The Book Lantern: Blog Discussion discussion

My first post won't be a review (it's going to be a piece on my new fictional feminist hero) but I do have a copy of The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller which I will be reviewing the week after that.

Yeah, I think we need to lay out a schedule of sorts maybe. Nothing too strict, we need some level of flexibility, but something that keeps things fresh and interesting.

Okay, I'd like to do a piece on the death of the stand-alone novel in UF and YA fantasy. I also have my bumped review and I'm planning to read Starcrossed this week, so I'll put one of those up the next week. Depending on the schedule we work out, of course.

I was going to do Angelfire, but I see you're doing it now Jillian. I'll do The Clearing. And I was planning on writing a series on stereotypes in YA.

I'm almost done with Iron Crowned so I'll post my review when I'm finished.

What's our policy on posting reviews? Do we post our reviews exclusively to the blog first then to GoodReads at a later date, or do we just do it simultaneously?

It's really up to you, but I'd say simultaneously.

I've decided I'm going to do a post on Disappearing Parent Syndrome: Relevant vs. Convenient. I'm starting Gone by Michael Grant to prepare for it.

I think since it's only one a week or one every other week we should commit to having the book review only on the blog and posting maybe only the first paragraph and a link in our goodreads review.

Also should we set a word max and minimum?

Hmm, that's also something to take in account. I know some people only post a few paragraphs, but that annoys me. Ceilidh posts her whole review on here, and her blog, and they get equal traffic. I'd say post a link to the blog in the bottom of the Goodreads review, but I'd leave the rest up to the reviewer.

Minimum word count should be 300 words. Maximum should be infinite.

I hope you have good luck with Gone. I liked Grant's work on the Animorphs and his blog is funny.

Okay, whole review and post is fine by me :)

I think there are some topics that we should do a big post on together, like rape culture in YA. It would be good to get the widest spectrum of thoughts possible and it would be good to get different thoughts on books some of us have read and others haven't.

Ceilidh wrote: "I think there are some topics that we should do a big post on together, like rape culture in YA. It would be good to get the widest spectrum of thoughts possible and it would be good to get differe..."

I know I'm sick of all the abusive relationships in YA. It's sad that there are more of those relationships, than good relationships in books right now. I've also noticed a few of those in some middle-grade books I read a few years ago.

This is just a suggestion but it came up in Penny's paranormal YA list and I thought it could be an interesting topic for one or more of us to tackle:

What makes a good paranormal YA.

Oh, I LOVE that idea. Actually, instead of the whole mission statement, we should do a joint post on what makes a good paranormal YA! That would be really FUN, for us to do, and for others to read.!

Vinaya wrote: "Oh, I LOVE that idea. Actually, instead of the whole mission statement, we should do a joint post on what makes a good paranormal YA! That would be really FUN, for us to do, and for others to read.!"

Seconded. I'll start on mine within the hour.

What tends to make me balk at the paranormal YA genre is the usually vast age differences. Like Hush, Hush you have a pretty much eternal angel and a teenage girl. Twilight, the 100+ vampire and the teenage girl. Ugh. Which leads me to think that while I don't like Mortal Instruments series an awful lot at least the paranormal and the YA meld in a non-creepy way. (Honestly, the faux incest never bothered me. I'm okay with reading about like that as long as it's intentional and not just poor execution of a relationship that ought to be platonic)

Lucy, is that your contribution for the group post?

I think what really annoys me about a lot of YA paranormals is the idea of insta-love. Very few books promote the idea of a healthy, normal relationship based on shared interests, a meeting of the minds and some conversation, for God's sake! It's all about pre-destined soul mates and physical attraction and eyes meeting across a crowded room. I have actually seen forums where teenage girls are ooh-ing and aah-ing over how "sexy" Patch is, and one girl went so far as to say that she was insanely jealous of her friend because said friend had found a guy just like Patch!!! Really? You're jealous because your friend is dating a homicidal stalker? I've found that there are a LOT of teenagers out there who don't have the emotional maturity to grasp the idea that true love doesn't happen overnight. They're all over books that idealize insta-love, and more disturbingly, books that imply that insta-love gives a guy permission to be overtly possessive, emotionally abusive, possibly a stalker and definitely a chauvinist. This is why I have great admiration for Unearthly, one of those rare paranormal books that creates a believable, exemplary teenage relationship based on actually getting to know one another!

