The evolution of young adult books

[@squidheadss7105]

Paranormal romance books are the girl's version of isekai harem anime/manga.

[@catharinrin]

SQUIDHEADSS isekai was originally a romance/female dominated genre

[@Hyperversum3]

@@catharinrin Ok, but things evolve lol. I have seen Escanflowne (how it's spelled correctly?) too, but that's not what you ser in most isekai After like 2010

[@catharinrin]

Hyperversum i was just pointing out something bruh. No girl’s version because it is a girl genre. You should try keeping up with shoujo series.

[@tomraines6554]

How could you say something so controversial yet so brave?

[@SonicSanctuary]

holy shit your right!

[@Remington53]

"don't follow trends" really worked for Leigh Bardugo. The Grisha Trilogy brought a unique world but followed all the YA tropes. Her second series, Six of Crows, broke out of these cliches and was more successful and objectively better.

[@gergokerekes4550]

i had only read the first of the six of crows so far but i have to say it is quite refreshing.

[@hellothere2464]

Gergő Kerekes six of crows is so good, crooked kingdom blew me away by how phenomenal it is

[@iblamejanepodcast]

I'd say SOC is objectively better written than Grisha, but it didn't really work for me. It was like it wanted to be a heist story, but it didn't stay focused on that action. It kept getting deep into the characters, which is good, but detracts from that action/heist this is purporting to be. Listening to it on audio helped somewhat, but I'm actually pretty excited to see the Netflix series because I feel like it will translate really well.

[@DeerBoy736]

Unfortunately the grisha books are just as trash like other YA novels. The first at least was quite bad and i didn’t bother with the others.

[@lisabeth7331]

Definitely my fav author right now

[@Quarilas]

I was surprised you missed the whole fairy tale retelling trend of YA. From 2013-2015 I would think they were huge due to the popularity of Cinder by Marissa Meyer. Overall not a bad analysis but it's very surface level.

[@Ayihours]

Quarilas I think that brand of YA was my least favorite of the 2010s actually. This video just showed me how many popular YA series I simply refused to read

[@procopias7571]

@Mae McCardle beauty and the beast is the most common retelling of all

[@Rangernewb5550]

Oh God remember all those "serious live action fairy tale" movies? Hansel and gretel comes to mind

[@elliot550]

I’m sorry but the unenchanted books slapped hard

[@oliviabrownvlogs204]

I love the lunar chronicles I read it in 6th grade and it still resonates with me it’s also what brought me to other YA books

[@zosiak3818]

As a teenager and YA reader, this is a fantastic analysis. However, I feel like it stops around 2016 or 2017. YA has undergone changes since then that you didn't take into account. In particular, I feel like realistic fiction dominates YA nowadays. This is related to the fact that the emphasis is now on "problem novels" and highlighting social issues. The trailblazer for this was probably "The Hate U Give", but similar books existed way, way before that (perhaps the closest thing would be, say, Judy Blume's books). These books normally have a romantic subplot, but it takes a backseat to the actual story. Of course, the exceptions are the novels classified as YA romance specifically. Basically, you did a good job of describing the history, but I suppose you could have a better grasp on the state of the books today.

[@dragoninthewest1]

I think part of the reason in drop in popularity of YA was Trope fatigue and just time. One of things that personally annoyed me was almost no use of firearms by most good guys especially in modern setting. On the time part, I think the popularity of Game of Thrones had an effect; many people wanted more Nuanced stories which why we started saw the rise in Epic Fantasy and Science Fiction around 2014.

[@user-wf6vt9tu6u]

Unpopular opinion: The Hate U Give was not actually that good

[@chud-dot-us-dot-gov]

@@user-wf6vt9tu6u Not really that unpopular.

[@frufrujaben]

Did you read any of Grisham's Boone:Kid Lawyer series? My nephew likes them. I remember reading Pelican Brief years ago and thought. Ok that but with less sex and death... Hope you keep reading books 😂

[@sparks6177]

The hate u give is kinda beta ngl, but I can get past that. I think the main reason YA has gotten better in recent years is just more good writers coming into the genre, I’m thinking the Benjamin Ashwood series, one of my absolute favorites, Dawn of Wonder by j renshaw, and other similar books that try to break away from the normal romance and let the story take the lead. Idk why it’s now that this is happening, it’s probably just perspective, a lot of people loved hunger games and divergent even though in today’s standards it’s pretty cliche and predictable writing.

[@Pottatow]

I feel like YA was killed when it became more about becoming popular in order to become a movie.

[@meredithschultz1124]

And then the producers completely butchering the story

[@EditorialJoe]

Former big-four prod manager over here: we killed it because we kept producing copies of copies of copies of copies expecting the same returns. And when I say "we", I mean risk-averse senior-level managing editors who are looking for the VP/JVP-level promotion from the publisher bosses instead of trying to remember that they used to be passionate about writing and good literature at some point in their lives.

[@owlmandiasthelatinowl3687]

Ive always hated the fact the dystopian worlds are never explained or explored aside from "big goverment bad", rarely their worlds are flesh out and are backgrounds rather than part of a bigger world. I want to know how they got into power and what's keeping them there. i feel worldbuilding is too hard.

[@robertgronewold3326]

I like how the Legend series did it. You didn't get a full grasp on the world by intent, because you realize that everyone living in North America was basically getting force fed propaganda their whole lives, so their knowledge of how anything came to be was so obscured it was almost impossible to know what was true and what wasn't.

[@lovlix9837]

Had you read 1984? That is that what you seek

[@Rangernewb5550]

I pissed off my old gf because she liked divergent and I couldn't stop pointing out how politically nonsensical it was.

[@notamuggle8724]

I think the Hunger Games did a good job describing why the government is bad. Even in the movie when it shows you district 12 you can see that people are suffering because the government won’t help them. There are also some other books that do this, but I understand what you mean. It’s kinda like, “ Wait why did you have to overtake the government? I didn’t think they were doing anything wrong really.” And that’s just...

[@cannowli2337]

People weren't doing badly because the government wasn't helping them. People are self-sufficient. They were doing badly because the government was a totalitarian mess.

[@ultantuffy1194]

Did- did you just call Percy Jackson a knock-off?? Edit: yes I like Harry Potter, no you don’t have to be pressed because this youtuber and I have separate opinions, yes Wheel of Time is the superior fantasy series, thank you for your time

[@kristoffer2250]

The first book did seem to be that way until it slowly distinguishes itself

[@danrox1234]

i know right was roght about to say the same

[@arcane9205]

@@kristoffer2250 I felt like it was sort of a rip off but after starting even just the second one, I could see it was it's own thing.

[@itsmist-er]

Not as much as the Hound of Rowan books. Almost plot point for plot point.

[@tabitha6422]

I came looking for this comment- I was like uh?

[@hellothere2464]

I really wish books with female main characters were also considered “gender-neutral” books as the majority seems to be male dominated. There’s nothing wrong with that at all, and I’m not saying there aren’t any YA female-led books that can’t be enjoyed by everyone, but it’s sad that so many books are dismissed as girly and not deep/well thought out because they have female main characters

[@berliona5232]

Hello There it’s unfortunate, but I don’t think that the books are dismissed as girly because the have female main character. A lot of of books with female main characters are also not very deep and mainly focus on romance, over any deep themes/plots

[@blublu1966]

when i think of a female-led gender neutral book only the hunger games comes to my mind. but then again, they pushed the romance into our faces in the movies so idk anymore

[@Hyperversum3]

I am a bit younger that those who lived the boom of HP as young kids themselves (aka, I am still in my mid 20s) so my experience is a bit different, but here in Italy the boom of YA books was later, more or less around 2005 I think, so let me make an example. In 2004 a (female) writer produced a fantasy YA book that would evolved into a big success here in Italy, "Le cronache del Mondo Emerso". If you ignore the quality (oh guys, I loved It as a kid but upon checking It back when I was in my late teens I had to try my hardest to not laugh it all the time), it's a good example of a YA with female protagonist not being seen as mostly for girls. Hell, I was a 11 boy back then, and I still liked it, even if a relevant part was this MC having a big crush on a dude (that dies) and then ending up romancing her bff mage friend. Yes, she was the cool sword-wielding and dragon-riding heroine and the boy was the smart one doing the fucking brainy things/charisma persuasion things, and my 11yo boy self didn't see anything strange in It. Put the same 11yo kid in front of Divergent or whatever and he will dislike It. The difference from others similar books is that her gender and life affect the plot just as much as Eragon is affected by being a dude, while your average girl-y YA novel has a fuckton more on focus on the romance-from-a-female perspective. Eragon and Nihal could have been genderswapped without changing completely the story, while you can't erase Bella's second X chromosome from Twilight and obtain the same book. Or better, you CAN, but It wouldn't have sold as much. As said above, most 11/12yo boys don't give a damn about paranormal romance.

[@hellothere2464]

blu blu yeah I agree the books are much more gender neutral than the movies

[@adomaya8583]

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson is a great example of a great YA novel that is sci-fy/fantasy that has a female lead and can, not only be enjoyed by teens of both genders but adults too. It's rare to find gems such as these but they do exist.

[@eddya7894]

The problem with the "Don't Follow Trends" advice is that sometimes an author doesn't have a choice. I have some friends in publishing, and they often talk about how they will often tell authors that if they want to get published by that particular publisher, they must change their story to fit into a certain category the publishing house is currently focusing on. It turns out that it is really the fault of authors as to why SOOOOO much YA (and some other categories) feels the same, or like it is ripping off other books. The YA publishing industry is doing this on purpose because they truly don't care about originality, they are only chasing money (this has been confirmed by almost anyone I know in the industry). If a trend is either beginning, or being predicted to hit soon, there will be a dictate given by the heads of a publisher that says to ONLY accept manuscripts that fit into a very narrow check list to create a carbon copy of the new trend. That's how we got "The Choosen One" Fantasy phase, Vampires, Magic Romances, School-set fantasy (often combining chosen ones and vampires), Dystopian, Sick Lit, etc... They were all mandated by the YA publishing imprints. There are a ton of authors who have also come out about how they were forced to often change most of their book to fit into the latest craze, or be rejected outright. And if you were a young aspiring author, which would you choose????

[@antigonus1826]

I want something to be proud of, Not something to be ashamed of.

[@melissamybubbles6139]

So the adults are creating book cliques for teens? Wonderful (sarcastically)!

[@mariokarter13]

By the time something has emerged as a recognizable trend, it's already on the way out. The unspoken fact about every trend is that the only titles to gain widespread traction don't do so because they're the best, it's because they were the earliest. Writing in line with current trends is like when a movie references current memes, I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time, but by release it's been dead for two years. Don't follow trends, predict them.

[@baresize]

That sucks a lot

[@mariokarter13]

@Azalea Unbound If you look the more recent trends, they're a different spin on the previous trend. Harry Potter is about magic and there's a main trio, so make it a normal high school with a paranormal love triangle and you've got Twilight. Change the setting of Twilight and now you've got The Hunger Games. If you find the right spin on the current trend, you can start the next one.

[@sspearss9112]

I wish Animorphs got more credit for helping kickstart YA. Surprisingly brutal sci-fi dealing with PTSD, war, guerrilla warfare, and many more mature themes in a series targeted to children in the 90s by Scholastic. There was a multi-racial, multi-background, multi-species cast, had interracial relationships, a homosexual relationship that was alluded to, and so many other progressive ideas for the time. Anyways, Animorphs deserves more love than it seems to get. Cool video, though.

[@j.s.elliot7121]

Animorphs definitely deserves the credit for this. I reread the series as an adult and have a great appreciation for it.^_^

[@abbyisthe1]

loved those books! still have them!

[@Sealwithwificonnection]

Nobody cares about diversity

[@sspearss9112]

Cross Legged Owl Okay. Anything else?

[@duskadown6751]

I'm pretty sure the reason why is cause the covers disturbed children lol

[@DarkDoomguy]

Don't forget Redwall, also known as "how much medieval murder can I get away with in a children's book about animals?"

[@fairycat23]

Ah, so _that's_ how it inspired Warriors. Legit, one of the reasons they chose the pen name "Erin Hunter" was so it would be near Redwall in libraries and bookstores. They were hoping for a similar audience.

[@robertgronewold3326]

Yeah, there is some BRUTAL violence in the Redwall books, but because it's between animals, it gets away with it.

[@catcactus1234]

fairycatLJT Damn that’s actually really clever. It looks like it worked too, because a majority of the warrior fans that I know also read Red Wall growing up.

[@lancelot717]

Still love how extra descriptive Jacques had to be because he was writing for blind kids.

[@definitelynotobama6851]

For real though redwall is fantastic.

[@baatile]

“Hari Puttar” knocked me tf out 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@scisss8368]

In Indonesia, Hari means day Putar(Puttar) mean spin So spin day

[@Ayihours]

I’ve always considered YA to target ages 13-22 largely due to the growth of the MCs in YA series. You start off in book 1 with your main character in their teens and follow them until adulthood. Seeing as I grew up on Harry Potter as well it always made sense for books to get darker and more serious as the stories progress because that mirrors life unfortunately- as we grow we recognize more of the struggles of life. I definitely consider YA a genre on its own because it has its own tropes that apply to it regardless of the sub-genre (ie paranormal, mystery, sci-fi etc)

[@chowyee5049]

Ranger's Apprentice forgot it was a fantasy series after the first book. After that it was pretty much just alternate history kinda how I imagine GRRM first envisioned GoT.

[@coopernapoles8005]

That is so true. Not complaining though I love Rangers apprentice

[@warriorcatskid003]

I love how the storyline just kinda awkwardly pushes the fantasy creatures to the side and is like SHOOTY BOYS

[@eragonshurtugal4239]

Actualy the first two books the second had the same fantasy elemts as the first

[@eragonshurtugal4239]

@Najawin No it turned out to be all just smoke and mirrors

[@owlblocksdavid4955]

@@eragonshurtugal4239 the second feels like it was already shifting away. Like maybe Flanagan was writing, and growing tired of the fantasy elements, and halfway through the book he gets the idea to just remake the whole series.

[@ameliadouglas6938]

There's a big market in books about a struggling 17 year old gay who isn't really struggling that much.

[@telepathicdiancie0075]

Patrick in Perks of Being a Wallflower.

[@nomusicnecessary]

simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda

[@fowlae4414]

That sounds very relatable for a certain audience....

[@gagne6928]

Haha that's me except I'm not gay or 17 years old

[@lettuceprime4922]

@@telepathicdiancie0075 - not gay but yes to everything else.

[@federicosaldias1222]

I felt a surge in "I'm so misunderstood" high school dramas a couple of years ago. Shit like 13 reasons why, for example.

[@elliotelliotelliotel]

I'm an aide at my school's library and I see a lot of YA books. Judging by the covers and summaries they're all pretty similar. I enjoyed the book thief though, that was a great book.

[@dharabarot4033]

That is my favourite book of all time, it changed the way I looked at life

[@definitelynotobama6851]

Trip Book thief is genuinely great.

[@masteroogway8916]

An Ember in the Ashes and A Darker Shade of Magic are incredible YA books that are actually good, and most tropes are done well and not over used or cliched.

[@cordelravenscar9669]

A Darker Shade of Magic is actually an adult novel 😗✌

[@masteroogway8916]

Dewey Cabasaan oh yeah, your right. My bad. It’s not GoT level of adult though

[@Orne97]

You are literally describing my path into YA novels. Started with Harry Potter as a kid, then moved into Twilight and then into the Hunger Games. After that I tried to get into similar series like Divergent and Maze Runner, but didn't make it past book one. My interest just faded away as I got older.

[@johannageisel5390]

Same here! I tried to find new good stuff after these three, but the blurbs always put me off. So I stuck to literature for adults.

[@wasserruebenvergilbungsvirus]

I started with Hunger Games when I was 12, and pretty much only read YA dystopia for the next years. Never cared about the romance in the slightest though.

[@JuliaN-fi9zw]

You should check out the Scythe series. It’s an interesting take on the world when humans don’t die anymore. And there’s no love triangles :)

[@lookatthat2438]

@@JuliaN-fi9zw 'theres no love triangles' you sold the novel for me 50% (I will check the summary and see), so tired of that trope. Or like at least make the 2 love interests fall in love with each other instead or something, idk spice things up!

[@JuliaN-fi9zw]

Then Untamed don’t want to spoil it but from what ur saying I think you’ll like it :) his other books are good too

[@raphaelinsigne726]

Rick Riordan’s books are NOT knockoffs of Harry Potter. I am offended 😭😭😭

[@domtraini4889]

Claire Sterling it’s because the characters are SO well rounded and amazing! Plus, the nostalgia factor. And, they have a TON of LGTBQ+ rep. Personally, I LOVE them! (Also, Nico is baby and needs protection)

[@robertgronewold3326]

People consider them knockoffs because they are not familiar with the larger genre they fall into. Harry Potter is the most famous of the 'school fantasy' stories. There have been many school fantasy books before and after Harry Potter, but the HP books get the most attention. Rick Riordan did a good job of creating a unique setting for his stories, and so have a lot of other authors.

[@apenasmaisumdiogo.7115]

At least he said It was one of the good ones

[@arcane9205]

@@domtraini4889 Nico was my favorite character until I found out he was gay. Don't @ me lol

[@arcane9205]

@@robertgronewold3326 Harry Potter kinda broke the genre for ya attending school/having some sort of magic book. Sometimes there are actual rip offs but, like with Percy Jackson, there are ones that just feel like one.

[@gordianplot9347]

is there a list somewhere of good fantasy or speculative novels that are not primarily romance-porn? i need more good authors to read.

[@jujube150]

There are a ton of lists on Goodreads! Lists like "The Best Epic Fantasy (fiction)" or "Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books". But I think that those are mostly dominated by the classics e.g. Dune. You might be interested in something along the lines of "Most Interesting Magic System" if you want to get some popular and lesser-known works?

[@gordianplot9347]

@Hans Hanzo thank you, i will look for it

[@gordianplot9347]

@@jujube150 thank you for the search tip.

[@AaronRotenberg]

r/Fantasy does an annual poll of the community's favorite novels. Search for "r/Fantasy 2019 Top Novels" for the most recent list. I don't think many romance-focused books make it to that list.

[@gordianplot9347]

@@AaronRotenberg nice list! i have read more than half of these, so i know it has a lot of good stuff. i shall search for the ones that are new to me.

[@aaronexists4308]

If Percy Jackson is a knockoff of Harry Potter, I am a knockoff of my second cousin twice removed. You're just wrong. And Eragon was written before Harry Potter.

[@QuigleTheGnome]

ALL DE MES LOVE LEO preach 👏

[@badbeardbill9956]

I mean the only real similarity is the whole “you’re a wizard/demigod” thing - but in Percy Jackson it was done better from what I remember.

[@aaronexists4308]

Bad Beard Bill I agree. That’s how it would be like a distant relative. There a few similar things, but not many.

[@waltonsmith7210]

Harry poted was written all the way back in 1997.

[@aaronexists4308]

Walton Smith Eragon was written in 1995.

[@PASTRAMIKick]

why do these books always assume Mexico's government remains, while the US disintegrates into various states, Mexico's government would collapse in a post apocalyptic setting. Believe me I live there.

[@dyedshirt3206]

rick riordans books are knockoffs of each other.

[@QuigleTheGnome]

dyed shirt yes I love you

[@bradenvester4308]

Lmao

[@crablord7934]

That's a better comparison

[@Heres_To_Music]

*of myths

[@jaydenparrott3055]

I will comply to that statement. It isn't a knockoff of Harry Potter, but yes, of itself, yes.

[@annaread3558]

If you want a good idea for the next trends or what we will be seeing soon in YA or any other genre, check out literary agents’ wishlists. These are things editors are asking for, that publishers want to sell. There is generally a lag time of about 2 years between a book being acquired by an agent and published, but some of the big trends agents are currently asking for in YA are: fantasy based in non-western mythology, horror, anything from a marginalized POV, upmarket fiction (commercial plots + literary writing), rural gothic, and anything with witches. You can also check out the recent PitchWars showcase to see what concepts agents are currently trying to acquire.

[@pashahlis7941]

Where can one find such wishlists?

[@annaread3558]

Search the hashtag #mswl on twitter for very specific requests. For a broader sense of trends, you just need to read through agents websites and manuscript wishlist pages. Sometimes this information is also available on their Publishers Marketplace page.

[@Terestrasz]

Of course whether or not they'll sell is entirely different.

[@A-Rather-Dubious-Character]

I personally love the Legends series and the other books made by Marie Lu. There was just an appeal to all her books that kept me reading and didn't seem off-putting. Like made me confused or something didn't make sense. I'm no expert but to me it felt like she really cared about her books and made sure you were informed but not being bored by a flood of exposition. Also Eragon is one of my favorite books!

[@dvf1736]

She also focused more on world building rather than other books like divergent

[@JuliaN-fi9zw]

Marie Lu is an excellent author. Her characters are diverse in personality and her world building is fantastic. I really enjoyed all of her books as they were never boring

[@seashell9570]

Warcross is absolute doggy doodoo but I remember really liking the Legends series. I thought I would like Warcross but the romance was rushed, the characters were one dimensional, and the story was extremely predictable. Idk maybe I'm just getting too old for YA now even though I'm 16. I've read so many books that its gotten to the point that I can predict the plots.

[@warriorcatskid003]

I like that Will’s “superpower” is “being sneaky” I love my boy please talk about Rangers it slaps hard

[@fatimaansari744]

I always thought Will's superpower was creativity and optimism (Cho Cho), but being sneaky is much more fun way to put it.

[@owlblocksdavid4955]

I think inhuman accuracy is probably also a superpower. And how often he kills people with arrows (typically arrows were used to wound). His most important power was retconning out all the fantasy elements to make it into a realistic medieval setting based on Great Britain and its surroundings. They basically fought orcs in the first book. After reading a few, and eventually rereading the first (even though I never did read the last... I have to do that some time) I remember thinking "man, I forgot about all this stuff". Honestly it was one of the most seamless retcons I've seen.

[@whatspoppin11326]

okay but lets get something straight, percy jackson/kane chronicles is by no means a "knockoff" of harry potter, and is probably superior to it in multiple ways

[@QuigleTheGnome]

Hania Abdelhafez yeah it definitely is like you actually feel connected to the characters and like you know the main character doesn’t act like a immature 8 year old

[@shadowvalkyrie_99]

I don't feel that he's claiming that Percy Jackson plagiarized Harry Potter or anything like that. I think he meant that, after the success of that book series, many authors and publishers were going to be interested in books with similar age group characters, a mythological or magical world etc. plus a long story that showed the main characters growing up over the years. Although I'm a big Potterhead and I haven't read the Percy Jackson books yet (though I've always been curious about them) I'm sure that most people know that both stories don't have that much in common. Btw, I'm not even sure that we can claim that one is way superior over the other. Guess it is most a preference thing since both series have prooved their quality by mantaining such a big fanbase over the years and being vastly influential to other authors. Pd: sorry if my English is not perfect. Not my first language

[@bradenvester4308]

And that's a lot of comment

[@jj-uv4rf]

it ain't a knock off but it ain't anywhere near the same level luv

[@fanintx756]

A Person I think the Egyptian gods are meant to feel more human honestly. If I'm remembering correctly (it's been a few years since I've read the series), Osiris was Carter and Sadie's father, but before he actually died he wasn't actually Osiris. (Maybe?) This makes him feel more human because they had a relationship with their dad as a human beforehand. In addition, Bast had a good relationship with Sadie specifically, since she was her cat. Both of these examples gave relationships with the main characters. In comparison, most of the demigods in PJO didn't have that tight-knit relationship with their parents, which would make them seem far off and distant. Making them seem more like regal gods, not family members. In addition, pharaohs were often worshipped like gods in Ancient Egypt, which would make them seem closer to the gods themselves. The Greeks had few people who they worshipped as they did their gods.

[@h.a.harris7423]

The most alarming current trend is YA authors crossing over into adult genre fiction. In the past the works of Sarah J Maas were in sections of bookstores and libraries that I knew to avoid. Now I'll be part of the market demographic for ads for her books; I wanna be sedated.

[@arcane9205]

SJM is so horny lol. She should just write adult erotica and stop poisoning young reader's minds.

[@catherinejenkins5729]

@@arcane9205I agree - the sex scenes in the later books were so explicit (and very gross imo) in comparison to the first books - was not what I signed up for

[@user-uq6vn6yw9o]

H. A. Harris literally. she just released her first actual adult book and i’m sure it’s probably 90% smut.

[@thedarkphoenix1640]

alexa h Yeah it probably is. I haven't read it yet but I have it and am debating if I even wanna read it or not.

[@user-uq6vn6yw9o]

TheDarkPhoenix16 i’ll probably read it because i’m quarantined and have nothing better to do lol

[@heid8952]

When I saw the tumbnail, my reaction was: “It’s evolving, only backwards.”

[@lilycitron5241]

Just saying that he calls the fantasy adventure books “gender neutral,“ while every one of the books the mentioned had a male main character, while books he said were “entirely geared at girls” had female main characters.

[@kittyandtiny9159]

"Gender neutral" refers to lots more than the main character's gender. The geared-at-girls books followed what was expected to be the female fantasy: a romance where the MC is desired by a big strong exotic supernatural man. Fantasy adventure books are more widely marketable as their geared-at-guys stuff is less noteworthy. They are still male-centric though, with the expected male fantasy of growing stronger and protecting others, and of course having mostly male MCs. What you pointed out is true, though. Most geared-at-guys stuff is considered "neutral", because male is the norm in most cultures (for example, a stick man is the base and a stick woman is a modification). Perhaps guys are more averse to geared-at-girls stuff because the stigma against men diverging from gender norms is worse than that of women. Perhaps media has a tendency to ignore its female audience unless it's specifically targeted at them. It's probably a combination.

[@imygurl08]

I mean, I think a story such as Twilight where the primary plot point and appeal is a teen girl being fought over by two huge supernatural men is silly to pretend as if it is not geared toward straight girls/women. It's not just about a female protag but rather the themes and events in the story. The real difference is the books he called gender neutral did not have sex or romance as the central focus.

[@TheVoltarus]

It's neutral because it's written in a way that tries to make it irrelevant what the MC is. Something like Harry Potter can be enjoyed the same way by everyone. At it was that way in the earlier books/movies, I have yet to finish them. On the other hand, something like Twilight or a lot of the other YA books after the "fantasy adventure" trend had a clear female focus, mostly because the problems were more aimed towards girls/woman. This is especially clear in the romance aspect which is often a huge focus of those books.

[@kittyandtiny9159]

@@TheVoltarus Yeah, that's definitely true. It's still interesting that gender-neutral stories tend towards male characters, though.

[@ariyellsalot8961]

@@kittyandtiny9159 tbh it is probably because of the overall view that much of media had when it was made that a male protagonist is the default and that a female protagonist needs a reason to be that way. Stories like Percy Jackson and Harry Potter would be barely effected if the main characters were female. But then the romance novels are written targeted at teen girls. They write the main character to be 'relatable' to as many teen girls as they can, and part of that is making the protagonist female. Although I would say that hunger games is pretty gender neutral.

[@ainereeves357]

"The dystopian adventures feature teenage girls casting off society's expectations and changing the world, while having boys fawn over them. The kid apocalypses are all about teenage boys being badasses, fighting deadly creatures that totally aren't zombies, and becoming respected leaders. They hit the different fantasies that each group has." Am I the only one who has a problem with this?

[@owlblocksdavid4955]

There are heavy populations of both that apparently do have those fantasies, or some of those fantasies. Just look at the sales figures.

[@anaisalvarez6017]

This just shows society hasn't really changed that much. There are still things expected of guys, and things expected of girls. And literature just reflects that, as do the people they are geared towards, and people follow that. I haven't read the ones geared towards boys, but the girl ones seem so much better in a way because they sort of defy standards and show that girls can do what they want and be strong. In the guy books it's just guys doing this things? What do the girls do in these books? I'll have to check out these books to see what happens in them .

[@bellac6311]

I personally really hate when people talk about dystopian as just, "teenage girl saves the world". Its like theyre forgetting that dystopia was a genre before YA. Like, Gullivers Travels (the first place dystopia is feautured), Brave new world, 1984, Animal Farm i could go on. I hate that now its name is tarnished.

[@YasmineSDJ]

specially since the "male fantasy" books always include some poorly written, poorly developed female character whose only purpose is to fall in love with the main character or to give him angst. In the end its the exact same bullshit, its just that male protag books are considered inherently better just because the romance has a little less focus

[@Thkaal]

Young adult did not start 15 ago. It has been around for at least 40 years. More likely more sense you know there's that whole thing about a wrinkle in time being young adult.

[@NapaCat]

MODERN YA is from HP and maaaaybe Eragon on.

[@Thkaal]

@@NapaCat Then it's not an evolution of the market but an exploration of current marketting.

[@brandonhood1936]

Legend by Marie Lu was an amazing novel to read as a kid. It’s story structure and amazing characters still hold up today.

[@harrisonburgeron]

Excuse me: PERCY JACKSON IS NOT A HARRY POTTER KNOCKOFF

[@QuigleTheGnome]

Two Sad Apes literally just because it has young kids and the first book had three main characters after that characters were more diversified

[@harrisonburgeron]

Lucy Holland exactly! Not a knockoff 😤 ugh my sister is a big Harry Potter fan and she’s always saying stuff like “OMG Percy Jackson is so unoriginal! It’s just Harry Potter in America!” And it bugs me to no end

[@badbeardbill9956]

I liked Percy Jackson way more than Harry Potter.

[@jonpalsson2843]

Its very very similar tho

[@harrisonburgeron]

KingJonTheGreat not really. When you think about it, the Harry Potter universe and the Percy Jackson universe are so different. The books don’t even have the same tone.

[@flyingninjamimejr]

I think you use “geared toward girls” in a lot of places where you just mean “female protagonist”, which doesn’t automatically mean just for girls

[@legojedimasterplokoon2173]

I don't think he does this. He calls female-led paranormal romance "geared towards girls" but not the female-led authoritarian dystopias

[@abdullahahmad4239]

But that's how it is.Those female protag definitely are aimed at girls especially with their huge emphasise on romance

[@owlblocksdavid4955]

@@abdullahahmad4239 statistically there's probably a correlation. But it's not inherent, at least not mostly.

