#ya fantasy for adults

[obsob]

happy and proud!!

✷(print shop)✷

[headspace-hotel]

There is a type of plot that is prevalent in YA books and starting to get into general lit that I do not like. It is a similar trope to the MacGuffin, but instead of the plot being driven by an object, it is driven by the characters being in some sort of situation with formally fixed stakes.

Just as a MacGuffin is an object with no specific properties that affect its importance to the story, the identifying characteristic of this plot is that exact nature of the situation is irrelevant or at least not very important.

A very common example is when characters are involved in some sort of game or competition—for example, the first Throne of Glass book involves the protagonist competing to become the king's assassin, but the plot of the book would need to change very little if the competition was a beauty pageant.

"Gamified" plot lines like this often also include MacGuffins (to drive the "game"), confirming the tropes' similarity in my head.

The other common example is the "magic/superhero/assassin school" plot. The "school" is often just a device that brings the characters together and keeps them on a predetermined track, but there's nothing about what the characters are learning or even the school's specific identity as an educational institution that affects the plot.

[soranatus]

I just wanted to make a post showcasing some of my favorite illustrations by Keith Thompson for the Leviathan Trilogy.

The art went so hard in these books, it’s crazy. The plot is basically an alternate universe WW1 about the major two powers, the Darwinists, and the Clankers. The Darwinists genetically engineered animals to fight for them creating huge flying whale battleships, while the Clankers made huge robot mechs and powerful guns. A few historical people and places show up in these books, like Nikola Tesla.

But my favorite parts of the books were the art, truly breathtaking, it was beautifully grotesque at times. But that’s not unexpected, after all Keith Thompson helped create the design of Moder from The Ritual!

[serien-grl-22]

Something I love about Jude is, that when she witnesses how Balekin treats Cardan, she isn't like every other YA main character "oh no, that's why he's so mean. I should help him!", but more like "oh no, Cardan has the potential to be even worse, I gotta stop him!"

[blessedsweetgirl]

Literally husband and wife

[frondobongo-mixedmedia]

Going to the thrift store to buy a paperback book called Throne of Broken Raven Bones and Glass Ruin Kingdom for 45 cents just to feel alive. The main character is a simple farm girl named Græclyne Summernight de’Royalty (Gray for short)and she was born with a birthmark the exact shape of World Peace right on her shoulder. Everyone is in love with her except her sworn nemesis Blarno, the prince, who she must save the kingdom with butoh my the shocking he saves her it must be he loves her more than the rest. She is 4ft 6 and he is 7ft tall.

[the-modern-typewriter]

Adult!Villain and Teen!Hero are hilarious, an whole ass adult beefing with a OP high schooler? Comedy

Honestly, doesn't do it for me. (Sorry) I know it's a very common trope and it's totally valid if you or anyone else likes it!

(I don't think I'm drawn to antagonist &/ protagonist dynamics for the comedy in general. It's not what interests me about it. But that's partly also a semantics thing, e.g. 'rivals' versus 'enemies', 'villain' as in 'supervillain' which can mean like megamind versus 'villain of the story'. I can appreciate comedy in a story about rivals, idk, I can't explain the distinction.)

Anyway. Like, to me, this gives:

horror in the power imbalance between children and adults

themes of children/teenagers having to step up to save the world because of the actions or inaction of older generations

themes in the way adults are not taught its unacceptable to have public beef with a teenager + lessened boundaries in how we treat each other in public spaces

themes in the whole creepy child trope, e.g. a teenager who is so powerful and the ways that this can backfire

themes in identity formation and the myriad different masks we might wear as teenagers and how someone can pick up on just one part of who you are growing to be and hate it.

[gothgleek]

Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

“If you ask me, she’s too good for him.”

“He’s the supreme monarch of our land, and she’s a treacherous witch whose sins scream to the sky for the gods to strike her down.”

"I do like her.”

[amkalus]

Looking for Potential Audience

Heya, I'm new to Writeblr world and willing to give it a try. Would anyone be interested in reading an adventure fantasy YA novel set mostly at sea? After being rejected 50+ times, I am considering potentially self-publishing it (and wondering if it'd be worth the trouble).

I have longed to have a heroine who represents this technically incurable health issue, given it affects one in every ten women. And I've longed for a story that encapsulates what it feels like to be hopelessly in love with the sea... so I wrote one.

The Sea Whisperer features:

FMC dealing with symptoms of PCOS [severe acne, suicidal depression, infertility etc.]

Enchanted lighthouse with a mysterious lighthouse keeper [there is sea magic involved]

Thousand-year-old prophecy and sea monsters

Old maps, leather-bound journals, and a pet sea hawk

Tall ships! lots of sails and ropes action

Friendships between women

Extremely subtle F/M romance

Sea Shanties

Island kingdoms and castles with opulent ballrooms [Anti-Colonialism Theme]

Here is the premise: The fishing village of Galacair has been the only home Earwyn’s ever known. Between the mysterious illness that plagues her and the villagers who consider her cursed, surviving gets harder with each dreary day. But there are whispers coming from the sea which ceaselessly beckon her, and an ominous vision of a calamity that haunts her dreams. Earwyn fears they could be a part of her illness too, and that madness has befallen her. The only one who seems to know something about it is Galacair’s lighthouse keeper, whose tower is as strange and remote as he is.

While I mainly wrote this story in dedication to all the PCOS women out there like me who are struggling to live with this and often failing, I also wanted it to be a personal tribute of mine to a lifetime spent by the sea, and to a family history filled with the adventurous spirit of mariners.

[lgbtqreads]

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe by C.B. Lee

Today on the site I am so thrilled to be sharing the cover for the long-awaited Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe by C.B. Lee, a cozy Sapphic YA fantasy releasing June 10, 2025 from Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan! Here’s the story: A geeky overachiever determined to save the world through science and a troublemaking chosen one lashing out against her destiny meet and fall in love in a magical…

[dreiidrie]

It's been years since I made these character cards for Cassandra Clare's The Dark Artifices book series. I haven't really officially posted them online so most artworks were only seen on her ig account or photos posted of the prints from fans~ Well, here goes. :> Follow me @:

Instagram

Twitter

[unhealthyfanobsession]

YA authors stop being cowards and write a 200 year old woman finding out her mate is a 19 year old boy.

I would cackle the whole time.

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

I love these shelves 🥰

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Road To Ruin

start of a postapocalyptic fantasy series set in an Asian-inspired desert world plagued by dangerous storms

follows a courier who transports romantic letters between a prince and princess, who helps the princess escape across the wastes towards the prince’s safe haven

but they’re pursued by bounty hunters, and accidentally uncover some ancient secrets. and also she’s in love with both of them

dinosaurs, magical motorbikes,

bi MC, start of polyam triad

[carica-ficus]

I have always loved the way Bardugo approached Nina's figure and weight. And her love for food. Especially through Matthias. I remember a few other characters mention her body/eating habits in an unflattering manner, but she's always glorified in his eyes. One of the reasons he resents her is because her body is barely resistible to him. And this is not approached in a strictly sexual way, but also in an aesthetic way. She is beautiful. She is alluring. She is hot. And it's because of her curves, her size and her love for food. Matthias even mentions he loves to watch her eat because she finds pleasure in everything.

I mention all of it because it's still so hard to find a female character that is allowed to be bigger and admired for it. She's allowed to eat and to enjoy food. Not only that, but that she is found attractive because of it. Sure, she is sexualized, but not in a way that fetishizes her size.

[stephaniemccrea]

Omg. So I'm doing a read along with my daughter, and I gotta say I was not expecting to absolutely love this series as much as I do. I'm in book 2 now, but I just gotta give a hell of a shout out to Tamora Pierce for such an enjoyable work.

Also, these new covers are absolutely fantastic. It is very appealing to the anime kids of this age, as I can attest to. My daughter immediately gravitated to this series over the many book options I presented to her. Yeah, try telling an 11-year-old not to judge a book by its cover. But then put this next to the 80-90s mass market paperback editions for Wild Magic, Diana Wynne Jones, Shannon Hale, and a few others, and she's gonna pick this.

Some of the topics are maybe slightly for an older age group than I was expecting, but my daughter is obsessively burning through them. I will have to explain some of the behind closed doors activities and explain to her that there is no such thing as a magical contraceptive charm pendant sadly; well, maybe an IUD is the closest thing we have. 😅

Anyways, I would definitely recommend this set for any young adult readers into fantasy. Hell, even old readers who love a fun fantasy.

I also read Sabriel and would recommend that, it's probably safer for younger ages/general audience as it was only ever glimpses and kisses if that.

And on a darker note reading The Women by Kristin Hannah, because I loved The Nightingale. It's so good. Late, but finally, a part of the 'Kristin Hannah rip my heart out with your historical fictions, and I will say please and thank you, and come back for more' train.