There are so many books I am anticipating this year, I don’t know what to do with myself. Except making lists, apparently, of the ya books releasing in 2021 can’t wait to read the most here. Obviously.
I previously made a list of 28 of my most anticipated ya books for 2021 and for this one, I’m focusing on titles releasing later this year as I write this post, from August to December, to be more precise. I hope you’ll find new books you want to add to your TBR, pre-order, read and fall for!
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Most Anticipated YA Books Releasing in August, September, October, November & December 2021
How We Fall Apart, Katie Zhao
How We Fall Apart has this elite prep school setting I adore and I’m SO excited to read it. When Nancy’s best friend is found dead, her and her friends are prime suspects in the investigation… targeted by an anonymous person on the school’s social media app. Exciting, right? This sounds like such a thrilling mystery I’d love!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
A Lesson in Vengeance, Victoria Lee
Apparently, I’ve got a thing for boarding school settings. I’ve also got a thing for Victoria Lee okay. I adore The Fever King series (READ IT) and am so excited for this book. A Lesson in Vengeance is about Felicity, back at school a year after her best friend’s tragic death… It has secret rooms and witchcraft rumors and darkness and this sounds so good!!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
Like A Love Song, Gabriela Martins
A Latina teen popstar fake-dating an indie movie star to restore her image after a public break-up? This sounds like the book I’ve been wanting to read for SO. LONG. It just sounds SO GOOD and I’m excited okay.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
As If On Cue, Marisa Kanter
I haven’t had the chance to read Marisa Kanter’s debut, What I Like About You, just yet, but it’s high on my TBR and SO is this one! This one has Natalie and Reid, enemies, forced to cooperate to create a musical together… this sounds all kinds of fun and I’m excited!!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
The Jasmine Project, Meredith Ireland
I love the sound of The Jasmine Project! It’s about a Korean-American adoptee. Recently cheated on, she finds herself in the middle of a competition hosted by her family to find her the perfect match… A sort of The Bachelorette story that sounds adorably wonderful, I can’t wait.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
The Bronzed Beasts, Roshani Chokshi
This one’s the much anticipated sequel to The Gilded Wolves and The Silvered Serpents and I had to add it to this list! I loved the first two books in the series and highly recommend them and… I need to know that everything and everyone is going to be okay. Please.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
Reconnected, Catherine Tinker
Reconnected has one of my favorite tropes: the online-friends meeting afterwards, only one of them knows who they are. Sounds intriguing, right? I can’t wait to read that one!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Blackwell’s
The Falling Girls, Hayley Krischer
I haven’t heard a lot about The Falling Girls and, to be honest, I’m not sure why? This book sounds really good! It’s about two best friends falling apart when one joins the cheerleading team, getting closer to her new teammates… Until one of them dies under strange circumstances. This sounds like a thrilling mystery about friendship and I’m so excited to read it!!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
You Can Go Your Own Way, Eric Smith
Adam’s determined to protect the pinball arcade, the only piece he has left from his dad, to turn into a gaming café. Whitney’s spending her time running social media for her father’s gaming café… when the two find themselves trapped in the arcade during a snowstorm… Well. Doesn’t that sound amazing?? I can’t WAIT to read this book!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
Never Saw You Coming, Erin Hahn
In case you’re new here, I am a big, big fan of Erin Hahn’s work. I adored her first two books and am SO excited to read this next one! When Meg’s family falls apart, she travels to meet what’s left of her family up north and meets Micah. Both have complicated relationships with their faith and the church and, as they grow closer, they question their childhood beliefs… This sounds like an important, beautiful book and I can’t wait.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass, Anna Priemaza
This book sounds soooo intriguing, really. Vera has a feeling she’s forgetting something. Something big. With her best friend Riven, they start a quest to figure out what this means… This is supposed to be a heartbreaking, beautiful contemporary with a little bit of magic and I’m so curious to see how this turns out!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
