Young adult fiction, otherwise known as YA, has a target audience of readers between the ages of 12 to 18. However, YA is often still consumed by older readers outside of the targeted age range.
At 21 years old, I am quite fond of reading YA fantasy, including titles like Throne of Glass, Daughter of the Pirate King, and Belladonna. As a personal preference, I don’t typically enjoy spice in my books. That doesn’t mean I won’t read it, but that preference is likely why I prefer YA fiction over adult fiction.
Lately, I’ve come across several book influencers commenting about the increase in adult content in the YA genre. The book that seems to have the biggest controversy is the 2026 February release Sybilline by Melissa de La Cruz, author of Alex & Eliza and The Isle of the Lost book series. Sybilline is considered a YA dark academia novel. It has been said to include graphic details, explicit content, problems with consent, a threesome, and the inclusion of necrophilia (defined as sexual intercourse with or attraction towards corpses). I myself have never read any of her books and after this research, I’m not sure if I plan to.
I’m not as interested in contemporary YA romance books as I once was a few years ago. At this point in my life, I find myself struggling to connect with the plot and characters due to their age and maturity. However, I’ve been a fan of Lynn Painter’s writing since I read Better Than the Movies in 2024. I’ve read all of her YA and adult books, except her latest release Fake Skating. Online, the book has been reportedly criticized for having a substantial amount of profanity. I don’t tend to mind the use of profanity so I will likely still read Fake Skating when I get the chance.
In terms of young adult, new adult, and adult fiction, the breakdown of book series can be interesting to look at. Throne of Glass starts as a YA series until book five, Empire of Storms, when the books start to have more mature content, and transitions into the adult fantasy genre. However, if you go into a bookstore, the series is entirely in the adult fantasy section. It makes sense from a marketing standpoint to keep series together, and furthermore, it makes sense to put it with the older age range to keep younger readers from the mature content they may not be ready for. Other popular fantasy series have had similar circumstances. The Harry Potter series started as a middle grade series and gradually transitioned into YA fantasy.
As an adult reading YA, the genre can be a hit or miss. Fantasy tends to be a safe option, still providing an emotionally compelling story without explicit romantic scenes that the romantic genre has popularized. With the rise of romantasy, it is possible that’s why we are starting to see more explicit and mature content in recently published YA books. If this trend (if you can call it that) continues, it will become a problem for parents who wish to avoid their children reading adult content.
Cover photo by Elin Melaas on Unsplash
