The 20 Best YA Romance Books Like Five Feet Apart (by Rachael Lippincott )

Discover YA romance books that are full of new love and teen angst. Find a new YA love story that is full of magical moments and clever writing. Here are the 20 best YA romance books like Five Feet Apart.

Is True Love Possible Without Physical Intimacy? 

A YA novel that tests what love means. Two teens fall desperately in love, but a villain prevents their happily ever after. That villain is physical touch. Stella is a control freak, but the one thing she can’t control in her life is her health. 

RT-_0034_books like Five Feet Apart

She’s spent years in and out of hospitals because of her spastic, unpredictable lungs.  The only way for her to stay healthy and infection free is to be six feet apart from people. 

Will is sick of being sick. He’s utterly exhausted from the treatments and is losing hope. As soon as he’s eighteen—it’s peace out, experimental treatments and hospitals. He wants to start living.

Fast forward…Stella and Will have fallen in love. It becomes torture for them to stay away from each other, which is what they have to do if they want to stay alive. But what is worse: a broken heart or death? 

A tender love story for fans of The Fault in Our Stars, Five Feet Apart gives all the emotional vibes that we can’t walk away from. Read it today. 

Best YA Romance Books Like Five Feet Apart

The Selection by Kiera Cass

The Selection (The Selection, 1)

America Singer is supposed to be happy. She has been chosen for the Selection. This is a chance to have riches, and wealth and be married to a Prince. It’s an honor. 

America wants to stay with her love, Aspen, a boy of a lower caste who she isn’t allowed to love. America must leave her home and everything she knows behind. 

Will America stay true to her upbringing and past, or will she be lured by wealth and a life she never knew existed in The Selection

A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole 

A Thousand Boy Kisses

A first kiss is never forgotten, no matter how long ago it happened. Rune returns home to Blossom Grove, Georgia, and can’t get his childhood best friend out of his mind. 

He is now seventeen years old and should be able to move on from his first love, Poppy Litchfield. But he can’t forget his first kiss or the girl who he thought was his forever soulmate. 

Why did Poppy break his heart? Rune is determined to figure out why this girl stopped loving him. But will knowing the truth only tear him apart even more? Read  A Thousand Boy Kisses.

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

The Truth About Forever

Macy is a good girl who has her whole life planned out. She is a good student, spending her summer studying for the SATs and working at the library. She has the perfect boyfriend. He even has the same goals as her. 

Macy’s summer takes an unexpected turn when she helps her sister renovate the beach house and takes on a summer catering job. Then there is the boy, Wes who will make her question every part of who she is. 

Will Macy stick to her path of success and predictability or will she question everything she once knew about herself? Check out  The Truth About Forever

 If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay

Seventeen-year-old Mia has been spared from remembering the car accident. She only knows that every aspect of her life has changed. Mia watches her mutilated and mangled body being taken from the wreck. 

In a deeply haunting novel, Mia must figure out what she wants the rest of her life to be like. She must choose to stay or leave this world. 

An incredibly emotional journey that has readers examining the most significant relationships in their life. Read If I Stay

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, 1)

Book 1 in the trilogy is about so much more than a traditional fairytale. It’s about how far someone will go for their happily ever after. What boundaries are they willing to cross? How much of themselves are they willing to give up along the way? 

Evangeline Fox is determined to stop a wedding. Her true love is marrying another. She makes a deal with the Prince of Hearts and agrees to help him. In return, he gets three kisses from her whenever he wants. 

She’s in over her head in this romantic, yet dangerous game. Check out Once Upon a Broken Heart

Looking for Alaska by John Green 

Looking For Alaska

Miles “Pudge” Halter is a play-it-safe kind of guy. He steers clear of adventure. That is until he meets Alaska Young. 

Pudge starts at the Culver Creek Boarding School and his life is never the same. Alaska lives down the hall from Pudge and she becomes his obsession. She is beautiful, crazy, fun, and even a little dangerous. Pudge finds himself in love with Alaska; she becomes all he needs. 

Check out John Green’s Looking for Alaska

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Belly has always loved summer and the quaint beach town of Cousins. It’s her second home and the place she gets to experience the magic with Conrad and Jeremiah. They are the boys that know her better than she knows herself. Boys who feel like family. 

