Why I Don't Like YA
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
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YA seems very repetitive. I tend to avoid it, though sometimes I give a book a chance. Usually I'm disappointed because the plots are so similar to all the other YA, it gets very annoying. A love triangle, meeting a beautiful boy & falling in love by the next page, angsty relationships, etc. But I think there's some good YA out there...I just have to really search for it!
Michiko B try A School for Sorcery by E Rose Sabin
A Booktuber who DOESN'T read YA?! Subscribed! Please do a bookshelf tour - there's a ton of them on TH-cam and they all showcase the exact same YA bestsellers.
Hiya, actually I have made a list of non-YA booktubers, if you're having trouble finding them. rgsdevilship.blogspot.ie/2015/10/the-alternative-booktubers-non-ya.html I'll probably do a new bookshelf tour later this year.
Thanks! This is very helpful!
A Booktuber who has Irvine Welsh and Bret Easton-Ellis on their bookshelf?! Subscribed!
Woo! A non-YA specific reader on booktube
Sign me up!!! (just subcribed)
I definitely recommend Wordsofareader! She reads a lot of different genres including classic litterature
Personally, I never engaged in sex and drug use as a teen. That wasn't my normal (though some other non-fluffy lovey dove stuff did happen.). However, I don't consider myself to be pure or better than anyone else. I agree that slut shaming is just ridiculous. I feel that there should be a variety of topics written about in YA, so that everyone can relate. Books dealing with broken families, two parent homes, LGBT, depression, self harm, suicide, STDs, abuse, racial issues etc should be written about in a way that is not condescending or patronizing but in a way that lets teens know that they are not alone.
+Parker Skye Totally agree! YA needs to be diversified enough so that every type of teenager can find something they can relate to. It's very important.
Pretty much every point you made is why I started leaving YA behind. Thank you!
YA are dumbed down because they are for pre teens. I don’t even think it should be called YA, Because rarely are the characters actual adults. Maybe I just have not read enough YA, but all the YA I have read are based around teens who are just immature and like you said, not relatable. I don’t get how people in their 20’s and 30’s can read it and actually enjoy it. If I was 12-16 I would have enjoyed them a lot, so I am not hating on YA, but I personally don’t feel like they are really for adults of any age. If you are over 16 I think you should just skip to adult fiction IMO.
I guess I was pretty much the opposite of you, when I was a teenager. (Keep in mind that I was a teenager from Summer '94 to Summer 2001.) I didn't want to party or get high or get drunk or "have sex in weird places" (or even at all). My friends weren't really like that, either. Not all teens "want to grow up really quickly" or "try everything", and guess what.... "that's not a bad thing", either. I agree that girls shouldn't run around calling each other "sluts", but I don't encourage sex among children, either.
I think you must be reading alot of the wrong YA books, and if you like books with more sex and such, then maybe the NA genre is more your style than the YA genre.
+Holly Letson I agree with you. I was actually with her until she started with the virgin-shaming or the "teens are like this". No, not all of them. My teens were kind of like that (minus the sex) but not all of my friends were. And also, some of us are asexual yo.
NA has more slutshaming then ya.
Yes I agree. I sorta felt some virgin shaming in there (my teen years were drug and sex free) but maybe I'm taking it too personally. I don't think she means to offend, at any rate.
I like YA personally but I understand all your points and even agree with some of them. To me it feels like sex in YA is frowned upon which make no sense to me at all, Teenagers are having sex it's a fact and it' important for them to learn that it's okay to have sex. Saying that I feel there is good and bad in every genre.
Totally agree!
Agreed!
Not all, me and my girfriends were virgins until we finish college. I was 27 and the vision of every one having sex in high school is just a TV cliche.
DAT Nope I'm not. as you yourself said it depends of the place where you live . I'm 28 now and I'm happy I was a maiden through college, so were my friends anyway this girl just demonstrates her ignorance. There are thoussands of YA books that aren't what she describes. It's not the YA authors fault that she is reading only a niche group of the genre. And she erased the comments that call in her ignorance
Kasuminokoe Did I say "All YA books are like this"? No, I did not. I just stated a personal preference, due to the amount of requests I was getting to review YA books at the time. And I did not say that all teenagers have sex or should be. I'm 22 now and have plenty of friends who are still virgins. Choosing what age you lose your virginity at is your own prerogative. And by the way, I don't delete comments. I believe in free speech.
I enjoy YA fiction, but I do get where you're coming from, especially when it comes to Twilight.
However, I do think you might be defining "YA" a little... narrowly? YA is a much broader category than just Twilight and its clones. Harry Potter, for example, is technically YA (at least after book 4)... and I hope you don't think of that story as, "dumbed down," especially just on the basis of using a simpler vocabulary than you might find in, say, A Song Of Ice And Fire. :)
Pretty sure The Outsiders is technically YA as well. :) (just watched your Bookshelf video)
As for why one might want to read something where they can't take anything intellectually away from it... to escape? As a catharsis? Just to entertain themselves? I'm not saying that it's what *you* should do... everybody has their own reasons for reading. You just asked why, so I'm trying to answer. :)
Anyway, just my thoughts. Like I said, I understand where you're coming from, it just seems like you're limiting yourself based on a subset of YA.