Our Way Back to Always, Nina Moreno
So I LOVE Rosa Santos by this author (read it) and am so excited to read more!! Our Way Back To Always is about Lou and Sam, inseparable until an incident in middle school… and now they haven’t spoken since. Now in senior year, Lou finds a bucket list the two of them made back then… and sets onto making it true. This sounds absolutely wonderful and I’m so excited to read it!!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
Not Here To Be Liked Michelle Quach
Eliza’s running for editor in chief of the school’s newspaper, but when handsome and unexperiences Len suddenly decides to run against her, she decides to shine a light on the sexism at school. This book sounds SO good, like smash-the-patriarchy in a contemporary read, with a bit of enemies to lovers, maybe, I don’t know but I’m here for it already.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
XOXO, Axie Oh
When Jenny meets the mysterious Jaewoo, they set off on an unforgettable night of adventures in Los Angeles… until he disappears. Months later, she finds him in South Korea, at the same school and… leader of a K-Pop band…and forbidden to date. This sounds like the kind of celebrity-falling in love story I’m here for, with its bits of drama and fun and I can’t wait!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
The Grimrose Girls, Laura Pohl
The Grimrose Girls sounds so strange, I can’t help but feel drawn by it. After the mysterious death of their best friend at the academy, a trio of girls are determined to find out what happened to her… only to figure out their own destinies might be a little too dark for their taste. This is supposed to be a contemporary take of classic fairytales and I’m so curious.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
When We Were Them, Laura Taylor Namey
I love books about friendships and When We Were Them is exactly about that: a group of friends until…they’re not. I’m so curious to read about these friends’ journey and what happened to them. Plus, I loved Laura Taylor Namey’s book, The Library of Lost Things, so much, I can’t wait to read more!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
More young adult book recommendations:
- 10 Awesome YA Books About Road Trips To Feed Your Wanderlust
- 10 YA Books That Will Make You Cry (I did)
- 26 Summer-Themed YA Books To Read This Summer
📌 Pin 16 most anticipated reads for the end of 2021 on Pinterest!
Do you want to read any of these books?
What are some of your most anticipated reads for the second half of 2021? I’d love to hear your recommendations!
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Oh a lot of these are new to me!! Going to have to check them out.
Can’t wait to read XOXO!
Oh yay! I hope you’ll add some of these to your TBR and will enjoy them 😀
I can’t wait for the Bronzed beasts! The last book ended on a really huge cliffhanger!
I can’t wait either, that cliffhanger was soooo terrible 😂
Great list, Marie! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for reading! 😀
I’ve been a bit out of touch so this is just the refresher I needed, Marie! Equally excited for The Bronzed Beasts and XOXO, while the rest just made me realize that there are a lot more to be giddy about.
I’m so happy this could help! I hope you’ll add some of these to your TBRs. I can’t wait to read them all! 😀
Those cover are so beautiful that I would want to read books without even knowing what’s inside. Amazing list!
I so agree with you, all of these covers are too beautiful! Thank you so much! <3
I’m so excited for some of these too! Especially how we fall apart, xoxo, a lesson in vengeance and the bronzed beasts. I’m also very excited for the shaadi set up and jade legacy!
Yay! I’m so glad you’re excited for all of these! YES The Shaadi Set Up is on my TBR as well, it sounds AMAZING! 😀
I’m super excited to read Erin Hahn’s book. I’m also curious about the first one. I heard fans of Karen M. McManus’ books will enjoy it.
I can’t wait to read it either, I love Erin Hahn’s work so much!
So many contemporaries. Love it! Is Reconnected really going to happen this year? I feel like I have been waiting forever for that book
I love contemporaries too much 😂 I hope so! I’ve been waiting for this book for soooo long now, it sounds so great.
I can’t wait for A Lesson in Vengeance and the Bronzed Beast!
Yay! Both sound so good! 🙂
Omg a book about online friends meeting, that’s amazing and I need to read that because it’s so much fun to meet your online friends IRL! 🥰🥰
Yes!! It’s a book I really can’t wait to read!
Ooh thanks for bringing The Falling Girls to my attention, that one sounds so interesting! I really want to give How We Fall Apart a go – I love YA thrillers, they’re such fun to read – and You Can Go Your Own Way sounds like so much fun, too. In fact that one sounds like it’s going to be the perfect winter read!
