Wonderful addition to the Save the Cat family! This new installment goes deeper into many aspects from Save the Cat Writes a Novel and it's absolutely required reading for any YA plotter who loves story structure!

I already have Save the Cat! Writes a Novel so I was excited to see a YA version. I love how the author has set out the different beats, with examples from popular YA books/series. I really enjoyed learning from this book but it’s more a resource that I will dip in and out of as I progress my current writing project. I’ve still a lot to learn from this book so I will be looking to acquire a paper copy when it is published. A must-have for aspiring YA authors.

This is a very solid how-to guide on how to structure the writing of a young adult novel. It's a good adaptation from the original novel-writing how-to guide, and having the focus be on a specific genre is very useful. It can be a little repetitive if you're very familiar with the original, but on its own, it is very solid. Definitely recommend for someone looking for help with focusing their writing.

Excellent guide. Especially for beginners, but more experienced writers will still find useful tips. The whole chapter 3 is a delight and the whole beat sheet thing is very detailed and it's very interesting to see how it is applied to series.

I read the first Save the Cat book and have loved and learned the most from these books.
If only I could put the advice into action, I'd probably be visiting bookstore instead of working in them. HA!
Brody, like the previous Save the Cat books, gives you step by step guidance, along with plenty of interesting, relatable examples.
Reading Brody's books are like having a visit with an friend that is wise, witty, and down to earth.
All the tools you could ever need to understanding how to create fiction - it's the follow thru that one must provide to make it work!

As a fan of other Save the Cat books and a YA author, this one was highly anticipated. Brody does a great job of breaking down story structure and providing us with many examples from well-loved YA reads. There is something in here for every type of YA including romance, adventure, and more. I took extensive notes as I read this guide and applied them directly to my latest novel outline. Thank you, Brody, for this incredible book!

This book does a wonderful job offering an easy-to-follow and proven writing template to help you bring your stories to life in a way that readers will enjoy. If you've read Brody's first Save the Cat book, you may not need to read this one as the information is the same, only with YA examples, and can be applied easily. If you have not read her first STC book and want help writing YA, this is a must have title.

Thank you Net Galley and Ten Speed Press for a chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.
#SavetheCatWritesaYoungAdultNovel #JessicaBrody #NetGalley

Following her incredible book Save the Cat Writes a Novel based on Blake Snyder’s 15 beats for movies , Jessica Brody is back with Save the Cat Writes A Young Adult Novel. Full of the same familiar beats as her first book but with information tailored to the age category of young adult.

To be short, if you want to write a young adult novel, this is a book you need to read. The first book is what I would consider a novel writing bible. This falls right in line with that.

The knowledge and tips in this book are what I would consider required reading.

Buy this book. There’s so many examples, the different genres, it’s a fantastic book on novel writing. One of the best craft books on the market. Buy it. I’ve preordered it. I own the first book. It unlocked writing for me and the second has expanded on that knowledge.

She writes so casually it’s like you’re talking with a friend who just keep dropping knowledge on your.

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to them and the publisher.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book

I was SO excited to receive this book. It was incredibly resourceful. I loved the spot that helps out with multiple person POV books. Highly recommend

I’ve been a longtime fan of Jessica Brody, young adult literature, and how-to books on writing. So naturally I was already biased in this book’s favor. Even with all that, it’s still a good read, something likely to educate both the experienced and the neophyte.

I'm a big fan of "Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, so I was interested to see how the Young Adult version would be different. It's tailored more toward young adult authors, to include specifics of that age group. It as usual has all the important beats of writing a novel, and spells them out in an easy to understand way. I highly recommend this book to all novelists!

If you like the original save the cat but, like me, read more YA than adult, then this is the book for you! It has all the same information, and a bit extra, but with examples that I understand better and find more applicable. If you’re looking to start writing YA, or just want to analyse these books a bit better, then I very much recommend it,

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

I’ve read Brody’s previous Save the Cat book and absolutely love it. I use it every time I start a new writing project. I requested this book since I wanted to see if there were any differences between the two.

My initial thoughts were it was structured like the first book and Brody explains there are enough differences to warrant a separate book. By the time I was finished reading, I agree.

For whatever reason, I found this book to be easier to read than Brody’s original. There are a ton of examples given to demonstrate how each beat is done in different novels.

