raybearer and thoughts on YA, NA and romance

[@welldonebooks]

Raybearer is the best! So happy you loved it. I thought it was so impressive how she was able to complete this story in just 2 books and with each book being a reasonable size. It's not bloated, but it's also not lacking for me. Just a really solid heartfelt story that felt complete.

[@myvluv]

Raybearer is always my answer when the "what book do you accept no criticism on?" Comes up. I loved it so so much.

[@ladyemberash]

Raybearer honestly should've been a trilogy and not a duology. And the author even put in her notes that she was rushed and it honestly shows in Redemptor. I loved the duology but it is definitely a story that deserved and needed to be a trilogy. Book 2 needed to be more fleshed out.

[@greenonionbabey]

I love that you point out the lack of distinction in the "new adult" category. I'm in my early 20s and pretty much fully jumped straight from YA to adult books once I was in college, and barely pick up YA at all unless it's to re-read a high school favorite. I avoid books billed new adult specifically because they feel like YA to me, with all the same story stuctures and thematic focuses, but the characters are 18+ so they're allowed to do ~adult things~ (which lbr a lot of YA protagonists have been doing anyway). I don't feel like most new adult books that I see get really big speak to me and what I'm actually going through at this phase of my life, especially post college. Everything that speaks directly to my experience is just "adult fiction" but with younger characters. I think being in your early 20s is a compelling time to set a story, and a lot of people do it successfully, to a point I question why new adult even exists as a category. If it's just going to be "YA but aged up slightly" we need to call a spade a spade lol

[@jostinaluver]

That's my issue with NA too. Unlike MG vs YA vs Adult it has no distinct writing style. It's writing style is YA but with more explicit sex or more explicit violence. And reducing it to college aged books is weird when not everybody goes to college. And from the business perspective I can't see publishers putting money into an entirely new category for college students when they read for fun the least out of other groups because they're so busy with school.

[@lawliet6910]

I’m a millennial and had a similar experience with YA becoming big when I had already moved into adulthood. I now pretty much just read adult, in part because I like challenging myself with prose, in part because of the themes. I mostly find what I’m going to read by hitting randomize on the Libby app with filters of general content and pick whatever feels interesting!

[@BookChats]

This is such an interesting discovery method! What do you think your success rate is?

[@andiman44]

I’m so glad you like Raybearer. The sequel disappointed a lot of people, for understandable reasons but I overall really enjoyed this duology and it remains one of my favorites.

[@HungryEyes-sl3mu]

Golden Age Millenial here, and I leaped straight from middle grade books like The Giver, Dealing with Dragons, and the Redwall series directly into adult fantasy. But by college I was burnt out on middle aged white men writing white guys in medieval England and ended up picking up a number of YA books, I really appreciated the diversity of the characters, locations, lore, which is why I still read it, and hope to publish my own YA novel. Currently I'm reading Dragonfruit, another dragon girlie book, but Raybearer is on my TBR.

[@caitcoy]

It is really interesting to see more discourse on the divisions between YA, New Adult and Adult. Definitely agree that New Adult feels less defined and more just aged up YA. As a millennial, I had kind of a trajectory where I still read and enjoyed YA into my twenties but the further I get into my thirties, the crankier and less connected I feel to the younger characters and the tropes that you tend to see more often there. Glad you enjoyed Raybearer, your thoughts definitely make me want to get to it faster.

[@heysara910]

So true about there not being much of an actual YA category when I aged out of children’s books. I remember reading Jurassic Park and The Bodyguard (lol) the summer I was 10. Read the only YA I knew of, which was VC Andrews (do not recommend!) and moved on to….Stephen King?? I don’t know what happened there but I’m glad there are more books targeted to the YA age group. Now we just need a clear split between YA and NA.

[@julibaro575]

When I was a teenager, I was reading adult books. I'm from Argentina, and here the YA boom came later, when the popular books were translated from English. I only discovered YA when I was around 17/18, and I read half YA/half adult for a few years even though the characters were often younger or more immature than myself because it was great to see parts of young me represented, for instance queer kids and teens. Now in my 20s I don't reach for those books anymore (though I occasionally read some), but I'm truly happy that they exist for young readers!

