It’s here, it’s here, it’s here!
In case you’ve forgotten, The Class of 2012: YA Superlative Blogfest (hosted by Jessica Love,Tracey Neithercott, Alison Miller, and me) begins today, Monday, December 17th, and will run through Thursday, December 20th. All of the awesome people who are participating in the blogfest (YOU, I hope!) will highlight favorite books published 2012 using a variety of super fun superlative categories. The Class of 2012: YA Superlative Blogfest is all about promoting extraordinary young adult books, so if you haven’t already, draft a post, hop down to the end of THIS post, and sign up to participate. We can’t wait to see your favorite reads of 2012!
So, here are the 2012 YA novels I’ve read over the last year, listed in no particular order: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, A Million Suns, The Fault in Our Stars, The Disenchantments, Something Strange and Deadly, Pandemonium, Wanderlove, Under the Never Sky, Ten, This is Not a Test, Happy Families, Insurgent, Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone, Monstrous Beauty, Bitterblue, Time Between Us, My Life Next Door, Breathe, Pushing the Limits, Skylark, The Raven Boys, Live Through This, Bittersweet, Flawed, Ditched, Starters, Reached, Lovely, Dark and Deep, Meant to Be, and Days of Blood and Starlight…
And here’s how I chose to award today’s categories (I totally cheated and named two novels for a few of the categories… there were just too many fantastic 2012 books to choose from!):
Head of the Class
Favorite Dystopian
This novel had it all: Lauren Oliver’s beautiful writing, a crazy-fast pace, a slow-burn forbidden romance, and a world that is both unique and formidable. I’m dying to see how this trilogy concludes when Requiem comes out in a few months.
Favorite Science Fiction
Once again, life on the Godspeed had me absolutely enthralled. Beth Revis has created a fascinated world and filled it with complex characters and tons of twists and turns. Can’t wait for the final installment of this trilogy!
Favorite Fantasy
Oh, Bitterblue… This novel gave me all the feelings. I laughed, I swooned, I cringed, and I worried. I adored everything about Bitterblue and her complicated world, especially Gideon. If I had to choose an absolute favorite 2012 YA novel, it would probably be this one.
One of the most original books I’ve read this year. I loved headstrong Blue, and I loved the complex, realistic relationship between the Raven Boys. This one had a twist that gave me shivers!
Favorite Contemporary
From the music, to the road trip, to the colorful characters who populated this novel– not to mention their wild relationships — I adored it all. Nina LaCour has a way of penning imperfect characters who are easy to root for, which I think is this novel’s greatest strength.
Once again, John Green has shown that he is a master at lending humor to unimaginably heartbreaking situations. Oh, and he rocks at writing a teen girl’s voice. This novel didn’t make me cry (I’m not an easy crier), but it did make me want to go to Amsterdam!
Favorite Action/Adventure
I could have filed this one under dystopian, of course, but because each and every page was filled with heart-pounding action, I thought it would fit well here, too. Oh, Perry… I’d leave the dome for him any day.
This is Not a Test was definitely action packed, but it was character-driven, too, a perfect combination. Sloane was at first a difficult character to root for, yet I loved her for her honesty, and I loved the way she came out at the end of this novel. Courtney Summers writes unlikable narrators like nobody else.
Favorite Comedy
This story is just adorable. It’s not slapstick, silly comedy, but more subtle and refined, something real teens will actually find funny. Julia is a quick, witty narrator, definitely someone I’d want to be friends with!
Favorite Mystery
Kat Rosenfeld’s prose is gorgeous and literary and mature, and the creepy murder mystery at the center of this book’s plot kept me guessing until the end.
Favorite Romance
Bria and Rowan’s relationship throughout the course of Wanderlove progressed believably and sweetly. They challenged each other, yet they had a very clear mutual respect for one another. I was rooting from them from their very first encounter.
Doesn’t every teen girl want to live next door to a cute, considerate, attentive high school boy? My Life Next Door fulfills that fantasy with a believable, enviable romance between main character Samantha and boy-next-door Jase. These two are just too cute together.
Favorite Paranormal
Monstrous Beauty is two interwoven stories in one, told in a parallel manner with twists and turns that left me all kinds of surprised. None of the characters in this book are quite who they seem, and the mermaids are creepy and diabolical, a win when it comes to this paranormal story.
Favorite Family Drama
I could have chosen Lovely, Dark and Deep for the romance category because main character Wren’s relationship with older boy Cal is all kinds of steamy, but there’s a lot going on in the way of Wren’s family dynamics too. Whatever the genre, I loved every minute of this novel.
Favorite Genre Bender
Laini Taylor’s writing is absolutely beautiful. She melds romance and urban fantasy and lots of crazy uniqueness so perfectly, her world feels absolutely real. I cannot wait for Book 3!
katyupperman.com 
Hmm…imagine that – we have similar choices. 🙂
Great listing. I wasn’t super crazy about DOSAB, but I do want to read the sequel. And I MUST read MY LIFE NEXT DOOR!
Fun!
I thought the same thing when I read YOUR list. 🙂
BLOOD AND STARLIGHT is fantastic… You’ll have to let me know if you enjoy it more than SMOKE AND BONE. And I bet you’ll love MY LIFE NEXT DOOR!
