Let's Talk About: Strong Female Characters

Everyone wants to see a strong female lead in books. In fact I would even go so far to say as though we need them. Little girls who read books need characters they can look up to, genuinely inspirational women. Books are usually great examples of this, most (and I really do mean most) authors won't write a two dimensional protagonist. But sometimes people get confused with what makes a strong female lead.

A lot of people turn to the weapon-wielding, butt-kicking bad ass. Of course it's great to see women taking on these roles usually reserved for men. But sometimes people think that that is the only example of a strong women. And by God that isn't true. By restricting the definition people are once again limiting what women can do and what defines a strong woman. Great character such as; Mara Dyer, Liesel Meminger and America Singer. These characters all have admirable qualities and to label them as 'weak' or any other word synonymous with that is unfair. 

Personally I find it a lot harder to relate to characters like Tris Prior and Katniss Everdeen, sure they're brave and are awesome in there own way. But they're so far removed from some girls (and certainly their situations). I find it a lot easier to look up to characters like Annabeth Chace (I mean sure she's a freakin' demigod but she's a lot more like me) and June Iparis (admittedly she kicks some butt). And while I do love a women who can fight for herself, sometimes their cold, and occasionally sociopathic personalities mean they're not the kind of people I'd want to hang out with...at all. But then again, that isn't to say I don't wish I was a little bit more like Katniss and a little bit less like Bella Swan.

Let's Talk About: Romance in YA Books

I'm not going to lie, I pretty much live for a good romance in an awesome YA series. Back when I started reading YA books (I must have been around ten and had no idea what YA meant) I didn't give much thought to the romantic relationship the main character had; I just saw it as another part of the plot. In fact it wasn't until around two years ago when I really got into YA that I paid attention to it. And then I realised. How bloody hard it is to get right. Seriously. more periods = more serious.

Here are a few issues I have with YA romance:

1. Instalove. You know what I'm talking about. Where our two love interests meet and bam! they're hopelessly, desperately in love. And they haven't said more than four sentences to each other. I get that it's more enjoyable if we get to see a relationship progress rather than most of the development having started before the book. And I know a lot of YA books happen over a short space of time. But god this annoys me. And people do get it right (somtimes), and unless it's horrendously instantaneous I can usually still enjoy and finish the book.
2. 'Love/Hate' relationships. Because let's face it; most of the time it's not. It's; 'wow I'm super attracted to you but I'm a jerk' or 'meaningless hatred than can turn to obsessive love in two seconds flat'. Admittedly I could never write a love/hate relationship because they're really difficult to portray, and usually you need a little background to get it going. Which could work, but right now good examples are severely lacking.
3. Creepy love interests. Okay so this is aimed at one book in particular; The 5th Wave. Nothing could possibly bring me to like Evan and Cassie relationship. Everything about him screams; stay away. There are other examples too; following protagonists around, overly aggressive behaviour, staring at them so intensely I feel uncomfortable, and refusing to let up when the protagonist clearly states she/he isn't interested. Obviously they're not written to be creepy. They just come across this way.

That isn't to say all YA books are like this. In fact there are several relationships in YA novels that I love. They're (nearly always) well paced, have great chemistry and involve two three dimensional characters who are not defined by said relationship.