New Adult on Total Teen Fiction

Recently I've started to branch out and start reading New Adult, which is something I've been wanting to do for a while. Because of this, I wanted to address the issue of NA here on the blog - what is it? Is it different to YA? What are the common misconceptions? As well as deciding whether or not to review these books here on Total Teen Fiction.

Let's start with the basics!  

What is New Adult? NA (for short) is an age category for books, in the same way that YA (YA is generally 13+) and 9-12 (also known as middle grade) are. NA usually focuses on characters aged 18-25 years old. This means whereas in YA we may see characters dealing with school life, characters in NA might be at college or working. Because of the older age of the characters and intended audience, they can take on a slightly more mature tone than YA books.

What are the common misconceptions? NA has come under fire for being YA with loads of added sex. Obviously with YA being aimed at younger readers, sex is an issue that is touched upon but not in so much detail. NA novels do tend to tackle it a bit more head on but not all NA has sex in it. There's also the expectation that NA is all contemporary romance. This is certainly a genre that is popular within the NA category but, like YA, NA covers all genres from fantasy to romance to paranormal.

When I first started hearing about the rise of NA, I was really excited. As a 22 year old I really want to read about characters my own age and facing similar issues that people my age face. I've recently started downloading some NA titles to my Kindle and can't wait to get stuck in. I think NA and YA have very similar audiences and writing styles and so would appeal to a lot of the same readers. For that reason, I am planning to feature NA reviews on the blog. I hope you'll all be as excited as me about the great books I have lined up!

Total Teen Fiction will always remain a predominantly YA blog and I will state in my NA reviews what issues the books deal with an any mature themes so that people can make an informed choice as to whether that book is for them or not. But in the same way that I read and review the occasional middle grade or children's book, I will also feature NA. I'm a firm believer that age is irrelevant when it comes to reading choices. I spent my teens reading grizzly crime fiction that contained much more shocking stuff than anything I've seen crop up in NA so far! What you read is always a personal choice.

I hope this post has made things a little clearer and feel free to shoot me any questions in the comments!

For more information about New Adult I highly recommend the following links:
The New Adult Book Club - Goodreads
"New Adult books - What they are, why i love them and why you should read them" - Bookish Treasures
NA Alley
"New Adult fiction is the hot new category in books" - USA Today