The Wolves of Mercy Falls Series, Gone series, The Mortal Instruments, The Fault In Our Stars, and the Switched Series are a few books I could think of in the YA genre that have Sex and no slut shaming. At least from what I remember.
Almost all of these books are generic and derivative. They're ok, but far too overrated. Which is another problem with YA, the overrating of books that aren't that great, and the underrating of anything that is, just because it's more difficult or whatever.
Young lady, you show good taste, I applaud you! I do enjoy paranormal and/or vampire novels, but I will only read those by older authors, such as Anne Rice and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, because the characters are multidimensional, and even moral on so many levels. I cannot abide Bella and Edward and their unhealthy relationship. I loathe dystopia of any kind because of the loss of hope and the glamorization of disorder and chaos. I do NOT approve, of anything, I mean ANYTHING that romanticizes the abuse of women. and I believe a book OUGHT to make you think, and inspire you in some way no matter what it's about. And if there is no "happily ever after" at least a logical conclusion should suffice!
+Lisa S Thank you! 😄
I think that when you base your opinions on bad YA books you miss out on amazing books. I can name countless YA books that are amazing and by not letting yourself read them you are really putting yourself out. I understand your views on slut shaming but especially in books with middle aged themes, woman were treated like that and they were slut shamed. Was it right? No not at all but I believe that when an author includes it in a book its not to say "If you sleep with more than one man you are a whore" its shining a light on the fact that it is wrong to do that.
I'm going to include a list of great YA novels and series down below.
#1 Throne of glass series. Fast paced, amazing characters and beautiful writing.
#2 The lunar chronicles. Sci-fi, gripping plot and complex characters.
#3 Fangirl. It reminds you of when 'Deathly hallows' first came out and the excitement we all had for it on top of a girl learning to understand herself.
#4 Simon vs the homosapiens agenda. A book about a boy coming to terms with his sexuality whilst dealing with struggles that every teen has. It's extremely relatable to anyone, LGBT+ or not.
There are plenty more but seen as those books with the series are 12 books all together I will leave it at that.
I do agree with you on certain points. A lot of YA books are very pure and I wish they added a little bit more to it. Teenagers aren't pure. (At least most of them aren't) And a lot of them do give bad impressions on what relationships are. I have found some gems... But I like you and your videos! You have a lot of controversial points and ideas, but thats great!
Thank you! :D
I agree that some YA books can seem a little dumbed down and even condescending in the way they're structured and written. I think YA in general needs to be read with a certain inner distance where you can enjoy what's written there but at the same time accept that it's not all that's out there and that you can't take it all too seriously.
100% agree on Twilight. I enjoyed it at the time and after rereading later on was like, this is enormously fucked up.
The slut shaming also really bothers me. A lot of times sex is portrayed in really awful ways and whenever I find books that do deal with it realistically I'm always overjoyed and will comment on that. I personally like reading YA a lot because it is simply incredibly entertaining but I've noticed I'm becoming increasingly picky with what kind of story and romantic situation I'm still okay with reading.
I think you've been reading the wrong sort of YA books.
Melissa Hunt agreeed
That's what everyone says whenever someone doesn't like something they enjoy.
Subbed! Pisses me off too which is why I stopped reading that shit in high school.
Chi-anna Nycole Thank you!
I can't agree more with every single one of your points. You've really clearly verbalized so many of my own feelings about YA, which I've tried to read partially because it's so pervasive in our current book culture, and partially because publishers sell YA in really slick looking packaging that makes them look intriguing, but I can't do it. I can't get into them. I especially appreciate the point you made about author's romanticizing the teenage experience and I think you're spot on saying it's what they *wish* high school had been like, or what the teenage experience is like.
I finally made myself watch all of the Twilight movies this year as research and I was really truly blown away by how abusive the relationship is. And how that abuse--I mean, right from the beginning it is on a very high level abuse--only gets worse and more controlling the further the series progresses. I cannot stomach the fact that this series has shaped an entire generation of readers to the extent that it has.
Anyways, thanks for the video! two thumbs up
+Lia Cooper Cheers!
I agree, YA got me into reading when I was in that age group from around 11-16, however I just found I lost interest in YA as I got older and I couldn't enjoy them anymore. I read Twilight when I was 13 and loved it however ask me to read it now and I wouldn't be able to even stomach the first chapter. I still do read the more popular YA books which get a lot of attention out of interest such as the Fault in our stars, however I find most of them terrible. I drew the line at Fangirl, that will be the last YA book I read for a VERY long time, my god it was awful, I have no idea where the hype came from. Its true they are all very lovey dovey, but I guess no shame if thats what you're into well good for you.
