WHY YA BOOKS SUCK...THIS SHOULD BE FUN

A blog post titled Why YA Books Suck came up when I was searching for people’s criticisms of both the YA science fiction and fantasy section and the Adult science fiction and fantasy section.

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[acrimsondaisy]

i mean the only thing "all x is bad" articles tell me is that the author hasn't read enough of x

[BookInvasion]

All YA books are all the same!! UGH With their pages, front and back covers, chapters, characters and new IDEAS!! So unoriginal I mean like REALLY! Words amirite!?

[SF]

I really don't understand the "YA is all the same" argument that never dies. First things first, it's not even a genre per se. It's the target audience. This is why you have YA romance, YA fantasy, YA mystery, YA contemporary etc. etc.
And second, every single genre has its tropes and commercial trends. But you don't hear people say things like "well, thrillers are all the same because there is a murder and someone who investigates" or "fantasy is all the same cuz there is magic and an evil overlord".
And last but not least, just let people read what they want. People loooove to invalidate and crap on popular booktubers for everything. From reading YA to wearing makeup or having rainbow shelves. Jesus. Leave them alone. 🙄 Fighting for more diversity is great but hating, shaming and being a passive-agressive elitist is not the way to go.

[DryBooks]

I wanna understand how District 12 could EVER be classified as suburban!?

[monferno]

THANK YOU for pointing out the fact that the YA section is filled with female authors! I personally have nothing against it, I read books by people, but every time someone brings the "there's really no female authors" argument I just cannot

[JashanaC]

I just . . .

These arguments can go for literally any genre -- any genre has a lot of books that have similar themes/tropes/plot outlines/characters. There are essentially no truly original ideas left in the world.

The Hunger Games and Divergent are not the same books... wtf.

When was this blog post posted?! 2012??? There has been much more diversity in recent years??? I'm so confused.

Also, going off of the examples they gave, how the heck were Katniss & what's-her-face (Tris?) upper class suburbanites??

Okay I'm done. LoL.

[chirodocglc]

So I dont get anything that is said in that Blog. George R.R. Martin had a fantastic response to the diversity issue, both in the books and authors. He said, as you mentioned, that (Not an exact quote) "There does need to be more diversity in books, but authors write about what they know. As many authors up until this point tended to be western european decent, thats what we tend to talk about. There should definitely be more diversity within those books and that is getting better, but right now there is a push for new more diverse authors, from African, to S.E. Asian. Right now it is up to you, the readers, to keep that diversity fueled. If these new authors succeed, you will see a shift and an expanded fantasy section." I completely agree with this, money talks. If you want diversity then check out these new authors and support them if you like what they write. The good thing is, right now it is easier than ever to self-publish as you have (waiting for the soft cover but cant wait btw) and that should help more diversity as well.


But, as for copying??? I find it funny that the blog writer says everything copied Hunger Games, and Twilight, but didnt even consider that maybe Twilight got a little of its inspiration from classics like The Vampyre (1819) or Dracula (1897). And Hunger Games was notoriously called out for copying Battle Royal. I'm sure that without even reading your book yet, that you took inspiration from other works that you've read, it doesnt make yours lesser, it just means that you've taken past experiences and implemented them into your unique tale.


Now I'm not trying to put down any title, theyre all unique. They all took time and creativity to generate, but to say that YA sucks because your limited library at home, is just ignorant and ridiculous. I personally bounce all over the place from YA, to Epic Fantasy, to even having a little dirty secret of liking SOME Fantasy romance. But Elliot, you put it well in past videos, if you like something then awesome! if not, then dont spend your time degrading it or others for liking it. There's no purpose for a blog like this other than to stir up the internet. Which, it absolutely excelled at.

