Recommendations for… young adults wanting to try adult fiction

Even though I participate in giving Monthly Recommendations, I thought I would start my own where every couple weeks I give recommendations for a specific topic. Today I’m doing books for teenagers and young adults who want to try adult fiction. As a youth (lmao I sound so old), I found adult fiction hard to get into. I thought the writing was tricky and I didn’t understand anything, but I was too old for YA (or too old to read ONLY YA). So these are some books that are generally classified not in YA, but I think are perfect for YA readers, roughly in order of easiest to hardest.

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The Darker Shades of Magic trilogy by V. E. Schwab

This book is technically adult fantasy, but I think the writing is simple enough for YA readers or people who don’t normally read fantasy. The world building is amazing, but not difficult to understand or follow.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Are you tired of me recommending this book yet? Because I think I have, like, 10 times already and it’s only been ten days since I read it. But that’s because it’s amazing. It’s totally perfect for anyone wanting to read an adult romance (but not erotica) but still wants some substance, if that makes sense?

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This was one of my favourite books last year. I think the writing is magical and atmospheric and the premise is super interesting. The plot is slow, but I was so caught up in the writing that I didn’t really care. I highly recommend it!

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

OKAY I know this book is controversial. BUT I read it when I was in junior high? so it’s not like it’s hard to follow. I’m not saying it’s great literature, and it’s definitely pretty questionable, BUT I also think it’d be a good way to dip your toes into adult fiction.

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Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I recently read this book and loved it! It’s definitely character-driven, which is interesting because none of the characters are particularly likeable and yet you root for them? It’s also very quietly feminist, which I really enjoyed.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

We had to read this for English in high school, and I’m so glad we did. It’s heartbreaking. Like, the whole book is heartbreaking. But it’s so so good. If you haven’t, please give it a read.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

This one is ranked as harder purely because it’s SO LONG. I loved this book, but it was 600+ pages, and there were at least two instances that I thought could have been 10x shorter. But I loved it. The writing was so good, and I loved the characters. Again, it’s somewhat character-driven, but the plot moves along in some places (heavy emphasis on the some places).

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

I loved Lolita. It’s one of my favourite books and one of the best written books I’ve ever read. But it deals with some weird subject matter, which is why it’s down here. Personally, I don’t think it glorifies anything, but I know people who feel very strongly that way.

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So those are my recommendations for young adults wanting to try adult fiction! Do you have any recommendations? Or have you read any of these? Let me know!

Ally xx