Ha! Interesting point of view! I stopped reading YA books when I was about 17 and recently (24) started to read them again because booktubers of about my age were so enthusiastic about them. But after a couple of books I realized that I didn't like YA anymore, but for completely different reasons than you! I never thought about the purity-problem or the unrealistic events that do or do not happen. I felt I couldn't relate to the characters anymore, they seemed so predictable and they take the course of a whole book to solve an issue that I (now) can deal with in a sentence. Just, the kind of drama in their lives seems to trivial to me now.
Yes! I feel like whenever I start reading a YA book I'm like oh this seems pretty good and then dun dun dun...the love triangle. Why authors why???
Not all teenage lives are like yours. I'm seventeen, currently, and if I ever came home drunk I would get reprimanded to no end by my parents. Not everyone is a rebellious teen, you know?
(1/2) I mostly agree with your points, but I would like to say that I disagree with a part of the "slut-shaming" point. First, I do agree that books shouldn't encourage people to look down on those who have had sex, but I also don't think that they should glorify it either which is where I disagree. Yes it happens and no people shouldn't be called sluts for it. It also shouldn't be pushed on young people. There are so many things that could go wrong with it like pregnancy or diseases.
(2/2) Maybe I care more about those things than the average teenager, but I don't think sex should be looked down upon or glorified in YA literature. That's just my opinion. Thanks for this video and encouraging discussion like this and I would love to hear if I was wrong about what you were trying to say. :)
Omg this was published 9 years ago but I relate to it so bad... As a literal young adult (19), I struggled for years to find books that made me think, relate or feel something... "real"? Until I stopped reading Ya.... anyways years later this video is very appreciated:)
preach, i love this video im subscribing to you, you keep it real
vintage camera Thank you!
I didn't quite understand why you think the relation ship between Bella and Edward was abusive?? I didn't really understand in anyway, how Edward is abusive or anything. Can someone explain this to me? Because when I read the books, their relationship was nothing but sweet and way too lovey-dovey to me.
When you mentioned that Edward wouldn't let her see her friends and family - there was a psycho killer after her, would you really expect her to just roam free?
I'm not getting defensive, I genuinely don't understand your point of view. Can someone explain? Please?
I haven't read any comments yet but I bet at least half the comments will be, "you've been reading the wrong YA books..." I don't like YA. Sure, I've read some YA but I tend to avoid it unless lots of people recommend it to me, then I'll give it a go. The genre just doesn't do it for me, just like how some people don't like sci-fi or mystery, I don't like YA or romance.
I agreed with everything you said in your video, but I just want to say that there is also good, intelligent, grounded-in-reality, sex-positive YA lit out there that actually deserves to be called "literature". It just doesn't get as much press as series like Twilight, Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl, and other garbage does.
I'm actually glad that YA novels don't include sex. Unfortunately I was one of those teenage girls who didn't wear make-up, never had a boyfriend and was a general goody-goody never getting in trouble. I'm also still a virgin at 21. But you'll be pleased to know I don't call girls who have sex "sluts" lol I've got nothing against teenagers having sex
As Harry Potter grows older. Harry Potter became YA.
I wanna start by saying that I agree with a lot that you said here, but young adult isn't just a narrow genre in which you have to choose from a tiny selection. There are so many different divisions, like fantasy, contemporary, paranormal, dystopian, survival, etc.
I admit that there are some serious flaws with young adult that are pretty hard to ignore (including the love triangles, the whiny main characters, and the insistence on trilogies, and the repeated plot lines, and really I could go on) but there's a lot to love about YA too. There are brave protagonists and amazing worlds that I could just live in forever.
It's pretty much stated in the name of the genre, but you're appealing to a younger age group in YA. Some things aren't going to be allowed in it, like explicit detail about sex and drugs and alcohol. But at the same time, I really don't know many people who are going around doing those things everyday anyway. Maybe on occasion, but to write an entire book on it would be an exaggeration of their circumstances.
A little late, I know lol but I love how realistic and straight up you are. I'm tired of the unrealistic plot lines and characters authors create in their stories...it's actually sad because I'm slowly loosing my love for YA novels. If you wrote a book, I'd totally read it, because you have a real eye and ear for characters and don't shy away from reality
This video made me subscribe.
Thank you!
All of the things you've mentioned kinda piss me off, except the "not true to teenage life" thing, because I don't know if we're a rarity or not, but me and most of my friends are virgins and want more romance than just sex. But anyway, my main takeaway from this is that you just haven't read the right YA. Sure if you only read the popular stuff, you're going to get this kind of vapid bullshit, but if you actually explore outside that "popular bubble" as it were, you may find something great.
I think a YA book which challenges many of the notions you describe is Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King. That being said, I agree with you about the patriarchal undertones which too often dominate the thematic qualities of so many books.
You are soooo right but I still enjoy YA and they aren't all like this.
Yes, I agree with you, there are actually a lot of good YA books out there...
