Olivia’s Blog

7 Problems with YA Speculative Fiction

Let’s face it, there are a MASSIVE number of YA speculative fiction novels. Speculative fiction is any story that takes an impossible premise and keeps asking “What if?” until you’ve got an entire book. This genre encompasses everything from science fiction to historical revision to the ever so popular dystopian novel. And yet, even with all of this creative freedom many books end up using the same character types, the same plot arcs, and ultimately end up running into the same problems. Here are 7 problems that I have with YA speculative fiction, and how authors can avoid them. (I will be drawing heavily on comparisons between Neal Shusterman’s Scythe and Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows because those are the books I have most recently read. Spoiler alert for both of these books.)

1.) Boring characters

For someone like me who has read a lot of YA (both as a teenager and now as a teacher trying to curate collections of books for teenagers), I care WAY more about the characters than I do about the actual plot. An adventure novel is an adventure novel is an adventure novel– but the characters are what make the thing worth reading.

The two main characters in Scythe are possibly the most boring people I have ever had the misfortune of reading about. I literally cannot think of a personality trait or characteristic that sets them apart from each other– they are essentially male and female version of the same uninteresting person. I would not be able to ask students to do a character analysis of these two characters because there is not enough character to analyze.

Six of Crows has an ensemble cast of six primary characters, with Kaz Brekker being the main character. Ensemble casts are great because they provide multiple interesting personalities and perspectives through which to tell the story. It also ensures that almost every reader will have a character that they identify with or root for above all the others. It also means that that even if there is a character that you don’t like (*cough cough* Matthias) you won’t have to spend that much time with them.

2. ) Underdeveloped universe

Six of Crows places itself more in the fantasy/steampunk lane, while Scythe is more of a true dystopia. The world building in Six of Crows creates a layered universe full of distinct people groups, languages, religions, culture, and politics. Each of the main characters serves as a representative of a different group in this world and their interpersonal relationships serve represent larger trends in society. This is a universe fully entrenched in fantasy where magic exists, and yet it couldn’t feel more real.

In contrast, Scythe takes place in America of the distant future where humans have used technology to become immortal. The problem of overpopulation has been solved with legalized murder via Scythe. Now, I am probably not the first one to say this, but for me the leap from overpopulation problem to legalized murder is not the first one I would make. If everyone is immortal, why are people still having kids? Wouldn’t it make more sense to outlaw children? I would’ve been willing to buy into whatever historical events lead everyone to be on board with the Scythedom, but it is never addressed which leaves the universe feeling flat and underdeveloped.

3. ) Bad romance

If a YA novel doesn’t have romance, does it even count as a YA novel? I personally do not have a problem with romantic subplots (as a high schooler, these were my favorite parts of the entire book) provided that they are done well. Aside from being a romantic relationship between two PROFOUNDLY uninteresting people, the romantic arc between Citra and Rowan in throughout the entirety of Scythe is just poorly conceived and completely unnecessary.

Lets compare our leading couple from Scythe to our leading couple from Six of Crows, Nina and Matthias (yes, Inej and Kaz have a moment, but it does not amount to anything, and yes, Wylan and Jesper flirt with each other A LOT, but again, nothing comes of it so I am not counting these). On a character level, Nina and Matthias have a history and they have chemistry. They are witty, enjoyable to read about together, and their feelings for each other are complicated and interesting. Additionally, their relationship is representative of the larger conflict between the Fjerdans and the Grisha– and on a thematic level, the conflict between fear and understanding, hate and openness.

Citra and Rowan know are perfect strangers to one another. After knowing each other for only two months, then being separated for 3-5 months, and then being reunited for under a week, they decide to commit treason on each other’s behalf because…… Rowan thinks she’s hot? Yeah it’s not great.

4. ) Unexciting plot twists

Aaaaaand the butler did it! No but seriously, I am actually going to fault both of these books for having plot twists that were less than stellar (major spoilers are about to happen).

Scythe Faraday faking his own death is presented like this giant twist at the end of the novel. The problem? Not only was this predictable, but it carried no emotional weight. Faraday wasn’t a beloved character. He was stoic, at times confusing, and he wasn’t alive long enough for the reader (or the two main characters honestly) to develop any attachment to him. I think I cared more about him when he was presumed dead– at least his martyr status gave some characters more tangible motivation, he represented a positive ideal more than an actual person, and finding out about his romantic past with Scythe Curie was heavier in the context of in memorium.