[jenniferpeterson]

This whole article touches on my biggest pet peeve in life. The whole mindset of “a few are bad = all are bad”. I see this A LOT, whether it be books, race, religion, gender....literally anything at all. This mindset is so unhealthy and unfair. I have read some YA books that are just plain garbage but I have also read just as many adult books that are also garbage. That doesn’t mean they all are, I have absolute favorites in both categories. Just because you find something wrong with a few doesn’t mean you assume they are all horrible. 🙄

[tabagithiga]

The older I get the less I read YA, but not because of any of these points. The reason I stray from YA these days is because I feel removed from the ages of the characters and so often times I find myself disagreeing with their decisions or I find them hard to relate to. That doesn't go for all YA, I have just been getting more enjoyment out of books written about adults and that's okay! The author of this article seems pretty juvenile based on how they are writing. I hope when they grow older they realize that everyone has a right to love what they read whether it's picture books or Tolstoy.

[daynabailen]

I have really enjoyed a lot of YA novels. That being said, there are some legitimate criticisms to be made.
1. A lot of YA trilogies make less sense by the 3rd book. It seems to me like the authors don’t really have the ending figured out when they start writing the first book so the plot just ends up going in a weird direction. The Divergent series is a really good example of this.
2. Relationships are incredibly immature and unrealistic in YA books. I would expect this to be true for teenage relationships, but it is true for adult relationships too. I think YA authors can do a better job at showing realistic and healthy relationships.
3. I don’t think it is realistic that a group of 5 or less 14-17 year olds are going to dismantle an evil regime by themselves or that adults would expect them to.

[bia]

I hate the "if you read YA you're a child" mentality. People are allowed to enjoy whatever they want, on r/books there are tons of people like this who think Harry Potter books are not "real" books that adults should be reading.

[Devou]

It’s all down to opinion. If someone doesn’t like YA (or any genre for the matter) then that’s fine. But don’t go hating on other people for enjoying it. I’ll never understand people like that

[BookishBabbles]

Is it bad that if I see a word that I don’t understand I never google it? I kinda just use context clues to figure out what it could mean 😂

[avalonwatchingvideos]

... Goodness, that was a lot.
I generally don't like YA fiction because it tends to employ tropes that I'm not the biggest fan of, but that just means that I need to read other things, not that YA books are inherently bad! It's all just a matter of personal taste. Just because I don't like orange juice, that doesn't mean no one else is allowed to drink it.

[BimBamHeidi]

I've always been of the impression that YA has more diversity than most adult books, to a point where it sometimes feels a bit forced while adult books (especially adult fantasy) are very lacking of diversity.
Same with authors: there are more female authors and authors of color than there have ever been in adult fantasy. Things are changing right now, sure but still. I really don't get his point.

[nikib]

gave me the "if you aren't white don't write, cuz there's enough white authors" vibes

[EnbyReads]

This WAS fun! I agree that sometimes YA books can be a little too simplistic, and I can easily tire if I read them in a row. But same goes for slow epic sci fi haha. What books you like and dont like say more about you than the books. But I loved this video, thanks

[johnterpack]

Just wanted to say "thank you" for having a sane view on diversity. It baffles me that the people pushing for diversity don't realize *they* are the bigots. They are effectively saying they can only relate to characters who look like them. I grew up in the '70s and '80s watching "The Jeffersons", "Chico and the Man", "Sanford & Son", "Wonder Woman", "Electra Woman & Dyna Girl", and a slew of similar shows I can't remember. Not once did it ever occur to me that I shouldn't be able to relate to the folks I was watching. We just watched "Terminator: Dark Fate" this past weekend and I had absolutely no trouble at all relating to the three female leads. Seriously, what is wrong with people that they can only relate to characters who look like them?

[raevaltera]

30 years of someone mispronuncing my name both first and last made me chose a pen that was easier to say/spell for my author brand.

As a half Hispanic woman who reads and writes, I find her points hilarious.

[MistbornTaylor]

I kind of understand the problem with authors living out their fantasies. A good example of this is how poorly bully characters are written. This usually happens in a contemporary or paranormal setting where normal high schools are the main focus. These bullies are portrayed unrealistically and clearly only there for the protagonist to “defeat” them. You can see this in To All the Boys I Loved Before, Labyrinth Lost (a random 15/16 year old chucks a dodgeball at a girl’s face who does that???), When Dimple Met Rishi (these bullies might as well be made of cardboard, if you want a prime example of generic, badly written bully characters read this book). Even books that I really like, like My So-Called Bollywood Life has a one dimensional bully character.