The YA genre wasn't around in the past the same way it is now. With minimal exposure to it I'd say that I'm in a different phase of life right that craves more adult themes and books. The few offerings I've read have impressed me with their characters and use of language but overall I'm not compelled to read YA.
It's a big market and YA is where lots of books are selling right now. Many authors who write adult fiction have even released YA books, probably as a way of tapping into this vast potential market.
Hello,
I read a lot of YA and I enjoy a good part of them. However, I do have to agree with some points. Many of them are really not so relatable, at least not for me. The love triangle gets me out of my mind, I hate them soooo much. I do think that are quite a few worth reading, though. The slut shaming is really stupid, and the fact that almost all of the almost every single main protagonist is virgin irritates me to a next level.
This is a great video - I sometimes read YA, but I've found that I increasingly have to narrow my approach quite a bit to avoid some god-awful books.
In particular, I won't read YA fantasy anymore, which is a shame as I love fantasy, but I really can't take one more book about a beautiful assassin girl in a love triangle with two incredibly handsome guys, and all the other girls are jealous of her... Looking at you, Sarah J Maas
I recently learned about the Virgin Mary trope which is when in literature a person (mainly females) are given praise or reverence for their innocence. I see it a lot in YA. This trope is basically slut shaming. I think it is important to note that YA novels have a lot of good morals and what not for young readers and are not all bad if you can pick out what is wrong and identify troubling parts of a book.
Thanks for the video. I thought it was a nice rant. I agreed with most of it.
Can you please stop assuming things. Stop assuming that the only YA I've read is paranormal romance, stop assuming that I'm trying to shame people who like YA, stop assuming that I'm saying all YA is alike. You could just ask instead of calling me out on something I didn't even say. Just because I mentioned Twilight and Hush, Hush, doesn't mean those are the only types of books I'm basing my opinion off of.
Wow! I have to say I have to agree with you. YA has been touch and go for me. I read some of them but the majority I find to be a little boring and repetitive. I mostly read them to be able to suggest them to my English students to read. My focus is primarily on adult fiction because that's what I relate and have related to for many years. I'll skip my age. Another thing I noticed about YA is that it doesn't contain many black characters. I'm afraid that when it does they may be stereotypical.
It's abusive even if it's not taken out the paranormal context. And just because something is called fiction doesn't mean it doesn't happen in real life. I'm not shaming anyone for liking, I really couldn't care less if someone digs it or not. Don't start playing the victim for liking Twilight, you're not going to get any sympathy here.
I personally don't understand why YA has become such a craze. Especially with people who have well passed the recommended age bracket. That being said, I read and adore children's novels (as well as adult novels of course) but personally I think adults have more in common with small children than with teenagers...
One thing that I learned from YA is their goal to teenagers, most likely. It's their friendly approach to them, esp. in helping them go through tough times, to teach them, and in order for them to relate to the characters. I don't know...but somehow, I respect your stand and I will defend your right to say that 'till the day I die, but it's just that YA books has taught me so much. Some are crappy, I agree, but I believe that you will be able to learn something from every book you read. An since I'm 17, I still read YA, and they help me a lot. They help me go through a lot of things that the characters go through as well.
With your point about how most YA book aren't 'a realistic look at teenage life', I've kind of got a different view point on that. I like how YA books don't give a 'realistic' look at teenage life. I read books to go into different mindsets, and different lives. I love when crazy unrealistic things happen in books and a part of that is because I know it's not realistic but the book gives me an escape to have that 'unrealistic life'. In regards to romance, an example would be when a bad boy falls for the quiet 'good' girl and they connect, I know it's unrealistic but it lives out a fantasy (that example was really cliche but you get the point). I think it's the fact that knowing it's not reality, that the book isn't realistic makes it even better because you can play out any scenario you want because at the end of the day it's just a book and we eventually go back to reality after finishing the book.
However I'm talking exclusively about romance because we all obviously gather that dystopian, sci fi, action books etc. all are bound to have hella unrealistic scenarios in them conclusive to the fact that they're dystopian, sci fi etc. But romance I feel gets the most hate for being unrealistic and I agree to a certain extent that it can be eye rolling (especially with a very cliche book) but in most YA romance books I've read, I've enjoyed the 'unrealistic' part of it because again it plays out a fantasy that I know wouldn't happen in real life.
No, not all YA is like this but the majority is. Yeah I think it is an American value to save yourself for marriage, sometimes for religious reasons and maybe to try to keep the teen pregnancy rate down.
Ah great minds think alike! I don't hate it either, I just don't like it. I'm sure there are same fantastic YA books out there but they are few and far between. Exactly, each to their own.
I was going to say something about the age thing but I just thought "Better not..." That weirds me out though, I don't understand what people over the age are getting out of these books.
i loved your insights on this - thank you for sharing!
I used to read books like His Dark Materials, Harry Potter and Darren Shan. I never got into the... mainstream idea of what YA is. Twilight, Hunger Games, Mortal Instruments, etc. By the time I was 16/17, I wanted something more so moved to adult/normal fiction.
