I don’t enjoy any genre as a rule, but Young
Adult is truly raising my ire.
Mixed with Romance, as it often is (the two
are joined at the hip) it becomes an absolutely horrible experience.
How anyone can enjoy this crap is beyond me.
It is teenager’s life diluted, clouded by a
thousands filters of censorship and misdirection, totally empty of reason and
passion both.
There is no sex, no violence, except off
camera and nothing even resembling real life.
I read LJ Smith when I was ten and couldn't
(still can’t) believe the genre she practically started has become so popular.
I must «confess» I've never more than browsed Stephanie Meyer’s books, but I
read more than enough to form an opinion and it’s worse than its reputation. I
forced myself to read Dark Flame by Alyson Noel, just to see if it ever
amounted to anything.
It never did.
That was supposed to be her darkest story?
Ridiculous! If she wrote for Christian grandmothers perhaps (perhaps she does).
To my fellow young adults enjoying or pretending
to enjoy this shit I have only one thing to say: up yours!
In a world where stale and unexciting
storytelling is dominant, this genre is truly the bottom of the barrel.
I want to read and enjoy completely different
stories. This quote from a review I agree wholeheartedly with:
"ShadowWalk is a powerful tale of magick and empowerment which manages not to sound like a mind-body-spirit-self-obsessed-hippie book. This is full-on reality. Blood and sweat and shit - nothing's toned down or dulled. The intensity of life comes through strong and meaty. Real life bursting off the pages".
Review in Green Anarchist (the original and best) No. 68/69 Summer 2003.
This is a story about teenagers, but it is so far removed from the YA-genre it is possible to come. The quote says it all, really. ShadowWalk operates on a completely different level compared to the mainstream shit we are fed continuously today.