[@samileeable]

I found your channel, a few days ago. I needed to hear someone rant about fourth wing ( 😂😂 still healing from that) and i saw you rated this book 4.5 stars and had to check it out. I don’t read YA or fantasy (i usually read contemporary) and oh i LOVED this. It was fresh and interesting. The characters that were well fleshed out were multi dimensional (hello, the Lady!) I found the world building so vibrant. The time jump was also great for me as i had no interest in reading pages and pages of kids hanging out lol. I didn’t quite like that the the countries in the story matched actual discernible countries/cultures. The names were a bit jarring to me but hearing you describe YA being written to be easily understood, i can respect that. Thanks for the recommendation!

[@dochaluvr]

i love the way you articulate your thoughts

[@andrewfallman7542]

I loved Raybearer. I understand your wanting to explore more adult books and themes. YA books don't always land for me because of that age disconnect. I'm excited for you to read seraphina too!

[@amyg8176]

So much of what’s popular now feels like it should be considered new adult now. The SJM and the Rebecca Yarros and the Olivie Blake- it’s written as if it’s for teens, but they throw in sex so it has to be marketed for adults. The writing itself is not adult, the characters aren’t adult, their logic and motivations aren’t adult, and it’s so frustrating to read something that’s supposed to be for me with characters who are allegedly in their 20s but act like they’re 16. I’m over it!!!

[@laurencole8161]

I'm glad you loved Raybearer as much as I did! I also thought the time skips weakened the relationship development a bit, and that was my only major gripe about the book--my favorite parts of platonic character relationships are the beginning phases where they're slowly feeling each other out as a potential friend and learning how to care for each other well, so I missed seeing that in Raybearer. And I loved Seraphina so much when I was younger! It's still in my top five. I actually felt Seraphina was a bit similar to Anequs in how they both know who they are but are learning how to take up space and show the world who they are. I'm excited to hear your thoughts!

[@fuguefire1886]

Raybearer was my favorite book of 2023, the biggest crime is that it was only a duology!! I'm excited for The Maid and the Crocodile, which comes out this year and is set in the same world.

[@shoconutdank]

your laugh is so contagious😂💖 subscribed yesterday and have been binging your content, so really appreciate the upload today!!

[@Sharleen91]

I'm SO excited to hear your thoughts on Seraphina. It was one of my favorites in my early twenties (another millennial who loved YA in her twenties here)!

[@Sootielove]

This is one of my sister's favourite books! She's absolutely obsessed with it and I'm glad so many other people like it!

[@noonlemur]

can't wait to read this!! the feeling you described near the end of reading a young adult book actually written for young adults sounds like the feeling i get when i go back and read young adult books from the time when i was part of that age group (i'm 31....and always try to avoid having a "back in my day" moment when talking about YA books but here we are) also can't wait to hear your thoughts on Seraphina!

[@bentheoverlord]

I read this for the first time recently after DNFing it at like 30 pages a few years back (just wasnt feeling it) and I am so happy with how much I loved it this time around. Had such a blast with it, and I loved the dynamic between the friends but also I liked the way they handled her having to lie to people. Also her mother was such an excellent antagonist.

[@mynameismarines]

SUCH a good antagonist. Just the type that gets more complex the more you learn. And they are still very clearly wrong, but there is some level of empathy for them as well.

[@bentheoverlord]

@@mynameismarines Totally agree, there was many a point I went “oh I can see you point”. I also do like that she was very 3 dimensional while allowing this sorta menacing camp and extravagance to also be at the forefront. It was so well balanced, and I’m interested to see where book 2 goes.

