TL;DR: The jump from Percy Jackson to A Court of Thorns and Roses isn't a small step—it’s a leap off a cliff into adult content. If your tween is asking for "spicy" books they saw on TikTok, they’re looking for community and high-stakes emotion, not necessarily the graphic details. You can bridge the gap with "Upper YA" titles like The Cruel Prince or Divine Rivals that offer the drama without the explicit "spice."
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One minute you’re buying them the latest Wings of Fire installment, and the next, they’re showing you a TikTok of a girl crying over a book with a shirtless guy on the cover and a "5/5 spice rating."
Welcome to the BookTok era.
If you feel like the transition from "kids' books" to "adult novels" happened overnight, you aren’t imagining it. The publishing industry has created a category called "New Adult," and while it’s technically for 18-to-25-year-olds, the algorithms on TikTok and Instagram don’t care about age. If your tween likes fantasy or romance, they are being served content that is—to put it bluntly—erotica with a dragon on the cover.
It’s easy to panic and think your kid is searching for smut. In reality, it’s usually about three things:
- The Aesthetic: BookTok has made reading "cool" again. Having a shelf full of sprayed-edge hardbacks of Fourth Wing is a status symbol.
- High Stakes: Middle-grade books often deal with "saving the world." Tweens are starting to feel big, messy emotions, and "Romantasy" (Romance + Fantasy) mirrors that intensity.
- Community: When everyone in the 7th-grade hallway is talking about "Xaden Riorson," your kid wants to be in on the joke.
The problem is that many of these books, while featuring 19-year-old protagonists, are written for 35-year-old women. The "spice" isn't just a fade-to-black kiss; it’s graphic, multi-page, and often features power dynamics that a 12-year-old isn't quite ready to contextualize.
Before you say yes or no, you need to know what’s actually inside the books they’re asking for. Here is the no-BS breakdown of the current BookTok favorites.
Often called "ACOTAR," this is the gateway drug for the Romantasy genre. The first book is relatively mild (think Twilight but with more descriptive tension), but as the series progresses, it becomes full-blown adult romance. By book five, it is essentially erotica. If your 12-year-old is asking for this, they are asking for adult content. Full stop.
Dragons! War! Flying schools! It sounds like Harry Potter for big kids. It is actually very violent and contains several explicit, graphic sex scenes. It’s a fun ride for adults, but for a tween, the "spice" is front and center. It’s not "age-appropriate" for the middle school crowd, regardless of how many dragons are on the cover.
Colleen Hoover (or "CoHo" to the fans) is the queen of the "sad girl" book. While these aren't fantasy, they are ubiquitous. Parents should know that this book deals heavily with domestic violence and toxic cycles. It’s heavy, it’s dark, and while it’s a "page-turner," it lacks the maturity to handle these themes for a younger audience without a lot of parental guidance.
Check out our guide on whether Colleen Hoover books are okay for teens
If you want to keep them reading but aren't ready to let them dive into the deep end of adult romance, these "Upper YA" books offer the same "vibes" and drama without the graphic content.
This is the perfect pivot. It has the faerie politics, the "enemies-to-lovers" trope, and plenty of angst, but the romance is mostly "on-page tension" rather than "on-page anatomy." It’s dark, sophisticated, and highly respected in the BookTok community.
This is a beautiful, lyrical story about two rival journalists during a war between gods. It’s incredibly romantic and emotional, but it stays firmly in the "Young Adult" category. It’s the kind of book that makes you cry without making you want to hide the cover from your grandmother.
This is currently huge on TikTok. It’s very much "The Hunger Games meets X-Men." It’s heavy on the romantic tension (the "slow burn") but is written specifically for the YA audience. It’s a great "compromise" book.
If your tween wants romance but doesn't care about dragons, this is the gold standard. It’s a "rom-com" in book form. It’s sweet, funny, and deals with high school tropes in a way that feels modern but safe.
When your kid comes to you asking for a book you know is too mature, "No" is a valid answer, but "Not yet, and here’s why" is a better one.
- Check the "Spice Scale": Sites like Romance.io or even the reviews on Goodreads often have a "steam rating." Use these to show your tween that you aren't just being "mean," you're looking at the actual content.
- The "Read it First" Rule: If they are dying to read something like A Court of Thorns and Roses, tell them you’ll read it first (or at the same time). This lets you vet the content and gives you a bridge to talk about things like consent, healthy boundaries, and how fictional romance differs from real life.
- Validate the Interest: Don't mock the "brain rot" or the "silly romance." Acknowledge that the covers are cool and the stories sound exciting. If you shut them down with judgment, they’ll just download the e-book on their phone and read it anyway.
You can't talk about modern reading without talking about TikTok. BookTok is a community, but it’s also a marketing machine.
Publishers are now designing covers specifically to go viral. They use "tropes" (like "enemies to lovers," "only one bed," or "he falls first") as hashtags to hook readers. Your tween isn't necessarily looking for a good story; they are looking for a specific feeling that the algorithm has told them they should want.
Also, be aware of Kindle and Libby. It is incredibly easy for a kid to check out an adult novel from the local library’s digital collection without any age verification. If your kid has a tablet, it’s worth doing a quick "shelf check" every now and then.
Reading is a win. We want our kids to be readers. If they are graduating from Percy Jackson, it means their literacy and interest levels are growing.
But "reading" isn't a get-out-of-jail-free card for mature content. You wouldn't let your 12-year-old watch Game of Thrones just because they liked How to Train Your Dragon. The same logic applies here.
There is a massive world of "Upper YA" that provides the drama and the "feels" your tween is craving without the graphic adult content. Steer them toward those titles, and keep the conversation open.
- Check their "Want to Read" list: Look at their Goodreads or Pinterest boards.
- Offer a Trade: "I'm not comfortable with Fourth Wing yet, but let's go to the bookstore and find The Cruel Prince or Powerless."
- Read Together: Pick a "safe" BookTok favorite and read it as a mini book club. It’s the best way to stay "Screenwise" in a world of paper and ink.
Ask our chatbot for more recommendations for your tween's specific interests