GReads Recommends... {4}

Need something new to read?  It's a new month, so I thought I'd list a few recommendations from my reading pile.

I have a special place in my heart for those broken boys in YA novels, especially when the story is told from their POV.  Check out some of these books that I've read, a & few others that were recommended to me. (Thank you to Kari Olson & Hannah Moskowitz for some of these awesome suggestions!)

Where She Went (If I Stay #2)
by Gayle Forman

It's been three years since the devastating accident ... three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Julliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance. {taken from goodreads.com}

One of the best characters, in one of the best stories, written by one of the best authors.  Need more convincing?  Pick up If I Stay first to get the full scoop on this story & then prepare yourself for greatness in it's sequel, Where She Went.

Freefall by Mindi Scott

Seth McCoy was the last person to see his best friend, Isaac, alive, and the first to find him dead. It was just another night, just another party, just another time when Isaac drank too much and passed out on the lawn. Only this time, Isaac didn't wake up.

Convinced that his own actions led to his friend's death, Seth is torn between turning his life around . . . or losing himself completely.
Then he meets Rosetta: so beautiful and so different from everything and everyone he's ever known. But Rosetta has secrets of her own, and Seth soon realizes he isn't the only one who needs saving . . . {taken from goodreads.com}

Yes, you're seeing this book mentioned for the second time on this feature -- because it's THAT good.  I can't mention my favorite male POV novels & not throw this one in.  If there was ever a broken boy I wanted to heal so badly, it would be Seth.  Read this book & tell me you don't agree -- I dare you.

The Piper's Son
by Melina Marchetta

Thomas Mackee wants oblivion. Wants to forget parents who leave and friends he used to care about and a string of one-night stands, and favourite uncles being blown to smithereens on their way to work on the other side of the world.

But when his flatmates turn him out of the house, Tom moves in with his single, pregnant aunt, Georgie. And starts working at the Union pub with his former friends. And winds up living with his grieving father again. And remembers how he abandoned Tara Finke two years ago, after his uncle's death.

And in a year when everything's broken, Tom realises that his family and friends need him to help put the pieces back together as much as he needs them. {taken from goodreads.com}

Telling you that I love this book is an understatement.  From that gorgeous cover, to that unbelievably lost soul named Thomas Mackee -- I am simply blown away by this novel.  If you have not been introduced to the fabulous Melina Marchetta, then stop what you're reading & grab this book NOW.

Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen

The football field is a battlefield

There’s an extraordinary price for victory at Oregrove High. It is paid on—and off—the football field. And it claims its victims without mercy—including the most innocent bystanders.

When a violent, steroid-infused, ever-escalating prank war has devastating consequences, an unlikely friendship between a talented but emotionally damaged fullback and a promising gymnast might hold the key to a school’s salvation.

Told in alternating voices and with unapologetic truth, Leverage illuminates the fierce loyalty, flawed justice, and hard-won optimism of two young athletes. {taken from goodreads.com}

-- This recommendation comes form Kari Olson of A Good Addiction

Crash into Me by Albert Borris

Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae have one thing in common: they all want to die. When they meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, the four teens make a deadly pact: they will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides... and at their final destination, they will all end their lives. 

As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living - or if there's no turning back. {taken from goodreads.com}


-- Recommended by Kari Olson from A Good Addiction

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky

The author captures the voice of a boy teetering on the brink of adulthood. Charlie is a freshman. And while's he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. He's a wallflower--shy and introspective, and intelligent beyond his years, if not very savvy in the social arts. We learn about Charlie through the letters he writes to someone of undisclosed name, age, and gender, a stylistic technique that adds to the heart-wrenching earnestness saturating this teen's story. 

Charlie encounters the same struggles that many kids face in high school--how to make friends, the intensity of a crush, family tensions, a first relationship, exploring sexuality, experimenting with drugs--but he must also deal with his best friend's recent suicide. Charlie's letters take on the intimate feel of a journal as he shares his day-to-day thoughts and feelings. {taken from goodreads.com}

-- This recommendation is from author Hannah Moskowitz, who also writes male POV's.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson
by John Green & David Levithan

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.

Hilarious, poignant, and deeply insightful, John Green and David Levithan’s collaborative novel is brimming with a double helping of the heart and humor that have won both them legions of faithful fans. {taken from goodreads.com}

-- Another recommendation from author Hannah Moskowitz


If you've read any of these book, please let me know what you thought in the comments.  Or if you have more male POV books to recommend, please share!