What is the New Adult genre all about? Is it just YA with grown-up sex scenes? Is it more serious than YA? Just about older characters on their own (college, living on their own, first real job, etc)? Is it just a marketing scheme?
According to USA Today, New Adult is a hot new category. According to ABC News, "The demand for 'new adult' books is boosted by its mature themes. The stories often involve lovers finding their way in a complex world. They are a bit like the old Harlequin romances set in modern times, with younger characters, many of whom are in college, coming of age and often exploring their sexuality. Not Pulp Fiction. Think Smut Fiction."
According to Lauren Sarner at the Huffington Post: "A New Adult book is basically a Young Adult book with sex and cursing thrown in. A typical plotline features two brooding, damaged souls with damaged pasts (typical examples include characters whose entire families have tragically died, characters who have grown up in abusive homes, characters suffering from manic depression or panic attacks) who meet, sparks fly, and drama ensues. The books are often titled something like 'Damaged' or 'Broken' or 'Smashed with a Sledgehammer' (I may have made that last one up, but I'm sure it exists somewhere)."
She further argues, "New Adult is a label that is condescending to readers and authors alike. It implies that the books act as training wheels between Young Adult and Adult. For the New Adult books that are particularly childish, the label implies that they are a step above Young Adult--which is insulting to the Young Adult books that are far superior. For the New Adult books that are particularly sophisticated, the label implies that they are not worthy of being considered 'adult.' It's a lose-lose situation for everyone." I thought this was an interesting perspective.
When I was reading up about this, I was struck by all of the books that were self-published and then became a huge success, like Colleen Hoover's Slammed (which was written in a month, by the way), Jamie McGuire's Beautiful Disaster, and Cora Carmack's Losing It (which was written in three weeks). To be honest, I actually didn't think Slammed was considered New Adult until I was reading about this genre. Any thoughts on the self-publishing?
I thought I would read some just to see what all the fuss was about and I do love novels set in college and a lot of them have that setting. Here's what I've read lately:
Losing It by Cora CarmackFaking It by Cora Carmack
Easy by Tammara Webber
Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
This Love by Nazarea Andrews
Slammed by Colleen Hoover
Left Drowning by Jessica Park
Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker
One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker
The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay (not entirely sure this is NA)
Unteachable by Leah Raeder
Wait for You by J. Lynn
Frigid by J. Lynn
Apollo Academy by Kimberly P. Chase
A Little Too Far by Lisa Desrochers
Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
Isn't She Lovely by Lauren Layne
In This Moment by Autumn Doughton
I actually enjoyed all of these, to be honest. Obviously some of them were better than others. Out of those listed above, I would say Easy, Unteachable, Ten Tiny Breaths, One Tiny Lie, Left Drowning, Losing It, The Sea of Tranquility (best last line ever), Beautiful Disaster, and Isn't She Lovely were my favorites. Isn't She Lovely is the lightest one, more like Lola and the Boy Next Door. With the exception of Apollo Academy, which is completely different, most of these books do seem to fit the damaged characters (either just one of them or both of them) falling in love and helping each other to heal scenario. Some are quite heartbreaking. I do like that I know exactly what I'm getting so if I'm in the mood for that, it works. But does it seem like NA is more a specific type of story rather than a general category?
What do you think about this new genre? Do we actually need it? Should these books just be "adult" books? Or young adult with recommended ages of 16? Have you read any New Adult? Thoughts? Recommendations?
Posted by: Pam
I don't mind the NA genre. It's good to know for reference that it's NA not YA so I don't accidentally pick it up if there is mature content.
ReplyDeleteLovely post, Pam! <33
The NA category definitely gives you the heads up on the mature content aspect of it, so you're right, it's helpful in that way. ~Pam
DeleteI like the distinction between YA and NA. When I first learned about it, I gobbled up a bunch of NA books. But after awhile, they all started to be EXACTLY.THE.SAME. so I've gotten kind of bored of it.
ReplyDeleteThere ARE some great ones (ANYthing by Colleen Hoover for instance) and I know there is potential, but right now, I just stick to the authors I know are good. Once the genre has some time to grow and the authors start finding their own voice within NA, I think it will be great.
