This post was last updated on March 23rd, 2025 at 08:50 pm
What is YA Fantasy? YA Fantasy is a literary genre featuring magic and fantastical elements written for young adults (primarily teens) between the ages of 12 and 18. As such, common side themes include growing up, personal and emotional development, relationships, and life changes. Stories in this genre are generally set in a world very different from ours.
While many young adult fantasy books perfectly suit adults, as the name implies, YA Fantasy speaks to adolescents. While each book is as unique as its author and readership, certain elements define this fun and exciting genre.
YA Fantasy books feature young protagonists in a fantastical world. The characters must navigate magic beyond their control and understanding, strange beasts, time travel, and physics that would be utterly foreign to us. In addition to all that, they have to deal with the challenges that come with growing up. And isn’t that the hardest part of all?
This post is all about YA Fantasy in literature.
YA Fantasy
Traditionally, authors in this genre keep the intimate content and violence within acceptable levels for a young audience. Of course, what’s acceptable and what isn’t can be pretty subjective. Books don’t have the same rating system as movies (PG, R, etc.), but you won’t have to look long to find examples of YA Fantasy books that hit every point along the spectrum on the shockability factor. There are definitely books out there that many parents of teens would disapprove of (and if you read the reviews, you’ll see many examples). Some parents argue that adult content in young adult books is damaging.
Another factor, however, is that authors have little control over who picks up their books. While they may be writing primarily for a 17-year-old audience, that won’t stop a 12-year-old from downloading and reading their Kindle book. To rule out this possibility, many authors in the YA Fantasy genre try to make their writing appropriate for all ages, even children.
Whatever your take on what’s acceptable and wasn’t isn’t, unless otherwise specified, all the books linked or listed here are age and content appropriate for young adults. We’ll dive into this genre and everything that makes it tick!
Making the Distinction: YA or NA Meaning
At this point, you’ve likely heard the term “New Adult,” and you’ve probably already read your fair share of novels in this relatively new genre. St. Martin’s Press coined the term in 2009. New Adult is fiction similar to young adult fiction but for young adults who are, well, older. Authors of these books write for readers ages 18 – 29.
Since New Adult fiction is written for people over the age of 18, stories can explore adult topics like life choices, careers, addiction, sexuality, violence, etc. Of course, there can be some crossover. Some New Adult books would be appropriate for young adults and vice versa. That crossover potential is why St. Martin’s Press created the New Adult genre in the first place.
So, the primary distinction between YA and NA meaning is that New Adult books are written for adults, while YA books are written for teens.
Fantasy Books for 13-Year-Olds
Turning 13 is a huge event in a person’s life. This birthday marks when a child becomes a teenager—and they’ve been waiting for this moment for 13 whole years! Now that they’ve made it to young adulthood, their reading material reflects this. They’re thinking about all the changes they’re going through and beginning to think about the inevitability of becoming an adult. This stage in life includes exploring more mature themes. At the same time, reading material must be appropriate for a teenager.
Since jconradfantasy is a book blog focusing on Welsh and Celtic stuff, you’ll find here a list of some of the best fantasy books for 13-year-olds set in Wales. These books are age-appropriate, with some also being great choices for younger kids. In each of these novels or collections of stories, the story takes place entirely in Wales, or most of the action happens there.
Speaking of collections, I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t mention The Four Branches of the Mabinogi by Siân Lewis. This classic collection of legendary Welsh stories hits all the marks in young adult fantasy with its elements of sorcery, giants, and even shapeshifters. In Lewis’ version, the stories have been, shall we say, “tempered” for a younger audience. If you’ve read the original, you know what I mean! In addition to this, the tales are beautifully illustrated.
Fantasy Books for 14-Year-Olds
Although there may not be a huge difference here compared to the previous section, a 14-year-old starting high school is a big deal, and there’s unmistakably a different mindset that follows. In the UK, what’s called 9th grade in the US is called Year 10. By this point, the kids are really in the zone as teenagers and tackling everything that comes with it.
Below, you’ll find Welsh and Celtic recommendations for this age group.
YA High Fantasy Books
OK, so here’s another distinction. What is the difference between young adult fantasy and young adult high fantasy? High fantasy, whether for adults or young adults, is also known as “epic fantasy.” Books in this category have several things in common.
