I can’t believe it’s time to share my most anticipated YA books of 2022. I know, October might seem a bit early to do this. I could have waited a little later in the year, but to be honest, there are way too many incredible looking books and I AM JUST SO EXCITED I COULD NOT WAIT.
As always, there is a lot of YA contemporary on this list. You all know I can’t live without this genre, right? (If you didn’t before, now you do. I’m a contemporary marshmallow, forever and always, okay)
There are also a couple intriguing books in other genres, such as YA thriller/mystery… and of course, if you have any recommendations, I am HERE so please feel free to share them all in comments. I can’t wait to hear from you all!
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Most Anticipated YA Books of 2022
With And Without You, Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Wibbroka’s books are must-reads for me and their upcoming release is no exception. With and Without You is about Siena and Patrick, high school seniors and the couple Most Likely to marry… until Patrick moves out of state. This story tackles a topic deep to my heart, long distance relationships. With Wibbroka’s talent for crafting incredible characters and nailing relationships’ chemistry, I can’t wait to read this!!!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
Some Mistakes Were Made, Kristin Dwyer
Some Mistakes Were Made is about Ellis and Easton, inseparable since their childhood… until Ellis’ life is thrown into chaos and she finds herself forced to move away. It’s about childhood best friends, messy, complicated pasts, anger and unresolved feelings… it sounds EXACTLY like the kind of emotionally, beautifully wrecking contemporary I’d love.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
This Might Get Awkward, Kara McDowell
I love Kara McDowell’s books so far and can’t wait to read that one next. This Might Get Awkward is about Gemma, mistaken for Beau’s boyfriend after a party turning out wrong. As she buries herself deeper into her web of lies, she also finds a new life she actually loves… This sounds like such an exciting read and it has social anxiety representation, which I’m HERE FOR.
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
Kiss & Tell, Adib Khorram
Adib Khorram’s Darius The Great Is Not Okay is one of my favorite books. Kiss & Tell sounds COMPLETELY different, yet just as incredibly amazing. It’s about Hunter, star in a boys band and also its only gay member. While everyone expects him to be the perfect queer role model, he’s just trying to figure himself out…This sounds like an EXCELLENT read and I’m so excited!!
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
The Words We Keep, Erin Stewart
I really enjoyed Erin Stewart’s debut and The Words We Keep sounds like an excellent read dealing with mental health and I can’t wait. Three months after Lily found her older sister Alice hurting herself, Alice comes back from her treatment program. With a new student at her school, Lily will have to process what happened and her very own struggles, too. It sounds like an emotional story and I can’t wait to get to it.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
How Maya Got Fierce, Sona Charaipotra
The Bold Type meets Younger when a teen gets a job at a magazine…at only seventeen. Doesn’t this sound AMAZING? I’m so excited about the potential messiness of this main character, thinking she’s accepted an internship when it’s in fact a full-time job, where people believe she is 26. I can’t wait!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
Boys I Know, Anna Gracia
Boys I Know sounds like a beautiful coming of age story. It’s about June, trying to balance her own academic expectations with her parents’ desires and her own dreams. It sounds like the kind of YA contemporary book I love so obviously it’s in my most anticipated list!
