We’re still so obsessed with Olivia Rodrigo’s stunning sophomore album GUTS and even more obsessed now that the Guts World Tour has kicked off. Grab your purple, your combat boots and silver sparkles, and if you’re lucky, your Guts World Tour tickets and settle in for a list of book recommendations based on the GUTS album.
LOVE IS EMBARASSING
Love really is embarrassing for Lara Jean. This is a song for the hopeless romantics out there. For anyone who has embarrassed themselves over a crush and done something that makes you look back and cringe. Or, in the case of Lara Jean, anyone who has written a love letter to a boy you didn’t even date. After all of Lara Jean’s love letters – five letters, one for every boy she’s ever loved, meant for her eyes only – are mailed out to them, her love life goes from imaginary to out of control.
TEENAGE DREAM
Rowan from Today Tonight Tomorrow would have “teenage dream” on repeat! In this unforgettable romantic comedy that’s The Hating Game meets Booksmart by way of Morgan Matson, Rowan Roth is facing anxiety about the future on the last day of senior year. Still, she’d love to beat her infuriating nemesis and academic rival, Neil McNair, one last time. And when Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle. Everything changes when Rowan is forced to team up with Neil and realizes, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams.
LACY
There is a thin line between love, obsession, and hate in both this song and this book. In this gorgeous, queer standalone fantasy, a young musician sets out to expose her rival for illegal use of magic, only to begin to doubt everything she knows about her family, her music, and the girl she thought was her enemy.
VAMPIRE
Any vampire lover needs to read Cruel Illusions by Margie Fuston, a deliciously dark young adult fantasy that’s Caraval meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ever since a vampire murdered her mother, Ava has been determined to get revenge. She strikes a deal with a magical secret society to enter a potentially deadly competition for the chance to avenge her mother’s death.
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And if one vampire-filled recommendation isn’t enough for you, check out Margie Fuston’s upcoming book The Revenant Games. All of Us Villains meets Kingdom of the Wicked in an action-packed fantasy following seventeen-year-old Bly, who is determined to win the competition held by warring vampire and witch kingdoms, only to developed complicated feeling for the vampire she’s supposed to hand over.
BALLAD OF A HOMESCHOOLED GIRL
She may not have been homeschooled, but Belly from The Summer I Turned Pretty can absolutely relate to the social anxiety and angst of “ballad of a homeschooled girl.” In the first book in The Summer I Turned Pretty series, Belly has a wonderful, terrible, and unforgettable summer at Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher.
LOGICAL
Nothing is logical or as it seems in Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick, the New York Times bestselling author of the Hush, Hush saga. Britt has trained to backpack the Teton Range, but she isn’t prepared when Calvin, her ex-boyfriend who still haunts her every thought, wants to join her. An unexpected blizzard forces her to seek shelter in a remote cabin, where Britt is forced to guide two dangerous men off the mountain. Everyone is keeping secrets, including Calvin and Mason, one of her kidnappers, whose seemingly genuine kindness confuses Britt. While facing the threats of frigid snowstorms and wild grizzly bears, can Britt figure out who her real enemies are?
MAKING THE BED
“I got the things I wanted, it’s just not what I imagined,” is exactly how Belly is feeling during We’ll Always Have Summer. Belly has only ever been in love with two boys, both with the last name Fisher. And after being with Jeremiah for the last two years, she’s almost positive he is her soul mate. Almost. In this third and final book in The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy, Belly will have to confront her feelings for Jeremiah and Conrad and face the inevitable: She will have to break one of their hearts.
THE GRUDGE
Bonesmith Wren understands the betrayal described in this song! Becoming a Valkyr is a chance to solidify her place in the noble House of Bone and impress her frequently absent father. But when sabotage causes Wren to fail her qualifying trial, she is banished to the Border Wall, the last line of defense against a wasteland called the Breach where the vicious dead roam unchecked.
ALL-AMERICAN BITCH
“all-american bitch” is very much a female rage song and all about burying your feelings to be a perfect – and palatable – all-American girl. And really, what’s a better female rage book than Their Vicious Gamesby Joelle Wellington? A Black teen desperate to regain her Ivy League acceptance enters an elite competition only to discover the stakes aren’t just high, they’re deadly, in this searing thriller that’s Ace of Spades meets Squid Game with a sprinkling of The Bachelor.
GET HIM BACK!
“Do I love him? Do I hate him?” is the perfect representation of how Juliette Cai feels about her first love – and first betrayal – Roma Montagov in These Violent Delights. As Juliette and Roma set their guns aside and work together to stop the mayhem destroying their city, Juliette definitely wants both revenge and Roma. She wants to get him back (affectionate) and get him back (stab him).
BAD IDEA RIGHT?
Powerless follows the forbidden romance between a powerful prince (Kai) and a seemingly ordinary girl (Paedyn), both trying to survive their kingdom’s grueling laws pitting them against each other. She is the very thing Kai has spent his whole life hunting. He is the very thing Paedyn has spent her whole life pretending to be. Falling in love is probably a bad idea… right?