I gotta tell you. I rarely buy hard back books these days. Not having a lot of money is one thing, but trying to find good appropriate books for my young teen age daughter is starting to seem nearly impossible.
Over the weekend my daughter and I went to the book store to pick up some books for her. She's into vampires. (Oh, yeah. Like that is a big surprise to those of you who know me right?) Anyway, I pick up this book. It has beautiful cover art. (Thank you S&S) I flip to the back page and I'm browsing the author blurbs.
"If you loved Twilight, here's a new heroine to root for."
"Edgy, sexy, and funny."
Normally, I'll read a few pages but was short on time. I sure wish I had. I'm half a mind to take this book out of trash and take it back to B&N and get my frickin money back.
Number one? No way should this book have been in the Young Adult section.
Number Two? No way should it even in the same breath be compared to Twilight. (especially as Twilight readers are primarily young girls)
Number Three? I felt like I needed a shower after getting about half way through the book. It just made me feel nasty. And all you Amazon book reviewers who just loved this book? Well, all I can say is Wow. Just Wow. You really think teenagers are like this? Orgies? Oh, yeah I know all kinds of teenagers who get together at their parents houses (girls and guys alike here) to watch porn and then act out the scenes in front of everyone! NOT!!!! Can I just say Ewwww?
I really wanted to like this book. I really did. But there were so many problems. The least of which was marketing. This book really and truly has no business being in young adult.
If you want to know the name of the book? Email me privately and I'll be happy to tell you name, ISBN etc...
I did read a FANTASTIC Young Adult this weekend as well but I'll save that for another post. I don't want THAT book tainted by my current rant.
I certainly hope that this is NOT the new trend in YA publishing. Truly. I feel like everything but the kitchen sink was thrown into this book for shock value. Not to mention the hero? Well, he was no hero. He was a true villain. There was not one redeeming quality to him. Bad boys can be cool as long as they are good at heart. But a bad, bad guy? Well, they are just bad.
6 comments:
Knowing some YA authors and their restrictions on no-sex in books, what you just describe is NOT a YA book. Maybe whoever classified it as YA was thinking young adult as in twenties-young-adult.
Carla,
I was really flabergasted. I would have thought this should have been in the adult section. I'm not naive and know what goes on with teenagers but these was really over the top. Glad to know I'm not alone.
May I suggest Jennifer Echols. She has three books out. The latest is a little more for 15-16 years old, but no sex. They're wonderful. I'm a little bias too because she's a friend, but I really, really like them.
YA books are getting harder and darker, there's no doubt about it. Where will it stop, I wonder?
PS What happened to your other blogs? Are you down to one now?
Hi Orla! Yes, down to one blog now. It's much easier to manage that way. Can't wait to see your new releases.
My sentiments exactly concerning the darker books. Darker is one thing but some of the things in this book really took me back. I would definately expect those kind of adult situations to be in another kind of book entirely. Certainly I would not want my fourteen year old exposed to that yet.
Eagerly awaiting your new releases Orla you always have the most fantastic books. They are in my keeper shelves and have shared them with many of my friends and my daughters friends who have loved them as much as I have.
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