Tag: roundup

We reviewed 32 YA books on the Taller Books blog in 2021! Here’s the roundup – click through to read the full reviews, and use the comments to tell us about your favourite reads from last year.

When The World Was Ours – Liz Kessler
3/5
Inspired by a true story, When the World Was Ours follows three friends from Vienna through the Second World War.
Full review.

Shadow and Bone – Leigh Bardugo
4/5
Shadow and Bone is the first of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse novels, and having read Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom in 2020, I was eager to go back and see how the story began.
Full review.

Siege and Storm – Leigh Bardugo
4/5
The second book in the Shadow and Bone series is full of action, adventure, politics, and magic.
Full review.

Ruin and Rising – Leigh Bardugo
4/5
The third book in the Shadow and Bone trilogy, and an edge-of-your-seat dramatic ending for the series.
Full review.

Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell
4/5
Fangirl surprised me with its addictive fan fiction, realistic relationships, and focus on mental health. Bravo, Rainbow Rowell!
Full review.

Tales From The Hinterland – Melissa Albert
4/5
The book of dark, twisty new fairytales collected by Althea Proserpine in The Hazel Wood. In this not-quite-sequel to The Hazel Wood and The Night Country, we meet the stories on their home territory for the first time.
Full review.

The White Darkness – Geraldine McCaughrean
5/5
A wonderful, magical story told by a down-to-earth narrator with a useful secret …
Full review.

A Vow So Bold And Deadly – Brigid Kemmerer
4/5
The final book in the Cursebreakers series. I liked the first book, I loved the second book. Did the third measure up?
Full review.

The Cost Of Knowing – Brittney Morris
3/5
An original take on brotherhood, Black Lives Matter, black history and heritage, and the cost of surviving traumatic experiences.
Full review.

A Snowfall of Silver – Laura Wood
5/5
The gorgeous sequel to A Sky Painted Gold – I loved every word.
Full review.

I Know When You’re Going To Die – Michael J Bowler
4/5
A gripping YA thriller from Wishing Shelf Award finalist Michael J Bowler. What would you do if you could see when your best friend will die?
Full review.

Concrete Rose – Angie Thomas
4/5
The stereotype-busting prequel to The Hate U Give brings an engaging glimpse into the backstory of one of my favourite characters.
Full review.

Vulture (Isles of Storm and Sorrow #3) – Bex Hogan
4/5
The breathtaking finale of the Isles of Storm and Sorrow series – prepare for an intense and heartbreaking read …
Full review.

How the King of Elfhame Came to Hate Stories – Holly Black and Rovina Cai
4/5
A gorgeous book of stories in the Folk of the Air series, beautifully illustrated by Rovina Cai. There’s something magical about an illustrated book, and this one casts an intriguing spell.
Full review.

An Abundance of Katherines – John Green
5/5
I love John Green’s writing, and An Abundance of Katherines has everything – a geeky narrator, an engaging cast, and a quirky plot. Oh – and mathematical models, equations and graphs!
Full review.

Eve Of Man – Giovanna and Tom Fletcher
3/5
A YA dystopia with an interesting premise – what if you were the last girl on Earth?  
Full review.

Wonderland – Juno Dawson
4/5
A missing friend, a mysterious invitation – what happens when Alice finds herself at London’s most exclusive party?
Full review.

Good Girl, Bad Blood – Holly Jackson
4/5
Schoolgirl detective Pip Fitz-Amobi is back, with new podcast episodes and a new investigation.
Full review.

Loki: Where Mischief Lies – Mackenzi Lee
4/5
Who was Loki before he became the character we know (and love!) from the Marvel Avengers films? What were his formative experiences? Mackenzi Lee gets to play with the family dynamics of a younger Loki, Thor, Frigga, and Odin in Where Mischief Lies, and it is evident that she is having a lot of fun in the process!
Full review.

Seafire – Natalie C Parker
5/5
How has it taken me so long to find this book? Pirates, rebels, sea battles and survival with an awesome all-female crew – I absolutely loved it. And just look at that gorgeous cover!
Full review.

Steel Tide – Natalie C Parker
5/5
Book Two of the Seafire trilogy: more pirates, more sea battles, and even higher stakes for the awesome all-female crew!
Full review.

