From Book Riot:
I confess, I am an adult, but I still read Junior and Young Adult novels. When my daughter was around age 12, she suddenly proclaimed that she was old enough that she didn’t need a bedtime story any more. By this time, we were well beyond picture books. However, each night I would read a chapter of a Junior or Young Adult Novel to her. I enjoyed the time we spent snuggling up, reading together. It was a bedtime ritual that we had started when she was very young, as I believed in the importance of reading to your baby.
It was also a great way for me to read novels that I was interested in. Novels that were marketed to younger generations, that is. Together we read J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, and Kate Forsyth’s Chain of Charms series, along with too many other books to name.
. . . .
A study published in 2012 showed that 55% of those purchasing YA fiction are over 18, with 78% of these reporting that the books are being purchased for themselves.
. . . .
The reason I read Junior and Young Adult fiction is because the plots are punchy and fast paced, keeping me turning page after page, usually well after I intend to put the book down. The characters are engaging and believable; they have to be to keep a younger audience hooked.
Link to the rest at Book Riot
The gratuitous erotic scenes and descriptions are not there. Nor are they needed for many readers and writers.
This makes the YA a easier sell to more audiences.
And maybe a little harder for the writer to stretch a book out.
Who wants to see 10 & 12 year olds with the Grey books?
I have read and liked many, many books that have parts that would make a sailor blush and many more books that only have a couple of needed swear words in strategic places.
I really have no preference, just that the writing should make me keep reading.
I write YA, and judging by reader contact, comments left in reviews, etc. I’d say my reading audience is about 1/3 young adults, 1/3 just plain adults, and 1/3 grandmothers (lots and lots of readers tell me they’re grandmothers!).
I’ve picked up a few here and there. I think the last one I read was Selection. It grabbed me at first, but the ending lost me and I never went on to any others. Most of the ones these days (at least the dystopian fantasy ones) make me wish for more layered writing. I will always go back to Tamora Peirce though. Love her stuff.
I write YA, so I admit I’m biased in my preferences. 😀
So, well written good stories. Probably why most of us read. 🙂
I read them occasionally too. Usually when my daughter has read one and tells me how great it is and I really need to read it because I’ll love it. Most often, she right, except for that time she said I had to read The Fault in Our Stars. I couldn’t read past a few chapters. Ugh. So self-involved.