Flights of Fantasy discussion

My publisher e-mailed this AP wire to me. It may be of interest to some group members.

New York AP - Tuesday, April 1 - 4 hours ago:

It's good news for novelist Veronica Roth: "Divergent" is a hit at the box office and a blockbuster at book stores.

A spokeswoman for HarperCollins Children's Books said Tuesday that the young adult series set in a dystopian future has been selling 500,000 copies a week over the past three weeks.

The movie "Divergent" is based on the first book and stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James and Kate Winslet. The action-thriller was released March 21 and has already made nearly $100 million.

The first "Divergent" book was published in 2011, and total sales for the series now exceed 18 million copies. As of Tuesday afternoon, four of the top 10 sellers on Amazon.com were "Divergent books.

Meh.

I was never a fan of DYA and Roth is...a bit much for me.

I don't really have interest in Divergent, but I might watch it when it comes out on DVD. I really like Shailene Woodley and think she's a great young actress. I might watch to see how well she does.

I'm hoping her career path will go in the way of Jennifer Lawrence, which it seems to be so far. Much better for her than if she gets the Kristen Stewart treatment.

I have no interest in reading it, but I have heard that the movie is really good.. So I'll probably go see it.

I read the first book and liked it. I would rate it between Hunger Games (not as good as) and Twilight (better than). The world building was interesting, and I felt more believable than most DYA.

I'm not a fan of Roth though. She's made some comments that really irked me. In particular, her comments regarding Rowling & HP.

I don't have plans to continue -

I read the first two and didn't like them all that much. Well, the first one I gave 2 stars, but the 2nd book I gave 1 star. To me the world building wasn't believable. The meaning of Divergent didn't make any sense and Tris was lame for a heroine.

I'll probably see the movie on DVD though or on TV when it comes on just to see what the hype about the movie is. I don't think the guy who plays Four is that goodlooking, so I'm not exactly motivated to watch.

I didn't know about Roth and her comments. Gonna have to go Google now.

I know someone - can't say it's was her 100% - said that "bad/mean" reviews gave her an anxiety problem. But then her blog showed she had anxiety issues from before her 1st book got published.

But - I agree about the plot and the heroine. And the whole idea, tbh. But I'm super not a fan of DYA (dystopian YA).

I did not like the first book, and ditched the series. (Everything Jackie said, with so much more hatred... )

Have heard mixed things about the movie - but it only got 40% on rottentomatoes, and some people I know said they changed a lot (which isn't necessarily a bad thing (see above)).

I did read that the acting is pretty good, though, it's mostly the story that's lacking...


Jackie - I agree that I don't think the dude playing Four is all that good looking, but he was in a show I liked called Bedlam. I was surprised when he turned up in this movie, though. Totally not what I envisioned.

Most of the extremely popular YA stuff these days is heavily slanted towards female readers, mostly due to the part that romance plays in the books.

I personally have no desire to hear about some kid's romantic struggles since I have known and heard about enough of that from adults and teens alike to last me 9.5 lifetimes.

Oh, yes MrsJ., I do remember reading something about her saying that reviewers should watch what they say. I think I just put it out of my mind bc I didn't like the series and don't plan on spending any money on anything she publishes anyway.

I don't remember anything regarding her and Rowling and can't seem to find anything, so if anyone can enlighten me on that...

I do like DYA, but I've been more critical of the YA genre as a whole lately. I don't know if I've simply read too much of it or what is, but there is just too much of the same recycled plotlines out there.

Colleen- He's not what I envisioned Four as either. I think they were smart to pick strong actors, especialy when the story is lacking because at least if the acting is good it somewhat elevates the movie.

I enjoy some YA, though it seems everyday I like it less and less.
The stuff I do enjoy is basically all fantasy/sci-fi. I don't think I could make it through contemporary YA without massive eye rolling.
I'm with you Luke, I couldn't care less about some teenagers struggles with puberty.

Jackie wrote: "...there is just too much of the same recycled plotlines out there."

^This.

I had a cousin who went through various love triangles for many years, so after having to listen to the stories time and again, my tolerance for ANY love triangle is extremely low.

Nan wrote: "Jackie wrote: "...there is just too much of the same recycled plotlines out there."

^This."

It's more the recycled plotlines for me, too. I don't mind the romance. What does bother me, though, is how the romance takes center stage while other, more interesting things, get short shrift.

But, then, I generally prefer my romance as subplot.

Have you guys read Red Rising? I don´t usually read YA but this one caught my eye earlier this year and it was a great read. It´s sci-fi DYA set on a terraformed Mars. I gave it 4 stars.

Huh, I thought that was fantasy for some reason. Well, not sure where it goes on my reading list now. Probably somewhere between 3 years away and 5 years away, lol.

Colleen wrote: "Nan wrote: "Jackie wrote: "...there is just too much of the same recycled plotlines out there."

^This."

It's more the recycled plotlines for me, too. I don't mind the romance. What does bother me, though, is how the romance takes center stage while other, more interesting things, get short shrift.

But, then, I generally prefer my romance as subplot.
"



Agreed.

When romance was origianlly introduced into SFF it was more subplot rather than plot.

The recycled plot thing is a big deal. There used to be an anonymous tumblr blog by some publishing grunt who would rail about their job (you know, the typical stuff but in a funny way). They made a comment about Divergent/Roth - specifically about how it was all the same shit everyone has read before and readers wanted something new in DYA.

Shortly after that the person got an email - no clue from who but it is assumed either Roth or a friend of hers - basically outing them. The person deleted their blog because they didn't want to lose their job.

:(

It was a funny tumblr. But it's yet another reason that Roth can't have any of my money or time.