The Class of 2014: YA Superlative Blogfest (hosted by Jessica Love, Tracey Neithercott, Alison Miller, and me) runs Monday, December 15th through Thursday, December 18th and will highlight favorite books published in 2014 using a variety of fun superlative categories. The Class of 2014: YA Superlative Blogfest is all about promoting the extraordinary young adult books published this year, so if you haven’t already, draft a post and sign up to participate at the end of this post. We can’t wait to see your favorite reads of 2014!
2014 Reading List (starred = debut): The Winner’s Curse, *Let’s Get Lost, *Loop, Blue Lily, Lily Blue, *17 First Kisses, Ashes to Ashes, *The Secret Sky, *Behind the Scenes, Isla and the Happily Ever After, *The Only Thing To Fear, Bleed Like Me, The Bridge From Me to You, *Creed, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, I’ll Give You the Sun, *One Two Three, *Of Scars and Stardust, We Were Liars, *Wish You Were Italian, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Frozen, What I Thought Was True, *The Eighth Guardian, *Pointe, *Push Girl, *Open Road Summer, *Far From You, *The Symptoms of My Insanity, Panic, *The Truth About Alice, *NIL, Complicit, The Summer I Found You, The Evolution of Emily, Into the Still Blue, Heartbeat, The Killing Woods, Brown Girl Dreaming
Best In Show
Favorite Cover
Lots of beautiful covers in 2014… These four stuck out: The Secret Sky by Atia Abawi, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, Pointe by Brandy Colbert, and Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn. All four are excellent reads, as well!
Cutest Couple
Gwen and Cassidy from Huntley Fitzpatrick’s What I Thought Was True, and Isla and Josh (despite their drama) from Stephanie Perkins’s Isla and the Happily Ever After — too cute to choose, too cute for words. ❤
Most Likely to Succeed (Pick a Printz)
Not only did Jandy Nelson’s I’ll Give You the Sun hit me harder in the feels than any other book I read this year, it’s also one of the most beautifully written stories I’ve encountered.
Most Likely to Make You Miss Your Bedtime
Could. Not. Put. Down The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski. The romance, the pacing, the twists, the crazy-compelling characters. So, so good!
Best Repeat Performance (Sequel or Follow-Up)
These The Raven Cycle books just keep getting better, don’t they? I adored Maggie Stiefvater’s Blue Lily, Lily Blue, and I can’t wait to see how this series ends when the final novel comes out next year.
Favorite Finale or End of Series Novel
I’ve followed Laini Taylor’s and Veronica Rossi’s trilogies since their opening books, and Dreams of Gods and Monsters and Into the Still Blue held up through the end. Love and recommend both of these fantastical series!
Romance Most Worthy of an Ice Bath
Isla and the Happily Ever After‘s Isla and Josh in Spain… Need I say more? Thank you, Stephanie Perkins, for bringing the swoon. (Honorable Mention to Dahlia Adler’s Behind the Scenes — hot, hot, hot!)
Best Breakout Novel (Debut Author)
This one’s hard because I’ve read some *fantastic* debuts this year, but my love for Adi Alsaid’s Let’s Get Lost knows no bounds. It’s just so charming and and heartwarming and poignant. Plus, hello, adorable cover!
Best Old-Timer (Favorite Novel Pubbed BEFORE 2014)
Late to the party on both of these (seriously — what took me so long?!) but Morgan Matson’s Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour and Cristin Terrill’s All Our Yesterdays both lived up to and then completely surpassed their hype. If you’ve put off reading either or both, remedy that soon!
Most Likely to Make a Grown Man Cry
We all know I’m not a book crier, but Christa Desir’s Bleed Like Me and Elodie Nowodazkij’s debut One, Two, Three pulled at my heartstrings in major (though very different) ways.
Most Pleasant Surprise
I’m not sure I would have picked up Caroline Tung Richmond’s The Only Thing to Fear if I didn’t know and adore her — the cover doesn’t exactly scream Katy Book. But I’m so glad I gave this debut a go because it’s one of the most unique and creative stories I’ve read. Loved it!
Most Creative Use of a Love Triangle
Sophie from Tess Sharpe’s Far From You is tangled up between a brother and sister and oh my goodness, it’s messy. Plus, there’s a murder mystery and drug addiction and guilt and sadness to contend with. Such an enthralling read.
Sleeper Hit (Novel So Awesome I Wish It’d Been Hyped More)
I wouldn’t call Elizabeth Scott’s Heartbeat, Jessica Love & Chelsie Hill’s Push Girl, Lisa Schroeder’s The Bridge From Me to You, or Stephanie Kuehn’s Complicit “under the radar,” but they’re all so good, I wish I was seeing them featured on everyone’s end-of-the-year “Best” lists. If you haven’t read any of the four of these and are a fan of contemporary YA, you MUST check them out!
Favorite Outlier (Best 2014 Picture, MG, NA, or Adult Book)
Roxane Gay’s An Untamed State, Rebecca Behren’s When Audrey Met Alice, Riley Edgewood’s Rock & Release serial, and Mary Kubica’s The Good Girl are all such different books, but all four are so affecting. They each blew me away with their amazingness.
Click below to add your name and your Best in Show post link to our sign up so we can hop around and check out your selections.
