Books like 'What to Say Next'
Readers who enjoyed What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary romance mystery realistic high-school grief friendship coming-of-age family bullying
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Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsIn the follow-up to Colleen Hoover’s #1 New York Times bestseller Hopeless, the charming and irresistible Dean Holder tells the passionate story that has melted thousands of hearts.In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder’s past remained a mystery... -
![Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer]()
Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsJuliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother's death, she leaves letters at her grave. It's the only way Juliet can cope.Declan Murphy isn't the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he's trying to escape the demons of his past... -
![Flare by Helen Hardt]()
Flare by Helen Hardt
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe wildly popular Steel Brothers Saga continues with Flare, which ramps up the suspense as Brock Steel tries to uncover his family’s secrets while Rory Pike does everything in her power to keep her own secrets buried. The Steel family won’t go down on his watch… Rory Pike never imagined she’d fall for a Steel, but she has—Brock Steel, a renowned womanizer, no less... -
![Il tuo meraviglioso silenzio by Katja Millay]()
Il tuo meraviglioso silenzio by Katja Millay
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsI live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk... -
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![More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer]()
More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsRev Fletcher is battling the demons of his past. But with loving adoptive parents by his side, he’s managed to keep them at bay...until he gets a letter from his abusive father and the trauma of his childhood comes hurtling back.Emma Blue spends her time perfecting the computer game she built from scratch, rather than facing her parents’ crumbling marriage... -
![Looks Over by Rose Christo]()
Looks Over by Rose Christo
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"There's nothing wrong with trying to get to know my son's boyfriend." Skylar knows he's lucky to have an open-minded father. It's not just that Skylar and Rafael are both boys. Between their families exists a dark and turbulent past: Rafael's father was the first serial killer in the history of the Nettlebush Indian Reserve, and Skylar's mother was his last victim... -
![Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry]()
Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsOne moment of recklessness will change their worlds.Smart. Responsible. That's seventeen-year-old Breanna's role in her large family, and heaven forbid she put a toe out of line. Until one night of shockingly un-Breanna-like behavior puts her into a vicious cyber-bully's line of fire—and brings fellow senior Thomas "Razor" Turner into her life... -
![I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson]()
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsAt first, Jude and her twin brother Noah, are inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude wears red-red lipstick, cliff-dives, and does all the talking for both of them. Years later, they are barely speaking. Something has happened to change the twins in different yet equally devastating ways.. -
![Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton]()
Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCliff Hubbard is a huge loser. Literally. His nickname at Happy Valley High School is Neanderthal because he's so enormous — 6'6" and 250 pounds to be exact. He has no one at school and life in his trailer park home has gone from bad to worse ever since his older brother's suicide.There's no one Cliff hates more than the nauseatingly cool quarterback, Aaron Zimmerman... -
![Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, Mathilde Tamae-Bouhon]()
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, Mathilde Tamae-Bouhon
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 80 ratingsSixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business... -
![If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin]()
If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIf he had been with me everything would have been different...I wasn't with Finn on that August night. But I should've been. It was raining, of course. And he and Sylvie were arguing as he drove down the slick road. No one ever says what they were arguing about. Other people think it's not important. They do not know there is another story. The story that lurks between the facts... -
![Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch]()
Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 39 ratings“I made the wrong choice.”Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is go back home... -
![The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks]()
The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsWhen confronted by raging fires or deadly accidents, volunteer fireman Taylor McAden feels compelled to take terrifying risks; but there is one leap of faith Taylor can't bring himself to make: He can't fall in love... -
![On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta]()
On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsI'm dreaming of the boy in the tree. I tell him stories. About the Jellicoe School and the Townies and the Cadets from a school in Sydney. I tell him about the war between us for territory. And I tell him about Hannah, who lives in the unfinished house by the river. Hannah, who is too young to be hiding away from the world. Hannah, who found me on the Jellicoe Road six years ago... -
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![Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher]()
Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSparks fly between two teens as they grapple with grief, love, and the future.Eighteen-year-old Amelia Griffin is obsessed with the famous Orman Chronicles, written by the young and reclusive prodigy N. E. Endsley. They’re the books that brought her and her best friend Jenna together after Amelia’s father left and her family imploded... -
![Raveling You by Jessica Sorensen]()
Raveling You by Jessica Sorensen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAyden Gregory may want to keep running from his nightmares, but he no longer has a choice. His past is catching up with him. And fast. He relies on one person to keep him from crumbling. His best friend Lyric Scott. Lyric feels helpless watching her best friend’s world turn upside down. But she does her best to remain positive and upbeat... -
![Long Way Home by Katie McGarry]()
Long Way Home by Katie McGarry
