Amy and Brittany's Top 11 YA Books of 2011

As we reflect back over 2011, we are still in awe of how many amazing books we read!  We've been talking the last few days about what exactly our lists would look like and were even more shocked about how many of our favorites were debut novels!  How exciting is that?!?  It puts us in great hopes for the future of YA literature!  Books just keep getting better and better!  Also, not to mention the next books in each of these series give us one heck of a TBR list!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Amy's Top 11: (I couldn't pick between a lot of these, so I just grouped them according to my favs)

Honorable Mentions:

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Brittany's Top 11

I've read so many fantastic books this year that it was difficult to pick my favorites. In the end, I went with those books that made me want to lock myself in my office and write for days until I had a story that was THAT good. In short, I went with the books that inspired me. And here they are... 

1. Divergent by Veronica Roth: I love everything about this book. EVERYTHING. Even rereading it, I get so swept up in the story that I have to read it in one sitting. 

2. Half-blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout: This is one of those books that as soon as I finished it, I flipped back to the beginning and started over because I couldn't bear the idea of having to wait any amount of time for the story to continue. 

3. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor: I'm a complete jerk because I still haven't written a review for this book, even though it's my THIRD favorite of the year. I promise, it's coming! The language, characters, and locations of this book are to die for! Seriously. 

4. Chime by Franny Billingsley: Again, Me = Jerk who hasn't actually reviewed this book! I read this book right before I left for my MFA program, and when I got back homework took over my life. But this book.... THIS BOOK was amazing. The language and imagery was so vivid that I felt like I could see, smell, hear, taste, and touch everything Franny described. 

5. Shatter Me by Taherah Mafi: This book is unique and poetic and action-packed! And the romance... *faints*

6. Hourglass by Myra McEntire: We @ the YA Sisterhood LOVE Myra. And Hourglass. And Emerson. And Michael. And Kaleb. And everything about this book. :)

7. Delirium by Lauren Oliver: It's hard for me to put into words how much I love this book-- from the characters to the concept to the propaganda between the chapters-- this book BLEW ME AWAY! (Also... guys... Pandemonium is AMAZING). 

8. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand: Angels, Missions, Mountains, Swimming Holes, Hot country boys-- *sigh* I could read this book again and again and again! 

9. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare: Cassie really outdid herself with this one! It might be my favorite book of hers yet! Maybe! Argh! I don't know, I love everything Cassie does!

10. Blood Red Road by Moira Young: I absolutely adored this book. It starts a little slow, but then BANG! I couldn't put it down! It's got action, romance, mystery-- you'll love it! 

11. Legend by Marie Lu: This book was fascinating and emotional and just plain exciting! I rarely like split narratives, but man did I love June and Day both! 

Honorable Mentions: