by Marissa Meyer
The Lunar Chronicles
What a fun series! Meyer does a great job retelling classic fairy tales in an interesting and unique way. Cinderella as a cyborg mechanic? Yes please! The stories are fresh, the characters are intriguing and this is a relevant series in a time when dystopian teen lit is the in thing to be reading. Book 1, Cinder, focus on the Cinderella story, while Book 2, Scarlet, takes the Little Red Riding Hood mythology to new heights. Book 3, Cress, is due in stores early next year and will be taking on the story of Rapunzel. Definitely on my to read list!
by Maggie Stiefvater
The Raven Cycle
When I knew I was going to be seeing Maggie Stiefvater at the Vancouver Writers Fest, I knew that I wanted to read something of hers before hand but the question was, where to start? I decided to have a go at her latest series, The Raven Cycle. Teen bloggers had been showing the first two books in the cycle lots of love and that alone made me want to read these books. I was not disappointed. Stiefvater has some of the most beautiful writing I've seen in quite awhile. Her stories were full of magic, yet still stayed grounded in a contemporary setting. The characters felt real, and, something I often find frustrating with teen novels, actually like teenagers. I was up late into the night reading the first two installments and I eagerly await the next book. I definitely want to check out more books by Stiefvater! I currently have The Scorpio Races and Shiver on my bookshelf.
by Gayle Forman
I blogged earlier this year about my immense love of Just One Day (review here) and I was so very excited to read its sequel / companion novel Just One Year. While Just One Day was Allyson's story, Just One Year is Willem's story. After having read both, I have to say that I think that the first installment was the stronger of the pair, but I couldn't imagine not having both sides to this story. I think that you needed Willem's point of view to flesh out the story and I enjoyed the development of his character. One of the best set of love stories / coming of age tales I've read in sometime.
by Rainbow Rowell
By now you have probably figured out that I'm somewhat obsessed with Rainbow Rowell. Both Fangirl and Attachments were amazing and I had been saving the critically acclaimed Eleanor & Park like a small child saves Halloween candy to make it last. Oh my goodness...this one broke my heart. When I finished the book, I was quite literally surrounded by dozens of tear stained tissues, with mascara running down my cheeks and my perplexed husband asking why I felt the need to read whatever sad thing I was reading right before bed. Chock full of fun 1980's reference (especially music), this is a love story that pulls every heart string. You NEED to read this book. But don't take just my advice, John Green agrees with me too. Read his NYT review here.