HAVE YOU READ THOSE BOOKS? Gosh. Some are wonderful, some are awful. The romances are even worse than the overdramatic teenage romances. Every book is about a divorced detective and a new kinda' killer. Their thought process is usually about what you'd give up - kids or career? They're always about mysteries or crime, and are... A hell of a lot of purple prose and 'literary bore'.
So I went back to YA. I started reading a few books. I enjoyed the Hunger Games. Though I started reading a book 'Shadows on the Moon,' by... Zoe... someone. I forget her name right now, sorry. But it was going really well. It was interesting, it had characters with personalities. Her mother had her own issues and was an actual person.
Then she meets a boy.
And she will not shut up about him.
And that's the problem with YA. So, in my view, both groups have problems and It's just about choosing the best books you can from any group or genre.
And let me just say, Harry Potter is not a YA series, it's a children's series. Although it is enjoyed by people in all age brackets. :)
I like some YA, but the only series I'm really a fan of anymore is The Lunar Chronicles (used to be a big Percy Jackson fan, but I haven't read any of the post-first Magnus Chase book stuff because I feel like Rick Riordan is just trying to milk money out of the fandom rather than give the characters their proper end). I liked Paper Towns, The Fault in our Stars, The Hunger Games, Divergent (not until the last book though), and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (though that book is pretty atypical YA), but that's about it, maybe a few others.
I think many booktubers are limiting themselves by sticking to YA and not exploring older books or adult books. It's probably part of the reason why I don't watch much Booktube anymore, or even have a channel like I used to.
YA books are also pretty rife with stereotypes, which gets annoying.
I've been writing a fantasy book series since January, and I've been wondering whether or not to call it a Y.A., because I take a lot of the same issues you do with Y.A. novels and I've been trying to avoid most of them, although I do admittedly have some cliches in them, which I don't plan on changing. I don't think it's possible to avoid every cliche, just as it's impossible to please everyone.
One thing that I think makes my story unique is that it takes place in college, not high school, and the characters react to their hardships in more realistic ways. The main female protagonist, Caroline Summers, is a 19-year-old med student who is jaded, cynical, has a dark humor, and struggles with suicidal depression after she witnessed the gory death of her boyfriend 2 years ago on her 17th birthday. She's certainly not innocent, having lost her virginity when she was 16. She drinks socially, but doesn't smoke. Also, she swears. A lot. Because let's face it, if Twilight's Bella was a real girl who saw her best friend suddenly turn into a giant wolf, the first thing she'd say is "HOLY SHIT!" I'm highly basing her character model on Emma Stone as Sam in the movie Birdman.
The story is going to have a lot of gory death scenes, profanity, crime, horror, and through a supernatural setting (with reapers, spirits, angels and demons) go into real world issues such as kidnappings, rape, torture, terrorism, racism/bigotry/homophobia, and more...so yeah, it's more of a horror/fantasy/crime series. Like Mortal Instruments meets Game of Thrones.
Totally agree. Very "easy reading," yes, I know what you mean. I feel like these authors assume the reader is an idiot. When I would try to read these popular YA books I felt like I was being talked down to. Especially it it's 1st person present.
"I walk to the window. The floor creaks. I hear someone behind me. I turn, he touches my arm. I shiver." Seriously? That kind of writing is condescending and painful to read.
Twilight. Exactly. It's an abusive relationship written as romantic?? A female author writing this for female readers? I can't.
The term "slut shaming" is actually kind of a terrible term, though, because it's literally calling women sluts. Maybe those women don't want to 'reclaim' the word and 'own' it ... y'know? sex-shaming is probably a better way to describe it, but yeah.
Legend is a good ya read that's doesn't spoon feed readers the plot it also has a real family message, lots of character development, definitely about 0 romance and makes reader think I like ya but I never go read mainstream stuff but legend was an exception there's deceit but its a different kind of deceit and u should read although u can watch the many reviews I recommend Cassjaytuck legend is definitely needle in the haystack not all ya is like that
I'll be honest and say that I have only the faintest idea of what YA means. I mainly read epic fantasy/sword and sorcery. I see this label of YA tacked onto some of the books I've read and I think, what the Hell does that mean? I've looked it up a few times and I just don't get it. My association with YA is of the worst drivel that I've read. I guess it's to do with being marketed to teens, but it really turns me off from buying books listed as such and annoys me seeing it on books that I liked.
Anyways, the main thing that all these words are trying to stab at is that although most YA books are not thought provoking or memorable enough to change me or the way I think or see the world every now and then something comes along that does. And I'd wade through the slush of a hundred horrible books about sparkling vampires if it meant that I'd get to one of those ones that will remain in that part of my brain reserved for the things that will inspire me for a lifetime.
