Padfoot's Lazy Book Club discussion

I would like to nominate Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin. It is a YA contemporary that has 3,559 ratings currently on goodreads!

Max Walker is a golden boy. Attractive, intelligent, and athletic, he’s the perfect son, the perfect friend, and the perfect crush for the girls in his school. He’s even really nice to his little brother. Karen, Max’s mother, is determined to maintain the façade of effortless excellence she has constructed through the years, but now that the boys are getting older, she worries that the façade might soon begin to crumble. Adding to the tension, her husband Steve has chosen this moment to stand for election to Parliament. The spotlight of the media is about to encircle their lives.

The Walkers are hiding something, you see. Max is special. Max is different. Max is intersex. When an enigmatic childhood friend named Hunter steps out of his past and abuses his trust in the worst possible way, Max is forced to consider the nature of his well-kept secret. Why won’t his parents talk about it? What else are they hiding from Max about his condition and from each other? The deeper Max goes, the more questions emerge about where it all leaves him and what his future holds, especially now that he’s starting to fall head over heels for someone for the first time in his life. Will his friends accept him if he is no longer the Golden Boy? Will anyone ever want him—desire him—once they know? And the biggest one of all, the question he has to look inside himself to answer: Who is Max Walker, really?

Triggers: Depression, Sexual Assault

I would like to nominate Branded by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki. This is YA dystopian novel set in an ultra-religious society where people are imprisoned for violating the seven deadly sins. This book currently has 4,290 ratings.
I read this last year and I don't remember much about it now, but I remember being hooked on this.

Fifty years ago The Commander came into power and murdered all who opposed him. In his warped mind, the seven deadly sins were the downfall of society.

To punish the guilty, he created the Hole, a place where sinners are branded according to their sins. Sinners are forced to live a less than human existence in deplorable conditions, under the watchful eye of guards who are ready to kill anyone who steps out of line.

Now, LUST wraps around my neck like thick, blue fingers, threatening to choke the life out of me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t commit, and the Hole is my new home.

Constant darkness.

Brutal and savage violence.

Excruciating pain.

Every day is a fight for survival.

But I won’t let them win. I will not die in the Hole.

I am more than my brand. I’m a fighter. My name is Lexi Hamilton, and this is my story.

I would like to nominate wtf by Peter Lerangis.
It has 870 ratings.
I read it last year, and I really enjoyed it. The humor really stands out.

One Plan, Two Parties, Six Players:

Jimmy: the driver
Cam: the connect
Byron: the know-it-all
Reina: the conscience
MC: the crasher

On one Friday night these six will test their limits to the extreme. Some are driven by lust, others by greed. One just wants to have fun, and another desires to be free. If everything goes as planned, they will all get what they want. But within twenty-four hours, bones will break, bodies will touch, hearts will race, guns will be drawn, and everything will go oh so very wrong.

I would like to nominate The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson, which currently only has 454 ratings.

David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he’s gay. The school bully thinks he’s a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth – David wants to be a girl.

On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal – to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in year eleven is definitely not part of that plan.

When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long…



I would also like to nominate Undone by Cat Clarke as I haven't read it in ages and have been looking for an excuse to re-read it for a while! It currently has 1,589 ratings.

Jem Halliday is in love with her gay best friend. Not exactly ideal, but she's learning to live with it.

Then the unspeakable happens. Kai is outed online ... and he kills himself.

Jem knows nothing she can say or do will bring him back. But she wants to know who was responsible. And she wants to take them down.


These are two of my all-time favourite books, and certainly two of the most underhyped. They're both really interesting and make you care so much about the characters and both contain plot twists that come as a bit of a shock. These books really deserve more recognition, and I want more people to fall in love with them, just like I did and even if neither of them are chosen, I hope some of you decide to pick them up anyway. I love this theme, as there are some really great underhyped books out there!

I would like to nominate by Elizabeth Miles.

It has about 4,500 ratings.

Synopsis:

Sometimes sorry isn't enough....


It’s winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything looks pristine and peaceful. But not all is as it seems...

Between cozy traditions and parties with her friends, Emily loves the holidays. And this year’s even better—the guy she’s been into for months is finally noticing her. But Em knows if she starts things with him, there’s no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em’s best friend.

On the other side of town, Chase is having problems of his own. The stress of his home life is starting to take its toll, and his social life is unraveling. But that’s nothing compared to what’s really haunting him. Chase has done something cruel...something the perfect guy he pretends to be would never do. And it’s only a matter of time before he’s exposed.

In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. And three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—are here to choose who will pay. Em and Chase have been chosen.

I'd also nominate by Romina Russell.

It only has 1,000 ratings.

Synopsis:

At the dawn of time, there were 13 Houses in the Zodiac Galaxy. Now only 12 remain….

Rhoma Grace is a 16-year-old student from House Cancer with an unusual way of reading the stars. While her classmates use measurements to make accurate astrological predictions, Rho can’t solve for ‘x’ to save her life—so instead, she looks up at the night sky and makes up stories.