I've read a few based on reviews and recommendations and those have been better than some of the others. But yes, the stories are the same, for the most part. I think it's so new that it may just take awhile for there to be different types of stories within this genre. But I do love the ones set in college and sometimes the ones with the forbidden student/teacher relationship are well done. ~Pam
DeleteI haven't read too much NA yet because I hear things like "it's all about sex" and that it's all pretty much the same story. But I have a bunch on my Kindle because I am finding that a lot of them go on crazy sale for Kindle so I guess I'll be diving into the genre soon. I did read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell which is NA and absolutely loved it so maybe I should give the genre more of a chance.
ReplyDeleteI'll be curious what you think once you've read more. I may be wrong, but I think Fangirl was marketed as YA, but it definitely fits NA since it's set in college. That's what's so confusing to me about this genre, is that some books that seem to fit are marketed as YA or even adult, and then others as NA. ~Pam
DeleteI have to admit, I'm kind of... confused about this genre. As you said in your post, it is positioned in such a way as to be a sort of bridge between YA and adult fiction, but there are many facets to those two genres, whereas this NA genre seems to be a lot of the same.
ReplyDeleteYeah, so far most of the stories are the same type of story. I read almost 20 of them and for the most part, same basic plot. ~Pam
DeleteUgh.
ReplyDeleteNew Adult could be great. It's a niche I'd been wishing for before the term even emerged. But this is not what I wanted. YA fiction and adult fiction are broad categories that cover tons of genres. NA, in contrast, seems to be a sub-category of romance. And the romance is not the part I care about.
Amusingly, the couple books I've read recently that fall into "my" version of New Adult (Someday Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham and Attachments by Rainbow Rowell), books that feature young 20-somethings finding their place in the world, and yes there is SOME romance but the book doesn't feel like a romance novel...
These books? I've never heard either of them referred to as New Adult.
Yeah, those books were definitely marketed as "adult" books, but they could easily be considered NA. And you're right, the current NA books are mainly romance novels (with a few exceptions). But even more than that, they seem to be a specific type of romance novel. Only one that I read was light, the other ones were very dramatic, with "damaged" characters. It's interesting that that's what the genre currently is and whether it stays that way or grows. Some of these books have been phenomenally successful, so you would think that marketing a book as NA may actually help. ~Pam
DeleteMy understanding of NA was that it was somewhere in between YA and A... not just YA with sex thrown in (some YA has sex, anyway). YA would be a story that takes place in high school; NA would be a story that takes place after high school; A would be a story that takes place after getting established in the world (marriage, kids, stable career, etc.). Of course, there is some overlap, but I think the categories can be fairly distinct. I don't think it's just a marketing ploy; there didn't seem to be a lot out there in the NA category until recently, and what was there would've been lumped in with the A books.
ReplyDeleteIf you think about it, though, NA is kind of a good category to have. There's a big difference between reading about a 21-year-old college student's sexual exploits with her professor and reading about a 41-year-old mother of two who has an affair with her student... even though that could be the same overall story. It's the point of view that makes it NA or A or YA.
That's just my take on it, anyway.
I do see your point and you're right, some YA does have the characters having sex, although none are as explicit as some of the NA I have read. And most of the NA are older characters than YA (although there are always exceptions, some of the characters in NA are still in high school).
DeleteI agree with you that NA is a good category to have, but I do hope it expands to include other types of stories. Fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian, etc. would be fun. ~Pam
Thought-provoking post. I don't have much experience reading NA. The few NA books I've read have all been by accident I think. But I did enjoy Left Drowning and I've been wanting to read quite a few books on your list. I guess i've been subconsciously staying away from NA even though I have no reason to. I think of NA as YA romance with adult sex. And the word "romance" to describe a book scares me away even though I love contemporary books and there's almost always romance in them. I guess I should read a bit more in the genre and stop being weird.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Left Drowning too, it was one I listed as one of my favorites. I stayed away from NA too, but then I was curious about it and just started reading some (I had heard so much about Beautiful Disaster and Hopeless). And I love college novels, and a lot of these are set on a college campus, so that appealed to me. If you read enough of them, they do start to get old since it's the same basic story, for the most part. ~Pam
DeleteGreat minds think alike! I'm glad you made a post about this too. I'll have to check out your list of NA books. I do really hope to see more variety in the genre because it definitely has potential. There is a pretty large market for woman who like YA elements but want something more mature.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think there's a market for it, but yes, right now it seems to be the same story. Hope to see more variety in the future too. ~Pam
DeleteI haven't read any NA because I'm terrified of all the sex. I'm not a prude, but I've heard it's almost as if some of these novels are written just so there can be those scenes. Also, maybe the first few books in the genre might be interesting, but there would be a point when they would become repetitive. I'll keep my distance from them for now. But great discussion!
