The young adult book genre is gone. But whose fault is it?

YA books are a bit of a misnomer. This genre is typically directed towards 12-18 year olds, making it more of a “teen genre” than one for young adults.

Categorically and practically, this difference is the root cause of the biggest problem that plagues this ever-popular genre: adult content in books written for an audience of teenagers.

This problem can be broken into 3 issues, each of which feed into each other:

1. The range of YA novels is way too broad, so
2. some books labeled as “YA” are more enjoyed by adults; ergo,
3. adult novels are often marketed in a “childlike” way that can be mistaken for YA.

1. THE RANGE OF YA NOVELS IS WAY TOO BROAD

In an interesting post on r/Fantasy, Reddit user Scared_Ad_3132 discusses this conundrum:

“Sometimes the actual content that is defined as YA seems oddly insignificant. … I really dont [sic] know what it is that actually makes a book YA. I know some books are only YA, and 99 percent of adults would not enjoy them. But then some books are books that I think adults will enjoy potentially even more than kids, and those books are still labeled as YA.”

This confusion stems from the vast discrepancy of books stuffed into the YA genre.

On one end of the spectrum, we have Harry Potter, which is rated for children eight and up. On the other end, you’ll find Six of Crows at a 14+ rating for violence and sexuality.

Both books are labeled as “fantasy” and “young adult literature.” It’s no wonder there’s confusion in this genre.

I recall being 13 years old wandering around my favorite place: Barnes & Noble (not much has changed). At this age, I was a Hunger Games super-mega-fan, which brought me to similar yet significantly worse books such as Divergent and The Maze Runner.

In my lanky little fingers, I procured a popular book with the film poster emblazoned on the cover, boasting a shiny NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE sticker on the corner. Looks good; I recognized the actors on the movie/book cover. I’ll give it a shot.

I opened it up and immediately fell into a sexually explicit scene, laden with profanity and visceral detail. I snapped the paperback covers shut and threw it back on the shelf like it was on fire. Sure enough, it was a “young adult” book.

Where’s the line drawn?

Is the young adult genre determined by the age of the protagonist? Not necessarily; there are plenty of non-YA novels with young protagonists, such as To Kill a Mockingbird and All The Light We Cannot See.

Is it themes of adolescence that mark the genre? Perhaps, but I don’t recall “faerie sex” being part of my coming of age.

Truthfully, I don’t know where the line is drawn between YA and adult novels. Because there don’t seem to be borders on this genre, its books seem to have grown more and more NSFW, meaning more and more adults are enjoying them.

2. ADULTS ARE THE YA MARKET NOW

While researching this topic, I stumbled upon an article titled, “YA Romances Ranked by Spice Level.” I’ll just let you read the following snippets yourself.

“I like my YA romances how I like my chicken wings: SPICY!!”

“YA can definitely branch off into some not so innocent territory which means I’m here to help us keep track of which reads offer the most bang for your buck— if ya know what I mean.”

“The A Court of Thorns and Roses series is by far one of the spiciest young adult series out there. … The series debut starts off strong with the steamy scenes and only increases in heat from there.”

“Okay, I was genuinely shocked by how hot and heavy this YA contemporary set at a summer camp gets!”

Why are we talking about the “spice level” of a book that takes place at a summer camp?!

The issue is simple. It’s a porn problem.

I’ll refrain from ranting about the ins and outs and dangers and pitfalls of pornography, because this is a writing blog and I’m talking about books right now. But there’s no denying the fact that it’s a significant problem that bleeds into every form of media.

According to FHE Health, up to 42% of women and 80% of men in the United States watched pornography within the last year. That’s only referring to video content — I wonder how much higher those numbers would be if it included written content? How high would that 42%-of-women stat rise if they counted their favorite spicy YA romantasy as porn?

In seeking out information about pornography in novels, I couldn’t even find any resources. Nobody’s talking about how smut-ridden novels are sharing shelves with innocent children’s books. Shouldn’t we be talking about it?

Given these blurred lines between young adult and adult literature and the sheer volume of adults happily consuming books that are marketed as YA, what is the ultimate fallout?

3. ADULT NOVELS ARE MARKETED IN CHILDLIKE WAYS

I was initially inspired to write this article when I read this one on Substack, titled, “If Booktok was a community of men we would be calling the police.” Although I disagreed with some of the author’s points, she had some gems in there.

The thesis is simple: “Why do current booktok romance covers look like they could be sharing a shelf with Charlotte’s web if they’re filled with erotic content?“

She’s referring to Icebreaker, a novel by Hannah Grace. I spot this one every time I make my biweekly meander around Target; I see it even more frequently on my TikTok feed. It’s an undoubtedly popular novel right now, but my problem is this: why does this erotic adult novel look like a children’s book?

I don’t need to tell you that this is bad, but I think I need to tell you that it’s a bigger problem than you previously thought.

A big topic in this industry right now is AI. We have computer programs cobbling together entire stories and slapping glossy covers on top and calling it a book. These “books” aren’t good literature, but they exist.

Yes, it’s a problem. I wish people weren’t so desperate for a quick buck that they’re willing to generate “books” that are just papier-mâché disasters made of scraps from preexisting books. It’s a slap in the face to those of us who spend years of our lives writing our stories.

However.

As frustrating as it is to see an AI-generated book cover being promoted on my feed, I’m far more worried about these hypersexual, overly violent young adult novels that are actively impacting the psyches of teenagers.

I’m even more concerned about the fact that nobody else seems concerned about this situation. Who protects these kids from age-inappropriate content that book publishers and BookTokers push onto them?

“…I think the children of our country deserve this level of care and protection. I was a PRE-K teacher, I have seen and studied at length the damage early access to erotic content can cause to a developing brain. There is A REASON for that. Studies clearly show that children who are exposed to erotic content too early in life are more likely to be groomed, sexually abused and manipulated.“

– If Booktok was a community of men we would be calling the police by @itsalwaysteatime on Substack

MOVING FORWARD

Books with explicit content, be it sexual or violent, should appear more transparent in its marketing. Book covers are inherently marketing for that book; if a book has a cutesy, cartoony cover, I’m going to assume it’s not a sexy read.

Young adult novels should be more clearly defined. Whether the genre encompasses teen-friendly fiction or outright erotica, it would be consistent at the very least, so parents know what to look out for.

To take this hypothetical further, YA would ideally be for young adults ages 18-25, while creating a new genre between children’s and YA for the 12-17 audience. The new adult (NA) genre attempts to bridge this gap, but it’s still not as commonplace as the classic young adult genre. I hope that the NA genre grows in popularity and helps bring its predecessor YA back to its roots.

You could easily read this article and think I’m overly conservative, I’m a prude, I’m sheltered. Go for it; I’ve heard it all. My political and religious views aside — I don’t think I’m crazy for saying that teenagers shouldn’t be reading explicit content, and frankly, neither should adults.

The adults who gobble up these spicy YA novels are reinforcing the problem. Do you think Simon & Schuster saw the massive success of Icebreaker and decided to stop putting these cutesy art styles on their adult romance novels? Of course not. Hannah Grace has already written two sequels, and yes, all three covers match.

It’s not about restricting the freedom of adults in reading whatever content they choose. It’s about protecting children and young adults from content that is too mature for their developing brains. To do this, we need to protect the young adult genre by distinguishing it from adult genres.

At the end of the day, there isn’t a lot that I can do to resolve this problem. The best I can do is bring attention to it; you can do the same.

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below, or send me a DM on Instagram @samanthauhrig.author. This topic floats in more controversial waters than I usually dare to venture through, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you for reading.