Posted in #yearofya (http://bit.ly/yearofya

Loving YA Series Fiction

 

BJ Neary (9/27/16)

Retired HS Librarian – Abington Senior High, Abington, PA

bjneary@comcast.net

http://nearynotes.blogspot.com/

 

I am so happy that my book-loving librarian friends, Mollee and Tavia, founders of #yearofya, the virtual Twitter book chat that I so look forward to and participate in monthly, asked me to be a guest blogger!  As I began to think about what I most ENJOY RIGHT NOW in YA literature and looked at my Goodreads bookshelves, I realized I have been totally hooked on YA SERIES fiction for years now and wanted to share (1) my CURRENT favorites, (2) series books not to be missed, (3) amazing audiobook series and (4) NEW series I am SO looking forward to jumping into (I want your recommendations too!)

 

What I relish in any series is that they can be any genre; authors build believable and fantastical worlds and craft strong, authentic characters that readers can relate to and cannot wait to explore and enjoy in more than one book. To satisfy my cravings for the next sizzling series sequel, I preorder the next book in the series either for my Kindle, order hard copy from Amazon or for my listening pleasure on Audible.  Afterward, I excitedly look forward to discussing the sequels and series with my friends.  Since I curate Young Adult Novels on Scoop.it, I cannot wait to read reviews from bloggers and other publications like SLJ and Booklist for their recommendations concerning these new releases.

 

How do I keep track of all the series?  I use Goodreads and I just love free FictFact because there are several ways to find your favorite series: Browse by Series, Browse by Author, Popular Series Overall, Most Popular by Genre, Book Release Calendar (love this) and Search…could not be any easier!

 

(1)  MY CURRENT faves (linked to my reviews on Goodreads)

 

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas                An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

And I Darken by Kiersten White                     The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Andieh

The Raven King by Maggie Steifvater           Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski          The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer       The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey

 

(2)  Series not to be missed - (my oldies but goodies)

 

Over the years, my students and I enjoyed discussing and sharing series.  Therefore, I am providing even more series (Animoto video) since I was a high school librarian for ten years. Retired for 4 years, I still ravenously read YA series and am always anxiously waiting for the next new title!  When I was a high school librarian, I did not get around to reading as many series as I would have liked, since librarians are also performing multifaceted jobs (you know what I mean.)  By the time I was able to read series such as, Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi and Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, the whole series was finished!  I just gobbled all three books in the trilogy (one over Christmas break and the other over summer), loved them, of course, and it was heaven!

 

 

 

 

(3)  Amazing audiobooks series

 

A Court of Thorns and Roses Series	Sarah J. Maas
The Selection Series	Kiera Cass
Daughter of Smoke & Bone Series	Laini Taylor
Half Bad Series	Sally Green

 

(4)  New Series I Want to READ - you can’t read every single series that comes out, but this Animoto video shows a few I WANT to read but have not gotten to yet.  But, oh how I do want to jump into them!

 

Nerd Alert! I just received Crooked Kingdom, Six of Crows, Book 2 by Leigh Bardugo on my Kindle, so I will begin reading this heist thriller immediately!

 

Additional Series Books Links

YA Series Adults Will Enjoy    

Essential YA Series Reads

Underrated Series That Need More Love

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dan John Miller's narration of Ezra Faulkner was perfect and his other voice of Cassidy was awesome (I liked her but did not love her) and his other voices of his friends and parents were good. After Ezra Faulkner is hit and forever taken from his beloved game of tennis when he returns to school, his life is not the same. Now he sits at lunch with his boyhood friend that he lost touch with, becomes involved with the debate team and meets Cassidy Thorpe. As he falls for her, he becomes a much nicer person more aware of the jerk he had been throughout high school. With high hopes for Homecoming with Cassidy, it all comes apart, and Ezra is left bereft and questioning why, why, why? I was not happy with this book's ending but I was not surprised. I found Ezra a strong believable protagonist and wished Cassidy was too.





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Crooked Kingdom, Sequel to Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh wow, what a great great book! I did not know Crooked Kingdom was a sequel so there will be no more Kaz Brekker adventures and that makes me truly sad. But I could not put this book down, as Six of Crows ends, Inej was captured by Van Eck and Kaz and his band of merry thieves all band together to rescue her. I love Bardugo’s schemes, her worlds, her characters, and this book did not disappoint! Inej is still the wonderful Wraith who has a conscience and Kaz’s back and possibly his love? Kaz evolves in this book, but how much can he really change when he can’t get past his brother’s drowning, swimming and touching his bloated dead body? The expanding relationship with Matthias and Nina gave me some Grisha/Fjerdan hope and romance, Wyland and Jesper continue their friendship and alliances (where will that take them?), and Kuwei Bul and Colm are welcome additions to Brekker’s crew as he schemes his way to revenge, money, and salvation; and the hateful characters like Rollins, Jan Van Eck and Per Haskell just get more and more nasty and wily, filled with never ending fights, lies and revenge. I fell in love with this plot, these characters, their worlds and want to read more and more about them. For a sweeping story, and elaborate machinations! Will Nina kick the parem that became her obsession and will her Grisha power return? Will Jesper still be hooked on gambling and getting himself and his friends in trouble? Just READ this book; you will lose yourself in their worlds, their loves, their insecurities and their daring do. Highly recommended!

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Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reagan O'Neill is a bad girl who has just been cheated on by her loser boyfriend so she decides to follow her best friend and singer Lilah Montgomery across the country. What I liked about Reagan is that she is hard core and has a brittle front that puts most people off. It is Matt Finch, who joins the tour to pose as Lilah's boyfriend, who figures out Reagan is like him in many ways. This was narrated PERFECTLY by Rebecca Gibbel! She had the right voices for Matt, Lilah, Reagan and others. I enjoyed listening because the narrator got the pitch and tone right. What will happen to bad girl Reagan as good guy Matt begins to strike a chord in her heart?

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Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this crushingly sad middle grade book for a Twitter book chat with #yabookchat Sunday 10/2 at 9PM. I loved the writing of Lauren Wolk as she described Annabelle's world which takes place in a small Pennsylvania town after WWII. Annabelle's is a normal 12 year old but when bully Betty Glengarry moves in, Annabelle is afraid and lying to her family. She gets the gumption from deep within to stand up to Betty, but what Betty decides to do is strike at a war veteran who is Annabelle's friend. I read this book with a heavy heart, and hated the attitudes and ideas that were prevalent at that time, and only served to further Betty's evil intent. Readers will be rocked by this searing book. A must read.

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Mortal Danger (#1) by Ann Aguirre

Mortal Danger by Ann Aguirre
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There was so much I did not like about this book. This was an audiobook I listened to narrated by Susan Hanfield. She did a good job with Edie but as the male character, Kian- his personality/voice came across as forced monotone the whole book (even when he is in love with Edie). The book is about Edie being bullied and as she readies to jump off a bridge, she makes a deal with her rescuer, Kian (but it is really a deal with the devil) and since the story line was not fluid, therefore when the supernatural aspects begin to show, it was just not believable. I did not like how Edie was supposedly so smart so they whole time she is figuring things out, it seemed forced.
Also at the end, the Author's Note was really good about bullying but I wish it had been at the beginning, it might have made a difference...but I am not sure. Not sure I will continue with this series.







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Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai

Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved Thanhha Lai's, Inside Out & Back Again so I knew I would love this book about a perky totally Americanized girl (Vietnamese-American), age 12, who must leave the comfort of her home in Southern California for a summer in Vietnam with her father and grandmother to find out where her MIA grandfather is or any information about what happened to him in the Vietnam War. Mai's (Mia) voice is so authentic- she is funny, angry, honest, insufferable and just so much fun! I enjoyed her drama, her life, her friends at home & in Vietnam, and she taught me so much about the Vietnam War, the food, flowers, & scenery in Vietnam! Her text messages & phone calls with her mother who stays home are funny, irreverent & as time goes on every understanding. I loved the families in both places, their hopes, dreams, and culture. Highly recommended read for young and old alike!

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