Best of 2014: Young Adult Fiction

This year I read thirty-three books that fall into this category.

They are:

My True Love Gave to Me edited by Stephanie Perkins
Vivian Versus America (Vivian Apple, #2) by Katie Coyle
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss, #3) by Stephanie Perkins
Hex Hall (Hex Hall, #1) by Rachel Hawkins
Let it Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, & Lauren Myracle
Winterspell by Claire Legrand
The Summer I Became A Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
Tsarina by J. Nell Patrick (Jackson Pearce)
The Hate List by Jennifer Brown
I'm the King of the Castle by Susan Hill
Unbreakable (The Legion, #1) by Kami Garcia
Love in the Time of Global Warming (Love in the Time of Global Warming, #1) by Francesca Lia Block
Winger (Winger, #1) by Andrew Smith
Enchanter Heir (The Heir Chronicles, #4) by Cinda Williams Chima
Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff
The Falconer by Elizabeth May
Where She Went (If I Stay, #2) by Gayle Forman
The Madness Underneath (Shades of London, #2) by Maureen Johnson
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill
Beautiful Darkness (Beautiful Creatures, #2) by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Marcel and the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama
Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
The Diviners (The Diviners, #1) by Libba Bray
The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill
Falling Hard (Roller Girls, #1) by Megan Sparks
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #1) by Ransom Riggs

First place goes to . . . 

Nina LaCour has stunned me with every one of her books, but this is by far the best she's done yet. Everything Leads to You is filled to the brim with romance, beautiful writing, and a story that will make you want to come back again and again. It was everything I hoped it would be and more.







Second place goes to . . .

After falling in love with the first book in this series, I was worried that the second and final book wouldn't live up to my high expectations. I was so wrong that it's laughable. Everything about the ending to Vivian's story is so much better than I could have hoped for and I cannot wait to read even more from this awesome author.
Side note: Both books are out in the UK at the moment, but the first book is going to be released for the US on January 6, 2015 under the title "Vivian Apple at the End of the World." You need this book, random reader. You need it. So please go preorder it immediately.


And third place goes to . . .

This is a must-read for pretty much every nerd that is out there. Rainbow Rowell goes above and beyond in this lovely work about Cath, a nerdy fan fiction writer who has just gone off to college. I adored every part of this book. And Rainbow Rowell has recently announced that her next book is going to be about the very characters Cath writes about in the book, which might just be the coolest thing I've seen an author do in a very long time.





Honorable mentions . . .

Vivian Versus the Apocalypse by Katie Coyle

"Hey, man," says Peter after a moment. "I know I'm just going by what I'm seeing here, but what you're describing is a Viv I don't know yet. The Viv I know- and again, not an expert, because I only officially met her within the last five minutes- is a sledgehammer-wielding badass. She's the only person I've met in the last two months who's said, 'I don't know what's going on here; let's find out.' You know it's a lot easier not to try, right? It's a lot easier to just curl up in a ball and let the world end."

I ordered Vivian Versus the Apocalypse after hearing the fabulous reviews by people like Sanne who reviewed it and couldn't stop raving about just how wonderful the book was. (Here's a link to her Youtube review: Vivian Versus the Apocalypse by Katie Coyle.) Of course, I had to get my hands on it and, once I did, it quickly moved to the front of my "to be read" list.

In Katie Coyle's debut novel, we are introduced to a society where many believe the end of the world is rapidly approaching. The members of the Church of America, followers of the Book of Frick, have been told a set date that they will be raptured and that, just a few short months later, the world will come to an end. Vivian Apple never believed any of this was even remotely possible. She thought her parents were insane for believing it could possibly be true. But then the day of the Rapture comes and there are two holes in the ceiling above her parents' bedroom. They're gone.

Suddenly thrust into a world that is spiraling into chaos, Vivian is lost and deeply confused. Hundreds of people have gone missing, including the parents of her best friend and countless other members of her neighborhood. Vivian still thinks all of this is fishy, though. Faced with a world that seems on the brink of collapse, Vivian sets out in search of answers.

Flanked by Harp and a new friend named Peter, she sets out across country to California, where she believes she might find the family she so recently lost. It's only a hunch, but she has nothing to lose. After all, if she's wrong about the apocalypse, she'll die in a few months anyway. Together the three teenagers set off on a road trip that very well might claim their lives.

As mentioned before, I heard a great deal about this book before I managed to get my hands on it. Let me tell you right now: it is absolutely worth the hype.

In Vivian Versus the Apocalypse, Katie Coyle sets up this amazing novel about finding yourself and believing yourself while setting it up in this near-dystopian America that is slowly killing itself. It's a story about friendship and beating the odds, while still managing to be a social commentary on the dangers of the kind of fanaticism that makes you forget that the people around you are just as worthy of life as yourself. And though the author set it up to be open to a sequel, I honestly am not sure whether I want one, because I'm not sure it can surpass the first.

There's so much about this book that I loved that I hardly know where to start. I don't often come across books that I want to reread as soon as I finish, but this one would definitely count as one of those. I cannot praise it enough.

If you haven't read Vivian Versus the Apocalypse yet, you need to find it and dive in as soon as possible. Kudos to you, Katie Coyle, for creating such a stunning first novel. I hope I get the chance to read plenty more from you in the future.

Rating: ~★★★★★ ~

"The way we live our lives is not sustainable. I don't just mean recycling and turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth. I mean the way we treat each other. The way we pick and choose whose lives are important, who we actually treat as human. There is nobody on this Earth whose life is not of value."