The Best YA Books for Adults

Some of the best books we have ever read – EVER READ! – came from the YA (young adult) section. That’s a bold statement, we know, but we enthusiastically stand behind it. These are YA books that we have personally read as adults and can attest to their appeal for both traditional YA readers as well as those who may be more frequently found in the adult section. Once you check out this list of the best YA books for adults, you will see why we endorse them so wholeheartedly.

The Best YA Books for Adults

This post is all about the best YA books for adults – books that you will find in the YA section of your book store or library that were absolutely fantastic reads regardless of your age.

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1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief is what we at Slowprose consider not just one of the best YA books for adults, but we consider it to be a modern classic. Hauntingly beautiful and completely unique historical fiction book told from the perspective of death. It is a literary masterpiece.

2. Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Scythe is an incredible dystopian story unlike any other. It immediately grabbed our attention and didn’t let go throughout the whole book. The premise is so unique and it really makes you think. Scythe is book one of the trilogy called The Arc of the Scythe. Book two was equally great, and book three dipped a little bit, but was still a great rounding out of this story. Scythe has remained one of our favorite books of all time and we can’t recommend it enough!

3. Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Laini Taylor is one of our favorite authors. Her books are beautifully written and a joy to read. Strange the Dreamer brought us out of a long and painful reading slump, and it was a beautiful way to remember our love of reading. We couldn’t wait to pick up book two, Muse of Nightmares, and it didn’t disappoint. We also want to mention her Daughter of Smoke and Bone book and the corresponding series. They are also excellent YA books for adults!

4. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

We loved An Ember in the Ashes. We read this book before any of the rest of the series were written, so we do have to confess that we haven’t yet read any of the books in the rest of the set – A Torch Against the Night (book 2), A Reaper at the Gates (book 3), and A Sky Beyond the Storm (book 4) – but can enthusiastically endorse book one! We are looking forward to finishing out this series.

5. The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

The Wrath and the Dawn is a great retelling of the story One Thousand and One Nights. I was ingrigued and completely enthralled with this book. Absolutely loved it! Our feelings about book two – The Rose and the Dagger – are not as enthusiastic, but we can wholeheartedly gush about The Wrath and the Dawn.

6. The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

The Serpent King still rips our heart out when we think of it. It is a contemporary story and this book contains one of the best twists we have ever experienced in all our years of reading! We totally didn’t see it coming and it still makes us gasp.

 

7. The Hunger Games Saga by Suzanne Collins

Obviously this is a very famous story, so a lot of you may have read it. We actually saw The Hunger Games movie first (on an airplane, no less) and were intrigued enough to go get the book afterwards. In our humble opinion, The Hunger Games movie AND book are both amazing. It is a rare achievement, but we loved both. In terms of the book series, we loved book 2 (Catching Fire) and the movie, but felt so-so about book 3 (The Mockingjay) as well as the movie. However, we definitely recommend reading this entire series. We have not yet read Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, but are including it here because it is this in the same story universe.

8. Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo

The ultimate caper story! That is what we think of when we think of Six of Crows. Really well written, intresting story, memorable characters, and a great tag line. “No Mourners, No Funerals.”

9. The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Honestly it has been years since we read this, but the book death that happens in these books still reverberates in our soul. We love Marie Lu’s writing style and this story is just fantastic.

10. Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas

If you haven’t read these yet, go ahead and get started. They live up to the hype. Start with The Assassin’s Blade first, then go into Throne of Glass. If you want more on SJM books, we have a whole post dedicated to her series – check it out here!

11. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

We were going to recommend all of Ruta Sepetys’ books, before we realized there was a box set of all of them! We have read several of her books and have loved them all. She is so good at writing historical fiction in an easy to read way. Our favorite of the bunch was Salt to the Sea. It is just incredible.

12. Into A Heartless Wood by Joanna Ruth Meyer

This book was on a recommended reading list as something to pick up if you loved Strange the Dreamer. That was a good book recommendation because we really enjoyed it. It is supposed to be a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, but honestly we didn’t think of either of those stories when we read this book. It certainly stands on its own merits. It is enchanting and magical and scary and just fantastic.

13. Lovely War by Julie Berry

Historical Fiction combined with Greek Gods! And the author pulls it off! Not only does she pull it off, but she hits an absolute home run in this fantastic book. Creative and imaginative, funny and touching, it is such a great story.

The Best YA Books for Adults

We hope this list of 13 of the best YA books for adults entices you to add some of these great books to your TBR! You can find then all and more on our Books from the Blog storefront.

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Slowprose, book division of Slowestuff