Don’t you love discovering a book so engrossing it keeps you up at night? I do!

You’ve come to the right place. Find your next great read for National Reading Month by exploring my reviews of these binge-worthy YA books so addicting you can’t stop reading. It’s a magpie compilation. Some titles are classic binges, and some are authors you may have never heard of before. There are binge-worthy YA thrillers, mysteries, romances, issues-driven contemporaries, ghost stories, and series, and I’ve included multiple examples from each category. With such a varied collection, something is guaranteed rouse your curiosity.

In many places, I’ve noted that binge-worthy YA books turned into binge-worthy YA authors because everything I read by them was fast-paced and amazing.

YA Mysteries and Thrillers

By their very nature, the best mysteries and thrillers are binge-worthy YA books so addicting you can’t stop reading. They’re suspenseful. They’re full of conflict. They’re fast-paced with lots of plot twists to keep you interested.

Junior Missing by Khristina Chess

“He kissed me again and again, and I began bargaining once more with the wind. I vowed to do better and try harder to keep this Quentin who loved me and kept me safe. The Quentin who I loved. Who loved me. Who didn’t treat me badly. Sex was the one place where he was always himself. His very best self. “― Khristina Chess, quote from Junior Missing

Love shouldn’t take prisoners.

Sixteen-year-old Grace Keegan, darling of the child pageant world, is missing. Police initially believe she ran away—until they locate her abandoned cell phone along the highway. No one knows she met someone online, someone older, a musician named Quentin Brock who has a cool band named Acid Mozart. He seems to be romantic, cute, and funny. He seems to be the perfect guy.

By the time he reveals his true colors, Grace is trapped in another state with no way out.

She doesn’t even have shoes.

Wow! Junior Missing hooked me from the first page and never let me go!

What makes Junior Missing so special is the gripping, slow-boil depiction of how Grace falls into the trap of an abusive relationship with an older man who takes her in—and won’t let her go. I worried about her. I loved seeing her journey and choices as she befriends the neighbor girl. This is the kind of thrilling, authentic novel that really shows how someone can so easily be manipulated and hurt in this kind of situation.

If you’re looking for a steamy thriller that you won’t be able to put down, this one is definitely a page-turner! In fact, Khristina Chess is on my list of Best YA Authors to Binge on Kindle Unlimited because she has so many suspenseful novels.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

“The last laugh, the last cup of coffee, the last sunset, the last time you jump through a sprinkler, or eat an ice-cream cone, or stick your tongue out to catch a snowflake. You just don’t know.” ― Lauren Oliver, quote from Before I Fall

Samantha Kingston is dead.

In this YA-version of Groundhog Day, a “mean girl” gets a chance to relive her last day and the party she attended with her friends before the fatal car crash. She has an opportunity to make the same choices over and over, until she makes different ones.

This beautiful novel is a mystery about redemption. Samantha’s character arc really blew me away, and although I disliked her in the beginning, I was cheering for her by the end, and I love the way Lauren Oliver wrote the ending.

If you’re looking for a YA book so addicting you won’t be able to put it down, Before I Fall is worth a look.

Girl, Stolen by April Henry

"Sometimes people did this, closed their eyes for a few seconds and imagined it gave them insights into what it was like to be her. Only, at the end, they could still open their eyes and see." ― April Henry, quote from Girl, Stolen

This slender YA novel is a fast and engaging read!

The story is about sixteen-year-old Cheyenne Wilder, daughter of a famous Nike CEO, who is accidentally kidnapped by a boy named Griffen. He's about her age, maybe older, and he soon regrets his actions because his abusive father decides to hold her for ransom. Cheyenne is in danger. She has pneumonia; she's blind; bad men at Griffen's house are interested in assaulting her; and she expects to be killed once money has exchanged hands.

The prose is simple and effective. The viewpoint alternates between Cheyenne and Griffen, and we learn backstories of both protagonists through the story. I especially liked learning so much about what a blind person might experience in such a situation. Cheyenne was clever and resilient.

