YA

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

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Started: 2/14/20
Gave up: 3/9/20

I really liked that other Holly Black trilogy, so I picked this book up from the library.  I couldn’t find time to start reading the physical copy, so I borrowed the audiobook a few days later and listened to it in the car…for as long as I could.  Teenagers and vampires and the angst that goes with a centuries-old vampire who finds something deep and unique and irresistible and different and blah blah blah about a 17-year-old girl and I cannot count the ways in which I do not care.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

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Started: 2/26/20
Finished: 3/4/20

Third book in The Raven Cycle (witches, psychics, magic, prep school boys, etc.), and it’s a really good continuation of the story.  We get more forward movement, more characterization, more good storytelling, AND it has teenagers being teenager-y and grown-up and all over the place in what feels real, despite the magic.  I am waiting impatiently for the 4th book to be available from the library.

Nyxia Unleashed by Scott Reintgen

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Started: 2/18/20
Finished: 2/26/20

Second book in the Nyxia trilogy, and while I still enjoyed it, I have some major problems with the aliens.  I mean, they’re fine, but they’re written as humans on another planet – hardly any differences, barely even cultural ones.  Doesn’t feel well thought out.

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

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Started: 2/14/20
Finished: 2/18/20

Second book in the trilogy with psychics, witches, magic, ghosts, and prep school boys, and it started with a swerve that took me by surprise in a very good way, and I liked this book a LOT.  Also, turns out it’s not a trilogy, it’s a…tetralogy?

Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

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Started: 2/2/20
Finished: 2/7/20

I picked this one up from the library after a Tor.com post about science fiction that provides hope for humanity.  It’s the first in a trilogy, and I liked it.  I don’t know if it’s officially YA, but the focus is on a bunch of teenagers, and aside from a few kind parents and parent-figures, the adults are Evil-with-a-capital-E.  So, yeah, it’s YA.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

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Started: 1/4/20
Finished: 1/10/20

I’ve read (and liked) one other fairy story by Holly Black, and she’s a guest of honor at a convention we’re going to, so I figured I’d read more of her stuff.  This is the first in a trilogy, also about the Fae (you can’t just call them fairies when they’re trying to kill you).  It starts off DARK (bad stuff happens to some kids under 10 before they get packed off to live in Faerie), and then we jump ahead ten years and follow them as teenagers.

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

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Started: 12/14/19
Finished: 12/16/19

First in a series a girl who wants to be a knight.  I would have eaten this up if I’d found it when I was 10 (it was published in 1983).  I enjoyed the first book (and I’ll keep reading), but I’m having a little bit of a hard time believing that this 10-year-old girl would talk the way she does, have the power (magical) that she does, know all these things, be able to do all this stuff, etc.  She makes it to age 14 or so by the end of the book, so hopefully her ability to master EVERYTHING will get a little easier to swallow as she gets older.

Invictus by Ryan Graudin

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Started: 11/3/19
Gave up: 11/10/19

Young adult, time travel, heist/mystery.  At around 50%, I’m not sure I’m going to finish it.  I’m intrigued by the complication that arose around a quarter of the way in that has not been explained yet, but a) I feel like I can live without knowing what’s going on, and b) I’m not convinced it’s going to be explained in this book.  Is this part of a series?  I should find out.

I gave up at 70%.  That’s when they explained exactly how they were going solve their problem.  I’m sure it won’t go exactly as planned, but that’s close enough for me to know how it ends, and I put it down.  Meh.  Also, not part of a series.

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

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Started: 10/9/19
Gave up: 10/12/19

In my calendar, I wrote that I put this book “on hold”, but who are we kidding?  I gave up.  I liked the idea of it – the protagonist is the daughter of a pirate captain who, with her help, can navigate to any place, real or imaginary, in any time, as long as the map is well-drawn and the mapmaker believed in it.  That’s a cool idea.  The issue I had was with the writing.  The author kept talking about maps, but ships use charts.  I can ignore the use of walls instead of bulkheads and floors instead of decks and doors instead of hatches, but for some reason, despite my near-total memory loss of everything I learned in the Navy, I can’t get past saying maps instead of charts.

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman

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Started: 9/14/19
Finished: 9/23/19

This is billed as a companion book to Seraphina (which I liked a lot), but it really is a sequel, and it’s just as good, if occasionally a little weirder, than the first one.  Although it is a little hard to remember that the main character is supposed to only be about 17 or 18.  She’s written older than that, I think, but as long as I didn’t focus on that, I was fine.

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe

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Started: 4/18/19
Finished: 4/19/19

This is a movie waiting to happen, and I’d happily watch it.  It’s the story of a lonely, sarcastic, black French Canadian teenager transplanted to Austin, Texas in the middle of high school. In some ways it’s predictable, in other ways it isn’t, and I flew through it.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

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Started: 4/6/19
Finished: 4/7/19

The writing in this book was painful, but also felt painfully real and accurate for a coming of age/coming out story told from the perspective of a teenager.  I have diaries from around then (a little younger, but still), and MAN are they painful to read now in exactly the same way.  I got over the wincing discomfort and enjoyed this one.

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

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Started: 1/13/19
Finished: 1/14/19

The Goblin King in this book is SO very David Bowie, which is great.  I think the characterization of the main character shifts halfway through, and not for the better.  Her motivations aren’t consistent, and she gets all worked up about things that could be resolved if she would just TALK to the guy.  Same goes for him, of course.  On the other hand, she’s a teenager, and she’s acting like a teenager, so maybe I should be praising the author for her realism instead.