Weekly Lists #20: Favourite YA-literature

Every Wednesday, I post a list of random stuff. This week: 5 of my favourite YA-books!

Now, these are bound to be in a variety of genres, and I don’t doubt that the moment this post goes up I’ll remember at least 5 other books that definitely should’ve been in here – but oh well, I guess that’s just the fate of a booklover – so let’s get started!

This post is not sponsored in any way or form. It does, however, contain affiliate links.

1. The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern

I’m not exactly sure whether this book is more YA or more New Adult, but either way: it’s definitely one everybody should read. I personally struggled quite a bit with it in the beginning, but once I really got into the story, I just loved it. It’s really just one of those books where you come out of it, and you’re a bit confused because you’re not in the books world anymore, and you have to face reality again, if that makes any sense?

2. This Star Won’t Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl, by Esther Earl and others

Now, I’m usually not that big a fan of (auto)biographies, but this one just really got to me – it’s emotional, of course, because you know what’s coming up, but still… This is really the story of a girl who lived her life so admiringly, and it’s just beautiful in its sadness.

3. The Stravaganza-series, by Mary Hoffman

Originally, our library only had the first book of this series – luckily, I was friends-of-sorts with the librarian responsible for the children’s literature-section (it’s bound to happen when you have somehow managed to borrow over 1000 books from your library before even turning 12) and she managed to buy the rest of the series – which I then promptly also devoured. Although the series lost some of its charm for me in the last couple of books, certainly the first 4 are books I truly loved to read time and time again.

4. Say What You Will, by Cammie McGovern

I actually bought this book in a version which was just called “Amy & Matthew”, while on the boat home from England. I read it in approximately 2 hours, then re-started it as soon as I was finished, tried to read another book, and ended up reading this one again. There are quite some problematic elements in here (I have OCD, I’m very much aware of the fact that Matthew is quite often portrayed more like OCD-personified than as a person who suffers from OCD), but despite that, I just really, genuinely enjoyed this book (be it in a very sad way – it’s not a particularly happy book).

5. Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine

Although this book balances on the edge between children’s literature and YA-literature, I consider it mainly a YA-story in a fairy tale-shape – and what a beautiful story it is. One of those stories where the movie-adaptation really did not do justice to the original plot (sorry, Anne Hathaway!), I’ve loved this book ever since I first opened it, and I doubt that’ll ever change.
Apparently, the author has also written two more (linked) books in the “Enchanted” collection, so I’m definitely planning on checking those out!

And there you have it, 5 of my favourite YA-books (although technically there are more, you know what I mean). There are so many more that I really like, so chances are that a second list will pop on here soon enough, but for now: have you read all of these? What’s your opinion on them? Are there any YA-books I definitely should read? Tell me below!

-Saar