More Books If You Loved Throwback
Cultural-Significant Tales and Heartfelt Journeys Continued…
If you couldn't get enough of Throwback—its heartfelt time-travel twist, cultural insights, and the touching mother-daughter journey—you’re not alone. This refreshing own-voice young adult romantic comedy, centered on an Asian American teen's trip back to her mother’s past, resonated with readers who appreciate stories that blend humor, identity, and emotional depth.
To keep those good feelings going, we've got the perfect book recommendations for you. Whether you're drawn to cultural and generational understanding like Maureen Goo demonstrated, contemporary rom-coms, or poignant coming-of-age tales that explore family bonds, these books promise to deliver laughter, tears, and moments of reflection.
Up first.. let's recap why you loved Throwback.
Throwback
by Maurene Goo
- Everyone can fall in love with this books about a Gen Z Korean American girl getting stuck in the '90s with her teenaged mother in this fresh, funny adventure full of heart, humor, and time-crossed romance.
- Moms and adults- you maybe have loved this book because it reminded you of Freaky Friday or perhaps the bond between Rory and Lorelei Gilmore.
- Daughters and younger adults- you enjoyed because it reminds you of Mary H.K. Choi, Morgan Matson, and Nicola Yoon.
Either way, it's a story you'll have much to takeaway from for years to come. And then the book is finished you have to move on to the next.
12 Books To Read Next If You Loved Throwback :
On Rotation
by Shirlene Obuobi
AS SEEN ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA!
ONE OF TEEN VOGUE'S 25 BOOKS BY BLACK AUTHORS THEY CAN'T WAIT TO READ THIS YEAR
For fans of Grey's Anatomy and Seven Days in June, this dazzling debut novel by Shirlene Obuobi explores that time in your life when you must decide what you want, how to get it, & who you are, all while navigating love, friendship, and the realization that the path you're traveling is going to be a bumpy ride.
Ghanaian-American Angela Appiah has checked off all the boxes for the "Perfect Immigrant Daughter."
But then it quickly all falls apart: her boyfriend dumps her, she bombs the most important exam of her medical career, and her best friend pulls away. And her parents, whose approval seems to hinge on how closely she follows the path they chose, are a lot less proud of their daughter. It's a quarter life crisis of epic proportions.
Angie, who has always faced her problems by working "twice as hard to get half as far," is at a loss. Suddenly, she begins to question everything: her career choice, her friendships, even why she's attracted to men who don't love her as much as she loves them.
Reggie and Delilah's Year of Falling
by Elise Bryant
From the NAACP Image Award-nominated author of Happily Ever Afters comes a dual POV rom-com about Reggie and Delilah, who fall in love through missed connections and chance meetings on holidays over the course of a year. Perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Jenny Han, with crossover appeal for readers of Jasmine Guillory and Talia Hibbert romances.
Delilah always keeps her messy, gooey insides hidden behind a wall of shrugs and yeah, whatevers. She goes with the flow--which is how she ends up singing in her friends' punk band as a favor, even though she'd prefer to hide at the merch table.
Reggie is a D&D Dungeon Master and self-declared Blerd. He spends his free time leading quests and writing essays critiquing the game under a pseudonym, keeping it all under wraps from his disapproving family.
The Love Interest
by Helen Comerford
In this swoony and electric YA rom-com that offers a satirical take on superhero conventions, a teenage girl finds herself reluctantly fake-dating a superhero.
Seventeen-year-old Jenna Ray has just been saved by the world's newest superhero, Blaze. And, in the eyes of the public, that means one thing: Jenna has been cast as the Love Interest.
Jenna has no interest in being a helpless love interest, kidnapped by villains whenever they want Blaze's attention. In fact, she disapproves of the whole hero industrial complex on principle. But then an association of villains offers her a chance to find new information about her mom, who has been missing for ten years. All she has to do is get close enough to Blaze to spy on him.
The Memo
by Rachel Dodes - Lauren Mechling
If you could rewrite your life story, would you dare? That's the question at the heart of this funny, sharp and propulsive debut novel about love, life, and a woman finding herself and what it means to be happy and successful.
Do you ever feel like your life doesn't measure up to everyone else's--and wonder if you just didn't get the memo helping you make the right choices?
Jenny Green dreads her upcoming college reunion. Once top of her class, the thirty-five-year-old finds herself stuck in a life that isn't the one she expected. Her promising career has flamed out (literally) and her deadbeat boyfriend is cheating on her (again). All her friends seem to have it all figured it out, enjoying glittering lives and careers that she can only envy from the sidelines. Did she just not get the memo they all did?
As it turns out, she didn't!
When she arrives at her alma mater for the festivities, she receives a text from an unlisted number.
“Jenny Green: please collect your memo.”
Three Things about Emmy Crawford
by Allison L Bitz
In this coming-of-age novel perfect for fans of Lynn Painter and Rebecca Lynn Solomon, nothing can derail Emmy Crawford, the type-A daughter of a senator, from relentlessly pursuing her dreams--not Crohn's disease, the paparazzi, or even heartbreak.
