My Ramblings: What Happened To The New Adult Genre?

A Gap In The Market:

What Happened To The New Adult Genre?

I came across a tweet that made me stop and think why I've been having a heck of a time finding books I'm over the moon about in the last year or so.

Why do so many adults still read YA?

There's a serious gap in the market for readers in their 20s that feature strong female characters they can relate to. I prefer YA fantasy because of the tough female characters- often absent in adult fantasy (mostly written by males).

— Jeann (@happyindulgence) July 23, 2019

I aged out of YA, the love of drama and overall immaturity a few years ago. I'll freely admit that, at one point, I lived for those books! They meant SO much to me, and they till do, but I don't enjoy them as much anymore. I'll never say never but it's currently not what I love.

Finding heroines in their early and late 20's who kick butt, swear and live their lives in the new adult genre is hard. Not impossible but hard. I've read and still occasionally do read books in the so-called adult edge of urban fantasy and they're just ok to me. I still find myself wanting more. I want a heroine who's still learning to adult, dealing with having magic and making reasonable mistakes along the way while not being so serious about everything.

All that begs the question: What happened to the New Adult genre that was booming for a little while there? Publishers don't seem interested in it. YA and romance are the heavy hitters in the business. I understand that they need to make money but there's a huge gaping hole for people between the ages of 20 and 30 that aren't as well represented in the books being released today.

According to Kristen Kieffer (Well-Storied) "Unfortunately, when NA books emerged roughly ten years ago, they did so almost exclusively with plots that can rather unanimously be summed up as “Young Adult fiction with explicit sex.” In other words, NA mainly consisted of erotica set most often within universities where Greek life clichés reigned and no one actually matured into adulthood". It seems probable that publishers still think of the new adult genre in this way. Though the genre has come a long way from 2017 (when her article was first posted) it can still be better. 

Why can't the genre new adult have more diverse sub-genres like romance does? Why not new adult romantic comedies, contemporaries, sci-fi, and paranormal romances. How about LGBTQ+ representation in the genre as well? Why are we stuck with YA + explicit sex? Being someone in the new adult age range is so much more than having friends, being unstable financially and sleeping around. Where are all the coming-of-age stories of being an adult, getting to know who you are without your parents, or (because I adore paranormal romance) where's my tall, dark and handsome vampire waiting for me to help him save the city?

* YA - Young Adult; NA - New Adult; PNR: Paranormal Romance; UF - Urban Fantasy

What genres do you find yourself drawn to?

Has it changed as you've gotten older?

Let me know in the comments below!