Six of Crows has some EXCELLENT plot twists, don’t get me wrong. The problem is that most of these twists hinge on Kaz always knowing more than the reader and the other characters. This is effective a couple of times, but after a while it starts to feel predictable because we are now expecting him to always be one step ahead. The true plot twist would be Kaz finally getting blindsided by someone– except no reader wants that to happen because we’re all rooting for him!

5. ) Violence for the sake of violence

It is no secret that a lot of YA novels, especially in this genre, have a lot of violence. However, violence does not equal suspense, violence does not equal emotion, and violence does not equal character development unless it is utilized effectively.

Scythe is a book about violence; the entire job of a scythe is to kill people. There are so many depictions of murder in this book that is not shocking, it is not horrifying, and it’s not even treated as sociopathically mundane a la Clockwork Orange, it just kind of…. happens. By the time we get to directly witnessing Scythe Goddard’s mass gleanings, we have already been so inundated with the clinical and “merciful” gleanings of Curie and Faraday that all of it blurs together.

Six of Crows is about a group of gang members breaking a drug kingpin out of prison. All types of violence are present and abundant– armed robbery, torture, military combat, sexual slavery, gladiator fights– you name it, this book has got it. But the moral repercussions of engaging in these acts is never understated. There is also a palpable difference between violence in the name of self defense or survival and violence in the name of revenge or greed. The scene where Kaz throws Oomen off the side of the ship gave me actual chills.

6. ) Too many flashbacks

As much as it pains me to say this, Scythe actually does a better job of managing the flashbacks. Especially in the last third of the book, the flashbacks in Six of Crows interrupt the action sequences in a way that is actually frustrating to read. A character will literally have their life hanging in the balance and then everything screeches to a halt in the service of a flashback. Scythe relegates most of its flashback material to the gleaning journal entries included at the end of every chapter. The exposition is still conveyed, but it doesn’t interrupt the flow of the action.

7. ) Unsatisfying Ending

Both of these novels are the first book in a trilogy so obviously not all the loose ends are going to be wrapped up. However, I liked the ending of Six of Crows waaaaaaay better (who is surprised) than Scythe. The conclusion of Six of Crows wraps up the main conflict arc of the book, breaking Bo Yul-bayer out of prison, while introducing new conflicts to be resolved in the next book– Nina’s parem addiction and Inej getting captured. Scythe barely resolves the main conflict of the novel, I guess Citra and Rowan both get to live– no mortal combat necessary, and the conflict of the next book is left pretty unclear since the main antagonist dies. Nothing about the ending of Scythe makes me excited to read the next one; however, I already have Crooked Kingdom on reserve at the library.

YA vs. Middle Grades Literature

After spending a week reading two middle grades novels, Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes and Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds, I have found that middle grades novels are different than their Young Adult counterparts– but not necessarily in the ways you would expect.

In some respects, middle grades novels are “easier” to read than YA novels. For one thing, they are a lot shorter in length (Internment by Samira Ahmed is longer than Look Both Ways and Ghost Boys combined). I don’t mean to imply that the length of a novel directly correlates to its level of difficulty; however, the attention span of even the most gifted sixth grader may not be long enough to slog through a 400 page book. The length of middle grades novels makes them less intimidating and more approachable. I also would like to argue that the shorter length does not diminish the ability for the author to tell a complex and compelling story. In fact, I personally think that some YA novels are so long that it actually hurts the storytelling.

In terms of content, I did not notice that much of a difference between middle grades and YA novels. Both have the capacity to explore mature themes ranging from personal trauma to global political issues. Ghost Boys in particular is an incredibly emotionally harrowing book which deals with complicated issues of politics, racism, guilt, justice, and grief. Look Both Ways, while far tamer than Ghost Boys, still touches on issues of parental illness, sexuality, and grief, among others.