YA high fantasy is set in a very different world from our own Earth. Yes, it may look like Earth in some ways and even have similar plants and animals to a certain extent. But the fantastical elements, physics, and general rules of the world are of a different sort.
Low Fantasy vs. High Fantasy
In contrast to high fantasy, there is such a thing as “low fantasy.” In low fantasy, the story is set in a world we’d recognize as regular Earth. The magical elements are limited. A good example of low fantasy is Twilight. Bella lives in Washington state, US. It’s just regular Washington. Except Bella learns that there are things like werewolves and vampires living right alongside her in the same town.
As mentioned earlier, the story’s world in high fantasy generally runs on a different set of scientific principles or involves magic or another reality. The plot of a high fantasy novel often revolves around a great quest. You see this less often in low fantasy. In high fantasy, the characters may be trying to stop a problem that threatens to destroy the world.
A young adult high fantasy story is often told from the viewpoint of the main protagonist. The protagonist is not necessarily a human (though it often is). Sometimes, however, the story is told from many different points of view. For example, each chapter may present what’s happening to a different character as the story moves toward the climax. The Lord of the Rings is one of the most well-known books employing the technique of omniscient third person, even though Frodo Baggins remains the main character.
Young Adult Fantasy Series
Fantasy is a genre that has existed for a long time, but not in the same way we know it today. For example, in ancient times, people handed down stories through oral tradition. Their stories featured gods and goddesses, supernatural beings, magic, and other realms. What we know as modern fantasy, especially serials, didn’t become a thing until the 20th century. In the early 1900s, we saw the emergence of epics like Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. This period was considered the Golden Age of Fantasy. It defined truly superb fantasy. Its writers also set the stage (set the page?) for the authors that followed in their pen strokes.
During this golden age, young adult culture didn’t exist in the same way it does now. There were certainly novels and films that teens liked. Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland was a favorite, for example. Still, there was no such thing back then as a YA Fantasy section at your local bookstore. It wasn’t until the 1960s that books were specifically written and published for adolescents.
YA Fantasy Book Series
We don’t want to say goodbye to our favorite characters, and with an incredible young adult fantasy series, we don’t have to! Well, until the end of the series, that is. Learn how to choose an unputdownable young adult fantasy series here.
Here’s a list of recommendations of some of the best YA fantasy book series to binge-read.
Best Selling YA Fantasy Books
Again, as this is a book blog that focuses on Wales when possible, I’ve listed some of the best-selling YA Fantasy books with Celtic and Welsh themes. The great thing about this list is that even though the books fall within the same genre, each one is quite different.
Best YA Fantasy Romance Books
This list of 5 of the best YA Fantasy Romance books brings together novels that will even appeal to non-romance readers. Who’s to say? They may even make a romance reader out of you now that you know what a great genre it is when it’s done right!
Underrated YA Books
You may have heard that certain young adult books are “underrated.” You may have even used the term yourself to describe one of your favorite novels. What factors contribute to a book being underrated? How did it wind up being underrated in the first place?
Reader Reviews
A book could be underrated through reviews left by readers. Non-optimum reviews don’t necessarily mean a book received an overall low rating, although in some cases, it could. The problem with reviews is that, like anything else in the fiction world, they are highly subjective. Some books may only appeal to a small group of people. Readers who fall outside the target audience might give a book a low review. It’s a good book but the topic or style doesn’t appeal to them. Additionally, some books don’t receive as many reviews as others.
Copies Sold
Another way a book might be underrated is by a low number of copies sold. Low sales can happen for different reasons. It doesn’t always mean the author didn’t do their job well. Book sales can be affected by the time of year and the number of other novels simultaneously released. Sales can also be affected by big-name authors releasing their books at the same time. World events can also have a massive impact on book sales. Think back to the pandemic. More than a few great books earned their underrated status by hitting the market in 2020.
Momentum
Lastly, underrated young adult books get and stay underrated due to an X factor. We’ll call it a fluke. Luck? Indeed, some great novels may have hit a bestseller list or even won awards. However, not every winning book builds the same momentum, groundbreaking sales, and movie deals as The Hunger Games. Due to this, there are some outstanding undiscovered (to you) novels out there that you may not have even heard of.
This post was all about YA Fantasy in literature.
You may also enjoy the Copper and Cobalt Trilogy, a fantasy series for young adults set in North Wales. Click here for all eReader formats: Universal Book Link and here for Amazon Kindle and paperback: Amazon
Leave a Reply