Anyone else tired of romantic vampires in young adult fiction?

[bjones6416]

Originally Posted by DDHarriman

I would not read one of those crap “pseudo books” even if it was the unique thing on earth that one could read.

Originally Posted by Seanette

I'm thinking if "Twilight" were my only reading option, I'd turn to writing my own reading material.

Wow, you guys are harsh! I'm such an indiscriminate reader that I've been known to read toothpaste tubes and cereal boxes when I didn't have something better on hand.

And just to play the devil's advocate, I actually enjoyed the Twilight books. Whatever.

[jhempel24]

Just saw the thread, and didn't read it...but in my opinion.

YES...YES....YES....for all that is holy STOP WRITING THAT CRAP!!

Twilight RUINED Vampires, I'm so tired of it. I've never read them, nor do I have a desire to, but I hope every one of those characters gets a stake through the heart, a silver bullet in the brain, or just a good ole' beheading.

[raphaelnonsenso]

Whatever gets kids reading. Years ago, I started on The Hobbit then went on to the rest of Tolkien's work.Since then there have been some awful Middle Earth(ish) books published, but the point is, it opened up my eyes to the world of literature. Doubtless it will be the same for many readers of Twilight, or for that matter, Harry Potter.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by jhempel24

Twilight RUINED Vampires, I'm so tired of it. I've never read them, nor do I have a desire to, but I hope every one of those characters gets a stake through the heart, a silver bullet in the brain, or just a good ole' beheading.

As I understand it, those won't work. They're special vampires. They have all the advantages (not to mention being uber-sexy, even if what they're doing is actually creepy) and none of the disadvantages. Not one. They can even have children, because they're not really dead dead, y'know? I believe it was mentioned earlier that the only way to kill them is to cut them in pieces and then individually burn the pieces. Which still doesn't explain why hundred-year-old men are pretending to be high school students.

There's a word for a character that has all the advantages of an archetype and none of the disadvantages, and for a character that is loved and respected in circumstances where we'd back away slowly from a real person. That word is "Mary Sue". They're normally the work of first-time authors with self-importance issues. ... Oh.

I agree that kids reading is a good thing. However, how would people react if the thing that got kids reading was hardcore porn? Would there still be the "well, anything that gets kids reading is good" reaction? Or what if it was the book from another thread here that amounts to "how to be a better pedophile"? Anything that gets kids reading? Why is it that kids chose not to read until they were presented with examples of some highly disturbing relationships that, frankly, should be aberrant, not admirable? What have the parents been doing if their kids aren't reading until they find that?

Frankly, I'd be less disturbed by the hardcore porn. At least it makes no bones about what it is.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by raphaelnonsenso

Whatever gets kids reading. Years ago, I started on The Hobbit then went on to the rest of Tolkien's work.Since then there have been some awful Middle Earth(ish) books published, but the point is, it opened up my eyes to the world of literature. Doubtless it will be the same for many readers of Twilight, or for that matter, Harry Potter.

In general I agree - getting kids reading is a good thing.

However, when the message of the book in question is: "Behaving like an abusive predatory creep is really a sign of True Love," then I have a bit of a problem.

And that's even giving the male lead of those books the benefit of the doubt and saying that he's not really a hundred year-old adult preying on a child, but that his neurological development stopped at eighteen and that he's basically just a teenager with a hundred year's practice.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by Jellby

You forget "vampires are Chiroptera"

No, you're thinking of "quacks."

Edit-- wow, on my first reading, I had thought that said "vampires are chiropractors." (hence, my reply not making much sense.) Read it too early in the morning...

[Bittybye]

I was tired of vampire/teenage girl about 50 pages into Twilight (the worst piece of trash I ever forced myself to read)

I think it's a little ironic that people will scream at the top of their lungs about things like teacher/student relationships in fiction (or real life), but are AOK with YA books that feature centuries old men with 15-16 year old girls. Just because he looks young, doesn't make it less creepy people.

[shootingMaNs]

I'm not really into the genre, so I haven't read any. I recently read a science fiction novel where the world was saved by vampires, and it just totally ruined the book for me. I guess all the signs were there, but I just didn't see it until it happened, about the last 50-75 pages (I think). One of the few books I've read where I wanted to email the book store and ask for my money back.

Deleting the ebook just doesn't give me the same satisfaction as heaving a pbook into the garbage can.

[DiapDealer]

I recently read a science fiction novel where the world was saved by vampires, and it just totally ruined the book for me. I guess all the signs were there, but I just didn't see it until it happened, about the last 50-75 pages (I think).

It was much better when it was just a short story in the Warriors anthology. I'm assuming you're talking about David Weber's latest effort.

I hate it when authors put a little fat on a short story and call it a novel.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It was much better when it was just a short story in the Warriors anthology. I'm assuming you're talking about David Weber's latest effort.

I hate it when authors put a little fat on a short story and call it a novel.

whaaaat!!!???? Weber does vamps!?

[shootingMaNs]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It was much better when it was just a short story in the Warriors anthology. I'm assuming you're talking about David Weber's latest effort.

I hate it when authors put a little fat on a short story and call it a novel.

