Recommended Books

Fiction


We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

My rating: 5*

Rosemary Cooke's life unravels as she discovers the horrific secrets behind her beloved sister's disappearance. Beware for heartbreaking events amidst the hilarity and chaos of this wonderful story.

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The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

My rating: 5*

The Age of Miracles follows the story of 11-year-old Julia during a period in which the rotation of Earth has begun to slow.

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Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

My rating: 5*
Series: Caster Chronicles, #1

Ethan is drawn to a strange girl who haunts his dreams, Lena, who has a few dangerous secrets of her own.

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Between the Lines by Jodi Piccoult and Samantha van Leer

My Rating: 5*

After discovering that all the characters in her favourite book are real, Delilah tries to help Prince Oliver escape his literary prison.

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Beastly by Alex Flinn

My rating: 5*

A modern re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. Kyle Kingsbury, a mean, rich, popular boy, is turned into a beast to teach him respect, and needs to find true love to break the curse.

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Cloaked by Alex Flinn

My rating: 4*

Johnny, who works in his family's shoe shop, is recruited by a beautiful princess to rescue her brother, and is promised her hand in marriage if he succeeds. A mash-up of several well-known fairytales.

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Don't Let Me Go by Catharine Ryan Hyde

My rating: 5*

Ten-year-old Grace requests the help of her neighbour, Billy, who hasn't been out of his own apartment in years, to help her orchestrate a plan to make her mother give up drugs for good.

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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonothan Safran Foer

My rating: 4*

When Oskar Schell's father is killed in 9/11, he finds a key in the closet that leads to a journey of self-discovery and the pursuit of inner peace.

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The Falconer by Elizabeth May

My rating: 5*

Aileana Kameron slaughters faeries in secret while trying to juggle the endless rounds of tea parties and balls expected to be attended by the daughter of a Marquess of Douglas in 1844. She is determined to find the faery that killed her mother, but how far will she go for vengeance?

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The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

My rating: 5*

Sixteen-year-old Hazel is content die a peaceful death from the cancer which consumes her lungs, until gorgeous Augustus Waters steps in which the intent to completely rewrite her story.

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A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

My rating: 5*
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire, #1

Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.

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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

My rating: 5*

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning--" 

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The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 4*

Skeeter, Abileen and Minnie struggle against the restrictions enforced on African-Americans during the 1960s.

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Lord of the Flies by William Golding

My rating: 4*

A group of young boys are stranded on a coral island. Soon the fun and excitement is transformed to terror and violence when primitive instinct and a fight to the death for leadership and power takes place.

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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

My rating: 4*

Sixteen-year-old Jacob discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's home for Peculiar Children, where his grandfather used to live, and uncovers some mysterious secrets.

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The Nanny Diaries by Emma Mc. Laughlin

My rating: 4*

Nanny takes up a nannying position for the only son of the wealthy X family. The job proves much harder than she could have ever imagined, as she has to ensure that the mental health of the four-year-old remains stable within the crumbling family.

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The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

My rating: 5*

The Cirque de la Reves is a mysterious circus which arrives without warning, and is open only at night. But behind the facade of magic, a fierce competition is underway between the two magicians, Celia and Marco, who are also falling in love despite themselves.

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Room by Emma Donoghue

My rating: 5*

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world, his home. But to Ma, it is the prison in which she has been held captive by Old Nick for seven years. Ma is desperate to find a way out, but Jack is hesitant to leave the only world he has ever known.

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Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

My rating: 5*

A haunting story following the journey of grief and self-discovery taken by Clay Jensen, when he receives a box of cassettes recorded by his friend Hannah Baker, explaining the thirteen reasons why she committed suicide. He is one of them.

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Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

My rating: 4*

A chilling story of teenage anorexia and bulimia, and the dangerous consequences of both.

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Historical Fiction


The Venetian Contract by Marina Fiorato

My Rating: 5*

A cargo ship bearing deadly cargo, a "gift" from the Turkish Sultan, is sailing to Venice. Within weeks, the city is infected with the bubonic Plague. However, the ship also carries a girl, a harem doctor, who might just be able to come up with a cure.

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Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran

My rating: 5*

Marie is a wax modeller in 18th century France. Her talent has won her a place in the King's sister's court, as her wax modelling tutor. As the revolution begins, Marie has to tread carefully as a friend to both the King's sister and the leaders of the revolution. 

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Blood Red, Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick

My rating: 4*

It is the year 1917, and the Russian Revolution has begun.

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YA Series

The Abandon Trilogy by Meg Cabot 

My rating for the series: 5*

Pierce is trying to move on with her life, away from "the accident." But she can't, because no matter where she goes, He always finds her. And He will do anything to get her back to the Underworld.

