mybookishthrills: ya

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As readers, we have all come across stuff in YA books that have made us curl up and scream into a pillow, throw the book across the room or out the window, shriek so loud your dog goes akimbo, or in severe cases burn those books and post pictures.

That got quite poetic...That's how passionate I am about hating some of these tropes that I have come upon when reading YA ~~i haven't burned any books myself because that's not nice in my opinion.~~

The following are the five things in YA that make me hate my own existence and some of my life choices...Enjoy this piece of mess.

The Scorned Bad Boy/ Dark Lord Who's Actually An Abusive Asshole

Okay, 95% of us are guilty of having fallen into this trap before, especially some five years ago when the internet was brimming with books that glamorized and romanticized psychotic assholes whose abusive behavior towards a romantic partner was excused by a 'traumatic past'....Ughhhhhhh.

There's nothing wrong with a misunderstood and misjudged 'bad boy' in books every now and then, when there's an actual back-story, plot and character development...However, more than half the time, that bad boy is just a freaking asshole, and really...there's nothing 'bad' about him beside his cowardice and narcissism.

God help me if I ever come across another one of those, I've only just recovered my sanity since the last time I encountered one of these.

The Unsuspecting 'Chosen One' Who 'Didn't 'Ask For It'

This is pretty much every character ever in YA fantasy and dystopia. The normal, 'every-day' gal in jeans and a tank-top who conveniently knows how to fight with a knife and swing a mean punch, and is suddenly thrown into a dystopia where they're the 'chosen one', but oh god 'they never asked for this'...Cue the five pages of self-pity and whining, self-depreciation and 'they must be mistaken'.

There is literally nothing worse than this piece of shit plot-line in YA. If you're going to write about some poor idiot who ends up in some messed up situations, then make them grow as characters, make them reflect upon what has happened to them, make them DO something about it instead of going with the flow and seeing what happens while magically being the only one not getting killed...Like ????. It's a tired trope, we've all read it a million times over, and the only time it was acceptable was when J.K. Rowling actually did it properly first.

Love Triangles - ESPECIALLY: "I love you but I also love your brother"

Okay this was maybe an appealing trope like 356 years ago...but it's literally done now. It's been done thousands of times. It's tired. It's on the death bed. I don't understand why you people keep putting it on life support...It's literally as appealing now as punching yourself in the face.

Especially the new 'twist' on it that I've seen popping up in recent years, the 'I love you, but oh your brother who is my best friend is kinda cute too" trope? Yeah that needs to go. It doesn't make love triangles better. It makes it worse and even more disgusting. Not only are you emotionally cheating on your partner then, but you're also literally putting a rift in a family. Like get the hell out, I've no pity for your stupid ass who just 'can't chose'...

I fullheartedly give permission and encouragement for someone to write a book where the two siblings realize the abusive asshole that the main character is being, and they kick them to the curb with their super-sibling love....Honestly, you can title it "The Last Breath of Love Triangles"...I'll give you an award.

The Whiny, Pessimistic Character With No Personality

I don't know about anyone else, but when I'm fifty pages into the book and the only thing I'm getting from a character is annoying ass whining about 'how horrible' their life is, and how 'everything's going to shit'...like first of all, do I care? And second of all, what's the point of all your whining?

A character is not made more interesting or mysterious when they're being pessimistic assholes, trying to ruin everyone's day with their annoying sulking and self-pity. Honestly...get your shit together and go on an adventure that is actually worth the pages of a printed book.

Such characters tend to be those that literally have no personality. They're only personality is whining and listing all the things that are wrong with their lives. Their whole existence is just misery. That's it. That's the whole book.

Undeveloped Flaws/Disabilities for the Sake of 'Diversity'

As annoying as a bleak character is, a 'flawed' character who is only 'flawed' for the sake of not being bleak, gets under my skin ten times more. You can tell, when you read some YA books, that the 'curvy' or the 'limping' girl is only so to give her a certain edge. Ughhh.

It's so transparent that the author has done this for that reason when such fact is stated about the character and then nothing is ever brought up about it again. The character goes about behaving like the 'bleak' character, except whenever it's convenient, their 'flaw' is brought up.

Don't even get me started on stuff like throwing in a different race sidekick, giving them zero plot points and zero personality, and calling it a 'diverse' book...You can politely fuck off with your so called 'diversity'.

.....