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Violet has always been expected to sit back and let the boys do all the saving.It’s the code her father, a member of the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, raised her to live by. Yet when her dad is killed carrying out Terror business, Violet knows it’s up to her to do the saving...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friends-to-lovers friendship high-school male-mc multi-pov -
![The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page]()
The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA charming, uplifting debut novel—full of humor and depth—that has taken readers around the world by surprise. Everyone has a story to tell. But does Janice have the power to unlock her own?She can’t recall what started her collection... -
![Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson]()
Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsIt was Sloane who yanked Emily out of her shell and made life 100% interesting. But right before what should have been the most epic summer, Sloane just…disappears. All she leaves behind is a to-do list.On it, thirteen Sloane-inspired tasks that Emily would normally never try. But what if they could bring her best friend back?Apple picking at night? Okay, easy enough.Dance until dawn? Sure... -
![Truth or Dare by L A Cotton]()
Truth or Dare by L A Cotton
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEscaping to Credence was supposed to be Becca's shot at a new life, but some secrets refuse to stay hidden, and now that the truth is out, everything changes. Everything. The people she thought she could trust lied. The guy she thought cared about her kept her in the dark. And with no one to turn to, Becca finds it hard to unravel the truth...Categorized as:
coming-of-age dark high-school multi-pov realistic book contemporary enemies-to-lovers -
![Confess by Colleen Hoover]()
Confess by Colleen Hoover
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 82 ratingsAuburn Reed is determined to rebuild her shattered life and she has no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to become deeply attracted to the studio’s enigmatic artist, Owen Gentry.For once, Auburn takes a chance and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is hiding a huge secret... -
![Leave Myself Behind by Bart Yates]()
Leave Myself Behind by Bart Yates
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsNoah York is a closeted gay teenager with a foul mouth, a critical disposition, and plenty of material for his tirades. After his father dies, Noah's mother, a temperamental poet, takes a teaching job in a small New Hampshire town, far from Chicago and the only world Noah has known... -
![This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills]()
This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSloane isn't expecting to fall in with a group of friends when she moves from New York to Florida—especially not a group of friends so intense, so in love, so all-consuming. Yet that's exactly what happens. Sloane becomes closest to Vera, a social-media star who lights up any room, and Gabe, Vera's twin brother and the most serious person Sloane's ever met... -
![Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman]()
Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHe says: You're an awful person. He says: What makes you think I would ever ask you out? He says: The world would be a better place without you in it. Lara just got told off on Facebook. She thought that Christian liked her, that he was finally going to ask her to his school's homecoming dance... -
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![The Summer That Made Us by Robyn Carr]()
The Summer That Made Us by Robyn Carr
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOVERALL MATTE Mothers and daughters, sisters and cousins--they lived for summers at the lake house until a tragic accident changed everything. The Summer That Made Us is an unforgettable story about a family learning to accept the past, to forgive and to love each other again. That was then.. -
![Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum]()
Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsEverything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School... -
![If There's No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout]()
If There's No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsLena Wise is always looking forward to tomorrow, especially at the start of her senior year. She's ready to pack in as much friend time as possible, to finish college applications and to maybe let her childhood best friend Sebastian know how she really feels about him. For Lena, the upcoming year is going to be epic—one of opportunities and chances... -
![The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand]()
The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThere's death all around us.We just don't pay attention.Until we do.The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be... -
![Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry]()
Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 44 ratings"I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.So wrong for each other.. -
![Candy Colored Sky by Ginger Scott]()
Candy Colored Sky by Ginger Scott
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJonah Wydner has been in love with his neighbor Eleanor Trombley for years. He has watched her life play out from the sidelines—homecoming dances, football parties, and first dates. Her life seemed easy…simple…perfect. The complete opposite of his own... -
![Girl Like Me by Jaye Pratt]()
Girl Like Me by Jaye Pratt
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings***RELEASE DATE WILL MOVE FORWARD***Sent back to live with my family, I'm thrown back into my old life without my memories. I have to navigate my way through this place as Bristol, a girl I don't like.Even if she was me, she isn't anymore.All I want to do is remember what happened to me so that I can go back to my guys.Sounds easy...right? Wrong... -
![Invisible by Jeff Erno]()
Invisible by Jeff Erno
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsChase Devereaux is a fifteen year old boy under a great deal of stress. He has to give a speech today for his Oral Communications class, and he's terrified of public speaking. Worse yet, he's being bullied by one of the most popular kids at school. He just has to make it through his third-hour gym class and then give his speech, and everything will be all right... -
![First Time in Forever by Sarah Morgan]()
First Time in Forever by Sarah Morgan
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWindswept, isolated and ruggedly beautiful, Puffin Island is a haven for day-trippers and daydreamers alike. But this charming community has a way of bringing people together in the most unexpected ways… It's been a summer of firsts for Emily Donovan. From becoming a stand-in mom to her niece Lizzie to arriving on Puffin Island, her life has become virtually unrecognizable... -
![Alex in Wonderland by Simon James Green]()
