Aussie YA Blog Hop – My #LoveOzYA Recommendations!

August 8, 2016 by Jeann @ Happy Indulgence | Blog Tours, Books

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This week, the Aussie YA Bloggers Group is sharing the #LoveOzYA love across the blogosphere by sharing our favourite Aussie YA reads! Our authors are talented, diverse and super lovely and I can’t wait to share my favourites with you all.

Join our Twitter chat on Sunday 14 August at 6pm on #AusYABlogChat and @AusYABloggers!

1. What you love about Aussie YA

I love how Aussie YA isn’t afraid to explore new boundaries. When every new YA novel is marketed as the next “Hunger Games, Divergent or Fault in Our Stars”, our Aussie YA authors are doing their own thing other than what’s considered popular – and we absolutely love it! It’s always refreshingly diverse in terms of writing style, cultures, traditions, experiences and yet it feels incredibly relatable as well.

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2. Favourite Aussie YA authors

This one is a hard one, because I love so many Aussie YA authors for their voice and their writing. Some of my favourites are Kirsty Eagar (absolutely LOVED Summer Skin and the feminist fiction it represented), Amie Kaufman (I love her male point of view in the Starbound series as well as in Illuminae!), Jay Kristoff (Illuminae, The Lotus War, Nevernight) and Rebecca James (all of her thrillers, including Sweet Damage, Beautiful Malice and Cooper Bartholomew is Dead are amazing). Check out my Youtube video here to see their books!

3. The Aussie YA book you grew up with

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta – it was required reading when I was in Year 9, and I just loved how it captured the experience of an Italian teen, dealing with multi-cultural experiences while trying to fit in at school. We watched the movie as well at school which was pretty decent!

4. Favourite Aussie YA book released in 2016

I love all things disturbing and unsettling (which strangely doesn’t help with anxiety but anyway), so My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier will have to be a favourite so far! It’s about a guy dealing with his young psychopath sister, trying to hide her ways from everyone else while ensuring she doesn’t hurt anyone. It’s creepy, really delves into the human psyche and talks about nature vs nurture. Definitely an insightful read. Check out my full review.

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5. Aussie YA Debut you are looking forward to

I’m really looking forward to reading Waer by Meg Caddy, because Angelya and Bec who are also both fellow Aussie YA bloggers really enjoyed reading this supernatural werewolf book. I’m definitely up for any great paranormal/supernatural reads, particularly if they are Aussie YA!

6. Favourite Aussie YA series

I absolutely LOVE the Starbound trilogy by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner. It’s one of my favourite trilogies ever that really propels into stardom at the end of the series. From the antagonistic romance and mysterious beings in These Broken Stars, to the star-crossed forbidden romance and war in This Shattered World, and finally the unexpected “spy couple” bond in Their Fractured Light, each book features a different couple. It all comes together with an explosive finale, tying up an oppressed alien race and the secrets behind a space superpower. Plus the covers are absolutely stunning.

7. Unexpected Aussie YA surprise

I’ve just finished The Beauty is in the Walking by James Moloney which is about a teenager with cerebral palsy solving a small town mystery murder. I hadn’t heard of this book before, but picked it up because we were covering in for the monthly OzYAY segment. I ended up being really invested in Jacob’s story, particularly where he’s more than his disability and where he stuck up for his beliefs and rallied his classmates. It was such an inspirational story that shows that anyone can achieve what they set out to do, no matter who you are or what you have at your disposal.

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8. Aussie YA Book you always recommend to others

I absolutely LOVE The Sky So Heavy by Claire Zorn. It explores a nuclear winter where the apocalypse happens over night. What happens when you’re going to school, and all of a sudden the food runs out, your dad never comes home from work and people slowly start to disappear? It all feels very real like it could actually happen in this book, and I loved the relationship between Fin and his younger brother.

9. An Aussie YA book on your TBR

I’ve been meaning to read the series for ages, but definitely the Every series by Ellie Marney! Everyone who has read this Sherlock retelling has absolutely LOVED it and apparenty it’s quite intelligent, twisted and with a respectful relationship and amazing characters. I have it on my shelf and I’m really looking forward to getting into it!

10 . Recommend your favourite Aussie YA Bloggers!

