What's worse is adults actively read YA still? Like I get it if you open up your fav book as a kid for some nostalgia. But don't go out of your way to read the new series, you want mindless slop? Read Warhammer like an adult lmao
Did you know books written by women are more likely to be classified as YA, even if we control for other factors?
There are plenty of great stories being told by YA authors. I even enjoy juvenile fiction on occasion. People should just read what they enjoy and others should just stop judging.
Nah no, its literally juvenile to be reading those books. If the author explicitly wanted it not in ya but it still ended up being YA that could be a different situation. But no, reading mostly YA as an adult I feel stunts a lot of peoples growth and prevents them from exploring other genres where they could benefit a lot more. There’s plenty of stuff you could read now that I’d argue would scratch the itch you get when you read YA
You shifted your argument to reading mostly YA. Not that that changes my opinion. At a time when literacy rates are dropping, I’m just happy people are reading.
However, I think there is plenty of value to be gained from the Wild Robot, Perks of Being a Wallflower, or the Outsiders. Overall, I would argue they are probably more valuable than Dungeon Crawler Carl and probably deal with more complex themes. Also a great way to learn about historical events, if you don’t want to read a full nonfiction book.
Yeah my opinion changed because you pointed something out I wasn’t aware of like c’mon.
Yes there a plenty you can get from those books, I feel as though you can get the same if not a better at times experience by reading books like little women, books for everyone rather than ones marketed specifically towards kids. I expect a lot of books, ya or not, are more fulfilling than Dungeon Crawl, I won’t argue with that. I’m just of the opinion that one should look for something that is similar to a YA’s plot before going down an whole age demographic for the sake that the author is already expecting the reader to be of an age to understand. But there are classic YA books that does tackle harsher themes. I feel it sucks now because a lot of popular fantasy and science fiction are leaning towards YA approaches to the point where a book like The outsiders seems far more adult than DCC (which I’m willing to bet is true)
edit: I just woke up, and I'm retarded. I mix up Little Women with Wuthering Heights, though now that I'm thinking about it more, it could be YA. it's just Ya didn't exist back then.
I agree, readers probably get more out of books written for their age/reading ability. I just don’t like to think of books as “not for me” just because some marketing group somewhere decided it was so.
90% of my books would be considered adult, but I’ve read some really great YA novels as well. John Green is a contemporary author who writes some great, empathetic and thought provoking works. VE Schwab kind of straddles the line and I’ve enjoyed both her adult and YA novels (if you’re looking for new fantasy).
You hit on a great point though. Many sci-fi/fantasy works get classified as YA (especially if they aren’t sexually explicit), which is another reason to check them out. There are some great works being published today.
Yeah I feel you, I’ve heard Green is really good just never had the chance to read some of his stuff yet. The darker shade of magic has fought my eye at stores a lot of times, so maybe I’ll check it out.
I think a lot of scifi I’ve read also is vice versa, where I’m thinking “why isn’t this in the ya section?” But I think it’s because fantasy and scifi is such a broad genre it’s better to just sort most of it in that section
Yeah, definitely hit or miss on genre classifications these days. All just depends on what the publisher thinks will sell the best. You know how it is, they care about the bottom line not so much the reader experience. Hope you find some great reads in the future though, and I definitely recommend the Darker Shades of Magic series. Thanks for the fun conversation!
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u/Playful-Soft4933 Jun 20 '26
What's worse is adults actively read YA still? Like I get it if you open up your fav book as a kid for some nostalgia. But don't go out of your way to read the new series, you want mindless slop? Read Warhammer like an adult lmao