So, that concludes the five things in YA that literally get my blood boiling and my sanity edging towards the cliff's edge with every word of this nonsense. Hope you've enjoyed my angry babbling, hehe.

Let me know in the comments below which one gets under your skin the most, and tell me what YA tropes you're super tired of seeing. All comments are so, so appreciated!

All the love,

Samanta.

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Published by Simon & Schuster Books

Page Count: 416 pages (Hardback)

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Science Fiction (Dystopia), Fantasy.

RATING: ★★★★☆/4/5

This is one of those books that is super hard to write an objective review for without spoiling the whole thing, but seeing as I decided to anyways, here is my attempt.

" The story follows our main character Nemesis. Nemesis is a Diabolic. Created to protect a galactic Senator's daughter, Sidonia. The girl who has grown up by her side and who is as much as sister as a master. There's no one Nemesis wouldn't kill to keep her safe. But when the power-mad Emperor summons Sidonia to the galactic court as a hostage, there is only one way for Nemesis to protect Sidonia.She must become her, and disguise her unhuman-like Diabolic qualities that will bring her closer than ever to humanity. "
- Goodreads

Why I Picked It Up

I'll admit that I had big doubts going into this book; I thought, "Oh here we go", another one about a robot girl who couldn't love but then did anyways, somehow, magically...by the power of love.

But then I thought 'galaxy travel' and 'spaceships'...That's why initially picked this book up. However as it turns out, in my opinion, this book was so much more than space and that robot girl concept.

Important Aspect That Make Me Love This Book

There's an aspect to this book that almost makes it an important book to have in YA fantasy/science fiction. This isn't a story of a robot girl, this is a story of a marginalized girl who is made to believe she is 'less human' than others, by the society that she lives in. It almost becomes a story of self-discovery and self-acceptance in a world where all of that is frowned-upon.

Reflecting upon our world today, Nemisis as a character, and the Diabolics as a community, can even take shape as a reflection of the minority groups that are oppressed in our society today, just as Nemisis is in "The Diabolic".

This realization made me immediately warm to the book, and to the author. Beforehand, I could have rambled about the stereotypes and the cliche aspects of it, but all of that was shadowed over by the heart-warming story of self-acceptance that took place throughout this book.

"The Diabolic" truly delves so much deeper than what might appear as firsthand as an elaborate dystopian setup for a flaming romance.

Let's talk about the romance...

The romance in this book I could have done without, I'll admit, and I had some minor issues with it. Some *rolling eyes* moments too like...

However, by the end of the book, I found myself having warmed to Tyrus, our stammeringly hot love interest and heir to the Empire. He was a mixture of 'exactly what you'd expect', and 'DID HE JUST DO THAT???DID HE JUST-'. It was quite endearing at times....~~and then he'll go and stab someone in the back hahahaha.~~

Their eventual romance was pretty predictable from their first interaction, and I was holding fingers against it, but eventually, the inevitable of YA books occurred, and there was nothing I could do but sit and take the ride with them.

You should definitely not be turned off the book by me rambling against the romance. I'm just a girl who wishes for more backstabbing than 'I LOVE YOU MORE THAN MY OWN LIFE'....so once you read this book, you'll understand why I'm a teeny tiny bit against it here heh.

THE PACING

I also found this pacing of this book to be on point. I was turning the pages one after the other, and before I knew it, it was one a.m. on a school night and I was done, screeching quietly into my pillow. The author didn't waste pages with unnecessary fillers, but rather drew me in with the action, whether it was the awesome scene of Nemesis facing off a genetically altered creature, or Nemesis and Tyrus gracefully twirling in their gowns in a zero gravity ball room ~~like Peter Pan and Wendy~~. Really, the images there are quite fascinating, and probably enough to get anyone intrigued!

"The Diabolic" - A TRILOGY?

Since finishing the book I've heard some talk, some happy, some frustrated, that this was initially a stand-alone, but that it will be now becoming a trilogy since the positive receive of this book.

Personally I am not opposed, and hope that the author will know how to make the best of the opportunity here, and will not simply regurgitate whatever happens to be in the mix for the sake of making it ' a series'. I'm excited to see what's ahead for Nemesis and the galactic fam ;).

So, tell me, have you read "The Diabolic" yet? If you have, are you excited for it to be a series? If you haven't, you most definitely should, and you should also tell me what persuaded you to pick it up, and which mentioned concept is most engaging to you? Tell me all that and more down in the comments below! :) It will all be greatly appreciated!

All the love,
Samanta.