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"Is YA getting worse?"
Jan. 16th, 2022 07:19 pmI saw a tweet on this topic that went viral a few weeks ago and thought about replying to it, but I'm pretty much allergic to getting involved in any Twitter drama, so I didn't.
But I do have thoughts.
I mean, basically: I personally disagree.
Everyone's taste is subjective, but speaking as a Definite Adult, I burned out on YA from about 2012-2018. That was around the time when I felt like YA was extremely derivative and same-y and I gave up on the genre in favor of adult indie romance. I honestly thought I'd aged out of YA.
Since 2019, though—which was the year more diverse YA books began to be published, not coincidentally—my love for YA was revived. Suddenly, I was seeing new, fresh narratives. I mean, it would probably be more accurate to say that my love of fantasy as a whole was rejuvenated, as I started reading fantasy in both YA and Adult; both age groups gained more diverse fantasies, and Adult gained more "crossover appeal" fantasies as some would say, though I would describe it as "more accessible, fast-paced fantasies that don't spend 100 pages on worldbuilding before the plot begins."
Regardless, I read more YA now than I did in 2012/2013, and there are still plenty of YA books on my "books I'm looking forward to" list for each year. So no, I don't think YA is getting "worse" (and I definitely disagree that 2011/2012 was the "golden age of YA," bleghhh). I do think, as multiple people have pointed out, YA is currently undergoing an identity crisis and publishers don't seem to know what to do with the genre, so we're seeing a rise of middle grade to take its place.
But I do have thoughts.
I mean, basically: I personally disagree.
Everyone's taste is subjective, but speaking as a Definite Adult, I burned out on YA from about 2012-2018. That was around the time when I felt like YA was extremely derivative and same-y and I gave up on the genre in favor of adult indie romance. I honestly thought I'd aged out of YA.
Since 2019, though—which was the year more diverse YA books began to be published, not coincidentally—my love for YA was revived. Suddenly, I was seeing new, fresh narratives. I mean, it would probably be more accurate to say that my love of fantasy as a whole was rejuvenated, as I started reading fantasy in both YA and Adult; both age groups gained more diverse fantasies, and Adult gained more "crossover appeal" fantasies as some would say, though I would describe it as "more accessible, fast-paced fantasies that don't spend 100 pages on worldbuilding before the plot begins."
Regardless, I read more YA now than I did in 2012/2013, and there are still plenty of YA books on my "books I'm looking forward to" list for each year. So no, I don't think YA is getting "worse" (and I definitely disagree that 2011/2012 was the "golden age of YA," bleghhh). I do think, as multiple people have pointed out, YA is currently undergoing an identity crisis and publishers don't seem to know what to do with the genre, so we're seeing a rise of middle grade to take its place.
