Series by Susan Ee
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Ultraviolet Duology by R.J. Anderson
The Unwind Series by Neal Shusterman
The Sycthe Series by Neal Shusterman
Drama
The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher