Must-Read YA Books of Fall 2023
by Laura Lambert
This fall’s YA releases offer plenty to choose from — sequels and new installments by beloved authors, exciting debuts, adventure, fantasy, thrillers, coming-of-age stories, and more. Here are the most exciting young adult books to read this fall.
-
Forgive Me Not
Available from:In Baker’s provocative debut, 15-year-old Violetta Chen-Samuels is a juvenile offender. Her crime? Drunk driving resulting in the death of her 7-year-old sister. Can Violetta’s family ever forgive her? Can she ever forgive herself?
Also available from: -
House of Marionne
Available from:The House of Marionne is an elite boarding school for teens with special powers in the American South. 17-year-old Quell Marionne has a deadly magic in her blood called toushana that she must learn how to wield before it destroys her. Quell tries to hide her true nature from the Order — a society that is part dark magic, part debutante. The question is, will they discover who she really is before she does? This book is the first in an exciting new YA fantasy series.
Also available from: -
All You Have To Do
Available from:Two Black teens, 27 years apart, and a fight for justice is at the heart of Autumn Allen’s debut, which Kirkus calls “electric” and “a must-read.” The narrative is told from two points of view: Gibran, a high school senior in Massachusetts in 1995, and Kevin, a Columbia University student in 1968, reeling in the aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Their evocative stories come together in alternating chapters.
Also available from: -
Her Radiant Curse
Available from:Channi is cursed with a serpent’s face and will do anything for her sister, Vanna, who is known for her beauty. When Vanna gets pushed into an arranged marriage, Channi risks everything to protect her. Much like Lim’s bestseller, Six Crimson Cranes, this story weaves familiar elements from Western fairytales and Eastern folklore into something vibrant and new.
Also available from: -
American Royals IV: Reign
Available from:Prince Harry and Meghan may have quietly slipped out of the spotlight as of late, but Katharine McGee’s royals are here for one more book. In the fourth and final book in the American Royals series, the queen is in a coma, the princess has gone missing, and the prince has assumed the throne. What will bring the Washington family back together again?
Also available from: -
Suddenly a Murder
Available from:Described as One of Us Is Lying meets Knives Out, Lauren Muñoz’s debut YA mystery takes place at a 1920s-themed graduation party. Seven private school classmates spend the night celebrating until one of them — Blaine — is discovered dead in his room. Then, everyone becomes a suspect. Kirkus calls it “An un-put-down-able, bittersweet whodunit.”
Also available from: -
The Only Girl in Town
Available from:From the beloved bestselling author of the dystopian Matched series, The Only Girl in Town tells July Fielding’s story. One night around dusk, July finds herself entirely alone in her small town. The message “GET TH3M BACK” pushes her to solve the mystery behind her solitude. In an interview with Paste magazine, Condie says the story is “about a girl who makes strong choices, loves deeply, and changes the game.”
Also available from: -
Thieves' Gambit
Available from:Seventeen-year-old Ross Quest was raised as a world-class thief. But when her mother’s life is in danger, Ross enters an international competition called the Thieves’ Gambit in an attempt to save her. There, she must outsmart old and new nemeses while completing a series of high-stakes heists. It’s no accident that they call Kayvion Lewis’ latest book a “cinematic heist thriller” — Lionsgate has already acquired the motion picture adaptation rights.
Also available from: -
The Haunting
Available from:A high school student, stabbed and bleeding out on the floor of a Halloween store dressing room, sets everything in motion in Natasha Preston’s latest YA thriller. But for Penny, the real story starts a year earlier when her ex-boyfriend’s father killed four local teens. Penny must dive into the past and prove the murders are connected before the killer strikes again.
Also available from: -
Nubia: The Reckoning
Available from:The sequel to Nubia: The Awakening follows Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho, Nubian teens exiled from their island nation, as they navigate a near-future New York City. While people recognize 16-year-old Uzochi for his gifts as a catalyst who can uplift the Nubians, his cousin Lencho betrays his people. When evil overcomes Lencho and threatens the entire region, the stakes grow even higher.
Also available from: -
Plan A
Available from:Welcome to post-Roe v. Wade America. Plan A tells the story of 16-year-old Ivy, who becomes pregnant in the vehemently anti-abortion town of Paris, Texas. As she and her boyfriend embark on a road trip to Oregon, where abortion is legal, they encounter people who show them — and the reader — the complicated, varied ways reproductive rights shape someone’s life. Kirkus calls it “Brilliant and multilayered; an absolute must-read.”
Also available from: -
Bittersweet in the Hollow
Available from:This debut mystery-thriller takes place in Caball Hollow, deep in rural Appalachia. A spooky forest filled with lost memories, nightmares, vanishings, folktales, and murder surrounds the town. The four James sisters — including 17-year-old Linden — must use their unusual gifts to unearth the forest’s secrets before it claims another victim.
Also available from: -
I Loved You in Another Life
Available from:Love knows no bounds in this epic YA romance from bestselling author David Arnold. Adult life — complicated as it is — is about to start for Evan Taft and Shosh Bell when they hear a strange song no one else can hear. Over the course of the novel, across time and far-flung places, we see how the power of love brings their souls together time and again.
Also available from: -
Check & Mate
Available from:What happens when you unintentionally beat the bad boy of chess at his own game? The answer lies in bestselling author Ali Hazelwood’s YA debut. While Hazelwood is best known for her STEM rom-coms, Check & Mate uses competitive chess as the backdrop for the game of young love.
Also available from: -
Murtagh
Available from:In this standalone novel — which takes place a year after Paolini’s wildly popular YA fantasy series, The Inheritance Cycle — we return to the world of Eragon. In this story, Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon Thorn have been exiled from society. As Murtagh goes up against a mysterious witch threatening the kingdom, he grapples with trying to save a world that pushed him aside.
Also available from: -
Win Lose Kill Die
Available from:The best and brightest students have a knack for dying at Morton Academy, a historic, academically competitive girls’ school. And five friends — Liz, Taylor, Kat, Marcus, and Cole — set out to find out why. Cynthia Murphy’s YA thriller has enough plot twists and surprises to keep you reading well past midnight.
Also available from: -
Didn't See That Coming
Available from:A YA rom-com with a gaming twist, Didn’t See That Coming follows 17-year-old Kiki Siregar, a well-known female gamer who uses a male avatar to avoid harassment. But when she transfers to a posh private school her senior year, she realizes that her online best friend — whom she has never met — also goes to that school. Will her true identity be discovered? Will everything change?
Also available from: -
The Ruined
Available from:Mark your calendar for the release of The Ruined, the last installment in the YA vampire romance series, The Beautiful Quartet. Fans of Ahdieh will already be familiar with the mythologies of the Sylvan Vale, Sylvan Wyld, and the characters Celine and Bastien. Everything comes together in a stunning conclusion to this bestselling series!
Also available from:
