young guns

If you’ve shunned the YA genre before, these three new books may just change your mind.

If you were born before 1999, you’re likely not the intended audience of some of this month’s most-anticipated new book releases, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be your next guilty pleasure – YA (“young adult” for the uninitiated) is no longer just for those in the under-18 bracket. With Cara Delevingne dipping a toe into the genre with her debut novel and YA maestro John Green’s latest guaranteed hit about to land on shelves, get ready to trade your copy of 1984 for one of these new reads Teen spirit

While YA fiction might at first seem like an unlikely fit for our cover star Cara Delevingne’s foray into the literary world, it becomes less so when you remember she starred in the film adaptation of John Green’s Paper Towns. And despite being well into her twenties, her enthusiasm for what’s in her book’s pages is genuine. “I love these characters so much,” she declared on Instagram when announcing the novel. “I love what they stand for, what this story represents... I want us to talk about this time in life, self-discovery, friendship, pain, triumph!” But that’s not to say the model sugar-coats the teenage experience of her characters – four friends and bandmates whose lives are derailed when one dies shortly after being found in the Thames – which makes for an all the more enjoyable read. (See our full story on Delevingne on p66.) Mirror, Mirror ($24.99, Hachette Australia) is out October 3

Written in the stars

Turtles All The Way Down is the latest book from John Green, the godfather of YA fiction (who was previously named one of

Time’s 100 Most Influential People, for anyone doubting the reach of the genre). It’s been nearly six years since his last hit The Fault In Our

Stars, which has sold 23 million copies worldwide (to put that into perspective, 27 million copies of the

Harry Potter books have been sold in the UK) and had us crying along to the film adaptation starring Shailene Woodley and Laura Dern. With all the hallmarks of Green’s already-beloved style, including a lovable protagonist-cum-unlikely hero named Aza, a quirky plot in which she sleuthily investigates the disappearance of a billionaire and a touching take on her struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder,

Turtles could well follow suit. Turtles All The Way Down ($27.99, Penguin Random House) is out October 10

Genuine thriller

If you devoured 2014’s runaway hit We Were Liars, prepare to race through American author E Lockhart’s latest tale, Genuine Fraud. It’s a modern-day The

Talented Mr Ripley, with the chapters appearing in reverse order to tell the story of two seemingly polar-opposite young women whose lives become entangled in each other’s – the catalyst of which ultimately leads to the suicide of one and sends the other on the run. The real intrigue is in discovering how it all went so wrong. q Genuine Fraud ($19.99, Allen & Unwin) is out now