Obligatory “I’m not trying to offend you or your reading preferences” warning. If you enjoy YA, fine.
I’m primarily talking about YA fantasy books, since fantasy is my genre. But these points apply to any category in YA. I decided to do this post after being in, and observing, the book community of Instagram for months and seeing all the YA-centric pictures. (Here's my Instagram.)
I’m not saying you’ll never see me review YA on this blog. There are a few YA books I might read at some point. But I no longer habitually browse the YA section and it’s very nice not to.
1. I’m too old
I don’t want to say if you’re over twenty and still primarily consuming YA you have poor reading tastes. But you do. I’m almost a quarter century old. Why should I devote my time to teenage romantic problems and youthful idiots somehow saving the world?
However, when you’re in the 13-18 age range, they’re great fun. I reveled in some YA books when I was the target audience. But if you’re not a teenager, why restrict yourself to the recycled chasm of YA?
Adult books face familiar problems but they tackle them with better vocabularies and people who’d actually be able to accomplish things because they have knowledge and age. Isn’t it shocking that I’d want to read more mature stories? It’s like I’m an adult or something.
2. It’s all the same
Maybe it’s because it seems like I only see five authors advertised, but every story sounds very familiar. Right now it’s very trendy to use magic, fight to retake your kingdom/birthright, form a gang to do something, have antagonistic siblings, suffer heart-wrenching sacrifices, and to be a queen, fairy, lost royal, and enemies to lovers. And for some inexplicable reason, Shadowhunters are still around. So…nothing I haven’t seen already? Why can’t trends revolve faster?
Even the titles sound the same. (I predicted that the final Throne of Glass book would be called Kingdom of Dust/Blood. It turned out to be Kingdom of Ash, but that’s pretty impressive after only reading the first book and going purely off the trend of the previous titles and the occasional review. Impressive, and sad at how cliché they all are.)
The protagonists have the same voice. And the voice is dumb. They can’t calmly and rationally achieve their goals. They can’t use common sense or analyze what’s going on. They have to be at odds with their companions and make stupid choices because they’re a loner and don’t need no help. Or they could, you know, use their brain, make bridges instead of burn them, and accept help because guess what? They’re not the master of all things. Or indestructible. Real people never are and fictional ones shouldn’t be either.
And have you noticed all the old series getting resurrected? Hunger Games, Shatter Me, and Miss Peregrine’s, to name just a few, all have new installments after the original story was supposedly over. I don’t know if it’s the publishers pushing for the return, or the authors being creatively bankrupt, or because it’s a guarantee for money on both sides, but it’s lame any way you slice it. Why can’t we have new stories and worlds? I know nostalgia is big, but what happens when it starts to ruin your cherished memories? We’re seeing a lot of ruination in movies/tv; publishers should take note.
3. The hype kills it
I know about new famous YA books not because I read them, but because people won’t shut up about them. Everyone talks about one book for ages until any possible interest I may have had dies and all I feel is annoyance at the book’s refusal to have an honorable retirement. Okay; the cover’s pretty and you and the rest of the YA world loves it. I get it. Can we move on now? On the other hand, if you don’t love a popular book it’s somehow taboo and embarrassing to say so. It’d be different if I saw a wide variety of opinions on famous books. But everyone is full-throttle, all love, all the time and I don’t believe it. If EVERYONE says it’s good, they’re either lying or trying to sell it to you. I’m very distrustful of people who can’t give criticism.
4. Too many females
So sue me; I’m sick of reading about women. And it seems like the majority of protagonists now are women. I don’t need their obsession over eye colors, misplaced self-confidence, electric touches, “strength,” feminist mindset, or reminders of how hot the guy is. Give me MEN. A MAN who will take charge, get things done, earn my respect, have great friendships and actually be strong, is a thousand times more interesting than 90% of the women I’ve read about. If the book does have a male protagonist…
5. It’s gotta be diverse
Yes, I’ve read and enjoyed books with “diversity” in them. It’s harder and harder to find new books without some token diverseness. But I’m talking about books that are pushed because of what the MC identifies as/how they look. And that’s it. I don’t like books that are LGBT/non-white first, books second. With that in mind:
“Arguments” I’ll see against not liking diversity are:
I’ll miss out on so many great stories
I’m just an angry person and incapable of liking these diverse stories
There are enough stories about white people
There’s nothing wrong with more LGBT books
Let’s take those one at a time:
I miss out on great stories everyday of my life. It’s neither regrettable nor a new thought. Frankly, I don’t give a damn how great a “diverse” story is; I won’t read it.
