Broadening My Horizons - Outgrowing YA?
I suppose this is a response to WhittyNovels Youtube Video 'Outgrowing YA Fiction?'. Since watching this video I've just been thinking constantly about the topic and I've watched many other Youtubers also give their opinions and I support every one of their opinions. I can see where everyone is coming from and I can see all the pros and cons and well I just wanted to add a little insight here and just write down my thoughts, maybe for all you guys to see but personally for me to look back on too.
I started reading YA six years ago in 2009, because of Twilight. I did read ocassionally before that. As a child I read books like Animal Ark and Dolphin Diaries and all the rest but I hadn't considered my reading to be a full fledged hobby at that point. It was the beginning of reading Twilight that started my obsessive hobby of bookworming. In truth it took me a whole year to read those four books but once I finished Twilight, I branched out into the YA genre. I went into Marked, Hush, Hush, Vampire Diaries and City of Bones and never looked back. Still I can tell you that I have basically only read YA books.
Why? Because I enjoy them! And that is why I read. I read for enjoyment. I read to fall in love with a story and to see all these different places and all these different characters. I wouldn't say in my 6 years that I've read as much as many other book lovers in the book community. I've read barely over 250 books, but I can see the repetitiveness easily in some books. In YA there seems to be a set way of things. You can see the same characteristics in main characters, in love interests, in those love triangles and sometimes they are predictable. But you can always, always find those hidden gems that break all the rules. There's no predictability. Our characters are different. The writing is beautiful and the stories are just so unique that you just can't find that pull anywhere else.
Personally I think the standard of YA is getting higher and higher. I have fallen head over heels in love with books in all the different YA sub genres from Contemporary to Fantasy to Historical Fiction. But in saying that you can find those pretty bad books too, sometimes more than you find the gems. It all really depends on what you choose to read and how fast you read.
I have stopped going with hype. It is generic. After all, we all don't have the same tastes. Just looking, even at this month alone, the YA books that were hyped to oblivion were Passenger and Truthwitch. Neither book I will be picking up because they didn't interest me. Don't hate me for this but it is my choice. I have decided to read books only if I am so completely, over the moon interested in them and it seems to work for me. I won't read a book that gives off a vibe of being predictable or in some ways a copy cat of books I've read before. There has to be something different, something that inevitably draws me in before I'll add a book to my TBR these days. But not every book is great either, so of course I'll come across some books I hate too even if something did draw me to them in the first place.
So yes, I love YA. Most of the books I've read in my lifetime are YA. Over 90% of my current TBR are YA. And I know I'll be reading YA for a long, long time into the future. Just because I'm turning 20 in a few months is no indication that I'll be giving up YA.
In saying all this, I have had an itch. An itch to explore more in the genres of books. I have started to want to read New Adult, I'm going to give Colleen Hoover a try, along with Adult Fantasy, Thriller, Historical Fiction and Romance. All which have one book on my shelves at home. Plus I have wanted to start reading Classics and I've even made it a goal for 2016 to read three.
So in no way shall I ever give up YA (I literally cannot see that in my future right now) but I will be exploring more. Whereas in the past I could have said that I only read YA, now I'll be saying that I read a mixture with most of my books being YA. I'm excited to explore these new genres to me and well as they say, let the adventure begin.
I have stopped going with hype. It is generic. After all, we all don't have the same tastes. Just looking, even at this month alone, the YA books that were hyped to oblivion were Passenger and Truthwitch. Neither book I will be picking up because they didn't interest me. Don't hate me for this but it is my choice. I have decided to read books only if I am so completely, over the moon interested in them and it seems to work for me. I won't read a book that gives off a vibe of being predictable or in some ways a copy cat of books I've read before. There has to be something different, something that inevitably draws me in before I'll add a book to my TBR these days. But not every book is great either, so of course I'll come across some books I hate too even if something did draw me to them in the first place.
So yes, I love YA. Most of the books I've read in my lifetime are YA. Over 90% of my current TBR are YA. And I know I'll be reading YA for a long, long time into the future. Just because I'm turning 20 in a few months is no indication that I'll be giving up YA.
In saying all this, I have had an itch. An itch to explore more in the genres of books. I have started to want to read New Adult, I'm going to give Colleen Hoover a try, along with Adult Fantasy, Thriller, Historical Fiction and Romance. All which have one book on my shelves at home. Plus I have wanted to start reading Classics and I've even made it a goal for 2016 to read three.
So in no way shall I ever give up YA (I literally cannot see that in my future right now) but I will be exploring more. Whereas in the past I could have said that I only read YA, now I'll be saying that I read a mixture with most of my books being YA. I'm excited to explore these new genres to me and well as they say, let the adventure begin.
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