There are three things high school senior Emmy Crawford will accomplish, no matter what:
And nothing can get in Emmy's way. Not Crohn's disease, even if her gut has been acting up. Not the paparazzi, who snap any photos they can get of the daughters of a presidential candidate. And definitely not her feelings for Gabe Castillo, the only debater in DC who stands a chance at beating her--and who she used to be on secret kissing terms with, before he ghosted her. When Gabe unexpectedly returns to the debate scene and Issy starts crushing on him, Emmy works harder than ever to keep her eyes on winning and off her aching heart and body, because the alternative means losing the three things that matter most.
The Getaway List
by Emma Lord
Most Anticipated by Goodreads * The Nerd Daily * B&N Reads, and more!
An Amazon Best YA of the Month
The day of her high school graduation, Riley realizes two things: One, that she has spent the last four years trying so hard to be a Good Kid for her mom that she has no idea who she really is anymore, and two, she has no idea what she wants because of it. The solution? Pack her bags and move to New York for the summer, where her childhood best friend Tom and co-creator of The Getaway List -- a list of all the adventures they've wanted to do together since he moved away -- will hopefully help her get in touch with her old adventurous self, and pave the road to a new future.
Hamlet Is Not Ok
by Ra Spratt
Funny, shocking and brilliant: from bestselling author R. A. Spratt, a whip-smart take on Shakespearean moral dilemmas
Selby hates homework.
She would rather watch daytime television - anything to escape the tedium of school, her parents' bookshop and small-town busybodies.
So Selby didn't plan to read Hamlet. She certainly never planned to meet him.
This novel transports Selby, and the reader, into the cold and crime-ridden play itself. Here she meets Hamlet: heavy with grief, the young prince is overthinking and over everything. Selby can relate. But unlike Hamlet, Selby isn't afraid of making decisions. In her world, Selby is used to feeling overlooked. But in the bloody, backstabbing world of Shakespeare, Selby's good conscience and quiet courage might just save some lives . . . hopefully before Hamlet stabs one of her classmates
The Space Between Here & Now
by Sarah Suk
Perfect for fans of They Both Die at the End and You've Reached Sam, this gripping, atmospheric YA novel follows a teen with a mysterious condition that transports her to the past when she smells certain scents linked to specific memories.
Seventeen-year-old Aimee Roh has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, a rare condition that causes her to time travel to a moment in her life when she smells something linked to that memory. Her dad is convinced she'll simply grow out of it if she tries hard enough, but Aimee's fear of vanishing at random has kept her from living a normal life.
When Aimee disappears for nine hours into a memory of her estranged mom--a moment Aimee has never remembered before--she becomes distraught. Not only was this her longest disappearance yet, but the memory doesn't match up with the story of how her mom left--at least, not the version she's always heard from her dad.
I Hope This Doesn't Find You
by Ann Liang
An instant New York Times bestseller! Snarky and romantic, I Hope This Doesn't Find You is Never Have I Ever meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before if Lara Jean wrote hate emails instead of love letters.
Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It's not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She'd never send them of course -- she'd rather die than hurt anyone's feelings -- but it's a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie's work.
All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. “You're attention starved and self-obsessed and unbearably vain . . . I really hope your comb breaks and you run out of whatever expensive hair products you've been using to make your hair appear deceptively soft . . .”
How to Be Remembered
by Michael Thompson
A man who can never be remembered.
A journey he'll never forget.
On an ordinary night in an ordinary year, Tommy Llewellyn's doting parents wake in a home without toys and diapers, without photos of their baby scattered about, and without any idea that the small child asleep in his crib is theirs.
That's because Tommy is a boy destined to never be remembered.
On the same day every year, everyone around him forgets he exists, and he grows up enduring his own universal Reset. That is until something extraordinary happens: Tommy Llewellyn falls in love.
Imogen, Obviously
by Becky Albertalli
A Stonewall Honor Book - A New York Times and Indie bestseller!
Imogen Scott may be hopelessly heterosexual, but she's got the World's Greatest Ally title locked down.
She's never missed a Pride Alliance meeting. She knows more about queer media discourse than her very queer little sister. She even has two queer best friends. There's Gretchen, a fellow high school senior, who helps keep Imogen's biases in check. And then there's Lili--newly out and newly thriving with a cool new squad of queer college friends.
Imogen's thrilled for Lili. Any ally would be. And now that she's finally visiting Lili on campus, she's bringing her ally A game. Any support Lili needs, Imogen's all in.
Even if that means bending the truth, just a little.
Last Chance Dance
by Lakita Wilson
An utterly charming YA romance perfect for fans of Elise Bryant and Leah Johnson.
Leila is crushed when Dev, her boyfriend of four years, breaks up with her right before graduation. Just when she's thinking she wasted her entire high school experience on a dead-end relationship, her best friend Bree reminds her that Last Chance Dance is just around the corner.
A high school tradition, the Last Chance Dance gives all the students one last opportunity to find love before they graduate. All Leila has to do is submit three unrequited crushes to the dance committee and if any of her crushes list her too, they'll get matched. Presto: new relationship, just like that. To her utter amazement, Leila is matched with all three of her choices--and with someone she never expected, Tre Hillman, her chemistry partner and low-key nemesis.