Whether you love to hate them or hate that you love them, it’s no secret that teen books are gaining popularity with more than just teens.
I find myself repeatedly going back to the young adult (YA) shelf for new book inspiration. The following supernatural YA reads are some of my favourites:
Throne of Glass, the first book in Sarah J. Maas’ series of the same name, is an exciting novel full of action, twists and a bit of magic. Calaena Sardothien was the city’s greatest assassin until she was betrayed and captured, sent to work out her prison sentence in the Endovier salt mines. A year into her sentence, she is granted freedom on the condition that she will represent the Prince in a competition to find a new royal assassin. When other competitors start dying, Calaena realizes there’s more to the competition than she thinks — and more to her than anyone could ever imagine.
Gods interfering with human lives has been a common theme since the ancient Greeks. The immortals are at it again in Martha Brockenbrough’s The Game of Love and Death. Love and Death have competed for centuries, using humans as their players. It’s the Great Depression and their two newest pawns are Flora, an African American jazz singer who dreams of being a pilot, and Henry, a white bassist and adoptive son of a wealthy newspaper icon. Love has never won but, as the story progresses, the reader is left to wonder if Flora and Henry will be the ones to break this streak.
“A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.” Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo takes its readers through the ultimate heist — a job so dangerous that no one in their right mind would accept it. No one except Kaz Brekker, one of the deadliest and most accomplished thieves in The Barrel. But the never-ending twists, powerful magic and constant double crossing make Kaz wonder if this job may be too much to handle. Bardugo has created rich characters and a plot that continues to surprise. Mix in some magic and adventure, and you won’t be able to put it down.
Kelley Armstrong’s The Gathering brings a B.C. connection to its pages. Set in a tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island, the story follows teenager Maya as she searches for answers to the unexplainable events that start happening around her. Maya doesn’t know where she came from or who her birth parents were — a paw print-shaped birthmark being her only connection to them. But when students start dying in strange ways, mountain lions start approaching her and the new kid takes an unusual interest in her birthmark, Maya realizes her past may hold the answers. Armstrong seamlessly blends the supernatural with the real world to create a riveting, spellbinding story.
With strong characters and well-written plots, the books above are just some examples of the engaging teen fiction that can be enjoyed by adults. Look for these and other great YA reads at your local library.
A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published on Wednesdays. Sadie Henschel works at Port Moody Public Library.
