I'm tired of YA

22 December 2017

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Whenever I'm browsing for something new to read at the library or bookstore, my first instinct is always to go to the young adult section. The shelves are lined with my old favorites, and all the bright, shiny new books that are endlessly hyped up that I see on the internet every day. There's familiarity that draws me there every time.

But the thing is: I'm tired of young adult books. I have been for a long time.

When I look back on the past year, or even the past three years of my life, I can see how my reading preferences have evolved. There are hardly any YA books on my list of favorite books, and I've been removing more and more from my TBR. But why then do I still feel magnetically pulled to always browse the YA shelves or listen to the recommendations of YA book reviewers?

There's a lot of pressure for readers to follow the most popular books. Even when I feel a book is being blatantly over hyped, I still desperately want to read it so that I can form my own opinions on it. And lately, from what I can tell, most of the hyped up books are considered to be young adult.

There's a huge community of readers online, and it's an amazing thing. I feel like my reading life has greatly improved since getting involved on Goodreads, and book reviewing. However, the majority of this community are people who love YA, or read mostly YA. I almost feel like if I don't keep up with the current popular reads I'm out of the loop, that I'll lose the sense of community.

Despite my own thoughts on some books, I can see why so many people love young adult. There are definitely incredible YA books that will remain all-time favorites for me, like The Book Thief or We Were Liars, and I don't think any less about readers who only read young adult. But for me, it's become an endless cycle of reading the same regurgitated plot and characters and tropes and worlds and clichés over and over again. They all seem the same to me, and I've grown tired of it. Every time I read a YA book, I find myself finishing and wanting so much more but feeling stuck.

I've been becoming more intrigued by classics, and even books that are categorized in the adult section, which I never thought I'd do. I've always loved to read diversely, but the more I branch out the richer my reading becomes, and I'm really enjoying it. There's a whole wide world of books out there to explore, and I can't simply remain satisfied reading only young adult anymore.
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There's been ongoing discussions about branching out beyond YA. This is a contribution of my own thoughts, but I'd love to hear yours, no matter which side of the debate you fall under.

8 comments

  1. DUDE SAME this is like.. yes exactly you put it into words!!¡!!

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    1. Glad to know someone can relate to my rants. XD Thanks Olivia!

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  2. Pretty sure that I stopped reading because of YA books. The plots were boring and lots of the books were only read because everyone else was reading them. The Memory Keeper's Daughter got me back into reading. As for the reading community do your own thing and do it with pride, everyone will follow!
    Simply Me

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    1. I think the other thing that I tend to forget is that while the YA community is very prevalent online, there are communities out there for everyone with all sorts of tastes. It just takes a little time to find them sometimes.
      Thanks for your comment, Vanessa!

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  3. I feel the same way. I don't read much YA anymore, so instead I read biographies, historical novels, and a lot of non-fiction. And I feel like I'm learning so much more outside of YA, that I don't really want to go back.

    k.

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    1. I've been trying to get more into non-fiction as well. Good for you for branching out, Keira!

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  4. Yes, this is such a relatable opinion. I honestly want to read more YA so that I can find another favourite to encourage me to write YA (My only favourite YA contemporary series is Geek Girl by Holly Smale).

    That's why next year I will be on the hunt for new favourite YA authors but Literary Fiction is slowly becoming my favourite genre.

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    1. There's totally nothing wrong with wanting to read more YA! I know there are some gems out there worth finding, especially if you want to write in YA. I've just personally been exhausted trying to find them anymore.
      Literary Fiction is one of my new favorites too!
      I'll have to check out Geek Girl if it's that good!

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