Hello and welcome!
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Young Adult contemporary is definitely one of my favourite genre to read. It’s usually easy and fun to read.
So today I will be listing 10 of my favourite YA contemporaries of all time. Since I recently in the past year just started reading YA most of these books are new books.
There is no particular ranking of these books
1. When Dimple met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
My review
One thing I must point out before I start is how genuinely easy and fun it was to read this book (which is really how I love my contemporaries)
It is about two Indian Americans who meet up at this convention and they had to work together. (which is the briefest of all summaries) Now for the long one, so we have this duo (Dimple and Rishi) whose parents decide to arrange their marriage without their knowledge. Then Rishi decides to get to know Dimple by going to a web convention she is also attending. This is where they first meet and slowly begin to develop feelings for each other.
I believe it’s more about them finding themselves and accepting what they love, and also breaking the supposed Indian stereotypes of just doing what your parents expect of you.
The author’s Indian heritage was just flowing through the whole book and it helped made the story original. I just loved it!!!!!
Rating
I gave this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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2. There’s Something about Sweetie by Sandhya Menon
My review
This one I read 2 days ago and I just want to read it again. This is the companion novel to When Dimple met Rishi
It’s about this girl called Sweetie and a guy called Ashish. So Sweetie is an Indian American plussize athlete who has always struggled with being accepted in the Indian community and also at home. She is the only child and her mother has this view that she can only be happy if she is thin.
Then there is Ashish, star basketball player who is recently heartbroken and has resolved to asking his parents to find him a girlfriend just like they did for his brother Rishi. This is how the two meet and then we go on this rollercoaster of self acceptance and understanding.
There was also an array of characters, we had black characters, sheltered characters, gay characters. It was just amazing to see all this reflected in the book.
As much as the book dealt with a lot of topics, it was also so funny
Rating
I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars
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3. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
My review
I know I can’t stop talking about this book but it’s just so good
So we have Alex who is the son of the president of the United states, then we have the Prince Henry of Wales. They both get into a rumble which leads to them having to placate the public by pretending to be friends.
This leads to them developing feelings for each other and soon they can keep their hands off each other. (I honestly don’t know if I should classify this a YA but here we are)
Saying anymore about this book is spoiling it. You just need to read it to feel the emotional buildup and the hilarity of the characters.
I kind of love the fact that the Author didn’t just label them but we get to see him struggle to define himself(Alex) and that is something more books should have.
Rating
I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars
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4. A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Taherah Mafi
My review
This book really hit me and I could feel the heavy message it carried to my pores.
It focuses on this girl Shirin who is Persian and a hijabi who is attending a new school and has to deal with a lot of the backlash steaming from 9/11 bombing. She was so closed off until she met sweet precious Ocean who she falls in love with and has to break things off with when things start to spin out of control!
But high school being high school, thing began to change when she and her crew won a school dance competition and she became to bright and shiny new thing but as all good things must come to and end, she has to pack up her things again and move with her family!
So much went into this book and I really love it. Mafi writing is just so indepth and amazing that I can’t wait to read her other books
Rating
I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars
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5. Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith
My review
This is one I also read recently and loved.
So this book is about a british guy Hugo whose girlfriend breaks up with him a few weeks before they were to go on a week long train ride across America.
Now he has to figure a way out, so he puts up an ad looking for someone with the same name as his ex-girlfriend.
Across the pond his Mae who is living with her two dads and she is an aspiring filmmaker who has been rejected from her dream film program in the university she wants to attend. She is craving adventure and when she finds out about the ad, she believe one as been placed on her laps.
That’s how the journey of love and adventure begins between the two.
This book did touch on a lot of topics without it being too obvious
Rating
I gave this book a 4.3 out of 5 stars
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6. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
My review
I said it before that angie Thomas has the magic bandit definitely reflects in her writing
This books centres majorly on a girl called Bri who wants to rap and break into the rap scene but of course things aren’t easy because she lives in a society where rappers are viewed to be negative and hoodlummy and it is worse for female rappers as she is looked down on.
I believe this book picks up a little bit after the events of …The hate U give. and we see the repercussions of the riots and movement she has to deal with the loss of her father and her mother who is a recovering drug addict.
The emotions are high and she falls but she finds herself and it’s just the best. This is just so good…. I believe this is one you should pick up because your mind is about to be blown and I won’t be surprised if this gets on the screen. Some say the writing style is so simple and immature but I dont care a lot about writing style, the story itself packs a punch and books aren’t just about grammar and big words, it’s about how it impacts you and this has a huge impact.
Rating
I gave this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars
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7. Eliza and her monsters by Francesca Zappia
My review
Eliza is shy, a little weird and friendless in real life but online she is a bad ass creator of the wildly popular monstrous sea. she enjoys her online life and has no desire to try
In comes new student Wallance who is one of Monstrous sea’s biggest fanfiction writer. He is the one who aids and tries to draw her out of her shell without knowing who she is. She begins to wonder if life offline might also be fascinating
But as one would expect, her secret is exposed and her life begins to fall apart
I really loved this book and the way it dealt with panic and anxiety (note that it does contain very sensitive content on mental health)
Rating
I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars
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8.The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
My review
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
I had always wanted to read this book but could never pick it up but when i picked this up, it stayed in my mind for a long time. i kept thinking about it because it is an almost perfect representation of the police brutality and black oppression in the U.S. it is just a wonderful book
Rating
I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars
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9. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
My review
I am sure almost everyone know this book. Boy is secretly gay, whole school finds out and he is afraid and alone. simple. The problem of homophobia and emotional violence to gay people was expressed in this book. It is a must read for everyone.
Rating
I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars
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10. Ship It by Britta Lundin
My review
A beautiful blend of the fan culture and the representation of the LGBT+ community. It is just a beautiful blend of all the things I love. As a fangirl who write fanfiction, it was a pleasure to see that people out there also ship people as hard as i do.
CLAIRE is a sixteen-year-old fangirl obsessed with the show Demon Heart. FOREST is an actor on Demon Heart who dreams of bigger roles. They both meet at a local Comic-Con panel, it’s a dream come true for Claire. Until the Q&A session when Forest laughs off Claire’s assertion that his character is gay. Everything is a disaster and Claire is called to aid in fixing the problem
Ship It is a funny, tender, and honest look at all the feels that come with being a fan.
A beautiful quick read to get you out of a reading slump
Rating
I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars
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Thanks for reading.
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If you have read any of the books, lets talk about it in the comments.