Burn – Patrick Ness
5/5
Burn brings together dragons, prophecies, and assassins in 1950s America, and I loved it!
Full review.

The Upper World – Femi Fadugba
3/5
Time travel, maths, physics, football, and trying not to be expelled from school …
Full review.

Bearmouth – Liz Hyder
4/5
Identity, friendship, danger and rebellion in the dark.
Full review.

As Good As Dead – Holly Jackson
5/5
The final book in Holly Jackson’s Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy is definitely the best. Stalkers, serial killers, local suspects – and the brilliant Pip Fitz-Amobi investigating one final case before she heads to university. I couldn’t put it down!
Full review.

Dumplin’ – Julie Murphy
5/5
The story of plus-sized Willowdean, her former beauty-queen mother, and the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet beauty pageant. There’s friendship, romance, body positivity, doubt, failure, triumph, adventures in high heels, and a whole lot of feel-good Dolly Parton!
Full review.

Jade Fire Gold – June C. L. Tan
4/5
An exciting adventure story set in a fantasy world inspired by Chinese history, myths, and legends.
Full review.

Uglies – Scott Westerfield
4/5
An engaging YA dystopian adventure that takes a sideways look at what it means to grow up.
Full review.

Pretties – Scott Westerfield
4/5
The second book in Scott Westerfield’s Uglies series continues the YA dystopian adventure that takes a sideways look at what it means to grow up.
Full review.

Archivist Wasp – Nicole Kornher-Stace
5/5
A gripping friendship-based adventure story – I loved every page.
Full review.

Believe Me – Tahereh Mafi
4/5
The final book in Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me series is sexy, romantic, dystopian, and utterly addictive – and just look at that cover!
Full review.

The Supreme Lie – Geraldine McCaughrean
5/5
A serious, quirky, what-would-you-do story about a girl, an impossible situation, and a catastrophic flood. Unique, gripping, wonderful.
Full review.

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What did you read last year? What would you recommend to other readers of YA? Use the comments to tell us about your five-star 2021 books!

We reviewed 38 YA and mid-grade books on the Taller Books blog in 2020! Here’s the roundup – click through to read the full reviews, and use the comments to tell us about your favourite reads from last year.

Sentinel – Joshua Winning
4/5
The blurb on the back of Book One of the Sentinel Trilogy promises ‘unconventional heroes, monsters, murder and magic’, and the story doesn’t disappoint.
Full review.

With the Fire on High – Elizabeth Acevedo
4/5
Seventeen-year-old Emoni juggles school and work with taking care of her two-year-old daughter, and while she doesn’t feel supported by the father of her child or his family, she has her grandmother on her side. Emoni’s passion is cooking, and she dreams of being a chef.
Full review.

Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo
4/5
Six outcasts, a lot of money, and a dangerous plan come together in Leigh Bardugo’s thrilling fantasy heist story.
Full review.

Crooked Kingdom – Leigh Bardugo
5/5
With the second book in the ‘Six of Crows’ Duology, we’re back in Ketterdam for the fallout from the events of Book One.  
Full review.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky – Mackenzi Lee
5/5
Short, sweet, and really rather lovely, this is the continuation of the story of Monty and Percy, which begins in The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue.
Full review.

This Vicious Cure – Emily Suvada
4/5
The final book in the ‘Mortal Coil’ trilogy. The action is back, the stakes are higher, and there’s a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter. Emily Suvada brings us another breathless page-turner to conclude her innovative dystopian trilogy.
Full review.

Night Swimming – MT McGuire
4/5
A short, mailing-list-exclusive introduction to the K’Barth stories by MT McGuire. Short enough to read in one sitting, but detailed enough to introduce the central character, the setting, and the humour of the series.
Full review.

Foul is Fair – Hannah Capin
4/5
A revenge thriller for the #MeToo generation, this book is uncompromising. From the calculating actions of the abusers to the absolute destruction dealt out by the central character and her loyal friends, the plot is unwavering in its drive for payback and revenge.
Full review.

The Lady’s guide to Petticoats and Piracy – Mackenzi Lee
5/5
At last – the sequel to The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue! Monty and Percy are back, but this time the narrator is Monty’s sister, Felicity.
Full review.

