Let's Discuss: My Problems with New Adult Books
1. I'm drowning in all of the sex
It's very hard to get a NA book published, mainly because it is commonly thought that it won't sell unless there is a lot of sex in it. Which, is really sad. There's a lot of potential for the NA genre, it really does have an audience that want to read about characters their own age, or that are going through the same experiences that they are. But a lot of people (including me) are tired of almost every single NA book being purely erotica. Really unrealistic erotica. Can't we just have a story about a person, who isn't horny and having sex every twenty pages? Please?
2. Not for those disgusted by the happiness of others
Something I've noticed about NA is that almost all of it is romance. I think that I have seen one NA series that isn't just contemporary romance (let's give it up for the A Court of Thorns and Roses series!). I'm not claiming to be a expert in NA, but it feels like 95% of the books are contemporary romance. Am I the only one who notices this?
3. I'm looking at you, Abbi Glines
Another thing that I noticed is that a lot of the love interests in NA are controlling and sometimes abusive. Which, is not cool! I feel that the whole "perfect guy" that is portrayed is 99% of the time a semi-abusive fuck. Let's start a partition for nicer love interests! I'd be down for that.
4. My brain has floated away, someone get a net
I've also noticed that a lot of NA plots tend to be very simplistic, usually revolving around the sex or relationship. Which, would be fine, but a lot of these characters aren't developed well. A lot of NA books end up feeling, well, meh. There wasn't anything unique about the story line, the characters weren't developed, and the only memorable thing was the sex (and I usually just remember the sheer amount that characters have sex because good god they must be in great shape).
5. Oh look, I guessed the ending again
And here's another point, all of these books feel the same after a while. All the characters, plots, everything becomes the same because a lot of NA books follow similar plot lines. Once you've read three or four NA books, you've pretty much read them all.
Come at me, bitches
Now, those are just some of the issues that I've found with NA books. But, I want you to prove me wrong. What are some of the best NA books out there? Give me some recommendations, and we'll see if you'll be able to change my mind. Do you like NA? What are your problems with it? Let's discuss...
*claps* My big thing is...why a new genre? And when does a book belong in this genre? Because I've read some books about people in their late 20s that are not considered NA. I always thought this new genre was a marketing idea, a brilliant one because look at the sales, but just that. If I'm going to write a book about people with ages between 18 and 30, then ALL books with such an MC should, by default belong in that category. I mean, we know that everything under 18 is either middle grade, YA, or kiddie lit (I do not know the name of the genre for children's lit) and everything with over 18 is in the adult category. But if this new genre exists, which hey, cool, good for them, then let's go in the past and re-categorize older books. I think it's simply an easier way to categorize somewhat explicit college romance literature, which is fine by me, but...yeah...So basically I agree with everything you said :D I also haven't read a lot of NA, mostly because I've found I'm not so interested in reading about someone who is in college without actually attending even one tiny little class...or discussing terms or papers or stuff like that...
ReplyDeleteAlso, I forgot to add: There seems to be a confusion towards what constitutes NA books. For example, you reviewed Lick by Kylie Scott a few days, as NA, however I never read that book as NA. (I do agree with some of the things you said, even though I did enjoy reading it). So while it's easy to understand what makes a book YA or adult, NA is such a confusing category, that most are confused. Because we know YA books can't be adult, adult books can't be YA, but lo and behold NA comes along and it can be anything. In my country that's called an ostricamel (the baby of an ostrich and a camel; also that's in translation lol). It makes no sense, and it confuses readers.
DeleteI agree that it's really hard to classify books as NA. Especially with books like A Court of Thorns and Roses. It is classified as both YA and Adult, so would that make it NA? I would understand more if NA was YA but with more sex, but a lot of the books are purely erotica. And I agree with the whole college thing, how are they not attending any classes??
DeleteYeah, ACOTAR is being miscategorized as YA if you ask me. Even the author described it as NA when the first book came out. I just know this: if I had had so many things going on when I was in college, I definitely would not have a diploma right now..... just sayin... LOL
DeleteOh yes, I have no clue how some of those MCs make it through college. I would have died of exhaustion, lol.
DeleteI think NA could be a really cool genre (or sub- genre, whatever) but it totally has that reputation now as oh the sexy books lol. But I mean college and early twenties is like such a crucial time- why can't they express that more or explore it? It feels like there'd be such a niche...
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see NA have the same breadth that YA does. Maybe that would be too much overlap, but we could have adventure, romance, sci fi, whatever. All with like a 20's or college aged POV. Seems like it would sell!
"Come at me bitches" lol. Nice post. :)
I do think that there would be overlap, but I think that it would be super good as well! I feel like college kids don't get noticed in literature as much as adults and young adults.
DeleteI think this is really a marketing issue. The NA category somehow got turned into purely romance (and mostly erotic romance, at that), when that wasn't the original intention. And, then, as soon as that happened, books that DIDN'T fit that mold had no place to go. I have read some books in other genres of NA (besides romance), but not many.
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I think that you just hit the nail on the head.
Deletehahahaaha Love this post and totally agree with it... I really don't want to read a ton about college sex and there are plenty of shallow plots in YA and they have super creative premises. I did read The Alchemists of Loom and The Goblins of Bellwater which seem to also be outside this NA box.
ReplyDeleteI'll check them out. :)
DeleteI’ve edited a NA book, but I’ve never actually read a published one. The one I edited had a lot of sex scenes and was very fluffy. You definitely didn’t need much brain power to get through it. If most NA books are like that, I’ll keep avoiding the genre.
ReplyDeleteYa, a lot of them are either super fluffy or super dark. I tend to prefer the dark ones. Sometimes I end up cringing and looking away, but at least there is more of a plot, lol.
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