Recs if you like We Were Liars...
these titles are complete sentences!
Circular storytelling
"The end is already written. Your actions are up to you, you can choose to get off this ride whenever. We both know you won't do it." Books with this vibe
assigned by frankie
almost every single book mentioned* on Frankie's Shelf youtube channel because their taste is wild and i love it.
updated as frankie posts. *mentioned as in the book is the focus of the video, listened in the description, or offhandedly said.
characters that haunt the narrative
I'm including books where a character's presence is minimal and every character, conflict, and theme leads back to them. Their absence feels loud. Their past decisions shape the present.
Open for recommendations that meet these parameters 💓 I haven't read all the books in this list but feel fairly confident about their inclusion here, if you believe one of these doesn't fit feel free to discuss in the comments
mystery but make it ya🫣🧐
mystery and thriller books that are ya but perfect for adults
I gotta finish my reading challenge 🏃🏻🏃🏻♀️🏃
Short books that you can read in a sitting, to help you achieve your yearly reading goal 🤭🥳 Feel free to mention anything else from the list, I'm so glad to add & check them out 😁
Teenage Sleuth Chronicles, Girls edition
Inspired by theaisreading and my love for teenage detectives and crime stories, I need a list which collects them all. Whether it’s missing secrets or suspicious suspects, these young, sometimes unintentional, detectives are always one step ahead and rarely play by the rules. From cozy to high stake. We don't judge. Feel free to recommend books I've missed and you like!
Weird is the name, and confusing is the game
This list will contain books that made me go, "Wait what?" I am still not sure if I completely get them but I i think I semi-liked some of them 🤣 (p.s. I am adding recs by other users so some i havent read yet)
booktube throwback
the staples of the book community on youtube in the early to mid 2010s.
YA Class of 2014
A roundup of YA books that were popular back in the days of us baby millennials. For anyone feeling nostalgic for the 2010’s. Draw a little mustache on your finger because you’re so quirky and get reading like you already finished your homework for the night!
✨️💖✨️The power of friendship✨️💖✨️
Maybe the one piece was the friendships we made along the way.
These are all the suggestions the community graciously provided after I asked for friendship book recs (plus some of my own).
This list include all types of friendship dynamics from wholesome and life-affirming to toxic and obsessive. Enjoy!
Rereading the Revolution follow along
Based on my favorite podcast Rereading the Revolution. The hosts reread and recap popular 2000s-2010s novels from Divergent to Looking for Alaska.
The list is in order of oldest episodes to most recent. I will try and update when new episodes drop.
So take a walk down memory lane with these nostalgic picks, or find something new that sparks your inner teenager! Please give the podcast a listen, I think they’re a great bookish podcast to support
Stories That Gaslight You ⛽️
A curated collection of stories told through cracks, mirrors, and shifting truths. These narrators bend memory, distort reality, and reshape the world to fit their own needs. Some lie with intention, others with fear, and some simply because the truth is too heavy to hold. These are the books that linger. The ones that make you question what you know. The ones you leave and don’t really know what just happened.
Mother Nature (Natural Phenomena on the Cover)
Based on the HRCYED 3.0 prompt! Books with weather or natural disasters/phenomena on the cover (at least one version), including: rain, storms, lightning, clouds, snowfall, fog, sunshine, tornados, earthquakes, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis.
Not an exhaustive list - feel free to suggest titles! I tried to keep it more focused on books that fit the prompt but would be harder to find (i.e. ones that don't have the key words in the title).
Sitting on the edge of your seat
Ya mystery books
Texas Has No Taste: Banned Books
A small selection of the over 2000+ banned books recently brought to the attention of Texas' Lt. Gov and a conservative organization for their for "vulgar" material 🙄 including topics of history, race, LGBTQ+, gender identity, feminism, mental health, and sex education as well as romance, horror, science fiction, memoirs, YA, and classic genres. Aka my new reading list 💅 **Includes all the books I've read/on my TBR and other popular books, comment others if you want!!
She Solved One Case and Now We Want More
Your Pip-shaped hole deserves nothing less than full-blown mystery mayhem. This list is a survival guide for readers who've finished A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and are hunting for their next high-stakes obsession with amateur sleuth energy, buried secrets, unlikely sidekicks and adrenaline-fueled twists that demand binge-reading.
Librarian recommends (full list)
A variety of books recommended by a librarian (appropriate for students aged 11-16 as well).
Unreliable Narrators: Trick me once, shame on you.
Trick me twice, shame on Me!! Books that feature narrators who lie by omission to the reader or they don’t have enough information so have a narrow view of the plot.
RereadingTheRevolution
syllabus for the eager scholars of rereading the revolution aka the books that shaped teenagers from 2005 to 2015 (based on the books read & discussed on the podcast by Kellie & Daphne – regular episodes, without bonus )
