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UKYA Books List
- Josie Jaffrey
- Jun 21, 2021
- 8 min read
Updated: Jul 23, 2021
If you're looking for more UKYA reads, then you've come to the right place! Here are a whole bunch of great young adult books by UK-based authors, organised by genre. Enjoy!
CONTEMPORARY
Louisa Reid - Wrecked (Contemporary in Verse)
Joe and Imogen seem like the perfect couple - they've been in a relationship for years and are the envy of their friends at school. But after accidentally becoming involved a tragic fatal accident, they become embroiled in a situation out of their control, and Joe and Imogen's relationship becomes slowly unravelled until the truth is out there for all to see...
Structured around a dramatic and tense court case, the reader becomes both judge and jury in a stunning and page-turning novel of uncovering secrets and lies - who can be believed?
FANTASY
Katherine & Elizabeth Corr - A Throne of Swans (High Fantasy)
When her father dies just before her birthday, Aderyn inherits the role of Protector of Atratys, a dominion in a kingdom where nobles are able to transform at will into the bird that represents their bloodline. But she has not transformed for years, not since witnessing the death of her mother - ripped apart by hawks that have supposedly been extinct since the long-ago War of the Raptors. She must venture into the malevolent heart of the Citadel to seek the truth about the attack, to fight for the only home she has ever known and for the land she has vowed to protect.
Bex Hogan - Viper (Fantasy)
Seventeen-year-old Marianne is fated to one day become the Viper, defender of the Twelve Isles. But the reigning Viper stands in her way. Corrupt and merciless, he prowls the seas in his warship, killing with impunity, leaving only pain and suffering in his wake. He's the most dangerous man on the ocean . . . and he is Marianne's father.
She was born to protect the islands. But can she fight for them if it means losing her family, her home, the boy she loves - and perhaps even her life?
Josie Jaffrey - The Wolf and the Water (Historical Fantasy)
The ancient city of Kepos sits in an isolated valley, cut off from the outside world by a towering wall. Behind it, the souls of the dead clamour for release. Or so the priesthood says.
Kala has never had any reason to doubt their word – until her father dies in suspicious circumstances that implicate the city's high priest. She's determined to investigate, but she has a more immediate problem: the laws of the city require her mother to remarry straight away.
Kala's new stepfather is a monster, but his son Leon is something altogether more dangerous: kind.
Michelle Kenney - Book of Fire (Dystopian Fantasy)
Twins Eli and Talia shouldn’t exist. They’re Outsiders.
Their home is a secret. Their lives are a secret. Arafel is a secret.
An unexpected forest raid forces Talia into a desperate mission to rescue her family while protecting the sacred Book of Arafel from those who would use it as a weapon. As Talia and her life long friend Max enter the dome, she makes some unexpected discoveries, and allies, in the form of rugged Insider August, that will change the course of her life forever.
She’ll stop at nothing to save her family but will she sacrifice her heart in the process?
Muirinn MacLaren - The Mindsmith (Fantasy)
Kolm is different… and different is not good in the villages.
Kolm tries to live as quietly as possible. But then he is claimed by a wolf Tur-ami, one of the demi-god guardians of the land, who come in larger-than-life animal form. The wolf begins to communicate with Kolm through mindspeak, exploring his abilities and training him to use them. With the wolf leading him, they embark on an adventure to discover Kolm’s past and help him forge a future not just for him, but his whole world.
Holly Race - Midnight's Twins (Urban Fantasy)
Dreams come true, but so do your nightmares...
Fern King is about to uncover a place that she could not have imagined in all her wildest dreams. Annwn is the dream mirror of our world, a place where Dreamers walk in their slumber, their dreams playing out all around them. An enchanted, mysterious place that feeds our own world - as without dreams, without a place where our imaginations and minds can be nourished, what kind of humans would we be? But Annwn is a place as full of dangers as it is wonders: it is a place where dreams can kill you.
Melinda Salisbury - Hold Back The Tide (Fantasy)
Everyone in Ormscaula knows what happened to Alva Douglas’s mother, all those years ago. It’s why Alva can’t wait to leave.
But when dark forces begin to stir in the surrounding mountains, Alva has to face a very different future to the one she's been dreaming of – and question everything she thought she knew about her past…
A chilling tale about the dire costs of secrecy and greed, HOLD BACK THE TIDE will sink its teeth into you – and never let you go.
Harriet Springbett - Tree Magic (Speculative Fiction)
Escape from difficult family dynamics is teenager Rainbow's desire. When she discovers a strange gift for communicating with trees, she thinks she's found her salvation. But when tragedy strikes, Rainbow's life is torn apart, creating parallel worlds in the process. In one life, the vulnerable Rainbow strives to salvage her family. In the other, her alter-ego, Mary, flees her past. Over the next few years the two versions of Rainbow follow very different lives. The source of their grief, however, is the same - a confession buried deep within their memories.
Joshua Winning - Vicious Rumer (Fantasy Thriller)
Rumer Cross is cursed. Scraping by working for a dingy London detective agency, she lives in the shadow of her mother, a violent criminal dubbed the ‘Witch Assassin’ whose bloodthirsty rampage terrorised London for over a decade.