[@applebonker141]

Yes, 💯 about the New Adult thing. Granted my experience with a lot of YA/NA comes from Booktubers but I feel very strongly that there should be a much clearer delineation between YA and NA because I end up thinking about the well meaning but misinformed adult parent or relative accidentally buying a book for the teen in their life and not realizing its full of smut or generally not age appropriate or even the librarian/bookstore employee just not knowing where to shelve it. My experience as a teen in the middle 2000s (iirc i was a sophmore when "Twilight" came out) was just jumping right into adult fiction because there just was not very much in the way of YA fiction like there is now. There were a couple stray contemporary YA books i remember liking and reading but i was also just reading a lot in general so yeah

[@feedthewriter]

37 and I remember reading a lot of adult books in my teens, YA in my twenties, and now in my thirties adult makes up the bulk of my reading, but with the occasional gem of a YA. NA has thus far hasn't worked for me at all either, and I don't know if it's because I find 18-22 to be the cringiest state of the human lifecycle, or if it's because they're written in a way that rubs me wrong.

[@vicenterosa25]

I read a bit of YA before aging out of that category (I'm in my early 30s), and nowadays I mostly read it if it's from Indigenous voices, to support local authors, but mainly the queer stories I didn't get to read when I was a kid. I wish I had these many characters to better understand myself 15+ years ago!

[@TimeTravelReads]

I'm sort of a middle millennial. There was a dad who started a book club for friends of his children. I will be forever grateful to him. Anyway, we read a mixture of middle grade books and adult classics.

[@PirateQueen1720]

Hmm. So, elder millennial here. The YA section was pretty small when I was a teen, I had been reading some adult books already, and the preponderance of romance and contemporary settings didn't appeal, so I skipped it. Now, I've sampled more YA because there is so much more diverse fantasy, and I want to like it - and sometimes do - but...I think I still don't like angsty teen romance any more than I did as a teen! YA with horror themes, though - that works for me! I think maybe it's because the fears of adolescence turned into monsters feels more relatable than "I would die for you!" drama with 17 year olds. My inner mom is like: "Damn it! Go to your room! You've got an exam tomorrow!"

[@PistachioGold]

We're not even over the minute mark and fhat infectious Marines laughter is here ❤❤❤ I've never heard of this book before so I'm happy to hear your insights.

[@rachael4408]

I am a millennial, and I jumped straight from middle grade to adult. I can't remember any stand-out YA books from when I was in HS outside of the Harry Potter series and Twilight having its moment. I have jealousy toward today's youth who are in the YA reading category right now because there are so many books I think would have deeply spoken to me at that age.

[@Merdragoon]

I'm one of the more "older" Milleniel, So I experienced both the "YA" being closer to Middle Grade and the pushing the YA to Adult audiance. I also was around when people kept calling YA into an Genre and not a *catagory* like it's suppose to be. That had been a hard thing to rid the confusion on. I grew up with Blue Sword, the Enchanted Forest Chroncials, and then I just skipped into adult books came high school and College such as The Last Herald mage Trilogy and Crystal Singers. There were a few Young adult books that I remember enjoying written earlier. The Harper Hall Trilogy by Anne McCaffery is pretty much in a similar range of YA. And I read it around the time I was that age. I never got to read A Wizard of Earthsea and His Dark Materials. Rectifying that myself. Also.... For the longest time I was trying to find one of the books you have on your wheel and I think I finally found it. Cold Magic. I remember seeing the cover years ago, though I think they changed the summery to move away from the heavy romance vibes and into the fantasy more so and I couldn't find it after I moved away from it and forgot to save it. Holy moly I didn't think that would happen! I had just about given up until I saw your wheel having that title. I think I found it around the same time too that it was published.

[@cloudymondays]

I remember being really confused when I first started hearing YA/Young Adult because when I was growing up, my local libraries didn't use that term. They used "teen". Since I was reliant on my libraries to get books, I thought the term was universal across all libraries. So when YA books really started coming to the forefront of all things books, I thought Young Adult was exactly what it says: books for young adults. In my brain, that meant anyone between the ages of 19-29 which is essentially the first decade of adulthood, making it YOUNG. *ADULT*. But that wasn't the case when I finally started getting involved in online book communities and realized that these Young Adult books were really just teen books. I personally think if "Teen" had continued to be used to refer to books for teens, and "Young Adult" was used for actual young adults, we wouldn't even need the term "New Adult". It also sucks that New Adult has practically become synonymous with "young adult, but age the characters up a little and make it spicy". It's all just...strange to me.