As a teenager I tend to take most of the popular stuff with a grain of salt. I make sure not to go into it thinking that this book or this series will be the most amazing thing I've ever read. Its the stuff that's both infuriating and amusing. I think (or at least I hope) that eventually the people who write all the bestselling paranormal/dystopian/fantasy series will realize that their are a lot of big thoughts floating around in our little teenage brains.
A lot of bestsellers follow the stereotypical path to teenage hearts but there are some jems lurking in the shadows that are pretty memorable. You just have to look a little harder for something that makes you think. I like to compare it to popular music vs all the amazing shit that mainstream culture overlooks. I have hope that in a few years time the more rewarding and relatable YAs will break into mainstream culture.
I am a somewhat avid YA reader (though YA is not by any means all I read) and I agree with a lot of what you've said. I feel like you've made a lot of relevant points about the popular side of YA (Particularly the last point! That kind of thing really pisses me off!) . The reason I haven't personally written off the genre so far is because it feels like YA has opened up a lot more in the past few years. Subjects that were considered 'too much' for teenagers a few years ago are common place now.
I agree with so many things that you've addressed in this video. Especially as someone who was forced to grow up in a very short amount of time, like many adolescents, I don't find most YA books helpful or fulfilling as I'm looking for answers from here onwards, and not being forced to look back on who I was and wish things had been different. It's just depressing. However I do have a soft spot for dystopian/post-apocalyptic YA as it's a great way to escape into the world of fantasy. :)
If you are even thinking about reading one or to YA books, there are some really hard hitting YA books. hold still by nina lacour is my favourite, i'm not saying you will like it but i do think the issues in it are true and meaningful. Another is speak by laurie hase anderson, it may be a little young for you, but still the issues are real. Again i'm not saying you will like them or that you should read them if you have no intention too, but i just wanted to say that they're not all bad :)
The point of reading is this: entertainment.
Generally I agree with you, although I read and enjoy ya. I just find that they don't get under my skin like other books I read. And they're so alike, those ya books. To me, they're more of a break from all my other books.
I haven't read the Twilight series, but I kind of agree with you anyway; we need stronger female characters, who can stand up for themself.
I sorta tend to agree, though there are some really awesome YA books. But I do feel that most of the YA books are becoming VERY cookie-cutter. I love fantasy books (my genre of choice) and also paranormal, but I think it's a trend in YA books to have a pretty or fancy cover (BIG selling point) and cookie-cutter paranormal/fantasy. Not slamming YA books as a whole as there are many titles that I really like but as a whole..... I mean, I am 30 y/o! Great video, very passionate in your views
While I completely agree with most of your critical points regarding disturbing trends in YA (particularly in YA paranormal romance), I must disagree firmly with your painting all of YA with this brush. I speak as an indie bookseller and graduate student in children's literature--there are many quality YA books out there. As with any genre, it just takes some searching to find them. If you choose not to read YA, that's your prerogative, but to discount the entire genre is misguided.
Another Book series that really makes you Think about the Philosophy of our Freedoms would be the Incarceron Series or the Unwind Series. I'm sorry but alot of YA books have meanings in them and i think both adult and YA carry alot of BAD books like Twilight and Hush Hush, i think it's when you base it on the book it's self and not the genre or age you'll find YA a better read :)
let me just say I get your point, but maybe you're exagerating a bit. Like you, I used to read ya novels but not anymore. and the reasin for that is that i'm 19 now! when i was about 14 i was a big fan of the twilight series. hel, i had never even kissed a boy.. over time i grew past that, and that's why i don't think it's that concerning of an issue. i don't think edward is controlling an possessive (respecting your opinion, of course) if anything, i would like my baby sister reading (continues
Ah, that's what probably bothers me the most about YA, the idealized character thing. That bothers me in any book. I want characters who make mistakes and make asses of themselves sometimes and just behave like normal people. Not perfect, beautiful or caricatures of humans. It's not all like that and they don't have to be failing at life all the time but just give me something to relate to or sympathize with.
I was just thinking about this the other day, and you stole the words right out of my mouth verbatim. I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate YA, but I think I might have just outgrown YA. Most YA books are cookie cutter. I'm sure there are some diamonds in the rough, but its still saturated with a shallow perspective on life. When it's all said and done I could see why people like YA and why others dislike it, but to each his own.
I got disinterested in YA when I started high school.That's when I realized High School.. isn't like this. I still read YA occasionally, but I try not to make them the ONLY thing I read. I seriously don't get the hype. But I can understand why certain people would be stuck in a circle reading YA over and over again. The last character I felt connected to was Mia Thermopolis.But Meg Cabot writes adult fiction, so that was that.