[@poofer3878]

I disagree, if you see what men are like in YA it’s very women-centered. Boyfriends in YA are perfect and flawless.

[@eagann92]

YA books are typically geared toward girls though.

[@phantomr277]

I like how perfect the timing of this video was considering that I just finished reading 'The Hunger Games' trilogy yesterday.

[@Sarah239A]

Also, what was your least favorite moment? Personally, the third book was a big let down.

[@phantomr277]

Hey! This is going to be really long but I still have a lot more to say so I couldn't say anymore haha... So if I have to rank the books themselves, I'd for starters go for Catching Fire>Hunger Games>Mockingjay. I honestly feel so terrible for putting Mockingjay so low but I genuinely found the beginning half of the book to be so SO boring compared to CF and HG. The pacing is absolutely terrible for Mockingjay. My least favourite moments from the series is probably the love triangle. I didn't mind it at first... But until Mockingjay, it all kinda really cringed me out so so much between Peeta and Gale. Especially Peeta. I really liked Peeta in the first two books but wow, I did not like him in Mockingjay at all, even when he was trying to connect with Katniss again to be his old self. The whole 'real/not real' scenes I unfortunately couldn't take seriously even though it was a serious situation, im so sorry. Few of my favourite moments are in the arena. I found the fight between Katniss and Peeta vs. Cato with the Mutts in HG to be intense and thrilling. The scene in CF where Katniss figures out that the arena is a clock got me excited to see how they take advantage of a fact and the scene where Katniss shoots her arrow into the force field was absolute climax. The others few moments I loved is the tour to district 11 where Katniss gave her speech about Rue to her family. It was absolutely so sad to read that scene. To give credit where it's due to my least favourite book, I have to say Mockingjay is the most DEPRESSING AND DARKEST book compared to the others. On top of all the terrible duties a 17 year old girl is suffocating in, I especially found reading about every member from squad 451 dying one-by-one by the most horrible deaths would have the be the most saddest moment for me in the series. Its just so depressing how they all died in vain and it ends with Katniss failing her mission to assassinate Snow and, not only that, but the death of her sister. The death of Coin was VERY SATISFYING in the end. Anyways, I was reading the Hunger Games trilogy 8 years after vaguely remembering watching the movies. After reading the article about Collins making a prequel book of HG and after reading the excerpt that The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is going to be President Snow as the main character, I just HAD TO read the books to prepare for BSS! I am so excited for May 22!

[@fairycat23]

Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series is an interesting part of the dystopian trend in that it wasn't part of the trend at all; it was before Hunger Games. Otherwise, it hit a lot of the same marks: a teen female protagonist lives in a dystopian future version of what once was the U.S., falls for a guy, gets caught up in two love triangles (one where it's her and her friend for the guy, and later one where it's the first guy and a second guy for her), and becomes the face of the revolution that dismantles the most troublesome part of the dystopic society.

[@kartoonfanatic]

I'm glad someone brought that up. I just got done with the Uglies series, and it feels like it's got a fresher energy to it since it came out so long ago. I liked that it wasn't afraid to really dive into the sci fi aspects of the society, and the romance was there, but it felt less important to building Tally as a character and giving her more and more reason to rebel. It's not the most brainy, scientifically grounded universe but it's not trying to act preachy either, and I liked that about it, it made me want to get through all of it. It's not pretentious, unlike a lot of dystopian stuff out now.

[@imlumpy]

Nice, I was going to bring up Uglies if someone hadn't. I gobbled that series up, and it was probably my first explicit engagement with ideology, though I didn't know it at the time. It kickstarted an interest in classic and recent adult dystopian fiction.

[@jordyn.24]

I was looking for someone to mention this series. One of the first YA novels I picked up not including Rick Riordan’s novels.

[@joannabertenshaw6150]

I'd personally love to hear his opinions on Red Queen/Grace and Fury/The Lunar Chronicles.

[@dharabarot4033]

Lunar chronicles I liked, red queen had a great debut and then flopped

[@thedarkphoenix1640]

Dhara Barot Yes Same! I love the Lunar Chronicles and I liked the first Red Queen book but the second one I think I only got 60 pages in before I dropped it.

[@binita4672]

Red Queen is the only YA I've read and I quite liked it. Second book aka sword glass didn't have a great start but the ending really set me off the edge. Then the third book (king's cage) was purely boring which I really just read for the sake of finishing. War storm , the fourth one was way better than the third. Had proper character development, story telling through the other narratives were quite good in it. Overall I'd rank the series like this from best to worst 1. Red Queen 2. War storm 3. Glass sword 4. King's Cage

[@Aurelian369_]

Red Queen is kind of bad. Main character is boring, generic dystopia for the sake of a generic dystopia, predictable plot twists… at least the worldbuilding is pretty interesting The Lunar Chronicles have a great setting and are generally fun. They’re not deep by any means and the middle books are lower quality but I still like the series overall

[@trungkiennguyen9193]

Omg you mentioned Ranger’s Apprentice!!!! I am so happy. I used to love those books and i never heard them being talked about enough. Another YA thing that was pretty big for a while wa fairy tales retellings iirc.

[@stephenpaul668]

Will you ever talk about the “His Dark Materials” series? Personally, those are some of my favorite books especially among those directed at younger readers.

[@Terestrasz]

A very good analysis. Here is one of my additions to this: The format and content of YA novels also changed a lot: -Continuity After Harry Potter, YA books became more, well, serialized. In that there was an overall continuous narrative and a metaplot to the series. While younger adult fiction is NO stranger to series, one thing you may notice is that a lot of the 'series' were rather, well, episodic. They would introduce an overall 'theme' to the novel, then resolve it within 150-250ish pages. It'd be Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boy's current mystery. You can even see this with Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events - the first couple entries to the series are relative standalones. Around book 4 (for Harry Potter) and book 5 (For A Series of Unfortunate Events) is when the books start directly feeding into one another. They transition from being an episode of Pokémon to an episode of The Vision of Escaflowne. Then you look at Percy Jackson, which despite being relatively standalone, is setting up to a wider metaplot (And of course, around book three, the plot really starts going.) but you can notice certain rules and basics for the setting are repeated to you within the first two books. These days it's pretty rare for YA to do this. Hell, Animorphs practically repeats the basis of the setting in many of the books (Especially the earlier stuff!) and several books in the series can be skipped without really missing much. (Some animorphs readers even advise you to do this if you're binging it!) Again, you can point out a lot of exceptions of "YA" (like Young Wizards) or even books intended for a younger audience that directly led into one another and followed a larger narrative (such as the Prydain Chronicles), but after Harry Potter, publishers were more willing to accept an entire series of books. It was assumed kids wouldn't have the attention span for it - hell wasn't Handler even explicitly told to do this in case there wasn't going to be any followup? -Length Teen books existed in the 80s and 90s. But many of them were shorter. Things like The Neverending Story or some Redwall books were more exceptions, not the rule. Harry Potter showed kids do have the attention span to read longer books. -Mature themes Harry Potter or not, something like this was GOING to happen eventually. Someone always published a book intended for a younger audience that made parents question if it was suitable for them. If it wasn't Harry Potter, it was probably going to be something else. I hear people talk about how modern kids are so coddled yet they probably don't remember how controversial things like "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret" was. It's pretty tame by today's standards - yet in the 70s and 80s? It was one of the most challenged books of its time because they talked about puberty and religion. I know people might say "But what about this book I read in school like Hatchet or To Kill a mockingbird? Or Animorphs?" Allegedly To Kill a Mockingbird isn't actually a kids book. And you're focusing mostly on the exceptions.

