/u/Ziaberri on I've found that some of the best books (in my opinion, obviously) are found in the kid's section. Little or no romance, NO sex, just amazing, deep, compelling stories with emphasis on friendship and family

You have some fair points, I just mean that when I go into the kid's section of BAM or Barnes and Noble, I always see Harry Potter and LOTR, and I've always heard them described as kid's books. It's important to remember that "kid" in this context doesn't just mean like, less than 8. People are often quick to judge when they hear a book being described like that, because they immediately imagine a picture book that's shallow and childish, when that's just not the case with lots of them.

I've read the Hunger Games and I low key hated it. This is no attack on fans of the series or anything like that, I just got so irritated with the characters and by the end of the series I felt terribly unfulfilled. Again it's fine if you liked them, I just couldn't ever bring myself to, as much as I wanted to be able to join the fandom.

I actually read a lot of YA books in my teenage years. I'd often push myself to finish the novel or read several in a series to try to come to like it, but it never worked. I can't remember a single YA book that didn't irritate me in some way, that I liked at all, except for The Blue Sword. Like I said in the post, I know that not all YA books are bad. I'm sure there are good ones out there. But my experience over so many years was just irritation and disappointment. I dislike romantic subplots, but I can tolerate them, even enjoy them if they're well written and meaningful. But so, so many of them aren't. They're forced and cliche and I just got so sick of them that it turned my stomach to YA as a whole. The vibe I got from so many of these books were that they were shallow, self-insert fantasies that had no meaning or purpose. None of those stories stuck with me, made any emotional impact. If other people enjoy those books that's totally fine, I have nothing against them. But I now avoid the YA section at all costs on my trips to the bookstore.

August 12, 2019 at 12:13AM