Tuesday, July 27, 2010

A Rant About Trends

Oh, YA trends, how I detest thee!

Well, maybe "detest" is too strong a word. But not by much.

And remember that none of this is a professional opinion; just a consumer's opinion, really.

We all know what Twilight did to shape YA literature. Brought reading into the mainstream in a way that hadn't happened since Harry Potter, got your average teenage girl to love reading the same way the nerdettes always did... yep, it definitely did that. But it also started a craze in YA lit, and spawned a million copycats.

I'd hate to diminish any authors work, any novel that someone spent months and years pouring their heart and soul into, but there's no denying the fact that a lot of people wanted to cash in on Twilight's success. This basically has lead to the vast majority of YA titles on the shelves being paranormal romances.

I have nothing against paranormal romance itself. Not really.

But when I walk into my favourite chain bookstores, and it seems like every single book is about a girl moving to a new town and meeting a mysterious boy who turns out to be a [insert paranormal creature here] and then there's some dastardly plot to destroy the world and it somehow involves our relatively insignificant protagonist... ARGH!!

And the paranormal creatures always included in these books... are just pissing me off. Seriously. First there's the vampires. Now, these were cool to begin with, but they are just so tired now. Pretty sure everyone in the publishing business is completely over vampires.

But... now angels. And demons.

I hate angels and demons. I can think of three or four YA paranormal romances on the shelves right now that are about angels, which is insane when you think of the sheer magnitude of books that are out there. The thing I dislike about YA books about angels is that... the author, and the readers... we're human. Wtf do we know about angels? Absolutely nothing, they are (and should be) divine mysteries, by their very nature. So with what authority do we write about angels? There's something in this concept I just can't buy.

Also... books about angels, like Hush, Hush and Fallen and so many others are basically making the assumption that the reader holds the traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and views of angels.

Okay. That's as much as I'm going to say, because this could get ridiculously political. I am not dumping on YA authors or publishers at all (because I love them). This is purely my opinion. I'm sick of these trends. So, besides complaining, the only thing I can really do is write the opposite of the trends I hate.

So I'll go do that now.

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