My Favorite YA Contemporary Novels + Giveaway

Hi guys! Happy Saturday :)

Today I want to share with you a list of my favorite YA contemporary novels with a quote from the book. I have stated throughout my blog posts that I rarely pick up contemporaries, but when I usually do, it's mostly the dark, painful and/or heartbreaking types with real life issues that are sometimes too hard to stomach or are just too painful to read without bursting into tears. I'm sure some of you love these type of novels just as much as me! Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a book with a nice lovely romance which you'll see in my list, that definitely has a happily ever after. <3

So without further ado...

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley || My Review

"Every time he looked at me I felt like I'd touched my tongue to the tip of a battery. In art class I'd watch him lean back and listen and I was nothing but zing and tingle. After a while, the tingle turned to electricity, and when he asked me out my whole body amped to a level where technically I should have been dead. I had nothing in common with a sheddy like him, but a girl doesn't think straight when she's that close to electrocution."

I absolutely adored this book. It became an instant top favorite. The writing is lyrical, the art work described is detailed and the characters come to life off the page. I loved Ed and Lucy <3

One Moment by Kristina McBride

"What if it's as simple as one moment? One tiny thing, like that kiss on the rocks? What if I'd kissed him a little longer? Would he be alive right now? Or what if I'd stayed with him Friday night, what if I'd been with him… wherever he was?"

This book is an emotional roller coaster. One second I was ok. The next I felt bothered, then angry, then sad, then devastated and then I was happy and smiling and then I repeated the whole process. Basically, my emotions were all over the place while reading this one. I couldn't get enough.

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma || My Review

"At the end of the day it's about how much you can bear, how much you can endure. Being together, we harm nobody; being apart, we extinguish ourselves."

Forbidden consumes me, haunts my mind up until now. It eats at my heart and takes over my soul. It has crushed me repeatedly and left me wanting more. This book truly stayed with me and it's no wonder if one of my favorites. I just can't, can't forget about this book. I always find myself going back and rereading passages like the quote above. Forbidden is magnificent.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green || My Review

"I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you."

TFIOS is just those types of books that break you and put you back together in the end. I smiled and cried and laughed and nearly died. I'm so in love with this book, I wish to own an infinite number of copies. I love Augustus Waters. Always.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins || My Review

"The first thing I notice is his hair - it's the first thing I notice about anyone. It's dark brown and messy and somehow both long and short at the same time. I think of the Beatles, since I've just seen them in Meredith's room. It's artist's hair. Musician hair. I-pretend-I-don't-care-but-I-really-do hair."

This is probably the first contemporary novel that actually made my heart swell with love. I think I've read Anna a grip of times and I still get that feeling, that sort of humming vibration that crawls all over my skin and makes me want to hold this book oh so close and never ever let it go. It's the very few and far between type of books that makes me want to read it all over again right when I hit the last sentence.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins || My Review

"There's something about blue eyes.

The kind of blue that startles you every time they're lifted in your direction. The kind of blue that makes you ache for them to look at you again. Not the blue green or blue gray, the blue that's just blue.

Cricket has those eyes."

You can't have Anna without Lola. Well, at least for me. Anna will always have a special place in my heart, but Lola was eccentric and I loved her deeply. Her story with Cricket was amazingly sweet and comforting. There is just something about Stephanie Perkins' writing that makes me want to crawl between the pages and just stay there forever. With Cricket Bell, of course. ;)

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

"I love you. I love you. I send this message through my fingers and into his, up his arm and into his heart. Hear me. I love you. And I'm sorry to leave you."

This is the first book I read that made me cry and cry and cry and each time I read it, I still cry.

What A Boy Want by Nyrae Dawn || My Review

"She laughed and I couldn't help but laugh with her. That's why I avoided her. Even in the dark, all it took was knowing those green eyes were focused on me and I was a goner."

I rarely read male POVs because I can't seem to connect or relate or I just don't like their voice or it's just not done well enough for me. But Bastian had me the second he opened his mouth. I love him, love him, love him, love him. Bastian just has this amazing presence and he makes me smile all the time.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

"I realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard."

I loved this book. It's real and true. It makes me close my eyes and remember all of the things and people I have in this world and it makes me want to live another day.

Speak by Laure Halse Anderson

"I have survived. I am here. Confused, screwed up, but here. So, how can I find my way? Is there a chain saw of the soul, an ax I can take to my memories or fears?"

I will always love this book for many reasons. The most significant reason is because this is the book that made me love YA. It's the first YA book I have ever read and because of Speak, it wasn't my last.




Other mentionables:
My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Breathe by Abbi Glines

Now that you've seen my list, what do you think? Have you read any of these? Did you love it or hate it? Are you dying to read one of these? If so, here's your chance!

Giveaway!

I need your help expanding my contemporary reads. I already have some in mind, some that I've written down on my list and some that I own but haven't gotten the chance to read. So here's the deal.. 

The Rules:

- ONE winner will win a YA Contemporary Novel of their choice from Amazon.

- Fill in the Rafflecopter below with the mandatory entry of recommending a YA contemporary novel you think I'll enjoy.

- Must be 13 years or older

- Must live in the US (Sorry guys, I'm low on $$)

- Winner will be notified via email and has 48 hours to reply or I will be forced to choose another winner

Good luck and happy reading! <3 :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway