I’m technically not a “young adult” any more. Nearing the age of 22, I’m more on the back end of the “new adult” category. But I don’t care. Young adult books still dominate my life and I know they will continue to do so for years to come!
I love young adult books because the characters and voices in these books are so easy to relate to. I’m sure there are some great adult books out there, but most of them are not for me. I’ve always found it difficult to put myself in the characters’ shoes and the writing styles are often too serious and withdrawn for my taste. I feel distanced from the characters, the story, and the world overall. But young adult books make me feel comfortable. They’re so easy to settle into and the characters’ voices leak off the page to the point where they feel real to me!
Maybe it is because teens are often more immature, wild, and carefree than adults. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I’m so grateful. For a long time, I struggled with what books to read. As I turned 18, I felt like I shouldn’t be browsing in the childrens/teens section of book stores any more. I tried browsing through adult fiction, I tried flipping through the pages, but they didn’t pull me in. None of those books had the same magic that young adult books have for me.
And finally, there is such an AMAZING community of young adult authors and readers. I feel like no one joins together quite like we do. It’s amazing to be around so many other people who are passionate about this genre and want to SCREAM IT TO THE HEAVENS!!
I know I’ll still be reading young adult books when I’m 25, 30, and probably even 45. But I don’t care. There’s a magic and a brilliance in young adult books that I haven’t yet found anywhere else (except for some new adult ;)). So a HUGE THANK YOU to all the amazing young adult authors out there!
Why do you love young adult books?
Beth Revis is one of my favourite authors ever. I’m completely in love with her Across the Universe series so it’s amazing to see her hosting such an INCREDIBLY GENEROUS GIVEAWAY!!
Awww, you are so cute. I totally get what you mean about YA just working for you. I felt that way about adult books. I started out reading YA books but couldn’t quite get into them. Then I was like, OMG, there is adult books out there too. LOL. However, as you know, I started reading YA again and now I love them both. And I just read my first New Adult books and LOVED them a lot too. I think I can get into each reading level equally now.
I think it’s so awesome that you love all the reading levels! I kind of envy you! 😛 But I recently started reading some New Adult too and I also adore them! I mean I love Young Adult, but they always lack the hot and steamy stuff and sometimes I just reaaally want a nice sexy book LOL!
Well, I pretty much read all levels (I can say that now, last night I read my first NA!), but YA will always be that what-if boy from high school I just think about a little more than the ones that come after. I think it’s because there’s this sense of hope and possibility in that age. Everything is still ahead of you, your life can go in so many directions, and with the exception of some really troubled teens, you aren’t irredeemably screwed up yet.
Where, when you reach my age (damn you 20s, why did you leave me?) you start thinking more and more “shit, this is it. it might never get better than this. where has all that wasted time gone”.
I choose hope and magic and possibility. You hear me, world? I WILL NEVER GROW UP
I admit to not actually loving young adult books…I prefer the new adult ones actually. BUT – I’ve read and reviewed a lot of good ones this year because I started a YA blog to keep the kids off my sometimes smutty NA blog. So, I am giving it another chance. One thing I really do not care for in YA books though, is school. I think school is boring, so I (try to) stay away from books that have a lot of school time. (I hate college in NA books as well) But I confess to even liking some school centered YA books lately and if I like a book, I don’t really care what genre it is.
But you’re right, it’s definitely character voice that makes YA so fun and I am completely in love with the Shatter Me series because of voice.
I tried reading Across the Universe but put it down…everyone raves about it, so maybe I should give it another try.
I completely agree with you! I’m 29 and I still read YA, there is so much to it that adult books don’t offer. Yeah a lot of them are really good, but they are a different kind of good than YA. YA really is quite magical and it is the reason this is the genre I prefer to both read and write. Another wonderful thing about reading YA – that whole falling in love for the first time butterflies. There are so many book boyfriends I swoon over! I have never really found that in any adult books. Fun post!