Pet Peeves in YA lit.

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Z0Marley

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I've been reading a thread similar to this in the SF/F forums. So I figured I'd put it in here to see what all people had to say.

What the hell are you sick and tired of? (Feel free to list as many as you want :tongue)
 

Phantom

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Seventeen year old girls falling madly in love with a vampire and willing to die so they can be with them forever? Not all YA vampire books, though. I actually like Vampie Diaries. It's just the one's with stupid girls who let guys take over their lives.
 

Ugawa

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I agree with Phantom about the vampire thing. I'm also sick of overly righteous teenagers. I mean, come on, how many teenagers actually end up doing the right thing? Or am I the only teenager who would join the bad side and try to take over the world :p?

 

Phantom

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Seriously! I 99% of the people I know wouldn't do that. They might say they would, but if they were actually in the situation, they wouldn't.
 

BriMaresh

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When the characters fall madly and vastly in love despite having nothing in common, no reason for it, and seem to do it only to suffer. These characters are so wrong for one another it's nightmare inducing, and they state it a hundred times, and it doesn't matter because they are so in love (honey, maybe you mean lust?).

Not nothing like he's rich, she's poor, but they both like Mike and Ikes and enjoy a good horror movie. Nothing as in they don't eat the same foods, or have the same values, or have anything they enjoy doing together, and there's possibly whole centuries between his idea of good and hers. The only thing they share is suffering and being in love.

I can think of more than one book like this, where the whole drama is paranormal boy, normal girl, but there's no reason the two should have any connection at all, and beyond their instant, stalker-ish, creepy love (lust?) the two never stop to have fun, or to have a conversation about something they have in common, or to dwell on even one little thing the other person does that they would die if they could never see again.

That's my biggest YA pet peeve, right now, hands-down. And yeah, it mostly relates to vampires and fae, because the werewolves and witches/wizards tend to be more human. But it also relates to some straight-up teen drama, too.
 

Phantom

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Exactly! I actually read Twilight (just to see what everyone was talking about) and I was like, for real? I don't think they've ever had a real conversation in that book! They can't just talk about stuff. Whatever they talk about is about his creepy vampire-ism and once and a while her crappy life. Really? I wouldn't date the hottest guy EVER if that's all we talked about. Go ice skating or something, at least. All they do is sit and talk the WHOLE. FREAKING. BOOK. Except for when Bella has to play the damsel in distress and all. Or when they're having sex.

Oh, yeah. Teens whose lives are all about sex and drugs. HATE that. Really, I know teens do drugs and have sex and cuss, but it's not ALL of us and it's not ALL the time. Except for, you know, druggies and sex adicts *coughBellacough*
 

kaitlin008

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I quite agree that I like there to be more depth than just the love (lust) between a paranormal and a human character with nothing in common, although I've found that there are actually fewer of these books than I originally thought there were. I can think of more good examples of vampire/faerie/etc stories than bad. (That I've read--maybe I'm just choosing well ;) )

eta:
I agree with this wholeheartedly:
Oh, yeah. Teens whose lives are all about sex and drugs. HATE that. Really, I know teens do drugs and have sex and cuss, but it's not ALL of us and it's not ALL the time.
I don't mind the addition of sex/drugs/drinking into YA stuff, but I personally did none of these things in high school, and I know plenty of people who didn't. It's fine when it fits with the story, but I don't like when it's injected just for the sake of being "edgy".
 

Phantom

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I quite agree that I like there to be more depth than just the love (lust) between a paranormal and a human character with nothing in common, although I've found that there are actually fewer of these books than I originally thought there were. I can think of more good examples of vampire/faerie/etc stories than bad. (That I've read--maybe I'm just choosing well ;) )

eta:
I agree with this wholeheartedly:

I don't mind the addition of sex/drugs/drinking into YA stuff, but I personally did none of these things in high school, and I know plenty of people who didn't. It's fine when it fits with the story, but I don't like when it's injected just for the sake of being "edgy".

Exactly! If it fits the story and it's not like the whole school's stoned all day, sure. I'm not a fan of drugs, but I have some cousins in high school who do things I wish they wouldn't do, but I still like hanging out with them and all, as long as they're not on something. It's sort of the same with books, you know? Well, maybe not. Haha :p
 

BriMaresh

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I can think of a few very big books that do the flat romance thing. And yet, teens eat them up.

Another pet peeve is the character that is the victim. I don't care how abused and downtrodden you are. Have a little agency and develop, character! Dynamic rather than static, please.
 

kaitlin008

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Vapid rich socialites and plain Jane who becomes beautiful and steals all the guys. (Or any variation of said theme)

Personally I can't get enough faeries. I just love em. Can't help it.

