Twilight
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Has anyone noticed how alot of teen books are similar?
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Kassandra
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Jun 29, 2011 10:35AM
I read alot and all books with almost every genre, there is always a guy and girl.Girl likes guy, guy likes girl,girl is human.Boy is hiding a mysterious seceret.Girl finds out the guys seceret ect. Alot of books have the main character fall in love with a guy to easily and the guys like "oh i can't be with you, its to dangerous, im a monster. ect you know the rest. Why is it that it is almost always like that in teen books.One of those books that are like that is Twilight.Does anybody know some good books where the the main character doesnt fall in love so easily when they barley know the guy they supposebly love?
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most of the paranormal/supernatural books that I have read are pretty much the same. They are still really good, but it's kinda gettin old. am i right? there is always some dude that is gorgeous and a girl who can't stop staring at him! This dude has some sort of secret and he takes an interest in her....(kinda creepy if you ask me) he stares at her and makes her feel all special blahblahblah. Don't get me wrong, I love to read these books because I enjoy making fun of the girl's behaviour :p the books are really good, but they are too predictable :)EX- twilight summary: a boring girl comes to some town called forks to live with her dad. she is at school one day and she sees some gorgeous pale dude(in my opinion?-not so gorgeous!:p) sometime later they fall in love. some bloodsuckers are after bella and edward saves her in the end blahblahblah...
(NO OFFENCE TO TWILIGHT FANS!)
oh and to Kassandra: there is this one book called Willow by Julia Hoban that is really good :)
even so, the books all have different aspects of them in which they are totally different....in which mysterious secret theyre hiding and etc.
Honestly, it's across the board in all genres. I get really tired of the reluctant hero, too. "Oh, why is this happening to me? I don't want these powers/quest/responsibilites. I just want to be norrrrmal!"Bleh.
OTOH, I did write a book that appears to follow the standard pattern of boring girl meets extraordinary guy, love and craziness ensues. But that's just how the heroine perceives it. There's actually a huge twist.
...whats the twist??? making me interested in it
I noticed that as well. I tend to stay away from teen lit. because of it. I prefer the classics over all else... you just can't go wrong with them.
You guys bring up a good point, and I tried to painstaking difficulty to attempt not to do this in my book. I tried to make the heroine a strong female who doesn't instantly fall for the guy and have humans play more of a role than just happening to stand and watch. Although being a male I am somewhat biased, being that I dislike much of the romance genre (and it makes alot of my friends wonder why I decided to write a Sci-Fi Romance book), I find that the plots are so typical because of the way traditional publishing works - they find something that people are into and milk it to high hell. Look at indies for more unique plots, I would suggest. Alot of indie authors (including myself) try had to stand out from those typical books, and I can only speak for myself on this part but I also felt it was important to include a deeper meaning. All of these books a la Twilight example seem to be very shallow, despite what you would think would be plots deep and exploratory into human nature, particularly a book like Fallen about fallen angels.
I have noticed it in like all of the books I read, but I enjoy reading them so its fine with me. Anyways... it doesnt really happen in all if them. For example: Vampire Academy, The Darkest Powers trilogy, Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, and even though the role roles are reversed in this one, The Caster Chronicles. Sure, they all fall in love with someone, and sure they all have their own secrets, but in those books they dont all fall madly in love to begin with.
...except Lena and ethan in The Caster Chronicle, but their love is true and nothing like other books to me
maddie wrote: "...whats the twist??? making me interested in it"Lol, can't give away the twist (although there's a review that does if you reeeeally want to know), but here's the book:
I agree with all of you guys. We need something different to read. Am I right or am I right?
@ Anna Lee - I tried the newspaper but sadly real life is much more boring, not to mention scary, than most fiction out there. Even the cookie-cutter romances.
@ Chris- I know right? But still........I like the idea, i really do. I just wish they was a little variety....you know? Look at the hunger games for example, there's a teen book that says it all. It's different and imaginative but it stills has the whole boy meets girl thing.
I enjoyed Hunger Games. I normally shy away from ALOT of stuff traditional pubs have been putting out because they all put out the same stuff often when they find something that is selling, but I am glad I invested in HG. And like I said, I don't really mind having the cookie-cutterness so long as the book has a deeper meaning and makes me actually think that what happened in the book has some kind of relevance (which is why I tried to include it in my first novel.) There is nothing worse than finishing a book and feeling like the story was ridiculously shallow and there was all this stuff going on behind the scenes that seemed more important than the romance, or there is just noting important going on at all.
I agree with you. Did you read The Dark Divine? I'm sure you would really enjoy that- everything was perfectly planned out. It sounds like something you would really like. Back on topic- Yes, especially when they seemed to use some "plots" as a excuse for the boy meets girl plot that was exactly the same as the book you just finished. It has to be different (the hunger games, the dark divine, shiver) These were really good books that wern't like any others even if they had some familiar traits, they had a exciting plot line that was amazing in itself.
^ That about sums it up. I want a book to have a plot that I would like to read about even if you subtracted the romance. THAT is what makes a good book. Interesting characters in love PLUS an interesting plot independent of but inevitably intertwined with that Romance.
Exactly! I wish more authors thought of better plot lines instead of basing everything off of twilight. Twilight wasn't THAT good that the rest of the teen books for the next 20 years HAVE to be the same storyline.By the way; I see you wrote a book. Tell me about it.
