Addicted to YA discussion

Since I'm an author myself, I'm really curious as to what others think haven't been done before. What ideas have been overdone? What are things you see as cliché? What ideas do you still have yet to see in a book or haven't seen enough of in books? Things like that :3

whitch series!! proper ones like Sweep. and I have recently read the Ellie Jordan Ghost Hunter series...definitely more of those tupes

i meant Witch-series

Kiara wrote: "I like to write too but as I reader there are so many things that I think are overdone! So here we go... (Side note-this is mainly for science fiction and fantasy YA and these are my opinions sorry..."

I totally agree with a lot of the points you've made! Another thing I think is largely overdone is the whole insta-love thing. I'm not gonna lie and say I will never do it, but I definitely won't have a lot of it. It's just sooo overdone and unrealistic! How often is it that we are immediately drawn to someone who will end up playing a big role later on? Sigh way too common lol

Tania wrote: "whitch series!! proper ones like Sweep. and I have recently read the Ellie Jordan Ghost Hunter series...definitely more of those tupes"

Yeah now that I think about it, I haven't read many witch books! I am reading a book called Dorothy Must Die with witch characters though!

L.C. wrote: "Tania wrote: "whitch series!! proper ones like Sweep. and I have recently read the Ellie Jordan Ghost Hunter series...definitely more of those tupes"

Yeah now that I think about it, I haven't read..."

I have read 100's of them. To me they never become boring. I roll my eyes at the insta-love thing; the cliche's blah blah, but just as an easy read I mostly enjoy them. What I hate is the constant back and forth love triangles they sometimes have in series.....irks me to NO end! Plus that at age 17/18 they just KNOW this is the love of their life....destiny/fate/yadda yadda. But the supernatural appeals to me as reader........without vampires and werewolves thank you......that usually puts me off, although I have read a series where the boy turned out to be a werewolf, but it was different than the usual so I finished the series.

I'd like to read more stories about the future where things are mostly working okay. People are trying to adapt and getting it mostly right. The bad guys/gals are the ones who take advantage of uncertainty, and the good guys/gals are just trying to get what they want when they get caught up in an adventure they never wanted.

I think Blade Runner still gets it mostly right. There is an existing infrastructure that gets updated by bolting on the new technologies. Technology is incremental and people react to it in their own personal way.

I'd like to see more hopeful stories.

To be honest I would like to read more retellings of fairytale sand some more stories that takes place in the future.

Anything with engaging characters will do me. :-)

Witches and mermaids

I would like to see some global warming dystopia or something environmental but still a good story, not to much complicated science stuff. :)

I'm kind of loosing interest in the typical fantasy, insta-love, in-order-to-save-something as was mentioned above. At the same time, when someone does it so, so right, like with Daughter of Smoke and Bone, the Raven Boys or Six of Crows, that catches my attention, it makes it more interesting to read.

That being said, I'd love to see more books explore themes that TV shows and movies get to do. When I finished season one of Halt and Catch Fire, I remember being in such a book slump because I wanted to read something like I had just watched and instead all that there was were YA romance and retellings of the same, troubled person falling in love and/or being caught in a love triangle and it just a bit disappointing. Don't get me wrong, they can be great sometimes in between reading more heavier style books, but yeah, something that could explore a really involved story line like that would be awesome.

Also what ever happened to the platonic relationships?? Bring back the adventures and the brotherly/team friendships from the Hobbit and Gentleman Bastards series..! :)

I want to see a love triangle where the female protagonist has to choose between a guy and a girl.