This summer is different. Belly is not the little Belly they once knew and for once she is turning heads. The boys are noticing her. 

The Summer I Turned Pretty is book 1 in the trilogy. A captivating love story that will make you laugh, cry and believe in magic and love once again. Read it today and then watch the Netflix series too! 

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han 

To All the Boys I've Loved Before (1)

Lara Jean is the definition of a homebody. She likes baking, nerding out on Rom-Coms, and spending time with her sisters. This is a role she is comfortable in. Lara doesn’t like the spotlight. 

But being an introvert doesn’t stop her from having massive crushes. Lara has always kept them to herself. She keeps all her love letters in a hatbox from her deceased mother. The letters are for her to get out the intense feelings she has for these boys so that she can continue to remain in control. 

 One day she discovers that all her love letters have been mailed out to her crushes. Lara Jean’s heart is completely exposed. 

Suddenly she finds herself in all sorts of complicated boy drama, and even some romantic situations. 

Readers will be enthralled by the endearing, nerdy, and hopeless romantic Lara Jean in Book 1 of the series. Read To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. You won’t be disappointed in this sweet read. 

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Every Last Word

Samantha McAllister is the IT girl that every boy wants and the girl that everyone wants to be friends with. She is gorgeous and popular but Sam has a deep, dark secret. 

Her OCD is completely dominating her life and she is in a constant state of anxiety. She worries about exposing herself to her popular, judgy friends. Life is pretty much a state of exhaustion.

Then Sam meets Caroline and her world gets a little brighter. Caroline introduces Sam to a world of misfits and finds she not only fits in but likes these people. 

Sam starts to feel like herself until she finds a new person who will make her question every part of herself. 

Every Last Word is a real look at what it’s like to be a teenager struggling with mental health issues and fitting in. A fantastic read. 

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

One of Us Is Lying

Five students at Bayview High School serve detention on Monday afternoon. 

These “Breakfast Club” characters all fit into a specific status quo. Brwyn is Ivy League material and is little Miss Perfect. Addy is your classic gorgeous, Prom Queen. Nate is a high school drug dealer who likes who causes trouble. Cooper shouldn’t be in detention because he’s the school’s baseball star. Then there is Simon. He’s an outcast but also responsible for creating a school gossip app. 

It is only detention. 

Wrong. Simon is dead by the end of detention and it isn’t an accident. Everyone is a suspect in this fun, suspenseful YA read One of Us Is Lying

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven 

All the Bright Places

Two damaged, depressed teens both want to be saved. This is the story of Theodore Finch and Violet. 

Finch spends his days daydreaming about ways to die. But ultimately looks for bright spots to stop him from playing with death. 

Violet is still grieving over her sister’s death and wants to escape from her small-town life. They pair up together for a school project but it becomes so much more. 

The two find solace and comfort in each other, as they realize they still have a lot left to live for.  An important novel about desperate love and finding joy in life once again. Read All the Bright Places

Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter 

Better Than the Movies

A sweet, teen rom-com that is wildly entertaining and captivates your heart too! Liz has been pining after Michael for what seems like forever. He moves away and she hopes that finally, she will get over him. She’s never meant anything to him, he probably doesn’t even know she exists.

Still, when he ends up moving back, she is psyched. All she wants is for Michael to be her prom date. The icing on the cake is when her nerdy next-door neighbor Wes becomes friends with Michael. 

Wes agrees to help Liz catch Michael’s eyes, but what Liz doesn’t expect is somehow falling in love with Michael along the way. 

A story that shows us that sometimes love isn’t in our hands and that fate has a mind of its own. A romantic, first-love kind of read is Better than the Movies

The Pact by Jodi Picoult 

The Pact: A Love Story

Chris and Emily have been best friends their entire lives. Until they are something more. Love blossoms. Chris knows Emily is his soul mate, and so do their parents. 

But then Emily is found dead with a gunshot wound to the head. The bullet was taken from Chris’ father’s cabinet and it appears Chris is to blame. 

Why would these teens who seemed to have it all, try to kill themselves? What was Emlly hiding? 

