I don’t know why, but I’m in the mood to recommend some underrated books lately.
Looking at my Goodreads TBR, my bookshelves and the books I’ve read and want to read, I reallize that there are some books I never hear about that I really enjoyed, especially in the young adult contemporary field, since it’s my favorite genre.
I know, I know. There are so many books out there, there are SO many people out there, too, we can’t know about everything, nor can we read everything. I myself do feel that guilt sometime, of turning to popular books, books with TONS of reach and ratings and love BECAUSE everyone talks about them.
How about the underrated ones, then? I really want to make more of an effort, both to underline the ones I’ve read that I feel like haven’t gathered as much steam as they deserve, and… well, to find out more underrated books myself, too. So PLEASE if you have any recommendations, shout them out to me in comments!!
I put this little list of 10 underrated contemporary books. Meaning, really underrated in the real sense of the term: all of these books have less than 1000 ratings on goodreads. I hope you’ll find some new books for your TBR!
Underrated YA contemporary books I recommend
Note: I included the rep and trigger warnings for each of these books to the best of my ability. If you are spotting any mistake, feel free to let me know so I can correct it!
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We Speak in Storms, Natalie Lund
We Speak in Storms was such a lovely debut, beautifully written and with characters you’ll root for. It has this very atmospheric, small town setting spooked by a tornado, is very focused on friendships and growing up and I definitely recommend it!
Rep & Trigger Warnings:
Rep: gay main character, fat main character, biracial main character (half-Mexican, half-American).
Trigger warnings: homophobia, violence, grief, death of a loved one, death of a parent, terminal illness (cancer), bullying, sexual abuse, smoking, slut-shaming, animal cruelty.
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop
Wild and Crooked, Leah Thomas
I had such a great time reading Wild and Crooked. It’s this small, rural town mystery with two queer main characters and it has such strong friendship, family themes and discuss poverty as well and it was such a wonderful discovery.
Rep & Trigger Warnings:
Rep: queer main characters, one of the main characters (Gus) has cerebral palsy and hemiplegia. f/f relationships, side f/f relationships, agoraphobic side-character, Chinese side-character.
Trigger warnings:smoking, swearing, parental abuse -violence-, racism (challenged), alcoholism, talk of bullying, ableist language (challenged).
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop
All Our Broken Pieces, L.D. Crichton
I love a good book with mental health representation and All Our Broken Pieces was real good. It’s quite intense to read at times, but I loved the characters and their journey so much. There’s an adorable, slow burning romance and great family vibes and I enjoyed it so much.
Rep & Trigger Warnings:
Rep: One side character is a POC (Jada).
Trigger warnings: panic attacks (description in details), OCD, talk of suicide, grief, loss of a parent, loss of a loved one, talk of bullying, ableist language (crazy).
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop
Bright Burning Stars, A.K. Small
Bright Burning Stars is a very compelling read, but it’s also quite dark, so take care. It’s about a ballet school with fierce competition, filled with Blair-Waldorf-determined characters. I was so entertained with this one and liked the friendship focus, too!
Rep & Trigger Warnings:
Trigger warnings: eating disorder, death, loss of a loved one, grief, smoking, drug use, kiss without consent, self-harming, suicidal thoughts, depression, suicide attempt, drinking, abortion, teen pregnancy.
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop
Miss Meteor, Tehlor Kay Mejia & Anna-Marie McLemore
I ADORE Miss Meteor and just wish you all would read it OKAY. It’s a stunning read written by a golden duo and it has a small town, friendships, best friends to lovers, family and siblings, a little bit of magic and I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK.
Rep & Trigger Warnings:
Rep: half-Dutch, half Sri-Lankan main character, half-Vietnamese, half-Chinese main character, lesbian main character, queer main character, f/f relationship.
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop
This is How it Happened, Paula Stokes
I love Paula Stokes’ work and This is How it Happened is no exception. The main character of this book is dealing with the aftermath of an accident and her own guilt in it and it deals with so many important topics like online shaming and I loved the characters and relationships in this, too.
Rep & Trigger Warnings:
Trigger warnings: mention of a suicide attempt, grief, online bullying, car accident.
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop
Just for Clicks, Kara McDowell
I really enjoyed Kara McDowell’s debut, Just For Clicks, because it has everything I love: sisters and a social media/influencer focused story. I loved the family dynamics here, the social media storyline and the romance and this was such a good read overall if you enjoy contemporaries!
Rep & Trigger Warnings:
Trigger warnings:needles (one scene of blood-drawing), PTSD.
