Summer is coming and everyone needs a good book to read while tanning on the beach or having a lazy day in bed. These fast-paced, easy-to-read young adult books give off the perfect vibes for summer and will have readers stuck in fictional worlds filled with beach adventures, trips to fantasy lands, summer getaways and, of course, summer romance.
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” Trilogy by Jenny Han
This romance trilogy, including the titles “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” “It’s Not Summer Without You” and “We’ll Always Have Summer,” shares the story of the main character Belly and her summers on Cousins Beach. To Belly, the summer house is everything: it’s where Susannah, Jeremiah and Conrad are. Jeremiah and Conrad were like brothers to her, but they were also something more.
The three books follow Belly as she grows up in the summer house, falling for both brothers, but eventually needing to pick just one. These books are fast-paced and keep readers entertained through Belly’s love life with the two boys, leaving them to decide if they are “Team Jeremiah” or “Team Conrad.” The trilogy was also turned into a TV series on Prime Video, with the third and final season coming out on July 16. It’s an amazing read and watch for this summer.
“Daisy Jones & The Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
In the contemporary historical fiction “Daisy Jones & The Six,” the beautiful Daisy Jones grows up in a world full of rock ‘n’ roll. Soon enough, she’s being recognized for her voice at the same time the rock band The Six starts gaining traction in the music realm. A producer catches wind of both and quickly decides the path to success is for them to join forces, even though The Six’s lead, Billy Dunne, and Daisy are very against it.
The story is moving, covering hard topics of loyalty, addiction and more. “Daisy Jones & The Six” is written as an oral history, using interviews with characters rather than traditional storytelling. This writing style elevates the story and makes for an immersive experience. With a full cast, the audiobook is also an amazingly unique experience, bringing each character to life with their own voice actor. “Daisy Jones & The Six” was also adapted into a show on Prime Video and is a great watch for the summer.
“The Shadows Between Us” duology by Tricia Levenseller
The fantasy-romance, “The Shadows Between Us,” reveals the main character, Alessandra Stathos’s scheme to take over the throne. The plan? Simple, make the Shadow King fall for her, get married, then kill him and take the kingdom that is rightfully hers.
However, Alessandra is not the only one going for the throne, and she finds herself fighting to keep him alive long enough for her to be made his queen.
As she attempts to keep her heart from the Shadow King, readers are taken through countless adventures as these enemies soften up around each other. Partnered with the recent release of “The Darkness Within Us,” a book about her clever older sister, Chrysantha Stathos, getting outplayed by her sister and her plan to become rich flopping, yet finding a way to overcome it all. The Stathos sisters make for interesting and encapsulating stories to dive into this summer.
“You Have a Match” by Emma Lord
The adventurous romance standalone, “You Have a Match,” shares main character Abby’s story of a secret sister, her summer love and the events that followed. Abby signed up for a DNA test in an attempt to make her best friend, Leo, who is adopted and her secret crush take one. Through this DNA test, Abby finds out that she has a sister her parents never told her about.
Abby’s plan to find her long-lost sister and figure out why her parents gave her up for adoption was to meet up at summer camp. At camp, her feelings for Leo are hard to hide and the story unfolds. This book is impossible for readers to put down, needing answers to all the secrets and yearning for Abby and Leo to finally admit their feelings towards each other.
“The Girl from Everywhere” duology by Heidi Heilig
The fantasy duology, “The Girl from Everywhere” and “The Ship Beyond Time,” brings a magical take to sailing. The main character, Nix and her father can sail anywhere, at any time, as long as he has a map for it. Her father has been searching for the map to Honolulu in 1886 forever. Finding this map and traveling there could bring back Nix’s mother but erase Nix’s existence at the same time.
Throughout the two books, readers follow Nix and the ship crew’s adventures as she takes after her father’s abilities, finds love and fights to keep herself from facing the same fate as her father: heartbroken and alone in an endless world. Despite the high page counts, these two books are quick and easy to read by keeping readers captivated by Nix’s adventures and her slow fall into love.
Readers may want to consider adding some of these to their summer reading list. Many can be found on the online library options Libby and Hoopla, along with local libraries and bookstores.
