What makes a book YA?

Recently on the Dead Famous Readalong livestream, we had a discussion about what exactly makes a book YA. And I think it’s a really interesting discussion. YA is such a prevalent genre on the bookternet, whether that’s in a positive or negative light, and it can sometimes be hard to tell if a book fits into the “Middle Grade” or “Adult” bracket rather than YA (Young Adult). Now of course there are a few more age distinctions that we could make, but I’m going to stick with the main three of MG (Middle Grade: 8-12), YA (Young Adult: 12-18), and Adult.

Even just with those categories we can see issues straight away. YA spans such a wide range of developing years. There are books in there that appeal to 12 year olds and books in there that are intended for 17 and 18 year olds! Definitely not the same demographic! But (to generalise MASSIVELY) they still have the same standard beats, same with adult books despite them spanning teenage years to retirement. So, let’s get into it!

People often wonder how books aimed at younger audiences are able to tackle such hard topics. Some think that if a book mentions traumatic events that is has to be aimed at a higher age bracket. A fantastic example, and the reason we got onto this topic in the live show, is Skulduggery Pleasant. This is a MG series. The first 6(ish) books are labled 9+, with the remaining books labelled 11+, so just squeezing into that MG bracket. When I read these at the target age, I adored them, I had no issue with the dark topics, I took them in my stride. As an adult re-reading them back, I’m surprised by how dark these books get pretty soon into the series. When looking for trigger warnings to put in my content there’s a surprisingly long list. But I remember having no issue with these as a kid! And so many other people are the same!

Hannah (from LadetteM) had such an insightful observation on this (right look, I know that sounds pretentious as shit but how would you word it?!?!) which is that the age bracket is actually determined by the character arc within the book. In middle grade books, our main character doesn’t develop a whole lot within themselves, but they learn a lot more about the world around them and how to navigate within it, for the social norms for the area you live. This means that the characters flaws and quirks will stay pretty static throughout the book/series with the world seeming to change around them.

Young adult, however? Well in those books there’s a metric shit tonne of character development! You’ll often see a character start out as having some major flaws, often ones that are associated with being childish, and have these develop and mature through the arc of the book/series. With the character appearing at the end, still with flaws, but they aren’t the same as the one’s they’ve started with. They’ve developed as a person through their interaction with the world and with other people.

When we then move onto adult books, we’re back again with not a lot of character development. The majority of adult books are set around people in the 30-40 bracket. By this point you tend to think that you’ve got this whole life thing sorted out. You think your personality, character, and flaws are pretty set and therefore that’s reflected in fiction. A lot of the time adult fiction will revolve around other people, learning how to navigate societal landscapes with those who are permanent fixtures in your life, like family, friends, and those at work. Often these books will have changes in life circumstances with a focus on how that changes the landscape of people present around you.

Now of course not all books fit neatly into these categories, and there can be other factors that can push a book into one category or another. That can include the intent of the author, they may intentionally write something that would seem as though it’s targeted towards a younger audience but actually intend for this to be within the adult category. There’s also times where this will vary from country to country. The use of swearing can impact how a country’s publishing house will categorise the book, as well as varying levels of violence altering a books position depending on the region.

Overall, however, this seems to fit! And this is definitely going to be something I try and look at when reading books from now on! Often books with a middle grade “feel” are marketed as YA and maybe thinking about it like this will explain why!

The Crow by Alison Croggon – a review

Onto the third part of my reread of the series which inspired my handle, I reread The Crow. The third book of Pellinor focuses on Hem, Maerad’s brother whom we meet in the first book. In this we learn more about his time traveling southwards as well as more about those who travel with him.

The Crow by Alison Croggon

After such heavy focus on Maerad in the first two books, this is a definitive change of pace as we explore the southern reaches of Edil-Amarandh and the deeply entrenched reaches of the dark which lie there. Hem is travelling with Saliman, another Bard we met in The Gift (or The Naming in the US) to the Bard’s home city of Turbansk in order for Hem to learn the basics of barding at the school there. Of course nothing could ever be this simple, and instead the forces of the dark come rushing in, leaving Hem in danger when they once thought that was Maerad’s role.

When I re-read these books more as a teen, this was definitely my least favourite and probably the one I re-read the least. I was not interested in Hem’s point of view for the story at all and because of that this re-read was quite different to the previous two for me. The first two books I know inside out, but this one there were so many aspects and plot points that I just couldn’t remember from whenever I last read it, probably almost a decade ago now. I went into this book anticipating to not really adore this one, but I was so surprised and this turned out to be a fast favourite! I’m not sure what’s changed between when I used to re-read these frequently and now but I absolutely adored reading from Hem’s pov. Not only does this of course add more dynamics to the world building within the book, but I also found myself deeply caring for Hem and his companions and on the edge of my seat at any tense moments. Of course out of the main characters I knew who would survive because they’re in the next book, but with the secondary characters who I suddenly cared about I had no idea if they would live or die and the suspense would kill me each time!

