Adult Book Recommendations Based on My Favourite YA Fiction
A few weeks ago, I read a tweet that spoke about the transition from reading young adult to reading adult literature.
I can’t now find the tweet, but it spoke to this shift and how it becomes especially difficult when you are book shopping on a budget, as the probability of dissatisfaction increases, and so many readers find themselves “stuck” (for lack of a better word) in reading young adult literature.
I’ve heard many people speak up about a need for more new adult literature, which focuses on people in their twenties, and I think that could be a really nice transitional literature device for readers. Publishers should really tap into that.
Though I don’t know the original poster, their tweet really got me thinking about the privilege I had of having access to a local library. I used to visit week upon week and at a certain point in time I had read everything that interested me in the young adult section. And so I moved into adult.
I still remember my first few ventures into the adult sections of the library, tentative were my steps. I kept expecting a librarian to tell me I wasn’t supposed to be there. Of course, that never happened, but building my confidence in the adult section took some time.
What took longer was figuring out exactly what kind of adult literature I liked. An increased range of genres opened up to me and, without the necessary vocabulary, I struggled to figure out exactly what sections of the library I might find an adult version of the Noughts and Crosses series. I couldn’t locate verse novels, like many I had read and loved in YA. And the themes in adult were often darker, scaring me away at times. I liked my cosy, safe, young adult fiction section. But I knew I didn’t belong there anymore and I had outgrown it.
I soon found adult romance literature, one genre that was easy for me to translate from young adult to adult literature. The heat was definitely more intense, but you could still find clean or cute romance. I read romance at a rapid pace and so started reading Penny Vicenzi simply because I felt I was getting better value and was able to stick with characters for longer (I think a part of me was missing series). It was a good bridging, for me, and I later found my way into historical fiction, something which was (is?) far rarer in young adult literature.
My sharing of this personal anecdote is to say that when I read that tweet, I related to the struggle of moving from young adult to adult literature. I wanted to use this space to provide something useful for those who are in that place and at that stage right now, and so I’ve compiled a list of recommendations for adult titles you might like if you enjoyed specific young adult literature. I’ve read all of the titles in the list, unless otherwise stated, and would recommend them all.
These recommendations will largely focus on diverse literature because that is what interests me most. Something I often see being said about young adult versus adult literature is that most readers struggle to find diverse adult literature. If this is you, know that it is out there and it’s just a matter of digging deep and doing a bit more research (basically, the big publishers put less marketing budget into it so it won’t necessarily be shoved in your face in the same way).
Literary prizes will guide your way, if you’re unsure. Check out Lambda Literary Award, Polari Prize, and the Jhalak Prize. There are literary magazines (print and online) whose work is worth paying attention to: Bad Form and F-Word are two that I pay attention to. Note who you follow, too, and try to follow people who read diverse adult literature. A couple of my favourites, who read widely and diversely are: @safiyareads and @caseythereader on Instagram and Mercedes @ Mercy’s Bookish Musings and Ashley @ BookishRealm on YouTube. I tend to watch who my faves interact with and check out their stuff, too, so there’s a little tip for you.
If you need content warnings, please do check The Storygraph website. I didn’t want to break up the flow of the piece by including them here but some readers may benefit from content warnings on some of these pieces.
Without further ado, let’s get into it.
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