Friday, May 10, 2019

Discussion: What is Quiet YA


This Week’s Topic: What is Quiet YA?


I have been seeing this term around, and I had an idea of what it was in my head, but it seems to mean different things to different people. It even prompted one prolific YA author to tweet about it.

In my mind, I thought it was a more low key story. Probably more character driven with low drama or little plot. But, as I kept googling, more and more people thought it was a book, which had little to no hype or one that you don't hear many people talking about. At this point, I was slightly confused, because now "Quiet YA" sounded like a "hidden gem".


So, now it's time for free association: When I say "quiet YA", what's the first thing that pops into your head?

Now it's your turn!

Do you know what "quiet YA" is?
Do you have a favorite quite YA book? 
Let us know in the comments!

64 comments:

  1. I haven't heard of this term... no idea what a Quiet YA book would be.

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    1. I was seeing it on Twitter and some blogs as well as some of the publisher blogs, and I cannot get a straight answer of what it is.

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  2. This is the first time I've ever seen Quiet YA, so I have no clue what it means. When I first came back to blogging, it took me weeks to learn the new lingo. People were shipping things and I was super lost. This one is new, so I'm curious to see what other people will say!

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬

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    1. I was lucky that my daughter was a teen when I starting reading a lot of blogs, and she helped me out with lingo, but now she is old, and probably more out of touch than I am

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  3. Um, okay, I guess I'm out of the loop because I haven't heard the term before. But if I was guessing I'd be thinking along the same lines as you, Sam. That it referred to a story without a lot of action/adventure, not a big overblown fantasy... just a "quieter" character-based story. It'll be interesting to see other takes on it.

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    1. I am still leaning towards more low key story. It makes more sense to me.

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  4. I'd never heard of Quiet YA either. My assumption would be that it refers to stories that are about characters who have ordinary lives and problems. For example, the plot would be more interested in character development than building up to a big battle or something.

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  5. I’ve never heard “quiet” applied to hype. When my professors used the word, it was always about plot. A quiet story is one that doesn’t have a ton of action. Usually the characters are dealing with personal problems and not save-the-universe stuff.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. And, that was what I first thought, and what other people think too, but then I saw the whole hype thing, and was questioning myself.

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  6. I've only heard about it in association to hype, the mid list titles that barely make a blip on pun day but are amazing! It's funny because I think a lot of them (at least the ones I like) are more character driven and lowkey.

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    1. I think those kinds of books never get as much hype as the epic SFF books.

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  7. I haven't heard of Quiet YA before, not sure what it could be. Maybe one that doesn't have as much YA content or aspects as other books?

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    1. That's a different response. Gonna think about that.

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  8. I actually think of both when I see the word Quiet YA. I think originally the hashtag was meant to describe books that didn't get a lot of buzz or are underrated.

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    1. Maybe that's where the confusion arose, because there are people thinking of quiet in the literary sense and then others, who know about the hashtag.

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  9. I'm with AJ (as I usually am)--"quiet" refers to plot, and books that don't have a big buzz despite being excellent are "underrated" or as you said "hidden gems." You don't make blockbuster movies out of quiet YA. HOWEVER, it sounds like my logic is wrong, because of the whole hashtag thing.

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    1. I am thinking the hashtag altered the standard meaning of quiet in the literary sense.

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  10. Hmm this is interesting! I have never heard of the term Quiet YA before, I guess that makes sense a hidden gem! I like it!! =)

    ~ Kendra @ Kendra Loves Books

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    1. I am still torn, but hearing that it was a hashtag is helping me understand it more.

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  11. I would go with your first thought . That makes the most sense to me!

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    1. Seems we are all split on that and then there is the hash tagging out there.

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  12. This is the first time that I've heard of the term. And people in the comments are either saying that it pertains to under the radar books or it's about the introspective, character-driven plot. I honestly don't know what to believe because it both makes sense. :)

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    1. Same. Both seem like great answers, and I am ok both. XD

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  13. I have absolutely no idea what this is. I've never heard of it! (Until now, lol.)
    Now I've read your post, your assumption of character driven/low drama story makes perfect sense but so does the low hype explanation... So I'm still shaking my head confused, lol.

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    1. Me, you, and everyone else seem to be in the same cloud of confusion.

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  14. I've never heard of the term so I wouldn't have a clue. My guess would be YA books without contraversial topics and triggers-a story without heavy topics that concentrates maybe on the character development or something.

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  15. I would think drama free, slow unfolding etc. I've never heard the term until today.

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    1. I was thinking no or low drama as well, and more slice of life, character driven.

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  16. Honestly Sam that's the first time that I read about this terminology! I would have thought it was a book with shy characters with rather a personal journey, quiet journey ratherh than bursting with action ....else yes it seems a lot like hidden jems!

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    1. I like that explanation and it fits what I was originally thinking too

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  17. Hmm, I've never heard of this before! I would think maybe a contemporary book with "regular people" characters, definitely no fantasy, that just kind of focuses on issues that aren't earth-shattering? Maybe like Emma Mills' books?