I haven't read a book straight through and stayed up to finish in a long time. Well done! If you’re looking for a YA book so addicting you won’t be able to put it down, you don’t want to miss this YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults and YALSA Quick Pick winner.

Broken Things by Lauren Oliver

“Before we were the Monsters of Brickhouse Lane—before everyone from Connecticut to California knew us by that tagline, and blogs ran pictures of our faces, and searching our names led to sites that crashed from all the traffic—we were just girls, and there were only two of us.” ― Lauren Oliver, quote from Broken Things

Once there were three friends who were writers and obsessed with a fantasy novel about a magical world. But one of the girls was murdered, and everyone thought the other two killed her. They didn’t.

Five years after Summer’s death, the friends are reunited and put on a path to find out the identity of the real killer.

This addictive YA novel is a mystery told in alternating viewpoints. I wanted to know what happened to Summer. Who murdered her and why? What happened that day in the woods? The dark plot twisted and kept me guessing until the end.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

“Life feels beautiful that day. The four of us Liars, we have always been. We always will be. No matter what happens as we go to college, grow old, build lives for ourselves; no matter if Gat and I are together or not. No matter where we go, we will always be able to line up on the roof of Cuddledown and gaze at the sea. This island is ours. Here, in some way, we are young forever.” ― E. Lockhart, quote from We Were Liars

What an unexpected and beautiful story about summertime, friendship, coming of age, and sorrow!

I wasn’t sure I’d like this book, but I fell in love with this unexpected story. By the end it made me cry. We Were Liars is about a group of privileged young friends and their lies, family secrets, grief, and love. It’s a mystery. Its private island setting evokes all kinds of summer images: the beach, the heat, the sun. The beautiful and disorienting plot will leave you reader breathless until the very end.

It’s a classic, but if you haven’t picked this one up yet, do yourself a favor and add it to your list of binge-worthy YA books so addicting you can’t stop reading. It’s a whirlwind.

Lockhart's prequel to this one, Family of Liars, does not disappoint either! In Family of Liars, the narrator, Carrie, tells the story of the summer of the boys' visit to the island, but long before those events, there are ominous hints of what is to come. In her early teen years, for example, Carrie's father insists on a surgery to break her jaw, and an infection sets in. The pages are full of great details about summertime on the island. The lemon hunt was very vivid, as well as the details about clothing, food, and the picnic table. Lockhart painted a vivid sense of place, siblings, and privilege.

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart

“She believed that the way you speak is often more important than anything you have to say.” ― E. Lockhart, quote from Genuine Fraud

I picked up Genuine Fraud because I loved Lockhart’s book We Were Liars so much, and the premise sounded intriguing.

Genuine Fraud is a close re-imagining of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley (another binge-worthy series of books), but with female protagonists and a plot that has been lightly shuffled, so events are in different sequence but still end up being very, very familiar when you encounter them.

Because the book opens with a bang and gives a great big story question, I definitely wanted to find out what happened and how things were going to pan out. That made it a binge-worthy YA book. The ending, after all that, felt a little anti-climactic to me. Still, Lockhart is one of those authors whose writing is worth following, wherever it goes, and I'll be back for more.

Sadie by Courtney Summers

“How do you forgive the people who are supposed to protect you? Sometimes, I don't know what I miss more; everything I've lost or everything I never had.” ― Courtney Summers, quote from Sadie

Sadie by Courtney Summers is another binge-worthy YA book so addicting you can’t stop reading. I felt instantly drawn into her story and liked the format of alternating podcast interviews and young Sadie’s viewpoint as she sought justice against her sister’s killer. She has plenty of personal reasons to hate him, and he deserves to die for his crimes.

