Main Menu

What do people LIKE about Young Adult Fiction?

Started by KatieHal, April 22, 2013, 03:11:05 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

KatieHal

Well yeah, the magic knows, man. It knows.

Also, given the subject matter of 50 Shades, I'm pretty sure it's not aimed at the YA demographic. It's rather specifically fanfic with more, ahem, adult subject matter than the source material.

Which is not to say that YA can't have sex in it. Some do, and cover it very well for the target audience. But 50 Shades is pretty explicit in its treatment of sex.

(For the record, no, I haven't read the whole of any 50 Shades novels, but I have read excerpts.)

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

GrahamRocks!

I've tried listening to manwithoutabody's Dramatic Reading of the original fanfic (not the version that was published as an actual book), and...

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!


Numbers



Sorry, I had to share that.

I looked on Amazon.com for reviews of the first 50 Shades book, and by far the best one is the first review at the top of the page here:
http://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Shades-Grey-Book-Trilogy/product-reviews/0345803485/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0

If you don't like to read, here are some of the highlights from the review:

"The pseudonymous British author sets the action (such as it is) in Washington State... for no reason than that her knowledge of America apparently consists of what she read in "Twilight"... but the entire first-person narrative is filled with Britishisms. How many American college students do you know who talk about "prams," "ringing" someone on the phone, or choosing a "smart rucksack" to take "on holiday"?

According to my Kindle search function, characters roll their eyes 41 times, Ana bites her lip 35 times, Christian's lips "quirk up" 16 times, Christian "cocks his head to one side" 17 times, characters "purse" their lips 15 times, and characters raise their eyebrows a whopping 50 times. Add to that 80 references to Ana's anthropomorphic "subconscious" (which also rolls its eyes and purses its lips, by the way), 58 references to Ana's "inner goddess," and 92 repetitions of Ana saying some form of "oh crap" (which, depending on the severity of the circumstances, can be intensified to "holy crap," "double crap," or the ultimate "triple crap").

I have discovered that Ana says "Jeez" 81 times and "oh my" 72 times. She "blushes" or "flushes" 125 times, including 13 that are "scarlet," 6 that are "crimson," and one that is "stars and stripes red." (I can't even imagine.) Ana "peeks up" at Christian 13 times, and there are 9 references to Christian's "hooded eyes," 7 to his "long index finger," and 25 to how "hot" he is (including four recurrences of the epic declarative sentence "He's so freaking hot."). Christian's "mouth presses into a hard line" 10 times. Characters "murmur" 199 times, "mutter" 49 times, and "whisper" 195 times (doesn't anyone just talk?), "clamber" on/in/out of things 21 times, and "smirk" 34 times. Christian and Ana also "gasp" 46 times and experience 18 "breath hitches," suggesting a need for prompt intervention by paramedics. Finally, in a remarkable bit of symmetry, our hero and heroine exchange 124 "grins" and 124 "frowns"... which, by the way, seems an awful lot of frowning for a woman who experiences "intense," "body-shattering," "delicious," "violent," "all-consuming," "turbulent," "agonizing" and "exhausting" orgasms on just about every page."

She sums everything up with the sentence: "Just stay away from this triple crap."

Well...is there anything else that needs to be said about this book?
I have no mouth, and I must scream.

stika

There may not be anything else to say about the book, but that particular poster will scar me for years to come.

*imagines Nick Cage doing some kinky S&M stuff*  :-X

Numbers

Whatever you do, DO NOT Google Image search "Nicolas Cage Titanic."

*is waiting for reverse psychology to cause people to search for it anyway*
I have no mouth, and I must scream.

stika


Rosella

...There is a book containing the phrase "He's so freaking hot." multiple times? And it got published?

Eh, on the bright side, it reminded me of this:
I'm a princess even if my kingdom is pixelated.

Official Comfort Counselor of the TSL Asylum © ;D

It's funny how you find you enjoy your life when you're happy to be alive.

br305893

When I was younger I enjoyed reading Harry Potter and LoTR. Though I'm not sure if Lord of the Rings is Young Adult fiction...
"You Can Feel Good About Hood"

stika

It might be seen as Young Adult Fiction now (though I don't think many people think it is), but that might just have to do with how writing today has changed

GrahamRocks!

I wasn't screaming "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!" because it horrified me, but because it was so DULL!

Just to let you know.

And I don't really consider LoTR YA fiction, I consider it Fantasy Fiction for all ages!

KatieHal

LotR is definitely not YA. It's just straight up fantasy fiction.

The beginning of it can be kinda dull. I still hold that it picks up a LOT once they finally get to Bree. The Tom Bombadil stuff was meh.

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

stika

well, I do think Frank Herbert's Dune is dangerously close to Young Adult Fiction, assuming it isn't already one.

I do like the book mind you  and I don't think it was written for young adults, but yeah some things about it...

br305893

Oh I did like Ender's Game a lot. Although I highly disagree with Orson Scott Card's marriage viewpoints.
"You Can Feel Good About Hood"

KatieHal

Ender's Game is a fantastic novel. It's truly a shame Card himself is kind of awful, as it turns out. :/

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

br305893

Quote from: KatieHal on May 23, 2013, 03:52:33 PM
Ender's Game is a fantastic novel. It's truly a shame Card himself is kind of awful, as it turns out. :/

It should be interesting how the movie turns out...
"You Can Feel Good About Hood"