Best of 2011: Young Adult


Top 10: A Week of Looking Back….
………and Looking Forward.
Welcome to the Top 10 of 2011, hosted by Confessions of a Bookaholic, A Life Bound by Books, fiktshun, Two Chicks on Books. I am very excited to participate in this weeklong event to share my Best Books of 2011! And may I say there were a lot of favorites in 2011 this year, so this list was not easy. But I have decided to split my list between YA and Adult books in separate posts so look for my Top 10 List for my adult books later.





Divergent was breathtaking. Read just the first chapter and you will keep going and going and going until you realize you are halfway done with the book. You won't even want to put the book down, because then you will be thinking about it ever second of everyday. This whole novel was an adventure you wish yourself to be apart of and all you wished for is that it would never end.

DIVERGENT was mind-blowing and I have never read a book like this one before. It was so actions-packed and adventurous and all you wanted was MORE. DIVERGENT is a MUST-READ. You will not be disappointed.





I admit I was a little terrified to read WOLFSBANE. I had no freaking clue of the contents inside this book, but after flipping the first page I could not put the book down. It was like I was possessed and if I put the book down I could not stop thinking about it. Oh, man Andrea Cremer has done it again!

I declare WOLFSBANE one of the best YA books of 2011! It deserves it big time. Secrets will be revealed, deaths that will make you mourn, steamy hotness between characters and a bloody cliffhanger that will make you go insane. I loved this book to death and I think that Andrea Cremer enjoys being evil with all these damn cliffhangers she writes.





SHATTER ME is one of the most anticipated Young Adult books of the year and after seeing such "Out of this Word" reviews I knew I had to get my hands on a copy. And you know what, SHATTER ME deserves every single one of those stars that you might as well give it a hundred stars. I was amazed at how absorbed I was into the book and I didn't want to stop reading it for even a single second.

There were many surprises and unforgettable side characters that you fall madly in love with as much as you did with the main characters. SHATTER ME captivated me to no end and I am seriously dying to get my hands on the next book. It is just going to kill me to wait and see what happens next. The ending in the book left the impression that the story is just beginning and more awaits us.




There are no words that are in existence to describe just how phenomenal DIE FOR ME was. I decided that I just need to meet this woman who created such a swoon-worthly romance, well-written secondary characters that I could also swoon-over and a beautifully written unique story.

I had an extremely hard time putting this book down. I seriously mean, you will NOT be able to put this book down, it is like an addiction and I mean that in a good way. I am addicted to Debut Author Amy Plum's DIE FOR ME and I do not want help.






THE PLEDGE was one of the best dystopian books I have read this year. I didn't expect to fall madly in love with Max, the book. But I was unable to put the book down until I flipping to the very last page of the book. The story of THE PLEDGE was quite an intriguing one, I can tell you that much.

I can tell you that you were always left guessing are they the good guys or the bad guys and there are a couple of big surprises in store as well. I enjoyed THE PLEDGE so much I am going crazy awaiting the sequel and I hope it is as amazing as this book was.




Kimberly Derting’s Body Finder series is one of the best young adult reads that I have had the pleasure of reading. DESIRES OF THE DEAD picks up right where The Body Finder ending with Violet and Jay happily in love with each other.

This was a fantastic sequel to The Body Finder Series and I am looking forward to the rest of the books in the series. And BTW, if you haven’t already put Derting on you MUST-READ List right away. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.





CLARITY is one of those books you read and cannot stop reading til you put the book down. I was so memorized by CLARITY. I loved the characters! I loved Clarity's family and that is rare for me. I find that in young adult novels I don't really care for the brother or mom, because it is like they are usually invisible, you don't see much of them. But that is not the case in CLARITY. Her mom and brother are very involved and very likable. I loved the suspense, murder mystery aspect and most of all the romance. The ending was perfect and I am very interested in what will happen in the next book. I loved this book and look forward to more from new Debut author, Kim Harrington.





WITHER is a beautiful story about life and survival that will get you glued to your seat unable to get up until you make it to the very last page, and then after that you want more. Stefano has done an outstanding job at keeping me amazed with every single chapter in this compelling story.