This novel alternates between young Sadie, who is a missing teen, and a podcast show, where details of her disappearance are told through a series of interviews. I think I would have loved this book even more in audio format than paperback

Still, Sadie is a great read. The pacing increases as the story unfolds and Sadie gets closer and closer to her target. The conclusion to her quest for justice is a surprise. This thrilling YA book about teen runaways that will stay with you long after the last page. If Sadie sounds interesting, check out my list of Books You’ll Enjoy If You Liked Sadie.

I could keep listing binge-worthy YA mysteries and thrillers that you won’t be able to put down, but there are other genres to consider.

YA Romances

These YA romance books will appeal to readers of all ages. You don’t need a lusty bodice ripper for a great love story that gives all the feels. Sure, YA romance has less sex (generally), but these books make up for that in other ways. There’s plenty of kissing, sharing the same breath, and intimate moments that lead up to the kissing. A lot builds into that first kiss.

YA romance makes one of the best books to binge read.

Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

“About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him-and I didn’t know how potent that part might be-that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.” ― Stephanie Meyer, quote from Twilight

Oh. My. Gosh.

Twilight was my introduction to YA as an adult reader, and I remember plowing through these novels at a breakneck pace. They’re part love stories, part vampire and werewolf fantasy world, and just full of all the great emotions. At one point I contacted my friend who’d recommended the series and asked, “When do they finally have sex?!” By this point I felt as frustrated about the situation with Edward as Bella.

“It’s young adult,” she said. “Remember?”

Right.

For readers who have never read them or even those who read them a decade ago, these books are highly addicting, binge-worthy, can’t-put-down, and worth another look. There’s a reason millions of people loved them, watched all the movies, and bought posters. The passion between Bella and Edward sizzles on the pages of this series. Even more, there is a love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob in the middle books that turns up the heat.

Breathless by Jennifer Niven

“All these words and stories. My mom calls them the color of a human life: those little moments that are so uniquely ours.” ― Jennifer Niven, quote from Breathless

I might love this book even more than Niven’s All the Bright Places—and that's saying a lot!

Breathless is the story of Claude's trip to a remote island off the coast of Georgia after graduation with her mom following the sudden separation of her parents. She meets a boy and falls in love. So simple. Yet Jennifer Niven beautifully captures that lovely, breathless feeling of first love. Passionate kisses. Romantic trysts. Mosquito bites on sunburned skin.

There is so much growing up packed into this brief summer for Claude. She learns that parents have secrets and tell lies. She and her lifelong best friend grow apart even as they prepare to truly separate for fall college classes. And she has this deep relationship with Miah on the island that changes her in fundamental ways.

Breathless is the perfect book to pack for vacation reading because you won’t be able to put it down. In fact, Jennifer Niven is also on my list of Best YA Authors to Binge on Kindle Unlimited, so you might want to check out some of these others, too.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

“His bed’s really comfortable. And he never pees in it.” ― Huntley Fitzpatrick, quote from My Life Next Door

This adorable YA love story is compelling and has an unexpected ending. Everything about the messy Garrett house draws Samantha into it, but especially the good-looking son, Jase. He’s one of several children in the house. His little brother, George, has some of the best lines. I laughed out loud. The sneaking around teen love stuff was pretty wonderful. Samantha’s best friend is a jerk, and her sister is too. No wonder she’s so drawn to the loving family next door.

Samantha is keeping this relationship with Jase a secret from her mom and everyone else in her life, but eventually that blows up in her face. In the process, she learns some lessons about who she is and who she wants to be.

This dreamy YA romance will leave you smiling for days and is definitely addictive. It evokes all those light feelings of happiness, joy, and romantic love. You just can’t help sighing about that first kiss. You can’t wait for Samantha and Jase to take their relationship to the next level, and your heart breaks when things get rocky. This is such a sweet story. So cute!

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

In fact, if I’m going to include My Life Next Door for the YA romance category, I also have to include The Unexpected Everything in my recommendations of binge-worthy YA books. This was another light, sweet, happy, and satisfying vacation read. The characters and story were perfect for each other. At first I didn't like them, but they totally won me over. They fit their world, and they grew as a result of the summer events. I will definitely binge-read more of this author.

