YA recommendations for the uninitiated

[Vaz]

First, you have to read that title in the voice of Bane.

Second, could you fine folks recommend me some YA fiction you really like. I want to start getting into it more so where should I start?

Personally I'm looking for some Grimdark stuff, some decent urban Fantasy and a pinch if sci-fi.

Cheers

v

 

[Hex]

Well, I'm glad you asked...

I'm not so good on the Grimdark, though you might have a look at Finnikin of the Rock (Melina Marchetta) and the rest of that series -- they're fantasy and they're pretty dark, and absolutely brilliant. They get even better as they go on, too.

I really enjoyed Skinned by Robin Wasserman, and Unwind by Neal Shusterman, both of which are kind of dystopian science fiction horror type things.

Urban fantasy: Holly Black's Curseworker's trilogy is fabulous (the first one is The White Cat), and so is Sarah Rees Brennan's Demon's Lexicon trilogy.

Finally, anything by Diana Wynne Jones. I find her hard to fit into categories, but she has some YA books, including Hexwood and Fire and Hemlock.

 

[Vaz]

Thank you Hex.

I'm excited to start reading. Have placed an order now the hard part begins.

Waiting for the Postman.

v

 

[Hex]

I really hope you enjoy them. There are many other amazing YA books, but I didn't know what your tolerance was for romance (or vampires...)

 

[Juliana]

Pierce Brown's Red Rising trilogy is fabulous for SF; it's also pretty violent so should fit your Grimdark request. And for dark fantasy, one of the best books I read last year – YA or otherwise – was Peadar ó Guilin's The Call. A great urban fantasy which is pretty gritty is Tom Pollock's Skyscraper Throne trilogy, starting with The City's Son.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I'm partial to Colfer's Artemis Fowl books -- I think that would classify as urban fantasy. Start at the beginning.

And I second The Call. Fantastic.

 

[NannyOgg]

Don't know about grimdark, but for urban fantasy I love Diane Duane's 'Young Wizards' series (first book is 'So You Want To Be A Wizard'), and if you want SF then I think Heinlein's 'Have Space Suit - Will Travel' is one of his all-time greats and 'Farmer In The Sky' and 'Tunnel In The Sky' also hold up well. (The last three are pretty dated, so there's a definite 'What did he get wrong?' element, in particular in 'Have Space Suit', in which humans have a colony on the Moon but are still routinely using slide rules and looking up their cube roots in tables. But good storytelling is timeless, and that is good storytelling.)

 

[Null_Zone]

Charlie Higson's The Enemy series.

Traditional disaster wipes out everyone over 14(?) To the day, with the dead becoming zombies.

Very well written, despite the geography based on tube maps - Tower of London to St Paul's is hopping distance.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I'all 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th The Call. It is fab. Peadar is one of the nicest people you can meet (and a huge support to others) and this book should be read by many people.

 

[Montero]

Garth Nix's Old Kingdom books - not grim dark as such, but are battling against dark powers and having a difficult time. Fantasy but in a world with a mix of magic and technology.

 

[Vaz]

Hey, thanks for all the recs, folks. I've added them to my to be read mountain!

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Sally Gardner, Coriander
Ann Halam, Siberia
Nick Gifford, Flesh & Blood
Nick Gifford, Piggies
Frances Hardinge, The Lie Tree

 

[theliterarybug]

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

 

[Juliana]

Six of Crows

Picking this one up today - have heard lots of great things!

 

[picklematrix]

Just started reading six of crows. Shaping up nicely so far.

 

[Juliana]

I loved Six of Crows! And the sequel Crooked Kingdom is great, too.

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

Oh goodness, where do I even start! S.E. Grove's Mapmaker's Trilogy is excellent! Along with Traci Chee's Sea of Ink and Gold series; Stephanie Garber's Caraval and Legendary (book 3 due out sometime this May I think); Claudia Gray's Firebird Trilogy; Cornelia Funke's Inkworld Trilogy; and I could keep going but then this post would get far too large to read (especially when you consider that my personal 'too read' list on Goodreads is over 2,000 books).

 

[Anthoney]

The Pillars of Reality series by Jack Campbell. The series starts with The Dragons of Dorcastle. There are 6 books in all. I probably read between 10 and 20 YA books a year. This is my favorite YA series to come along in many years.

 

[Juliana]

Claudia Gray's Firebird Trilogy

In loved this trilogy!! The whole multiverse storyline was fantastic.

I just read Holly Black's The Cruel Prince, which I devoured in a day. So good!

 

[Ray Zdybrow]

Looking at this thread cos I was musing about YA...
"Be More Chill" by Ned Vizzini.
There is a musical based on this book which I missed when it was staged in London (gutted).
Also, "Ready Player One", a very
well-known book by Ernest Kline, is a real page turner, if mildly annoying.
It's five years since the previous post so any YAs here will now be... just As