Shades of Magic - & What Defines YA

[@KitTheBookGal]

That intro gets me every time 😂

[@Doctor_Lunatic]

Your positivity, love for books, and non-judgemental approach to different tastes are truly inspiring. I always feel better after watching one of your videos.

[@mu2900]

Thank you for all your great videos, they have helped me get back into reading

[@cronkthebookguy]

You're very welcome! I'm so glad to hear it. ☺️

[@solgovin6218]

For those who like anime, the 2nd book is a tournament arc. Lol.

[@DevareayWilliams]

You were a huge part of me getting back into reading. I checked out “The Green Bone saga”, after your video on it, loved it!! Keep on doing great work!!

[@alannapenner37]

I love your positive energy! I've had the original trilogy on my shelf for YEARS now (bought the box set when it was on sale 🙈) but I decided 2025 is the year to finally read them! Thanks so much for covering these books!

[@MeMyshelfAndI]

Yes! I often don't agree with the Young Adult vs Adult labels that books are given. I know some people always default to what the publisher markets it as... but then what about the books that are picked up by different publishers in different regions and are marketed to different demographics?! Some publishing houses ONLY publish YA or ONLY Adult, so it definitely skews how they'll market a book. the main controversy with YA is around how women authors are more likely to be labeled YA than their male counterparts, and YA carries with it both less prestige and lower income (for the US currently, HC YA is ~$20 and HC Adult is ~$30). Sometimes there are books that are labeled Adult because the rest of the series will be Adult, but often it just comes down to the gender of the author.

[@Shinclair]

I can't even stretch how sencere I find you to be! You make me realise things I shy away even from myself! 😅 Thank you for all that honesty! It's not something you can easily come by and it's much appreciated what you do and for free. Before I 'll reach for a book, I'll look up what You have to say about it. Best. Critic. Ever. Ps. Can't wait to get your paperbacks at my hands and see how good you did when it was your turn at the spotlight! ~~Excited!~~ 🎈🎈💐

[@cronkthebookguy]

That is such wonderful praise! Thank you so much. I read your comment like sixteen times cause it made me so happy. Thank you for reading my books! I hope you like them.

[@lukapavlovic1081]

Great video as always, i read the powdermage trilogy because of your recommendation, and i loved it!

[@Stawberrie_Marie]

I don't even finish the video before adding the series to my 'To Read List'. The last 8 books I've bought have come from your reviews. ❤

[@Piyratheon]

Been a while since I watched one of your vids ans they are still delightful, so now I have a backlog to look forward to watching through! Awesome work, keep going!

[@cronkthebookguy]

Thanks buddy! I'm the same, I take breaks from youtubers and come back when they've got heaps of new stuff to binge. 😂

[@Missingwodahs-gb1fj]

Always appreciate your reviews. Brings books I don’t think I ever would have normally picked up into view. Unfortunately now my to read list is over 180 books 😅

[@Avid_Reader]

Another great review. Still waiting on my Kickstarter edition by Wraithmarked Creative that funded last February. Hopefully I can start on this series soon.

[@MeMyshelfAndI]

"It's like writing an assassin character who never assassinates anyone!" ....isn't that Fitz? 😂at least within a comparable page count to what Lila has had written about her (idk beyond that)

[@Deni-mt9bj]

In my country, they shelf a Court of Silver Flames as YA. So I think this one is fine.

[@moltenbullet]

Hope you'll try Glenn Cook's work after YAnuary! His Black Company is similar to the bridge burners of Malazan, and his other series on Garrett PI is quite a nice spin on fantasy-detective genres.

[@alexiasp]

side note but super looking forward on your opinion on Wind and Truth

[@ISRAELMálaga-b5h]

I'm waiting for my fantasy saga comes out and u review it

[@Foobymaster1]

I liked the first three books but I also agree, book 1 is the best of the trilogy. I haven't read book 4 yet though.

[@thelibrarianofalexandria6200]

I read a scwabe book years ago was scared by it. Might check out this series. Think my library has is. I think that sometimes YA means teen books but I also think it can mean Young adult. Ae books for people 20/21 years.

[@juliusagh9038]

I really enjoy the first book, but as you said, the second is MUCH slower, for me at least. I enjoyed the 3rd book much more than the second. Without giving too much away, I especially enjoyed their time at the "floating market." Thanks to your recommendation, I'll give the new series a try. I am hopeful it will be worth it.

[@juliusagh9038]

I know you tend to do "newer" books, but I am hopeful you'll give Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series a try. I think you and your listeners will like this classic.

[@aliaibrahim4517]

I read the trilogy quite some time ago. I had initially really liked it but by the end of book 3 was sorely disappointed by the plot (especially with the faceless villain). Back then I was reading mainly YA and I went into this series thinking it was going to be one of my first few adult fantasy book but it definitely read like YA to me

[@supremelilpanda3662]

This is one of the first fantasy series I read when I got back into reading 2 years ago and I really enjoyed the first 3 books, but the fourth book was kinda hard to get through because I didn’t feel it was going anywhere for a long time. Loved the review though! P.s. have you ever read any comic books/graphic novels? Would you ever want to?

[@Alkemisti]

I would love to see a video about Tanith Lee's _Tales from the Flat Earth._ I have never read it, but I heard a couple of days ago that the latest Problematic Author has more or less plagiarised it, and has never credited Lee as an influence.

[@matthewbackhouse6309]

I think it only really matters if it’s misclassified the wrong way, I.e if an actual adult fantasy is classified as YA cos then it could be inappropriate for the audience but given 13/14 year olds play call of duty, grand theft auto etc i don’t think adult fantasy will be a tipping point lol

[@cesarlinares8149]

I dont have time now, but I will comment here to give you visibility

[@cronkthebookguy]

@@cesarlinares8149 legend! 😍

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

I would guess the HOPE was likely that people would mistake V.E. Schwab for a male author, and that's likely why it's her Adult Fiction pen name. (Also, because the lead characters are primarily male, and they likely want male readers.) And, yeah it is likely due to old stereotypes and such that should be challenged. However.... I'm not sure why you assumed these were YA just because they had tropes. The tropes you listed weren't really YA specific tropes. Basically everything has tropes. And tropes alone aren't really the defining feature of what is or isn't YA.

[@dmar.gar5689]

Great video

[@giedrejanusaite2227]

I think Lyla Bard is the most annoying character of all time. I did not continue after book one because of her 😂

[@Notfallkaramell]

TIL Victoria Schwab and V.E. Schwab are the same person.

[@hannahbrennan2131]

The YA label is just a marketing gimmick, it doesn't really matter.

[@lachlankidd6517]

17:34

[@hannahbrennan2131]

@@lachlankidd6517 I typed this comment when I first started the video. lol!