I consider myself a fairly assiduous reader of Young Adult, however, for a long time I have been seeing how a new category is imposed that would almost seem destined for the same audience due to the similarity in its name: new adult. Today I want to talk to you about these two literary «genres» (in quotation marks since they are not really genres) are so fashionable lately, which is each and what are their differences. Because no, they are not the same nor is it aimed at the same audience.
What is the Young Adult or YA?
There has always been youth literature, before there were fewer of these books but there was youth literature. However recently this category began to be known as Young Adult (You can find it abbreviated as YA), and even in some places they are cataloged as "Young adult", using the literal translation. Young Adult Literature It is the youth literature of a lifetime, it spans ages from 13 to 17, although we already know that the age is very subjective since each person can read what they want regardless of the audience they are oriented to. In this category we can find books of all genres, from realistic like Bajo la misma estrella, even supernatural like Twilight, going through dystopias like The Hunger Games o Divergent, to mention some of the best-known titles in Young Adult literature.
What is the New Adult or NA?
On the other hand, although the New Adult (you can find it abbreviated as NA) seems like a first cousin of the previous one, in this case the so-called New Adult is much more restricted than the previous one.
Is named New Adult to those books aimed at an audience between 18 and almost 30 years. In this type of literature contemporary stories prevail or realistic of two characters between which some kind of attraction arises. There may be other genres within this category but the truth is that everything I have found about New Adult, although it has been quite little, has the same characteristics: a boy, a girl and, which makes it aimed at an audience adult: there are usually sex scenes and a fairly pronounced drama. To make some kind of comparison, I would define it as an adult romantic novel where the characters are younger and behave as such, always carrying the drama of a troubled past, illnesses, or similar ideas. Examples of New Adult writers are Colleen Hoover and Simone Elkeles.
Thus, while the Young Adult encompasses a large number of genres, the New Adult is defined as a more restricted category since it selects even the genre to which it belongs, being aimed at a very specific audience. In my opinion, both are very different and therefore it is interesting for me to discover these new terms that are being imposed and define current literature. Besides that it is good to know the categories when selecting which books we want to read. I, for my part, if I have to choose one of these two "genres" I still stick with the Young adult, I'm not very into dramas 😉
YA and NA books
To finish I leave you a list of some Young Adult books and others of New Adult, in case this entry has made you want to delve into this type of books.
- Neal Shutterman Disconnection - Young Adult - Access the goodreads file
- Ashes of Ilsa J. Black - Young Adult - Access the goodreads file
- Vampire academy de Richelle Mead - Young Adult - Access the goodreads file
- A Kiss in Paris by Stephanie Perkins - Young Adult - Access the goodreads file
- Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl - Young Adult - Access the goodreads file
- Hopeless. Touching the Sky by Colleen Hoover - New Adult - Access the goodreads file
- Jamie McGuire's Wonderful Disaster - New Adult - Access the goodreads file
- The Match of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen - New Adult - Access the goodreads file
- Respira de Abbi Glines - New Adult - Access the goodreads file
Have you ever read Young Adult literature? And New Adultt? Did you know these categories?