One of the main differences in content that I did notice is that YA novels are far more interested in romantic relationships than middle grades novels– which makes sense given the target ages for both genres. In general, the protagonists of middle grades novels are younger than the protagonists of YA novels, which, again, makes sense given the target demographics of each. The age of the protagonist, and the age of the reader, does not change the maturity of the content but it does change how that content is addressed and the perspective through which it is addressed. The protagonists of middle grades novels handle “adult situations” more like children– Say So puts on skits for her ailing grandfather, Carlos uses a toy gun to defend himself against bullies– while the protagonists of YA novels attempt to emulate adults when faced with similar situations– Layla becomes the leader of a political movement, Dill visits his father in prison on his mother’s behalf (until it becomes unbearable for him).

In general, I think that middle grades and YA novels are unfairly pitted against each other when there is a place both in and outside of the target age demographic for each of them. I think that high school students should continue to read some middle grades novels for a variety of reasons:

1.) It is important for students to read novels that challenge them; however, it is also important for students to take breaks so they don’t burn out from reading entirely. Having a vacation read in between Heart of Darkness and Catcher in the Rye is important
2.) Reading from the perspective of someone younger than themselves can help teenagers learn, re-learn, or re-enforce empathy for those annoying, twerpy, middle schoolers that everyone loves to dunk on
3.) Sometimes, although no teenager would ever admit this, you don’t want to read about someone your age behaving like someone your age or like an adult. You don’t want to read about romance, or emotional maturity, or making big decisions. Sometimes as a teenager you feel like a child, because you kind of still are one, so you just want to read something that feels more authentic to you in that moment.

In the same vein, middle grades students who can, should read some YA novels. Here’s another numbered list of reasons:

1.) The older protagonists of YA novels can provide models for who these students could grow up to be
2.) Some students are emotionally more mature than others and want to read about characters who are more on their level
3.) Some students are more advanced readers and want to read the aforementioned 600 page bricks; but these same students may not have experience with emotionally maturity. YA can (sometimes) be a great introduction to that.

In conclusion, I feel like there should be a lot more fluidity between who reads YA and who reads middle grades novels. The reality is that middle schoolers and high schoolers do not get to pick the age that they first experience grief, trauma, racism, injustice, bullying, or a whole host of other issues. Tragedy does not care how old someone is when it forces them to “grow up.” Students should be able to choose novels with content and characters that they connect to regardless of which shelf they sit on.

Spine Poetry

Fathers and Sons

Look both ways

ghost boys

No Ashes in the Fire

Elegy

Hello,

the roses

So my book collection is constantly in flux. I haven’t lived in the same place for more than a year for the last four years and I am moving again at the end of this year. I try not to accumulate too much stuff because it is such a pain to move, so I am incredibly dependent on the library for my reading material (four of these books are actually library books).

The idea behind this poem is losing a loved one (could be death, could be a relationship that has just ended), grieving, and then growing with the experience.

YA Literacy and Literature

Write/share definitions of literacy and YA literature

As we have been discussing in class, literacy is so much more than reading words on a page. Literacy encompasses our cultural awareness and understanding, our personal and professional relationships, even the way we choose to present ourselves through personal style. We “read a room” socially in the same way we decode words in more traditional texts.

I believe that the goal of YA literature should be to embody the voice, perspective, and language(s) unique to YA literacy. YA literacy is difficult to define and constantly changing. I remember when I used to be fluent in YA literacy. I was not a cool kid but I sure studied up on how to present like one– I downloaded Vine on my phone, I wore sweaty Hunter boots inside for no reason, and my eyeliner? On fleek. It wasn’t until after the blessed day that I graduated high school that I regarded these actions as a mode of communication, a kind of second language, because I realized I was no longer fluent. These days “the kids” have TikTok, not Vine, and I don’t understand the appeal or the jokes all the time. In the classroom, I am like a student on study abroad in another country: I know the rudimentary basics of speech but I am not sophisticated and I am clearly not a native speaker.

And so, my re-emersion into YA literature in this class has helped me brush up on some of my out of practice YA literacy. It is reminding what it felt like to be a teenager and all of the joyful, painful, uncomfortable, and exciting things that period of my life entailed. And it hasn’t been emotionally easy– I cried 4 times while reading The Serpent King— but it has been fulfilling. It feels like putting on an old dress that’s a little too small or driving stick shift after years of automatic– it is stressful, uncomfortable, and a little risky but I do remember how to do it because I’ve done it before.