Year on Fire, Julie Buxmaum
Year on Fire is about navigating friendships when a kiss changes everything, a new boy shows up and everything sets itself on fire… literally. This sounds like an excellent contemporary about the messiness of feelings, first love, friendships and more.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository
One True Loves, Elise Bryant
A post-graduation Mediterraneen cruise, a hopeless romantic with a ten-year plan and a star artist, undeclared-major at NYU in the fall… One True Loves sounds like a lovely contemporary about discovering yourself, your dreams and maybe, finding a little bit of love, too. I love it already.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
The Charmed List, Julie Abe
The quiet girl’s ready to have a life-changing summer. Armed with her list, Ellie Kobata’s ready to create some memories… until one thing goes wrong and she finds herself, instead of on a road trip with her friend, with the boy she wanted to get revenge on. This sounds like such an exciting, fun read and I know I’m going to love it!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Blackwell’s
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A Show For Two, Tashie Bhuiyan
Mina Rahman wants to win the Golden Ivy student film competition…so when indie actor Emmett Ramos enrolls in her high school under a fake identity, she tries and persuade him to join her cause. This book sounds SO exciting! I love how unique the premise is, celebrity love interest always wins my heart and that cover is SO pretty. I can’t wait!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Blackwell’s
When You Get The Chance, Emma Lord
Emma Lord’s books are always so great for me (loved Tweet Cute so much!) and When You Get The Chance sounds incredible. Mille Price has a dream: becoming a Broadway star. When so many obstacles stand in her way, she decides to go on a quest to find her mother, a broadway girl as well… This sounds like an exciting read that gives Mamma Mia feels and I’m here for it!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
Ophelia After All, Racquel Marie
Ophelia knows she’s a romantic at heart. She knows she has a lot of crushes on boys… so when she finds herself thinking a little bit too often about cute, quiet Talia Sanchez, Ophelia starts questioning just how well she a actually knows herself… This sounds like such an important much needed read about figuring yourself and your sexuality out, how the world sees you and, most importantly, how you see yourself. I love it already so much.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository Bookshop – Blackwell’s
You, Me and Our Heartstrings, Melissa See
Noah’s a cello prodigy that wants to stick to tradition while Daisy, an independant, disabled violonist, is used to and WANTS to take risks. Despite their differences, when they play together… they go viral and suddenly, everyone starts writing their relationship for them before they have a chance to figure it out themselves. YES to more disability rep in books (and ON BOOK COVERS YES!). You, Me and Our Heartstrings already is winning my heart with this synopsis and I can’t wait to read it!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository Bookshop – Blackwell’s
Lulu & Milagro’s Search for Clarity, Angela Velez
Two very different sisters with very different expectations of life, getting on a road trip across country and slowly discovering each other again? I need this book, like, yesterday, please and thank you very much. I love my sisters’ vibes and a road trip and self discovery? It’s just everything I’ve ever needed.
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
All the Right Reasons, Bethany Mangle
Seventeen years-old Cara and her mother are cast as leads on a new dating show for single parents…All The Right Reasons has such a fun, unique synopsis and I’m excited both for the mother-daughter relationship and the TV show vibes… OH and the blooming, forbidden romance thrown in it, too!
Add to Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Blackwell’s
The Chandler Legacies, Abdi Nazemian
In The Chandler Legacies, there’s an elite boading school, secrets, privilege and a writing group with life-changing friendships… Honestly, this book has everything I love and I am so, so very intrigued by it.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
Turning, Joy L. Smith
Star student at her exclusive New York dance school, Genie’s future is suddenly snatched away from her. Now in a wheelchair, she’s forced to face how her dreams are changing…and how her accident really happened. Turning sounds like an excellent, emotional read!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Blackwell’s
Very Bad People, Kit Frick
Calliope’s determined to resolve the mystery behind her mother’s death and getting into the same elite boarding school her mother attended is the first step. A powerful secret society with a strange sense of justice might just take her on a very dangerous path… This sounds like an exciting thriller and I always love a good boarding school and secret society plot!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Blackwell’s
A Disaster in Three Acts, Kelsey Rodkey
I really enjoyed Last Chance Books by this author and am so excited to read her next book! A Disaster in Three Acts is about Saine, forced to work with her childhood best friend, ex-best friend and ex TO her best friend on a documentary… this promises a lot of fun and I can’t wait to read it!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository
Long Story Short, Serena Kaylor
Homeschooled, Beatrice has dreamed of getting into Oxford University for her entire life. When her parents send her to Shakespearian camp, wanting her to prove she can function in social situations and make friends her own age, as well… Beatrice will realize just how complicated relationships can be outside of her bubble. This sounds like such a good story about friendship and relationships as a whole!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Blackwell’s
Queen of the Tiles, Hanna Alkaf
A competitive Scrabble competition, a best friend’s death questioned again after mysterious messages appear on her Instagram account… Queen of the Tiles sounds like such an exciting YA thriller and I love how mysterious and unique it all seems. I can’t wait to read it!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Blackwell’s
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Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Freshman, Kristen R. Lee
When Savannah gets a full ride to Wooddale University, she can’t refuse. Behind the ivy-covered walls of the prestigious university, she comes faces to face with a world of privilege and elitism, filled with micro-aggressions…This sounds like an incredible debut tackling racism and privilege in college campuses and I can’t wait to give it a try!