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Tweet Cute is a sweet YA romance told in alternating viewpoints of two teens who are engaged in a Twitter war for their family businesses. In a case of hidden identities, Pepper and Jack also are involved in a secret budding relationship through an app that conceals their identity from one another. What could possibly go wrong?

Plenty!

I loved all of the food in the book, and the world from Pepper's point of view felt very real to me. She has never left beyond the general radius of her NY apartment, and the adventure of getting on a train for her college interview seemed big and important. I could also get a real sense of Jack's neighborhood and the deli and its patrons. Both teens had very rich character development.

As a romantic novel, I had bigger expectations when the couple finally got together. It didn't feel quite as satisfying in that aspect as it might have been. Still, a can’t-put-down great read, and I definitely recommend it as a binge-worthy YA book!

Issues-Driven Contemporaries

The contemporary issues-driven YA books are so popular that many bestsellers have been made into successful Netflix movies and mini-series, such as 13 Reasons Why. Before they streamed to TV, though, they were binge-worthy YA books so addicting everyone was reading them. Here are my reviews of some of the best YA books to binge read in this category that have not been optioned as movies—yet.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Three life lessons:

1.     No one will see you.

2.     No one will say anything.

3.     No one will save you. ― Elizabeth Scott, quote from Living Dead Girl

Fifteen-year-old Alice is the kidnapping victim of a pedophile named Ray who took her at age ten. This haunting, horrifying, graphic, disturbing, and tragic book is about so much more than child rape, although that certainly happens. This novel shows how a person—a child—can lose their self-worth and believe their captor’s lies.

How someone can lose their own humanity.

This thin novel was a fast read, but Alice and her story have stayed with me long after I finished. It’s her voice. In her unflinching viewpoint, Alice shows us what happens to children who are taken and never found. She challenges us to look more closely at the people around us. To notice.

Pay attention. Speak.

The monsters prey on the mute.

This binge-worthy YA book is so addicting it makes my list of the best YA book recommendations for all ages (and why). Read it. You won’t be able to look away. It will break your heart.

The Cutting Edge of Friendship by Khristina Chess

“Sometimes my inside hurts so bad that I need to make the outside hurt worse so the inside will stop.” ― Khristina Chess, quote from The Cutting Edge of Friendship

Sadie and Elana are keeping dangerous secrets.

Best friends since elementary school, they know everything about each other, but on the night of the fireworks, something terrible happened to Sadie that she hasn’t told anyone. She can’t even say the word to herself. Instead, she’s started cutting to deal with the pain.

Elana has a secret of her own; she’s texting Hunter and making plans for a clandestine meeting with him. She doesn’t know what he did or why he really wants to keep their relationship secret.

To end this dangerous cat-and-mouse game, Sadie must reclaim her courage and rescue Elana before a rapist can attack again.

So powerful! The Cutting Edge of Friendship instantly drew me into the tangled conflict, and I couldn’t look away until the girls were safe.

What I love most about The Cutting Edge of Friendship is Sadie’s fierce and resilient character and the raw and authentic emotion as this painful story escalates toward its thrilling climax. This is the kind of novel that really shows how someone self harms to cope with pain in the aftermath of sexual assault. You won’t want to miss this binge-worthy YA book about cutting that explores the complicated nature of friendship. Fans of Girl in Pieces will enjoy this one.

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

“Sometimes, it was just a little rough: a blocking bruise. Other times, a hard foul. And if things were really bad—full contact.” ― Sarah Dessen, quote from Dreamland

I've read a couple Sarah Dessen books that were "okay," but wow, this one really, really grabbed me!