I agree about the vapid thing

And I'm starting to really love faeries too. I thought I didn't, but I was wrong.
 

PoppysInARow

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Flat romances? How about flat characters. I can't seem to find a book these days that doesn't have a flat MC. (Maybe because I already read all the good ones.) The book I'm reading now has a great plot, but I feel nothing for the characters. NOTHING.

Also, hate how shallow a lot of it is as well, which goes back to that flat romance thing. These characters seem to only care about looks, and it's starting to drive me crazy.

Also, this may be me, but YA fantasy doesn't have very much in the terms of sex. Maybe this isn't the point and blah, blah, blah, but I find that when I read YA fantasy, and the characters fall in love, they never really explore their sexuality. I know that this can happen quite a bit in lit. Ya, but what about fantasy? Maybe I'm reading the wrong books? :Huh:
 

Nickles

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I cannot stand stupid protagonists. I hate when authors have their plot move along and conflict is developed because the protagonist does something idiotic that is rather obvious from the readers point of view. I find this to be a cop out. I know in YA the characters are young and therefore are not completely wise with age and make mistakes but some mistakes even 5 yr olds wouldn't make.
 

peachiemkey

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Flat protag is a big one for me, too. I can handle a few flat side characters - even a flat love interest - but if the protag doesn't feel incredibly real, like someone I'd want to meet because they're so interesting, bye-bye book.

I used to love them when I was in middle school, but nowadays I don't do well with overly chatty books. The kind where the protag is always adding irrelevant little details for the case of snark/humor. On with the story! That sort of thing can be done well, though, usually if it's more on the snark side and less on the "isn't it funny that this happened to me?" side.
 

Stunted

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I used to love them when I was in middle school, but nowadays I don't do well with overly chatty books. The kind where the protag is always adding irrelevant little details for the case of snark/humor. On with the story! That sort of thing can be done well, though, usually if it's more on the snark side and less on the "isn't it funny that this happened to me?" side.

OMG, I couldn't agree more! And most of it is so dumb! And did you ever meet anyone who talked like that? And if they did, would you spend more than one second with them?
 

Phantom

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EXACTLY! I mean, I don't mind sarcasm, because the MC in one of my WIPs is pretty saracastic, and so am I, but it really depends on how the author does it, you know?
 

peachiemkey

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OMG, I couldn't agree more! And most of it is so dumb! And did you ever meet anyone who talked like that? And if they did, would you spend more than one second with them?

LOL. It would be like the Bing commercials.

You: Hey, how was your weekend?
Them: OMIGOSH, it was like getting your foot stomped on by an elephant! And when I say that, I mean it was PAINFUL. (Actually, my friend Lisa did get her foot stomped on by an elephant once, but it was a toy one in that huge toy store in New York. Her little brother's CRAZY.) Seriously, what the eff? Anyway, I'm here now, and I just want to shove my head in a garbage disposal. You know that feeling?
You: What?
 

vroth

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LOL. It would be like the Bing commercials.

You: Hey, how was your weekend?
Them: OMIGOSH, it was like getting your foot stomped on by an elephant! And when I say that, I mean it was PAINFUL. (Actually, my friend Lisa did get her foot stomped on by an elephant once, but it was a toy one in that huge toy store in New York. Her little brother's CRAZY.) Seriously, what the eff? Anyway, I'm here now, and I just want to shove my head in a garbage disposal. You know that feeling?
You: What?

Pretty sure that just made my day. And depending on what happens tomorrow, my week. :)

Also, sort of along the same vein, I don't like the unnecessary insertion of pop culture references. A high saturation of them. It's like the author is trying to assure us that he or she is hip and with it. Drives me nuts.
 

~*Kate*~

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I don't like the unnecessary insertion of pop culture references. A high saturation of them. It's like the author is trying to assure us that he or she is hip and with it. Drives me nuts.

Same here. Unless it's used to date the book on purpose, I don't think it adds anything. Better to let me imagine a type of song or movie or celebrity and identify with it than to name someone I don't know or like and alienate me.
 

Skye Jules

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Ditto the Twilight. I haven't read books like these, but I have read their excerpts: I hate it when writers attach a brand name to a character's clothes. This doesn't tell us what the clothes looks like--it just puts a fancy label to them.

I don't have many pet peeves, because having a pet peeve implies that I've experienced what I'm ranting about. Basically all the books I buy are books I love--save for a few, but that's because they didn't really hold my interest, which isn't a pet peeve, but a subjective hting.
 

maddicharmed

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I really hate how some authors are portraying young adults or teenagers. They are making us seem like we are useless without a man in our lives. I love the romance in novels, but young adults aren't useless and depend on their man twenty-four seven.
 
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