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
Love Decoded, Jennifer Yen
Gigi Wong strives to be the best in everything. When she creates a friend matching app that goes viral around her school, she finds her friendships suddenly at stake… Will her desire to be perfect make her lose everything else that matters? Love Decoded sounds like an excellent contemporary read about friendship and striving for perfection and I need it.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository – Bookshop – Blackwell’s
No Filter and Other Lies, Crystal Maldonado
Twenty-one years old Max has it all and she shows it all off on her beautiful Instagram account. Behind the screen, it’s actually 16-year-old Kat Sanchez handling the reins, a sarcastic teenager with a life that’s not that glamorous or exciting. When one of Max’s posts goes viral, both her virtual and real life might crash down… I LOVE stories about influencers and what’s real/not behind the screens and this one sounds absolutely EXCELLENT.
Find on Goodreads ☂️ Buy on: Amazon – Book Depository Bookshop – Blackwell’s
The Blackwoods, Brandy Colbert
Okay so this is a multigenerational story about a Black Hollywood family. After the death of the great grandmother, the three great grandchildren help prepare for the estate sale and will examine the cost of ambition, the importance of family and THIS SOUNDS SO GOOD I AM SCREAMING.
Find on Goodreads ☂️
Those Summer Nights, Laura Silverman
Laura Silverman is one of my must-read authors, she’s one of my favorites of ALL times. Those Summer Nights is about Hannah, trying to recover from a life-changing injury, navigate a new summer job with an ex-best friend and her brother’s best friend who turned out to be a sweetheart. This will be a beautiful contemporary read I’ll love, I know that already!
Find on Goodreads ☂️
See You Yesterday, Rachel Lynn Solomon
Rachel Lynn Solomon is also a must-read author for me! This is a YA rom-com about a freshman in college, stuck in a time loop and forced to relive her first day, over and over again… I know I’m going to love this!
Find on Goodreads ☂️
Exactly Where You Need To Be, Amelia Diane Coombs
I LOVE Amelia Diane Coombs’ books and was SO excited to see that she’s releasing a new YA contemporary in 2022. Obviously it jumped right on this most anticipated list! It’s about a girl with OCD, going on a forbidden road trip to meet her idols. It sounds fun and exciting and mental health rep and I am here for everything.
Find on Goodreads ☂️
The One That Got Away, Sophie Gonzales
Sophie Gonzales is another author I love, Perfect on Paper was such an excellent book. The One That Got Away is about bisexual eighteen years-old Maya. She was dumped by her cheating ex, Jordy, two years ago and now is approached to participate to a Bachelor-meets-second-chance romance TV show….with all of his exes. As she slowly plots for revenge to show her ex what he is really like, she might just falls in love herself… AH I AM SO EXCITED what an exciting premise, right??
Find on Goodreads ☂️
Bad At Love, Gabriela Martins
Like A Love Song was such a good debut, I can’t wait to read more from Gabriela Martins. This one’s a rom-com again, about a Brazilian teen rocker, Daniel, and an aspiring journalist, Sasha, determined to dig up dirt on him… I can’t wait to fall for the characters and the exciting let’s-ruin-him-oops-i-have-feelings FEELS.
Find on Goodreads ☂️
Cake Eater, Allyson Dahlin
Marie Antoinette with a million followers on social media, the court watching for her every mistake, her husband Henri more focused on computer-hacking than her… Cake Eater promises a delicious retelling where France’s history takes a turn…right into a very big mess. I’m excited!!
