Monday, January 6, 2014

Unravel me: The NA genre and me...

                                                                    Unravel me                                                                          

Unravel me is a meme made by myself that shows aspects of my life. This time I will discuss/tell you what I think about the New Adult genre that popped up in the last 2 years.


I had been in a really, really bad reading slump in 2013 and even before that - in late 2012. I felt like I could not read a book without being overcome with boredom.
Three month ago I gave reading another shot (why didn´t I just do that earlier?!) and I remembered how much I love venturing out into other worlds.

A thing I noticed, though, is that in my absence from reading another genre had popped up. The New Adult genre.
At first I was confused... Young Adult, yes, but New Adult? I saw that most covers of this genre are full of naked men or men and women embracing/kissing/etc, but all of them carry the message of open sexuality.

Apart from the fact that I don´t usually appreciate covers like that (I´m more into abstract covers), I had to admit that I really liked the idea behind this new genre. It often bothers me that Young Adult books don´t deal with sexuality, or if they do then a certain scene will fade to black. It annoyed me in a way, because I believe that there are decent ways to describe sex, without being provocative.

Since then I´ve read a few NA novels, but came to truly love only one of them, which could also have been part of the YA fraction if you ask me.
"Freak of Nature" by Julia Crane is considered New Adult, because the characters have sex and because it is described in the book. Still - I think it would also have been appropriate for young adults, because there was an innocence to it I came to appreciate.

Other New Adult novels focus too much on the sex part and I find it hardly interesting to read about two characters making out all the time. That is the reason why I also believe that there are a few really awful NA books that focus only on sex, which can be so tiring. The plot comes second and thought-through characters are not important. 
That is why I normally try everything to avoid NA books when there is no paranormal, fantasy or dystopian part in it.

Am I missing out on a few really great NA books? What is your opinion about the NA genre and do you have any reading suggestions for me?
Tell me in the comments, I´d love to know!

1 comment:

  1. I really don't want to try NA precisely because of covers and sex, but I plan to read Freak of Nature soon so I look forward to it if you liked it!
    And I agree, sex in YA is terrible. -.-

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