[@ranniazorya]

This is a super thoughtful review and I don’t wanna sound like a boomer but I feel like they’re rare to find in video format because it’s mostly ‘book has these traits so if you’re looking for them, pick this up’. I also liked your comment about delivering the information when it’s needed and when a character would receive it so we’re in the moment with them, instead of a massive dump clearly intended for a reader and not a character.

[@hedgers2005]

A few years shy of 40 here and I remember going from books like Redwall, Marguerite Henry (horse girl 😂), and Nancy Drew in early middle school to GoT, Discworld, Pern, and MZB by late middle school. I finished the first 3 GoT books before ever cracking a HP book. I read more YA in my early 20s because there were a lot of cool premises but fell off because I got tired of reading about children. I still have YA series that I enjoy and will go back to but I don't generally pick up new YA anymore.

[@HuckleberryCyn]

When I was a teenager, I went from Dear America and Boxcar Children straight into Anne Rice and Michael Crichton. I was in my early twenties during the big YA boom and I felt like, at the time, YA was doing really interesting things. I got older and the complaints I started having about YA were easily solved by going back to the adult section. The thing that always bothered me during the great “YA breakup” was how resistant people were to look for adult books they might have liked better. Like, I did was I always done- wander around the adult section until something stuck out. The vilification of adult books was so odd.

[@SlumberUnicorns]

As a millennial/gen Z cusp (zillenial, if you will), I was in late elementary school - end of middle school during the YA boom and definitely fell in love with the age category, not to mention they were incredibly formative to my reading tastes. I kept reading YA (and still do today), but there was definitely a start of a shift in college. Outside of worlds I was already deeply invested in from middle school (ex. Shadowhuntwrs, Percy Jackson) I could feel myself growing a little distanced from YA as I got older, especially contemporary YA; high fantasy was the easiest to still delve into as it felt more accessible than adult fantasy. I also started reading more YA to adult “bridge” books in college, like Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and RWRB, and Saga for graphic novels. It was until I finished college that I started to actively look for adult books. Now (26) I read I would say a pretty even split of YA and adult books, with YA being almost exclusively fantasy books because I still find them more accessible/ enjoyable than adult fantasy 😅. But we’ll see how my reading tastes change!

[@andrewannotates]

I just read this a few weeks ago and I read it for the 2nd time. I enjoyed it so much more on reread! I agree I think the world building is definitely the strong suit of the novel and I loved Tarasai the whole book but the other characters aren’t completely fleshed out as much as I would have liked.

[@AlexanderJWF]

I'm almost 30 and still reading some YA & NA. And I hope to continue as long as I love. Just like comic books, cartoons, and silly puns - the moment I no longer find at least some enjoyment out of them - lock me up & through away the key!

[@kleintjeemmeke4369]

Oh I’m so glad you liked raybearer, it was an absolute joy

[@saraanderson9172]

I loved this book, too! I am in my 30s and didn't read much YA as a teen. I never ended up really reading a ton, but did definitely want to catch up with some of the highlights in my 20s and now just read the ones that really call to me

[@queenlexy7446]

I'm a lot younger (22) and I did read YA stuff as a teen (Hunger Games, Shadowhunters, Divergent etc.) and did enjoy it back then but now I feel like I've grown out of it. It was always hard for me to relate to YA protagonists because I was an autistic, asexual girl from a 3000 people village with no friends so I was missing out on a lot of the experiences anyway (first loves, growing into different directions then your friends, wanting to be popular, going to parties, drinking alcohol etc) but back then I would still crave those experiences so reading about them was the next best thing. Now though I work full time, live with my boyfriend 300km away from my family and would consider myself a full on adult so I now can neither relate to YA stories because I didnt have those experiences nor crave them anymore. Of course I still enjoy some YA books but there has to be something that peaks my interest beside those experiences most people have in their teens. An example would be Aiden Thomas' books. I really enjoyed the sunbearer trials because the world building and whole concept was really fun and interesting but cemetery boys really didnt click for me because I'm just not interested in reading about awkward first loves and having trouble with your family accepting your gender identity/sexuality and there wasn't much else going on in that book in my opinion. I'd say my split is now 90% adult to 10% YA in my reading.

