YA Book Bloggers discussion

I guess this would go here. I hope. In any case, I have an MFA residency coming up and we just got our workshop pieces for critique. One piece is, quite literally, everything I hate in YA lit. Short simple sentences. "Teened-Up Dialogue" like they've never heard a 16 year speak before (ie 16 year olds speak like 8 year olds). Instantly okay with any and all conflict. Instant love. Special girl syndrome. The list goes on.
So rather than go ballistic during this workshop, I thought it'd be nice to reach out to the YA book blogging community to create a huge list of things you hate to see in YA lit. Since my MFA track is Writing for Children and Young Adults I think it will be a great list to have on hand.
You can reply to this post on message me directly. And thanks in advance!

Texting done wrong makes me cringe so much!

oh that's cringe worthy

Ooooh, interesting workshop! Love the choices you come up with - I'm over them as well. XD

Here's a few of mine:
- In order to seem "fierce" and "warrior-like" girls have to hate dresses and things that people deem "girly" - can't people just like what they like? Why labels? D: Used to see this so much in the fantasy novels.
- The pretty, rich, mean girl cheerleader that is EVILLLLLLLLLLLLL (of course, usually a fake blonde).
- Love triangles XD

Those are a few that are bugging me right now. XD

I am so over the absent parent trope. It seems like every book the MCS parents are either dead, have abandon them, awful people or just don't care... Why can't we have nice loving families occasionally, I mean that is realistic too people!

Duskangelreads wrote: "I am so over the absent parent trope. It seems like every book the MCS parents are either dead, have abandon them, awful people or just don't care... Why can't we have nice loving families occasion..."

YESSSSSSSSSSSS. THIS.

Love triangles 😑 STOP MESSING WITH MY SHIPS!!!

You shouldn't have brought this up, because I'm going on a massive tangent. Some of these aren't tropes, but have occurred in a lot of YA novels that they might as well be actual tropes.

1. The "I'm not like other girls" trope. Like, what's wrong with girls?

2. Lack of female friendship. I see this a lot in fantasy but in contemporary too, where the protagonist has a million friends who are boys, but no girl friends. Drives me up the wall, because girl friends are the best thing in the world!

3. I don't know how to explain this one, but it's when the unqualified protagonist is put in charge of something/or wins a fight against the actual qualified secondary character.
OR more like when the unqualified protagonist who just discovered a fantasy world acts as if they know everything about it and ignores qualified characters (think Clary in the Shadowhunters TV series, not book series). I don't know if this is a trope, but I notice it a lot.

4. Unnecessary romance: think SJM and how every single one of her characters has to be in a relationship despite the relationship doing nothing for the actual plot.

5. When the girl is a virgin but the guy has all this experience.

6. WHEN THE FEMALE CHARACTER BITES HER LIP AND THE MALE CHARACTER IS OBSESSED WITH THAT. (I can count on one hand the amount of times I've bitten my lip and no guys have been into that.)

7. When a mentally ill or disabled character is "fixed" by a love interest. Just, no.

8. Lack of diversity - there's a million characters in the story and all are white/straight, and then the author adds them and then they're killed off.

(Surprisingly, I don't mind love triangles, so long as they're done well, which, 9/10 times, they're not).

Wow, I get annoyed very easily lol, but seriously it gets ridiculous when you see patterns in books over and over again.

Laura wrote: "You shouldn't have brought this up, because I'm going on a massive tangent. Some of these aren't tropes, but have occurred in a lot of YA novels that they might as well be actual tropes.

1. The "..."

Lydia wrote: "Love triangles 😑 STOP MESSING WITH MY SHIPS!!!"

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Duskangelreads wrote: "I am so over the absent parent trope. It seems like every book the MCS parents are either dead, have abandon them, awful people or just don't care... Why can't we have nice loving families occasion..."

I mean part of that is a symptom of the genre. The parents are often removed so that the teen protagonist has cause to rise to action. Although, I'd like to see more parents as obstacles outside of contemporary fiction.

I have so many tropes omg but I can't think straight right now so uhm...
Lately I've noticed something, namely that every character is either amazing at some skill or horrible. There's no in-between it seems. You're either amazing at art or horrible, an amazing fighter or no fighter at all. where are all the mediocre characters??
Okay also the best friends fall in love trope. So annoying.
The I'm super pretty but I don't know it type of character. Just stop it already.
That's all I can think of right now...

yes! the best friend romance is so over played. as is the best friend's sibling romance!

Also, if a female character's height is described she almost always short. Why?

omg... I can't think of any book that refutes that...

I know that is horrible. A tall female character wouldn't kill anyone.