Mariel Recommends: YA Standalones
Sometimes I like to pick up a book, ready to embark on a long journey with the characters, sword-fighting against villains and living in another universe where everyone is divided.
Other times, a reader wants to read a book that is all by itself, where it all ends and begins at the same time. (You also don't have to wait a year for the next book in the series to be published and forget everything that happened in the first novel) .
Here are my recommended Young Adult standalones in scattered categories such as contemporary, LGBTQIAP+, and retellings.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
I love this book so much. If I could, I would give it more than just five stars. Cath's love for Simon Snow and the fictional (but not so fictional) world that she has immersed herself in, I can relate to her love for the characters. The rest of the characters whom are constant throughout the course of the novel, Levi and Regan are so lovable the relationship they have with each other is cute, but the relationship the characters have with Cath is adorable.
It's not as light and fluffy as it seems, but even if that's not what you're looking for, you should still pick this novel up.
For all the Fangirls and Fanboys and fanatics out there.
Cath is a Simon Snow fan. But for Cath, being a fan is her life. It's the thing that's gotten her and her identical twin sister, Wren through the tough times--it's what got them through their mother leaving.
Cath writes Simon Snow fan fiction. It has become hugely popular with the Simon Snow fandom, and Cath takes pride in it, updating the work multiple times a week.
This year, Cath is starting college. Between all the stress over her schoolwork and her roommate attempting to connect with her, Cath doesn't update as often as she used to.
But Cath doesn't want to be away from home, all she wants is to stay in her room and write all day, where it doesn't involve any human interaction whatsoever.
The first year is terrifying, which Cath expected, but also heart wrenching and romantic, which Cath didn't plan for.
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Natasha isn't one to believe in fate and destiny. Far fetched dreams aren't the kind to be brewed up in her mind. Natasha depends on science and facts. She isn't the girl to meet a cute boy in the bustling streets of New York City and fall in love with him. Especially not when her family is twelve hours from being deported back to Jamaica. Falling in love with him will not be her story.
Daniel has always been good. A good student in school, a good son, living up to his parents' expectations. Not a dreamer, not a poet. But when Daniel quite literally runs into a girl in the shuffling crowds on the streets in New York City, all of that changes. He thinks that maybe fate has something special in store-- for them both.
The Universe: Every moment of our lives has brought us to this one. Every choice we have made has shaped who we all have become. But a million different outcomes can come from what we do next. What will you choose?
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Aristotle is a quiet yet troubled teen, with his brother in prison. Dante is seemingly a know-it-all who has an unusual way of viewing the ways of the world.
When they meet each other during summer vacation at a swimming pool, the pair couldn't seem any more different from one another, but as they begin to spend more time with one another, a friendship begins to bloom between the two of them. A special kind of friendship-- one that can last a lifetime.
During complications and bumps in the long winding road of their friendship, Ari and Dante learn things about themselves, the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people that they want to be.
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with a crow feather in her hair ...
Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. That was before she met the alluring Peter Pan in the forbidden forest and instantly falls under his spell.
Peter is unlike anyone that Tiger Lily has ever known, he's impetuous and fearless, he scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, Neverland's most fearsome inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon she is risking everything-- her family, her friends-- to be with him. When Tiger Lily is told that she must marry a terrible man from her tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.
With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the two seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, young English who is everything that Tiger Lily is not, which leads to Tiger Lily discovering that the most dangerous of enemies can lie inside the most loyal and loving hearts.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Sixteen-year-old not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save all of his drama for the stage. But when his emails fall into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is being blackmailed: if he doesn't play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone's business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy Simon has been emailing with, will be compromised.
With some messy dynamics messing with his once tight-knit group of friends, and email correspondence with Blue growing more and more flirtatious every day, Simon's junior year has suddenly gotten all complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he's pushed out--without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling with a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he's ever met.
That concludes my recommended standalone YA reads. This was a short list compared to my other posts, so I'm going to guarantee that there will be a part two.
Thank you so much for reading this and I hope you have a wonderful day!