An addition that I really liked was the different beat sheet customizations the writer could do in regard to duologies, trilogies, etc. That was something I had missed with the first book and I loved that the time was taken to show these.

I’m thinking of adding this to my own collection. I’m not a YA writer but a lot of the content was easier for me to understand.

Based on when I heard people talk about the Save the Cat method in writing circles, I was afraid that this book was going to be one of those "your book must have these 100 elements exactly in this way and you must outline or it's going to be bad" types of books. I'm so glad I took a chance and that it exactly the opposite. Jessica Brody uses the famed "Save the Cat" method in building great Young Adult novels with lots of flexibility and guidance to help both new and experienced writers produce better structured novels without boxing them into writing handcuffs.

After a brief introduction about the Young Adult demographic and how it differs from adult fiction, the first two chapters go into developing your protagonist and a detailed overview of what the Save the Cat formula is. Despite being all about structure, it doesn't bash those that plot lightly or at all before drafting, though she encourages making an outline at some point in the editing/revision process. Chapter 3 is dedicated to the idea that the formula is highly customizable, and it gave me a relief for sure. She also introduces concepts that aren't meant to box a writer in, but tools to help guide a confused writer into constructing a great story. It sure helped me change a few things at a whim while I'm rewriting my novel.

About half the book is dedicated to breaking down the Save the Cat formula to ten basic types of story setups, each taking up a chapter. It sums up the basics, with the three essential elements of each, and books fit into this category. Finally, there's a deep breakdown of one well known book in the genre (spoilers everywhere!) and a more compact version at the end of the chapter. I love how each were fleshed out and enlightening, and helped understand how the formula can fit almost any book. It really expanded my ideas and views of books I've read.

Then the book closes with how to use Save the Cat to promote your book to others, including building a pitch, longline, and a sales copy, then finally how to use it if you're plotting a series, even going up to seven books! The book even ends with one more encouraging pep talk!

The start of each chapter has spoiler alerts for the books being covered in case you haven't read them, which was an awesome thing in case you haven't read it yet and wanted to go in blind. There were a few I haven't read and for the ones I cared to avoid the spoilers, I dodged them on my own.

Overall, the book was easy to read and comprehend in terms of the prose and concepts, and allows for plenty of flexibility that I'm sure will work for most writers, and already, I'm seeing early returns! Highly recommended for any Young Adult writer!

I’ve read the original Save the Cat Writes a Novel several times and have found it an incredibly valuable tool as I plan and write my own books. The Young Adult version has the same foundation as the original, with the same plot beats and formulas, and the same structure as the original. All of the examples Jessica Brody uses are YA books from a variety of genres, (fantasy, contemporary, romance, thriller, etc.) Even if you are not planning on writing a YA novel, this is still a great craft book that is expanded from the original Save the Cat book. Brody has answered some commonly asked questions, including how to customize the beat sheet to fit your story (prologues, early or late catalysts, etc.) as well as in depth instructions on how to work in multiple POVs, plot for a multiple book series, and more. If you’re a writer, add this to your craft book collection!

I am so happy with this addition to Jessica Brody’s craft book offerings. Though a lot of it isn’t brand new information if you have read—and religiously loved—her first book, the new YA-centered examples provide an interesting and fresh lens to the advice. I did find myself skipping around a bit more with this one than the first, but I would say that I solely because I’ve read the first twice, taken two classes on this topic, and subscribe to Jessica’s Writing Mastery Academy. For someone fresh to her work, I would wholeheartedly recommend this as a great starter as even with my familiarity I learned some new tricks and perspective. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for early access.

A must-have for writers looking to pen their YA novel.

Much like the first in this series, this is well thought-out, understandable, and with relevant novel examples to aid the author's intent. It gets straight to the point with the nitty-gritty details of penning a YA novel by outlining story beats, structure, and how character--the core of every good novel--shapes that. It's a slim, easy read, with an informative punch packed into the pages. Unlike some of the "how to write X" sort of books out there, SAVE THE CAT! WRITES A YA NOVEL is relatively easy to understand with its carefully laid-out premise and structure.

Thanks Netgalley/Ten Speed Press for the ARC.

Like with Save The Cat Writes a Novel, I didn't read this in order, but jumped around a bit. I will definitely be coming back to it next time I write a YA--it's helpful to have the craft book I've used and loved before but specifically for writing YA.