short answer: give me lesbians or bi girls and i'll be happy (love, a tired bi girl, who is sort of sick of all the straight people and gay boys)

long answer:
- cut the instalove. it's not realistic, it makes me roll my eyes, most people hate it.
- i want more guys and girls to be friends without it escalating into romance. friendship matters. i rarely see really good, strong, m/f friendships. it's all romance.
- conversely, i want more same-gender friendships to escalate into romance, because every time someone whines "well why can't we just have a close same-gender friendship" ... well, there's BARELY any same-gender relationships and MANY same-gender friendships. why can't guys and girls have a close friendship instead?
- better love triangles. no more girl chooses between two guys. girl chooses between a girl and a guy. girl gets together with both of her options because consensual poly relationships are healthy and good.
- less white people in fantasy. less homophobia & heteronormativity in fantasy. seriously, you have an entire world to play with and you just ... make everyone white and straight in the same sort of medieval fantasy that everyone uses. wow.
- can we stop with the male love interests that are always older and more experienced and angsty for no reason? also, can we stop with the posessiveness and anger and control? it's not cute. it's not romantic. everyone is the same and it's annoying. soft boys, please. i want soft, gentle boys. (kaz brekker was done well, i gotta admit.)

veering off the topic of more serious problems:
- i want more historical dramas like and i darken. i know there's a lot of it in the adult section or on tv, but dammit, i read ya.
- also good historical heist novels like six of crows.
- i LOVE it when there are several narrators as long as it's done well. it makes the story more complex.

jess wrote: "short answer: give me lesbians or bi girls and i'll be happy (love, a tired bi girl, who is sort of sick of all the straight people and gay boys)

long answer:
- cut the instalove. it's not realist..."

OH MY GOD PREACH!! 100% THIS, I AGREE WITH EVERY POINT, YESS, YA WRITERS TAKE NOTES!!

Too many books that end with happy endings (main protagonist always prevails).

I'd like more books with:
-unhappy endings
-plot twists (absolutely no predictability)
-MCs who aren't super special (i.e. MCs like Zoey from House of Night and Harry Potter), perhaps, make the MC a sidekick sort of character?
-no typical characters (jocks, nerds, girl who wants to be "different", bad boy personas), give characters more depth (no one fits in a box irl)
-no characters who are trying overly hard to be "deep"

Books with POC as main characters, especially in genres other than realistic fiction. Also more YA Sci-Fi since there's a lack of that. Urban fantasy is also a less-common genre, and the books that do exist there seem to lack the charm of regular fantasy novels.

I prefer to see more strong female leads in books, because honestly i am tired of Bellas and other whiny characters. I was actually browsing books the other day, and honestly i had difficulties finding a strong, badass female character like Rose Hathaway (Vampire Academy), Caleana (Throne of Glass), Feyre (A court of thorns and roses), they are still findable, but we definitely need more of them.

I love books like Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver because they are all about nature. But I also love very philosophical books like Scythe!

Thoughtful wrote: "2.) Characters- First, I want to say I'm pro diversity all of the way and I have to admit that sometimes I don't like the book because all of the characters are straight and white. This brings me to the first thing I hate and that is the lack of it. I understand sometimes that the story doesn't call for it but seriously, if you are in New York or Los Angeles, you are going to know at least one LGBTQ+ person or person of color. Oh and then the person of color, when they are in the book, are stereotypes, barely in the book because they just add diversity, and/or they are killed off. This is the authors choice of course, however, I hate it every single time it happens. The second thing I hate about most characters also is that most authors aren't teenagers and yes they may have been teenagers, but I can't tell you how many times I've read a book that tries so hard to make the protagonist seem like a teenager. Seriously, stop it. Every teen girl doesn't listen to classic rock. I personally hate it and I don't know anyone who likes it. I don't understand also why the protagonist are all females! Yay! Girl power, I understand but what about the males? It'd be nice to see a fantasy or science fiction book with a male lead instead of the lost princess narrative of saving the kingdom (get back to that later) I want to see more friendships within the characters though and then also have like real teenagers who have problems other than with the romantic lead. Then the parents should be in the books, too! Seriously, my mom is always in my business and in these books, the parents are dead, bad parents or always away while their child gets attacked by whatever..."

You might enjoy .