You’re right. I am angry. Angry that this is becoming normal and that these books are more popular for their diversity than their skill in actual writing and storytelling. You can have the most diverse cast of people but if everything else about the book sucks, it’s just clickbait for books. And I’m angry that you can’t criticize these books based on everything besides the diversity, because no one will listen and they’ll just call you names.
Read books from foreign countries! Go read that African, Asian or Middle Eastern literature. Why should America have to produce every kind of book to suit all the whiny minorities? I bet a contributing factor to these new authors—the ones with the impossible to pronounce names—getting published is because of their ethnic variety and not because of real talent.
Anyone who genuinely believes there’s nothing wrong with homosexuals is a loon. Perverse “love” is anti-life and contra-family. Its acceptance signals the death of the society, as in all of history no culture has survived this brand of immorality. I’m sorry if I don’t want to read about their degenerate lives. Oh wait, I’m not.
So yes, I'm angry that my sense of decency is only seen as intolerance and hatred.
A quick note on feminists: they say men are bad and yet they turn around and try to imitate men. Last time I checked, imitation is the highest form of flattery. So…men are better?
And then there’s the diverseness of other nationalities. If a book is inspired by some African, Asian, South American, islander thing, I could not care less. I will not go out of my way to read a book because of its cultural representation. But if the story sounds good, maybe I’ll look at it. In fact, there’s this book involving dragons, that happens to have an African-esque culture, I’m kinda interested in. The dragons, not Africa.
I don’t feel the need to broaden my reading horizons by hearing about these other cultures. If I want to learn about them, I’ll study their real history.
I don’t get the drive to purposefully read books by non-English writers. It’s not that I don’t read translations; last year was chockfull of translations for me. But if I’m not interested in these other places, I don’t think I should be criticized for it. So I happen to prefer European and English/American books. Big deal. The rest of the world can like their own nationalities too. I know what I like and saying a book has some unknown (to me) culture or is written by a foreigner isn’t going to make me read it. Especially if that’s its only noteworthy quality.
Oh, and apparently it’s bad to be a white male author. Honestly, if all I know about a fantasy series is the gender of the author, I’m going with the man. Based on experience, I’m more likely to really enjoy a fantasy series when it’s written by a man. Do I think men write better than women? That’s a talk for another time.
6. It has to include current issues
Social politics are hitting books hard, especially contemporary stories. And, you know, sometimes drawing parallels between real and fictional people/issues make them easier to comprehend. But it’s gotten to the point where every book has to make a statement or be condemned for avoiding the hot topics. Why can’t people tell whatever story they want and not be vilified for the paths they put their characters on? Authors shouldn’t have to try and please everybody.
I know of an author whose series was criticized for killing off the only two(?) black girls and for not having more LGBT characters. If people are so easily upset by stories authors have taken years to create and put into the world, they should write their own stories and get published. The authors have made their choice and if those “offensive” choices got through editing, you shouldn’t shriek at the injustice of it. Again, authors shouldn’t have to cater to the minority who might not even read their book.
But the biggest reason is…
7. I DO NOT CARE ANYMORE
I thought I’d stick with YA for longer than I did. But when I read my first adult fantasy book (The Lies of Locke Lamora, here's my review), I realized the error of my thought. I’d come upon an untapped well of greatness and it hit me: YA books are the avalanche that doesn’t move, the same tired off-key note, and the endless jar of cheap perfume.
My departure from YA has made me a free woman. It’s liberating to not feel the need to read all these hot’n’popular books. I see all these hyped books coming down the pike and, as Jack Sparrow said, “I like to wave at them as they pass by.” When I jumped to adult books the weight lifted, the birds sang and the sun shone.
What do you think of the YA world? Do you see it as a constant supply of joy? Or are you looking at it like it’s poop on your shoe?