With Indian summers rolling into town, we know a way for you to escape this unbearable heat. Go on adventures, of course! If anyone you know has ever said that reading is boring, they clearly haven’t yet experienced the adventure of it. How else would you go on exciting escapades with your favourite characters and experience a plethora of emotions from just words? Cost-efficient and totally worth it, we say!
Check out these ten young adult novels that are cult-classics. They’re so good, you’ll end up reading them more than once!
1. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
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Fifteen-year-old Isabel ‘Belly’ Conklin associates her life with only the summers she spends with the Fisher family, which includes the two hot AF brothers who couldn’t be more polar opposites. While both hold a special place in her heart, this isn’t your average love story where she’ll have to pick between them. Instead, check out how this novel beautifully encapsulates growth, maturity and independence.
Price: Rs 350 Buy it here
2. The Library Of Fates by Aditi Khorana
Princess Amrita of Shalinger finds herself in an impossible situation – the tyrannical Emperor Sikander has conquered her kingdom, leaving her in the rubble with just a former slave. Re-read this classic if you’ve forgotten just how cleverly the author has executed this unique novel! And if you’re never read it before, then this one is a must!
Price: Rs 1372 Buy it here
3. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
Elkeles gives ‘star-crossed lovers’ a whole new meaning! Brittany Ellis and Alex Fuentes couldn’t be further apart in terms of class, race and priorities. But when they’re paired together in class and Alex’s friends challenge him to seduce this picture perfect girl into his life – both realise the other is nothing like they seem. Passionate, breathtaking and steamy, this urban twist is fresh and contemporary and looks much beyond the surface.
Price: Rs 495 Buy it here
4. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
“You is kind, You is smart, You is important” – have simple words ever made you cry this hard? In a novel where you discover self-worth and self-assurance, this one perfectly balances the serious hardcore lessons it provides with sassy comical humour that’ll have you in fits of laughter. Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan is an aspiring writer after college, who sets out to expose the racism encountered by two black maids working for white families during the Civil Rights Movement in 1963.
Price: Rs 299 Buy it here
5. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Transport yourself to Victorian London in the 19th century as young Tessa Gray is sent spiralling deep into the dark supernatural underworld of London after the death of her aunt. The Dark Sisters abuse her for the powers she didn’t even know she had but that’s not all. Our beloved heroine must navigate the world of angel warriors, known as ‘shadowhunters’ who protect the earth while also searching for her missing brother, Nathaniel. This one’s a personal favorite – a novel that captures my heart entirely with this awesome historical plot. Let’s not forget how dreamy William Herondale is!! *heart eyes*
Price: Rs 302 Buy it here
6. Lock And Key by Sarah Dessen
Seventeen-year-old Ruby Cooper has been living on her own after her mother abandoned her for another drunken and drug-filled binge. But when the jig is up, Ruby is forced to live with the sister she hadn’t heard from since she was eight. A Sarah Dessen classic, this novel explores the importance of family and the significance of providing and accepting support in tough situations. Witty and powerful, this one’s just like you.
Price: Rs 349 Buy it here
7. The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
Princess Mayavati of Bharata was born under ill-fated stars, earning her a feared reputation within her kingdom. Her father, Raja of Bharata arranges her marriage of political convenience and then further arranges her suicide for political leverage. While she is saved by the mysterious Prince Amar of Akaran, Maya is still thrown into a spiralling sequence of events in which she must encounter several mysterious entities as well different dimensions and reincarnations to save the ones she loves. A cult-classic amongst the Indian audience and abroad!
Price: Rs 305 Buy it here
8. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Set three hundred years into the future in a dystopian world, Tally Youngblood, an ‘ugly’ is about to turn 16, the universal age at which she’ll receive the cosmetic operation to become a ‘pretty.’ While it is a rite of passage, Tally is confronted by the not so pretty world of the rebels against the government, who claim the surgery makes your brain ‘pretty’ too, or in other words ‘placid.’ With the world on her shoulders, Tally must navigate between both sides as she procures her future. Who doesn’t love an intricate dystopian storyline?! We know we do!
Price: Rs 250 Buy it here
9. Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Nora Grey can’t help but be drawn to mysterious and brooding Patch Cipriano – but there’s something about him that’s off. After strange incidents, Nora is convinced her high school classmate isn’t human. Or is she just delusional? This novel’s a great read as the female heroine finds herself in the midst of an ancient battle between immortal forces and fallen angels. Packed with intense romance and powerful eternal beings, Fitzpatrick ensures you can’t put this book down.
Price: Rs 299 Buy it here
10. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
We just had to include Jenny Han for the second time, primarily because this novel’s adaptation will become a Netflix exclusive this August! Isn’t that a pretty compelling reason to read it? Even more so, this one’s for all the girls out there who know how exhausting crushes are. Am I right or am i right? Lara Jean Song has her entire life thrown upside down when the secret letters she wrote to each and every one of her crushes, are mailed to all of them – personally!
Price: Rs 583 Buy it here
11. The Hunger Games
Ahhh, the original and unforgettable dystopian novel! Set deep into the future after civilisation had led itself to near extinction, the population is now divided between the luxurious capital and 12 districts facing varying degrees of poverty in a nation called Panem. To remind the districts of their unparalleled power and to keep them in fear, the totalitarian capital hosts an annual ‘hunger games’ in which 24 tributes, two from each district, must fight to their deaths to be the last one standing. Such a great storyline and a powerful heroine in the form of the legendary Katniss Everdeen. Safe to say, this one we’ll be re-reading for several years to come!
Price: Rs 562 Buy it here
12. Twilight
We’re sure you must’ve read this iconic classic at least a dozen times! Seventeen-year-old Isabella ‘Bella’ Swan has no idea what lurks in the small town of Forks, Washington after just recently moving in with her estranged father. Sexy vampires, passionate werewolves and steamy high school romance, this one’s got everything to ensure your summer’s spent productively – re-reading twilight of course!
Price: Rs 374 Buy it here
13. Divergent
In a post-apocalyptic world where the people are divided between five factions, each representing a dominant personality trait, sixteen-year-old Beatrice ‘Tris’ Prior must navigate through a society which prohibits the possession of more than one personality trait. With the totalitarian government looming over her back, Tris must explore the possibility of having more than one personality trait and becoming the rogue ‘Divergent.’ We love love LOVE this one!
Price: Rs 328 Buy it here
14. Maze Runner
This novel totally messes with your mind! It’s still such an amazing re-read! Sixteen-year-old Thomas finds himself in a metal elevator with no recollection of his past except his first name. He soon comes to a place called the Glade, where there are other boys with a similar experience: no memories but their first name. A seemingly quiet civilisation of boys that receive weekly supplies of food and other necessities, their world is entirely shaken up with the arrival of a girl and the stoppage of the weekly food supplies.
Price: Rs 261 Buy it here
Keep the books coming and the re-reading going *Wink*
Image Source: Amazon.in