Upcoming UK YA Books: January 2018
You might need another trip to IKEA for that extra bookshelf after reading this.
Looking to spice up your life and bookshelf at the same time? We’ve got all the best YA books to read this year all in one handy place. So whether you’re starting a readathon, you’re compiling a new TBR list, or you just want to know all the best YA book releases in 2018 – you’ve come to the right place. The only thing we won’t be held accountable for is your dwindling bank balance.
Happy reading!
January 4th
‘The Fandom‘ by Anna Day
Violet’s in her element – cosplay at the ready, she can’t wait to feel part of her favourite fandom: The Gallow’s Dance, a mega-story and movie franchise. But at Comic-Con, a freak accident transports Violet and her friends into The Gallows Dance for real – and in the first five minutes, they’ve caused the death of the heroine. It’s up to Violet to take her place and play out the plot the way it was written. But stories have a life of their own…
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‘Everless‘ by Sara Holland
In the land of Sempera, the rich control everything – even time. Ever since the age of alchemy and sorcery, hours, days and years have been extracted from blood and bound to iron coins. The rich live for centuries; the poor bleed themselves dry.
Jules and her father are behind on their rent and low on hours. To stop him from draining himself to clear their debts, Jules takes a job at Everless, the grand estate of the cruel Gerling family.
There, Jules encounters danger and temptation in the guise of the Gerling heir, Roan, who is soon to be married. But the web of secrets at Everless stretches beyond her desire, and the truths Jules must uncover will change her life forever … and possibly the future of time itself.
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January 11th
‘We Come Apart‘ by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan.
YA stars Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan join forces to break readers’ hearts in this contemporary story of star-crossed lovers. Jess would never have looked twice at Nicu if her friends hadn’t left her in the lurch. Nicu is all big eyes and ill-fitting clothes, eager as a puppy, even when they’re picking up litter in the park for community service. He’s so not her type. Appearances matter to Jess. She’s got a lot to hide. Nicu thinks Jess is beautiful. His dad brought Nicu and his mum here for a better life, but now all they talk about is going back home to find Nicu a wife. The last thing Nicu wants is to get married. He wants to get educated, do better, stay here in England. But his dad’s fists are the most powerful force in Nicu’s life, and in the end, he’ll have to do what his dad wants. As Nicu and Jess get closer, their secrets come to the surface like bruises. The only safe place they have is with each other. But they can’t be together, forever, and stay safe – can they? An extraordinary, high-impact, high-emotion collaboration between two stars of YA.
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‘Open Your Heart‘ by Gemma Cairney
Full of honest and practical advice from Gemma Cairney and a whole host of trained professionals and real people, Open Your Heart is a best friend in a book. From heartbreak and heartache to body image and everything in between, this book will help you learn to love your body, your friends and your family, and tell you what to do if things go wrong.
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‘Movie Night‘ by Lucy Courtenay
One: I am hopelessly in love with Hanna Bergdahl. Two: for the first time since our recent reunion Hanna Bergdahl appears to be single. And three: I am stuck in that inescapable netherworld of demons and acne – the Friend Zone.
Sol and Hanna were best friends at primary school and after reuniting at college, they spend approximately seventy percent of daylight hours together.
When disaster strikes at a New Year’s Eve party and Hannah sees new boyfriend Danny Dukas kissing Lizzie Banks, a New Year’s Resolution is formed. Sol and Hanna will watch one film a month for twelve months until the next New Year. After all, films hold answers to life’s hardest questions. Maybe they’ll figure out why they are both members of the dumpee club.
Only Sol Adams has a new year’s resolution of his own: to kiss Hanna Bergdahl before the year is over.
Will Sol ever defeat the Friend Zone?
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‘Bad Girls With Perfect Faces‘ by Lynn Weingarten
No one is good enough for Xavier. Not according to Sasha, his best friend. There’s nothing Sasha wouldn’t do to protect Xavier from getting hurt, especially by his cheating ex, Ivy, who’s suddenly slithered back into the picture. Worried that Xavier is ready to forgive and forget, Sasha decides to do a little catfishing. She poses as a hot guy online, to prove cheaters never change.
But Sasha’s plan goes wrong fast, and soon the lies lead down a path from which there’s no return…
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‘The Unpredictability of Being Human‘ by Linni Ingemundsen
If 14-year-old Malin was God for a day, she wouldn’t change much. Dad would still yell; her brother Sigve would still get in trouble, and Mom would still think wine is good for the heart. She’d still be friends with Hanna, even if they met shoplifting. Because stuff’s okay, mostly. And if He could fix the world, wouldn’t God have done it already?
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‘Summoner: The Battlemage‘ by Taran Matharu
After the thrilling cliffhanger at the end of book two, we rejoin Fletcher and his friends in the ether, where they must undertake a mortally dangerous quest all the while avoiding capture by enemies and facing foes more terrifying than anything they have yet encountered.
But this is nothing compared to what truly lies ahead for Fletcher, as his nemesis, albino orc Khan, is on a mission to destroy Hominum and everything and everyone that Fletcher loves.
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‘The Truth and Lies of Ella Black‘ by Emily Barr
Ella Black seems to live the life most other seventeen-year-olds would kill for… Until one day, telling her nothing, her parents whisk her off to Rio de Janeiro. Determined to find out why, Ella takes her chance and searches through their things.And realises her life has been a lie.Her mother and father aren’t hers at all. Unable to comprehend the truth, Ella runs away, to the one place they’ll never think to look – the favelas.But there she learns a terrible secret – the truth about her real parents and their past. And the truth about a mother, desperate for a daughter taken from her seventeen years ago…
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18th January
‘Below Zero‘ by Dan Smith
When Zak’s plane crash-lands on Outpost Zero, a small Antarctic research base in one of the most isolated places on Earth, he discovers a cold, dark nightmare. The power’s out and the people who live there have disappeared. Worse, as he searches for answers, bizarre visions suggest a link to something else – deep beneath the ice – which only he can understand.
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‘Mike‘ by Andrew Noriss
Meet Floyd. He’s a tennis star. Possibly even good enough to win Wimbledon one day. Meet Mike. He’s… different. Apart from anything else, Floyd seems to be the only one who can see him. But Mike must have appeared for a reason and finding out why is perhaps the most important thing Floyd will ever do…
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25th January
‘I Am Thunder‘ by Muhammad Khan
Fifteen-year-old Muzna Saleem is passionate about writing and dreams of becoming a novelist. There’s just one problem – her super-controlling parents have already planned her life out for her:
Step 1) Get educated
Step 2) Qualify as a doctor
Step 3) Marry a cousin from Pakistan. Oh, and boyfriends are totally haram.
No one is more surprised than humble Muzna when high school hottie, Arif Malik, takes an interest in her. But Arif and his brother are angry at the West for demonizing Islam and hiding a terrible secret. As Arif begins to lead Muzna down a dark path, she faces a terrible choice: keep quiet and betray her beliefs, or speak up and betray her heart?