Find on Goodreads ☂️
For more book recommendations, check out these blog posts:
- 16 Most Anticipated YA Books For The Second Half of 2021
- 10 YA Books About Friendships (The Strong Ones and The Breakups, Too)
📌 Pin 30 Most Anticipated YA Books for 2022!
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OKAY time to scream about some books together, shall we?
What are some of your most anticipated reads for 2022? I’d love to hear your recommendations in comments!
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Sophie Gonzales and Emma Lord are auto buy authors for me, I’m so excited for their new books!
Ahh yay! Both sound SO good, I can’t wait to read them 🙂
Why do you do this to me!? I already have so many books I haven’t read yet, and now there are MORE I want to read, aha! Great post as always xx
Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com
I am sooo sorry! 😂 There are way too many books I want to read, and too little time to get to them all 😂 Thank you so much Melina! <3
This is such an incredible list!! there are so many amazing books here! i can’t wait for When You Get the Chance: i loved Emma Lord’s other books. and i had no idea Brandt Colbert and Sophie Gonzales both have new books coming out in 2022!! i love those two authors, and i’m so excited for them. Ophelia After All sounds amazing, and so do Lulu & Milagro’s Search for Clarity and Kiss and Tell!!
Some of my most anticipated releases for 2022 are Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality, the fifth and final book of the series, and A Million to One, by Adiba Jaigirdar, a heist set on the titanic. I’m also excited for the second Mary book by the authors of the lady Janies!!
Thank you for this amazing list☀️💕🥰
Ah thank you so, so much, so happy you enjoyed this list!! I need to check out the books you mentioned, a heist set on the Titanic sounds SO good!😍
Adiba Jaigirdar is SO incredible, and she has so many amazing books coming up in the next couple years!!
I need to look them up!!
Thanks for this list!
My TBR just grew by a lot!
Yay, my job here is done! 😀
Great list, Marie! I already have The Chandler List on my TBR, I’m going to add Kiss & Tell and Disaster in Three Acts to my list 😀
Thank you so, so much, so happy you enjoyed it!! 🙂
Thank you so much for including TURNING! This makes me so excited for all the other #22debuts too!
Of course, I can’t WAIT to read it! There are so many incredible books next year, can’t wait to read them all! 😀
I didn’t know that Julie Buxbaum was having another release soon! Thanks for letting me know about it 🙂
The Bookish Life of Tiffany
I’m so happy I could remind you of that one! It sounds really great. Thank you so much, Tiffany! 😀
I hope you love all these! I didn’t know Adib Khorram had a new book coming out. Thanks for the heads up! I need to read that one for sure.
I loved Darius SO much, I can’t wait to read more from this author! Thank you so much for your comment! 🙂
Okay so I’m anticipating…about all of these, so I’ll be creative and tell you about some other books LOL! You truly assumed by Laila Sabreen sounds incredibly important, Cold by Mariko Tamaki has me CRAVING February 2022 already, not YA but Delilah Green doesn’t care sounds…amazing! And also: Great or nothing, She gets the girl, Reader I murdered him, and Echo Sunset!
I’ll stop now, but there’s just SO MANY!!
Ahhh Birdie thank you SO much for adding some recommendations here, I need to check out all of these right now!! <3
ahh thanks for sharing Marie! there are so many books for me to add to my TBR. Super excited for the new Wibbroka book as well, I still need to read What’s Not to Love!
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you’ll love What’s Not To Love! 😀
My TBR just got a lot longer haha. I absolutely loved Counting Down With You so I’m super excited for A Show For Two and also When You Get The Chance. Great list!
Ahh I’m so glad to hear you loved Counting Down With You, I can’t wait to read that one either. Thank you so much! 🙂
Ohh thank you so much for yet again amazing recs!! Need them all on my list now- I’m especially stunned of how gorgeous the cover for how maya got fierce is!! The girl’s pose, the « collage » looking background.. just wow!
Right? I love this book cover so much and the book sounds amazing! 🙂 Thank you, Kristina!
