I'm fascinated by the optimistic explorer spirit--and I love reading about strong female characters in challenging terrain and situations.

01 A Star Is Bored Byron Lane 02 The Last Confession of Autumn Casterly Meredith Tate 03 Trust No One Debra Webb

I read this young adult mystery in a day, it was so good. Pippa and Ravi are great characters--I'll definitely read the others in the series

Some aspects of Surrender Your Sons felt deeply real and intimate, but I couldn't get past the details that didn't fit.

Robots, time travel, teen angst, and this gorgeous cover. Yes to all of this. I didn't anticipate the great twists Johnson provides.

This is charming, with quirky characters, but it felt like a middle-grade book to me.

01 I Killed Zoe Spanos I'll admit that this cover hooked me at first look, but the premise of this story is similarly irresistible. Anna...

I was frustrated by what felt like disjointed cause and effect and lack of clear motivation on the characters' parts.

Lu layers a fantastical alternate fairy world over a framework of the imagined point of view of Wolfgang Mozart’s real sister.

Bea and her friends-like-family NYC network of loved ones, including her therapist Miriam, are endearing and wonderful.

The final book in Maureen Johnson's young adult Truly Devious trilogy wraps up the story, but I missed the earlier books' banter.

This is the third and final book in Katherine Arden's strong, fanciful, often wonderfully dark Winternight trilogy.

This one wasn't for me. I read half but didn't finish this second in the Monsters of Verity series. Look at that beautiful cover! I tried...

This is the epitome of glorious young adult fantasy, but the book is truly character driven. I loved it. Oh, this book! In Other Lands is...

Nazemian takes the reader to a powerful time in NYC through the experiences of characters that I cared about. Abdi Nazemian's Like a Love...

This was the type of book I could’ve stayed up all night reading. I was totally hooked. This was the type of book I could’ve stayed up...

Vasya is an irresistibly and wonderfully strong and defiant main protagonist, and Arden includes lots of offbeat details. This second...

Young Griz is tough as nails and determined and wonderful. I thought this was fantastic.

I loved this smart, funny young adult book with Chinese folklore, a rock-solid friendship, creative fantasy elements, action, and romance.

The first book in the Winternight trilogy, this is a Russia-set, ancient-feeling, dark fairytale of a story.