YA Contemporary That Will Give You Butterflies

A lot of people want to read a book that makes them feel something. When I read fantasy I want to feel as if I am really being transported to a magical world, but when it comes to contemporary I want a story that will make me feel things in the pit of my stomach.

If you’re like me want something that will make your stomach flutter check out this list of contemporary books that will give you butterflies.

 
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More Than Just A Pretty Face

by Syed M. Masood

Listen . Whenever I get the chance to talk about this book I will. It is so good, and that scene at the end…once you read it you’ll know what I’m talking about. That scene just makes me feel all the things. I don’t think I’ll ever recover.

Danyal Jilani has no lack of confidence. He may not be the smartest guy in the room, but he's funny, gorgeous, and going to make a great chef one day. His father doesn't approve of his career choice, but that hardly matters. What does matter is the opinion of Danyal's longtime crush, the perfect-in-all-ways Kaval, and her family, who consider him a less than ideal arranged-marriage prospect.

Then Danyal gets selected for the Renaissance Man, a school-wide academic championship and the perfect opportunity to show everyone he's smarter than they think. He recruits the brilliant, totally-uninterested-in-him Bisma to help with the competition, but the more time Danyal spends with her...the more he learns from her...the more he cooks for her...the more he realizes that happiness may be staring him right in his pretty face.

 
 
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Don't Date Rosa Santos

By Nina Moreno

Rosa and a curse: I mean what’s not to love. The feels!

Rosa Santos is cursed by the sea-at least, that’s what they say. Dating her is bad news, especially if you’re a boy with a boat.

But Rosa feels more caught than cursed. Caught between cultures and choices. Between her abuela, a beloved healer and pillar of their community, and her mother, an artist who crashes in and out of her life like a hurricane. Between Port Coral, the quirky South Florida town they call home, and Cuba, the island her abuela refuses to talk about.

As her college decision looms, Rosa collides-literally-with Alex Aquino, the mysterious boy with tattoos of the ocean whose family owns the marina. With her heart, her family, and her future on the line, can Rosa break a curse and find her place beyond the horizon?

 
 
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A Match Made In Mehendi

By Nandini Bajpai

Matching, challenging the status quo, unlikely couples, what’s not to love?

Fifteen-year-old Simran “Simi” Sangha comes from a long line of Indian vichole-matchmakers-with a rich history for helping parents find good matches for their grown children. When Simi accidentally sets up her cousin and a soon-to-be lawyer, her family is thrilled that she has the “gift.”

But Simi is an artist, and she doesn’t want to have anything to do with relationships, helicopter parents, and family drama. That is, until she realizes this might be just the thing to improve her and her best friend Noah’s social status. Armed with her family’s ancient guide to finding love, Simi starts a matchmaking service-via an app, of course.

But when she helps connect a wallflower of a girl with the star of the boys’ soccer team, she turns the high school hierarchy topsy-turvy, soon making herself public enemy number one.

 
 
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Keeping You A Secret

by Julie Anne Peters

When it comes to this classic, there are nothing but butterflies. First love can exciting and scary but falling in with someone you never expected, in a time where being who you are and loving who you do is taboo, can feel like a nightmare instead of a dream.

 

With a steady boyfriend, the position of Student Council President, and a chance to go to an Ivy League college, high school life is just fine for Holland Jaeger.

            At least, it seems to be.

            But when Cece Goddard comes to school, everything changes. Cece and Holland have undeniable feelings for each other, but how will others react to their developing relationship?

 
 
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None Shall Sleep

by Ellie Marney

This book gives me butterflies for different reasons—sinister reasons! There are serial killers!

In 1982, two teenagers—serial killer survivor Emma Lewis and US Marshal candidate Travis Bell—are recruited by the FBI to interview convicted juvenile killers and provide insight and advice on cold cases. From the start, Emma and Travis develop a quick friendship, gaining information from juvenile murderers that even the FBI can't crack. But when the team is called in to give advice on an active case—a serial killer who exclusively hunts teenagers—things begin to unravel. Working against the clock, they must turn to one of the country's most notorious incarcerated murderers for help: teenage sociopath Simon Gutmunsson.

            Despite Travis's objections, Emma becomes the conduit between Simon and the FBI team. But while Simon seems to be giving them the information they need to save lives, he's an expert manipulator playing a very long game...and he has his sights set on Emma.