Alex in Wonderland by Simon James Green
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA novel that will have you laughing out loud one minute, and swooning the next!In the town of Newsands, painfully shy Alex is abandoned by his two best friends for the summer. But he unexpectedly lands a part-time job at Wonderland, a run-down amusement arcade on the seafront, where he gets to know the other teen misfits who work there...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friends-to-lovers friendship high-school humor male-mc realistic -
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![Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt]()
Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn against-the-odds love story at the heart of a book for teens about prejudice, courage, and a dark, compelling mystery—shortlisted for a Romantic Novelists Association AwardUgly people don’t have feelings. They’re not like everyone else. They don’t notice if you stare at them and turn away. And if they did notice, it wouldn’t hurt them. They’re not like real people... -
![Trouble Makes a Comeback by Stephanie Tromly]()
Trouble Makes a Comeback by Stephanie Tromly
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratings“How do you like life in the fast lane?” Digby said. “Is it everything you thought it would be?”Good question.Achieving high school “normal” wasn’t as hard as Zoe Webster expected, but she’s beginning to think Hollywood oversold how much fun it all is... -
![What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard]()
What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsA searing yet ultimately uplifting young adult novel about a teenage girl's recovery from anorexia.Sixteen-year-old Elizabeth has honed a dangerous skill: starving herself. Even when her parents send her to a treatment center, she can't stop. Then she begins receiving packages from someone she doesn't know... -
![Made You Up by Francesca Zappia]()
Made You Up by Francesca Zappia
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsReality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion... -
![The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen]()
The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsEmma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when she was ten. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges... -
![Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley, Chelsea Bruland]()
Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley, Chelsea Bruland
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThis is a love story.It's the story of Howling Books, where readers write letters to strangers, to lovers, to poets.It's the story of Henry Jones and Rachel Sweetie. They were best friends once, before Rachel moved to the sea. Now, she's back, working at the bookstore, grieving for her brother Cal and looking for the future in the books people love, and the words they leave behind... -
![Looking for Alaska by John Green]()
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 56 ratingsFirst drink. First prank. First friend. First love. Last words.Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words--and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet François Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps". Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young, who will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps... -
![Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett]()
Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsClassic movie buff Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online by “Alex.” Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown... -
![Hate List by Jennifer Brown]()
Hate List by Jennifer Brown
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsFive months ago, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things she and Nick hated. The list he used to pick his targets... -
![Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles]()
Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsNothing has been the same since Caleb Becker left a party drunk, got behind the wheel, and hit Maggie Armstrong. Even after months of painful physical therapy, Maggie walks with a limp. Her social life is nil and a scholarship to study abroad—her chance to escape everyone and their pitying stares—has been canceled.After a year in juvenile jail, Caleb’s free . . -
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![Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer, Christopher Ragland]()
Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer, Christopher Ragland
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 22 ratingsWhen his dad is caught embezzling funds from half the town, Rob goes from popular lacrosse player to social pariah. Even worse, his father’s failed suicide attempt leaves Rob and his mother responsible for his care.Everyone thinks of Maegan as a typical overachiever, but she has a secret of her own after the pressure got to her last year... -
![Unlovable by Sherry Gammon]()
Unlovable by Sherry Gammon
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPort Fare, New York, has fallen into the clutches of true evil. The Dreser brothers have arrived with a scheme to increase drug sales in the area by whatever means possible. Seth Prescott is part of MET (Mobile Enforcement Teams) a branch of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)... -
![Right Behind You by Gail Giles]()
Right Behind You by Gail Giles
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen he was nine, Kip set another child on fire. Now, after years in a juvenile ward, he is ready for a fresh start. But the ghosts of his past soon demand justice, and he must reveal his painful secret... -
![Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry]()
Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBestselling author Katie McGarry’s trademark wrong-side-of-the-tracks romance is given a new twist in this acclaimed, gritty YA contemporary novel, Only a Breath Apart. They say your destiny is carved in stone. But some destinies are meant to be broken... -
![The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas]()
The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen Rose’s mom dies, she leaves behind a brown paper bag labeled Rose’s Survival Kit. Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a paper kite, for letting go... -
![The First Third by Will Kostakis]()
The First Third by Will Kostakis
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLife is made up of three parts: in the first third, you're embarrassed by your family; in the second, you make a family of your own; and in the end, you just embarrass the family you've made. That's how Billy's grandmother explains it, anyway. She's given him her bucket list (cue embarrassment), and now, it's his job to glue their family back together. No pressure or anything...
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