maturing. It just depends on individual cases. I hope that makes sense & doesn't offend. But I haaate the whole slut shaming. The term "slut" shouldn't even be used at all. And if a young adult chooses to have sex freely of their own discretion, they should be able to talk to somebody without worrying about being called a slut. There are just so many factors to this equation that people do not take into consideration at all. Okay, rant over. Lol. Hope that was okay. :|
About the slut shaming, I think that YA authors try to stereotype the population& say they SHOULD be kept "pure" when that's too idealistic/unrealistic. I hate that word too. I think that sex is a very personal choice&should depend upon ones ability to handle it, but not generalize the entire population as not being able to handle it. Some young adults can't. Lots can. There are some emotional repercussions to having sex at a young age esp when their psyches & physical attributes are still (c)
THANK YOU for this. And I agree w/WordsofaReader on this subject as well. I just cannot sympathize & relate w/ YA characters that much. I find myself rolling my eyes a lot. I know I have felt SOME of feelings of lots of them when I was that age, but the fact that I'm not in that stage now (& thank god for that), I can't stand it. Rotf. You brought up a lot of amazing points. The romanticized YA novel is kind of gut-wrenching to me. :/
Yay youre Irish! Ive never found an Irish Booktuber before!
I agree with a lot of your points. However I will say that I have a teenage daughter who has always been a reluctant reader and struggled to enjoy books. The 'dumbed down' books you describe are exactly what made picking up a book less scary for her. Quick to read and easy to digest. And it lights up my day to see her reading something, anything!!! However, there are some YA books that are AWFUL and others that arent so bad. So its just a matter of picking and choosing. But like you say we are all entitled to our own opinions and thats what makes the world a fun place to be!! Dunno why people are getting angry in the comments????
Once again - yay for the Irishness!!!!! :-)
Completely agree. You mentioned "Paranormal Romance" which in my opinion is the worst genre you can think of because almost all the books are very similar and it usually deals with a female heroine who depends on a man. This can also be found in a few dystopias like Divergent. Contemporary YA on the other hand, can be absolutely brilliant and fresh.
the princess diaries (most shallow characters EVER!), but i would have no problem whasoever if she read any of the other ya books i used to read. like disney movies, they're too far from reality to have influenced me. wich is a very valid reason to dislike them, like you. but then again, not everything has to be educational
I really enjoyed this video! Lol I subscribe 3 minutes into the video! Your points were great maybe a bit extreme but valid none the less! ( I personally wish booktube was less focused on YA because the only YA i have really read is harry potter and a couple other series which are nothing like the characteristics you described!)
Great video. I agree with almost all of the things you mentioned. But there are 2 thing you didn't mention and that piss me off to no end:
1. the endless repetition of storylines (a YA book is either about vampires or warewolves or takes place in a dystopia) and
2. all the damn series (if it's less than 4 books it's not popolar).
I do agree with everything you said! The thing is, there are some YA books around that are quite good. Looking for alaska is one of them. I think that the problem with YA is that most books that get published under the label of YA ARE everything you just described so people hate the whole thing when there some books that are really good and relatable.
I enjoy lots of YA, but not into the books that focus on romance..not into that teenage insta love. I also read every other genre out there. I don't keep myself in any genre box..i read according to my moods... in any given month i could read YA, Adult fiction, historical fiction, biographies, and more.
I read a lot of YA when I was 13 - 16 (although it was always just called 'teenage fiction' then! That makes me sound really old but it wasn't even THAT long ago!) and did enjoy a lot of it at the time, although I agree it was never very relatable. I was quite a sheltered teenager though, my friends and I were all quite geeky and shy and didn't know any boys so I always just assumed that's what other people's lives were like or that's what my life would be like in a few years' time and it was just a sign of how uncool/inadequate I was. Now I'm older, I can see it's just not realistic and I definitely agree with your points re: slut shaming and romanticising shit things (even sheltered 15 year old me hated Twilight and recognised the abusiveness of their relationship). As I've got older, my tastes in books have matured and I'm now just not interested in YA anymore. I've outgrown it and I'm always suspicious of people over 18 who seem to read nearly exclusively YA or at least a very high proportion. Surely you should want more out of the books you read, like well developed characters and more complex plots, or even just characters that are more relatable to you and not just school kids.
random: you remind me of Jen in the serie Dawson's creek, a lot ...
back to the point: I agree with some of your points,some YA are like that, the most hyped btw but YA is vast and i'm sure more than we think are great (exemple: The storyteller by Antonia Michaelis)
In response to you being weirded out about older folks getting into YA...take it from a 44 year old dear young girl...when you have gotten two college degrees at once, run your own business and raise a family get back to me...trust me..once you are older you will appreciate the occasional YA read.
I am sixteen and I used to only read YA, but within the last year I've been moving away from those into, like you said, books that make me think. I am a virgin and have never had a boyfriend and I love reading about normal things teenagers do- not that being a virgin isn't also normal- because I am afraid of doing a lot of those things myself. But with general YA you don't get much variety- though within the last few years YA has become /slightly/ more diverse. When I started reading adult literature it was for school, but it quickly started to take over my own bookshelf. Outside of YA there are so many different types of relationships, not just typical girl/boy romance. I was never a fan of physical romance. One of my favorite books is The Art of Racing in the Rain, told from the perspective of an old dog. There is love, but it is much different. YA is fun sometimes, but not much more.
