Top 10 Worst Young Adult Literature Cliches
I think (most) authors should use less of these cliches.It should be obvious why this is first on the list. Love triangles are always terrible in writing - ALWAYS! One thing that really bothers me is when the main character decides to cheat on their partner and start kissing someone else just because it's considered "interesting." Then they proceed to recognize what they did wrong, and they CONTINUE TO CHEAT. LITERALLY, WHY?
The author barely makes the love triangle believable either. Why are two people in love with the same person? Is there a reason, or is it just there for sexual tension? Are you just trying to make the story more dramatic? Or is your character just a self-insert, and this is just wish fulfillment?
Characters need to have motivations and reasons for why they do the things they do or why they feel the way they feel. Just because you think the plot calls for it or because you think it's hot doesn't mean it's a good idea for your book. Write your characters to be more interesting. If you must include a love triangle, write it so this sort of thing can actually happen without bending the characters' personalities.
Give me a reason to care or believe that this could happen. And if you can't, don't include it in your book.
Love should never be based on first sight. If you really believe in "true love" from just seeing someone, it's not going to work. Love takes time, and this is just lazy authors skipping this essential element of life. I don't care what excuse you make up for it. It's still a stupid cliché.
The only time I can tolerate this is in Disney movies.
Boring. Get to know each other a little bit first.
It's really hard to create a good main character in a book - I say that from personal experience. But geez, why are 95% of book characters so bland?
Yes. I absolutely loathe Mary Sues and Gary Stus. They're just so flat and lifeless and ruin the book.
We read books for interesting characters. This instantly deprives us of that.
Examples: In The Maze Runner, adults erase teenagers' memories and drop them in a dangerous maze only to observe them. In The Hunger Games, adults take pleasure in seeing teens kill each other. In Matched, people who aren't citizens (aberrations or anomalies) work in the Disposal Department, where there are poisons and the life expectancy is low. Strangely, most of them are TEENAGERS.
The thing about this one is that it's never really explained why the adults do this. They're just evil for no reason, only there so the teens can go against the grain. It's a plot device, and it shows.
I hate this. I'm a shy 5'0" girl, and I am introverted and unpopular. People take these traits and add them to a Mary Sue who falls in love with the "hot" guy who bullies her. LAME. I would NEVER date a guy who bullies me. And I am NOT and NEVER will be attracted to "bad boys."
I also hate the stereotypical "hot" guy images. More like ugly nacho-chin losers!
Had to get this off my chest.
And people ask themselves why young women still end up in toxic relationships when these guys are held up as models of "boyfriends to want."
I don't mind it, but it does get boring and repetitive in some stories.
I don't mind this on its own, but about 99 percent of the time, the "bad boy" is borderline abusive (if not actually abusive), and the girl's attraction to him is completely unjustified. But they get together anyway. Most of the time, this mixes with a ton of other clichés on this list as well, especially "love at first sight."
It CAN be done well, but it almost never is.
My personality fits the "shy girl" trope, but I loathe bad boys, and I certainly loathe anyone who bullies me. I would prefer someone who has things in common with me, not just some ugly "bad" guy who is my exact opposite. The "bad boy jock" is always an ugly, Dorito-chinned loser with ugly, chicken-drumstick arms.
You know, there are more ways to be a strong female without actually having to be a warrior or a kickass. Also, these women are usually defined by the trope, which means they have no other personality traits. This is just a lazy excuse for a main character.
Strong female characters are good as long as they have other traits and aren't flat and annoying.
The Newcomers
Stupid, it sounds like you're doing a burp you were holding in!
Can we just let this line die? It's really stupid.
Because everyone in the world is perfect, so why not?
Aelin Galathynius all the way. The way she's always 20 steps ahead of literally everyone is so goddamn annoying.
Well, it IS supposed to be relatable.
I have seen this same storyline so many times. The new girl in school falls in love with the hottest, most popular football quarterback (it's always the quarterback) who has a girlfriend he doesn't realize is a mean bully. The new girl manages to overthrow the girlfriend and snag the guy for herself by the end.
Every YA romance novel ever. This is why I prefer YA fantasy - it has romance, but it isn't the entire focus. But seriously, YA authors, enough with characters being added just for romantic interests, especially when you drag it out over multiple books. I'm really sick of it.
The tensions are high. The protagonist seems to be struggling against the whole world itself. The reader hangs onto every word, waiting to see what will happen... And then along comes Mr. Bad-Boy-Alpha McAttitude. The entire plot of the fantasy/thriller is completely thrown to the side as we wait for three to six chapters for the protagonist to dramatically realize that this dude is her soulmate and that he's all that's important anymore.
Forget saving the world or surviving the zombie apocalypse! Love, relationship drama, and romantic confusion are the new main plot now, despite the fact that this is not a romance novel... *sighs*
Why can't parents be alive for once? Oh, because they would get in the way of the hero/heroine's adventures. More authors should work around this cliché.
Not actually true of all protagonists! Jacob Portman from Miss Peregrine's still has his parents, who actually present a big problem as the story unfolds, to my delight.
Harry Potter has dead parents.
Is that from The Brooklyn Nine? Because I read that exact sentence earlier today while reading that book. (The book is about baseball, not romance, and that sentence is when Jimmy Flint interacts with bullies.)
Yes, we get it, your unrealistically perfect boyfriend is utterly breathtaking. You totally haven't made that obvious already. But please, stop with this line. It makes me cringe and wonder why I even thought this book wouldn't be like other books.
How are you not dead? And how do you not notice when you hold your breath? I always feel dizzy after so many seconds!
Just no... How many Twilight clones can one world take? One was enough.
I read dystopian novels because of how dark and interesting they can get, not for the romance that I never cared about.