From “A Court of Thorns and Roses” (ACOTAR) by Sarah J. Maas to “Six of Crows” by Leigh Bardugo to “The Last Hours” by Cassandra Clare, there is a common trope in young adult and new adult fiction that is becoming more and more popular: a close-knit circle of friends. You may think this sounds ordinary, but it has an interesting effect in literature because it seems to provide stand-alone novels or series with a larger fanbase.

To give an example, Sarah J. Maas recently released the fourth novel in her well-loved series ACOTAR. As a character-driven series, it is fawned over in part due to its dynamic “inner circle,” a group of friends who work together, see each other every day, live close to one another and generally have a very close relationship as a collective, but also individually with one another.

At this point, you might be wondering why I’m telling you about a fantasy series and its success, and the answer is this idea of a close friend group who lives their lives together can gain the interest of people of all ages, be it a student in middle school or a fully-fledged adult in the workforce. The kinds of books that feature this trope don’t just do well on paper or fly off the shelves, but are discussed rigorously on multiple social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Facebook. People don’t just read the books and move on but read, reread and then try to find other people who understand what it’s like to want to be a part of a fictional friend group in a fantasy world.

I’ve often wondered why this trope is so popular. As I mentioned earlier, the concept of a close circle of friends seems ordinary, but why does it appeal to so many people, especially to those my age and older?

I’ve come to realize the special factor that makes everyone want to read more is the idea of community, and there’s really only one real place where we truly experience the type of community featured in these different books: college. It’s not just about being friends, but rather being around friends of the same age and going through the same stages of life, and therefore, we understand one another’s successes and failures. It’s living near each other and being able to go to the library or the grocery store together. You live your separate lives, but they are synched in a way that makes you feel understood. It makes life fun and chaotic, but it brings a sort of joy to the ordinary acts of everyday life.

While I can’t speak for everyone, I think this trope means so much to people in literature because this kind of community is often fleeting in real life. We go to college, and we experience what it’s like to live in a college town or city surrounded by thousands of people our age, some of whom have a similar area of study or interests. We can walk down the road, or maybe just across the hall, to meet up with friends. This time in our lives is unique, but the reality is it only lasts for around four years. Once it’s over, we move away for various reasons with the understanding it’s unlikely we’ll get to experience that kind of community again.

This is all to say that this is the reason the “inner circle of friends” book trope is not only popular, but revealing about this shared experience in our lives. We crave this notion of togetherness, of this unique community, and it will be difficult to find once we leave NC State. In turn, we look to television shows with ensemble casts like “Friends” or “Grey’s Anatomy,” and it’s part of why we read these young adult books, even if we’re past the age group they’re featured towards. Though it might be fiction, how great would it be if it were, to some degree, real?

In truth, I don’t think it has to be fiction; however, we made the decision it couldn’t be real. Somewhere along the line, we decided life had to get exponentially harder after college, which may be inevitable, but we also decided we had to do it alone. This doesn’t have to be the case. I can’t tell you where it is you or your friends will drift off to after undergrad, but if the stars align and you have the chance to keep your inner circle together, or even make a new one, consider how it might make your life better.

And if you can’t, it doesn’t mean your life will be worse, just that it will be different. If this is the case, don’t worry. I have a lot of book recommendations.