[@edamamame4U]

I'm an asexual woman myself and I thoroughly enjoyed Raybearer as I thought that it tackled a lot of tough themes from loyalty and colonialism to fate and self-discovery. Plus, there's actual positive asexual representation in a character that is kindhearted, noble, and empathetic. I gravitate more toward adult literature, however, there are some wonderfully written YA books that delve into very mature topics.

[@industrialsunflower]

I'm Gen Z, and I used to read tons of YA when I was in middle school and high school. I think the oversaturation came way earlier for me because of that, by 17-18 I stopped reading books for a long time (I fell more for playing videogames, reading manga, comics, anime, etc). Only a year ago I started getting back into books, but directly with adult fantasy and sci-fi. Ngl I kind of miss that time of my life where I could read tons of books without caring too much if it was good or not.

[@Nagchampa765]

This top and color is sooo cute on you

[@exomake_mehorololo]

I read middle grade all the time... I also enjoy children's classics. I just want a book that is well (enough) written, has a plot without holes, characters with believable/well defined personalities and sufficient brain cells and doesn't read like a checklist of tropes. I do stumble across too many hyped books that have neither 👀 otherwise don't care about who the audience is supposed to be

[@igixri]

I like when you're "chatty" on this channel, I think your opinions are always very insightful and interesting!! And yeah I'm older gen z so I was reading a lot when the YA boom happened, imo I think it really did saturate the market with tropey books that didn't have the same level of craft and care that the YA genre pioneers (like hunger games, chaos walking, etc) had. But I still think it's interesting to read YA as an adult, especially because now there are WAY more LGBT and nonwhite protagonist YA books getting published/popular which is super exciting!! I read The Spirit Bares its Teeth recently and I thought it was just OK (lol), but it won a lot of goodwill with me for having a trans protagonist, which is something I don't remember ever being centered in books I read as a kid but I would've loved if it had been. Thx for another great vid!

[@MT-fe8ke]

I just finished it after your review and for me it’s a solid 3 stars, I would say that I agree a bit too much with your assessment that the character interactions were more memorable then the the characters themselves. I too loved the idea of the raybbarear thematically and conceptually and commend the author for that. But I also sort of resent that barely any of the council mates are meaningfully charismatic enough or developed enough to care about. The interactions between any but the main three or four ones were arbitrary at best lol I would say that although it was good enough to finish, it read more like an incredibly polished first draft. I couldn’t shake how off the show:tell ratio felt and how stilted the dialogue was though I imagine if I was a teenager I would have enjoyed this enough to be a four or five stars. As an adult it’s passable if not a tad too simplistic/tropey though there’s nothing wrong with that. Can’t wait to read more from the author and Afro-fantasy in general.

[@edamamame4U]

As a biromantic asexual woman, Raybearer means a lot to me. It was the first time a saw a positive depiction of an asexual person in prince Dayo who was truly noble, kind-hearted, empathetic and not infantilized or looked down upon. I am a grown millennial, but thought the book was beautifully written and the themes of fate, loyalty, self-discovery, and justice truly resonated with me. The book tackled heavier themes in a way that I thought would resonates with both older teens AND adults. I enjoyed Tarisai as a flawed protagonist who struggles to break free of what she believes is a cursed fate to develop into a noble ruler. I'm going to start Redemptor now-- I understand that some people say is a bit rushed, but I'm hoping to still enjoy it.

[@phoebeburnham3739]

i love this channel :) thank you for doing what you do

[@unviincible]

I'm on the fringes of being a millennial (95) and was just the right age for early YA stuff in grade 8 and through HS, like the hunger games. I don't read much YA now but I have that same appreciation for when it's done well. it's almost like I can fall back on it when I've got brain fog or burnout. I prefer contemporary/thriller/horror YA; I've gotten annoyed at the YA fantasy I've tried to read, but I think that's just cuz I haven't found the right one yet. thank you for your insight!!

