The Things I Love (And Hate) About YA Fiction

I love YA fiction. The genre has gained some serious (and often deserved) backlash for the piles of trite, boring nonsense it contains, but that doesn't stop me from loving it--because, if you're willing to wade through the nonsense, you can find some gems like Markus Zusak's The Book Thief (which I universally recommend to all people at all times), Gail Carson Levine's Ever (which is probably considered middle grade, but given the whole girl-being-sacrificed-to-her-god premise and some subtle-but-there references to sex could go either way, genre-wise), and Shannon Hale's Books of Bayern (which are the books that showed me it is possible to do strong female characters right).

But then there are the rest of them...

This rant is inspired by my getting Victoria Aveyard's The Red Queen on sale on Audible and discovering in the first few minutes of listening that it contains some of the things I love, and hate, most about YA fiction.  So, after all that ado, here are

The Things I Love About YA Fiction:

• Fantasy. As a die-hard fan of fairy tales, I love stories that include magic, heroes, damsels, and other larger-than-life characters. For me, reading should be an escape from reality as much as a reflection of reality, and I love stories with fantastical elements.

• Dystopia. The YA dystopia has fallen on rough times since The Hunger Games made it crazy popular. But dystopias can be fascinating, a glimpse into a writer's head about what they consider the pressing issues of today's society.

• Coming-of-age. One of the reasons I love YA is because the teenage years are so full of confusion, drama, and lots of people trying to figure out "who they are." Coming-of-age stories can capture all those things marvelously.

​and

The Things I Hate About YA Fiction:
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• Bitchy Female Leads. I blame Katniss Everdeen for this one. The thing is, for Katniss it works. Her hardened, closed-off personality was kind of the point, and at the time, it did stand out among all the shapeless Bella Swan. But enough already. Being bitchy doesn't make you strong and independent; it just makes you bitchy. I'm looking at you, America Singer (Kiera Cass's The Selection trilogy).

• Love Triangles. Don't misunderstand, I'm all for complicated romantic situations. But girls, it's time to understand that stringing two guys who like you along because you just *can't decide* is unkind and unfair. Grow up, and start making some hard choices. Sure, you may break the unpicked guy's heart, but he'll be better off in the end.