Once upon a time, most fantasy took place in an imaginary, medieval set world. Then it started branching out to futuristic societies, post apocalyptic worlds and sci-fi. And then, not too long ago, a new genre caught on. Urban fantasy, in which a paranormal or fantasy element is put into our modern day world.
I love urban fantasy. I really do. I think mixing the fantastical with our world allows for really unique possibilities. In a way, Harry Potter was one of the first to do this in the Young Adult genre because it did take place in our world and it did have issues with muggles. It wasn't really urban fantasy because most of it did take place in a world of its own (The wizarding world. Really, dealing with muggles was more of a passing inconvenience). I do believe that Harry Potter started the trend of YA fantasy taking place in our modern world.
Then a new trend was created. A romance trend. And I think we all know what book started that explosion (Here's a hint. It has sparkles.) Sure there was romance in urban fantasy before Twilight but this little "vampire meets human" novel started the avalanche of paranormal romantic shlock.
And there's the problem. It seems like everything in the young adult genre these days involves three things: A hot boy who isn't human (Or just a hot boy), a mostly normal girl (who may have an ability of some sort) and an unbelievably unrealistic romance based almost solely on attraction.
Now whenever people hear the term: YA Urban Fantasy, they kind of expect the plot to be mostly romance. And it annoys me to no end.
YA romance is almost always idealized, especially in urban fantasy when the male love interest is just the most attractive thing on the face of the planet, always supports and protects the main heroine and is usually the strong one in the relationship.
Have any of these writers met teenage boys? Honestly, they are not any of those things. They can be protective but they're also easily jealous and insecure about how their girlfriend and others see them. They still make poor choices. Sometimes they're selfish. Teenage boys and girls who are "in love" fight a lot and have a lot of disagreements.
Girls, likewise, are easily annoyed by the jealousy of their boyfriend but will also sometimes over react when he talks to another girl. They over analyze relationships. They are also insecure about how others see them. And in Urban fantasy, these issues are often neglected. The guy is just perfect and the girl is just so lucky to have him. True love.
Barf.
When I pick up Urban fantasy I expect to read something kick ass and intense, not a two paragraph description of the love interest's eyes. I expect that from romance. Urban Fantasy and romance are not the same thing. Everyone just seems to think they are.
-Authoress Anonymous
PS: I'll be continuing on this rant for the next few posts. I have more points to make on YA romance but I don't want to ramble on too long in one setting.
No comments:
Post a Comment