The only YA book I've actually liked was Half a King by Joe Abercrombie. I couldn't stand The Hunger Games because I found the prose vague and stilted, even though the story and themes were good for what they were.
A person on booktube who does not like YA, liked and subscribes. I love you for each and every word that you said, may it be about teenage life, twilight, being of no one's business,etc. I too haven't read either of them. I believe YA has so much of stupid concepts and intimacy for the purpose of selling it on large scale. However, I am of the conviction good books like classics don't require this bullshit. What makes a book beautiful is concept, ideas, words and strong characters.:)
Hope to learn and enjoy a lot from your videos:-)
Everyone has different preferences. I may not agree with some of the stuff you said but I can see where you are coming from at some of your points. Maybe you are not picking up the right YA? I reccommend any of the John Green books, he's amazing, along with Unwind by Neal Shusterson, Wonder by R.J. Palacio (which I believe is 8-12 but still really good). I don't remember more than 1-2 mentions of sex in the books I've read, so maybe I am lucky to pick the good ones? Good luck either way.
Some YA books certainly are childish, and dull, but I have experienced some that have made me think and that were gritty at times. It was interesting to hear your thoughts. I could say a lot for adult fiction as well. I think there are books that have realistic situations ect in the YA genre. Slut shaming is realistic, this happens in life all the time, but it is disgusting in novels.
I do agree with you that a lot of YA books are incredibly vacuous and don't give you much to think about, but sometimes that's the beauty of them. I read adult literary fiction mostly, but from time to time there will be a great YA book that comes along that is great entertainment value. I do get tired of seeing people stuck in YA, when there are so many great books out there. From what I can see about booktube, a lot of teens really love the hype!
There are a lot of great YA books out there, which don't match the things you described in this video, although there are also quite a lot of "twilighty" books out there.
A realy good YA book I can recommend is "The Fault in our Stars" by John Green.
I do agree with you ..many YA books are like that but not all of them so that's what gives me hope in the end
I've read the majority of the popular Y/A books, having recently moved towards new adult and adult books I can say that those are the types I tend to prefer, however some of my favourite books of all time are still y/a. I recommend the infernal devices, Leigh bardugo's six of crows duology, the daughter of smoke and bone series and any Sarah j maas book. Despite having loved lots of y/a, I can agree with lots of your points in respect to slut shaming and the 'pure' chaste main character whose virginity is saved for the love interest, in addition to the promotion of abusive relationships. However, I do think you should read some more y/A as with new releases, y/a has improved as a whole and I don't think you should give up on it completely! The only reason I prefer more adult books rn is just bc I hate that every type of violence is explored in y/a (eg the hunger games) but somehow sex is just crossing the line? Like you literally just described pages and pages of brutality but the authors attempt to have off the pages sex of try not to allude to *heaven forbid* anything beyond a kiss. Rant over lol but you did raise some good points, but give a chance to a few more books at least :)
Amen. When applied to fiction, I don't think the term "young adult" should be taken literally. I honestly can't understand how anyone above the age of 14 could be interested in those books. They're so gimmicky and boring.
Thank you for the video, I'm so glad there are still people on TH-cam who do not read YA. I personally do not read those books, and normally don't judge those who do. But what really gets to me are the people who wouldn't read anything but YA. So they would whip out a stray thin classic once in a while, because you know, it's being made into a movie, like it was the case with Great Gatsby and consider themselves omnivore readers. But would they ever pick the damn thing up if it wasn't hitting the theatres? Sigh, it's frustrating.
This is in many YA books, although I have read many good YA books that go against some of the things you don't like about it. I think some Science Fiction/Fantasy YA books are better. Although I agree with twilight, and books like that.
I'm 36 years old and I have decided to venture into YA just because. I can't agree with you more about Twilight! Edward stalked Bella. He cut her off from her family and he was willing to kill her! I got through the first book and wouldn't read anymore.
Do you have any recommendations for books that you think are a realistic look at teen life??, especially in working class Britain. A lot of the things you said definitely hit home for me and it's the reason I always avoided "books with larger letters" when i was 13-16. The protagonists were always so different to me. And like you said, i always felt like YA books were low key making fun of girls like me because I drank a lot and wore lots of makeup when I was really young. I really don't feel like I was that different to many of the other girls my age at the time.
There are so many YA books that don't fit any of the trends you mentioned though. There are plenty of YA readers who avoid the cookie-cutter paranormals etc - There is such a wider world out there...
I agree, even though most are still very immature & don't know what they're doing. LOL. But even still, that's their business. That's why there should be education involving ALL the issues about sex.
I love watching your videos and hearing your opinion on any topic...even when I disagree I like that you give me an insight that I didn't think about or notice. Although it's hard for me to hear some of the salty language coming out of that sweet little cherub angelic face...and such perfect ivory skin ~ most women would kill to have...so yummy you could make a tea cup out of it! Lol.