Discussion Post (#1) - New Adult

Welcome to our FIRST discussion of the month. We decided we wanted to spice things up on the blog so starting with this month we're going to come up with a monthly discussion and post it right here for you all to view and comment your opinions. We know discussions can get heated, and we kindly ask you all to keep any nastiness to yourselves and respect the opinion of others. If for whatever reason we decide to discuss a book in general, please do try to keep  spoilers to a minimum, and if you find you need to post a spoiler, please make everyone aware at the start with ****SPOILER**** this is just  so we don't ruin it for others.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This month we have decided to discuss the new genre that seems to be growing and becoming a great genre amongst readers everywhere.......

New Adult.

For those of you who aren't familiar with New Adult. It’s in between a YA book and an Adult book. The stories will generally feature mature adults, usually in college or having just left college. They will deal with more emotional situations and they can often have more complicated relationships than a YA book. New Adult consists of mature nature when dealing with sex, it won't be as steamy as an adult or as graphic as an erotica but it most definitely is a lot sexier compared to ANY YA book you may have read.

Recently more publishers like Simon and Schuster and Penguin have started taking on more authors who write New Adult. Abbi Glines,  Nicole Williams, Steph Campbell Tammara Webber, and Jamie McGuire - to name a few, are all authors who started out self-publishing their work and now, their some of the biggest New Adult authors out there.  These gals are seriously setting a new trend and these hot publishers are jumping on board! 

   

And this is Why we HEART New Adult.

1. The sex isn't so clean

Jess: Oh yeah. That's a favourite of mine. Lol. I get why YA needs to be clean, I do, but with New Adult you actually sit there and say...wow...they did it. With YA you sometimes... just never know. 

Donna: I double that oh yeah! Lol. One of my pet peeves is that YA’s sex scenes are always so frustrating and confusing and yeah I get that it’s because it’s for a younger audience but that’s why I love NA. It’s very realistic and so much more emotional! 

2. We like that it's on the cusp of YA but is still gritty enough to be passed as adult too

Jess: This is a big thing. Most YA's have to tone down the gritty things, but with a new adult...it's all out there. Airing the characters dirty laundry I prefer this as it gives a better idea of the characters you're reading about.

Donna: I love that that NA authors don’t shy away from being adventurous. Even though they still have to tone down parts of the story, it’s so much more open than a YA book. 

3. We like that it deals with real life issues, like disabilities, family issues etc...

Jess: This is great. It's another reason to love New adult. Being that it's riskier than a YA it can get away with going deeper and deeper into real life issues, without scaring people off

Donna: I love a good story where the main character has real life issues whether that being themselves or a family member. The issues are usually difficult and it’s interesting to see what each other will come up with. 

4. We like the twists. There always seem to be great twists that leave you shocked as a reader

Jess: Ahhh the twists. Gotta love a good twist. Always come to the end, but it's the twists that make a new adult book...as well as the sex.

Donna: The twists. I gotta say I love and hate the twists. I love them because they spice the story up and the make-up sex is usually amazing but then I hate the twist because, through the whole of the story, you just know its coming. Lol 

5. We love that both characters (the love interests) have some sort of dark secret, or dark issues rolling in them, like some sort of bad past that catches up

Jess: This is another great thing. It helps if the characters have a darkness hidden somewhere. It helps the reader understand why they are the way they are. It will always tend to help with character development too should there be sequels

Donna: Dark secrets are usually a bad thing because they cause so many problems in a relationship but in a story, they create so many intense scenes – usually. Characters always hold back because of their pasts and I love trying to work out what’s happened and how they can try and overcome their problems.

6. We LOVE that we get HOT covers!!! 

Jess: OMG the covers. The covers are fantastic!!! I LOVE that we get half naked men on some of them...or a scruffy man trying to undo a girl’s shirt...yup. Covers are are hot! 

Donna: Ha! So with Jess on that one! Usually half naked men are the best covers but recently there’s been a few hot covering with the characters kissing. I like this because it gives me a picture in my head of what each character should look like.

Some of our favourite covers are;

   

7. They're usually written in TWO pov's! We love double POV's especially getting in the guy’s head

Jess: I love double POV's, especially when we get to be in the guy’s head. It's so rare that books are written from a dudes POV, that it just makes New Adult all the better when there are two. Real feelings come out on both sides!

Donna: I’m a huge fan of alternative POV’s! They just work so well within a story and I think all authors should do this because you do get to understand both characters better rather than just one character and usually it’s the girl. 

And just before we leave you, here a few books that self-published books that we'd love to see hit the shelves! 

  

So there's our top Why We Heart New Adult.  What do you think? Do you agree with us or  is there something we've forgotten? Leave your thoughts below.