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- Dec 31, 2017
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Hi all,
I've been wondering, does having pretty girls and handsome boys in YA make it sell better? Sometimes I don't think it's all that necessary and yet some of the best-selling authors in the genre do it anyways. It would be all right if it were just one or two characters within a novel, but it's usually more. I'll list a few examples off the top of my head, underlining the ones that especially showcase the authors' obsession with making a beauty out of everyone even though those underlined characters have unique traits and their appeal hardly hinges on their looks.
- In the Lunar Chronicles, book one introduces Prince Kai as a very handsome guy; book two does the same with Wolf and his brother and it doesn't stop there, it even makes Captain Thorne (whose comical nature could've in fact pointed at an average-looking guy) a handsome character, too. Of course, Cinder and Scarlet are both total knockouts.
- The Hunger Games was hardly any different, Katniss is a complete beauty when she unties her braid and wears a dress and it makes me wonder, does such a uniqie, influential protagonist needs to be a beauty when she's teeming with other interesting personality traits? Gale and Peeta are both good-looking in different ways, too. What really blew me away, however, was the part in Catching Fire where Katniss reviews an old video of a young Haymitch in the arena and doesn't neglect to say something like "he looks younger, and admittedly, very good-looking." I mean, was that really necessary considering Haymich has technically been a fan-favorite since book one? Does being handsome really add anything to him?
- In Caraval, Scarlet and Tella are very pretty, Julian is super hot, and even Dante is described as good-looking.
- In An Ember in the Ashes *covers mouth*, Laia, who is a resourceful and brave 17 yo girl who carries herself with pride even as a slave (a trait which should've made her attractive even if she wasn't very pretty) is nonethless portayed as gorgeous and having stunning curves. Helene is a blonde goddess, while Elias and Keenan are the image of male beauty. I may have forgotten a few other characters from those books, but I'm almost certain that most YA authors make a point of saying something like "and he/she's rather good-looking" even if it's an afterthought or doesn't involve an important character.
Doesn't that strike u as too unrealistic? Is it that difficult for an author to restrict the beauty thing to his/her protagonist and his/ her love interest only?
I've been wondering, does having pretty girls and handsome boys in YA make it sell better? Sometimes I don't think it's all that necessary and yet some of the best-selling authors in the genre do it anyways. It would be all right if it were just one or two characters within a novel, but it's usually more. I'll list a few examples off the top of my head, underlining the ones that especially showcase the authors' obsession with making a beauty out of everyone even though those underlined characters have unique traits and their appeal hardly hinges on their looks.
- In the Lunar Chronicles, book one introduces Prince Kai as a very handsome guy; book two does the same with Wolf and his brother and it doesn't stop there, it even makes Captain Thorne (whose comical nature could've in fact pointed at an average-looking guy) a handsome character, too. Of course, Cinder and Scarlet are both total knockouts.
- The Hunger Games was hardly any different, Katniss is a complete beauty when she unties her braid and wears a dress and it makes me wonder, does such a uniqie, influential protagonist needs to be a beauty when she's teeming with other interesting personality traits? Gale and Peeta are both good-looking in different ways, too. What really blew me away, however, was the part in Catching Fire where Katniss reviews an old video of a young Haymitch in the arena and doesn't neglect to say something like "he looks younger, and admittedly, very good-looking." I mean, was that really necessary considering Haymich has technically been a fan-favorite since book one? Does being handsome really add anything to him?
- In Caraval, Scarlet and Tella are very pretty, Julian is super hot, and even Dante is described as good-looking.
- In An Ember in the Ashes *covers mouth*, Laia, who is a resourceful and brave 17 yo girl who carries herself with pride even as a slave (a trait which should've made her attractive even if she wasn't very pretty) is nonethless portayed as gorgeous and having stunning curves. Helene is a blonde goddess, while Elias and Keenan are the image of male beauty. I may have forgotten a few other characters from those books, but I'm almost certain that most YA authors make a point of saying something like "and he/she's rather good-looking" even if it's an afterthought or doesn't involve an important character.
Doesn't that strike u as too unrealistic? Is it that difficult for an author to restrict the beauty thing to his/her protagonist and his/ her love interest only?