The Best And Worst Of The YA Trends

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls. Grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles. Cats and dogs, rabbits and fish. May I have your attention, please.

Ahem.

Today is a sad day. Today is a very sad day. Today is a very sad day because this is my final blog post.

Yep, this is the end. As part of my digital journalism module, I had to keep a weekly blog, but the term ended on Friday and now this assignment is over, and so comes an end to our blogger/reader relationship. It’s sad really. I was so enjoying this. I thought what we had was special. I was shipping us, I really was — we were my new OTP.

It’s not you. It’s me.

Maybe one day I’ll come back to the blog (it’s SO much work to keep it updated regularly) or maybe one day I’ll switch over to Youtube and take up vlogs? But who knows — we’ll see.
But let’s go out on a bang shall we? For twelve weeks I’ve been discussing the best and the worst YA books of the last decade (or so), and I thought to tie it all up I’d talk about all of the most popular YA trends of the last ten years.

So dry your eyes, put away your Lana Del Ray albums, and put that tub of ice cream back in the freezer. There is no need to be sad when I’m here, taking the piss out of Twilight, and Cirque Du Freak, and all things John Green.

For the final time, put your socks on, so I can knock them off again.

In no particular order, here are the most popular YA trends of the last decade, and examples of who did them right and who did them wrong. We’re looking at YOU, Stephenie Meyer…

Contemporary:

How to do it right: The Perks Of Being A Wallflower – written by Stephen Chbosky:

It’s a coming of age novel that teaches teenagers how to overcome traumatic events in their lives, and that it’s okay to be yourself even if you are a bit of a wallflower, and that you should never settle for anything less than what you deserve. What’s not to love?

How to do it wrong: The Fault In Our Stars – written by John Green:

]

The book that teaches teenagers everywhere to talk like really weird old people, to exploit charities to go on really fancy European holidays, and that cancer really sucks. Like we didn’t already know that.

Action/Adventure:

How to do it right: Skulduggery Pleasant – written by Derek Landy:

Over the course of seven years, the Skulduggery Pleasant series has given its audience nine novels, one spin-off, one book of short stories, and one World Book Day novelette, all equally jam-packed with nothing but fun, fantasy, action and wild adventure. The series in one word? Flawless.

How to do it wrong: Fallen – Written by Lauren Kate:

You’re promised a cool, fun, adventure story of a girl who is cursed to self-destruct when she turns seventeen and comes into contact with a boy who sets the death count-down-timer off, and then it’s all snatched away from you. You would think she’d be on a mission to stop herself from dying, but no, she’d rather jump into bed and embark on a slap-dash (at best), fatalistic relationship with the boy who will be the reason for her demise. Ugh.

Fantasy:

How to do it right: Harry Potter – Written by J.K.Rowling:

It’s a story about a boy who discovers he’s a wizard and gets sent off to a wizarding school so he can grow up and become powerful enough to save the magical world from being taken over by an evil wizard overlord. Fantasy/magic done RIGHT.

How to do it wrong: City Of Bones – Written by Cassandra Clare:

Another typical YA novel created to trick girls into thinking that they’re all really just waiting for a hot supernatural boy to sweep them off their feet. The author tried to cover up the obvious romance genre by adding in magic, demons, and cringe-worthy words like “Shadowhunters” so as to pass it off as a fantasy, but we’re not so easily fooled…!

Sci-fi/dystopian:

How to do it right: The Hunger Games – written by Suzanne Collins:

This series is the embodiment of the dystopian future genre, fully equipped with an evil dictator for a president, a country of poorly treated, oppressed people, a small, rich segment of the population who live the life of luxury using the poor as their slaves, and a young, brave, teenage rebel who overthrows her corrupt government and saves them all. See what I mean? Full to the brim with dystopian genre goodness!

How to do it wrong: Divergent – Written by Veronica Roth:

This is a woman who watched The Hunger Games and went, “I could change that slightly and make loads of money!” And then it didn’t work. See yourself out, Veronica.

Horror:

How to do it right: Rot And Ruin – written by Jonathan Maberry:

It’s one of those “who are the real monsters here?” type of zombie books that has enough horror, gore and zombie-goodness to shake even the most fanatic horror-novel-junkie.

How to do it wrong: Cirque Du Freak – written by Darren Shan:

A boy steals someone’s pet spider and turns into a vampire. That’s it. That’s the whole twelve-part story right there.

Mystery:

How to do it right: The Chronicles Of Vladimir Tod – Written by Heather Brewer:

The story of a boy who is half human, half vampire, who is on an epic search to find his parent’s murderer. This book series is a real whodunit, full of mystery, with lots of fantasy and adventure mixed in too. Brilliant!

How to do it wrong: The Maze Runner – written by James Dashner:

This is another author who watched The Hunger Games and went, “I can change that slightly and make loads of money!” and added in an element of “How will we ever get out of this maze??” to add in enough mystery to pass it as a mystery novel. James, you can also show yourself out.

Romance:

How to do it right: Hush Hush – Written by Becca Fitzpatrick:

For once, when a girl falls in love with a supernatural boy she isn’t a complete dick about it. The leading lady finds a boy she likes, doesn’t let him control or dominate her, doesn’t let him take over her entire life, allows him to bring her into his supernatural world without letting it change her, and is the ultimate heroine of the whole series.

How to do it wrong: Twilight – written by Stephenie Meyer:

“I kissed a boy and now I’m immortal! Yay!”

And there you have it, the best and the worst of the most popular YA trends of the last decade. I hope you all feel a little more intellectular now than you were before you clicked on my blog.

And now, my lovelies, it’s time for us to part ways. I’ve loved every minute of boring you to death with my ranting and raving, and ridiculously biased opinions, but alas, now we must say goodbye.

I hope you all have an incredible Christmas (if you celebrate it) and an awesome New Year. Maybe we’ll meet again in the 2015, but now, for the last time…

Laura, out.