This Week's Topic - Is YA Fiction "Trashy"?
Warning: Rant Ahead.
Recently I joined a book club. Well really, it's just a group of friends who like to read. It's not a book club in the traditional sense like we pick a book to read each month and discuss it. It's more like we all read our own books and discuss them with the other members. In this book club, I'm the only member who reads strictly YA Fiction and other members of the book club have been making comments like "Lisa, all you read is trashy YA fiction" and "at least I have good taste in books and don't read trashy YA fiction".
Now I'm all for making it a joke that YA fiction is "Trashy" because let's face it some of the YA fiction out there is pretty trashy but the joke gets fucking old after the first 5 times. The generalisation that all YA books is trashy pisses me off because YA fiction is NOT trashy.
Anyone who says "at least I have good taste in books" and reads Classics clearly does not have good taste in books because you're just reading books other people have classified worthy to be read. You don't get to fucking judge people who read YA fiction and call it "trashy". You haven't read enough YA fiction to make that statement. It's true that in today's market,there are books about absolutely nothing but YA Fiction is the most popular genre of books to be read by both adults and children. It's the ONLY genre of books that has had a 150% sales jump in the last six years. More and more readers worldwide are reading YA fiction.
Some of those "classics" that you read were Young Adult fiction once including books such as -
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- Little Women by Louise May Alcott
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Just because YA fiction is popular doesn't mean it is trashy. The whole point of YA fiction is to provide entertainment, it's not meant to provoke thought or have some highly intellectual backstory. I'm not saying that there aren't trashy YA fiction out there because I have read my fair share of completely ridiculous marketed YA romances but the majority of books have something more to offer.
As a YA reviewer, I work with many publishers. I'm lucky enough to be able to read books before they get published or as soon as they come out. This also means I read more YA "trash" then most people because it is my job to separate the "trash" from the decent. I don't think anyone has the right to judge me by what I read and how I review books. I'm quite a generous reviewer, I prefer to see the good in books than the bad so just because I liked a book and you didn't doesn't make it "trash". In fact, there are hundreds of other people in the world who agree with my opinion. If you don't like the way I review and the rating I give books, that's perfectly fine because this is not YOUR opinion it's MINE and I must be doing something right if there are people reading my reviews and taking recommendations from all around the world. If my recommendations don't work out for you, then don't take my word for it. It's as simple as that.
So to all you YA haters out there, get off your fucking high horse. Until you have read as many YA novels has the rest of YA community, you do not have the right to call YA fiction "trash". Until you have stopped reading books other people have picked for you and started finding books for yourself, you do not have the right to call YA fiction "trash". Until you have become a recommender and not a recommendee, you have no right to call YA fiction "trash".
So after that long rant about YA fiction and ignorant snobs, I leave you with the following message.
Next time someone tells you YA fiction is "trashy".
This is what you going to tell them -
This is what you're going to do -
Do you think YA Fiction is "trashy"? What's your message to all those haters out there? Leave your opinions, comments and rants in the comments below! I would love to hear what the rest of ma YA people think!
Badass Bookie xx
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