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop
How the Light Gets In, Katy Upperman
I don’t think you should read this if you’re emotional like me, so.. obviously I read How the Light Gets in and sobbed. This story deals with grief and is set in a tiny coastal town. It has a delightful romance, a lot of emotions and it’s a beautiful read.
Rep & Trigger Warnings:
Rep: POC side characters.
Trigger warnings:death, suicide (mentioned), self-harm, dealing with grief of a loved one, smoking (pot).
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop
Going Off Script, Jen Wilde
I love Jen Wilde’s work and Going Off Script is truly excellent. Our main character, a new intern on her favorite tv show set discovers a flawed, discriminatory Hollywood and it’s fierce and queer and this book made me smile and stand up and fight and I love it.
Rep & Trigger Warnings:
Rep: Queer main characters and side characters, Black and Queer side characters (Alyssa), POC side character (Dante), POC & Gay main character (Shrupty, she is indian), questionning of gender identity for the main character, normalisation of medication (the main character takes Lexapro & Ritalin)
Trigger warnings:mentions of bullying, homophobia (challenged)
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop
Heiress Apparently, Diana Ma
If you’re looking for a fun, entertaining contemporary, I’d recommend Heiress Apparently. The main character is an actress taking on a role in Beijing despite her family’s warnings not to ever step in this city. It has family drama and secrets and a sweet romance and I really enjoyed it!
Rep & Trigger Warnings:
Rep:Chinese American MC, a majority of the cast of characters is Chinese. There is an f/f relationship as well.
Trigger warnings:car accident, homophobia (challenged).
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop
📌 Pin 10 underrated ya contemporary books on Pinterest!
Did you read any of these books? Do you want to? You should!
Do you have any recommendations of underrated reads I should add to my TBR? Feel free to let me know in comments!
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I’m so excited to read Miss Meteor! I love books about ballet, so instantly added Bright Burning Stars to my TBR.
Ahh I hope you’ll love it Kristin, it’s INCREDIBLE. <3 And Bright Burning Stars was so good, even if it's a little dark!
Wild and Crooked is one I want to read for sure. I love that cover.
I love it too! I hope you’ll enjoy it 🙂
Ahhhh, so many of the books here have been on my TBR forever! I need to read Wild and Crooked and Miss Meteor; they both look so good. I’ve been struggling to focus on books for a variety of reasons lately (which really sucks, because reading is usually a great escape for me), so maybe I should try returning to contemporary. I feel like that genre has been easier for me to get into than fantasy because it requires less brain power to keep the worldbuilding straight.
Ahhh yay! I hope you’ll love these books <3 I get that. It's tough sometimes to really focus, especially with the state of everything lately. AND YES! Contemporaries always are easier for me to get into, too! I hope you'll love some of these if you end up reading them! <3
have added all of these to my tbr!
AH YAY! Hope you’ll love them 🙂
I’m proud to say that I’ve heard a lot of these books before (mainly cause of you)! I did end up adding about two more to my TBR list. I’ve been burning through books in the last month and a half or so. I am reading a book that’s a bit on the slow side, and It’s been taking me over a week to get through. I think I’ll finish it by the end of the week. Great post Marie! xx
Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com
AH YAY this makes me so happy <3 I'm glad you've been on such a reading rush lately, that's so great! So many wonderful books to get through :)
Thank you so much! <3
Definitely did not hear about any of these, but added some to my TBR now 🙂
(www.evelynreads.com)
Ah yay! 🙂
4 of these are on my tbr already but the rest I’ve never heard of and now I’m interested. I love reading underrated books.
Ah yay! I hope you’ll end up loving these 🙂
Great post, Wild and Crooked sounds interesting and I really want to pick up Miss Meteor 💜
Ah thank you so much! I hope you will love them <3
Great recommendations, I love finding new books I hadn’t heard of before 🥰 I definitely want to check out Miss Meteor as it sounds really interesting to me! And omg I had no idea Kara McDowell had another book out??? I honestly thought One Way or Another was her debut 😱 Just for Clicks sounds really great 😊
Ahh thank you so, so much Caro, so happy you liked my recommendations! <3 I hope you'll read Miss Meteor whenever you can, it's SO GOOD I love it so much <3 And Just For Clicks was such a good debut!
Thank you so much for sharing! I love to hear people’s book recommendations especially when it’s books that aren’t that well known. I will definitely have to check some of these books out and perhaps buy a copy or two. Although saying that, my list of ‘Books To Read’ is simply growing to the size of my arm haha. Thanks xx
Oh thank you so much Karen! I hope you’ll love these!! 🙂
Ahhh this is awesome, thank you! I love posts that remind me about books that may have flown under my radar — which all but one of these had, so I am excited to look up the others!