[@aaetriv]

i demand a rangers apprentice video.

[@livsmakeupchannel4944]

One of my favorite YA book series is Gone. It’s the “all adults have disappeared” idea, but with a mix of sci fi and is great for fans of the hunger games, X-Men and Percy Jackson

[@igniaignia8777]

OH YES! I love that series, mostly because it's rather unique and I never find it boring, honestly I wish more people knew of it t b h

[@vedantthapar3666]

I liked the first 3. After that..... meh. I read the 4th mostly our obligation and never bothered with the others. It was a few years ago tho, so might pick it up again if I have time.

[@betheone4837]

@@vedantthapar3666 read all nine... 7-9 I didn't like the protagonist but the old cast was there somewhat and the ending of the last one was interesting.

[@CourtOfTarth]

It’s interesting that you categorize male lead books as gender neutral and female lead books as books for women.

[@anaisalvarez6017]

Because most of the really popular guy characters were also largely read by girls too (I've read Harry Potter, Percy Jackson), whereas apparently all the popular female MC are mainly read by girls. I imagine that is why. Though I wish there wasn't this distinction about what is geared towards girls or boys.

[@batorsagandszerelem4474]

There's been studies that proved men/boys tend to gravitate more towards books with male protagonists. Women/girls, meanwhile, would read and enjoy books regardless of protagonist's gender, be it male or female. That's why when a book has a female protagonist some people assume it's automatically "geared for a female audience". Guys tend to avoid or dismiss books with female protagonists, specially in the fiction genre. It's weird when you think about it.

[@yarpen26]

@@batorsagandszerelem4474 Maybe because female readers are okay with their story avatars not doing all, much or even any action. Some of the most notoriously girl-appeal-only stories (such as Twilight or Grey) have female protagonists that don't ever do jack shit. So I guess women might easily insert themselves into, say, a love interest of the male main character. Guys don't really dig passive protagonists though-most liked Hunger Games very much and that's an example of a YA novel in which you could easily swap the characters' gender and nobody would tell any better.

[@ryanplzz]

It's more about the themes and stories of the books, not what gender the protagonist is.

[@TKDDLJ09]

To be fair though, somemof my favourites are female led, with 50% plot and 50% romance and in those books the female talk about how hot the guy is, a few times, and i doubt straight guys would enjoy to know this guy had an amazing sixpack. 🤣🤣 alos, generally guys dont dig romance as much as women and thats totally cool. As long as they dont make fun of people who does love some romance in their books. Also, i just think its harder for a guy to resonate and understand a female than it is for a female to understand a guy. I also see a lot of guys dont believe when a female can kick ass, so its hard to have a female be the mc when many men think its ridiculous to think a women could beat up a man.

[@Ayihours]

I don’t think there was an actual evolution though. Trends definitely came and went but YA itself hasn’t really changed as much. Which isn’t a bad thing!

[@PlotsAndPoints]

The real evolution is that YA used to be written to market towards teenagers, now it's written to market towards 20+ year old former teens that have popular review platforms that help sell to teenagers.

[@eleanorjones26407]

yup

[@eleanorjones26407]

so, you forgot a few things... but mainly the early stuff Like, -The Outsiders (Largely considered the first book for Young Adults) -Judy Blume stuff (Some of the first YA contemporary's) -& Lois Duncan (YA thrillers largely published between 1970 through the 1990's)

[@Snowy_Breeze]

I hate John Green. I won't elaborate. Edit: I lied, I'll elaborate. I don't hate John Green. He's actually a decent guy, it seems. I just strongly dislike his writing. The Fault In Our Stars is full of armchair philosophy, I almost couldn't finish it, it was so cringe-inducing. I do, however, like Crash Course although when that other guy takes over and hits the eagle, it's a bit cringey. Eagle = America. Knock over eagle = disrespect America. I don' know.

[@MaiBui-zl9mb]

Snowy crash course 💀💀

[@isaacisis5876]

He talks so much slower now :( he deserves a second chance

[@ryanmaddigan2959]

I love hank green, I think his contributions to education are fantastic and he seems like the superior version of his brother. But I couldn't finish his book

[@owlblocksdavid4955]

Awww I love Craig. Everyone hated Craig in my AP Gov class. Well, not hated. But he was cringey, and I love him for it. Like the Crash Course Econ teachers. The Greens may be the better presenters, but the cringey sheepish humor is great. That's also why I like China Uncensored.

[@anaisalvarez6017]

The eagle thing seems like a dumb reason to dislike an author, but the rest I understand.

[@catalinammmmmm]

"Because Gryffindor"

[@kylersmith6869]

Everything by Marie Lu is YA gold. Legend trilogy is the best modern-take on dystopia that outclasses Hunger Games, Divergent, Taken, Maze Runner, etc. due to superior world building and character development. Plus Multiple Pov was a huge standout for me. Warcross is great and is comparable to a Ready Player One. The Young Elites I enjoyed with my background of reading fantasy dragon and medieval books in my past. But the thing that sets Lu apart from the crowd is her ability to make the reader connect with the MC. No matter what gender they are or their love interest, it's always from a relatable POV and makes you really care for the characters.

[@poppygloria3819]

Hey, this video was done really well, and I could relate to a lot of what was said. I think because I'm 17, I've grown up with a lot of these books being a part of my reality and I familiarized myself with several of their stories and although I really enjoyed them at the time, the more romantically focused it became the more and more I lost interest in reading as a whole. After I watched your video I think I'm going to check out a lot of the books you mentioned (that don't have romance as a primary feature). Also PJ is AMAAAZING and is NOT a Harry Potter knock off. Have a wonderful day

[@laurenstroupe8254]

Your analysis videos are so wonderful to watch. They're interesting to listen to and unbelievable informative. Also, I could listen to your voice all day.

[@marytreaty9357]

Rangers apprentice and Eragon are some of my favorite series. They still hold up bur lile no one reads them

[@alaskaag881]

Tfw the Legend fandom has so little content that you get excited when you see the book in the thumbnail of a KZbin video 😔

[@BenefitCounterbench]

Between 2013-2015, the library's YA section was full of werewolf, werecat, fairy, and angel stories but they were all PwP. I was fed up.

[@caitlynclendenning870]

As someone who only reads YA (well not only but mostly) I can appreciate that it is one big genre encapsulating many littler genres, but I'm so glad some writers are tryinf to turn away from only focusing on the romance. The Ash Princess trilogy are my favourite books of all time, all three, and one of my favourite parts of it is that the romance is handled maturely. It is a regular part of life, but it never distracts Theo from goals. That's how it should be.

[@memorymotions]

This is really nicely made and practical. This stuff can feel really dated really fast, however. Red Queen, all that, was popular several years ago. A lot of fantasy ya coming out recently revolves around royalty, political intrigue, dark bad boy lovers, and morally gray characters who walk the line between relatable and ethically barren. And fae. So much fae.

[@zucchinibyday]

Also, thank you so fucking much for not wrapping up Michael Grant's _Gone_ books with the 'adults are gone' genre. While that is definitely the premise of the _Gone_ books, those books are excellent with amazing themes of humanity and morality

[@Grudgebearer47]

I want to write a young adult novel, but it takes place during a historical time period (think American Revolution or Napoleonic Wars). Except in my story, the main adult character is more of a protagonist than the main teenage character; the latter in fact is called an idiot for trying to be heroic.

[@amiacumbee5123]

as a history buff, definitely would read this. read a book a few years ago, can't remember the name, where these two siblings went through a time traveling door to try and save their dad. super cool when i was younger.

