The book Jim has chosen is another one I haven't read yet (feeling so behind the rest of the world right now...) but it's high on the pile! 'Only Ever Yours' by Louise O'Neill is Speculative/Dystopian YA Fiction that is very reminiscent of 'The Handmaid's Tale' in that women are bred just for the sole purpose of pleasing men. It's a great choice and there are so many paths you could go down with this one!
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'Only Ever Yours' deals with some pretty hefty subject matter, but the main synopsis instantly drew the plot-line of another book to mind: Kiera Cass' 'The Selection'. Both books essentially focus on a competition between girls in which they compete for the love and affection of a man and the 'privilege' of being his wife. I imagine that O'Neill's plot is much darker than Cass', but no one can question the similarities.
'The Selection' has a cover you can't ignore, and is just one of many popular 'pretty dress' covers that can be found in YA. Another one such cover that receives a huge thumbs up from me is 'The Winner's Curse' by Marie Rutkoski. Gorgeous, flowing, frilly dresses that are shot at interesting colours and are strong colours. I love them both!
'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins, like 'The Winner's Curse', involves a rebellion. It's a pretty common story element found in YA Fiction (particularly Dystopian and Fantasy) but these two stories really made it an integral part of the story-line. In 'The Hunger Games' a failed rebellion caused the games to become an annual events and the misery of Katniss' people. In 'The Winner's Curse', it becomes a pretty hefty part of the last third of the book that completely changes the course of events.
'The Hunger Games' became massively popular after introducing a pretty cool element to the story: the games themselves. When I read 'Hunter' by Mercedes Lackey it involved a lot of similar elements. There are young teens, fighting monsters and facing perils while also being filmed, betted on and adored by the public.
'Hunter' was published by Disney-Hyperion (a publishing company whose books I don't seem to be getting along with so far). Another book that I actually read quite recently published by the same company was 'Passenger'. Both of them really didn't impress me all that much, which is a shame because the covers are both great and the authors highly renowned.
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