So lately I’ve had several book recommendations here and in other subreddits for novels or audiobooks that sounded great, but when I pursued them, I found these were young adult novels. Despite long discussion threads, no one mentioned this.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the occasional YA book. But it seems like something people should mention it is YA, like you might mention if something was softcore. It makes me wonder: Is this is not a big deal to people? Or do people not even realize these are YA?
The most recent was Red Rising, which was suggested as an audio book recommendation. One comment mentioned that they found this after looking for something like Game of Thrones . This is a fun book, and the audio narrator is great, but it is definitely YA and nothing like Game of Thrones, lol.
Anyway, just a thought…
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Red Rising isn’t YA, it’s classified as adult
I don’t get it. If the book is good, it’s good. Even if it is for children.
Ehh do you read toddlers story books as an adult?
Myabe it wouldn’t hurt if they are more clear if a book is YA, maybe in the cover or something?, I know I can google it but my kindle is not great for that and sometimes I don’t have my phone around. Although I have found some hidden gems this way, but to be honest, YA its not what I prefer usually.
There is a difference between YA books and books with a young protagonist(s). I think some people tend to mix the 2 up.
I think the problem is that people that will recc young adult novels see them as just as good as adult novels, whereas the people who actively don’t read YA novels think the exact opposite. So this means it’s only a problem for one side of the equation, but luckily Goodreads is pretty good about tagging novels YA so that’s the easiest way to find that out IMO.
I think the problem is that people that will recc young adult novels see them as just as good as adult novels, whereas the people who actively don’t read YA novels think the exact opposite. So this means it’s only a problem for one side of the equation, but luckily Goodreads is pretty good about tagging novels YA so that’s the easiest way to find that out IMO.
It also doesn’t help that some books are marketed as YA purely from a sales perspective even if they’re not; most of the time because the writer is a woman. I still remember The Hunger Games being marketed as a YA ROMANCE.
I think the problem is that people that will recc young adult novels see them as just as good as adult novels
I wouldn’t say that is problem as much as a more or less objective truth, based on the following facts that I hope we all can agree on:
- YA is an extremely broad and loose classification, to the point that there can be significant disagreement on what constitutes YA or whether a specific title should be considered YA.
- There is large variation in the quality, complexity, and maturity of novels that may fall within the YA spectrum.
- There is large variation in the quality, complexity, and maturity of novels that are considered adult fiction.
- “Good” is very highly subjective, so there is no objective way to measure whether one book is better than another, let alone whether one vast, broad category of books is better than a different (though potentially overlapping) vast broad category.
It also doesn’t help that some books are marketed as YA purely from a sales perspective even if they’re not; most of the time because the writer is a woman. I still remember The Hunger Games being marketed as a YA ROMANCE.
Because it is…
It is YA though…
Yeah, I re-read Daughter of Smoke & Bone recently, and it really doesn’t feel like YA.
What other examples come to mind besides the obviously young adult hunger games?
Is this better or worse than novels that add a gratuitous sex scene so they don’t get cast as YA?
I just finished Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher. I can’t figure out why it’s YA. The main character is in her 30s, her love interest is in his 40s. There is nothing terribly gory and there is no explicit sex, but I still don’t understand how it’s YA. It’s not about teenagers or a coming of age story. It’s more about finding one’s self in middle age than anything.
That’s really odd to me because I’m a librarian and Nettle & Bone is firmly in our adult section and we didn’t have to reclassify it.
Same issue with Strange the Dreamer (which is phenomenal). Because there’s no explicit sex, and because Laini Taylor had written other YA books, it’s marketed as YA.
In no world is this book YA.
It also doesn’t help that some books are marketed as YA purely from a sales perspective even if they’re not; most of the time because the writer is a woman.
I’m 90% sure this is just victim complex nonsense by people who are upset that the fiction they read/write is classified as YA. You thinking Hunger Games isn’t YA and the person below saying they think Game of Thrones would be classified YA if it was written by a woman isn’t helping the situation either.
I still remember The Hunger Games being marketed as a YA ROMANCE.
Because it is? It’s written like a young adult romance book. I took the book blinldy after reading it’s a take on Battle Royale and it took 10 pages to know that I am too old for this style of writing.
No offense but maybe if you actually READ it you’d know why it was a weird classification…
It’s not a romance series by any stretch. The fact that it includes a relationship between the MC and someone else doesn’t make it a romance. Its a YA dystopian novel, it primarily highlights class disparity and dehumanization. The central conflict is not a question of “will their romance work out” it is “will MC survive this grotesque game”.
Terry Pratchett’s “Nation” is also technically a Young Adult novel, so it’s not that reliable as an indicator of bad writing.
(Nation is fantastic by the way)
People will classify anything without explicit sex scenes as YA.
No.
Just give any recommendation you get a quick little google or just accept that sometimes people recommend a variety of genres and you might occasionally get one you don’t care for as much.
It’s helpful when people say what genre a book is in, but why in gods name would that be necessary when you have unlimited resources to figure that out.
I mean, this might be a wild suggestion, but try just asking the person who recommended it what genre it’s in.
Edit: I also wouldn’t identify something as softcore unless that was relevant to the recommendation. I’m assuming that the person receiving this recommendation is either adult enough to handle it or can simply deduce this type of information for themselves.
I don’t follow on the comparison to softcore, maybe because I’m not entirely sure I get the reference, but I’m not against your perspective. I’ve always gotten recommendations, did a quick search on reviews, bought a book (or borrowed) and quickly discovered it’s YA. To your point, nothing wrong with YA at all, but it’s not my preference so the occasions where that has happened is annoying.
Or you make it clear that you DON‘T want YA? If someone doesn’t want spice, they make it clear. If someone doesn’t want fantasy, they make it clear. If someone doesn’t want something, they make it clear.
It doesn’t matter. If you specify no YA, people will still rec YA. I’ve had it happen to me, and I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times on reddit.
That’s not what this post is about tho.
The thing is I have never seen Red Rising marketed as YA. This is the part that’s confusing me. It has been on my wishlist for a while and I have always seen it with other Fantasy books.
What’s the difference between YA and Adult Novels? Pretty sure the only difference is the age of the main characters.
Just because a book doesn’t have explicit sex scenes, descriptions of extreme gore, and constant swearing doesn’t mean it isn’t an Adult Novel.
This gets a bit complicated because, even though you feel like Red Rising is a YA book, it’s not. It’s pretty firmly marketed and sorted into the adult genre of Fantasy.
Part of the issue imo is that there are at least two distinct definitions of 'YA" people use.
The first is content based; that YA is defined by a specific sort of prose style, plot, character approach, or focus on emotional drama and angst. And people will label any book with these qualities YA regardless of how the book itself is marketed or what its intended audience is.
The second is marketing; it’s YA because the publisher marked it as such.
And as much as YA is a marketing category and term, not all readers regard it as such and instead draw comparisons and similarities based on the content and style of the books rather than their market packaging.
even though you feel like Red Rising is a YA book, it’s not.
Isn’t it? I’m currently reading the saga and I would easily put the first book in the same category as the hunger games, and in fact the marketing blurb in my edition mentions both hunger games and enders game.
I’m told the rest of the series evolves into a more adult feeling in later books, but I definitely got some shonen manga / teenage adventure vibes from the first one - not that I don’t like it, I bought it expecting exactly that.
Can confirm, I work in both a library and a bookstore and Red Rising is shelved in adult sci-fi in both places. Don’t know why the OP thinks it’s YA.
They way a book is marketed and shelved doesn’t change what is written inside. Not that goodreads should be the authority on anything, but it is tagged as YA on there.
When I think of YA it is mostly about the structure and style of writing. A book can have a bit of sex and murder in it but be written in a very YA manner. I’ve had this come up a few times recently. Books with distinctly adult themes so you can’t market them as YA, but they otherwise feel like they are written for teens.
They way a book is marketed and shelved doesn’t change what is written inside. Not that goodreads should be the authority on anything, but it is tagged as YA on there.
When I think of YA it is mostly about the structure and style of writing. A book can have a bit of sex and murder in it but be written in a very YA manner. I’ve had this come up a few times recently. Books with distinctly adult themes so you can’t market them as YA, but they otherwise feel like they are written for teens.
As a rule, no. I’d think if someone’s recommending it they believe you’d get something out of it and the target audience shouldn’t matter that much
As a rule, no. I’d think if someone’s recommending it they believe you’d get something out of it and the target audience shouldn’t matter that much
What’s the difference between YA and Adult Novels? Pretty sure the only difference is the age of the main characters.
Just because a book doesn’t have explicit sex scenes, descriptions of extreme gore, and constant swearing doesn’t mean it isn’t an Adult Novel.