This one book spans so many different aspects of this story, from the basic lore of the world and the schooling and daily life, to underground communications, dealings with the dark, enslavement and love. I’m still so surprised that this is a “discovery” for me and I’m ridiculously happy I decided to do this re-read! Once again, this is essentially impossible to talk about in any real depth without spoilers but I urge you to go and check out the first book in this series (The Gift/The Naming) because the emotional impact of these young adult books is still strong with me today as an “adult”.

This is also leaving me really excited to read The Singing, the fourth and final book in the series, because that book switches between Maerad and Hem’s points of view and I have a feeling I’m going to appreciate that so much more this time than I have since I first read the series!

Exploring the Fourth Country

I went on an AB Endacott binge in a pretty short period of time! Next up is The Ruthless Land which is the first book I’ve read from Alice that isn’t set within the Second Country and that has a different narrator. Although I’m sad to be leaving Elen-ai and Gidyon behind I have loved exploring more places within this beautifully written world.

Within The Ruthless Land, set in the Fourth Country, we follow Lexana as she is sent to the Academy atop a mountain, and filled with monks, in order to learn and develop knowledge that will be useful in running her family’s business that she is the heiress to. While there she starts to connect with Jaxen, one of the teachers in the Academy. When the worst happens in regards to her family, Lexa must leave to find her family and escapes down the mountainside and begins to make her way across the Fourth Country with Jaxen’s help.

Parallels can be drawn between the Fourth Country and countries with mandated face coverings for some of the population. Unlike most countries in real life, where women are the ones made to cover themselves, the Fourth Country insists that men cover themselves, showing that men have a lower status in society here similarly to in the Second Country. This was explored in such an interesting manner by Alice and I really loved the conversations she brought up about it.

Watching Lexa and Jaxen make their way across the Fourth Country avoiding bandits and roaming gangs, as well as keeping Lexa’s identity under wraps so that those who would be hunting her don’t find and kill her, was so engrossing and I found myself speeding through this book. I was so invested in all of the characters and their relationships and the only negative I can say is that I wish I had gotten to learn more about the Academy and the monks and teachers that lived there.

The book is set after the events of the Queendom duology and I love the links that Alice made between the two, one character in particular appears in both books and I was really surprised when I came to love her in this book! I love the different viewpoints that Alice has managed to show of this person and their role in the world. This can be read completely as a standalone book set in the Godkissed Continent (the same continent as Queendom) so don’t worry about that, and I absolutely recommend picking it up, along with everything else Alice has published! She is one of my absolute favourite authors (and a lovely person to boot!).

Buy The Ruthless Land here!

Listen to some slam

This is a YA book which has been quite hyped online, and because of that I had avoided it for a while. Also because contemporary isn’t really my thing. But in the end I picked it up, in audiobook format, and damn am I glad I did.

The Poet X is a powerful book, written in poetry and the audio is narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo herself. I felt my own teenage years within this, it was so raw and powerful and relate-able. Our Afro-Latina main character has had such a different life to my white British self, with such different struggles, different goals and aims. Yet here I was, on the bus home, tears streaming down my face.

This is definitely a book where you should listen to the audio. As it’s written in verse, having Acevedo read it out to you in the way she intended is powerful and it makes Xiomara’s slam poetry feel even more intense and raw.

I one million percent recommend listening to this amazing book. I’m so glad that I randomly picked this up and I definitely need to read more from Elizabeth Acevedo in the future.

I always love Shusterman…

A book about water running dry, and you’re giving it to an often dehydrated chronic migraine sufferer with a degree in Geography? Yes please!

God this book was realistic. Creepily so. This is so close to what could actually happen if the taps ran dry, and California is an incredibly likely place for this to happen with its weather and the population density being so high.

This is a ya book, and our protagonists reflect that. We have a variety of view points, from around 13 to somewhere in the late teens (as a Brit I don’t know the US grade system so I can only approximate their ages without doing more research than I can be bothered to!) and this allows Neal and Jarrod to bounce around to different people’s priorities and how various personalities would react in this scenario.

Usually with Neal Shusterman’s writing I just fall into it and everything he writes gets 5* from me. I don’t know if it’s because he was writing with his son or if it’s just this book, but this “only” got a 4* from me. I found the middle to be a bit of a slog, and too much time was spent faffing around with “solutions” which we either already knew they were aiming for or knew they wouldn’t do. However, I still did enjoy the character development within these pages and also loved the beginning and the end of the story.

I’ve heard, on the grapevine, that this has been snapped up to be made as a movie, and I think it could do really well in this format. The slower stuff almost always has to be cut for a filmed adaptation so this should hopefully remove those parts that I was struggling through and focus on the drama and the action. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out on this one!

All in all this was actually a bit of a disappointment. Yes a 4* read was a disappointment. Because I know Neal Shusterman can make me fall in love with a world much more than he did here, and I went in expecting a 5* book and came out with an enjoyable story. But not with a new favourite.

I don’t know. I’ve not had this happen to me before so it’s a rather odd feeling. Have you ever had this experience? Let me know.