It starts when Caitlin's sister, Cass, runs away. I knew the story was about relationship abuse, and I was expecting the runaway sister Cass to be with a bad guy, but no. After she disappears, Caitlin falls for a guy named Rogerson who ends up being the abusive one. Caitlin's downward spiral is emotional, realistic, and heartbreaking. From the first time Rogerson hits her, I kept waiting for someone to intervene or for her to wake up, but it went on and on until the climactic moment when something had to shatter.

I felt really bad for Caitlin. She seemed invisible to everyone who supposedly loved her. She was hiding her pain in front of everyone. And people she loved kept leaving her: first her sister Cass and then her new friend Corinna.

If you like the tough topics and want to explore YA books about dating violence and abuse, Dreamland is great binge-worthy YA book to add to your list. It’s addictive. You won’t be able to stop reading until the final page.

After by Amy Efaw

“I'd rather be lucky than good. Good is just so overrated. Bad girls have the most fun.” ― Amy Efaw, quote from After

What kind of girl leaves her infant to die in the trash?

Devon Davenport is a “good girl” whose one misstep leads to an unplanned pregnancy. She’s so filled with denial about her entire situation that she cannot even admit to herself that she’s pregnant until she gives birth. The depiction of her detachment is incredibly real and heartbreaking.

During her stay in the juvenile detention center, Devon must face facts about herself and her situation. Her lawyer plays an important role in drawing the story out of her and helping to build empathy for this girl who has committed such a horrific act.

Devon’s transformation from the beginning to the end of book is heartfelt and moving. I couldn’t put it down.

If you’re looking for binge-worthy YA books, don’t miss this poignant YA book about teen pregnancy. It will especially appeal to fans of Jodi Piccoult. And if you enjoy it, Efaw’s other novel, Battle Dress, which depicts a seventeen-year-old girl’s experience as a cadet at West Point, is also a great read.

Heroine by Mindy McGinnis

“When I wake up, all my friends are dead. I don’t know when they stopped breathing, or how long I slept while they dropped off one by one.” ― Mindy McGinnis, quote from Heroine

Those are the opening words of Heroine, the compelling novel about the slow slide of Mickey from Catalan from her position as a star student athlete to heroin addict. It begins with a terrible car accident and pain. Determine to make it back on the field, she uses the prescription painkillers to accelerate her recovery.

But then she’s out of pills and needs more.

What’s so compelling about Heroine is Mickey’s slow slide into addiction and her denial about her situation. She justifies every step of the way. The means justifies the ends, every time.

I did not watch my friends die.
I did not leave their bodies cooling in a basement.
I am not an addict.

If you like the tough topics and want to explore Important YA Books Featuring Characters Dealing with Substance Abuse, Heroine is great binge-worthy YA book to add to your list.

In fact, Mindy McGinnis is also on my list of Best YA Authors to Binge on Kindle Unlimited, so you might want to check out some of her other books, too. She writes some up-all-night page-turners!

Ghosts

For this category, I’ve included my top two favorite binge-worthy YA books.

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

“I know Becca didn’t run away. That leaves one possibility and one impossibility, and I long for the impossible. Because if she isn’t dead, if she’s only been taken, she can be brought back.” ― Kate Alice Marshall, quote from Rules for Vanishing

Sara’s adopted sister Becca vanished a year ago.

Although everyone has given up the search, Sara is determined to find her because she believes Becca has gone into the woods and is lost on The Road. Sara convinces (tricks) a group of her friends to join her on this terrifying journey.

Not everyone comes home. Because at some point they break the rules:

Don’t leave the road.

Don’t let go.

Don’t follow other roads.

Rules for Vanishing is not a typical YA novel about teen runaways. It is dark, mysterious, creepy, and full of scary and supernatural stuff. I loved it and devoured it in a few days. The ending was an unexpected twist, especially because of the connection to Kate Alice Marshall’s other novel, Our Last Echoes, which I’d read first.

If Rules for Vanishing sounds interesting, check out my list of Books You’ll Enjoy If You Liked Rules for Vanishing.

