YA Rich Kids Aesthetic
The Rich Kids Aesthetic (or Old Money Aesthetic) has been popular in YA since the early 2000s. It’s still a popular theme in the 2020s, but portrayed with more nuance and attention to social justice and class differences. Let’s check out Rich Kids Aesthetic YA books and shows!
First off, did you take my quiz and find out your 2000s Movie Aesthetic? I recommend it, but you can love ALL the aesthetics and switch them up, Taylor Swift style!
The Rich Kids Aesthetic is just one of the aesthetics that the quiz might have paired you with, and this post will discuss the 2000s books and movies that inspired it!
Rich Kids Aesthetic in Y2K YA and 2002s YA
The first Gossip Girl book (by Cecily von Ziegesar; commissioned by Alloy Entertainment) burst onto the scene in 2002. The CW show of Gossip Girl released in 2007.
The Clique by Lisi Harrison (2004) also followed the adventures of a wealthy group of kids.
Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard (2006) was also made into a TV series that debuted in 2010.
At the time, shows like My Super Sweet Sixteen (MTV 2005) chronicled the lavish, over-the-top birthday parties of wealthy teens.
The TV version of Gossip Girl scandalized parents and reviewers (who called the show “every parent’s nightmare” and “shockingly inappropriate.”)
These early depictions of rich teens focused on upper class white kids behaving badly, featuring underage drinking and sex, conspicuous consumption, and cheating on tests.
In the TV version of Pretty Little Liars, characters slept with their teachers, got blackmailed, and even committed murder.
In addition, slut-shaming and body shaming went unchallenged in these early 2000s representations of rich kids.
YA Books with a Rich Kids Aesthetic
YA Books with a Old Money Aesthetic varied from the over-the-top portrayals to more nuanced and politically aware approaches to social class.
Y2K YA Books With a Rich Kid Aesthetic
Nantucket Blue (2013) by Leila Howland featured a working class college student who ends up cleaning hotel rooms on Nantucket during the summer before college.
What I Thought Was True (2014) by Huntley Fitzpatrick also features a rich boy/poor girl romance and discusses class differences and tensions in a wealthy community.
In a slightly grittier vein, two other early 2000s books took place on fictional islands that were refuges of the wealthy. These books tended to demonize the rich rather than glorify wealth and conspicuous consumption.
Burn for Burn (2012) by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian featured three girls from different backgrounds who undertake a revenge plot.
We Were Liars (2014) by e. lockhart was a dark story of a group of “liars” whose idyllic days on a private island come to a violent end.
2020s YA Books with a Rich Kid Aesthetic
The 2020s brought some new titles about wealthy kids that incorporated social justice themes, broader representation (including characters of color and/or with trans or fluid gender expressions) and more.
The Legacies (2023) by Jessica Goodman had many Gossip Girl vibes, but featured a broader range of characters.
Liar’s Beach (2023) by Katie Cotugno had a “Great Gatsby” throwback feel, with a male narrator staying with some rich friends on Martha’s Vineyard.
Do you have favorite YA books with a Rich Kids Aesthetic feel?
Funny how the newer rich kid books are like murder mysteries.
It is weird and I never thought of it until now.