Here’s a lovely piece of Point Of Sale that really adds value to the lives of today’s young adults:
“The best reading for teens”. That’s quite a bold claim, but, okay, we’ll go with it.
Ready for the payoff?
Let’s all just contemplate the significance of that for a minute, shall we?
“The best reading for teens is a genre that posits sexual relationships as a physically dangerous transaction between impossibly powerful male predators and passive, helpless female prey. In this genre, sexual fulfilment is entirely within the gift of the male, to be awarded or withheld entirely as he sees fit; and the great physical beauty of the protagonists is the sole, entire basis for any romantic relationship.
As the poster-child for this genre, we will pick the series where a delusional and possibly even mentally-ill heroine is stalked by a moody control-freak who climbs in through her window every night to count her eyelashes while she sleeps. Furthermore, we won’t even pick the good one of the series, where there is at least some narrative drive and a semblance of romantic entanglement. Instead, we’ll pick the one where the heroine gets married at eighteen instead of going to college, the hero gives the heroine a C-section with his teeth and the second male lead falls in love with a pre-verbal toddler.
Definitely the best reading for teens. Yeah.”
You say “c-section with his teeth” like it’s a bad thing…
If you know any teens who want something better to read (or adults who like teenage books) I strongly recommend The Hunger Games. They’re a bit depressing (postapocalyptic!) but really enjoyable.
Good post. My feelings about WHSmith are unprintable, but your point is just another good reason to dislike them.
Charlie, I love The Hunger Games too! So sharp and angry and tough.
Heidi – you’re right, I really shouldn’t judge. Nothing says “I love you” like tearing open your womb with your bared fangs to extract the baby you’ve been trying to coerce its mother into aborting since the moment it was first conceived.
Nothing except continuous stalking, manipulation, emotional abuse and the use of sexual pleasure as a means of control, obviously.
*really really needs to get off the Twilight soapbox now*
I hate Twilight, and will make sure I keep them far away as possible from the child (long way to go, but still :))
I also highly recommend the Hunger Games. The other quartet I would recommend is Scott Westerfeld’s ‘Uglies’ series. Marvellous books, both those series, and SOOOO much better written than that above drivel! Even Meg Cabot writes nicer stuff than Twilight!
Ooh – I haven’t come across Scott Westerfield’s work yet. Thank you for the tip. 🙂
Actually, I have a fabulous book to recommend in return – “The Atheist’s Daughter” by Renee Harrell. It’s Supernatural YA writing at its best – well-written, strongly plotted and with a brilliant, strong heroine. I reviewed it here https://cassandraparkin.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/adventures-in-trash-the-atheists-daughter-by-renee-harrell/ and can’t wait for the sequel.
As far as vampire lit goes I’d say “Sunshine” is one of the best. There is even a discussion in it where the Vampire points out the strengths of the female lead.
As far as YA lit goes…*sigh* I’ve not found much I liked since Twit-light altered the reading landscape. I am not a fan of Hunger Games, but I get why people might like it. Frankly the last stand out YA book I read was in 2009 – Fire by Cashore.