This weekend, Jessica, Tracey, Alison, and I will randomly select FOUR Superlative Blogfest participants to win a 2014 YA book of their choice. Make sure to include your post links to all of the linky lists that apply so you’ll be eligible to win…
And thanks so much to those who participated, commented, and helped spread the word about this blogfest… I’ve had a blast reading all of the posts, and my TBR list has grown by leaps and bounds! ❤
katyupperman.com 
I’ve seen The Good Girl around. It looks intriguing. I haven’t heard of The Secret Sky but it is beautiful!
I really, really loved THE GOOD GIRL, Sarah. It’s got a GONE GIRL vibe, but to be completely honest, I think it’s even better. I highly recommend it!
I really want to read An Untamed State soon, and Let’s Get Lost. So many awesome books on your list! Isla is waiting on my nightstand for when I finish this revision. 🙂 Happy Holidays! (And thank you for the nod to Audrey!)
AN UNTAMED STATE wrecked me, Rebecca. It’s one of those where I absolutely loved the book, but HATED the story. So, so affecting. On the other hand, LET’s GET LOST is completely charming. I recommend them both, for completely different reasons. And yay for Audrey! ❤
Apparently I didn’t read any tearjerkers this year. I couldn’t think of anything for that category. I almost put TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE under the cover category because it’s super cute! I should have done the collage thing like you did, because there were so many great covers! I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. I’m so happy you loved THE WINNER’S CURSE and AMY & ROGER. 😀
Thanks so much for hosting this again, Katy!
There really were tons of great covers in 2014… I could have posted 20 for that category. And THE WINNER’S CURSE and AMY & ROGER are both among the 10 best books I read all year. Thanks talking them up because I’m so, so glad I gave them a shot. 🙂
Aww, Katy…thanks so much for the PG love. ❤ You warm my heart!
Ditto, lady! ❤
Oh, lots of books to add to my TBR list! That cover for Pointe is really beautiful.
Isn’t it? One of my favorite covers (and favorite reads!) of the year.
Firstly, thank you for hosting – it’s been fun! I was torn between Let’s Get Lost and Open Road Summer but eventually went with the latter because of the song lyrics. However, they were both very pleasant surprises. I read All Our Yesterdays this year as well – loved it! The Bridge from Me to You was on my summer reading list but I couldn’t find it anywhere at a decent price (this seems to be a recurring theme). Actually, I’ve never seen a Lisa Schroeder book in Waterstones (our biggest book chain), which is a shame.
I’ve had so much fun with the blogfest again this year; thank YOU for joining us! I totally agree that ORS is a fabulous debut. In fact, I read a lot of exceptional debuts this year, and that category was really hard to decide on. Also, I’m bummed that you’re not finding Lisa Schroeder’s books in Waterstones. Have you read anything by her yet? She’s one of my favorite contemporary authors, and I think her books are tragically under-hyped. I’ve loved every one I’ve read! Maybe try ordering from The Book Depository?
Your blog post is basically a giant reminder that I suck at finishing series. I need to read the Daughter of Smoke and Bones books! And Into the Still Blue! And BLLB! And… Oh man.
Also, I can’t believe it took you so long to read Amy & Roger’s. That’s got Katy Book written on the cover.
I’m bad about reading ONE book from a series and not going back for the second, but once I’ve got two under my belt, I’m pretty good about finishing the series out. Especially the really fabulous ones like Veronica Rossi’s and Laini Taylors. 🙂
So, in hindsight, I’m thinking it might’ve been the name Roger that turned me off to AMY & ROGER. How stupid is that? I mean, it’s just not a very appealing name… But you’re right: the cover screams Katy Book, and I ended up totally in love with the story — and Roger!
I want to read When Audrey Met Alice it looks really cute. I picked up I’ll Give You the Sun yesterday at the library. I’m 50 pages in and I’m really loving it so far.
WHEN AUDREY MET ALICE is seriously adorable. And it’s so well plotted, and well written. I loved it! I hope I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN lives up to all the hype I’ve given it this week. I think it will. 🙂 Thanks for joining us, Amy!
Aawww! Thank you so much! I am really truly honored to be right by Christa in that category :)))) And I have so many books to read. So. Many!
Me too! I’m actually going through this last week’s posts and adding a bunch of books to my Wish List. I think I need to block out a week of straight reading! Thanks for joining us this week, lady!
Well…there goes any hope of trying to tame the TBR 😉 I want to read so many of these! And yes, Isla and Josh were pretty steamy, weren’t they? Love the choices!
Thanks! They WERE steamy, and I love that SP went there. ❤
I always get so many great book recs from you. I’m really interested in Let’s Get Lost now, and I need to finish up the Laini Taylor Trilogy, goodness!
I think you’ll like Of Metal and Wishes as it is like The Winner’s Curse in that it is very character focused and takes place in a detailed, richly imagined world. 🙂 Thanks for hosting again!!
Wow–just looked up THE ONLY THING TO FEAR and it sounds very much like a Jess Book 🙂 Glad the trip out of your usual reading zone was a good one–that’s always such a tough call when there are so many other good books waiting to be read.
I also finally read and loved Amy & Roger this year! It was seriously so good, especially after reading Second Chance Summer not long before. (I mean, I loved that one, but it made me cry. Which books make me do. A lot.)
I know… I cannot believe I waited so long to read AMY & ROGER. It’s one of my favorite contemporaries now. Loved it so much, even more than SECOND CHANCE SUMMER. Now I need to read SINCE YOU’VE BEEN GONE!
SYBG was really good! It was a lot more like AMY & ROGER than SECOND CHANCE SUMMER.