I know this post has a pretty intense title but it’s an honest question. Throughout this post, I’m going to talk to you guys about what I do love & hate about YA and why I think I might be sick of it (for now) because honestly, I’m not sure if I’m confused, tired or just sick of it.
I think I need to give it a rest for now. Honestly, if I could I would just be re-reading Stalking Jack The Ripper on a loop and occasionally reading a murder mystery or a middle grade but unfortunately, I know I would hate myself if I did that.
So… the purpose of this post is for me to chat with you guys about my reading at the moment and try to figure out what is going on with me. I haven’t really talked about this lately purely because I just didn’t notice it all that much. Sure, my reading taste was changing but that’s normal right?? Well, honestly I don’t know, I mean my reading taste has really changed this year. Yesterday I was at a 2nd hand book stall at the markets and there was a whole stack of books that I would’ve bought a couple of months ago but that I didn’t buy yesterday. So, why?
I don’t know. I love YA, but I think that possibly I am finally finding the kinds of books that I do enjoy. This year I have been reading more murder mysteries, suspense and middle-grade and I have really enjoyed it.
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT YA
- A large bookish community
- Pretty much anyone can read it
- It can be very relatable since I am a teenager
WHAT ANNOYS ME ABOUT YA
- Not enough good murder mysteries that I enjoy (think along the lines of Stalking Jack The Ripper)
- I don’t always want to read a fantasy or a romance contemporary – I want something different
So, am I falling out of love with YA or am I just tired of the tropes? Am I falling in love with other stories and other age groups or am I searching for something else?
I feel like I had a lot of reading slumps last year and maybe this was why. I read a lot of great books last year but I also read a lot of terrible ones (*coughs* Artemis). I feel like maybe my reading tastes are just growing as I do and maybe I’m okay with that.
AM I SICK OF YA OR AM I WHINING? HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT YA?
FRIDGES ANTS
allonsythornraxx 
I think it’s a good thing that you are starting to read more of what you like! I have been starting to do more of that myself. Some times I am in the mood for YA but lately, more often than not I pick up an adult novel! I think reading goes through phases and it is important to just read whatever you are in the mood for!
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It’s honestly such a relief to me that I am reading exactly what I feel like, even if it’s not always YA. Exactly, reading does go through phases, but it really just threw me for a lop since I’ve been reading YA books for so many years.
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i know exactly how you feel!!!! it’s so easy for YAs to fall into tropes and then it just kind of cheapens the entire genre and then I entire a reading slump (points directly at “When Dimple Met Rishi”). it’s horribly upsetting. and YES we need more murder mysteries!!!!! I need to read stalking jack the ripper bc you love it so much and it sounds amazing????????
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That’s definitely reassuring, I’m glad it’s not just me!
Exactly, I feel like in the last couple of years YA has really gone downhill – it feels too tropey and it really does cheapen the whole age group. Exactly, that’s why I thought I was in a reading slump because I wasn’t picking up any YA, thank God I realised I just needed to pick up a different age group/ genre.
I know right! We need more good YA murder mysteries! You definitely need to read Stalking Jack The Ripper, it’s absolutely amazing and I love it!
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I completely get you!! I use to eat up YA like it was nobody’s business – my English teacher in high school use to say I was a YA vacuum xD But then when I got into Outlander (historical fiction genre) last year, it was suddenly like I couldn’t stand YA fiction and it’s cheesiness. But there are soo many good releases coming up so I’m trying really hard to get excited in the YA world again…found this so totally relatable!
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Exactly, I used to go crazy for YA but, honestly, I’m kind of over it now? Exactly, I love reading adult and I’m a big high fantasy buff and ever since I started reading those, normal YA fantasy just doesn’t do it for me anymore!
I know how you feel, I m really trying to concentrate on 2018 releases this year so hopefully, they will help to get me back into enjoying some YA this year!
Thank you and good luck!
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I’ve seen a lot of posts to this effect recently. Personally, I’ve always gone through phases of wanting to vary reading YA with reading things like classics. (I love YA, but, I don’t know, they’re not ALWAYS the most intellectually stimulating things. Sorry.) But personally I think YA *has* gotten less creative recently. I keep reading books that sound like other books and books that make literally no sense but have a catchy premise, so the publisher published them anyway. I do think this is somewhat of a recent trend in YA (though obviously there have always been books that just wanted to catch a trend, like the Twlight rip-offs) and that it’s not entirely that my reading tastes are changing but that the market itself is a bit blah right now.
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I have to and I wasn’t sure whether I should write this one because of that, but I thought I might ask everyone’s opinion of it since it has started to affect me this year. Haha, no, YA is not the most stimulating age group at the moment! I completely agree while I think YA is slowly becoming more diverse (which is fantastic), it is still staying quite mainstream and uncreative. So many books are all the same, with boring 2d characters and unrealistic and common plots. Exactly, there are so many Twilight rip offs still being published which makes no sense to me since you only ever hear people bashing Twilight these days.
That’s a fantastic point – I do think my tastes are changing slightly and I’m becoming intrigued by other genres but, I definitely agree that the YA market is very unchanging at the moment!
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While I do read YA, it’s not a genre I love. It was an exciting experience when I first got into it but like you said, there are too many overused tropes and cliches. Now I’m very picky with the YA I choose and have been preferring crime fiction or classics.
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When you put it like that I think I agree with you. I do read a fair bit of YA, though I feel like I really don’t enjoy it for the most part. Exactly, when I was first introduced to it with Twilight I absolutely fell in love with it, but it all just feels like the same thing and I’m kind of over it. I’m the same, I’m currently reading Misery by Stephen King & Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and so far I am enjoying them a lot more than I would an ordinary and unoriginal YA novel.
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I think giving yourself a break from YA would definitely be good. I know someone who is doing that at the moment because after reading a tonne of YA it just seemed like she was re-reading the same kind of book over and over again. If you like murder mystery type books I’d recommend The Wicked Cometh, it’s a f/f historical fiction murder mystery that I really enjoyed!
One thing that really bugs me about YA as well is because the community is so huge I’ve noticed that people who focus on other types of books or don’t read the big name YA novels tend to have less attention on their blogs than those that do. I find it really annoying because I follow some blogs who are great and the bloggers put in a lot of effort to their blogs, but are constantly overshadowed by bloggers talking about the same books all the time!
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I agree I think I might try picking up some middle-grade or some murder mysteries! It’s sort of comforting to know it’s not just me, so thank you!
Thank you for the recommendation, it sounds fantastic and I’ve just put it on hold at the library!
Exactly, I’ve noticed that too! It honestly doesn’t make a tonne of sense, because why subscribe to the same group of people who all talk about the same thing/ authors? Exactly, I find that in some circles, even in those blogger love/ recommendations posts, all the same people are talked about! Which I mean kudos to them, but also I do love reading smaller blogs and finding out about different books and opinions!
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Woo! Let me know how you find it and if you enjoyed it.
Yeah
it’s really sucky. It makes it a lot harder to grow your blog if you’re not in the little YA club and also doesn’t allow you to expand the types of books you’re reading! I’ve recently discovered some excellent books through people who read genres or books I wouldn’t normally think to read, but if I followed people who read all the same books I would miss out on those great books
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I think it’s good when your reading tastes change because it’s not as if you now hate YA you’ll maybe just look out for a book that’s more outstanding, I’ve always had a varied reading experience because since I was little my dad bought me all sorts of genres and he still does. I go through reading trends as well, sometimes I’ll prefer a crime book, and then I’ll suddenly be all over fantasy. It’s good to read what you feel no matter where it fits in regards to genre 😀
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I agree I’m sort of enjoying this process even though it really spooked me at first. Exactly, I definitely don’t hate YA, I’m just over it right now and would rather read something else. Ahh, I usually always got the same kind of books – a fantasy of some sort so I never really experienced it until I started branching out of my own accord.
Thank you for your uplifting comment!
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my reading tastes have definitely been changing, too – as evident by how many low ratings i give 😮 it’s exciting to narrow your tastes to what you actually enjoy! i’ve realized i like middle grade (yay middle grade), classics, and some magical realism – but i haven’t really transitioned into reading majority those yet? i’m at a weird interval point right now.
this is a really relatable and interesting post! YA suspense/mystery has been the worst in my experience so it would make sense that you’re branching out from it. i hope you continue to find what you like! 🙂
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Exactly, I feel like because I haven’t been quite as “in to” YA, I haven’t been rating the books as highly as everyone else seems to be. I know how you feel, I’ve been delving into middle grade lately and I’ve been surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed it and apparently I also really love murder mysteries – you learn something new every day I guess. I know what you mean, I still feel like I should be reading YA, even though all I want to do is read literally anything else.
Thank you!
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I think YA is a great genre where you can just read and read and there is a little something, something (I run across murder or mystery ones all the time and have a category of a decent size) but I can’t read EVERY book of it. I’ve always read eclectically since I became a new not-teen. I agree it seems to be about you branching out and finding the more niche genres. ❤ Great discussion and I hope you LOVE whatever you read… YA or adult!!
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I agree I think with YA you can just read and read and read, but eventually, I just get sick of doing that and go looking for something with a bit more substance – which is why I love a good murder mystery.
Exactly, I think I’m just starting to enjoy branching out into other genres & age groups and so far I am enjoying it.
Thank you!
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I honestly don’t think I’ll ever get sick of reading YA, and that’s probably because I read adult mysteries alongside them. I mean, I think we’ll all get sick of something if we read too much of it in row, but when I end up straight up reading adult mysteries and then go back to YA or switch back and forth between them, I’m fine. I’m entertained, and I don’t force myself to read YA books I just don’t want to because everyone loves them.
BUT yes, I do wish there was better mystery/thriller in YA. I’ve read some REALLY good ones, but the majority always seem to throw in some random romance I just don’t care about whatsoever, which is what ruins it for me. And I also think there’s a lack of horror in YA as well, probably because it doesn’t sell well, but still. I WANT MORE HORROR.
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Ahh, smort – I think this is honestly what I will end up doing.
I agree I think that I just read too much YA all at once and suddenly was like nooo no more pls too much angst!
Yes! I love mysteries and I won’t stop reading YA by any means but I wish the combinations were better – most of the ones I’ve read seem to concentrate more on the mc’s love drama than the actual mystery. I agree I would be happy to read Y horror if it was properly scary!
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Great post! I’ve asked myself the same question before. There was a point in which all the YA books I was reading were exactly the same. It’s all about finding the books that are best suited for you. It took me a while to acknowledge that my tastes were changing and that’s why there were certain books that I just didn’t like anymore.
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Thank you! I feel the same, at the moment I’m just overwhelmed by YA, I just don’t want to read the same stories all the time! Exactly, it’s an experience and finding what you do and don’t enjoy reading.
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You’re welcome!! And I’ve learned to be much more selective when it comes to the books I read. Ain’t nobody got time for books they don’t enjoy lol
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