[@desireemclaughlin1455]

I’m an elder millennial and I had a very similar experience with reading YA. I remember reading a book (I think it was Illuminae?) and really wanting to know what other people were thinking about it, which is when I discovered that Booktube was a thing. So of course, with a huge percentage of content being about YA, I read a lot of YA the next few years, even though I was already in my 30s. I’ll still occasionally pick up YA, primarily fantasy, or sometimes historical fiction or thriller, but I don’t think it was a conscious decision to start moving into adult fiction and away from YA. Actually, it’s kind of neat because now my son is in the actual YA age range so I have all these books that he can pick up if and when he’s interested. Fantastic discussion, as always 😁

[@mrscarstairs]

I’m elder gen z, so I was the prime audience when then YA boom occurred. I was all for reading YA from like middle school to the first half of HS. There were many contributing factors to my fall off of reading, but part of it was that the books were stale. Lots of dystopian types with little diversity. I didn’t want to read that anymore. I was very tired of reading about these white girls, even though I’m half white myself! I was mostly limited to my library’s YA section, so maybe it was lacking. I read very little from that point to the pandemic ,~5 years, but during that time, I read mostly adult books with a few YA. I almost always read books with a non-white protagonist/author, which an issue to me with YA. Once I got back into reading, I sort of played catch up with the YA releases I missed that interested me. However, as time when on, YA has really fallen off for me. I guess from my POV, it’s very rare that YA will give me something an adult book won’t. I still read the YA but I’m rarely blown away by them.

[@booksvsmovies]

O think we're around the exact same age and have very similar experiences with YA. I started reading more and more adult books around the latter years of high school because a lot of YA was just boring. As a fantasy reader I craved more detailed and in depth worldbuilding and it seemed like only ault fantasy really did that.

[@Kristenisfullybookd]

I JUST filmed a video recommending YA for adult readers and included raybearer!

[@willadont]

really loved Raybearer! it was well-written and the world building and characters were so engaging and unique. however, i kinda felt let down by the sequel. really wished the publisher gave Jordan Ifueko a three-book deal instead of a duology. Redemptor seemed so rushed and i was dying inside coz i knew with three solid books, it would've been such a great series hands down

[@philisiwenzimande1343]

I've had this book for a while, still haven't gotten to reading it. Thank you for the review.

[@pauieeepau]

I'm a millenial, and the YA during my time was not diverse enough, so I feel drawn to a lot of YA these days. Plus, I don't have the attention span for adult books like I used to. I was reading classics at 14-18 but my brain can't handle it anymore. Some of the NA or adult books I read recently read like YA anyway. So may as well read YA.

[@kitty4407]

There wasn’t a YA category when I was a kid. It was all children’s. I found Abhorsen and His Dark Materials in the children’s section at borders. I was older when YA came to be official but it didn’t mean I wasn’t reading “YA”. But yeah I started bouncing around heavily to adult works. In 4th grade I suddenly switched to reading Moby Dick, 20k Leagues Under the Sea, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Huck Finn. Then 5th grade I went back to HP and children’s reading. About year later I started exploring Abhorsen and HDM, but quickly bounced between anything like those and Tolkien and Stephen King. And enjoying a lot of the required reading like Fahrenheit 451. I still read Middle Grade, I have a harder time with YA (though a lot of MG is a bit of a slog in more recent years with those bloated page counts). Raybearer was one I felt did YA so well. More like the “YA” I grew up on and enjoyed again in my early 20s. The pace, world building, quality, editing, character development more like what I knew and loved. There was inner turmoil and relationship drama consistent with young adults but not 100 pages of the same inner turmoil and drama😅.

[@patriciaa65]

What MG do you recommend?

[@jeilee3860]

I loved this book! I bought it a while ago and I was going to unhaul it because I hadn’t read it in forever. But I read the first chapter and it hooked me! A few months passed and I was going to unhaul it again but I remembered that first chapter. I wasn’t looking forward to it because I assumed I knew what the romantic situation would be. I went into it prepared to DNF out of annoyance. But I was so pleasantly surprised and I ended up loving it! My biggest complaint was that so much happens in this one book it could’ve easily been 3. If she slowed some parts down and expanded on them this could’ve been a much longer and more in depth series. I think if it ever became a TV show that would be great because there is so much that can be done with it.

