Young Adult book gripes
I was chatting with a
friend recently about ‘my perfect YA novel’ and what I’d include and exclude in
a book should ever I decide to draft one which to be completely honest would never
happen because I don’t hold that talent. I have to admit my exclusion list was
pretty extensive! There seems to be a lot of things I don’t like despite YA
being my genre of choice – same plot, same characters just with a new setting
etc.. seems to be a common theme these days.
I’ve shared a few
below and would love to know your thoughts?
Love triangles
I think this point
would be at the top of almost everyone’s list, it has been done to death
unfortunately, I’m not a huge hater of love triangles if it is done right but
to be honest, they rarely are and someone is always bound to end up hurt. It also always seems to be the girl
who gets two guys, I read a heap of young adult novels and I have never read
about two girls wanting the same guy?
I’m not sure if this
will be a new trend (I’m hoping not) but JLA’s Dark Elements series even has
us, the reader voting to select who the MC Layla will end up with in the last
book Every Last Breath, it’s a
baffling concept to me because you would think from book one a decision would
have been plotted and obvious and made by the author and not us.
A few love triangles I
whine about – Edward & Jacob (Team Jacob), Peeta & Gale (Team Gale), Dmitri
& Adrian (Team Dmitri), Aiden & Seth (Team Aiden), Lucas and Derek
{Team Derek); do you notice I most always get it wrong.
An MC has ‘special’ abilities but has no idea what is going on.
I
have read quite a few books where the MC has no idea that they are ‘special’ or
of another kind or species, I mean they know that there is something going on,
for example in a book I read recently the MC could burn things with her hands
but she couldn’t ask anyone, including her secretive controlling parents about
it, wouldn’t you stop and panic just a little bit and worry about why you’re
burning things just by thinking about it – it’s very obvious something is going
on. Clueless! It seems to be something that is all too common and the main
character is always shocked but adjusts seemingly well into their new role of
whatever it is they are.
Absolutely Perfect characterizations
Some
characters aren’t realistic at all, they are drop dead gorgeous or unnaturally
handsome with model like good look with fabulous violet eyes or some other
strange colour plus on top of that they have perfect senses, are amazing athletes,
fighters, academics, influencers etc… the list is endless how perfect some of
these characters are and I don’t mind if they have a few positive attributes
but to be perfect at everything is a little far-fetched. There are some very
crafty ways to defy and subscribe to common beauty ideals.
Covers - Disembodied girls or close-ups of body parts on book covers
A
little off topic because it’s not within the book but I find it annoying when I
see a girl's body part - an eye, portion of her face or a semi-obscured picture
of her in a gorgeous dress or it is a darkened silhouette, it’s quite rare
we’ll see a completely ‘normal’ human.
Why can a book not stand alone?
Does
that make sense? I mean why do we need an endless number of series, sure a book
at time needs to be carried out but some stories that start as stand-alone, end up as a duology – trilogy etc etc etc. It’s terribly annoying and I
must admit by the time the sequel has usually been released, unless I have
loved it, is an author I adore and it has been memorable I won’t pick it up. I
would love each book to tell its own story.
Orphans? Parents/guardians etc..
Why
do a majority of characters have no parents present or they have left them or a
deceased? I love reading books that have a strong family dynamic, where there are boundaries and realistic themes but it seems to be lacking in YA.
What
are your thoughts on this subject?? Are there any gripes that annoy you in the
YA genre?
Disclaimer – A majority of the YA books I read have these annoyances but I still find myself completely drawn to them. Sometimes it can be overlooked if it is done well at other times they may end up on my DNF shelf.
LOL, yes to all of this. I avoid contemporary YA, but this stuff finds its way into the dystopians and fantasies I enjoy in YA too.
ReplyDeleteI am avoiding YA contemporary at the moment, I'm finding the recycled story lines a little too much lately.
DeleteI completely agree with you on the series thing. There are times when a story line needs more than one book, and then there are times when authors milk it until the series turns dull and useless. I enjoy series, but not every new book needs to be a part of one.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree! A series is even worse when you love the book and it ends on a cliff-hanger which means up to a year before we get the next book grrr.
DeleteHaha YESSS to all of this, I agree about family dynamics. I love it even more when books have a strong family presence in the novel. Love triangles just annoy me, although I loved it in Vampire Academy - I loved both male leads but Adrian a tad bit more.. I do wish books were more standalone though, too many series to keep up with these days. <3 Benish | Feminist Reflections
ReplyDeleteI love it when a book has a great family dynamic. I enjoy a good romance but when a love triangle appears it seems to ruin it for me, especially when it comes to indecision. We need more stand-alone books ;-)
DeleteLove triangles. *sigh* There have been a few rare times a love triangle has worked really well for me, but overall they just cause me stress because like you said, someone always ends up hurt. Not many YA books out there where the romance actually works out to be a triad ;-) I completely agree with you on the body part covers too - I like covers that give me an idea of what I can expect from the story, and a facial close up or abstract body shot doesn't really do that, however pretty it may be.
ReplyDeleteSo true! sometimes the covers don't even match what we are reading; it just doesn't make sense to me. Love triangles are so frustrating!
DeleteUgh, those perfect character. Enough already, right? So unrealistic. I am okay with love triangles if they are done right, but yeah, they rarely are.
ReplyDeleteEvery YA character seems to be flawless, complete perfection but they are oblivious - its completely unrealistic.
DeleteLOVE TRIANGLES. Basically I only like them when it's clear who the heroine will end up with and she's not constantly torn between the two. So, when they're not even a love triangle really haha.
ReplyDeleteUGHHHHHH SERIES. Like, yes, I love these authors and their characters, etc etc. But the endless amount of series is getting EXHAUSTING. It's SO hard to keep up with them all and I so often forget what happened in the last book by the time the next one comes out. Not to mention how expensive it's getting.
That's the only way I enjoy a love triangle as well, if there is too much angst or indecision I end up completely frustrated.
DeleteI am getting a little tired of waiting with series, I am thinking I may have to start waiting until they are complete before I even start them ;-)
You are so right about all of these, ESPECIALLY love triangles! Man, I hate them so much. I would also add insta love and parents of young adults who seem to be completely MIA.
ReplyDeleteEveryone seems to feel the same about the dreaded love triangle ;-) I completely forgot about insta-love but YES that's a huge gripe of mine as well.
DeleteMe too Heidi! I have started to read a few other genres lately but they aren't really working for me.
ReplyDeleteI think we are seeing more of parents in YA which makes me really happy. But yeah, love triangles and instalove can go bye bye!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree Nereyda! I have to admit the past few books I have read have had parents play are larger role which I have loved.
Delete