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    1. Fantasy books, for me, always see really hyped and action packed. I wouldn't classify them in this category either way. Mills' books are definitely more character driven with low drama storylines.

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  18. I've never heard this term, but my first thought was the same as yours -- a book that's calmer, gentler, and less dramatic than a typical YA book. An underhyped book makes sense, too.

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    1. That's my problem, both make sense to me too, but when I saw some lists, they were conflicting.

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  19. This is a new to me term, but I have to figure that the distinction between a quiet YA and a hidden gem is that a hidden gem is a "quiet" book that is really good, while a "quiet" book isn't necessarily good, just not well known??? Just a guess.

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    1. I accept that. A gem definitely infers it is a good book, which quiet just may mean less hyped and/or less action packed/low drama storyline.

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  20. This is the first time I'm hearing about quiet YA. I never heard of it before - and I try to stay up to date when it comes to YA lit because of my thesis - and I've no clue of what it means.

    Tânia @MyLovelySecret

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    1. I saw several tweets, blog posts, and features on places like Riveted. From what I learned on this post, there was a hashtag. I guess I can go back and investigate from there.

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  21. I would never associate "quiet YA" with lack of hype. I would call a book underrated in that case. I've heard the term "quiet YA" before, and I didn't even investigate, because I assumed it meant books where the protagonists don't save the world or get involved in relentless action - maybe they "simply" fall in love or deal with family/friends/school.

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    1. Yes! Why do we coin new terms, when the other ones work just fine? I am leaning more towards your idea of quiet YA, since it was how I first thought of it.

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  22. Great topic. I've heard this term before but never really had a real idea of what was meant by it. I lean toward what you were saying about it being a more low-key, reflective kind of story versus something that intense and dramatic. I say that but then I draw a complete blank when I try to think of an example of a book that would fit what I think it is, lol.

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    1. Seriously, almost every book I read would fit that definition of quiet YA. I like low key, low drama books. I am almost always all about the characters and they journey doesn't have to be filled with fireworks to capture my interests.

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  23. I've absolutely never heard of this before! I'd imagine it was something that wasn't too dramatic or high fantasy or something? Totally out of the loop!

    Steph - www.nourishmeblog.co.uk

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    1. I kept seeing it around, but I am still unclear about what it is. So maybe I will just keep the definition I have in my head.

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  24. This is an interesting discussion! I think that, when I first heard of them, quiet ya were books that weren't that hyped or that talked about in the book blogging community, yet still deserved all the hype. Now that I think about it, it could also be these books that are more, character-focused and, well, low-drama, as you mention it :)

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    1. Not hyped and deserving hype is usually a hidden gen. Did we really need a new term? We even call them underrated or under the radar. It was odd they chose "quiet", because the term is used in literature, but not to describe hype.

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  25. I thought it might be a drama free ya book?! You learn something new every day.

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  26. I'm out of the loop, but I would think Quite Y.A. refers to more character driven stories, instead of plot/action driven stories. However, both explanations make sense.

    Lindy@ A Bookish Escape

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  27. Huh. At first I thought this was a weird question because of course it means a low key, low drama book. But I guess not? lol

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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    1. I thought the same exact thing you did, but you know, if we shook the magic eight ball, it would tell us, "reply hazy, try again later".

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  28. I definitely think quiet YA means low drama, low stress books - which are so nice to read when I'm busy or stressed about something! - basically, the very opposite of fully action and/or angsty books in my mind. I was surprised to see people interpret it as underhyped novels. Great post idea, loved reading through the comments.

    Veronika @ Wordy and Whimsical

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    1. Low drama, low stress = my kind of book. From what I gathered, thanks to input from other readers, is that it started as a hashtag for under hyped books, which works too, but I keep thinking of those more low key stories more, which may also end up being underhyped.

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  29. To me, it means little story to it. Like yeah it was an OK plot but not that engaging. I haven't seen this term hanging around. I do like your interpretation of it - a hidden "gem" which sounds MUCH better than my own take.

    Mary

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    1. I love quiet, low drama books. That is what dominates my TBR

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  30. I'm with you, I figured it was low drama YA more about a characters journey or something. Because books with little hype are hidden gems. I don't get it.

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    1. It seems, in this day and age, that we need 400 different terms to describe the same thing. I guess it's an attempt to make something old new again.

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  31. I have no idea what quiet YA is at all. I thought it would be introverted characters or something like that... but nope, okay, that's not the case. It just sounds like hidden gems and well that's just... a hidden gem then? It sounds like one of those things that everyone is talking about but no one actually knows.

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    1. It's pretty amazing that a hashtag was started, but not too many book savvy people understood what it was.

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  32. Whenever I've heard this term used in the literary community, it's been used in the way you described---character-driven stories (often with with more personal stakes than huge, world-changing stakes). I'd never heard anyone use Quiet YA in reference to hype, but maybe that's a newer, alternate meaning?

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. I guess the library community differs from the Twitter community.

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