When a violent blast strikes the moons of Cancer, sending its ocean planet off-kilter and killing thousands of citizens—including its beloved Guardian—Rho is more surprised than anyone when she is named the House’s new leader. But, a true Cancerian who loves her home fiercely and will protect her people no matter what, Rho accepts.

Then, when more Houses fall victim to freak weather catastrophes, Rho starts seeing a pattern in the stars. She suspects Ophiuchus—the exiled 13th Guardian of Zodiac legend—has returned to exact his revenge across the Galaxy. Now Rho—along with Hysan Dax, a young envoy from House Libra, and Mathias, her guide and a member of her Royal Guard—must travel through the Zodiac to warn the other Guardians.

But who will believe anything this young novice says? Whom can Rho trust in a universe defined by differences? And how can she convince twelve worlds to unite as one Zodiac?

Embark on a dazzling journey with ZODIAC, the first novel in an epic sci-fi-meets-high-fantasy series set in a galaxy inspired by the astrological signs.

I like to nominate by Claire North. This book is still new so i guess that's the reason why it have 242 ratings. i haven't had the chance to read it but i'm going to read it as soon as i have the copy.

Synopsis:

Kepler had never meant to die this way -- viciously beaten to death by a stinking vagrant in a dark back alley. But when reaching out to the murderer for salvation in those last dying moments, a sudden switch takes place.

Now Kepler is looking out through the eyes of the killer himself, staring down at a broken and ruined body lying in the dirt of the alley.

Instead of dying, Kepler has gained the ability to roam from one body to another, to jump into another person's skin and see through their eyes, live their life -- be it for a few minutes, a few months or a lifetime.

Kepler means these host bodies no harm -- and even comes to cherish them intimately like lovers. But when one host, Josephine Cebula, is brutally assassinated, Kepler embarks on a mission to seek the truth -- and avenge Josephine's death.

TheBookHuntress wrote: "I'd also nominate by Romina Russell.

It only has 1,000 ratings.

Synopsis:

At the dawn of time, there were 13 Houses in the Zodiac Galaxy. Now only 12 remain….

Rhoma..."

I second this one!!!!

I want to nominate this one too! It's Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini.

It has less than 5000 ratings and I've been eying it for a while. I think this could be a big series guys.

"This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying experiences that others in her hometown of Salem take for granted, which is why she is determined to enjoy her first high school party with her best friend and longtime crush, Tristan. But after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class, Lily wishes she could just disappear.

Suddenly, Lily is in a different Salem—one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruelest of them all is Lillian . . . Lily's other self in this alternate universe.

What makes Lily weak at home is what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. In this confusing world, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone and a love she never expected."

I would like to nominate The Revenant by Sonia Gensler. It is a YA Historical/Paranormal and currently has 712 ratings. This is one of my all-time favorite books but it feels like no one has ever heard of it!

Synopsis:

When Willie arrives in Indian Territory, she knows only one thing: no one can find out who she really is. To escape a home she doesn't belong in anymore, she assumes the name of a former classmate and accepts a teaching job at the Cherokee Female Seminary.

Nothing prepares her for what she finds there. Her pupils are the daughters of the Cherokee elite—educated and more wealthy than she, and the school is cloaked in mystery. A student drowned in the river last year, and the girls whisper that she was killed by a jealous lover. Willie's room is the very room the dead girl slept in. The students say her spirit haunts it.

Willie doesn't believe in ghosts, but when strange things start happening at the school, she isn't sure anymore. She's also not sure what to make of a boy from the nearby boys' school who has taken an interest in her—his past is cloaked in secrets. Soon, even she has to admit that the revenant may be trying to tell her something. . . .

Zodiac by Romina Russell!

I would like to nominate into the beautiful north.
Nineteen-year-old Nayeli works at a taco shop in her Mexican village and dreams about her father, who journeyed to the us when she was young. Recently, it has dawned on her that he isn't the only man who has left town. In fact, there are almost no men in the village--they've all gone north. While watching The Magnificent Seven, Nayeli decides to go north herself and recruit seven men--her own "Siete Magníficos"--to repopulate her hometown and protect it from the bandidos who plan on taking it over.  -From the description.

Looking forward to reading Doon I have it on my kindle for a while now.

I would really like to nominate I would really like to nominate Skinny AND Can't Look Away Both by Donna Cooner!

Skinny is about Ever this teenager how weighs over 300 pounds and there this voice inside her telling her all the unsaid thoughts about her, but then she decides to get a really big surgery done which she could die from!!!


Can't Look Away is about Torrey Grey, she is a fifteen year old YouTube sensation but then while vlogging one day her sister decides to go home and while crossing the street she gets hit by a drunk driver, now she has moved and is at a new school, she is trying to post another video but it really hard for her....


Skinny is about Ever this teenager how weighs over 300 pounds and there this voice inside her telling her all the unsaid thoughts about her, but then she decides to get a really big surgery done which she could die from!!!


Can't Look Away is about Torrey Grey, she is a fifteen year old YouTube sensation but then while vlogging one day her sister decides to go home and while crossing the street she gets hit by a drunk driver, now she has moved and is at a new school, she is trying to post another video but it really hard for her....