There is no shortage of paranormal fiction available on the YA shelves these days, so for today’s summer reading post we’ll focus on books that have come out only in the last month or so (or are about to come out). If you like your romance will a bit of the supernatural, these are for you!
A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young (in stores 6/21)
Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him.
But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger.
Now, at seventeen, Charlotte finds the Need has virtually taken over her life, and it’s becoming harder and harder to hide these compulsions—if anyone knew about the Need, they would think she was crazy.
There have been others before who’ve felt the Need, but they’re gone—disappeared in a burst of light and erased from the memories of everyone whose lives they had touched. It’s as though they never existed. This is the fate that awaits Charlotte. But the last thing Charlotte wants to do is disappear, to be Forgotten. She wants to stay with her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend’s arms forever. She wishes she could just ignore the Need, but she can’t. And as everyone important in her life begins to slowly forget her, she has to decide if she’ll fight the Need in order to remain herself—no matter how dark the consequences.
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma (in stores 6/14)
Chloe’s older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can’t be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby’s friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.
But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.
With palpable drama and delicious craft, Nova Ren Suma bursts onto the YA scene with the story that everyone will be talking about.
Passion by Lauren Kate (in stores 6/14)
“Every single lifetime, I’ll choose you. Just as you have chosen me. Forever.”
Luce would die for Daniel. And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way. . . .
Luce is certain that something—or someone—in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime . . . going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel . . . and finally unlock the key to making their love last.
Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history.
Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames . . . forever.
Hereafter by Tara Hudson
Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she’s dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she’s trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.
Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that has held her captive for so long.
Thrilling and evocative, with moments of pure pleasure, Hereafter will linger with fans of The Lovely Bones and those who enjoy paranormal romance and dark intrigue set in a very believable contemporary world.
The Demon’s Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan (in stores 6/14)
The Goblin Market has always been the center of Sin’s world. But now the Market is at war with the magicians, and Sin’s place is in danger. Thrown out of the Market she loves, Sin is thrown together with brothers Nick and Alan—whom she’s always despised.
Alan has been marked by a magician and is being tortured so that the magicians can get to Nick. As Sin watches Alan struggle to protect the demon brother he loves, she begins to see him in a new light—but she and Mae are locked in a fierce rivalry over who will inherit the leadership of the Goblin Market, and a decisive battle with the Aventurine Circle is looming. Mae’s brother, Jamie, is holed up with the magicians, his loyalties in question. And Nick—well, who knows what a demon might do to save his brother? How far will Nick go to save Alan—and what will it cost them all? Find out in this gripping conclusion to the trilogy Scott Westerfeld says is “full of shimmery marvels and bountiful thunder.”
Die for Me by Amy Plum
When Kate Mercier’s parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life—and memories—behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.
Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate’s guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he’s a revenant—an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.
In this incandescent debut, newcomer Amy Plum has created a powerful paranormal mythology with immortal revenants. The Paris setting comes enchantingly alive as a relentless struggle between good and evil takes place in its streets. Rich with romance, atmosphere, and thrills, Die for Me will leave readers breathlessly awaiting its sequel.
Illusions by Aprilynne Pike
Laurel’s world is rocked on the first day of her senior year when she spots Tamani—the faerie sentry with whom she shares an electrifying connection—posing as a transfer student. Before she can deal with the repercussions this will have on her relationship with her human boyfriend, David, Laurel meets new student Yuki—who turns out to also be a faerie.
Eager to distract herself from the brewing rivalry between David and Tamani, Laurel focuses her attention on figuring out how a “wild” faerie like Yuki could exist outside of Avalon. Laurel is soon forced to confront a danger darker than anything she’s ever imagined—and this time she may not have Tamani or David by her side.
Illusions is poised to delight and amaze readers with heart-pounding suspense, breathtaking romance, and a cliff-hanger ending that will leave them desperate for the fourth and final novel in the series.
Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy feat on an island as small as Nantucket. It only gets harder when she finds herself haunted by vivid nightmares of a desert journey and hallucinations of women weeping tears of blood, all of which leave her physically and emotionally drained. It’s not until Helen crosses paths with Lucas Delos at school that her true heritage is revealed. Yet even as Lucas helps her awaken to her startling powers, Helen is devastated to discover they can never be together—not unless they can break free of their leading roles in a Greek tragedy the Three Fates insist on repeating throughout history.
But how do you defy destiny?
For the comments: What are your favorite paranormal reads?
Novel Novice 
What a fun list and such great covers.
~ Jenna