ReplyDeleteA lot of the books are pretty explicit when it comes to the sex scenes, but some aren't. And yes, after reading a good number of these, there was definitely a pattern to them, but it's nice to read one of these types every now and then. ~Pam
DeleteMy issue with NA is exactly that it seems like more of a specific kind of story than a category. I was hoping it would include more books like The Infinite Moment of Us or Anatomy of a Boyfriend, books about characters older than high school but not quite adults- NA seems like it's comprised of steamy romances with younger protagonists.
ReplyDeleteI agree, definitely seems to be more of a specific type of story. Hopefully that will change in the future! ~Pam
DeleteSo, slowly but surely, I am coming back to the blogosphere and have to start catching up from a long time ago. (AKA why I'll be commenting on various posts from Nov. to April).
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to know how your thoughts have changed since this post. It sort of seems like the obsession with New Adult has died down, and a few authors have emerged on top, their titles still consistently hitting the bestseller lists (but now you no longer see as raving of posts? Or maybe that's just me and my disinterest with NA...).
"They are a bit like the old Harlequin romances set in modern times, with younger characters, many of whom are in college, coming of age and often exploring their sexuality." -- I can agree with this because have you seen some of the anthologies? They remind me very much of the way old Harlequin romance authors got together for the '12 NAs of Christmas' or whatever titles people chose.
"A New Adult book is basically a Young Adult book with sex and cursing thrown in. A typical plotline features two brooding, damaged souls with damaged pasts ...The books are often titled something like 'Damaged' or 'Broken' or 'Smashed with a Sledgehammer' ..." -- Lol, this writer really doesn't like NA, but it's true that NA does have a lot cliche story lines like that. A lot of the titles I've seen reviewed have essentially been like this and as someone who compiles covers weekly, I see a LOT of NA titles that are like the example above.
"It implies that the books act as training wheels between Young Adult and Adult. For the New Adult books that are particularly childish, the label implies that they are a step above Young Adult--which is insulting to the Young Adult books that are far superior. For the New Adult books that are particularly sophisticated, the label implies that they are not worthy of being considered 'adult.' It's a lose-lose situation for everyone." --- 100% agree with this perspective. I liked New Adult as a label when it first was out in the sense of it offering an easy way to identify books set in college (as the genre, I'd hoped, would be mostly about), but the more frequently it got used... well it's also just confusing! unless you capitalize New, then you will get a bunch of books mixed up.
RE: self-publishing... I'm looking forward to NA dying down a little because a lot of it still seems self-published and I've read only a few self-published novels that I've actually liked. Also because I still don't know how to reconcile self-pub and its inclusion in cover reveal round-ups and the like. Also because those writing times - only weeks for a book - actually, legitimately concern me. I'm a bit of a literary snob, I know o.o.
"I thought I would read some just to see what all the fuss was about and I do love novels set in college and a lot of them have that setting." -- Me too! I just want more college-set stories and less of them focused on the romance aspect, as most NA stories seem. Something much less literary than Lev Grossman's the Magicians but less romance oriented than NA is now.
ReplyDelete"I would say Easy, Unteachable, Ten Tiny Breaths, One Tiny Lie, Left Drowning, Losing It, The Sea of Tranquility (best last line ever), Beautiful Disaster, and Isn't She Lovely were my favorites. " -- TSoT, Unteachable, and Easy are definitely among the better written ones too. Losing It was fun too. Glad to see you've enjoyed your experimentation with the genre!
"I do like that I know exactly what I'm getting so if I'm in the mood for that, it works. But does it seem like NA is more a specific type of story rather than a general category?" -- Yes. To both things. Specific story, not category, and you do know what you're getting. Except there are some where the guys are less alpha oriented (bc it seems like a lot of NA also has that going on too)... Also, The Bone Season was advertised at BEA 2013 as being NA fantasy, which is just weird. NA is more of a specific genre/story type, now. When it's applied to non-contemps, I don't know that that label actually works.
^-- Sorry... I went over the character limit for comments o.o.