Genre-Bending YA Books You Should Read ASAP

It’s easy to understand what you’re getting when you pick up a romance or a mystery, but what about those books that are more than one thing? We’ve made a list of a few of our very favorite genre-bending books and described them using other books or shows you might be familiar with.

Neverworld Wake

By Marisha Pessl

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl is a contemporary friendship story with a science fiction element and a mysterious death. Beatrice and her group of friends were classmates whose lives—and friendship—were forever changed after the death of Jim, Bee’s boyfriend. A year later, the gang reconvenes. They find themselves stuck in a time loop, forced to repeat the same day over and over. As they do, they’ll have to come to terms with Jim’s death, as well as their own secrets and guilt.

Neverworld Wake =

Groundhog Day (film with characters stuck in a time loop)

The Good Place (show featuring characters facing ethical and philosophical dilemmas)

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (YA book about a friend group bound together by a terrible tragedy)

Big Brother (reality TV show with some high-stakes voting)

House of Salt and Sorrows

By Erin A. Craig

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig is a fairy-tale retelling about twelve sisters living in an isolated manor by the sea. Sounds idyllic, except that the sisters are mysteriously dying, one by one. Annalise is distraught over the deaths but also worried about her remaining sisters and their very strange nocturnal behavior.

House of Salt and Sorrows =

“Twelve Dancing Princesses” (fairy tale about sisters who sneak out of the house to dance at night)

Nancy Drew (show about strange happenings and supernatural visions in a spooky seaside town)

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (classic novel about a tight-knit group of sisters navigating life’s tribulations)

LIFEL1K3 (Lifelike)

By Jay Kristoff

LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff is a postapocalyptic science-fiction story with romantic elements. When Eve comes across an android boy named Ezekiel on a scrap heap, she and her friend Lemon and their robot sidekick Cricket decide to rescue him. But after they do, Eve learns that she and Ezekiel have a disturbing connection that she can’t remember.

LIFEL1K3 =

Mad Max (postapocalyptic movie)

Blade Runner (movie featuring androids that hide among humans)

Dark Matter (science fiction comic/series about characters with amnesia)

Star Wars (everyone needs a feisty droid sidekick!)

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (forbidden romance)

Wildfire

By Carrie Mac

Wildfire by Carrie Mac is a story of survival and friendship. When best friends Annie and Pete decide to take a backpacking trip, they expect a challenge and some bonding time. Annie, who has just lost her beloved grandmother, also hopes that time off the grid will help her process her grief. What they don’t realize is that this trip will test them and their friendship in every way possible: physically, emotionally, and psychologically.

Wildfire =

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (memoir about a woman who, reeling from grief, sets off on a challenging outdoor journey)

My Girl (movie about a boy and a girl with a heartwarming friendship)

127 Hours (movie about a hiking trip that turns into a struggle for survival)