RIP my TBR! These look sooooo good! I’m particularly excited for the Brandy Colbert book, which has a perfect premise and Brandy Colbert is AMAZING at writing family relationships. Can’t wait.
Ahh that’s SO good to know! I really need to read some of Brandy Colbert’s work 🙂
i’m so not updated on 2022 releases so this was the perfect list for me <3 i can't wait for ophelia after all, and i forgot adib khorram's book coming out but i'm super excited to see more from him too. i'll have to check out all the other books you mentioned!!
Oh this makes me so, so happy, thank you May! <3
Kiss and Tell sounds SO good omg!! I also really want to read Sona Charaipotra’s new book as well as One True Loves and Ophelia After All. I might have to go and just add all of these to my TBR list for 2022, idk (lol). Thanks for the great recs!!!
Ahhh yay, this makes me so, so happy. Thank you so much for reading!! <3
There are so many amazing sounding books on this list!!! I’m super excited for The One That Got Away, especially because Perfect on Paper is one of my all time favourite books! But I also can’t wait for Ophelia after all! I’ve been looking forward to that one ever since it was announced <3
Ahh thank you so much, Kat! I loved Perfect on Paper SO much, I can’t wait to read more and more from the author <3
I cannot believe it’s almost 2022, but at the same time I’m excited for all the new releases 🥰 I’m still searching for new books to add to my TBR, so I loved reading your post! When You Get The Chance, Queen of the Tiles, See You Yesterday, Those Summer Nights & Exactly Where You Need To Be sound so good ❤
Ahh thank you so much Caro, so glad this post could be helpful to you! I hope we’ll all have some amazing reads next year 😀
I haven’t actually heard of any of these, but some of the covers look very pretty! Hope you enjoy them when they do come out!
Thank you so much!! 🙂
I can’t believe how many books are now on my radar after this post! One True Loves was already there, I still need to read Happily Ever Afters but I will and this will be next. Thanks for sharing this, some beautiful covers too 😍
AH this makes me SO happy, thank you Anika! 😍
marie, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS POST! i’ve been trying to compile my 2022 reading list and it’s not working hahah i feel like the goodreads lists aren’t fully updated yet, and they always prioritize fantasy releases over contemporaries, which is what i prefer. but your list is perfect!
kiss and tell is definitely one i am most excited about. i love boybands so much and i know adib khorram will be able to do this well!
i hadnt heard of the chandler legacies, even though i have read by abdi nazemian before and this one sounds SO cool! and a disaster in three acts also sounds amazing. i have yet to read last chance books, but kelsey rod key’s synopsis are always SO GREAT and i hope the execution lives up to the premise!
once again, thanks for the fantastic compilation!
Oh Lais thank you so, so much for reading, I’m so glad this list could be helpful to you <3 I hope you'll find some books you will love there. I'm SO excited for Kiss and Tell as well and The Chandler Legacies sounds incredible! :)
We always seem to anticipate the same books, so most of these are also only TBR. I am lucky enough to have a few already. Two that are super high are my list Stewart’s and Mangle’s new books. Their previous releases left such a mark on me and have me wanting more.
AHh that’s so great! I love how we always anticipate the same books. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on all of these <3
Wow, this post just makes me realize that I have no idea what books are coming in 2022. I haven’t heard of ANY of these books, but I’m so glad you’ve put them on my radar!
Ahh I’m so happy this post could be helpful to you, Nicole, thank you! 🙂
I’ll have to check out a few of the books I haven’t heard of before but I’m super excited for Very Bad People, Queen Of The Tiles & How Maya Got Fierce.
Most of my most anticipated books are fantasy tbh but I do have a couple of contemporary ones I’m excited for. Off the top of my head there’s Love Radio, Bad Things Happen Here & a Karen McManus book which I can’t remember the title of 🙈
Hope you get to read & enjoy all of these.
Ahh yay! I hope you’ll enjoy them, Charlotte! 🙂 Okay so I just found out about Love Radio thanks to you and it sounds really good, thank you for putting this one on my radar!!