Hidden Gems in YA | Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday – Hidden Gems
Hello lovely people, can you believe that it’s already almost half way through September?! I can’t… Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is Hidden Gems, books that haven’t been talked about as much or haven’t been marketed as strongly that you think deserve some recognition. I had to really think for this one. Disclaimer – I may think these are underrated and it may be that I was just blind to the marketing, so apologies if that’s the case! These are books that I loved and I think you should all read.
Defy the Stars (Constellation, #1) by Claudia Gray Series: Constellation #1
on April 4th 2017
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 503
Goodreads
She's a soldier - Noemi Vidal is willing to risk anything to protect her planet, Genesis, including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she's a rebel.
He's a machine - Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel's advanced programming has begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he's an abomination.
Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they're not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they're forced to question everything they'd been taught was true.
Defy the Stars is a wonderful novel. It has space, YA and AI and I LOVED it. I haven’t heard many people talking about it which makes me really sad because I really enjoyed the world building and the characters. I was hooked and I really recommend you check it out.
Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne
Published by HMH Books for Young Readers on May 1st 2018
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 400
Goodreads
Seventeen-year-old Stella Ainsley wants just one thing: to go somewhere—anywhere—else. Her home is a floundering spaceship that offers few prospects, having been orbiting an ice-encased Earth for two hundred years. When a private ship hires her as a governess, Stella jumps at the chance. The captain of the Rochester, nineteen-year-old Hugo Fairfax, is notorious throughout the fleet for being a moody recluse and a drunk. But with Stella he’s kind.
But the Rochester harbors secrets: Stella is certain someone is trying to kill Hugo, and the more she discovers, the more questions she has about his role in a conspiracy threatening the fleet.
Brightly Burning is Jane Eyre in space, but better! Admittedly I haven’t read Jane Eyre… I think ever? But from reading the synopsis etc I can see the parallels, but Brightly Burning went way beyond. It was fascinating, there was even a virus? Which is something I’m mildly obsessed with. Anyway, you should check out this book, and I wrote a full review here.
Satellite by Nick Lake Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on October 3rd 2017
Pages: 453
Goodreads
A teenage boy born in space makes his first trip to Earth.
He’s going to a place he’s never been before: home.
Moon 2 is a space station that orbits approximately 250 miles above Earth. It travels 17,500 miles an hour, making one full orbit every ninety minutes. It’s also the only home that fifteen-year-old Leo and two other teens have ever known.
Born and raised on Moon 2, Leo and the twins, Orion and Libra, are finally old enough and strong enough to endure the dangerous trip to Earth. They’ve been “parented” by teams of astronauts since birth and have run countless drills to ready themselves for every conceivable difficulty they might face on the flight.
But has anything really prepared them for life on terra firma? Because while the planet may be home to billions of people, living there is more treacherous than Leo and his friends could ever have imagined, and their very survival will mean defying impossible odds.
This book was spectacular. When I first started I thought something was wrong because the formatting was so bizarre, but I quickly became used to it. I really think that it puts people off reading it, and it shouldn’t. It’s from the POV of a boy who’s never been on Earth, and so his writing reflects an almost childish writing, though he is very intelligent. Check out my full review of Satellite by Nick Lake.
Admittedly all of these are space related. I am a little obsessed with space YA, which you should know by now if you know me. If you haven’t read these, I really recommend you do!
What Hidden Gems have you read?
21 Comments
There’s a book called The Bone Gap by Laura Ruby that’s spectacular and I’ve never seen anyone discuss! It’s one of the few contemporary books I like, possibly because it has a dash of magical realism thrown in 🙂
Ohhhh I’ll look it up!
I enjoy Hidden Gems. I haven’t been able to sign up for more lately cause I’ve been so busy!
I haven’t read any of these haha, but I’m definitely going to check out Defy The Stars and Satellite as I’m loving space books at the moment.
Fab list!
Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk
So you’re a sci-fi fan? I have Defy the Stars and Brightly Burning on my TBR and I can’t wait to read them! 😍
Satellite is on my list too!! *flails* It was SO, SO GOOD. They have Defy the Stars at my library – I really must read it!
My TTT post!
Brightly Burning was so cool! I loved the whole idea of it. I really thought it’d get more hype.
I’m so sad it didn’t!
*cough* Jennie, it seems that seven books on your list of ten are wearing Invisibility Cloaks. 😉 You should really have a chat with them about that. I’ve seen a lot of people mentioning Brightly Burning, but … *hiss* It’s sci-fi! Still, I might just have to give it a chance, considering that everyone seems to like it. xD
Haha yeah so when I wrote and scheduled these posts I somehow didn’t realise top ten Tuesday meant sharing 10 of something… LOL. Anyway I decided to roll with it for now and make them ten in the future 🙈
You don’t like sci Fi?! Omg it’s my fave!
I remember seeing you tweet about that, so I just *had* to mention it. xD I don’t! I’m so weird. Well, that’s not true. I like dystopian and apocalyptic, and I can generally roll with sci-fi that doesn’t take place in space. That’s right, I’m racist against aliens. I’m spaceist. Douglas Adams seems to basically be the one exception to that, so maybe I do comedy sci-fi in space? I don’t know. xD
🙈 at least I can laugh at myself right?!
Oh my gosh space is my absolute fave, this gets worse and worse?! What is it about space you done like?
… before I answer that, can you promise me there are no torches and pitchforks in your immediate vicinity? xD
I don’t knoooow. In theory, I *should* like space. I just usually have a really hard time getting into those books. I’m not even a big fan of space sci-fi movies (which is sometimes a problem because hubby is, so we usually compromise and watch cheesy apocalypse films and laugh while Earth is destroyed because we have a healthy relationship, okay?).
I think I just have a really hard time getting immersed in it without it feeling super cheesy or making me want to role my eyes. I’m not a technical person, so I don’t want any jargon or spaceships or getting stuck on any of those things, and I feel like that’s a lot of what I get. I did love the movies Avatar and John Carter. Do they count as sci-fi? I can do those, where it’s more being immersed in the actual planet and less … science? What I’m saying is I want more fantasy than science in my sci-fi, and I realize that’s sometimes problematic. xD
Umm… that book cover for Defy the Stars is amazing!!
It is isn’t it!
The good news is – I have heard of all these books. I don’t read too much outside of contemporaries, so I have not read them, though.
I did this post too and it was HARD! I like your recommendations! 😊
Thank you!
I haven’t read any of these, though your rave reviews make me want to! I’ve read so many hidden gems, but the two that come to mind are First Came Forever by Annie Woods, and The Book of Iudex by Tachina Eva!
Defy the stars was a great surprise for me.
I loved it a lot!