It sounds so good, I can’t wait to read it! 🙂 Thank you so much, Jess! I hope you’ll love all of these!
Thank you for sharing this!! I discovered so many 😍 great post!!
Ahh thank you, this makes me so happy!!
you always introduce me to books i’ve never heard of, marie!! i’m definitely super excited for a lesson in vengeance and the bronzed beasts as well (but terrified for the latter too). i’ve been less into fluffy contemporaries lately but i’m a sucker for celebrity romances and xoxo looks so good!
oh this makes me so happy, thank you may 🥺🥺 I hope you’ll love them! 🥺🥺
I am definitely excited for How We Fall Apart and A Lesson in Vengeance!
-lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
I can’t wait to read both, they sound so great!
All of these, but especially A Lesson in Vengance. My body is ready.
Mine isn’t 😂 it sounds SO GREAT though, I can’t wait, but I’m scared 😂
Added almost all of these to my tbr!!
Ahh yay!!
Awesome list! This reminds me I need to revisit The Gilded Wolves so I can read the second (and now third) in the series.
Thank you so much! I hope you will, it’s such a good series 🙂
I’m so curious about Lesson in Vengeance!
Me too, it sounds so, so good! 😍
i’m so excited for how we fall apart and the bronzed beasts!!
Me too!! 😍
I love to see How We Fall Apart and The Jasmine Project on here – HWFA b/c I really enjoyed it and TJP because it’s the first time I’m seeing rep of Asian adoptees in YA!
I am so, so impatient to read both, they sound amazing! 😍
All of these seem interesting.
Yay! 😍
The boarding school novels sound awesome! I know we’re halfway through the year, but I haven’t even started looking at new releases for the rest of 2021. Oops. I better get on that and start preordering.
They really do! There are so many books I can’t wait to read, I don’t have the budget to pre-order them 😂😂
I’m also anticipating A Lesson in Vengeance (finally a new Victoria Lee book!!), Like a Love Song (this sounds so dramatic and yet also cute), The Bronzed Beasts (so nervous for the finale :o) and XOXO (I love Axie Oh and this book sounds so great) ❤ Reconnected also looks great, I love when there’s online friendships involved 😄
Ahh yay! I can’t wait to read all of these. I’m so excited to read more from Victoria Lee! 🙂 Thank you so much Caro! <3
This list is amaziiiing!! Honestly, I think we’re getting so many great books this year! I’m particularly excited for A Lesson in Vengeance and Like a Love Song <3
Oh thank you so much Marta! I hope we’ll love them 😀
I haven’t heard of some of these yet but they sound really exciting! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for reading! 🙂
Wait but like…why haven’t I heard about The Falling Girls??? That looks and sounds amazing! Can’t wait! Also, I’m currently reading A lesson in vengeance and it’s so good and vibey so far, I’m loving it! So excited for these, thank you for compiling this list!!
Right?? It sounds so so good, I can’t wait to read it. You’re so lucky, I’m glad you’re enjoying it! 🙂
i found out about so many amazing titles through this post, oh my god! i am so excited for our way back to always, the premise sounds so perfect for the summertime. as if on cue also sounds AMAZING, i really want to read more books with theater kids and this one being enemies to lovers just adds to the appeal! thank you so much for sharing, marie!
Oh thank you so, so much Lais, this makes me so happy <3 <3 I hope you'll end up reading and loving them! <3
Great list, Marie! There are so many amazing sounding books on here and so many that I need to add to my TBR! 😀 <3
Thank you so much, Ashley! <3 I hope you'll love them all! <3
Ahhh!! Excuse me while I go add them ALL onto my list! I absolutely loved Marissa Kanter’s first book 😍
Ilove how we’re having all so gorgeous covers too 🥰
AHHH really? I haven’t read it just yet, but I can’t wait, it sounds so good! <3
I really enjoyed XOXO, and The Jasmine Project definitely caught my eye. I can’t wait to read that one!
The Jasmine Project sounds amazing, I can’t wait to read it either! 😀