My senior year of high school has allowed me to branch out more with my reading taste (thanks to my AP English Literature class). Since I’m graduating high school in just under a month, I know that there are novels I have to read before college. Especially since I will be studying English. My reading taste has definitely changed a lot due to this mindset.
‘Growing Out’ of Young Adult
The only young adult books I’ve enjoyed in the last two years have been rereads of books that I know I’m going to enjoy (with a few exceptions of course). At first, I felt as if I was growing out of the young adult genre (even at the ripe age of 16). In hindsight, I don’t think that that was the case. Young adult is a genre filled with cliches. I think because I was reading it so often, every book began to blur together and seem way too similar. As an avid contemporary romance reader, the romance tropes were definitely being recycled in each book I read. I began reading young adult novels during what I believe was its peak. These were the times when The Hunger Games and Divergent were flying off the shelves. After the Twilight craze, these dystopian gems were all the rage. Now, I rarely pick up a dystopian read because I know that I’ll find some sort of parallel to the YA O.Gs. For example, when I read Red Queen in 2015, I absolutely hated it because I didn’t find one aspect of it original. And of course that was only because I’d read Divergent and The Grisha Trilogy ages before and saw the same ideas repeated in the newcomer fantasy novel.
Now, this is not me shaming YA for having reoccurring tropes. Sometimes I love finding the little quirks that only an avid young adult reader will notice (like the famous I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding line. A classic). It’s more my realization that I just didn’t want to read the reoccurring tropes as much anymore. I’d been reading since I was about 13 and I wanted something new. I didn’t notice this trend until years after I was off my YA binge-fest, and now that I do, I’m ready to branch out.
So…What Do I Read Next?
Once I jumped off the Young Adult train, I was a lost. The only non-YA books I’d read were for school, and I’d rarely ever enjoyed them. Until this year, that is. My senior AP English Literature class introduced me to reads I know will become new favorites. I read The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan for an assignment and mentioned it in my favorite books of 2017 video. I chose it from a long lists of books quite randomly and am so glad I did. It was so eye opening to read about another culture and the rift between generations within it. It made me want to read even more Amy Tan books. We also read Othello as a class, which opened me up to more Shakespeare. It made me want to learn more about the language used, so I’d be able to understand it without translations in the future. I was also able to read Brave New World and 1984 which are labeled dystopian classics.
Reading books of high literary merit made me feel happy to have found a new niche for myself within the reading world. I never took myself as a classics person, but I guess it was just because I honestly hadn’t read very many. I love the subject of English and I’m glad my class allowed me to read (and enjoy) books I would have otherwise never picked up.
What I’m Currently Reading
These days, I’m on the romance novel train. I read about 3-4 of these a month with maybe one young adult novel in between. New Adult romances are definitely my new obsession and have been for quite some time (I even have a post up about my favorite New Adult authors). They’re fun, quick reads with lovable characters. I’d have to say my favorite tropes thus far the college romances. They usually contain a girl whose very introverted or has a traumatic past, who meets a guy her polar opposite (the feels!). These novels aren’t perfect, of course, but I love reading them and finding new ones to swoon over. I’m sure I’ll go through the same dilemma one day as I did with YA, but I’m sure that’s just apart of growing up and how your thoughts evolve as you get older. Though, for now, I’m enjoying the ride.
Thanks for reading. I know this post was a bit different from my usual style, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Let me know what type of books you like to read and how your reading taste has changed over time!
XOXO,
city of deja 