Raised by foster families who never understood her and terrified she could one day turn into her mother, Rumer has become detached and self-reliant. But when she’s targeted by a vicious mobster who believes she’s hiding an occult relic, she’s drawn into the very world she’s been fighting to avoid.
POETRY
Sabrine Elouali - Where Darkness Meets Light (Poetry)
A poetry collection depicting the trials and tribulations of living with mental illness and the journey of one girl's struggles to try and overcome them. From the difficult beginnings of life that contributed to her illnesses, to the present day where she still faces her demons day in day out. A book that will have you reflecting on your own life, where you can make changes, improvements and start to really challenge your regular ways of thinking. Featuring descriptions of hope as well as woeful testimonies, each poem illustrates the thoughts and emotions this young woman has gone through and continues to go through.
SCIENCE FICTION
Rachel Churcher - Battle Ground (Dystopian Sci-Fi)
Sixteen-year-old Bex Ellman has been drafted into an army she doesn't support and a cause she doesn't believe in. Her plan is to keep her head down, and keep herself and her friends safe – until she witnesses an atrocity she can't ignore, and a government conspiracy that threatens lives all over the UK. With her loyalties challenged, Bex must decide who to fight for – and who to leave behind.
The Battle Ground series is set in a dystopian near-future UK, after Brexit and Scottish independence.
J.C. Gemmell - The Visionary (Dystopian Sci-Fi)
At the beginning of February 2060, Mount Erebus erupted, the first of a chain of Antarctic volcanoes that forever changed Earth’s future. Within days, sea levels began to rise, until sixty metres of water claimed coastlines worldwide.
Twelve-year-old Xin-yi and her mother fled their home. Now fourteen, Xin-yi commences her training as a visionary. It is her task to imagine a new Earth, rising above the drowning waters. But Xin-yi’s challenges are more personal: coming to terms with the loss of her brother and unexpected feelings toward a friend.
Phil Gilvin - Truth Sister (Dystopian Sci-Fi)
Knowledge is power. Knowing it, could save you ... or kill you.
Year 2149 in the Women's Republic of Anglia and in the Academy, Clara Perdue is training to become a Truth Sister, a privileged position allowing her to maintain the new order of social purity. But when she stumbles upon information that the Republic has tried to suppress, questions surface. And a family secret that brings danger to Clara's family only adds to her confusion. Will she bow down to the institution she was raised to believe in and grew to love, or will she risk everything for her family?
Marisa Noelle - The Unadjusteds (Dystopian Sci-Fi)
Genetic modification has taken over the world. A new class system now exists, dividing those who have enhancements and those who do not.
Sixteen-year-old Silver Melody, a proud unadjusted, must navigate a world where 80% of the population has modified their DNA. Known as the altereds, those people possess enhancements like wings, tails, and increased strength or intelligence. Silver’s parents created the nanite pill used to deliver these genetic modifications for altruistic reasons, but are now forced to make combinations of terrifying power.
THRILLER
Tracy Darnton - The Rules (Thriller)
Amber's an expert when it comes to staying hidden - she's been trained her whole life for it. But what happens when the person you're hiding from taught you everything you know?
When a letter from her dad arrives, Amber knows she's got to move - and fast. He's managed to find her and she knows he'll stop at nothing to draw her back into the extreme survivalist way of life he believes in.
All of a sudden the Rules she's spent so long trying to escape are the ones keeping her safe. But for how long?
Kat Ellis - Wicked Little Deeds (Horror Thriller)
From its creepy town mascot to the story of its cursed waterfall, Burden Falls is a small town dripping with superstition. Ava Thorn knows this well - since the horrific accident she witnessed a year ago, she's been plagued by nightmares.
But when her school nemesis is brutally murdered and Ava is the primary suspect, she starts to wonder if the legends surrounding the town are more fact than fiction.
Whatever secrets Burden Falls is hiding, there's a killer on the loose, and they have a vendetta against the Thorns...
K.L. Kettle - The Boy I Am (Dystopian Thriller)
They say we're dangerous. But we're not that different.
Jude is running out of time. Once a year, lucky young men in the House of Boys are auctioned to the female elite. But if Jude fails to be selected before he turns seventeen, a future deep underground in the mines awaits. Yet ever since the death of his best friend at the hands of the all-powerful Chancellor, Jude has been desperate to escape the path set out for him. Finding himself entangled in a plot to assassinate the Chancellor, he finally has a chance to avenge his friend and win his freedom. But at what price?
Sera Milano - This Can Never Not Be Real (Contemporary Thriller)
In the unremarkable town of Amberside, the unthinkable has happened: Terrorists have attacked a local festival. No one knows why, and no one knows who the attackers are, but that doesn't matter. What matters first is survival. And what matters after that is survival, too. In this brilliantly written account of hope, humour and humanity, five ordinary teenagers are caught up in a truly extraordinary situation. It's a heart-pounding and gripping account of the fight for survival as the attackers prowl the festival grounds, told from multiple perspectives.
If you're a YA author based in the UK (or if you represent one) and you'd like your books to be added to this list, please contact Josie with the links for all your YA novels.
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