I love reading young adult books, so I’m always excited when I discover new binge-worthy books for YA readers. I’ve read several books in 2018 that are totally and utterly worthy of a binge-read.

Next time you have the hankering for some awesome YA books, try one of these. Most of the books on this reading list are YA series and a couple of them are stand-alone novels, but they’re ALL binge-worthy books. Whether you’re into fantasy, thrillers, dystopian, or contemporary romance, there’s something on this list that’s sure to get your little book nerd heart thumping.

Happy reading!

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Binge-Worthy Books for YA Readers

City of Bastards by Andrew Shvarts

This is an explosive, fast-paced YA book series that I wish everyone would read. It’s about a group of illegitimate royal children who witness a horrible crime and end up on the run from their own parents. City of Bastards is the second book in the series (Royal Bastards is the first) and in it, we get even more magic, mystery, and action than in the first book. I can’t get over how much I love this series! Do yourself a favor and start binge-reading this YA series the next chance you get.

Content advisory: This series contains violence, language, and non-descriptive sex.

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The Disappearance of Sloane Sullivan by Gia Cribbs

I binge-read this YA thriller while sitting on a beach in North Carolina, which was a little creepy since the book takes place in a beach town in North Carolina. Weird. It’s about a teenage girl, the witness protection program, romance, teen drama, and some seriously creepy occurrences. I spent the rest of my vacation jumping at every noise and freaking out at every shadow in my peripheral vision. Does it make me a weirdo that I loved that? (Don’t answer that.)

Content advisory: A little bit of language, perilous situations, and some kissing.

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Nyxia Unleashed by Scott Reintgen

Holy smokes. Seriously. If you want to fall into a science-fiction world that you won’t be able to crawl out of, the Nyxia series needs to be on your list of binge-worthy books. This is an action-packed YA series that takes place in deep space. A large corporation recruits a group of diverse teens from all over the world to mine a valuable substance called nyxia on a newly discovered planet. It’s an incredible story of courage, survival, grit, and strength of character.

Read my interview with the author on Brightly.

Content advisory: Violence, some language, and make-out sessions.

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Unraveled by Kate Jarvik Birch

Unraveled is the final book in the now-completed book series Perfected about the near-future United States where human pets are legal. The story centers around the “pet” of a congressman and her struggle for freedom, love, and a life where she is seen as human. Eerie and at times disturbing, these binge-worthy books are for fans of dystopian novels like Divergent.

Content advisory: Language, violence, and non-descriptive sex.

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Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

If you love princess books for young adults like Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, then you’ll love this new series starter as well. Theo has been a prisoner in her own castle for the past ten years, but now she’s plotting to take her kingdom back. Throw in a super-complicated love triangle, deception, and betrayals galore, and we have a binge-worthy book series that you’ll devour as fast as you can. I would know.

If YA fantasy romance books are your jam, add this one to your TBR.

Content advisory: Violence, abuse, slavery, and kissing.

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The Breathless by Tara Goedjen

If you’re in the mood for YA horror romance books, then The Breathless will be right up your alley. I read it last fall and it was deliciously creepy. Witchcraft, spells, mysterious deaths, and a haunting family legacy combine in this Southern gothic horror novel. I’ve got this book on my “read it again” shelf because it’s one of those binge-worthy books I can’t stop thinking about — even several months later.

Content advisory: Some language and scary scenes.

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Bright We Burn (The Conquerer’s Saga) by Kiersten White

If you love alternative history books, then Kiersten White’s Conquerer’s Saga should be in your binge-worthy books stack. It’s a reimagined history of the Ottoman Empire with Vlad the Impaler as a young woman, her brother Radu, and the Sultan they both love — Mehmed the Conqueror.

Bright We Burn is the last book in this completed book series, so you can binge-read them all at once. This series is probably more for adults, but it was published by a children’s imprint and marketed as YA, so use your own discretion when giving it to a teen.

Read my interview with the author here.

Content advisory: Violence, language, kissing (male/male and male/female), and semi-descriptive sex.

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Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson

For those of you that loved The Remnant Chronicles, you’ll be thrilled to know that Dance of Thieves is set in the same fantasy world. But this story centers around a Rahtan — one of the queen’s elite guards. Kazi is sent on a mission to “retrieve” someone the queen believes is hiding out in a nearby city-kingdom. While she’s there, Kazi manages to do her fair share of sneaking around, but she also falls for the ruling Patrei, Jase.

Content Advisory: Violence, language, and kissing.

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A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire series) by Jessica Cluess

I recently binge-read this entire series and had a fabulous time doing it. This is an alternative history/YA fantasy full of magic, friendship, danger, and romance with a breakneck pace. Because of her unique ability to set herself on fire, Henrietta Howel is recruited by a group of sorcerers to train for war against a group of ancient monsters ravaging England. With themes of feminism, friendship, and fantasy, this is definitely a binge-worthy YA series.

The last book in the Kingdom on Fire series will be released in October 2018, so now is the perfect time to read the first two books.

Content advisory: Language (no F-bombs), violence, perilous situations, and kissing.

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Reign the Earth (The Elementals series) by A.C. Gaughen

There are several YA fantasy series on this list, but I can’t help it. I love them. This is another series that just started. The second book will be coming out in early 2019, so now is a good time to hop on board. The Elementals series definitely skews towards older teens with tons of cross-over appeal for adults. It’s full of magic, danger, feminism, and a terrifying villain.

Content advisory: Violence, non-descriptive sex.

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Jackaby series by William Ritter

A paranormal detective and his assistant collide with horrifying monsters in these hilarious and dark fantasy novels. With four full-length books and a novella in the completed YA series, these binge-worthy books will keep you reading, gasping, and laughing for days on end. Or weeks. It all depends on how fast you read. This series is described as a mashup between Sherlock Holmes and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is a pretty accurate statement. Quirky, fun, and terrifying all at once, this is one of my favorite YA series of all time.

Content advisory: Some perilous situations and scary scenes (zombies, monsters, etc) and a few mild curse words.

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Every Day series by David Levithan

This is the only series on this list that I haven’t read, but I’m including it because it’s up next on my list of YA books to binge-read (a separate list from my regular TBR). Since the movie came out and the third book in the series is due for publication this fall, there’s no better time than now to devour this series. I’ll admit, I’m a bit hesitant going into this series since I don’t know much about it and I typically don’t read contemporary YA romance. So if you’ve read David Levithan’s books, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of them!
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