Better as an adult book

[Alyssa]

I often find books I read as a teenager were classed as young adult or adult. There is something about the darker side of humankind that always sparked my curiosity. That being said I found this book to be justified in the YA rating as a young adult is between the ages of 18-26 according to the medical world, while some people say 19-35. So I don’t personally see an issue.

[readerrihana]

Yes the author could have done a much job if it was an adult book.

But to be honest a lot of adults do not want to read dark tales with sexual overtimes.

Young adults are also adults, only younger

However saying that these terms have social meanings about what to expect and what is suitable for that specific times of life...so I guess that is the main thing

[Howlan]

Yes the author could have done a much job if it was an adult book.

But to be honest a lot of adults do not want to read dark tales with sexual overtimes.

Young adults are also adults, only younger

However saying that these terms have social meanings about what to expect and what is suitable for that specific times of life...so I guess that is the main thing

Yes, I meant that if the author wanted to create a story focusing on dark themes, the YA genre did not provide him with enough freedom to do so.

[missrlynnf]

I agree that this book should have been categorized as an adult book. The themes alone require that, as the YA genre reaches readers as young as 13 years old.

I disagree that it being categorized as YA held the author back. I believe the author themselves chooses the genre (but I could be wrong, so feel free to correct me), but typically an author already has a genre intent for their book. That being said, I don't feel like the author held themselves back at all. Just in the first few pages, they confronted you with suicidal thoughts/mental illness and an Oedipus Complex. This book was adult right from the start and the only thing that suggests YA is the age of the main characters.

It's very misleading as the summary suggests a dystopian world story along the lines of Maze Runner and Hunger Games, but once you start reading it you realize you are as far from that as you can get.

I suppose that the intent of the author themselves (in that they intended it to be YA) may have held them back, as they had it in their mind they were writing YA and so didn't go as dark as they might have with an adult story. But, they still went pretty dark for something that was intended to be YA which is why I don't feel they were necessarily held back or limited. Overall, it would be great to ask the author if they did limit themselves because they intended it to be YA. I think that would be a fascinating conversation.

[readerrihana]

Yes the author could have done a much job if it was an adult book.

But to be honest a lot of adults do not want to read dark tales with sexual overtimes.

Young adults are also adults, only younger

However saying that these terms have social meanings about what to expect and what is suitable for that specific times of life...so I guess that is the main thing

Yes, I meant that if the author wanted to create a story focusing on dark themes, the YA genre did not provide him with enough freedom to do so.

I see what you mean, yes, I guess there is that restriction

[Bukola02]

I recommend this book for adult readers and it should be more of Sci-fi

[AntonelaMaria]

I recommend this book for adult readers and it should be more of Sci-fi

I missed sci-fi in this book too...when that part comes it is too late to even remember that this should be sci-fi/fantasy book.

[Nym182]

This is the same reaction I had to The Thornbirds. Although it was about young adults the shock value places it more in the adult theater.

Hmm the Thornbirds? I don't think I've heard of that one! Do you recommend it? (I am no stranger to dark subject matter)

Colleen McCollough's novel about an Australia orphan who has an affair with a Catholic priest. A hefty dose of dark pathos.

Sounds interesting! I'll have to add it to my list of books I want to read!

[Nym182]

There are some YA books that get quite dark and do it well, using the darkness to juxtapose innocence (or lack of it) in young characters. However, I do think that the sexual nature of some of the scenes was a little much for a book featuring high school students. It always makes me feel a little weird to think about adults reading a book about high school students in sexual situations.

I totally understand that aversion! And I also agree that it's ok for YA books to get dark, I just don't think this book was a good example. The subject matter it delves into wasn't handled with the care I would have liked and seemed to have dark/gritty moments just for the sake of having them. For example, the incest angle... The author used Adam to have sexual feelings for his mom as a result of the serum she ingested. The same goal could have been achieved by showing them just being very close or having Adam be extremely intuitive of Jo or maybe even having a telepathic connection.

[Nym182]

You are right. This is really a dark tale. Too dark for teens. It would be better for adults. The author might have had a good intention, but I don't think this genre is a good fit for the book.

I agree, it just went off the rails a little too much for my taste!

[Nym182]

I often find books I read as a teenager were classed as young adult or adult. There is something about the darker side of humankind that always sparked my curiosity. That being said I found this book to be justified in the YA rating as a young adult is between the ages of 18-26 according to the medical world, while some people say 19-35. So I don’t personally see an issue.

Interesting to know! From my research YA in contexts with reading is grouped as 12-18.

[Erin Painter Baker]

@Nym182 - Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. An Oedipal Complex is named after Oedipus. It is meant to describe the situation where a man has sexual feelings toward his mother and hatred toward his father. It's a pretty classic Freud thing, though Freud would have you believe it's incredibly common.

[Nym182]

@Nym182 - Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. An Oedipal Complex is named after Oedipus. It is meant to describe the situation where a man has sexual feelings toward his mother and hatred toward his father. It's a pretty classic Freud thing, though Freud would have you believe it's incredibly common.

Ohhhh, well that is quite interesting! Thanks for getting back to me!

[Ogoskino]

I also thought about this while reading this book. I found it quite inappropriate for children at times. Definitely more of an adult book than YA.

[Harsh Prajapati]

Yeah this book was better off for a bit older teenagers. I don't recommend this book for young teenagers.