[@Lily-vq2ik]

I was surprised the Gone series by Grant hasn't been mentioned. I read it once when I was younger and reread it not too long ago, and it still holds high praise even for the 17 y/o me now. It's one of the "adults go missing" books mixed with sci-fi/fantasy elements, and while it sounds cliched, Grant just makes everything work so well. He isn't scared to kill off some characters, there's diversity and the characters aren't shallow, and the little bit of romance doesn't become the plot.

[@seashell9570]

Its nice that you like it but the writing is so bad in that book for me that no matter how many times I try to read Gone I just can't finish it.

[@gordianplot9347]

i believe some men have always both read and wrote romance novels. its just that these days they are more likely to admit it.

[@tuckert9563]

boy what a great video. these are the books i grew up with and this all makes so much sense looking back on it

[@gamebros5611]

1984 had a emphasis on the romance between Winston and Julia. Why can’t YA dystopia be like that too.

[@MadiMikay]

This was my first time watching one of your videos and I love this and instantly subscribed. Keep up the great work!!

[@everydayeater5656]

"some sort of weird apocalypse wheere only the adults die and all that's left are kids" COVID-19:"..."

[@Ashathefree8]

8:55 why is that Tibet, one of the highest Plateaus in the world, under water? Did the Chinese government pump water that should be going into eastern China into Tibet?

[@robertgronewold3326]

That's well spotted. It's strange, because that world flooding map from Legend follows everything else extremely well.

[@itsmist-er]

All I’m saying is that Eragon had dark hair. Okay, thanks.

[@itsmist-er]

@Salivar Ravilas Forgive me, for I have sinned.

[@ossabellator13]

I just discovered this channel and was surprised to find that the titles I have read in the past are actually known and read. It seemed though that no one knew anything past Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. I just subbed now for the amazing reading community.

[@ariyellsalot8961]

Tbh the only 'all the adults died' apocolypse book i've read was the girl who owned a city. Although that one was written in 1975

[@surprisinglysurviving751]

most of such series that i've heard of always featured a female lead, i found his comment confusing.

[@evahelenehagavik8346]

I don’t follow trends, neither in my writing or reading. I’m often late to reading popular books anyway, so I see an interesting book and I read it. And I write whatever I feel like writing. For example, people keep referring to the time of dystopias, and honestly I still love reading and writing dystopias soooo

[@supermigit999]

YA is basically the american word for shounen or shoujo depending on if the book's aimed at teenage boys or girls

[@Giaphaige]

Im pretty sure GONE by Michael Grant kick started the "all the adults disappear" genre of YA, it was published in 2008. I havent read any other books in that sub-genre but GONE really leaned heavily into the horror aspect of having kids try to recover and restructure society with limited knowledge and resources. Its an interesting thought experiment for a book.

[@iwilitu6591]

Not three minutes in the video and I can’t take this guy seriously, calling PJ a HP knockoff... wat?

[@ethancroft2560]

Talks about bookstores in 2005 and actually uses a picture of a bookstore from 2005 (1:43 The Game, published 2005). That's going above and beyond.

[@kdnxnhdhdbfn2769]

Oh yeah the two teenage fantasies 😂 A) #notlikeothergirls and boys love them or B) murdering the undead

[@TheBarovianDuck]

Even with me being a guy i really enjoyed reading the Throne Of Glass series. I have an extremely soft spot for romance. Its one of the first book series i actually bought. Such a good read

[@Eukleides89]

The is-YA-a-genre argument is basically same as the is-isekai-a-genre argument.

[@sarawiser]

LOVE THIS!!! I'm not the biggest YA fan anymore because I'm just sick of the knock-offs (as you put it) and I feel like a lot of the writing is not that good (some of them are well written but the majority use dumbed-down language and try too hard to use teenage slang/pop culture references). I've been thinking of making a video about the evolution of the YA genre for a while now, and I loved how you built your argument here.

[@iblamejanepodcast]

I wouldn't say to not follow trends completely. Definitely write the story you want to write, but I also think you should pay attention to trends so you have an idea of where your story will fit into the current landscape.

[@amrencortez2636]

Quarilas mentioned in the comments about a fairytale retelling during 2013-2015. I feel that period and after 2015, there's a unsuspecting (could be magical) girl that becomes princess by a matter of romantic association and is thrown into a kingdom's affairs. I like to call it YA political fantasy in a sort of way. It includes books like Queen's Rising, Four Dead Queens, The Wrath and the Dawn, The Black Witch, Nemesis (by Anna Banks), The Red Queen, Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, An Enchantment of Roses, The Folk of the Air, Cresent City, Carve the Mark, Heart of Iron, The Lunar Chronicles, and the Diabolic. They tend to be in a medieval or advanced kingdoms, a folklore creature inhabited kingdom, or in a tyranical royal space empire.

[@Leivve]

Maybe it's just the algorithm, but I have been seeing a massive flood of YA books that are "guy gets trapped in video game, likely a warlock so he can have a sexy succubus companion."

[@bookswithike3256]

Seems pretty anime.

[@KyleAPemberton]

Really??? I have not seen a single one. I've seen that heaps in anime but not at all in books.

[@bookswithike3256]

@@KyleAPemberton Same.

[@DancingTiger]

It's the recent increase in indie writers writing litrpgs. My advice is stay away from anything that is litrpg. Sure there are some good stuff in that genre by like 97 percent of it is complete crap or becomes crap by the end of book series.

[@Leivve]

@@DancingTiger Indeed most of it is Isekai power fantasy trash. Only series I like is "Everybody Loves Large Chest," and even then, it's a guilty pleasure just cause it spins a couple of those tropes on their head. It's still just an "alright" at most story.

[@laurencamila9024]

It is interesting how it goes through ages: fantasy YA, paranormal YA, dystopian YA, and I feel like fantasy is making a comeback right now and for the last few years

[@anaisalvarez6017]

Yeah, definitely.

[@collinb2767]

I started to read the Mortal Instruments, but I stopped midway through the second book, because the her being with her brother to weird, and the romance was overwhelming the much cooler aspects of the world.

[@pileofanxiety1255]

Later in the books(spoilers) you find out they are not related at all and that Jace has a completely different dad and mom(were you talking about jace).

[@saladwhyamisalad]

BookishPanda123 I also will say that the other series that take apart of that world are worth suffering through the Mortal Instrument books

[@collinb2767]

Yuuki Tao I was referring to him, yes

[@collinb2767]

Lillie Holzworth I might try to push through them again sometime, maybe.

[@callis245]

Same. I read until about the 4th book, but became disinterested in it. I've always like fantasy, but also never liked much of the supernatural stuff. I guess I also wasn't a big fan of romance, and felt that the world wasn't explained very well.

[@PASTRAMIKick]

It's fucked up that Phillip Seymour Hoffman's last movie was Mockingjay fucken sad.

[@strawberryyogurt7]

does anyone have good, recent YA book recommendations? My reading habit fell apart 2 years ago but i was a hugeeee fan of them. I want to start reading again but don't know where to start

[@lorraine4786]

This isn't super recent, but my favorite book of all time is called Salt to the Sea. It's YA but also historical fiction about ww2. It switches perspectives between 4 main characters and just overall is really well done. Another YA book I really like is even older, but still good, called When (by victoria laurie). The main character can see peoples death dates and this causes her to get caught up in some murder investigations. That ones kind of a murder mystery.