If it's a paranormal story, regardless of the romantic content, I have to be grabbed by the mythos. It doesn't have to be wholly unique but it's handled well and in an interesting manner then it can mean the difference between a good read and a mediocre one. Strong world-building is a must have in a paranormal story, even if your setting is small or 'real life' like a school; the foundations of your creature, be they vampire, werewolf or pink bandaged mummies, needs to be strong.

In terms of the romance, I am admittedly quite fussy about how romance is handled. I am not a fan of the instant love trope, especially if it revolves around a supposedly mysterious 'bad boy.' Actually, why are bad boys suddenly the paranormal hero archetype? Actually, why is a bad boy a good thing? Look at the way the media are currently obsessing over Charlie Sheen, a 'bad boy' with domestic abuse charges against his name. Using the bad boy label seems to give a lot of stories a free pass on questionable content, the most infamous example in YA right now of course being Patch from Hush Hush (Edward Cullen is a strange contrast since his douchey actions are portrayed as those of a perfect gentleman, but in both cases they're seen as somehow acceptable and 'sexy'.) The fact that the heroines in these books fall hook, line and sinker for this BS act annoys me too - why are so many paranormal YA heroines apparently in possession of a brain the size of a pea? If you're such a strong, indepdendent heroine then why are you so single-mindedly focused on a guy instead of kicking arse?

Nah, it was just me rambling... as I do often >.> But I can polish it so it's prettier. The instant love trope is excellent too. I often wonder if Edward would have even noticed Bella if he didn't want to munch on her or if he could've heard her thoughts in those formative chapters.

Maybe he would have noticed her if he didn't want to munch on her, but if he'd heard her thoughts (wait, what thoughts?) I'd like to think he'd have run out of that Bio lab twice as fast! She is possibly one of the most MUNDANE heroines I've ever come across. Is that the best a 100year old immortal can do?

This is my post.

Paranormal YA has been slowly declining since the advent of Twilight. I'm sick of the formula that writers have been following.

Girl meets Boy
Boy is dark and mysterious but Girl is intrigued
Boy is Vampire/Angel/Fairy
Boy and Girl fall in love
Boy and Girl face enemy from the past
Boy and Girl triumph

I want something fresh, something that doesn't adhere to the age-old boring cliches that publishers love.

My biggest problem is the lack of chemistry between the girl and the boy. Nora and Patch have no chemistry. Bella and Edward have no chemistry. Ever and Damon have no chemistry. Rose and Dimitri have no chemistry. Luce and Daniel have no chemistry. Is it so hard to create a believable romance? I'm willing to forgive the flaws in your world building if I like your characters. You have to have something going for your story. If your world isn't developed, at least take the time to develop your characters. I've picked up too many books this year that I've had to put down on the first page simple because I knew the story wasn't going to go anywhere.

Don't sacrifice plot for romance, but if you must, at least make the romance seem like romance, not date-rape. And adding a love-triangle makes your protagonist look like an indecisive idiot. It doesn't further their character development in the least.

To a void a rant of ten pages, I've narrowed down my opinion to this:


I don't like paranormal romance. But maybe I would like it if it had ACTUAL ROMANCE and well researched creatures and only have the romance take up at least 25% of the book.

