17 YA Novels That Are Definitely Morally Complicated

    Although, let's be real, what YA novel isn't complicated?

    Zakiya Jamal
    by Zakiya Jamal

    BuzzFeed Staff

    1. Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

    Simon Pulse

    When Anna takes a trip to Aruba with her boyfriend, Tate, and best friend, Elise, things take a turn for the worst when Elise is found brutally murdered.

    2. Far From You by Tess Sharpe

    Disney-Hyperion

    When Sophie Winter's best friend, Mina, is murdered by a masked man, the cops deem it as a drug deal gone wrong but Sophie knows there's more to the story.

    3. The Death House by Sarah Pinborough

    Titan Books

    Toby lives in the Death House, where he, and the others who live there, are studied for any sign of sickness to determine if it's time to send them to the sanatorium where no one ever returns.

    4. What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

    Scholastic Paperbacks

    When Evie's father returns home from World War II, Evie soon realizes that he brought back more than just good war stories.

    5. Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn

    St. Martin's Griffin

    When 17-year-old Sadie Su returns to her hometown she finds it difficult to stay out of the trouble and quickly gets caught up in a tangled web with her childhood friend, Emerson, and 15-year-old Miles Tate.

    6. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

    Henry Holt and Co.

    When Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that will make him rich he gathers a crew of outcasts to get the job done, but will they be able to work together and succeed?

    7. The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

    Farrar, Straus and Giroux

    Seventeen-year-old Kestrel has led a privileged life but when she meets Arin she makes an impulsive decision that binds them together, for better or worse.

    8. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

    HarperTeen

    Mare Barrow has Red blood, which automatically makes her a slave to the Silver-blooded elite. But when she discovers she has powers of her own she's quickly thrown into the Silver court where she has to play a dangerous game to survive.

    9. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

    Feiwel & Friends

    Cinder is a giftet mechanic and cyborg, making her a second class citizen. When her life becomes intertwined with Prince Kai's she finds herself in the middle of an intergalactic struggle that could change her world's future forever.

    10. The Young Elites by Marie Lu

    G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

    Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever that swept through her nation. Now she has powers she doesn't fully understand and has to decide who she can trust while running from those who hunt her.

    11. Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten

    Simon Pulse

    When June's best friend, Delia, is found dead from what everyone is saying was suicide, June refuses to believe it and is determined to find the truth.

    12. Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

    Balzer + Bray

    This is the story of Roza, a beautiful girl who is taken from her quiet town and imprisoned by a mysterious man, and Finn, the only witness, who can't forgive himself for being unable to identify her kidnapper.

    13. Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

    Viking Books for Young Readers

    Amani Al'Hiza is a gifted gunslinger who wants to leave the back-country town she lives in. When she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, she realizes he may be her perfect escape route.

    14. I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

    Dial Books

    Jude and her twin brother, Noah, used to be inseparable, but years later they're barely speaking. Will these two ever be able to find their way back to each other?

    15. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

    Razorbill

    Laia is a slave that goes undercover into the Martial Empire's greatest military academy to spy for rebels who will save her brother. While there she has to learn how to survive and who to trust.

    16. The Walking Dark by Robin Wasserman

    Knopf Books for Young Readers

    In the town of Oleander, Kansas, 12 people were murdered in the space of a few hours. Can five survivors of the killing day put aside their differences to work together and save their town?

    17. Every Last Promise by Kristin Halbrook

    HarperTeen

    Kayla saw something at a party she wasn't supposed to. Now she's coming home for her senior year and she knows the only way to get her old life back is to keep quiet but should she tell the truth about what really happened that night?

    For more morally complicated YA novels, check out #MorallyComplicatedYA!