Book Labyrinth: My Favourite Underrated Young Adult Books (Part 3)

I love all books, but the ones that most need shout outs are the ones that aren't known to a lot of people. So today I'm continuing my underrated YA series with some more little talked about but AWESOME reads.

Again, I also recommend you check out the hashtag #quietYA, started by @DailyJulianne for tons of great under the radar suggestions.

Here's part 3 (with a reminder that stats were gathered on April 6, 2015 and may have changed since then)...

Underrated Young Adult Novels:

Torched by Andrea Colt [392 ratings, 3.97 average]
A fun and swoony contemp romance meets compelling high school set mystery. Loved the two main characters and their interactions so much!!

Behind the Scenes by Dahlia Adler [591 ratings, 4.00 average]
Dahlia has such a dynamic internet presence that it's hard to believe only 591 people have rated this book. This is a Hollywood YA story, one that I think would appeal both to those who normally love and those who normally loathe the typical Hollywood YA books. Cute, charming, swoony, with great friendship and family issues. A perfect YA/NA hybrid.

Searching for Beautiful by Nyrae Dawn [652 ratings, 3.61 average]
Nyrae Dawn always crafts such complex characters who feel truly real. She writes with an emotional honesty that I adore. This book in particular is a great read for any fan of contemp YA, with a fabulous message of finding the beauty in yourself which comes across in such a natural way.

Forget Me by K.A. Harrington [1,231 ratings, 3.73 average]
Forget Me is a straight up contemporary mystery/thriller, which we don’t see a lot of in YA. I loved this book because it was so hard to predict! It could have gone so many ways, and I really enjoyed the journey it took me on. Bonus points: the creepy/eerie feel a lot of the scenes had, and a strong friendship between two females who were unflinchingly loving to and supportive of one another (yes!!).

Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales [1,298 ratings, 3.50 average]
This book is so delightful, so funny, and so honest. It perfectly captures the angst and humour of being a teenager. Such a fabulous friendship book as well. I highly recommend all of Leila’s books.

Something Real by Heather Demetrios [2,173 ratings, 4.01 average]
This is an amazing contemporary that really spoke to me. It has such great characters, a crazy interesting plot (the main character and her siblings have grown up as part of a reality TV show!), a slow burn romance, and that certain unknowable quality that made it "unputdownable".

If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Wilson [2,873 ratings, 3.99 average]
I’m so surprised more people haven’t read this one! It’s a heartbreaking love story with strong themes involving class and race. I’m sad that it’s still relevant – maybe especially relevant – these days, but the work itself is gorgeously written.

Roomies by Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando [3,383 ratings, 3.64 average]
I adored what this book had to say about friendship, romantic relationships, growing up, and change. It tells the story of two girls from totally different parts of the country, with very different lives, who are going to become college roommates. This is a great book which features a very meaningful friendship which grows online, and some incredibly well defined secondary characters. I love NA, but this is the type of college related story that I find relatable.

Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker [4,426 ratings, 3.80 average]
This is a book about a lost friendship. A book about a summer sailing trip. A book about family, about romance, about endings and beginnings. If you’re looking for an emotionally satisfying contemp YA, this is one to check out. Bonus awesome: Clem’s little sister Olive, one of the best sibling characters I can remember reading about.

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord [6,192 ratings, 3.94 average]
I am a sucker for stories about people with connections to famous people, so this book where the main character is the BFF of a Taylor Swift-esque figure and goes on tour with her for the summer is kind of like my crack. Reagan is a prickly main character who you can't help but root for. I loved the friendship, the road trip-esque aspect, and the romance. Just soooo much amazingness going on here.

Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergen [Book 1: 12,330 ratings, 4.08 average; Book 5: 705 ratings, 4.45 average]
Again, decently high number of people reading this book, but when it comes to the last book in the series only around 700 have marked it as read. You can see by the high ratings that this book is beloved. Time travel to 14th Century Italy, anyone? I loved the family aspect to the series, the history, the romance – basically everything about this book and the series is done so well.