Top Five Friday | YA Books Every Adult Should Read

For this week’s Top Five Friday, we decided to talk about a subject a little too close to home – Adults reading YA books. Yes, by all standards, we are considered adults. We have bills, jobs, responsibilities, yada yada, but we don’t feel like we’re fully prepared for full-blown literary fiction just yet. Young adult books work for us because we’re young adults. So, without any further ado, here are some books we’d recommend to older adults who should delve into the mind of someone younger for a little while.

5. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

This one is a humorous and adorable coming-out story about first love, family, and friendship that everyone can find some aspect of relatable. We recommend it for adults as a look at acceptance for the LGBTQ community. With the movie release coming soon, we’re sure it’ll reach a wider audience, too!

4. Perks of Being a Wallflower

The charm of Perks comes in the storytelling. The main character, Charlie, communicates through a series of letters to an unknown friend. It’s gut-wrenching and heartbreaking and awe-inspiring; basically the definition of teenage life, without a bunch of cliches. It’s a bit darker and a lot deeper, which is why we think adults would also enjoy this book. Again, it offers a different perspective into the teenage mind.

3. A Court of Thorns and Roses Series

Okay, so the main reason we included this is because we don’t think enough adults read Fantasy (hi to Ashley’s mom and her smutty-smut-smut books) and this is a great place to start. There are adult themes in this book; Feyre does all she can to care for her family and protect them, she’s not some teenage little-virgin-girl as YA likes to portray, and Chapter 55 of ACOMAF would put Ashley’s mother’s erotic fiction to shame. We could be wrong, but We think some adults would be highly surprised at how much they loved this series.

2. Uprooted

Again, we don’t think adults read enough Fantasy, and this one is like a grown-up fairytale. To be honest, we almost wouldn’t classify this as YA, but an Adult book that reads like YA (think ADSOM). It has magic, a creepily enchanted forest, war, and a strange but satisfying romance. It’s definitely in our top most recommended reads.

1. I’ll Give You The Sun

This story is just absolutely beautiful and has stuck with us since we read it over two years ago. We don’t know that we could go without recommending I’ll Give You The Sun. Any summary wouldn’t do the book justice, so just take our word for it and read it!

What books would you recommend to adults?