Beauty Sleep blog tour – My favourite YA sci-fi

I'm so happy to join the blog tour for Beauty Sleep with a post about my favourite YA sci-fi books. Beauty Sleep is a brilliant blend of sci-fi, dystopia and thriller, and I couldn't stop reading it! The characters and voice are great, and it's one of those rare books where I had no idea what was going to happen. The lovely people at Usborne have given me an extra copy of the book and a Beauty Sleep pocket mirror to give away. Comment on this post or head over to my Twitter (@yaundermyskin) to enter.

I've been a huge fan of sci-fi books and movies for as long as I can remember. I love sci-fi that feels unsettlingly familiar and possible, yet just beyond the bounds of our current technology. I'm also obsessed with books that delve into new worlds, and technology I can barely imagine. 

That's why my favourite sci-fi author is Lauren James. Lauren creates worlds that are disturbingly believable and tense plots, underpinning everything with science. Her characters are some of the most authentic and likeable that I've ever encountered, and I love how she weaves social media into her stories.

Two of my favourite books of all time are YA sci-fi written by Lauren James: The Loneliest Girl in the Universe and The Quiet at the End of the World.

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is the story of Romy, the only surviving crew-member on a spaceship bound for a new home for humanity. She has no contact with anyone until she hears from a new ship that has left Earth, with a boy called J onboard. 

I loved this book so much because, like Beauty Sleep, it draws on the best elements from several genres, and I had no idea how it was going to end. The voice is YA at its best, fresh and relatable, and Romy is one of my favourite characters. Her reactions are understandable and it feels like you know her by the end of the book.

The science is another great thing about Lauren's writing. It manages to be accessible at the same time as being technical, well-researched and believable. Everything about the ship and the technology Romy used felt authentic.

The Quiet at the End of the Universe is another stunningly written book, about two teens who know they are the last surviving members of the human race. 

The portrayal of what the planet would be like after humans is eerily realistic, as is the technology still used by Lowrie and Shen.

The use of social media in this book is very creative too, as the protagonists are able to understand the decline of humanity through the social media posts of people who went through it.




Books like those written by Kathryn Evans and Lauren James remind me of why I enjoy sci-fi so much. If you'd like to share your favourite sci-fi titles, let me know in the comments or on Twitter.

You can follow the other stops on the blog tour for Beauty Sleep using the banner for below. Thank you to Usborne for including me on the blog tour, and for gifting the books for giveaway and review!