With that said, I can't really say that for example, Under the Never Sky is just like [insert book]. I did start it and things were interesting but I just don't have any desire to finish it at the moment. It did seem familiar to me but not the same as other books I've read. This isn't the author's fault at all. Honestly, the past couple of years could be labeled Rise of the Dystopians. I've only been blogging for about a year now and I've heard people talk about dystopians so much that I'm sick of them. I enjoyed the ones I read and I'm sure I'd enjoy others but just thinking about it is slightly dreadful.
I could probably make myself read Under the Never Sky and I'd probably like it well enough, but would I like it nearly as much as I would have a year or two ago? Most likely not. I'd probably be more picky, which brings me to my main thought.
Bloggers get genre fatigued and even when we aren't we've read so many books we're more likely to say, "It's just like [insert book]." Personally I think this level of criticism can be both good and bad. It has the potential to "raise the bar" but, at the same time, I think he can also be a bad thing and tear perfectly good novels down.
So what do you think?
~Stephanie
~Stephanie
I've been feeling pretty grumpy about my reading lately, and I'm not sure if it's honestly the books or just me. I'm trying to take a break from YA. I'm reading more classics, and I'm also reading more middle grade--which I'm enjoying more than the YA I've read recently.
ReplyDeleteI have read a few books that I thought were pretty clearly inspired by (or ripping off?) other novels, but you make a good point: sometimes we're more exhausted with the entire idea of a book or genre, than we are annoyed by an individual book. Reading outside of fads (and publishing outside of fads!) is always a good idea.
I've been having a hard time finding good middle grade books. Of course, it's mostly because I don't really want to read them at the moment. Plus, it's hard to find the ones that would wow me like Will in Scarlet did.
DeleteI am getting fed up on dystopians and even contemporaries of the late. It's so hard for me to enjoy anything. I agree Steph. Oh and I had no desire to finish UtNS, but I pulled through in the end. The sequels are way better.
ReplyDeleteFabulous post! <33
I haven't read too many contemporaries so I'm pretty good with them right now. I just have to find some that interest me is all. Thanks!
DeleteYep, I would agree with this. The Hunger Games is one of my fall time favourite series (ever), but if I read it now...would I even like it??? I try to avoid reading too much in one genre. And I kind of burned out with dystopian, too. :( This is a really cool post!
ReplyDeleteI'm a new follower. (Found you through twitter. Plus, I think it's kind of cool to find more Aussie bloggers!)
Hunger Games - love that series. I've read it like three times. I'm glad you like the post! Thanks for following! (I'm a U.S. blogger and Eugenia is an Aussie blogger.)
DeleteI agree! I'm not a big spec-fic writer in the first place, and when I see all the dystopians at a bookstore, it's kind of overwhelming. Contemporaries are also massive at the moment, but since they can't rely on the element of fantasy, a lot of them are very different.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post. And I agree with Cait - finding new Aussie bloggers is awesome!
The contemporaries do have a bit more leeway.
DeleteI think that's also why taking breaks in general is important. Sometimes you just need to read something completely different, but others you might just need a break from reading. I was hit with a pretty solid book hangover after finishing The Book Thief, and since I have reviews ready to go for the next couple weeks...I'm planning on a bit of a nonfiction kick. They probably won't make it to formal reviews, but it should be a good change of pace.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a good plan. I'm coming off of a reading hiatus myself.
DeleteMy tastes have changed since I started blogging. I know a bunch of books would've LOVED as a 12 YO, but now, I hate. I totally get what you mean. Originality isn't even there anymore and that isn't anyone's fault; there are just too many of us.
ReplyDeleteGreat post <33
Well, you're older now too so tastes change. True, true. Thanks!
DeleteThankfully this hasn't happened to me yet with dystopian - it's still my favorite genre. But it is difficult to find ones that stand out. Recently I just read Cured, the sequel to Stung, and it felt exactly the same as the 50 other dystopian books I've read before. There's only a few that truly stand out; like Partials, The Ward (because of the water setting), Unravel Me, and of course The Hunger Games. But most of them are just cookie-cutter, even if there is an original idea behind them (like with the kill gene in Uninvited). Does it lessen my enjoyment of them? Usually, no. As long as there's something original to make it stand out.
ReplyDeleteI have experienced genre fatigue before though: I used to read a lot of adult UF when I first started blogging. But they ALL felt exactly the same, and I just couldn't take it anymore. Even now, the thought of picking one up is distasteful! Paranormal Romance is the same way. Cookie-cutter =/
I haven't read The Ward yet but it is on my TBR. Ah, cookie-cutter = no fun.
DeleteI think that books suffer from comparison to other books. It bothers me when books are billed as "the next [insert popular book title here]," and/or when bloggers/reviewers say that a book is "just like" another similar book. Once it gets around that a book is similar to another book, it's hard to read that book without constantly attempting to compare it to the other one. Like, recently, I read Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott, which is compared by tons of people to The Hunger Games, but when I read it, I found that they weren't really that similar to each other at all, so I was annoyed. It had seeped into my head that this book was "another Hunger Games," and then it was hard to read it at all without thinking about how it was similar or dissimilar to the other series.
ReplyDelete