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

“Believing is a type of magic. It can make something true.” ― Emily X.R. Pan, quote from The Astonishing Color of After

A young girl, Leigh Chen Sanders, is grieving the death of her mother, who committed suicide. Leigh believes that she turned into a bird, and she goes on a journey to visit her grandparents in Taiwan in search of her mother, the bird, and other family secrets.

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan is one of my top favorite YA reads. I discovered the novel after reading a Goodreads review so intriguing that I went hunting for the title during my next Barnes & Noble trip. The Astonishing Color of After was shelved under Teen Fantasy, a category where I never shop, so without seeing the great reviewer comments I might never have discovered this touching book about grief, culture, and family secrets.

This book wrecked me. The writing is so beautiful. Whether it’s the love story, the voice, the mystery, or the family culture aspect, there’s plenty of reasons why fans connect with this YA classic. I truly can’t say enough wonderful things about this amazing novel.

If you haven’t discovered it yet, you definitely want to make it one of the YA books on your list of binge-worthy YA books so addicting you can’t stop reading. And if you have already read it, here’s my list of other great books for fans of The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan.

Apocalyptic

If you’ve seen The Hunger Games or Divergent, you know that apocalyptic fiction is popular in YA. Here are two series that you might have missed that are totally binge-worthy:

The Razorland TrilogY by Ann Aguirre

The Razorland Trilogy was one of the first YA books like The Hunger Games that I read, and from the very first pages, I was hooked! The novels are set in a dark future where the cities are ruined by plague, war, “tunnel monsters,” and ongoing skirmishes between the surviving gangs that roam in this world. In the first book, Enclave, we meet the heroine, a fifteen-year-old girl named Deuce who lives in the New York subway in a community called an enclave. Life is hard. It becomes even harder when she and another teenage Hunter are exiled from their enclave and must go to the surface to live.

The next two books, Outpost and Horde, follow Deuce in her new life above ground, and all three novels are fast-paced, engrossing reads that I couldn’t put down. Each book was as good as the last, very immersive, and Deuce is a well-drawn, fighting heroine that I rooted for every step of the way.

Check out these binge-worthy YA books so addicting you can’t stop reading. You will love them.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

“You see, a conflict always begins with an issue - a difference of opinion, an argument. But by the time it turns into a war, the issue doesn't matter anymore, because now it's about one thing and one thing only: how much each side hates the other.” ― Neal Shusterman, quote from Unwind

Unwind is Book #1 in a 5-part dystopian YA series in which teens may be sent to "Harvest Camps" to be chopped up for parts if their parents sign the papers. No part is wasted.

Some, like Connor, are signed over because of behavior problems. Others, like Risa, are wards of the state who simply don't make the cut in terms of protegee status. Lev begins as a religious tithe, a willing victim, but after being kidnapped and freed by Connor, he also changes.

The concept of this series and the plotting are great, and I'm interested to see where the rest of the books go. There were moments, though, where I thought the book fell short of greatness. For example:

• If a parent is able to bring all the parts of their child back together again, can they recover their child?

• Where do the souls of these children go?

There are some attempts at these questions, but I wanted the book to go deeper. The fact that I keep thinking about the unwinding process means that something important is being covered here.

The Unwind saga definitely belongs on the list of binge-worthy YA books.

Other Binge-Worthy YA Books So Addicting You Can’t Stop Reading Them

If you are looking for some other great suggestions for binge-worthy YA books so addicting you won’t be able to put them down, check out the YA Thriller Books and YA Books That Tackle Tough Issues on Goodreads. You may also be interested in my post on The Best YA Book Recommendations for All Ages (and YA) or my post, Other Good Reads, which has a comprehensive list of reviews of YA books by type of tough topic, including eating disorders, substance abuse, mental illness, and others.

Do you have any personal favorites to recommend to me? I’m always looking for another binge-worthy YA books or author to add to my list.

Khristina Chess is the award-winning author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Amazon, Goodreads, and Twitter as an active daily contributor in the #5amwritersclub.