What to Read After Your Favorite YA Book: How I Find My Next Read Without the Scroll Overload

What to Read After Your Favorite YA Book: How I Find My Next Read Without the Scroll Overload

Have you ever finished a YA book and just… sat there thinking, how am I supposed to move on from this?

Like, what now? Nothing on my TBR feels right. Nothing on BookTok speaks to me. Goodreads is showing me a weird mix of fantasy and literary fiction when I just want something that feels like the book I just devoured. Sound familiar?

This has been my biggest struggle as a reader lately — the “what now?” moment after finishing a book that hits all the right emotions. Recently, it was If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin. Raw, quiet, beautifully sad. When I finished it, I didn’t want something identical, but I wanted something that would wreck me in the same way — you know?

Other books that have done this to me? They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera. A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. Books that aren’t just stories — they’re experiences. They mess you up a little (in the best way). And after something like that, picking your next read can feel almost impossible.

So I started Googling. I searched for “books like If He Had Been With Me” and got a bunch of listicles with stuff I’d already read or didn’t click with me. I opened TikTok and scrolled through “YA heartbreak recs,” only to end up watching videos about fall-themed lattes (which… fine, fair). I even asked a few bookish friends, but we all seemed to be in the same slump.

And then I randomly found this site where you just type in the title of a book you like — and it gives you five book recommendations. No login. No generic AI summaries. Just simple, human-feeling suggestions.

👉 It’s called the Book Recommendation Generator.

I typed in If He Had Been With Me, and it gave me a few titles I hadn’t seen anywhere else — including one I ordered instantly because the premise gave me chills. It felt a little like asking a very intuitive, book-obsessed friend, “Okay, what should I cry over next?” — and actually getting an answer.

I won’t pretend it solves every reading slump. But it totally saved me from endlessly refreshing Goodreads or wandering through the bookstore with zero direction. So if you’re stuck in that post-YA-book emotional daze, maybe give it a try.

No pressure. No spoilers. Just vibes.

Also, this tool isn’t just for sad YA (though it excels there). I tried it with The Summer I Turned Pretty, and it gave me some lighter, beachy recs that I actually hadn’t come across before. It’s surprisingly good at sensing tone and feeling, not just genre.

If you’re into romance-heavy YA, magical realism, or even darker themes like The Grace Year, this tool can help you jump into your next read without overthinking it.

P.S. If you try it, tell me what it recommends! I’m curious — and always looking for my next heartbreak. 💔📚