I am not sure how many people would agree with me that these books are underrated however they are some that I never see people talking about online.  I do try to read books that are not seen as popular as I want to find hidden treasures. For this reason, I thought I would share three books with you today that I really enjoyed, but have not seen get a lot of recognition.

*This post is completely my own opinion and I do not want to offend anyone with my views.*

Beautiful Dead by Yvonne Woon

This book is one that I read when in my earlier years, at the time I really enjoyed the story as it was not like anything I had read before. I believe that I was around 10 or 11 when I read this book and it was definitely a lot more intense than what I was used to. 

From what I remember it was the cover of this book that really drew me in and the reason for this will definitely out me as a nerd. The girl on the cover really reminded me of Amy from Dr Who, who was one of my favourite companions (sad). 

Renee is your typical YA ‘normal girl’ who lives in sunny California. On her sixteenth birthday, she is drawn to the woods by her house, here she comes across her parent’s dead bodies which are surrounded by coins and have shredded cloths in their mouths. Sounds weird right? Well, it only gets weirder from here.

Renee is sent away to Gottfried Academy, a school which is not findable within books or the internet by her strict Grandfather. At the academy where the main focus is Latin, Renee meets Dante who makes all of her grief disappear and makes her feel alive. 

Although cliche at times this story was one that had me hooked from start to finish and has a really good plot twist. This book is definitely one I am going to re-read this year. 

Synopsis: On the morning of her sixteenth birthday, Renée Winters was still an ordinary girl. She spent her summers at the beach, had the perfect best friend, and had just started dating the cutest guy at school. No one she’d ever known had died. But all that changes when she finds her parents dead in the Redwood Forest, in what appears to be a strange double murder.

After the funeral Renée’s wealthy grandfather sends her to Gottfried Academy, a remote and mysterious boarding school in Maine, where she finds herself studying subjects like Philosophy, Latin, and the “Crude Sciences.”

It’s there that she meets Dante Berlin, a handsome and elusive boy to whom she feels inexplicably drawn. As they grow closer, unexplainable things begin to happen, but Renée can’t stop herself from falling in love. It’s only when she discovers a dark tragedy in Gottfried’s past that she begins to wonder if the Academy is everything it seems.

Little does she know, Dante is the one hiding a dangerous secret, one that has him fearing for her life.

Flawed by Cecelia Ahern

Although this has a 4.11/5 rating on Goodreads I have never actually seen anyone talking about this book. I have recently read this one and can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it, but this enjoyment did not come completely easy. I started reading this at a very busy time in my life so I was only reading about one chapter at a time and because of this it took me forever to get really into the story. 

I don’t want to say too much about this book now as I am planning on reading the second book and want to do a review of the entire series however what I will say now is that the idea behind this story is really creative and seriously makes you question the way in which society is run. 

Keep an eye out for a full review of the series in a future post!

Synopsis: You will be punished…

Celestine North lives a perfect life. She’s a model daughter and sister, she’s well-liked by her classmates and teachers, and she’s dating the impossibly charming Art Crevan.

But then Celestine encounters a situation where she makes an instinctive decision. She breaks a rule and now faces life-changing repercussions. She could be imprisoned. She could be branded. She could be found flawed.

In her breathtaking young adult debut, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern depicts a society where perfection is paramount and flaws lead to punishment. And where one young woman decides to take a stand that could cost her everything.

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu 

This book is definitely something that I would have loved in my younger teens. Empowering and influential, Moxie is a must read when it comes to feminist fiction for younger girls and just anyone really. 

Moxie follows the story of Viv, who finds Riot Grrrl zines in her moms wardrobe which inspires her to make a move against the sexist boys at her school. Sick of the boys harassing girls, Viv creates her own Riot Grrrl style zine called ‘Moxie’ which she distributed anonymously to inspire the girls to fight back.

This is the one book from this list that I suggest you definitely read just for the fact that it is so inspiring. I wouldn’t say I am a hardcore feminist and will admit that I often avoid feminist literature however at the time of reading the book I was writing an essay on the Riot Grrrl movement and it made the whole experience really enjoyable. 

So if you are looking for a light hearted read about empowered feminists then this is definitely the book for you.

Synopsis: Moxie girls fight back!

Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with her small-town Texas high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes and hallway harassment. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules.

Viv’s mom was a punk rock Riot Grrrl in the ’90s, so now Viv takes a page from her mother’s past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She’s just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. Pretty soon Viv is forging friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, and she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution.