Favourite Young Adult Books #Birthdaybloghop

1. Turtles All The Way Down

Blurb (as on goodreads)

It all begins with a fugitive billionaire and the promise of a cash reward. Turtles All the Way Down is about lifelong friendship, the intimacy of an unexpected reunion, Star Wars fan fiction, and tuatara. But at its heart is Aza Holmes, a young woman navigating daily existence within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

In his long-awaited return, John Green shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity. 

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I can’t even count how many times I’ve said this but I LOVE this book. This was one of my first young adult books that I have read and it made me explore more of Young Adult genre and John Green’s books. I cried reading this book so much. The relationships, friendships have been displayed BEAUTIFULLY. The representation of mental illness made me love this book even more.The protagonist Aza Holmes suffered from OCD. She had her thought spiral she couldn’t escape from.

We always say that we are beneath the stars. We aren’t, of course- there is no up or down, and anyway the stars surround us.But we say we are beneath them, which is nice. So often English glorifies the human– we are whos, other animals are that– but English puts us beneath stars, at least.

John Green, Turtles All The Way Down

It is way better that “Turtles All The Way Down” honestly. The book disappointed me because of all the hype it received. The characters could have been built way better than they were. The book could have been more humorous, the dialogues seemed too logical. It felt like characters could be named John Green 1 and John Green 2.

2. Five Feet Apart

Blurb (as on goodreads)

In this moving story two teens fall in love with just one minor complication—they can’t get within five feet of each other without risking their lives.

Can you love someone you can never touch?

Stella Grant likes to be in control—even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions.

The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn’t care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he’ll turn eighteen and then he’ll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals.

Will’s exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella she could lose her spot on the transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn’t feel like safety. It feels like punishment.

What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too? 

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Another sick lit. I recently read this book a while ago and instead of it being a sick lit, I loved it. It describes the feelings of protagonist SO BEAUTIFULLY. The severity of the disease was displayed well.

He’s sick, but alive. We both are.

Rachel Lippincott, Five Feet Apart

The language was easy and kept me glued to the ending. I LOVED the ending. It was beautiful. I will write the full review of this book soon!

3. From Twinkle, With Love

Blurb (as on goodreaads)

An aspiring teen filmmaker finds her voice and falls in love in this delightful romantic comedy from the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi.

Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy-a.k.a. Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2.

When mystery man N begins emailing her, Twinkle is sure it’s Neil, finally ready to begin their happily-ever-after. The only slightly inconvenient problem is that, in the course of movie-making, she’s fallen madly in love with the irresistibly adorkable Sahil.

Twinkle soon realizes that resistance is futile: The romance she’s got is not the one she’s scripted. But will it be enough?

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Told through the letters Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmmakers, From Twinkle, with Love navigates big truths about friendship, family, and the unexpected places love can find you. 

This book is a fluffy, contemporary , high school romance. An easy read. It has friendships, relationships, crushes and discovered every aspect of being a high school kid. It’s so wholesome! A cute little read to get out of reading slump.

Here’s the full review: https://avniijain.wordpress.com/2019/06/07/from-twinkle-with-love-by-sandhya-menon-book-review/

“Our best friends, the ones we love the most, are the ones who can hurt us the most. Because look.” She pointed down to the powders. “We have had so many interactions with them, deep, meaningful interactions, that we cannot separate their pieces from ours. And if we try, we would only be getting rid of some of the best parts of ourselves.”

Sandhya Menon, From Twinkle With Love

4. Thirteen Reasons Why

Blurb (as on goodreads)

You can’t stop the future,

You can’t rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play.

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker–his classmate and crush–who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.

Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah’s pain, and as he follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever

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This book had be in the list. The book is heart wrenching and un-put-downable. It’s storyline keeps the reader intrigued till the end. But I wished they talked about mental health and depression more. It talked about hardships, suicide, rape but didn’t talk about depression which disappointed me a little. I don’t really agree with the way protagonist blames others for her death or how this triggers people but the storyline was interesting and made it a great read but I won’t recommend this book to people who are going through depression or are having suicidal thoughts.

5. 19 Till I Die

Blurb (as on goodreads)

For Zaid from Durban, it was heartbreak. For Fiona, who loves New Delhi, it had always been a dream. Rachna needs this chance to step out of Australia and her comfort zone. Tia from Mumbai sees it as a ticket away from her over-protective parents. The four find themselves at the University of Guelph in Canada. Adventure awaits, and a chance at love lingers amidst the crowds – in the halls, at the bars, on the dancefloor. Some of them will find it. But, as with such powerful life-altering things as love, it’s not going to be easy. It’s too late to turn back to the drab, safe and predictable lives they left behind. Might as well buckle up and hold on tight as they brace themselves for the ride of their lives

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This is such a fun read. How the lives of four totally different characters intervined. The perfect light read to get out of a reading slump. Also, THE COVER IS SO QUIRKY. And the story does justice to the cover! It’s just as quirky as the cover is. The characters have been built well. Overall, an amazing read.

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This post is part of #Birthdaybloghop by Vidhya Thakkar and Neelam Sharma should not be repurposed, republished or used otherwise. The content herein is owned by the blogger. Hosts are not responsible for any infringement caused.