I am *still* waiting for Bitterblue to come to my library, and it is killing me. Kristin Cashore writes such brilliant fantasy. *goes off to check it hasn’t magically appeared*
I hope you get to read it soon! BITTERBLUE was my favorite of the year. 🙂
We don’t have as many similar choices as I would have thought. We both picked This Is Not A Test but categorized it differently! You have a lot of series sequels on here that I need to actually read the first in series for. They’re on my ever-growing list. 🙂
I had to kind of finagle my categories to be sure I got to include all of my 2012 faves. THIS IS NOT A TEST was definitely one!
I actually just checked out The Disenchantments from the library a couple days ago – I’ll have to move it to the top of my list!
Read it soon, Steph, and definitely let me know if you like it… I LOVE it!
I had such a hard time going between The Fault In Our Stars and The Disenchantments! I should’ve been as smart as you and list them both 🙂 Awesome list, and thanks for reminding me of Lovely, Dark and Deep—been meaning to get that one on TBR!
Oh, I hope you enjoy LOVELY, DARK AND DEEP. I thought it was excellent! And yeah… I totally had to cheat and include 2 books in a few of the categories. Oh, well. 🙂
Ohhh we have quite a few books in common and some that I loved as well but didn’t think of including (like MEANT TO BE :D)
Thanks for organizing such a fun blogfest…one that is sure to make my TBR grow like no other 😛
And I need to read Lovely, Dark and Deep!
Yes, and let me know what you think of it! Thanks for participating in the blogfest, Elodie… It’s already been a blast!
Great list! So many books to read, so little time.
I agree!
THE DISENCHANTMENTS and THIS IS NOT A TEST are two that I’m dying to read (maybe they will show up under the Christmas tree?) And I was skeptical of mermaids–I tend to be skeptical of creature books in general–but I might cave and give MONSTROUS BEAUTY a shot.
Oh, I am NOT a mermaid girl at all, but MONSTROUS BEAUTY is fantastic. It’s kind of a historical too, which is really cool. Let me know if you read it and what you think. 🙂
I’m seeing a lot of famil;iar favorites on your list! We must have similar taste. 🙂 So the ones I haven’t read–MY LIFE NEXT DOOR, and MEANT TO BE in particular–I’ll have to read ASAP.
Yes, and definitely let me know if you like them, Rebecca. It was fun to see that we had so many choices in common. 🙂
We have some of the same picks on our list, but sometimes slotted under different categories. 🙂 This is a pretty great list! I haven’t read all of them, but some of them are on my TBR list.
I loved you list as well, Jaime. You clearly have excellent reading taste. 🙂
We have a few of the same books on our list but we share more that were close contenders for me. I only wanted to do one book per category and This is Not a Test, The Disenchantments, and Bitterblue were just barely edged out.
Thanks for co-organizing this!
Yeah, I had to cheat a little because there were some books I just couldn’t leave out. Thanks for joining in on the blogfest!
I really need to read Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone. I’ve heard so many good things about it!
It’s fantastic… Highly recommend!
Of all the superlatives I’ve looked at today, you had the most books that I’d never heard of on your list. And my TBR list just grows and grows! I’m dying to read THE DISENCHANTMENTS.
THE DISENCHANTMENTS is awesome! I highly recommend it if you like upper YA contemporary. 🙂
Wanderlove and The Disenchantments… *sighs* And The Fault In Our Stars goes without saying, right? Your list is AWESOME, I’ve either read it and loved it, or cannot WAIT to read it 🙂
Thanks, Iffath! I’ve been very lucky in choosing amazing books this year. 🙂
Ah, so many of your picks are on my TBR with Days of Blood & Starlight at the very top! It’s a big book and I got to it too late to put it in the blogfest, but I’m so excited to read Laini’s beautiful writing again. 🙂
I really want to read Monstrous Beauty too, and I’d forgotten about Amelia Anne, so thanks for the reminder!
I hope you’re able to read Amelia Anne and Monstrous Beauty… They’re both fantastic. And of course Blood and Starlight is stunning. Laini Taylor’s writing is amazing!
I just picked up MY LIFE NEXT DOOR today while I was shopping based on your recommendation! It totally sounds like something I’ll love.
I hope you do! I though it was a fantastic romance. And Jase… What a sweetheart!
I love reading everyone’s lists! BITTERBLUE is my Best Fantasy & overall favorite of 2012 too. And we chose them for different categories, but I also loved MY LIFE NEXT DOOR & UNDER THE NEVER SKY! I’ve got to read RAVEN BOYS before the end of the year…
Well, you clearly have excellent taste, Jessica! I thought THE RAVEN BOYS was excellent. I didn’t love it as much as THE SCORPIO RACES, but it was still a knock out novel. You’ll have to let me know what you think. 🙂
I have a few of the same books of my list as well. I still need to read Blood and Starlight. I’m on the wait list at my library for it and it’s taking a while. I can’t wait to read Oliver’s books–but I am waiting until they are all out. I can’t be drawn into ANOTHER series that goes on and on for years. I want to have them all and take a few weeks and just read them one after the other. I’ll have to add a few of these to my tbr list.
I almost wish I’d waited for the entire DELIRIUM trilogy to be complete before reading too, Kaylee. I liked the first book fine, but I LOVED Pandemonium. Can’t wait for Requiem! I hope you find Days of Blood and Starlight worth the wait!