[@harpsickally7439]

I'm not sure what you're into, but i know of a few really good YA books, at least in my opinion. They're not super recent so i don't know if you've read them, as they were varying degrees of popular. First off, I'd reccommend Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo because it is, i my opinion, an all around phenomenal story with amazing characters. If you haven't heard of it, it follows a group of teenage criminals who are all in a gang together and decide to rob the most secure facility in the world. It's awesome, very character based, but i tend to enjoy more character based stories. It's also just really unique, in my opinion. Second one i would reccomens is also a duology like SoC, it's This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab, it's seriously amazing and it has a really unique premise and a lot of heart. Basically, it follows to characters who are on opposite sides of a war between two halves of a city. And in this world, any bad or violent action that someone commits will spawn a killer monster. It gets really interesting, in my opinion. I'd totally reccommend it. I think they're both a few years old now, so i'm not sure if you would have read them or not, but if you haven't you absolutely should. Also, I'd highly recommend reading the raven cycle. It is all around an absolutely amazing series without a doubt, and so much happens in it i can't really even give a summary. But rhat series has been around for a while so you've probably already heard of it/read it. All three of these are my alltime favorite books/series so i highly recommend then, but they might not be your speed. I don't think they're for everyone, all three definitely lean more toward the much more mature and darker side of things

[@lorraine4786]

@@harpsickally7439 when I got the notification for this reply I remembered the Raven cycle and was gonna comment about that too, so I was happily surprised to hear you recommend it too

[@harpsickally7439]

@@lorraine4786 I got into the raven cycle way after it was popular, but it is legitimately one of the best series i've ever read and i wish people remembered it more when they say things along the lines of "YA is trash." because they're are a ton of gems in the YA genre; the raven cycle is a great example. Anyway, i'm glad you've read them too!

[@lorraine4786]

@@harpsickally7439 I actually got into them just this year from my friends that had read them, so I'm actually just reading the second book. But it is really good so far, especially in terms of characters being fully flushed out and distinct.

[@ianmeadows6941]

Hopefully it gets better from here on out, the older books like Lord of Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird and Harry Potter were my favorites as they were completely different from the typical teenage girl leads a revolution while deciding between her childhood friend or the new bad boy in town (or simply getting it on). I mean I still get Vietnam flashbacks from the horror show that was...Divergent 😖.

[@apenasmaisumdiogo.7115]

I don't even think that the problem is the subgender, it's just the oversaturarion and lack of originality

[@alyssafleischer8449]

as someone who didn't grow up reading much YA but was a massive scott westerfeld fan specifically through my adolescence and teens it's so interesting to see how his career lines up with these trends, where he had a stake in three major slices of YA through the low-fantasy-adventure Midnighters, the paranormal romance Peeps, and teen-girl-fights-dystopia with Uglies, ALL releasing in 2004-2005, making him simultaneously behind, with, and ahead of the curve. plus with how big it was when i was a kid i can't help kind of thinking of uglies as the sort of progenitor of the modern girl-dystopia subgenre. his stuff is a great example of blazing your own trail as a writer instead of trying to follow trends, and i wish that the Leviathan books had sparked more of a trend themselves other than like, getting kids into steampunk in the late 00s lol

[@OB-806]

Good analysis, interesting concept and well explored. Have you ever read Worm? Not related to this video, as such, but I've been reading it lately and it's very good. Would be interested in your thoughts on it.

[@johannageisel5390]

Do you mean the web original about superheroes? I rear the beginning but it became too sad for my taste. It's great, but I can't handle some stuff very well. But for those people who are fine with it, I would recommend it.

[@jadapisanilee1976]

"Harry... being a guy that was saved by his mom."

[@Sarah239A]

Escape From Furnace is one of the most epic series, probably written for boys. No romantic love interest and terrifying writing 😁

[@moonyasnow36]

This was really interesting, and seeing more of it would be fun! I like anlysis of any kind, and hearing about all of these different books made me kinda interested in reading more! I’ve never been good at reading, mostly because of my pretty short attention span + ADHD. I can only read really captivating stuff. Which means, if It's not a masterpiece at drawing the readers in, I can't read it because I get bored and start thinking about other things. So I just end up watching reviews instead, a lot of the time. I've always loved the idea of a story with only kids, where all the adults just kinda dissapear. I think that's why I loved a tv-series called 'the sparticles' so much when I was younger. Also, going back to the review thing. I watched KrimsonRogue's review of 'The Maze Runner', and the story stopped sounding fun for me when they unlocked the door. Wonder why...I guess the mystery and strangeness made me interested. Anyway, I realized I just went on a tangent there without meaning to.

[@carole-rosemelanie-jane6570]

I think fairy tale retellings dominate now. They are terrible.

[@ultantuffy1194]

Carole-Rose Melanie-Jane The Lunar Chronicles we’re good imo

[@aliceplays9921]

Hmmmm ACOTAR

[@brookeharris2043]

Cinder kinda slaps tho ngl

[@JuliaN-fi9zw]

AlicePlays Idk SJM really moved away from beauty and the beast when she wrote the second one. I wish I had read more books before hers because they’re well written but goddamn those abusive themes were dripping and 13 year old me was thirsty

[@AlastairReviewsIt]

So glad someone did this

[@ladymidnight4282]

"Percy Jackson is a Knock off of Harry Potter" Percy Jackson Fans are typing ......

[@0Ploxx]

Damn bro funny comment but anime pfp My early 2010s derp Scout is superior

[@genghiskhan7691]

lol Percy Jackson series is trash compared to the greats

[@0Ploxx]

@@genghiskhan7691 Ghenghis Mong Napoleon better

[@genghiskhan7691]

@@0Ploxx lol I conquered Russia in the winter, he could only sniff it.

[@0Ploxx]

@@genghiskhan7691 you started off in Russia and failed to defeat japan

[@marsing69]

huh, no mention of gone in the whole adults disappear thing. haven't thought about it in a while but i do remember enjoying it as a kid, it did seem a tad brutal to be reading in middle school haha. with the whole worms in the field eating kids and depictions of fighting and killing other kids and whatnot, felt a lot more real than something like hunger games or maze runner.

[@hannah-bo5bc]

yooo I completely forgot about that series... I also read it in middle school, and yeah, maybe not something you should be reading at that age. I loved it though

[@hristol7537]

The author of The Maze Runner claims that he started writing it in 2005, so it shouldn't be considered a Hunger Games clone. Anyway, this vide iso really nice, I just wanted to defend one of my favorite book series... 😁

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Let's not forget that every Harry Potter book follows the Hero's Journey principle. But with time the character ages and also the reader ages, so the themes move from "You're a wizard, Harry!" to more adult themes. Oh and Lord of the Rings and Star Wars also follow the circle.

[@charlottelarochelle-compto2650]

Has anyone else notice the sudden popularity of imperial Russia or stuff like it in YA, or is that just me?

[@anaisalvarez6017]

I've noticed lots of fantasy books tend to world build with names and words based on other languages, and eastern/Russian, and arabian seem to be quite popular. But I haven't really noticed much of imperial Russia. Well, there also seems to be sort of a trend to do more "ethnic" stories, and base them on legends of different countries

[@charlottelarochelle-compto2650]

@@anaisalvarez6017 I thought about it so more, and I think you might be right on that. Maybe it's more Russian folklore I've been noticing. Thank you!

[@JuliaN-fi9zw]

I feel like the second we started focusing on romance in books everything fell apart. A lot of famous books (Scythe, Warcross, Cinder, Legend, Six of Crows) aren’t focused on romance. While those books have a lot of romance in them, they don’t FOCUS on it. I found that the second I see the love triangle theme the story becomes predictable. Don’t get me wrong, I love those stories but they aren’t what I really love. Contemporary is one of the biggest genres because they focus on life, SCI-FI YA is pretty popular because it’s brand new even with the love. Almost everyone in this comment section has said they really enjoyed Legend by Marie Lu and Cinder by Marissa Meyer but that’s because those books are about the stories. The whole driving point of Legend is the love between Day and June. The books that do well are now the new ones that are stories and not romances.