YA'll should stop saying that

So here I am browsing a prominent UK SF magazine’s book reviews in a shop (always good to keep an eye out for new temptations). I spot a book rated three stars that I know I have to review next month. I tend not to read reviews of books in the queue early but might just stick to the conclusion- what harm can that do? Then I see IT. Something that now is the annoying phrase that when I see uttered often by readers; bloggers and now the alleged professionals makes my blood boil…this book is more Young Adult. Gentle reader let me explain my ire and why I believe this is the stupidest thing to ever say in a review.

Ah but first let’s talk examples of books I’ve seen labelled young adult – The Poppy War by RF Kuang, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow, Hall of Smoke by H M Long, Binti by Nnedi Okorafor; Starborn by Lucy Hounson, Red Rising by Pierce Brown – all adult fiction titles published by mainstream genre publishers. Books I have read; often do have adult content and themes; had adult on the marketing press sent to me or bought in the adult fiction section of bookshops. So what is leading to the decision on the reader or reviewer to now label it YA?

Are they being helpful? Are they simply saying as the term means this book can be read by a teenager typically 13+? Genres are often blurry – for example space opera really all about the science and isn’t a lot of the time its all magic but with handwavium? Well not in this case YA itself is not a genre its an audience rating/target market; there are YA books targeted to fantasy, science fiction, horror and every other genre under the sun. This particular use of it I saw helpfully explained what YA meant for this reviewer in the magazine– a lack of complex characters and depth to the plot. Every time I see YA used in this context the book is never being praised but politely damned – basically it’s not worthy of adult fiction. How dare this book waste the valuable time of the reader!

So first up lets gently point out that this statement shows the reader as lacking knowledge of the YA catalogue. A field that covers authors such as Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Witch series; Francis Hardinge’s many novels of quality; Rena Barron, Phillip Pullman, Charlie Jane Anders and many more. Books that have on occasion captured my heart, made me cry and think about the world I love I . Now I appreciate that clearly the readers and reviewers then are just saying adult fiction is always set at a higher difficulty level. So lets say Jim Butcher’s Dresden series pulsates with the hard questions of life; Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary really does examine the deep questions of life and the universe beyond it and the science is like so hard and not basic college level; and of course Terry Goodkind’s novels really are moral philosophy at its finest….you may sense I am being sarcastic. You are damn right.  Genres are broad and there are always a broad range of books at multiple levels of complexity and depth both for adults and the YA target market. But when readers say ‘I felt this book was YA’ they’re really for me demonstrating a lack of knowledge about both YA and adult fiction at the very least.

I also think the term is reviewers hiding what they really think. ‘This book is YA’ is not something I think that gets mentioned as a positive when I see it. If you challenge someone on what they mean is usually – oh there was a trope of some kind, a love triangle or sometimes its that they have younger lead characters clearly they’re something you don’t see in Mistborn, Lord of the Rings, Assassin’s Apprentice , Game of Thrones, Wheel of Time …oh hold on yes you do. Ultimately this means the reader thinks the book is of lower quality only fit for kids. Perhaps these are clearly basic simplistic writing ideas we never see in adult fiction…hold on I mentioned the Dresden Files already, didn’t I? (PS I actually enjoy that series - in places - I just don’t think its rocket science in terms of writing) Yeah, you may see why this term doesn’t really stack up for me as good criticism. The reviewer is always allowed to not enjoy a book; explain why and for me hiding behind ‘well this is for kids’ is the reviewer being lazy and not explaining why the book doesn’t work for you. Damn a book to high heaven but have the courage to say why. If you don’t like the characters or the plot then say so and not make you sound like you’re all edgy and grown up and ready to put away childish things. Also I don’t know about you but when I was a teenager I read complex books for adults too so stop being so rude about what teenagers can handle!

And deep down the thing that often jumps out at me are whose books get labelled YA the most. Let’s be clear this isn’t something these days just we can just level at male readers.  I would say more often it is white women who I see use the term the most now. But books by women get this label a lot; books by authors of colour get this used a lot as a sly criticism. It’s a slightly troubling reaction to people saying your books don’t fit my description of what adult science fiction and fantasy must be and therefore you need to sit outside the tent.

You’re always allowed not to enjoy a book. Remember my philosophy is that there are many books people won’t enjoy but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad book for everyone and it is not a reviewer’s job to move books to a different part of the bookshop. You’ll have a lot more impact instead being honest about why a book is not working; it will inform you more on your own tastes and who knows there are probably YA books that meet those needs too if you take your biases off.

Safe to say I didn’t buy that magazine…