I have to confess, I am not interested in most YA fiction. I read and enjoyed the Harry Potter series, but for the most part, I'm just not interested in the lives of teenagers, which is probably why I haven't fallen in love with the Teen Wolf fandom like most of my friends. :-)
The het book I read started out with the usual device--opening scene at a wedding where the two men duke it out for the woman they love. The book then flips to a year earlier in which the woman and her then fiance 'take a break' so that he can figure himself out. Problem is, we never know who he is to begin with before he starts acting like a major idiot. It's a small town, so everyone blames the woman for 'ruining' this great and wonderful man. This great and wonderful man we've never met--we only see the drunken lout. She meets the new man in town, who is painted as a good guy but with weird quirks that make you realize he is not the one for her, and has a fling with him. That's as far as I've gotten, TBH.
The book started out being about so much more. About the problems of small town life and everyone knowing your business. About living out patterns of expectation and not knowing who you are or what you really want out of life. Of being afraid to have dreams. I thought these areas, mentioned in passing, would be explored in more detail but so far it is just more of the same: one character acting like a lout (really unforgivable in certain circumstances) and the woman mooning over both the men in her life.
If they hadn't established so firmly that all the woman really wants is to marry and have babies, the truly great ending for this story would be for her to realize she doesn't need any man in her life. But the author has arranged circumstances so that the woman is homeless and her job is threatened (by the loutish boyfriend's behavior endangering one of her clients, no less), so I guess we're supposed to accept that marrying is an acceptable choice for her. I just have a hard time seeing how someone can be all set to marry one person (whom they've loved FOREVER) and then in less than a year, be on the verge of marrying someone else. (Another problem I had with the Rodney McKay/Katie Brown/Jennifer McKeller thing. It makes it look as though Rodney is in love with the idea of being in love rather than either of these women)
So yeah. Scratching my head on this one. Started another story last night and the male protagonist's behavior so far is deep into stalker territory. Why is it that people think this level of obsession is romantic? I should add here, that all the sex was pretty much fade to black as well--so we can't even say this is a story written for the excitement of the soft porn either!
When I read what is at the top of the bestseller lists at times, I realize I'm never going to have a story ranking up there. Because what the vast majority of people seem to want is not what I want to read or write. :-(
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14/10/13 12:52 (UTC)The het book I read started out with the usual device--opening scene at a wedding where the two men duke it out for the woman they love. The book then flips to a year earlier in which the woman and her then fiance 'take a break' so that he can figure himself out. Problem is, we never know who he is to begin with before he starts acting like a major idiot. It's a small town, so everyone blames the woman for 'ruining' this great and wonderful man. This great and wonderful man we've never met--we only see the drunken lout. She meets the new man in town, who is painted as a good guy but with weird quirks that make you realize he is not the one for her, and has a fling with him. That's as far as I've gotten, TBH.
The book started out being about so much more. About the problems of small town life and everyone knowing your business. About living out patterns of expectation and not knowing who you are or what you really want out of life. Of being afraid to have dreams. I thought these areas, mentioned in passing, would be explored in more detail but so far it is just more of the same: one character acting like a lout (really unforgivable in certain circumstances) and the woman mooning over both the men in her life.
If they hadn't established so firmly that all the woman really wants is to marry and have babies, the truly great ending for this story would be for her to realize she doesn't need any man in her life. But the author has arranged circumstances so that the woman is homeless and her job is threatened (by the loutish boyfriend's behavior endangering one of her clients, no less), so I guess we're supposed to accept that marrying is an acceptable choice for her. I just have a hard time seeing how someone can be all set to marry one person (whom they've loved FOREVER) and then in less than a year, be on the verge of marrying someone else. (Another problem I had with the Rodney McKay/Katie Brown/Jennifer McKeller thing. It makes it look as though Rodney is in love with the idea of being in love rather than either of these women)
So yeah. Scratching my head on this one. Started another story last night and the male protagonist's behavior so far is deep into stalker territory. Why is it that people think this level of obsession is romantic? I should add here, that all the sex was pretty much fade to black as well--so we can't even say this is a story written for the excitement of the soft porn either!
When I read what is at the top of the bestseller lists at times, I realize I'm never going to have a story ranking up there. Because what the vast majority of people seem to want is not what I want to read or write. :-(