That's the one! I didn't know it started out as a short story. Maybe someday I'll check it out, but not anytime soon...

[C.I.Bond]

Originally Posted by Bittybye

I was tired of vampire/teenage girl about 50 pages into Twilight (the worst piece of trash I ever forced myself to read)

I think it's a little ironic that people will scream at the top of their lungs about things like teacher/student relationships in fiction (or real life), but are AOK with YA books that feature centuries old men with 15-16 year old girls. Just because he looks young, doesn't make it less creepy people.

It is a fantasy love, unrealistic and obsessive but to a teenager who doesn’t realize that these sorts of relationships always end with a shotgun, police lights, and a 10 minute segment on America’s Most Wanted, Edward is dreamy. Older girls still read the thing but they do chuckle about “Stalker Edward” and are more inclined toward Jacob. I think the obsessive controling thing should be pointed out but after that point is made well... kids can read what they want.

How many “Historical Romances” have a Viking warrior aggressively “taking” the heroine? Or similar a Pirate Captain “boarding” a conquered vessel. In fiction it’s a romance in real life it would be rape and not the least bit sexy.

I read Flowers in the Attic in 8th grade, I read the whole series but am not inclined to think incest is cool. I was a big Dungeons and Dragons fan but I never went on a killing spree with a large battle ax. Fiction isn't life, that's what makes it interesting.

[Xanthe]

I'll admit it. I enjoy the vampire genre, when at least one of the vampires in the book is a "good" vampire and is behaving against the norm for his species. If done well, the character is usually one of the most interesting in the story because he is the outsider - either distancing himself from or rejecting completely his own group in order to co-exist with his prey. I find books that have all the vampires as just evil or malformed beings who only exist to kill rather boring. It's easier, IMO, to create a horrifically evil being with no redeeming qualities than to create one that the reader will identify/empathize with despite the fact that he would be a threat to the reader's existence in real life.

Besides, the vampire is the ultimate bad boy, and that's a strong theme in a lot of romance novels, whether it's an adult bad boy or a teenage bad boy in the YA novels.

Authors who go too far in explaining away what should differentiate a vampire from a human usually wind up creating a boring book, because there is no serious internal conflict. Those authors usually tend to have a sex scene in their books every X number of pages, and their vampire is just a guy who happens to have fangs.

That being said, though, I rarely read YA novels involving vampires. I just can't take them seriously enough because age-wise, I'm just too far removed from the teenage-angst portion of the characters. I don't mind that there is a glut of the books because as others have said, it is encouraging more kids to actually read books. My biggest gripe, though, is the number of my favorite authors who are jumping on the YA bandwagon and who haven't written any books for their adult market in a few years.

[Bittybye]

Originally Posted by C.I.Bond

It is a fantasy love, unrealistic and obsessive but to a teenager who doesn’t realize that these sorts of relationships always end with a shotgun, police lights, and a 10 minute segment on America’s Most Wanted, Edward is dreamy. Older girls still read the thing but they do chuckle about “Stalker Edward” and are more inclined toward Jacob. I think the obsessive controling thing should be pointed out but after that point is made well... kids can read what they want.

How many “Historical Romances” have a Viking warrior aggressively “taking” the heroine? Or similar a Pirate Captain “boarding” a conquered vessel. In fiction it’s a romance in real life it would be rape and not the least bit sexy.

I read Flowers in the Attic in 8th grade, I read the whole series but am not inclined to think incest is cool. I was a big Dungeons and Dragons fan but I never went on a killing spree with a large battle ax. Fiction isn't life, that's what makes it interesting.

Honestly I think Bella and Edward ran neck in neck for obsessive twits. But Edward wins in the creep department. He has all the markers for a abusive boyfriend.

Historical romances are different, I've read a few that turned by stomach, but let's not forget that this is adult fiction an adult would read the book, know it's wrong. I've seen (and read things) about die-hard Twilight fans. They think Edward is truly romantic. These are girls formative years when it comes to sexual relationships. If this is what they think is romantic, I worry for them. I'm not even going to touch the whole "You're not complete unless you get married and have babies." thing that Myers does.

I was watching this documentary about the allure of vampires in fiction, they filmed girls outside the premiere of one of the Twilight movies and the girls were screaming. One even said that she believed in vampires and was waiting for her own Edward.

Also I read an article that teens were biting each other and drinking a bit of blood. While it was never explicitly said it was pretty obvious why.

As for your own reading habits, you are you. There are a lot of people who might not be so grounded. While I don't ascribe to violent video games being the route to all children being violent, there are just some kids who don't have a proper grip on reality.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by Bittybye

Honestly I think Bella and Edward ran neck in neck for obsessive twits. But Edward wins in the creep department. He has all the markers for a abusive boyfriend.

Historical romances are different, I've read a few that turned by stomach, but let's not forget that this is adult fiction an adult would read the book, know it's wrong. I've seen (and read things) about die-hard Twilight fans. They think Edward is truly romantic. These are girls formative years when it comes to sexual relationships. If this is what they think is romantic, I worry for them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t76YW7cTaHw