The best YA books about first love, discovering yourself, and all that good stuff

Stephanie Perkins is one of my favorite YA authors. With the perfect touch of first love romance and friendship in magical Paris, Anna and the French Kiss never fails to bring a smile to my face no matter how often I reread it. Which is pretty often. Sometimes I pick up this book when I’m feeling stuck on my writing to get inspired again. 

On a side note, I met Stephanie Perkins at a convention years ago and she was an absolute sweetheart despite the fact that I pretty much fangirled all over her. 

I picked up A Taste for Love while I was browsing the aisles at Barnes and Noble and the description and gorgeous cover immediately caught my eye. Sometimes it is hard to rewrite a classic story and make it your own, but Jennifer Yen does it beautifully here. I completely forgot that it was a retelling of Pride and Prejudice as I was swept away in Liza’s life and all the laugh-out-loud antics of her family and friends. I’m also a huge fan of Top Chef so all the cooking in this book only made me hungry for more.  

My favorite genre to read and write is romance, but there are different levels to them. I got the honor to read Salaam, With Love before it came out and although the romance in here is more subtle and sweet, this book is definitely about loving yourself. About discovering who you are and being proud of where you’re from. Although our lives and cultures are different, I can definitely relate to Dua’s journey of self-discovery and was rooting for her every step of the way. 

Coming from a huge family (and I mean 50+ people), I loved Sophie’s family and their hilarious chaos. Sometimes it was a little hard to remember all the relatives and their names, but that was probably because I was zooming through this book. I’m pretty sure I finished it in an entire sitting as I neglected my family. The only times I stopped were to laugh at some of the crazy, but fun-loving dates that Sophie went through. This is a perfect Christmas book as I’m pretty sure my heart swelled as I read it.

I have an odd fascination with zombies. Movies, shows, books, I love them all. I also know that I would never survive an actual zombie apocalypse because I have no survivor skills and my cardio sucks. Luckily, The Perfect Escape brings my love for all of that into a great YA rom-com. But it’s not all about the zombies and survival as the main characters, Nate and Kate, struggle with their own families and loves. It was a much deeper book than I expected, but it’s a great way to escape from your life for a few hours.