Note: I run a bookshop, so please no popular/bestseller recommendations. I know them all.
I want to read a story about a young woman who escapes an abusive home life, perhaps is on her own for a period of time, and, on her adventures, finds people who love and care for her and forms a new family.
I think I would like a YA adventure story best right now, but I have no real preference on the genre – fantasy, romance, contemporary, historical, sci-fi, it's all okay, even memoir. Bonus points if the main character is a lesbian (but it's not at all necessary).
Here are some books I've read in the past that scratched this particular itch:
Stone Butch Blues – Leslie Feinberg
Lost Voices – Sarah Porter
milktooth – Jamie Burnet
What Comes After – Joanne Tompkins
White Oleander – Janet Fitch
Running Fiercely Toward a High Thin Sound – Judith Katz
Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters
All the Bad Apples – Moira Fowley-Doyle
Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles) – Marissa Meyer
Unwind – Neil Shusterman
Books that have a similar premise but missed the mark for me:
The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue – V. E. Schwab
Vaclav & Lena – Haley Tanner
Eleanor & Park – Rainbow Rowell
When We Were Sisters – Fatimah Asghar
Thank you all in advance! This subreddit has been amazing and has helped me for years to find lesser-known and underappreciated titles for my shop.
by skippyist