[@mschazare]

Definitely went from hot to cold on YA after my late twenties

[@laim8121]

I’m really curious to also hear your thoughts on Redemptor when you read it as I feel like reading the authors note and that it was written in large part during the 2020 BLM protests really helped my understanding of some of the small problems I had with it

[@heyimsasa]

i'm definitely aging out of YA and have no patience for a lot of the tropes they're riddled with.

[@pauieeepau]

I never realized people didn't like book 2 as much, but I kind of get it. Spoilers, but I did feel like the last bit needed a bit more oomph, especially since Tarisai wasn't involved with the war, but I generally enjoyed it. I don't think it needed another book like others want, but a few more pages would have improved it. But still, I enjoyed what I got from book 2. Tbh I like the series so much I would love to continue reading about this world and characters.

[@BookChats]

Ok joining the you're gorgeous in that top club. Anyway, will continue watching. Okay, I think maybe it was Rachel who recommended Raybearer? Also AHHHHHHH SERAPHINA!!! I think I might have put that one on the list. The tricky thing is I think you will get more out of the world starting here, but i actually think the second Tess book has the most potential for you to have Thoughts.

[@totakluska]

I find myself reading YA, despite usually giving it 3-3,5 stars, mostly because I want to read fantasy that's neither high/epic with an almost invisible white dude at the center nor dark fantasy verging od horror with lots of SA, trauma and toxic relationships. I feel like it's also easier to find YA books with good queer and disabled representation and characters with actual flaws who face real psychological damage and don't just come out of whole wars feeling fine after a few days. My biggest problem is the very often superficial romance subplot but as long as it doesn't take over from the main plot I can just skim it

[@Rachopin77]

On the topic of being an adult reading ya: I feel like sometimes with adult, it ends up being a bit emotionally overwhelming for me now that I am an adult with adult responsibilities and stress. Especially as someone who gets a bit overly immersed in the media I enjoy and is very sensitive. Sometimes with adult, I can end up struggling to find something that doesn’t ruin the rest of my week lol

[@reniesan4198]

this was such a great review like you ate that!!!

[@Artbyhurricanyounot]

God “manacled” is out to GET YOU huh? 🤣 universe is keeping you on your toes

[@chickenapplepie3141]

I'm almost 30, a baby millennial! And kicked off with the books my mom would read to me. Started off with kids books where I could more easily read along plus her reading aloud books like The Lord of the Rings. She is who nursed my love of reading. I think I was in the age range of the YA boom but had already gotten into "adult books" by that point. So I read and enjoyed both but as I grew older and life changed I started to feel more of a "disconnect" with how YA is written and what I wanted from my reading. Particularly in terms of genre. I adore fantasy but find a lot of my calling in sci-fi. I find myself consumed by themes of humanity and existence and bonds and the idea of self, it was hard to get that satiated in YA. I was really surprised to hear you mention something I think about a lot that being platonic relationships in fiction. For me personally I've never had a romantic significant other. I don't consider myself aromantic or asexual, I've just had other focuses in my life. But I don't feel like I'm missing out. The impact the non-romantic love in my life has made on me is immense. I get emotional thinking about the familial, friendship, soul-level bonds I've felt with other people and how much I've loved and hurt for them. So when I see this topic done justice in fiction it really speaks to me. I can't get enough of feeling other's expressions of the depth of love in all forms. I don't hate romance by any means, I enjoy a good romance every now and then. But love is so beautiful and comes in so many forms. I often find romance-as-the-focus-novels that don't delve deeper forgettable once I've finished. I'm not very good with words and I think that might be one of the reasons I'm drawn to you. I love hearing you speak your mind even with books I'm unfamiliar with; your way with words is truly beautiful. I don't really watch other book things on KZbin and don't have tiktok so I'm not sure how your videos ended up in my feed but I'm very thankful. Can't wait to see what comes next for you!

[@Heothbremel]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😊

[@barbarapizarro5653]

I find myself not necessarily growing out of YA but being more selective of which YA I do read. I feel a little burned out. I read a lot of YA to motivate my students to read but 2024 finds me reading more literary fiction, horror and thrillers.

[@stinkyyyyypinky]

WHO PUT MANACLED ON THERE HA