In paranormal romance, love is too simple. Especially when it comes to a love between a human and a monster. All the real difficulties just seem to be ignored and replaced with some dumb cheesy reason as to why the two can't be together. A reason which just makes the couple look like they're only in it for the sex.
That is mostly due to the lack of research on the creatures used as love interests. A vampire can't be with a human for thousands of reasons. It is pretty much impossible. There cannot be a happy ending. But that can be made interesting if some authors were brave enough. And turning your human lover into a vampire is not a good thing either. There will be even more complications there. Heck this has been done extremely well in the Korean movie Thirst, which is about a vampire who falls in love with a human, and eventually turns her into a vampire. As a vampire she becomes a completely different person and eventually abandons her boyfriend. This has also happened in Anne Rice's books, when Armand turns Daniel. Come on people, go the distance! Unfortunately all of these once great creatures just get watered down into uninteresting, boring cliches. It's so obvious these creatures are not picked to tell a story, they are just picked to add excitement to the eroticism in these 'romances'.

And the romance is a joke. Since when are controlling, abusive and stuck up boyfriends ideal? And what's with all the cheese? Can't these writers create a more realistic romance without all the 'Omg I'm gonna die without you' bs? Not to mention the 'heroine' is a complete pushover who pretty much behaves like her boyfriend's dog. Plus the two characters don't actually do anything in their relationship. All they do is whine about how much they love each other. That's not romance. And I especially don't like this new breed of romance. I was never a fan of romance, but there can be a romance I absolutely love. I have seen romance done perfectly well. Let me give you a few examples: Eli and Oskar in Let the right one in, Yuna and Tidus in Final Fantasy X, Rosette and Chrono from Chrono Crusade. These couples are all realistic, without cheesy 'Zomg I love you's, who grow together, who are complete equals, who care for and respect each other. I mean seriously, every paranormal romance writer should take a page out of those guys' book.

The plot of paranormal romance just seems to be two people crying and wailing about how much they love each other, doing stupid things due to said love, and getting together and not having sex because sex is baaaaaaad. And unfortunately this so called romance takes up the whole book. Everything else is just shoved in to create drama for the two main characters, but after a while they just get over it ad live happily ever after.

These stories could be made sooo much better if the authors actually TRIED.

Jillian -always aspiring- wrote: "I know that we have already agreed that the blog can have more than one review for the same book, but it might help if we have a thread where you can let the other members know what books you will ..."

Well I'm still trying to continue reading Fallen, but my mind always screams bloody murder when I even think about going back to it. But I'll try my hardest to be brave...

I'm also reading Angelfire, I might continue reading Beautiful creatures after those two.

I plan to write reviews for all three of the books I'm currently reading and post them on our blog.

I’m finding that many YA just do not have very likeable heroines. Putting up with stalker boyfriends aside, these characters are just not the kind of girls I want to root for as a reader.

Boring is not interesting:
I find that since Bella authors have been creating these ho hum teenage heroine’s that as readers we are just supposed to accept as interesting enough to want to be engaged in her life. Having other characters inexplicably drawn to a heroine that has no hobbies, talents, uniqueness or interesting personality traits is not realistic. Perhaps some authors feel that making her plain or simple will make heroines more relatable but at some point she has to show some strength of character. Is she fiercely loyal? Does she fight for what she believes is right? Everyone has some redeemable trait (aside from just being pretty) that attracts people to them. Why give us a protagonist that has none? Being pretty enough to get the attention of the hottest most unattainable guys at school (b/c there is always more then one guy fawning over a heroine who swears she is not that pretty) is not an accomplishment or that interesting. I can’t accept a heroine whose only quality in a story is how much she loves her boyfriend.

A boyfriend should not be a girl’s only friend:
Heroines seem to have become the kind of girls that feel they do not need anyone else but their hot monster/bad boy boyfriends. Other friendships are strained or nonexistent once a heroine meets the new boy. There is something unhealthy about this all consuming love and I wish authors would stop having heroines fall so hard that all other relationships in their lives do not seem to matter. In reality that kind of love never lasts. What makes it worst is when the hero & heroine are having a spat, our heroine then turns to the people she previously disregarded as substitutes for her boyfriend. Having protagonists with standby friends is one of the most unattractive qualities.