Dive right into these amazing YA books for a summer of great reading ahead.
It’s officially summer and luckily for us all there are plenty of amazing YA books to binge on this year!
Taking a cue from The Summer I Turned Pretty, we’re dubbing summer 2023 the ‘The Summer I . . . read a Penguin book'!
Cute, right?
If you’re down for the challenge but aren’t quite sure what to read, scroll on for some of our top picks. We promise you can’t go wrong with any of these fabulous reads!
The summer I . . . fell in love
If you’re hoping to swoon this summer, we recommend you read either Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell or Our Chemical Hearts (or both!).
Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell by Tobias Madden
Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell tells the story of a teenage boy who is in love with his online BFF. When he sees the opportunity to meet him IRL, Noah decides to go for it. Sure, he’ll have to join a local production of Chicago, put up with his slightly-narcissistic mum and even sing in front of people, but love is worth the risk. Right?
Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
Our Chemical Hearts, on the other hand, tells the story of Henry Page – a boy who isn’t looking for love – and the girl who steals his heart. When Grace Town starts at Henry’s school, she changes his world. With her baggy clothes and cane, she’s hardly the dream girl Henry had imagined for himself, but when they start working on the school paper together, sparks fly. Henry is about to find out firsthand just how disastrous first love can be.
The summer I . . . read Jenny Han
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
If you haven’t read Jenny Han yet, then you absolutely must read The Summer I Turned Pretty series this summer! Starting with The Summer I Turned Pretty, the series follows Belly Conklin for three summers at her favourite place in the world: her family friends’ vacation house at Cousins Beach. In just a few summers, Belly’s life will change entirely as she falls in love and finds her way toward adulthood.
The summer I . . . discovered magic
The Blood Traitor (The Prison Healer Book 3) by Lynette Noni
Do your summer aspirations involve a dose of magic? If so, you need to grab a copy of The Blood Traitor. In this final book of The Prison Healer series, Kiva is forced to reckon with the choices she’s made and figure out the best way forward. With plenty of plot twists, tension and the same lovable characters, this book is the perfect ending to the trilogy.
If you haven’t read the other two books yet, it should go without saying that The Prison Healer and The Gilded Cage also deserve a spot on your TBR list.
The summer . . . I solved a mystery
Nothing More to Tell by Karen M. McManus
If you’re a fan of YA crime queen Karen M. McManus, then Nothing More to Tell should absolutely be your next read. Even if you haven’t read any of her books yet, this is the perfect place to start. Though she’s best known for her One of Us is Lying series, Nothing More to Tell is a standalone novel that embodies the same page-turning creepiness that the author is much-loved for.
The summer . . . I inherited a fortune
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Are you looking for a highly-addictive series to dive into? The Inheritance Games trilogy tells the dark and twisty story of one teenage girl who is randomly bequeathed a fortune by a mysterious billionaire . . . but there’s a catch (of course). To get her hands on the money, she must first spend a year living in the deceased man’s mansion with his family who wants nothing much to do with her. With endless puzzles and strange riddles scattered about the home, it’s unclear exactly how far this family will go to keep their fortune.
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