Rose, Interrupted – Patrice Lawrence
5/5
Seventeen-year-old Rose is not at home in London. She’s used to the unbending, patriarchal rules of her tight-knit religious community, but when her family is excluded from the sect, she has to figure out the new rules by herself.
Full review.

Viper – Bex Hogan
5/5
I know I have a soft spot for pirate stories, seafaring tales, and strong female protagonists, and ‘Viper’ brings all these things together with some vividly described settings and plenty of action.
Full review.

Erinsmore – Julia Blake
5/5
A Narnia-inspired Portal Fantasy, ‘Erinsmore’ follows two sisters as they unwittingly cross into the land of Erinsmore on their way home from a family holiday in Cornwall. Arthurian legends and modern-day teenagers clash as the sisters uncover the history of the world they stumbled into – and the one they left behind.  
Full review.

A Heart So Fierce and Broken – Brigid Kemmerer
4/5
I enjoyed A Curse So Dark and Lonely, the first book in the Cursebreakers trilogy, but I loved A Heart So Fierce and Broken. This is the middle book of a trilogy – a notoriously difficult book to write – and it is more compelling, more interesting, and less predictable than the first.
Full review.

Internment – Samira Ahmed
4/5
Layla is a typical American teenager, sneaking out of the house to meet her boyfriend, and finding time to complete her homework. But Layla is a Muslim, and in her America, the President didn’t stop at banning people from certain Muslim-majority countries from entering the USA. Layla’s life is turned upside down when she and her parents are given ten minutes to pack and leave their home, and taken to an internment camp with other Muslim Americans.
Full review.

Venom – Bex Hogan
4/5
Marianne, the Viper, is married to Prince Torin, but after the wedding, nothing goes according to plan. Marianne finds herself on the run, finding enemies she didn’t know she had, and discovering which of her friends she can trust.
Full review.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder – Holly Jackson
4/5
An exciting murder mystery story, and a fun read. The clues are in the text, but as each piece of evidence is revealed, the list of suspects keeps growing.  
Full review.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – Suzanne Collins
5/5
A new Hunger Games book was always going to be high on my list, and I pre-ordered this from Waterstones to make sure I had it on publication day! Definitely worth a read – but make sure you’ve read the Hunger Games trilogy first.
Full review.

The Short Knife – Elen Caldicott
4/5
Britain has been deserted by the Roman Empire, and invaded by Saxons. Mai’s father tells stories about the Roman soldiers who kept the British people safe, and about the towns they left behind, but Mai’s world is different. There is danger in the towns, and danger from the Saxon invaders. Mai learns the power of the invaders when an encounter with three Saxon men changes her life, and the lives of her family, forever.
Full review.

We Are Not Yet Equal – Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden (Non-fiction)
5/5
The YA adaptation of White Rage by Carol Anderson, We Are Not Yet Equal takes Anderson’s interpretation of the causes of systemic racism in the USA and makes it accessible to a teenage audience – and to anyone who has not taken an American high-school history class.
Full review.

Restore Me – Tahereh Mafi
4/5
The first book of the second trilogy in the Shatter Me series only covers a few days of action, but – wow – it’s an intense few days! The Shatter Me series is an addictive literary drug, and this book doesn’t disappoint.
Full review.

Defy Me – Tahereh Mafi
4/5
I was pleased to discover that the sequel to Restore Me picks up the story from the final scene of the previous book, and introduces Juliette’s best friend Kenji as a third narrator. The three viewpoints allow the complexities of the plot to be explored while the characters are in different locations, piecing together different parts of a conspiracy that threatens to tear Juliette and Warner apart.
Full review.

Imagine Me – Tahereh Mafi
3/5
The final book in the Shatter Me series is fast paced and action packed, as expected. The narration is split between Juliette and Kenji, which allows different characters to follow different paths through the story, and again gives the reader an outsider’s view of Juliette and Warner.
Full review.

Unite Me – Tahereh Mafi
3/5
This is a tiny, expensive paperback featuring two short stories that link to the first three books of the Shatter Me series, along with the contents of Juliette’s journal.
Full review.

