Since finishing Three Dark Crowns, I’ve began to really think about how my reading style has and is continuing to evolve and what that really means for me. In my review for TDC, I stated the writing was somewhat juvenile for the content that was within the novel. However, considering that it’s been almost 3 months since I’ve read any type of book, I wonder if maybe, instead of TDC being too “young” for me, it’s the actual genre of Young Adult instead.
To cover my reading journey briefly, I started off with middle grade novel around the grade 4/5 mark, before moving onto adult fiction in high school. I did read a few YA novels, including Twilight, but was never fully immersed in the genre, much like I am now. In fact, before starting blogging/booktube, I never realised how expansive this genre was and just how many readers loved YA. So instead of transitioning from MG to YA and then to Adult fiction, like typical readers, I somehow found myself reading less Adult and more YA by the end of Year 12 up until now.
There is definitely nothing wrong with that. Age shouldn’t be the dictator around what genre you should be reading. I still love reading middle grade and currently my bookshelves are stacked with 80% YA novels. However, because of my commitment to this blog and the community that I’m involved in, even if it’s not as much as I hope I’d be, I’ve constantly just explored YA and in some ways have now found that I really don’t know much else. There did come a time when I felt a little embarrassed by the fact that I was only reading YA. I felt like I couldn’t say I that I was well read, considering I don’t read a lot of classics, rarely ever read non-fiction, and only know of the adult fiction authors that I’ve grown to love.
These days, I’ve started to venture back into the adult fiction realm, especially novels that have been listed for awards and such. I think the biggest reason for this is because, as I get older, my beliefs and morals are maturing. Being able to read novels that can convey ideas and values, whether I agree or disagree with them, forces me to think and leaves an impression. I want to be able to read something of value, something that I know I will remember and can share with others, instead of reading purely just to read and hit a number of ‘x’ amount of books. There are definitely YA novels out there that can deliver on this front. However, I do know that for the intended audience (albeit so many different age ranges read YA) the ideas that are explored in them, are those that I think I've come to grasp with, hence why I think that I might be outgrowing YA.
I write this post not to say that I won’t be reading YA anymore. Let’s be real now, of the 80% that’s on my shelf, I’ve read probably 60% of them. But that I’ve come to realise that my reading taste is changing and will continue to change. I want to see that change reflect in this blog, and be able to discuss and share with you guys the different reads that I've discovered. I do want to say though, that you should never feel obligated to read a genre because you think it’s what people want from you. Never feel ashamed of what you’re reading either. There is no law to dictate that you should or shouldn’t read something. Happy reading guys!
