Books like 'This Is Not the Jess Show'
Readers who enjoyed This Is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary young adult science fiction mystery suspense high-school dystopian
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Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
In the riveting conclusion to the acclaimed dystopian series, a boy and girl caught in the chaos of war face devastating choices that will decide the fate of a world.As a world-ending war surges around them, Todd and Viola face monstrous decisions. The indigenous Spackle, thinking and acting as one, have mobilized to avenge their murdered people... -
Edge of Madness by Kyla Stone
A devastating EMP. No power. No communication. And no help...On the five-year anniversary of his wife Hannah's disappearance, small-town deputy Noah Sheridan takes his young son Milo to a local ski resort for some much needed father-son time. In a blink, the power grid goes out. So do the resort's brand new generators... -
Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah
In this gorgeously stunning debut, a mysterious child teaches two strangers how to love and trust again.After the loss of her mother and her own battle with breast cancer, Joanna Teale returns to her graduate research on nesting birds in rural Illinois, determined to prove that her recent hardships have not broken her...Categorized as:
suspense mystery contemporary magic young adult science fiction mental illness aliens -
Slated by Teri Terry
Kyla’s memory has been erased,her personality wiped blank,her memories lost for ever.She’s been Slated.The government claims she was a terrorist and that they are giving her a second chance - as long as she plays by their rules. But echoes of the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is lying to her, and nothing is as it seems... -
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At the Edge of the Universe by Shaun David Hutchinson
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsFrom the author of We Are the Ants comes “another winner” (Booklist, starred review) about a boy who believes the universe is slowly shrinking as the things he remembers are being erased from others’ memories.Tommy and Ozzie have been best friends since the second grade, and boyfriends since eighth. They spent countless days dreaming of escaping their small town—and then Tommy vanished...Categorized as:
mystery high-school young adult contemporary science fiction mental illness m-m queer -
Arena by Karen Hancock
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsA Journey She Did Not Choose Will Change Her Life Forever Transported surreptitiously to a terrifying alien world, with limited resources and only a few cryptic words to guide her, Callie Hayes finds herself engulfed in a perilous battle for freedom – for her very life...Categorized as:
dystopian mystery science fiction christian young adult contemporary aliens historical -
Cowboy Villain Damsel Duel by Ginger Scott
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRIVERDALE meets INCEPTION in this twisty and unique YA coming-of-age romance.Quarterback.Class president.Burnout.We all have our identities.Most of the time, they come from our circumstances. They're made by others—shoes for us to walk in whether they fit or not.But what if?What if we could take off those shoes... -
Message Not Found by Dante Medema
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 22 ratingsAn emotionally complex portrayal of secrets, loss, and grief from Dante Medema, Indies Introduce author of the Indie Next Pick title The Truth Project.Bailey and Vanessa shared everything: laughter, secrets, and packets of Pop Rocks to ward off bad days. But that all changed the night Vanessa left Bailey’s, headed for home, and ended up swerving off a cliff nowhere near her house...Categorized as:
mystery high-school dystopian young adult contemporary death science fiction length-long -
Better Than Friends by Jill Shalvis
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsOld flames reignite in Sunrise Cove in this charming enemies-to-lovers, second-chance, small-town, forced-proximity love story about family, friendships, and true love from New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis.When Olive Porter’s off-the-grid parents go missing, she reluctantly seeks out Noah Turner, her ex and the only person she both trusts implicitly and not at all...Categorized as:
suspense mystery contemporary forced proximity from hate to love humor christmas young adult -
The Towering Sky by Katharine McGee
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsWelcome back to New York, 2119. A skyscraper city, fueled by impossible dreams, where the lives of five teenagers have become intertwined in ways that no one could have imagined.Leda just wants to move on from what happened in Dubai. Until a new investigation forces her to seek help—from the person she’s spent all year trying to forget.Rylin is back in her old life, reunited with an old flame... -
A Complicated Love Story Set in Space by Shaun David Hutchinson
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsBlack Mirror meets What If It’s Us in this gripping, romantic, and wildly surprising novel about two boys lost in space trying to find their way home—while falling in love—from the critically acclaimed author of We Are the Ants.When Noa closes his eyes on Earth and wakes up on a spaceship called Qriosity just as it’s about to explode, he’s pretty sure things can’t get much weirder.Boy is he wrong... -
Tracker Hacker by Jeff Adams
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHigh school student. Hockey player. Computer whiz kid. Covert agent?At sixteen Theo Reese is the youngest agent for Tactical Operational Support. His way with computers makes him invaluable. He designs new gadgets, helps agents (including his parents) in the field, and works to keep the TOS network safe... -
Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsWhen he's sent to Latham House, a boarding school for sick teens, Lane thinks his life may as well be over.But when he meets Sadie and her friends - a group of eccentric troublemakers - he realises that maybe getting sick is just the beginning. That illness doesn't have to define you, and that falling in love is its own cure...Categorized as:
high-school dystopian young adult contemporary death science fiction male-pov dual-pov -
Free to Fall by Lauren Miller
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhat if there was an app that told you what song to listen to, what coffee to order, who to date, even what to do with your life—an app that could ensure your complete and utter happiness? What if you never had to fail or make a wrong choice?What if you never had to fall?Fast-forward to a time when Apple and Google have been replaced by Gnosis, a monolith corporation that has developed the most...Categorized as:
mystery dystopian high-school young adult science fiction contemporary futuristic length-long -
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The Stellow Project by Shari Becker
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsWhen a killer storm unexpectedly hits Manhattan, seventeen-year-old Lilah Stellow’s dad insists that she and her younger sister, Flori, take refuge at their cabin in the mountains. But instead of joining them with the experimental drug that keeps Lilah alive, he disappears just as news reports name him as a prime suspect in an act of ecoterrorism... -
The Pretenders by Rebecca Hanover
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsIn this conclusion to The Similars duology, Emma must figure out who she really is, decide between two boys with the same face, and stop a dangerous plan based on revenge.Emma is still reeling from the events of her junior year at Darkwood...Categorized as:
mystery suspense dystopian young adult science fiction contemporary futuristic love triangle -
The Final Six by Alexandra Monir
Rated: 3.82 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsWhen Leo, an Italian championship swimmer, and Naomi, a science genius from California, are two of the twenty-four teens drafted into the International Space Training Camp, their lives are forever altered. After erratic climate change has made Earth a dangerous place to live, the fate of the population rests on the shoulders of the final six who will be scouting a new planet...Categorized as:
dystopian mystery science fiction young adult futuristic aliens time travel contemporary -
Unearthed by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsWhen Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying's advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered...Categorized as:
dystopian mystery suspense young adult science fiction aliens futuristic contemporary -
Spinning Starlight by R.C. Lewis
Rated: 3.73 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsSixteen-year-old heiress and paparazzi darling Liddi Jantzen hates the spotlight. But as the only daughter in the most powerful tech family in the galaxy, it’s hard to escape it. So when a group of men shows up at her house uninvited, she assumes it’s just the usual media-grubs. That is, until shots are fired... -
Kissing Ezra Holtz by Brianna R. Shrum
Rated: 3.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA fun, witty, light-hearted romantic comedy— The Rosie Project , for teensSeventeen-year-old Amalia Yaabez and Ezra Holtz couldn’t be more different. They’ve known (and avoided) each other their whole lives; she unable to stand his buttoned-up, arrogant, perfect disposition, and he unwilling to deal with her slacker, rule-breaking way of moving through the world... -
The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsHow far would you go to save those you love?Lowrie and Shen are the youngest people on the planet after a virus caused global infertility. Closeted in a pocket of London and doted upon by a small, ageing community, the pair spend their days mudlarking for artefacts from history and looking for treasure in their once-opulent mansion...Categorized as:
dystopian mystery science fiction young adult contemporary friends to lovers m-f length-medium -
I Was a Teenage Popsicle by Bev Katz Rosenbaum
Rated: 3.57 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsFloe Ryan was frozen - or 'vitrified' - at sixteen. She and her parents had a rare disease, so it was their only choice until a cure was found. Now she's been thawed and it's ten years in the future - but she's still a teenager. And her parents are still chilling out... So now her little sister is her older sister, and she's making Floe suffer for every snotty thing she ever did... -
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a brand new epic novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eragon, Christopher Paolini.Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds.Now she's awakened a nightmare.During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she's delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move... -
This Night So Dark by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner
Rated: 3.77 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsDon’t miss the breathtaking short story that connects the first two novels in the Starbound trilogy, These Broken Stars and This Shattered World. Tarver still has nightmares about the night, six months before the Icarus crash, when he rescued a group of civilian researchers being held hostage by brutal mercenaries...Categorized as:
mystery dystopian contemporary futuristic aliens young adult science fiction male-pov -
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Tracked by Jenny Martin
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOn corporately controlled Castra, rally racing is a high-stakes game that seventeen-year-old Phoebe Van Zant knows all too well. Phee's legendary racer father disappeared mysteriously, but that hasn't stopped her from speeding headlong into trouble... -
The Calling by James Frey, Nils Johnson-Shelton
Rated: 3.78 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsTwelve thousand years ago, they came. They descended from the sky amid smoke and fire, and created humanity and gave us rules to live by. They needed gold and they built our earliest civilizations to mine it for them. When they had what they needed, they left. But before they left, they told us someday they would come back, and when they did, a game would be played...Categorized as:
mystery dystopian suspense young adult science fiction futuristic aliens contemporary -
The Unquiet by Mikaela Everett
Rated: 3.64 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsFor most of her life, Lirael has been training to kill—and replace—a duplicate version of herself on a parallel Earth. She is the perfect sleeper-soldier. But she’s beginning to suspect she is not a good person. The two Earths are identical in almost every way. Two copies of every city, every building, even every person... -
Prepped by Bethany Mangle
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsFor fans of Jeff Zentner and Katie Henry comes a thrilling and funny debut about a teen raised in a doomsday community who plots her escape with the boy from the bunker next door.Always be ready for the worst day of your life.This is the mantra that Becca Aldaine has grown up with...Categorized as:
dystopian suspense young adult contemporary science fiction arranged marriage length-medium -
Eden West by Pete Hautman
Rated: 3.59 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTackling faith, doubt, and transformation, National Book Award winner Pete Hautman explores a boy’s unraveling allegiance to an insular cult.Twelve square miles of paradise, surrounded by an eight-foot-high chain-link fence: this is Nodd, the land of the Grace. It is all seventeen-year-old Jacob knows. Beyond the fence lies the World, a wicked, terrible place, doomed to destruction...Categorized as:
dystopian mystery young adult contemporary suicide male-pov science fiction length-medium -
Material Girls by Elaine Dimopoulos
Rated: 3.60 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn Marla Klein and Ivy Wilde’s world, teens are the gatekeepers of culture. A top fashion label employs sixteen-year-old Marla to dictate hot new clothing trends, while Ivy, a teen pop star, popularizes the garments that Marla approves. Both girls are pawns in a calculated but seductive system of corporate control, and both begin to question their world’s aggressive levels of consumption... -
Ringer by Lauren Oliver
Rated: 3.68 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLike its ambitious companion novel, Replica, this far-reaching novel by powerhouse bestselling author Lauren Oliver digs deep into questions of how to be a human being in a world where humanity cannot be taken for granted.In the world outside the Haven Institute, Lyra and Caelum are finding it hard to be human—and neither of them knows where they belong or who they can trust... -
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
A beautiful hardcover edition of one of the Nobel Prize-winning author's most acclaimed novels: a deeply moving and stunningly original love story with a startling twistAs children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside...Categorized as:
dystopian mystery high-school science fiction contemporary young adult death glimpses-kisses -
All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin
Rated: 3.68 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsIn 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine...Categorized as:
mystery high-school dystopian young adult science fiction contemporary futuristic mafia -
Scared Little Rabbits by A.V. Geiger
Rated: 3.35 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsWe stand in a tight cluster, high above the lake. One-by-one, we made our way up the narrow trail from the edge of campus. Now, we wait shoulder to shoulder behind the police tape. Nineteen summer students. All but one. When Nora gets accepted into her dream summer program at the prestigious Winthrop Academy, she jumps at the chance to put her coding skills to use... -
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Scripted by Maya Rock
Rated: 3.33 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsReality TV has a dark future in this thought-provoking thrillerTo the people suffering on the war-torn mainland, Bliss Island seems like an idyllic place. And it is: except for the fact that the island is a set, and the islanders’ lives are a performance... -
The Takedown by Corrie Wang
Rated: 3.48 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsIt would have been funny, if it just wasn’t.Kyla Cheng doesn’t expect you to like her. For the record, she doesn’t need you to. On track to be valedictorian, she’s president of her community club and a debate team champ, plus the yummy Mackenzie Rodriguez has firmly attached himself to her hip... -
Replica by Lauren Oliver
Rated: 3.64 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsLyraFrom a distance, the Haven Institute, tucked away on a private island off the coast of Florida, looks serene and even beautiful. But up close the locked doors, military guards, and biohazard suits tell a different story. In truth, it is a clandestine research facility where thousands of replicas, or human models, are born, raised, and observed... -
