Pop-Culturalist.com

As you may or may not be able to tell, I am a big fan of young adult books. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’ve got a whole list of books that I’m really excited to read in 2017. Come along for the ride, won’t you?

Disclaimer–I work for Penguin Random House, the publisher of a few of the books below. All of these opinions are solely my own and the books below are published by an array of different companies (not just the one I work for).

I’ve listed them in order of publication date, going from soonest to latest.

1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Release date: 2/28

This contemporary YA promises to be a timely take on what happens when your childhood best friend, who is black, is killed by a police officer. The book has already been optioned to become a film with Amandla Stenberg (Hunger Games‘s Rue) set to star.

2. Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn Eves

Release date: 3/28

This YA fantasy has been compared to Red Queen and centers around sixteen-year-old Anna Arden who doesn’t possess magic in a world where magic is revered. She is ignored until she breaks her sister’s spell when she shouldn’t be able to. Soon, Anna is on a perilous journey of discovery.

3. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Release date: 3/28

From the author who brought us the acclaimed Daughter of Smoke and Bone comes a new fantasy about the children of gods who have all been decimated after a war between the gods and humans ended with the humans winning. I don’t know much more about this but I’m willing to go anywhere with Taylor and her lush, poetic prose.

4. Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

Release date: 4/4

This new book in the contemporary YA Lara Jean series (which began with To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You) focuses on Lara Jean’s senior year. Where will she go to college? And what will happen with her boyfriend Peter?

5. Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

Release date: 5/2

For any of those who’ve read my Best YA Books of 2016 post–you’ll know I’m a big fan of Sarah J. Maas and this series in particular. This YA fantasy series has so far been fast-paced, as full of action and twists as romance. In this installment (SPOILER ALERT), Feyre must spy on her former lover. Will she be able to do so without her true motives being revealed?

6. Flame in the Mist by Renee Adhieh

Release date: 5/28

I’m excited to read Renee Ahdieh’s take on feudal Japan. This YA adventure’s plot reminds me of Tamora Pierce’s Alanna series but set in a different country.

7. Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner

Release date: 5/28

I honestly cannot contain myself about this book. It’s been SEVEN LONG YEARS since the last book in Turner’s Queen’s Thief series. I can’t recommend this series highly enough. It has everything that I love: court intrigue, political maneuvering, clever twists that leave you in awe of the author, a historical setting (it’s set in a world that is similar to ancient Greece). If you enjoyed Marie Rutkoski’s The Winner’s Trilogy or Sherwood Smith’s Crown Duel (one of my favorite books of all time), you will also enjoy this series, so catch up while you’re waiting for this one to come out! Also, the new cover redesigns are gorgeous.

8. The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman

Release date: 10/28

When news broke that Philip Pullman was going to write another book set in the world of his beloved His Dark Materials trilogy, my brain literally exploded. I read the His Dark Materials trilogy in one breathless, mind-boggling weekend in high school. Afterward, I felt as though my world had been shattered and put back together and that I wasn’t the same person that I had been before. I can only hope that this new trilogy will do something similar. Note that the below cover isn’t final. According to Pullman, this trilogy is an “-equel”–not a prequel or a sequel. This book apparently centers around Lyra’s life 10 years before the events of The Golden Compass.