Why YA is Not an Actual Genre
Books labeled as “Young Adult” do not have a similar set of content which goes against the literal definition of a “genre.”
May 3, 2021
You might have seen the words “Young Adult” or “YA” in bookstores and libraries, you’ve probably also seen books labelled or categorized as “Young Adult,” and chances are, you’ve probably read a “YA” Novel. However, “YA” is not an actual genre.
Genre is “a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like,” according to the dictionary. If “YA” was truly a genre, the books written in the genre would have similar content as the definition shows. However, books marketed as “YA” have a wide range of topics ranging from dystopian, to science fiction to high fantasy to realistic fiction and more. So unless you’re talking about bad love triangles and boring female protagonists, books labelled as “Young Adult” do not have a similar set of content which goes against the literal definition of a “genre.” That’s one reason I do not consider “YA” to be a genre.
Then again, there are certain tropes and cliches that all of “Young Adult” has that is exclusive to the “YA” marketing brand. Each genre does have it’s own small cliches and the same could be said for “YA”. Due to that, “YA” may seem like an actual genre. Still, “YA”’s crude resemblance to an actual genre still does not make it one.
Think of how a genre like fantasy, realistic fiction or sci-fi can be read by a variety of people of all ages. There are books in every genre that are for kids. There are books in every genre that are directed towards adults. A true genre would encompass all age ranges. Sadly, the supposed “YA” genre does not fulfill this criteria. Hence, the label “Young Adult,” it’s only a range of books that are for the teenage demographic. So for all of you who read “YA” books and claim that it’s a genre, you probably have the wrong definition of the term “YA.” “YA” is not a genre, it is merely a marketing brand that is targeted towards young adults.
Duke of Magento • Dec 7, 2025 at 9:39 pm
This is simply a mistake of category. Yes, the category of Young Adult (YA)is broad, but that alone does not disqualify it from being a genre. The category nevertheless maintains certain tropes, and a certain style of writing, which unifies it together. If you want to use that particular standard for what is and isn’t a genre, you can do that, but the issue is that you prove way too much. Because this same logic could be applied to children’s books. Children’s books are incredibly diverse, taking something like Aesop’s Fables and comparing it to something like the Cat and the Hat. So, applying the same logic, why should we have a genre like children’s books? Well, the answer to this question is fairly obvious: we have this genre so as to have books to provide children which they will generally be able to comprehend. And it is more or less the same idea with YA (although it has much more to do with enjoyment of reading in the latter’s case, since reading skills have been mostly developed at the point in question). Whether or not a genre should or should not appeal to a specific age range is irrelevant to the question at hand, since the question was a matter of what is, not a matter of what should be. That seems to be more or less the issue with this article.