Tuesday, July 25, 2017

YA Tropes I Hate


Admittedly, one of the reasons I stopped reading an abundance of YA books is due to the surplus of insanely ridiculous and overused cliches that seem to appear in every other novel.  I think we are all a little sick of them.  


1. Lack of communication as a plot device


This is one cliche that I hate in particular. I find a lot of tension, mystery, and plots are framed around a simple lack of communication between characters, whether it's because of a lack of trust or plain mischance. Either way, it is a convenient and over used plot device that is more of an excuse for failing to craft a substantial reason to cause drama than a legitimate story line. 

2. Love triangles and forbidden love

Have you ever actually known someone in real life who is somehow inexplicably in love with more than one person? I mean, honestly, this never happens. Or, at least it occurs very rarely. And yet a love triangle/square/pentagon appears in nearly every single YA series ever to exist. Love triangles and forbidden love may be exciting the first time around, but after the hundredth story plotted around them, one tends to get bored and exasperated. Is it so hard to just choose one person?  

3. Teens not behaving like actual teenagers


I understand teenagers in fantasy and dystopian novels behaving differently than the average teen (who isn't typically off saving the world). But in contemporary novels, I expect teenagers to have worries about school, grades, friendships, and where they're applying to college. Instead, teenagers are busy partying and solving revenge mysteries, and while that is all very entertaining, I have never met a person my age who is more concerned with the latest crime or ghost story instead of the chemistry homework due the next day.

4. Abusive, ultra-masculine love interests

It has been a long-held stereotype that "bad boys" are attractive. Maybe that's where so many authors get their inspiration for their leather jacket wearing, sardonic male heroes. However, these "heroes" should come with a warning that they're more often just plain abusive and over-protective, rather than cool in a Danny Zuko sort of way. How many novels are we supposed to read where the love interest is an abusive, rude person disguised as the hot hero.

5. Apparent lack of parents 
(yes, that is a bad pun)


I know that the convenient lack of parents (due to death, divorce, or neglect) allows teenagers and young adults to run off on their wild adventures without unnecessary consequences. But as teens, our whole lives revolve around our family and our parents. In most households, parents are an ever-present force who are involved--even the slightest bit--in the day-to-day lives of their kids. No one I know would be able to disappear for a week on a quest to save the world without their parents noticing. While the disappearance of parents enables the crazy adventures we readers love to read about, it's distinctly unrealistic.


16 comments:

  1. I 100% AGREE WITH THIS POST. I just finished a book that included a love triangle, which was two siblings in love with the same girl. Like ?? no ?? thank you ?? Parents disappearing (in YA) also bothers me. I would loVE to read a book with a healthy parent to child relationship. One day ... :,)

    anna | annaish

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    1. Oh god, love triangles irk me to no end. They just don't happen in real life! And honestly I would kill for a parent-kid relationship to be present in books more...or, you know, ever. Thanks for commenting, Anna, I'm glad you liked this!

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  2. YES YES YES to all of these! Especially abusive, over-masculine boyfriends. Girl, I cannot be dealing with that in a book.
    Megan @ http://wanderingsofabookbird.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. I don't want to deal with those kind of guys in real life, much less in a book! Anyways, thanks for commenting, Megan!

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  3. Omg I hate it when lack of communication is used! Especially if all of the problems could have been solved by simply talking. It's a bad device of writing, why editors let authors get away with this is just beyond me.

    I completely agree about love triangles and forbidden love! It barely happens in real life and seems so childish. It would be such a roller coaster if you were actually full on in love with two different people. I don't believe it happens.

    I don't read a lot of contemporary so I don't really see many love interests being the abusive, rude one. But when I do, I put the book down. It's not cool and it's not realistic.

    Such a good list!

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    1. Lack of communication is probably the laziest plot device I've ever seen and it is so overused, as well as forbidden love. Like, we all know they're going to end up together anyway. And I actually see a lot of abusive love interests in fantasy and science fiction, too. I don't read a lot of contemporary either.Thanks for commenting, Jordon! I'm glad you liked it.

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  4. I get really sick of these cliches too! In fact, I don't read much YA fiction because when I go to the library and pick up book after book off the shelf they are ALL THE SAME. I am especially annoyed by love triangles. Ugh. Why do so many books have these? I also hate the bad boy hero thing. That gets really irritating. Being mean is not cool, folks. And randomly distant parents drive me CRAZY. This is such a good list. It's nice to know that I am not the only one who can't stand this stuff.

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    1. Me too! I've definitely drifted away from reading YA books in general because I'm so sick of some of these common aspects. And you know what's worse? A love triangle involving a bad boy hero. These things really irritate me, and I'm glad to see I'm not alone. Thanks for commenting!

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  5. Totally agree with numbers 1, 4 and 5!!! When the couple don't communicate it just makes me want to smash their heads together. It's such bad writing. GRRRR...

    And don't get me started on the alpha-male (a.k.a abusive "love" interests). That makes me more furious than anything, and I have NO patience for that sort of "romance". It's sickeningly and horrifying that people actually think that's real love!! I MEAN EXCUSE ME?!

    Awesome post!


    Amy @ A Magical World Of Words

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    1. And lack of communication is so common, isn't it? It's not a real plot device! And these awful bad boy romantics are a dime for a dozen in YA. It feels like I can't get through a YA book nowadays without tripping all over them. Thanks for commenting, Amy!

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  6. These are all so spot on! Communication issues is my number one thing I hate followed closely by crappy or absent parents. Greta post!

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    1. Thanks, Grace! The lack of communication thing is something I've noticed a lot and it really bothers me, as well as absent parents, because it's so unrealistic.

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  7. The lack of communication is the one that makes me want to throttle someone. Seriously, it's just maddening!

    The lack of parents never bothered me per se, but it's definitely a problem because, indeed, it's just not realistic. Parents don't need overbearing and super protective, but they have to BE there. Even divorced parents are always there, so that's no excuse for not making them a real part of the characters' lives.

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    1. Lack of communication is sooo overused. So is the disappearing parents act. I mean, I don't know a kid my age whose parents aren't there at least in some capacity. And sure, it does happen. But not as often as it does in fiction. Thanks for commenting, Pamela!

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  8. i hate abusive masculine guys so much, whether they exist in real life or in books or movies...just..NO! so gross. and honestly it's so much better to just have an adventure than a boyfriend. i completely agree about the lack of parents thing, because honestly, my whole life is controlled/mostly/ by my parents. i need permission to do everything and??like?? how to teenagers in books even have TIME to save the world among all the chores and dinners and hOMEWORK?? the biggest emotional scarring usually tends to be a college rejection,, at least on the surface of things, when we look at real teenagers. though love triangles are ultra cliche and unrealistic, i do find them believable sometimes, when they are well written (ahem, The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare)

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    1. Yeah, I have to agree with you there, TID's love triangle was MARVELOUS, but most of them aren't like that. I mean, who has time for all of that with college applications and school and everything else. And it's the same way for me, I can't go out without asking my parents first. I don't know how it happens so much in books! Thanks for commenting!

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