The emotion, the rawness and that time in your life that is filled with more questions than answers. And, of course, the angst. Where else can that best be expressed but in young adult books.

I’ve been a lover of this genre for a long time – first as a teenager and then later as a young-at-heart adult wanting to revisit it all again.

Around the age of 16 I stopped reading young adult books and moved on to adult books.  As an avid reader, when I finished a book I’d always mentally give it a score out of ten. Mostly scores would be around the seven or eight mark and occasionally one would warrant a ten.

Over the years, and after reading so many books, there was one thing that I found a lot of adult books failed to capture and that was plain and simple – raw emotion.

So I fell in love with young adult books all over again – I re-read The Outsiders, discovered Marcus Zusak’s Underdog series and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Not many books are that strong that they will move me to tears but these books certainly did. And these are truly page-turners that, once the book has finished, seem to leave me in a state of exhaustion.

It seems that young adult books as a genre are not only being read for its intended market but ‘mature’ adults have discovered them as well. Eighty percent of all the young adult books that are sold are being bought by adults.

Check out these articles:

Bestselling Young Adult fiction: trends, genres and readership

Why do so many adults read young adult fiction?

You’re never too old to read young adult fiction

Young adult books have a place in my heart and my go-to when I want to experience a truly satisfying read.

Do you love to read young adult books? Are you a first time reader of this genre, always have been or, like me, rediscovered it again? Tell me what you think – I’d love to hear from you!

 

Check out my young adult contemporary romance, coming-of-age-story –

Haven River.