Ahh thank you so, so much! I hope you’ll find some books you love here 🙂
I would say every Paula Stokes book in general. They are all so good, but she never gets the buzz she deserves. I also adored Just for Clicks, and agree, it needs more attention.
I so agree with you on that, I love all of Paula Stokes’ books I’ve read so far. She’s such a good, underrated writer <3
Okay, you just made me add Bright Burning Stars and This Is How It Happened to my TBR! I’m also really looking forward to read Miss Meteor. I haven’t heard about most of these so this is such a helpful list! I would recommend The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez, it’s not YA (but it’s contemporary) and it addresses very important topics.
Ohh yay! This makes me so happy. I hope you’ll love these 🥺 and oh thank you for the recommendation, I’ll have to check this one out! 😀
ahh love this post, Marie – thank you so much for sharing these wonderful, underrated recommendations with us ☺️ i love contemporaries so much :’) i added a lot of these books to my TBR and i’m really excited to get around to reading them. i have read Going Off Script and i completely agree with you – i felt so empowered & happy while reading it ahh it definitely made me smile A LOT <3
one underrated contemporary off the top of my head that i can recommend is The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls by Jessica Spotswood! i read it 2 years ago so the details are kinda fuzzy in my brain haha, but i remember that it was a super sweet & adorable read for me 😊
i hope you're doing well Marie, sending you lots of good vibes for the end of the year 💓
Oh Dezzy thank you so, so much for reading, I’m so happy this post could be useful to you <3 I hope you'll love these!
AHHH I have the Garrett Girls on my TBR, I'm SO excited to read that one, it sounds so good.
Thank you so much, I hope you're doing well and have a wonderful end of the year, take care <3 <3
i’m so excited for you to read Garrett Girls 😊 also i just finished Wild and Crooked yesterday and absolutely LOVED it omg, it was so beautifully written and made me feel so much and i just really loved the unlikely friendship between Kalyn and Gus 💓 their interactions gave me allll the serotonin 😭 thanks again for the rec Marie!!
Ahhhh this makes me so, so, so happy, I’m so happy you loved it!! <3 <3
Ahh I haven’t read any of these 😭 Wild and Crooked and Just for Clicks are on my tbr thought and Miss Meteor is on my wish list 😍 Please Don’t Hug Me has been one of my favourite underrated contemporaries for this year!!
AHhh yay! I hope you’ll get to read these soon, they’re all fantastic! I haven’t heard of Don’t Hug Me before, I’ll have to check it out. Thank you <3
Thanks for these recs! I have been in a contemporary mood lately and it gave me plenty of books to add to my wish list and especially Heiress Apparently and Miss Meteor!
Oh thank you so much!! I’m so happy you could find some new books to read 😀
It’s really cool that you’re spreading the love for some less well-known books! This year I feel like I’ve had less time to read and so I’ve also found myself reaching for the more popular titles – because I feel like I’m already missing out and I don’t want to get left out haha. Going off script looks really fun though! I’ve read Jen Wilde’s books before and enjoyed them.
Ah I’m so happy this post could be helpful <3 I get that, when you have less time you tend to turn to the most popular titles and don't really take time to find the ones people talk about a bit less. I hope you'll love Going Off Script! :)
Wild and Crooked and This Is How It Happened are both *phenomenal*! We Speak In Storms is one I am dying to get to as well, so hopefully I will be able to soon! I love lists like this, highlighting underrated books is so great!
AH YES! I loved both so much. Thank you so much Shannon! <3
Indeed I had never heard of these books before so thank you queen for all the books you just added to my tbr. Btw ah I’m forever behind on blog posts so sorry about being forever late welp. I’ve been really wanting to pick up a Jen Wilde book, so def need to get on that. And also Heiress Apparently sounds BRILLIANT!!! And the Just for Clicks cover is SO CUTE OMG <3<3
I’m forever behind and late on blog posts, too, so please don’t worry about that at aaaall <3 I hope you'll get to read some of these and will love them!! <3
It’s always nice to books you think don’t get enough love! I haven’t read any of these, but I really want to read Miss Meteor.
Ah I really really hope you’ll get to read it. I love it SO very much <3
I love your recommendation posts and yes, everyone needs to read Just for Clicks and Going Off Script, they were so good! I need to add some of these others to my TBR now and I’ve bene really wanting to read Wild and Crooked.
Ahh yay! I’m so happy you liked these books as well, they’re so great! I hope you’ll enjoy Wild and Crooked 😀