Rated by Melissa Grey
Rated: 3.57 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsSocieties thrive on order, and the Rating System is the ultimate symbol of organized social mobility. The higher it soars, the more valued you are. The lower it plummets, the harder you must work to improve yourself. For the students at the prestigious Maplethorpe Academy, every single thing they do is reflected in their ratings, updated daily and available for all to see...Categorized as:
mystery high-school dystopian young adult science fiction queer contemporary friends to lovers -
Gated by Amy Christine Parker
Rated: 3.60 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsA fast-paced, nerve-fraying contemporary thriller that questions loyalties and twists truths. Appearances can be deceiving. In the Community, life seems perfect. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Pioneer invited Lyla’s family to join his group and escape the evil in the world. They were happy to be chosen, happy to move away from New York and start over in such an idyllic gated community...Categorized as:
suspense mystery dystopian contemporary young adult love triangle futuristic science fiction -
Someone Is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong
Rated: 3.54 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsBlythe and her friends—Gabrielle, and brother and sister Tucker and Tanya—have always been a tight friend group, attending a local high school and falling in and out of love with each other. But an act of violence has caused a rift between Blythe and Tucker . . . and unexpected bursts of aggression and disturbing nightmares have started to become more frequent in their lives... -
Chemistry Lessons by Meredith Goldstein
Rated: 3.25 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsFor seventeen-year-old Maya, the equation for happiness is simple: a dream internship at MIT + two new science nerd friends + a perfect boyfriend = one amazing summer. Then Whit dumps her out of the blue. Maya is miserable until she discovers that her scientist mother, before she died, was conducting research on manipulating pheromones to enhance human attraction... -
The Memory Key by Liana Liu
Rated: 3.23 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsIn a five-minutes-into-the-future world, a bereaved daughter must choose between losing memories of her mother to the haze of time and the reality-distorting, visceral pain of complete, perfect recall.Lora Mint is determined not to forget...Categorized as:
mystery dystopian young adult science fiction contemporary death futuristic length-medium -
The Forevers by Chris Whitaker
Rated: 3.30 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsWhat would you do if you knew the world was going to be destroyed by a huge asteroid in one month? The mesmerising YA debut from acclaimed crime writer and New York Times Bestselling author of We Begin at the End.They knew the end was coming. They saw it ten years back, when it was far enough away in space and time and meaning. The changes were gradual, and then sudden...Categorized as:
mystery dystopian suspense young adult science fiction contemporary self harm suicide -
The Doubt Factory by Paolo Bacigalupi
Rated: 3.34 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn this page-turning contemporary thriller, National Book Award Finalist, Printz Award winner, and New York Times bestselling author Paolo Bacigalupi explores the timely issue of how public information is distorted for monetary gain, and how those who exploit it must be stopped.Everything Alix knows about her life is a lie... -
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Antisocial by Jillian Blake
Rated: 3.39 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAlexandria Prep is about to be exposed.Senior spring was supposed to mean sleeping through class and partying with friends. But for Anna Soler, it’s going to be a lonely road. She’s just been dumped by her perfect basketball star boyfriend—with no explanation. Anna’s closest friends, the real ones she abandoned while dating him, are ignoring her... -
Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer
Rated: 3.33 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsA darkly funny and spectacularly original exploration of friendship, goodbyes—and spontaneous combustion. Mara Carlyle’s senior year is going as normally as could be expected, until—wa-bam!—fellow senior Katelyn Ogden explodes during third period pre-calc.Katelyn is the first, but she won’t be the last teenager to blow up without warning or explanation...Categorized as:
mystery high-school young adult contemporary humor science fiction death length-medium -
We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach
Rated: 3.43 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsBefore the asteroid we let ourselves be defined by labels:The athlete, the outcast, the slacker, the overachiever. But then we all looked up and everything changed. They said it would be here in two months. That gave us two months to leave our labels behind. Two months to become something bigger than what we'd been, something that would last even after the end. Two months to really live... -
The Leaving by Tara Altebrando
Rated: 3.38 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsSix were taken. Eleven years later, five come back--with no idea of where they've been.Eleven years ago, six kindergarteners went missing without a trace. After all that time, the people left behind moved on, or tried to.Until today. Today five of those kids return. They're sixteen, and they are . . . fine...
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