I have so many favourite Aussie YA bloggers that picking one would be difficult. So I’m picking bloggers who I’ve discovered in the past year:

  • Read at Midnight – Aentee’s gorgeous designs, fun blog events and insightful reviews had me at first sight.
  • Wonderless Reviews – Lauren has just started blogging this year and I really enjoy her fun posts.
  • Read Think Ponder – CW’s gorgeous graphics, diverse book recs and engaging posts are top quality!
  • Reading with Jenna – I love Jenna’s insightful reviews and her contemporary YA recommendations (full disclosure, she’s also one of my co-bloggers).

 

Follow the hop below to discover more Aussie YA recommendations!

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Jeann is an Aussie YA blogger and mum who loves to read and recommend books! You can usually find me fangirling about books on my various social media channels including Twitter @happyindulgence, Instagram and Youtube.

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40 responses to “Aussie YA Blog Hop – My #LoveOzYA Recommendations!

  1. Honestly, who does love Looking for Alibrandi. I did the movie as a movie study in school so I of course had to read the book and when I did, I did not regret it. I yet to read any of the other stuff Melina Marchetta has but I've heard so many great things. Same with Jay Kristoff, Illuminae has been on my tbr for so so long. Anyway, great post!
    My recent post The Elite by Kiera Cass

  2. nereyda1003

    I have the Every series on my TBR and Summer Skin thanks to Nick. I love Illuminae and the Starbound trilogy. I also loved Graffiti Moon and Me Against You, I need to read more!

  3. traceyytran

    You are literally the queen of Aussie YA!! There are so many recommendations from this post and I'm super excited to delve into them because it's been awhile since I've read Aussie YA. I know I'm disappointed in myself. Love this Jeann!
    My recent post Aussie YA Blog Hop: Sharing #LoveOzYa

  4. Illuminae and the Starbound trilogy are two of my favorites as well, so I'm so glad to see them on your list Jeann. 🙂 Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous post! <3

  5. I really want to read the Every series, but I guess I'll either have to buy it on TBD or wait until it comes out in the US. Also The Starbound Trilogy! I remember that was one of the first books I read when I became a book blogger, so it kind of holds a special place in my heart (even though I didn't absolutely love it ahahah. It was still good though!).
    My recent post Olympic Book Tag!

    • I've heard so many great things about the Every series! Omg I'm so happy you still have fond memories of the Starbound series. I would love to read it again <3 it's one of my favourites.

  6. Totally agree with number one! I loved Illuminae so much and I can't wait to read some of Jay and Amie's solo work. My Sister Rosa, The Sky So Heavy and the Every series are all on my TBR and I can't wait to get to them!

    And I honestly can't thank you enough for mentioning my blog! That means so much to me especially coming from someone who I really look up to as a blogger!! Seriously made my entire week ♥
    My recent post I Just Have A Lot of (Mixed) Feelings // Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany &amp; Jack Thorne

  7. So many good book recs to feed my TBR!! The Sky So Heavy looks really good – I must get around to reading that one <3
    Melina Marchetta is such a queen! Her books were such a big part of my highschool reading experience, and I just adored how raw and emotional they were.
    And I totally agree with your reasons for loving our authors and their books – they're most certainly diverse and relatable so what's not to love?! Three cheers to Aussie YA! 😀

    • Oh my gosh, I loved The Sky So Heavy so much. I know, I'm glad I discovered her books because they are so relatable! Yippee, so many great reads!

  8. I've always been a fan of Aussie authors and their work – especially contemporary. I remember when I first discover literature on your side of the globe. I could not get enough. Now, I have a shelf dedicated to everything Aussie. I always thought every single one of your authors went to the same school, studied the same thing so the books are all equally awesome.

    Great post!
    My recent post On the Night Table [39]: Reading Updates

  9. I know, absolutely everyone I know who has read it raves about it, so I definitely know I'm missing out! So glad to hear that you're keen on picking it up! I love how Aussie YA is so awesome 😀

  10. corrallingbooks

    I totally agree with 1 – it's awesome how much variety there is with Aussie YA novels. I'm proud to say that I always jump in to Aussie YA, never knowing exactly WHAT to expect, because there's usually so much more than what the synopsis tells us! 🙂
    And ahhh, I HEAR SO MANY GOOD THINGS ABOUT MY SISTER ROSA! Honestly WILL pick up that book soon!
    My recent post Conversations: I Love My Books!

    • I know, I love how it's always unexpected but it turns out awesome you know? I hope you do pick it up Geraldine, it's such a great book!

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