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My Favorite Books from 2015 (January to October)

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Favorite Books from 2015

My Favorite Books from 2015 (So Far…)

So these are not guaranteed to be clean teen reads. This list is made up of the stories and characters which most captured me, deprived me of sleep or free thought until I’d finished the very last page or beyond. Read my reviews (click the book title) for more information on content of each novel. Enjoy!

1. Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman – I loved that Shusterman took us on this journey through mental illness and it felt so authentic. At the same time the metaphorical structure made it easy to follow the story and added to its complexity.

2. When You Leave by Monica Ropal – This was one of those books that I read in one sitting and thought about for weeks afterward. I loved the characters and the way Ropal explores the unanswered questions left behind when we lose someone.

3. Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas – I was a little bit torn between this book and Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon, but the tie breaker for me was the fact that I loved both the boys in Because You’ll Never Meet Me so incredibly much and couldn’t stop rooting for them. I didn’t realize until just now that both books feature boys named Ollie/Olly, but also deal with a person who is unable to be around others for medical reasons. Both were great books, but BYNMM takes top prize for me.

4. The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey – I loved the fantastic story world in this book. It definitely reminded me a bit of Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone, but it wasn’t quite so dark, I thought. I loved the romance.

5. Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella – This book made me laugh so hard I had tears streaming down my face. The relationships between characters is absolutely great, and the way Audrey’s illness affects each family member is really well-explored. I think it takes a truly amazing writer to take a hard topic like mental illness and yet relate events to us in such a way that we can still laugh. Kinsella definitely has the knack for it.

6. The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow – Right from the very beginning, I was completely hooked on this story. Such high stakes! And I loved that they AI character(s) didn’t follow all the stereotypes about how AI would behave, etc.

7. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – Are you tired of hearing about how much I like this book yet? I feel like it’s all I’m talking about right now. Totally immersive story world. Characters that I just can’t stop thinking about. And an impossible heist to keep me on the edge of my seat.

8. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff – This book is like World War Z meets 2001: A Space Oddyssey. Some nights I could not go to sleep for thinking about this book. The dialogue and the unique presentation are definitely among the book’s strengths. I would definitely pick up a follow-up story to this one.

9. These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly – If you’ve been around TSS much lately, you know I LOVE me some books by Jennifer Donnelly. This book really scratched an itch for me. It’s a historical set in the 1890s and touches on some feminist themes about that time. It’s also a murder-mystery and has a really intense (but not explicit) romance. Loved it!

What’s your favorite?

Have you read any of the above books? What are your favorites so far this year?

Review: When You Leave by Monica Ropal

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When You Leave
Monica Ropal
Running Press Kids

For Cass, the girl who survived her father’s desertion and best friend’s battle with cancer, love doesn’t come with the possibility of loss but the certainty of it. When the hot boy at her new school seems interested in her, Cass keeps their relationship a secret. At first it’s just flirtation and fun, but Cooper isn’t satisfied with the cool exterior Cass shows everyone else. He wants the real her.

And just when she’s ready to let him into her heart, he’s gone. Dead. Murdered. Worse still, her friend Gavin gets blamed for it. All Cass can do now is try to piece together who Cooper really was and why the real killer wanted him dead. Her search unearths truths she is barely able to face and forces her to confront her own losses again.

It’s rare to find a book in which every character surprises you. When You Leave is about a girl trying to solve a mystery, but instead of looking for the murder weapon and simple motives, she uncovers a host of secrets and discovers that the students she meets are never what they seem. I loved the little things, from the surprising décor in Cooper’s kitchen to the way Cass still hears Mattie’s voice in her head even though he can’t speak aloud. I reached the last page and still wanted the story to continue. Days after closing the book, I still find myself thinking about the characters. Ropal did a fantastic job capturing the identities and conflicting layers of teens.

Language Content
Extreme word choice, moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
Brief descriptions of pretty intense kissing. Seems like things don’t really go further, but it’s a bit fuzzy.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Three boys attack Cass’s friend Gavin. A boy’s body is found. He’s been beaten to death. Cass doesn’t witness this, and there aren’t any detailed descriptions of what happened to him. A boy attacks Mattie and Cass in the woods. Descriptions are pretty brief but moderately intense.

Drug Content
References to a boy selling pot to kids at Cass’s school.

Upcoming Reviews on the Story Sanctuary (April 2015)

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Over the next few weeks, The Story Sanctuary will be home to reviews for some great new releases as well as some catch-up reviews on recent or past releases. Here are a few you can expect to see…

When You Leave by Monica Ropal

This was one of those stories that left me pining for another chapter. Really great characters and tension. Very angsty story, which is so often what I crave in YA.

Between Shadows by Kathleen Cook Waldron

I had the pleasure of meeting this author and talking about the book with her late last year. Her description of the story and its characters were so intriguing that I’ve been thinking about them ever since. Can’t wait to crack the cover on this one!

Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee

I found myself drawn to it because it’s so different from my usual reading pick. Boxing and political intrigue? I’m so game.

All the Rage by Courtney Summers

Apparently NetGalley flagged this one for me because I loved We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (which I definitely did!) So I’m nervous – it’s usually a bad idea for me to go into a book expecting it to be like another book – but hopeful. Sounds like it’s got some deep psychological exploration in it, and I’m always up for that.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Twitter has been abuzz with praise for this novel. It’s sort of X-men meets fairy tale. Loads of political drama, intrigue and betrayal.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

This is a book that caught my eye on another reviewer’s to-read list. The cover is really intriguing, and I find myself really curious about a story in which the goblin is the good guy. There aren’t too many of those.

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

This is one of those rare series in which I’ve read all the books leading up to this one. I’m super excited to read it. Meyer brings really imaginative story world to every book in the Lunar Chronicles. I’m as interested in Queen Levana’s history as I am in how Meyer constructs Levana’s world.

Fix by Force by Jason Warne

I’ve almost picked this novel up several times, and this month I’ll finally read and review it. It’s a coming-of-age plus drug battle type story, another of my known literary weaknesses.

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