I don't want to post too much info here as it can be seen as advertising which rubs some people the wrong way, but it's about Gabriel who is a member of an ancient race known as the Observers that created earth and humans. Here's the link:The Observer
CANT WAIT TO READ IT!!
Oh jeez. The pressure is on now. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
haha I just sent Maddie a message about it.
While I completely agree, it is a given that the main theme of a romance novel is the romance. the plot revolves around that. if you don't want the love story to be the main plotline of the book, then you don't read romance.however, i can see how that gets annoying in YA, since you pick up a book that's labeled at YA fantasy and you end up with a romance!
I do agree that indies are more unique (trying to stand out and all that).
Lena Hillbrand
The Superiors
I like romance, but agree the basic romance can get old, especially when the "romance" doesn't feel real. However, I'd have a hard time reading a romance where the hero isn't hot. I mean, it is an escape, after all. I can hang out with non-hot people IRL. :)
yeah alot are the same but lets face it we still read them in hope of finding an awesome new book;)
@C.D. lol! But then you run into the issue that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so who's to say that one person's hot hero is any less hot that another's?
yeah, all about love, or this girl likes this guy but he doesn't like her or he does he just won't tell her or he's hiding a big secret and she obsesses over it and finds out what ever it is the reason for not telling her why he doesn't just spit out his feelings for her and then .. . . . . . .DRAMA!
and more of the relapsing things lol
In most books, there's always an Edward or a Jacob. The Edward is the first guy that's introduced in the book (the one she will most likely end up with) and the Jacob is the one introduced later on in the book (who you usually want her to end up with)Or at least, that's how I see it.
what about in he Darkest Powers series? i havent read the last book, but she first liked dereks foster brother...i forgot his name. and then in the secondbook it seems like shes falling more for Derek instead. i hope she does in the last book
C.D. wrote: "I like romance, but agree the basic romance can get old, especially when the "romance" doesn't feel real. However, I'd have a hard time reading a romance where the hero isn't hot. I mean, it is..."
Which is exactly why all of them are alike. Because that's what most people want to read.
maddie wrote: "what about in he Darkest Powers series? i havent read the last book, but she first liked dereks foster brother...i forgot his name. and then in the secondbook it seems like shes falling more for De..."I don't want to ruin if for you but....you'll like the third book :)
omg srsly???? :) they do???????? *screams* yayayayayayayayayayay lol you made my, ugh, i guess night
maddie wrote: "omg srsly???? :) they do???????? *screams* yayayayayayayayayayay lol you made my, ugh, i guess night"Haha, glad too.
i am making SURE my mother gets the book tomorow...but wat sux is my mom took ALL my books away and now i cant get ANY of them back until monday...its just sad
maddie wrote: "i am making SURE my mother gets the book tomorow...but wat sux is my mom took ALL my books away and now i cant get ANY of them back until monday...its just sad"You should probably read it when you have time. I'm pretty sure you'd be annoyed at whoever interrupts you.
In responding to the idea that all YA books are the same, I have to say that a lot of the books being published right now are similar to each other. That's all the more reason to expand one's reading past books that have been published in the last couple of years. Books don't have expiration dates like milk; they don't spoil after a short time. If you are sick of formulaic boy/girl romance, there are plenty of YA books out there that don't focus on that. Read a book by Robert Cormier (The Chocolate War, I am the Cheese), who is known for his bleak outlook and unflinching realism. Or how about Madeleine L'Engle's books (A Wrinkle in Time, Ring of Endless Light) that blend mysticism with science? S.E. Hinton's books (The Outsiders, Rumblefish, and Tex) deal with kids from the "wrong side of the town". There's so much out there, yet some teens won't touch a book that has a copyright date of over a few years.
yes i usually am whenever im reading at all and mondaysgoing to be the best day for it...ill havepiecein silence i hope
Mickey wrote: "In responding to the idea that all YA books are the same, I have to say that a lot of the books being published right now are similar to each other. That's all the more reason to expand one's readi..."Lots of YA books that get published are amazing and not focused on romance. it's just that nearly all YA romance/fantasy books are alike. I think that's the complaint.
i would as long as it sounds interesting. i usually look for books that dat a couple of years back beacusethen im sure that they a sequel to them
Chris wrote: "@C.D. lol! But then you run into the issue that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so who's to say that one person's hot hero is any less hot that another's?"There's a formula. And it usually has six-pack somewhere in the equation. ; )
I agree with you. If you find one that doesn't do that let me know ;)
C.D. wrote: "Honestly, it's across the board in all genres. I get really tired of the reluctant hero, too. "Oh, why is this happening to me? I don't want these powers/quest/responsibilites. I just want to be..."I think a lot of teens don't read older YA books because books that aren't classics or used frequently in schools aren't found in book stores that often anymore, at least not like books that came out in the last two years. So people who don't frequent the library, like me, rarely see them. If I want to find a book from the 60s, 70s, or 80s I have to hunt it down in second hand book stores or search through Amazon. You wouldn't believe the hunt I had to go on to find the second book in the Secret Country Trilogy. The local big name book store had 90 copies of Lovely Bones, Marked, City of Bones, and other recent releases, but not one of The Hidden Land. It was irritating to say the least.
Sad, but true. We can thank this to the big succes of the Twilight Saga. But strangely it doesn't bother me that much. While I read a book I don't stop to compare it to an another I just read even if I can feel the next twist coming. I mostly feel the how similar this one was to that book when I put it down.
I really liked the Hex Hall series it isn't all about so called 'love'
yeah my school is newer 5 yrs. and so there are no older books there. :(
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