A novel that examines what it means to love someone and how far you would go to take away their pain is The Pact

Again, But Better by Christine Riccio

Again, but Better

Shane knows she is a loser. Her college experience has been nothing more than stressful and she feels dead inside. She has no friends, has never kissed a boy, and is bored out of her mind. 

Shane decides to finally do something to change her life and find her true self. She goes on an adventure in London and finally starts living and gets in a little bit of trouble along the way. 

A fun read for those who love traveling, honesty, and Taylor Swift songs! Read Again, But Better

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

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As everyone knows, high school is not for the faint of heart. It is the place where so many teens struggle to find love, and themselves. 

This 1980s set novel, Eleanor & Park is no exception to that high school awkwardness. The story of two nerdy, lovable misfits from different walks of life. They know that no one finds true love as teenagers but they are brave enough to still take a chance. 

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give: A Printz Honor Winner

Starr Carter is sixteen years old. She is an incredible student and a gifted basketball player. Her name says it all…she is meant to be a star. 

But her life is a lot more complicated than that. Starr lives two identities. The girl who goes to prep school with primarily rich, white kids and the girl who still lives in the projects.  Her life is shattered when she witnesses the shooting and death of her childhood best friend, Khalil.

Some people say it was the cop’s fault. Others say Khalil was nothing more than a drug dealer and a gangster. Starr knows who he was. 

Her school friends don’t understand, and Starr knows she has to do what is right and restore justice to Khalil’s name. That is what you do for people you love. 

An unforgettable, life-changing read is The Hate U Give. 

The Last to Let Go by Amber Smith 

The Last to Let Go

Junior year is that magical year in high school that prepares teens for their future as adults. But for Brooke Winters her life is going up in flames. 

Her mother has just been arrested and the charge is murder. No one knows the truth, just that Brooke’s abusive father is dead.  

Brooke won’t be going to football games or the prom. Instead, she will be learning to take care of her siblings and will grow up very quickly. But she must confront her past if she is ever going to have a real future in The Last to Let Go

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas 

The Cheerleaders

Five years ago the town of Sunnybrook was struck by tragedy. At the center of it all—five dead cheerleaders. Two died from a devastating car accident, two were murdered, and one committed suicide. 

The killer was shot by the police before anyone ever found out his motive. The town may have healed but Monica’s world is spiraling out of control. She lost her sister to suicide, but she also is losing herself.

Strange things are starting to happen once again. The past cannot be put to bed and Monica plays a role in all of it. She wants to forget, but no one seems to be safe in this YA read. Check out The Cheerleaders.

The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther

The Summer of Broken Rules

Meredith Fox has spent summers at Martha’s Vineyard her entire life. It’s been part of her identity. But her summer vacation spot feels different ever since the death of her sister. 

Meredith can’t cancel the trip to the vineyard though because her cousin is getting married. The newly single Meredith is not looking forward to this trip but is grateful that she will be forced to play Assassin, her family’s traditional summer game. 

Things spice up when her target is a sexy groomsman. Will Meredith get her target or fall in love? Read The Summer of Broken Rules. 

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

The Sun Is Also a Star

Can one moment change our lives forever? Does fate play a role in each of our stories? These are the questions brought to mind in The Sun Is Also a Star

Natasha has lived in New York City her whole life, but that is soon to change. Her family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. She is trying to save her family’s future when she meets Daniel. 

He is serious and always does what he is supposed to. A model student and son. But there is something about Natasha that makes him question his whole identity and he cannot just let this stranger slip out of his life. 

A beautiful, romantic read about people who are meant to be. 

FAQs

What should I read if I liked Five Feet Apart?

You should read The Lucky List, All This Time by Rachael Lippincott, and When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle.

Who is the best YA romance author?

Some of the best YA romance authors are Lauren Oliver, Patrick Ness, Jenny Han, and Rainbow Rowell.

What is the most popular YA book right now?

The most popular YA book of 2023 so far is The Summer I Turned Pretty series.

What is the most popular YA genre?

Some of the most common YA genres include contemporary fiction, fantasy, romance, and dystopian.

What age is YA aimed at?

Young adult fiction contains work written for readers between the ages of 12 and 18.

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Lisa Schwarz