Male lead, mixed group of friends (both gender and race) other secondary characters diverse, unusual plot and romance just a side issue. Parents in the background.

I would love more books where the main character isn't a complete idiot, something like Semester Aboard or The Touchstone Trilogy. And I would love some books with triad relationship too. Tired of badly handled love triangles.

Here are some things i personally prefers/want to see more of in books:

1. Main Characters: I really love books that have more than one main character (which i feel like there are few of). Personally, i get a little bit bored when u read a book where u only follows one main character trough the book/s (especially if the description are lacking details). Also i love when books are so detailed that u can imagine how the "people" look (which a lot of books are lacking). Characters are for me the most important part of the books.

2. The world: The best thing i know is reading a book where the writer has created a detailed and beautiful world. An example is the Harry Potter books where the world is so big, unique and detailed that u feel like u have been there along with the characters when closing the books. When reading i usually choose books which brings u to a new world, because those are the books i get lost in and reread.

I would like to see the following in YA.

—More friendships, especially crossing gender lines. Many times, the friendships get thrown out! I want a super deep friendship where it’s the primary relationship. Same goes for sibling relationships.
—Romance free books! I’m surprised at how difficult it is to find a YA novel that doesn’t involve the protagonist hooking up and/or going steady by the end. I know romance is popular and can be fun to read when done well, but most of the time, the romance is “take it or leave it” and doesn’t add anything for me, though if the romance eats the plot, I get annoyed. I’m not really interested in shipping characters. Not everyone is interested in dating/sex as teenagers, even if most teens are getting the hormones and attractions.
—Good/supportive parents. I understand why they were excluded or evil in a historic sense, but I like to believe that a good amount of teenagers have parents that aren’t dead, neglectful or abusive. Side note, this goes for other adults too; unless it’s the point to have everyone over 20 to be bad, it comes off as odd.
—More adventure style stories! I love the idea of trekking through different parts of the world (our own or a fantasy one), and sad that it’s a hard find. Especially if the world is fantastical.
—More Science Fiction that’s not in space or a dystopia. YA Fantasy is a dime a dozen nowadays (especially in the indie space), but YA Science Fiction is a small fraction, and it’s mostly space operas.

I would like to see more books with autistic people as the main characters, especially autistic women, who are underrepresented. Not just in books which are about their struggles with autism, but in books unrelated to autism that happen to have one as the main character, like a fantasy or a sci-fi. I never find books with autistic characters and I would really love one.

I wish I could find more mystery fantasy(ya preferred) books, if you know of any let me know!! I’m on the hunt right now but haven’t found any. Also I wish I read more ya wish less sexual content in it. I know some don’t mind it, but I honestly find it a waste of pages. Don’t get me wrong I like a good romance but not with all the graphic details.

Maria wrote: "I wish I could find more mystery fantasy(ya preferred) books, if you know of any let me know!! I’m on the hunt right now but haven’t found any. Also I wish I read more ya wish less sexual content i..."

I have a few recommendations for Fantasy Mystery (all YA)

*The Confectioner Chronicles: The Complete Fantasy Mystery Series is all about magical food, and the first book is a murder mystery (I linked to the box set).
*Four Dead Queens is a nice standalone, even though in my eyes, it's closer to Science Fiction than Fantasy since there's no magic in it (though get the B&N version if you can, it has an extra chapter that ties things together a bit better than the regular ending).
*House of Salt and Sorrows is a bit more on the Gothic Horror side, but I think it has enough fantasy and mystery elements that you might consider.
*Project Renovatio: The Complete Trilogy also has some mystery elements, though it's more Science Fiction than fantasy.

As for the sexual content, I know there's a lot of those books floating around (which really should be New Adult, but that's another topic), but a lot more that don't have that content. I can say that every YA book I read this year doesn't have anything R-rated in terms of sexual content.

Also Seraphina by Rachel Hartman is a really good duology!

More fantasy books where the protagonist actually choses the prince/powerful immortal over the childhood best friend!