Hey, everyone – this is Becca, with a new post we are doing here on Adventures in YA Publishing. It’s similar to the Question of the Week, but geared toward the bloggers of the book blogging world. What do they like? Don’t like? Consider this the reader’s side of the publishing coin and the writer’s inside guide to what bloggers look for in the books they end up loving and shouting about into the interwebz. Once a month, I’ll be sending out a question to bloggers, and I’ll be posting their answers right here! Want to be a part of our book blogger panel? Leave your blog name and contact details in the comments below! We’d love to have you!
This month’s question:
“What genres/tropes are you sick of seeing? What are you dying to see more of or something new altogether?”
“I have found that a lot of YA books are starting to blur together for me. They are often just a bit too similar. This may work fine for some readers because they want that similar feeling book, but that’s definitely not what works for me. I desperately want something different. Dystopian is a genre that I am burnt out on and at the moment prefer to just finish the series I’ve already started. I have been loving Mysteries and Thrillers and could use more but another genre I would to see more of is Steampunk and Victorian age novels. I also love books that take place in the 1920’s. I love the more realistic paranormal in those time periods, like ghosts or psychics. These are things I believe in and find fascinating, I would like to learn more through a fiction novel.”
– Candace, Candace’s Book Blog, Twitter: @candacemom2two
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“I don’t really get sick of genres, because there can always be new ideas within a genre. I am beyond tired of love triangles, though. If I spot multiple potential love interests in a description, it’s hard to convince myself to give the book a chance. Even if I end up enjoying the book, I often think how much better the story would have been without the extra romantic entanglements.”
– Shae, Shae Has Left the Room, Twitter: @ShaelynCerie
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“I honestly don’t know if I’m sick of any genre or trope per say. That’s not to say that I haven’t steered clear of a lot of genres lately, paranormal romance and dystopia, for example. But that’s more because the stuff that’s coming out has been so cookie-cutter that it’s been boring. I will still read anything if it’s done well. I just read The Mime Order which was kind of a dystopia with paranormal elements, and it was awesome! But the majority of them I’ve ended up giving up on because they just couldn’t hold my interest. They have to be somewhat original, and they have to be really well written, or I’m going to move on to something better.
Something I’m always wanting to see more of is Epic/High Fantasy. I seriously can NOT get enough of it! But I also like to read things that are just completely original. I think Victoria Schwab (The Archived/Vicious) is really good at this, as are Holly Black (White Cat), and Scott Westerfeld (Leviathan). MORE PLEASE!”
– Andye, Reading Teen, Twitter: @ReadingTeen
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“I’m one of those people that HATE love triangles. I avoid books that are marketed as a story with alove triangle or potential love triangle. If the synopsis so much as mentions the two-to-one ratio of males/females or females/males, I most likely won’t be picking up that book. So, I’m sick of love triangles. I feel like a huge percentage of books that I have read in the past three years or more have featured a love triangle, which is so sad. Is this realistic? Not entirely, in my opinion. Or at least, why is it that so many stories must feature a love triangle? I’m sick of it.
On a different note, I’d love to see more novels that deal with Gothic settings and stories. April Tucholke’s Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, as well as Martina Boone’s Compulsion, are two amazing examples of gorgeous, haunting Gothic stories. I love them so much! But I feel like YA literature does not feature many of these novels. Also, I’m not sure what this says about me, but I’d like to see more stories in which the female protagonist totally falls for the villain (like in Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge). Villains need love too!”
–Alyssa, The Eater of Books, Twitter: @Alyssa_Susanna
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“Oh, goodness. I actually think about this way more than I should. Maybe that’s a good thing here,
because now I can give you my three biggest tropes that I’m sick of seeing with ease. Ready? Here we go:
1. Instalove- For me, there is nothing worse than this. I love the build-up. I love connecting with the story. When that gets taken away from me. . . I get very sad. Sometimes flounce-worthy-sad. Just say no to insatlove.
2. Love Triangles- This one is a close second for me. Sometimes they fit, and they are natural. Most of the time they don’t. I hate more than anything when they are forced just to add conflict. (Especially when it magically happens in the second book of a series!) This shouldn’t be a YA formula, it has almost become that, and I hate it. A LOT.
3. Female Protagonist- I don’t really hate this one as much I hate that there aren’t more male protagonists. Sometimes a female lead is the only way to go. I just wish more authors took a chance on the boys.
Then there’s the things that I would love to see more of. More male protagonists, more swoon (there’s a lot of this already, but how can I not ask for more?), and more realistic romances. I am always looking for something new, something different. I love nothing more than when something catches me off guard and thrills me with how unique and fresh it is. So mostly, I am looking forward to more of that.”
–Meg, Swoony Boys Podcast, Twitter: @SwoonyBoys
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“This past year, under my Request A Review guidelines, I stated that I would no longer read any more paranormal novels. This is how tired I am of that genre.
It’s sad because I grew up a lover of anything that fell under fantasy. Yet now I actually avoid the whole genre like the plague, because mostly the genre puts out paranormal offerings. The market is so saturated with paranormal that reading anything in the field now feels like eating sugar when I have a bad tooth.
I would like to see more realistic novels. Right now, John Green is quite popular. Matthew Quick is an author to watch. Laura Halse Anderson and Sara Zarr have been around for a time but always have quality work. Actually, I’m ready for more social problem novels too.
It would be nice to see just more genres represented in general. Body in the Woods by April Henry makes for a good murder mystery. What about crime stories and thrillers? In the middle school titles, I’m reading lots of humor and small press historical fiction. Are those genres truly only popular in those grades? What about science fiction and horror? Do they exist but are just being overshadowed by the glut of fantasy titles? In the nonfiction spectrum, the company Zest puts out moving true stories written by teens themselves. I’d love to see Offerings like these in greater abundance.”
–Allison, Allison’s Book Bag
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Sound off below! What genres/tropes are you sick of seeing? What are you dying to see more of or something new altogether?