Hero at the Fall by Alwyn Hamilton

I can’t believe it’s done! I finished the series and I need to read more from Alwyn Hamilton already. (Check out my review of book one here)I ADORED the writing and the characters and the world building and just everything about this series. I had to read all three of these books slowly and take my time because I just wanted to be fully engrossed within the world.

There were some amazing moments within this book, which I won’t go into specifics about to avoid spoiling you if you’re yet to read it, however, they’re awesome and well written and fit the plot so beautifully! It reminds me of the Godkissed Continent series by A.B. Endacott (review of the first book here) which is also a gorgeous fantasy world.

The relationships developed within this story, both romantic and not, are done with so much depth and investment. I really felt as though I knew each relationship intimately and therefore felt what the characters felt deep within me. I cried quite a bit at the end of this book, bittersweetly.

One of my favourite ever trilogies, five stars to all three books obviously, and I look forward to reading literally everything Alwyn Hamilton writes that I can get my hands on!

Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit

Another WWII book, and one I’m really glad I picked up. This one is unique in that it follows a man and a girl wandering through the wilderness, avoiding the Nazis and trying to stay alive through the seasons.

Anna loses her father when he is taken by the Nazis, and at seven years old was left without anyone to help her. Until the swallow man. He happens to be around when she is sat around and takes a liking to Anna, letting her tag along with him.

This book elicited lots of different emotions from me, with some sections being incredibly sad, disturbing, and once Anna was older there were also some creepy and uncomfortable moments that I hadn’t been expecting when I started this book.

The ending of this book may seem unsatisfactory to some, as it is left very open. However, I surprisingly liked this as we are as knowledgeable as Anna is and what with our understanding of the past we can infer some of what will happen in the future.

Overall this was a very unique little book that I’m very glad I read, and I obviously gave it 5*. There are so many little nuances that I would’ve loved to mention but I didn’t want to spoil anything! So you’ll just have to go read this little gem for yourself to find out what they are 😉

Shattered by Teri Tery

This series can’t be over? Surely?

…

Nope! Teri Terry has a prequel within this world and OMG I need to read it!!!!! But this is about the third book in the Slated trilogy, so let’s get down to business. First obvious thing first, I adored this book, 5/5*, it was amazing.

We not only get the wrapping up of so many loose ends, but at the beginning of the book new ends are created, and some are created by splitting apart threads we had thought were all twisted and wrapped up.

There were so many heartbreaking moments, those which will shock you and those which make you feel warm and fuzzy. There is romance present in this book, and surprisingly for me I absolutely loved it! It took a backseat to the main plot, but was also very much present throughout the book (which I find to represent real life and is my preferred romance representation and gives me the most heart fluttering feels), as well as being slowly developed over time rather than rushed into.

This is definitely a series you should start if you haven’t already (check out my review for book one here and give it a go!) and if you’ve not gotten around to finishing up the series then I hope this pushes you towards it as I massively enjoyed it and am so excited to read more from Teri Terry in the future! I definitely need to get more of her books!!!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

It took me absolutely forever to read this one, I know I know. But at least I’ve read it now! I hadn’t been expecting to love this, to be honest, it is so hyped on the Bookternet which always makes me wary, and I had also heard a few bad things about rep and character development. However, I definitely want to continue with the series!

It wasn’t a 5* read as there were a couple of problematic aspects and I also didn’t find the writing to be the best (although given Sarah J Maas’ age when writing this I think I can give that a pass as it’s still decent!). I did personally find that there were some points where Celaena’s obliviousness grated a little, as she seemed to not notice the absolute obvious that is staring her in the face. These bits just seemed to be there to further the plot and were not interwoven well enough into the story to not stick out like a sore thumb.

On a more positive note though, I was so engaged and engrossed within this book. I couldn’t put it down and felt so personally invested in Celaena’s story and what was going on! I am definitely planning on continuing on with this series (once I find book #2 in a charity shop!) and I can see myself giving future books a 5/5* review if the writing improves and all my boxes are ticked. Super glad that I finally started this series!!

Fractured by Teri Terry

This is the second book in the Slated trilogy by Teri Terry, (check out my review of book one here) which follows a girl named Kyla after she has been through the slating process and has lost her memories.

Yes, this is the middle book in the series, but it definitely doesn’t suffer from middle-book-syndrome! This book not only keeps up the fast pace set by book one but smashed through that and ups the ante yet again, keeping you on the edge of your seat and making the book incredibly difficult to put down.

There is so much character development within this book, as well as introducing new characters and developing them well also. Kyla’s memories are becoming more clear, although still blurry, and she has a great desire to question why she was slated. Who she had been. This is done very well, and feels very realistic and it also feels that it is how a teenage girl would react to this bizarre situation.

I am incredibly invested in the relationships that have been developed throughout these two books, both those that are romantic and platonic, friendly and unfriendly. There is so much thought and attention to detail put into this book and book three can only get bigger and better! I just hope it doesn’t break my heart in the process!

Have you picked up Slated yet? Or any other books by Teri Terry? I’ve only read this series by her but I definitely need to read more from her!