A thrilling re-telling of the Greek myth of Persephone.

The Airhead Trilogy by Meg Cabot

My rating for the series: 4,5*

After a terrible accident, Em Watts wakes up in the body of a supermodel, Nikki Howard. The doctors tell her that her brain survived the accident, but not her body, while Nikki's did the exact opposite. Em is forced to leave her previous life behind, and pretend to be Nikki, with only her family, doctor, and new boss knowing her secret. But being Nikki is much harder than it first appears, and some other terrible secrets have found a way to appear, just when Em least expects it.
  1. Airhead
  2. Being Nikki
  3. Runaway


The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

My rating for the series: 4,5*

In a world divided into five factions, Beatrice Prior is struggling to make the choice that each sixteen-year-old must make: to decide which faction in which she will spend the rest of her life. Beatrice surprises both herself and her family by leaving Abnegation - the selfless - for Dauntless - the brave. A highly competitive initiation follows, and Beatrice struggles to live out the choice she has made. But Beatrice also has a secret, one that could kill both her and her family if it were to get out.


The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins

My rating for the series: 5*

In the annual Hunger Games, each of the twelve districts of Panem is forced to submit two tributes, a girl and a boy, from the ages of 12 - 18, to fight to the death in an arena. When Katniss' sister is reaped, Katniss makes the life threatening decision to take her place in the games, and to battle against the boy who saved her life when her father died, Peeta.
The Hush Hush Series by Becca Fitzpatrick

My rating of the series: 5*

Nora Grey can't seem to figure out the new boy, Patch. Dark and mysterious, he draws Nora in - against her better judgement. But Patch has a few dark secrets of his own, and when a series of horrific and terrifying encounters ensues, Nora is not sure who to trust.

Falling right into the middle of an ancient battle between the fallen and the immortal, Nora will have to make a choice which could cost her life.
  1. Hush Hush
  2. Crescendo 
  3. Silence 
  4. Finale 
The Infernal Devices Series by Cassandra Clare

My rating for the series: 5*

Cassandra Clare takes her readers back in time to see what Shadowhunter life was like back in the Victorian Age.

Tessa Gray is pulled into the darker side of London when she desperately tries to locate her brother after his mysterious disappearance. There she meets Will and Jem, two  Shadowhunters, who fight a continuous battle against demons to keep the human world safe. They soon find themselves up against The Pandemonium Club, which is equipped with an army of deadly clockwork creatures, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them.


The Lila Series by Sarah Alderson

My rating for the series: 4,5*

Lila, 17, has a secret: she is able to move things just by looking at them. When her unique ability is exposed during a mugging, she is forced to run to her brother and his best friend, Alex, who she has been in love with forever. They work for a secret organisation called The Unit, and are hunting down the men who murdered her mother five years ago, and they've found them. Lila soon discovers that she is not alone in her abilities, and that her mother's murderer is among those who have abilities like her.
  1. Hunting Lila 
  2. Losing Lila 


The Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore

My rating for the series: 4*

"Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship on movies and comic books - but we are real."


  1. I am Number Four 
  2. The Power of Six 
  3. The Rise of Nine 
  4. The Fall of Five 


The Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout

My rating for the series: 5*

Katy and her mom move to West Virginia in search of a fresh start. She soon befriends bubbly Dee, who lives next door with her mysterious brother, Daemon. While Dee is friendly and sweet, Daemon is rude, arrogant and infuriating. He's also extremely hot. When a stranger attacks Katy, and Daemon freezes time with a wave of his hand, Katy discovers who her neighbours really are: a group of aliens with a galaxy of enemies just waiting to steal their special abilities. The effect that Daemon and Dee's power has on humans has left Katy lit up like a search light, so her only hope for staying alive is by sticking close to Daemon. If she doesn't kill him first.
  1. Obsidian 
  2. Onyx 
  3. Opal 
  4. Origin 
  5. Opposition


The Mercy Series by Rebecca Lim

My rating for the series: 5*

Every few years, Mercy wakes up in a different human body. She doesn't know her age, where she is, or even who she is, only that she has to help each human that she wakes up in. Although she doesn't realise it yet, she is one of the angels exiled with Lucifer, and has now been forced to atone for taking his side. Her only way back to heaven is to help the humans through their crises in life, and ensure that they are not caught up in the games that angels play. Now she is forced to choose between her once-love, Lucifer, and the human boy who has risked everything for her love.
  1. Mercy 
  2. Exile 
  3. Muse 
  4. Fury 


If you have any more books that you think should be on this list or that you think I should read, leave a comment below!

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