For a long time now I have seen many articles and blog posts about whether or not people can or do grow out of the YA genre. It would be easy to assume that as the young adult genre is aimed at people from 12-18 years of age and often follows character the same age that the older you become they are less aimed at you and therefore you outgrow them. However does that mean that you will actual enjoy them less or feel like you should not read them? Today I thought I would discuss my thoughts on this and whether or not I feel like I am out growing YA.
Firstly I would like to point out that as a 20 going on 21 year old, I still read and enjoy a lot of YA fiction. Nevertheless compared to when I was younger I do find that I am now reading more adult fiction. Rather than explaining this as ‘outgrowing YA’ I would instead say that I am expanding my reading horizons.
However, there have been occasions lately when I have picked up a YA book thinking I would enjoy it and felt a bit let down and reviewed it by stating ‘I would have enjoying this in my younger years’, so yes I would think it’s fair to say that I am perhaps outgrowing some YA books but not all of them. Despite this it has not put me off the YA genre or made me feel like I should be reading other genres as I still very much enjoy other YA books and for this reason am not giving up on the genre.
In terms of feeling as though you should no longer be reading YA, as I know a lot of people 
who are no longer the age the genre is targeted at feel like they shouldn’t be reading books from the genre anymore or reading more adult books instead, I say as long as your reading does it really matter what you are reading or why? This is something I have always felt strongly about ever since the whole Twilight love-it/hate-it argument, which you could now compare to the whole Fifty Shades of Grey argument – in my opinion it doesn’t matter what you’re reading as long as you ARE reading. So if you are 20 (like me) or 50 or even 75 and are still reading books from the YA genre, simply it doesn’t matter as long as you are reading and that you are enjoying what you are reading.
Ultimately everyone is different, some people perhaps do outgrow YA and I may do eventually but right now I still love reading books from the genre and aim to continue doing so along with other books from other genres I enjoy. I have loved sharing my thoughts on this debate just as I love reading other people’s opinions on it so if you have an opinions on this subject please comment and let me know!
Write Through the Night 
A lot of Adult Fiction authors also write YA books. That’s actually how I started reading some. I followed the authors I enjoyed over. I’m 48 and I think it’s fun to look back on my youth.
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I totally agree and love it when authors write both adult and young adult or even children’s novels as it means that if I enjoy their writing style then it is guaranteed that I will try them out!
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I think it all comes down to what your mental state is – sometimes I like to feel challenged by a book, and others I want an easy read to escape for an afternoon. As long as the book is well written I don’t care what genre it is. Traditionally though, YA is known for having faster paced story lines dealing with complicated issues in a non-graphic manner centred around a protagonist in their early to late teens, and for the most part in 90,000-120,000 words. Which is great for a intense, punchy but quick read… theses days the boundaries are getting blurred, authors are getting more experimental, so you really have to judge each book on it’s own merit.
So not confusing at all :p
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I’m 24 and still enjoy YA. There are so many fascinating ideas in the genre. Maybe one day I’ll ‘outgrow’ it like I did younger fiction, but I don’t think so.That said, there are still some Authors who write for younger readers that I still enjoy. Sometimes, I think it’s how well the book and characters are written.
So, basically, I have no idea and have brought nothing to the discussion. :’D
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I really believe what you said about how the well the book and characters are written has a key role in whether or not I enjoy a YA book. At this moment in time I feel like I won’t outgrow YA as I still enjoy the genre a lot! It is nice to see someone around my age range that is still enjoying YA too 😀
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I think there is a lot of us around this age range that do, to be honest. A lot of bloggers or just bookish people in general I know read a lot of YA.
I think it’s unfair to completely cut off such a diverse genre for yourself too. YA has a variety of other genres to it, dystopian, romance, fanatasy ect.
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P.S. The link in your name takes me to a different blog. Shannon rose reads? Not the one with the post I read.
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I have tried to fix it but as I am a contributor it keeps going to my other blog, if you have any recommendations on how to fix it I would be happy to hear – thanks 🙂
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I think if you click on your profile piccie. And click on account settings and choose which site to be your primary. 🙂
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