Throwback Thursday: My Favorite Teen Book Series

I don’t think #ThrowbackThursday is really a ~thing~ for book bloggers haha, but I’ve been feeling extra nostalgic lately, so I thought it might be fun to post about. 😅 Also, I’ve been blogging for a little over a month now, and I thought it might be nice to post something a little more personal about me so that you all could get to know me a bit better! The books I read as a teen influenced me greatly, and I can’t think of anything that would better explain what inspired me to become the avid reader that I am now than to share some of the titles I was *obsessed* with back then. (Despite how super embarrassing most, if not all, of these titles are… 🙈 High quality literature? I knew you not.)

I probably did the most reading in my life (with the exception to the pandemic) during my teenage years – and many, many of those books I devoured were part of book series. Which is a little crazy, because until only recently I hadn’t picked up a book series in a very long time! So, this throwback post is all about sharing what book series I used to adore reading (and then rereading… many times haha) when I was a teen. 🤓

The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot was my favourite author as a teenager, and The Mediator was my ultimate favourite series by her. These were the books that truly got me into the paranormal craze going on at the time in the literary world.

There’s a hot guy in Susannah Simon’s bedroom. Too bad he’s a ghost.

Suze is a mediator-a liaison between the living and the dead. In other words, she sees dead people. And they won’t leave her alone until she helps them resolve their unfinished business with the living. But Jesse, the hot ghost haunting her bedroom, doesn’t seem to need her help. Which is a relief, because Suze has just moved to sunny California and plans to start fresh, with trips to the mall instead of the cemetery, and surfing instead of spectral visitations.

But the very first day at her new school, Suze realizes it’s not that easy. There’s a ghost with revenge on her mind… and Suze happens to be in the way.

Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyers

I wouldn’t be a proper list if I didn’t include the Twilight Saga – I know now how bad those books truly were, but at the time I absolutely adored them! (Though by the time their movie adaptations were getting produced, I was already past my obsession and instead ToO CoOl for such childish things… 😝)

About three things I was absolutely positive.

First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him—and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be—that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight is a love story with bite.

The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith

At the same time I was devouring the Twilight Saga I was also reading the Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith to satisfy my cravings for all things vampires. Do you guys remember this show??? I think I only watched the first season of it, haha, but it was all things trashy and I LOVED it.

A DEADLY LOVE TRIANGLE

Elena: the golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants.

Stefan: brooding and mysterious, he seems to be the only one who can resist Elena, even as he struggles to protect her from the horrors that haunt his past.

Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Determined to have Elena, he’d kill to possess her.

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Also, who could forget this show?! Again, just horrible television honestly, but I definitely enjoyed the first two or three seasons before the plot finally got so crazy I had to drop it. 😂

EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE – ESPECIALLY HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS SPENCER, ARIA, EMILY, AND HANNA

Spencer covets her sister’s boyfriend. Aria’s fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily’s crushing on the new girl at school. Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. But they’ve all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished.

How do I know? Because I know everything about the bad girls they were, the naughty girls they are, and the dirty secrets they’ve kept. And guess what? I’m telling.

Private Series by Kate Brian

Finally, this last series was the one that got me well and truly hooked on mystery/thrillers! It was the perfect mix of shallow gossip and nail-biting intrigue.

Tradition, Honor, Excellence… and secrets so dark they’re almost invisible

Fifteen-year-old Reed Brennan wins a scholarship to Easton Academy—the golden ticket away from her pill-popping mother and run-of-the-mill suburban life. But when she arrives on the beautiful, tradition-steeped campus of Easton, everyone is just a bit more sophisticated, a bit more gorgeous, and a lot wealthier than she ever thought possible. Reed realizes that even though she has been accepted to Easton, Easton has not accepted her. She feels like she’s on the outside, looking in.

Until she meets the Billings Girls.

They are the most beautiful, intelligent, and intensely confident girls on campus. And they know it. They hold all the power in a world where power is fleeting but means everything. Reed vows to do whatever it takes to be accepted into their inner circle.

Reed uses every part of herself—the good, the bad, the beautiful—to get closer to the Billings Girls. She quickly discovers that inside their secret parties and mountains of attitude, hanging in their designer clothing-packed closets the Billings Girls have skeletons. And they’ll do anything to keep their secrets private.

What books did you love as a young teen?

Were any of them the ones listed here?

Let me know!