I found myself scared for Rhine a lot of the time, hoping that she does succeed in her plan to break free. As soon as I finished, I was mad because I wanted more of this beautiful writing. I am excited for the sequel and will definitely be buying it when it comes out.






ACROSS THE UNIVERSE was a beautiful story that captured me til the very end. I loved every single moment of this book. I couldn't stop reading until I got to the very last page. This would have to be my first dystopian and I loved it. This book was heart wrenching. And I am just making you want to read it even more now, aren't I?

I thought that this book was really creative with mystery and romance. I thought here was was a lot of twists and turns in this book that just surprises you. And the end! All I have to say is OMFG! I did not see that coming.




LEGEND was amazing from beginning to end. I just could not put it down. Like a lot of the other dystopian's that came out this year, LEGEND made me emotionally involved in the book. And I was glad to have such strong and likable characters yet again.

LEGEND made my heart race in so many ways and let me say that my expectations were quite high for LEGEND and I'm glad that they exceeded my expectations.




17 comments :

  1. Great list! Although I didn't really care for The Pledge all that much to be honest.

    I need to read Across the Universe!


    Nerd Girls at Books to the Sky

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  2. Omg, from your whole list, I only read one out of the ten and that was Wither! :)

    Wow, I need to read more.

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  3. ONE BOOK?! Girl, you need to get moving! How could you miss all these other amazing books?!!!! THat should be a crime! XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

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  4. Yikes! I'm not that far behind Momo, I only read Divergent, Shatter Me and Wither on that list! But they were awesome indeed! I want to read this Nightshade series and Die for me sooo bad! Soon, I promise... ;)

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  5. Thanks for stopping by. A great list, with many that I'll be reading in 2012. I totally love Derting. Glad you loved Desires of the Dead...me too. Can't wait to read The Pledge.

    Amy @ www.bookgoonie.com

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  6. I have only read Shatter Me from your list and I certainly loved it! I need to read all of the others ASAP.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog :)

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  7. Divergent and Die for me were amazing! :) Nice list Mariya!! ;)

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  8. gr8 list i still need 2 read divergent maybe next yr hopefully

    my top ten

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  9. I liked The Pledge got such mixed reviews, and I really liked it. So I'm glad to see someone who loved it.

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  10. I loved Divergent and Clarity! I so need to pick up a copy of The Pledge, it looks excellent and I obviously need to get reading on my copies of Shatter Me and Legend!

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  11. excellent, excellent list. I have Divergent sitting on my shelf, waiting for me to have time for it. I cannot wait to read it. I agree on Wolfsbane. FABULOUS. I cannot wait for Bloodrose!

    Thanks for stopping by PBN!

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  12. YAY! I'm so glad that Legend made it onto your list!! And Die for Me!! And oh snap! How did i forget to add Clarity!? And Divergent! I loved those books! WAAAH! It was so hard to pick 10!

    I still have to read The Pledge! Actually i have to read Kimberly Dertings other series as well! Here's hoping in 2012!

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  13. I haven't read some of the ones on your list yet! But I plan to! I loved Legend & Wither!!

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  14. This is such a great list!! I really think I need to pick up LEGEND because I'm seeing it everywhere. I need to read THE PLEDGE too. I love Kim! And, can you believe I haven't even read NIGHTSHADE yet? EEK!! I need to get to that soon! :)

    Thanks for sharing!

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  15. Amazing list! We've got the same books on our lists! Though, I'm yet to read Kimberly's books. :D Thanks so much for the comments! Loving your list. <3

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  16. I haven't read all of your list, but for the ones I have, they were fantastic, and all the rest are on my TBR!

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  17. Another amazing list! I've read 3 of the books - Divergent, Across the Universe & Wither and I can't wait to read the sequels! Thankfully we won't have to wait all THAT long for some of them.

    I need to read faster, I have so many of the other books you have listed here and if I could/would just light a fire under me and get a move on lol

    -Lisa

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