Find Me – Tahereh Mafi
4/5
Another tiny, expensive paperback with two short stories linked to the Shatter Me series – this time from Kenji’s point of view.
Full review.

The Black Flamingo – Dean Atta
5/5
This is a beautiful book. Yes, it has a gorgeous cover and lovely illustrations – but the beauty is in the language, the characters, and the story.
Full review.

Vicious Rumer – Joshua Winning
4/5
This book should probably come with a violence warning – it begins with a torture scene, narrated by the person doing the torturing, and it’s an amazing setup for an uncompromising story and a fascinating character. I was hooked from the first line.
Full review.

Camp – L.C. Rosen
4/5
The second YA novel from the author of Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) is another sex-positive story of LBGTQ teens as they negotiate life, love, and sex for the first time. It’s an inspiring story with an important message about tolerance and expression – for LBGTQ teens, and for everyone else.
Full review.

Everless – Sara Holland
4/5
In Sempera, time is magically bound to the blood of every person, and payment is made in the form of blood iron – days, hours, and years. The rich amass centuries of life while the poor struggle to survive, bleeding themselves to pay for rent and food.
Full review.

How It All Blew Up – Arvin Ahmadi
4/5
A clever take on a coming-out story, How It All Blew Up follows eighteen-year-old Amir as he comes to terms with his sexuality, and wonders how to tell his Iranian-American Muslim family that he’s gay.
Full review.

The Secret Commonwealth – Philip Pullman
4/5
It’s a while since I listened to the audiobook of La Belle Sauvage, and I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Secret Commonwealth. The ending of La Belle Sauvage tied in neatly with the beginning of Northern Lights, and The Secret Commonwealth picks up Lyra’s story after the His Dark Materials trilogy.
Full review.

The Poet X – Elizabeth Acevedo
4/5
This is a powerful book about finding your voice in a world that wants you to be quiet, and finding your path in a family that expects you obey and conform.
Full review.

Full Disclosure – Camryn Garrett
3/5
This quiet story of a boy, a girl, and her HIV caught my eye because it offered a positive view of living with the virus.
Full review.

Harrow Lake – Kat Ellis
3/5
I don’t normally read horror, by when I read the first couple of chapters of ‘Harrow Lake’ in the 2019 Penguin Box Set YA sampler, I was hooked. There’s a great twist at the end of the book, and a punch-the-air moment as the story comes together – but it’s not quite enough to give a satisfying conclusion to Lola’s experiences.
Full review.

The Night Country – Melissa Albert
4/5
I read The Hazel Wood in 2018, so I’ve been waiting a while to read the sequel. The Night Country drops the stories from The Hazel Wood, with their magical powers and repeated trauma, into present-day New York. This is a very effective sequel to a highly unusual book, and I’m very glad I picked it up.
Full review.

Holes – Louis Sachar  
4/5
This is one of those books I’ve been meaning to read forever, and I’m glad I did. It’s a fun book, cleverly written, with an offbeat and playful feel.
Full review.

Deeplight – Francis Hardinge
4/5
Fourteen-year-old orphans Hark and Jelt scrape a living on the streets of Lady’s Crave, one of the islands of The Myriad. Life on the islands used to be dominated by the gods – giant sea monsters who swallowed ships and fought each other in the surrounding waters. But the gods are dead, and their bodies yield powers beyond the imaginations of the islanders.
Full review.

Darkness, Be My Friend – John Marsden
5/5
Book Four in the Tomorrow series continues the story of seventeen-year-old Ellie and her friends as they strike back against a foreign invasion of Australia. This time they have help from the New Zealand army, but they quickly learn that their new friends can’t guarantee their success, or their safety.
Full review.

Black Ice – Julia Blake
5/5
Buckle up – this one’s a wild ride! Think you know the story of Snow White? Think again. This is a fairytale with a difference: kick-ass female leads, dark family secrets, evil plots, a dose of magic, a sprinkling of romance, fabulous parties – and epic airship battles. Hold on to your corsets and goggles, and prepare to fight for House White!
Full review.

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What did you read last year? What would you recommend to other readers of YA? Use the comments to tell us about your five-star 2020 books!