Scan barcode
A review by angelicasreads
Brooding YA Hero: Becoming a Main Character (Almost) as Awesome as Me by Carrie Dirisio, Broody McHottiepants
3.0
Ever since my friend showed me the Brooding YA Hero twitter page, I knew I had to read this.
This book is a satirical breakdown of how most YA novels are written and it brilliantly points out many topics that definitely need to be discussed.
It is a criticism on the harmful tropes authors use in YA, making fun of lazy writing and cliched development. It also speaks a lot about the stereotypes and plain lack of diversity that goes into writing YA, especially when most writers are white and straight and upper middle class. All of this done while not sounding condescending or hateful of young adult novels if anything, all was done while showing appreciation for it. And of course, let's not forget, the book is hilarious.
And yet, I didn't love this.
While the content was great, at times it got very repetitive. I would read one paragraph and have a sense of déjà vu cause that same thing had been said a chapter earlier with similar words.
Another issue I had with the book was the constant shift in format. While this is something that many of you will not mind, I prefer my books to keep one form and roll from there. This book, for example, starts out as a first-person narrative from the POV of Broody, the brooding YA hero. It then becomes a third person narrative with an omniscient narrator. Then it becomes a series of lists in which tropes are described and criticized, narrated in the first person from Broody's POV. Then it becomes a first-person narrative from the POV of Blondie DeMeani, Broody's evil ex-girlfriend, whom I loved.
I think that this is my main problem with the book because I simply could not get into it like I wanted.
Had this been a solid narrative I might have loved it. Had it been a series of many hilarious lists, I might have loved it more. I didn't like the combination of both.
That said, there are many funny and important things brought up in this book, for example, "don't describe people like food", a thing white authors do often when describing anyone of color. We don't like being called chocolate, coffee, caramel, or mocha. This isn't a Starbucks, thank you very much.
Also, I love how it talks about the misrepresentation of foreigners by white, American authors.
I hate this trope and was so glad they included it there.
Overall, I totally recommend. They should make aspiring YA authors, and even current YA authors read this. Maybe it will open their eyes to all the idiotic and borderline offensive things that go into their writing.
***I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.***
This book is a satirical breakdown of how most YA novels are written and it brilliantly points out many topics that definitely need to be discussed.
It is a criticism on the harmful tropes authors use in YA, making fun of lazy writing and cliched development. It also speaks a lot about the stereotypes and plain lack of diversity that goes into writing YA, especially when most writers are white and straight and upper middle class. All of this done while not sounding condescending or hateful of young adult novels if anything, all was done while showing appreciation for it. And of course, let's not forget, the book is hilarious.
And yet, I didn't love this.
While the content was great, at times it got very repetitive. I would read one paragraph and have a sense of déjà vu cause that same thing had been said a chapter earlier with similar words.
Another issue I had with the book was the constant shift in format. While this is something that many of you will not mind, I prefer my books to keep one form and roll from there. This book, for example, starts out as a first-person narrative from the POV of Broody, the brooding YA hero. It then becomes a third person narrative with an omniscient narrator. Then it becomes a series of lists in which tropes are described and criticized, narrated in the first person from Broody's POV. Then it becomes a first-person narrative from the POV of Blondie DeMeani, Broody's evil ex-girlfriend, whom I loved.
I think that this is my main problem with the book because I simply could not get into it like I wanted.
Had this been a solid narrative I might have loved it. Had it been a series of many hilarious lists, I might have loved it more. I didn't like the combination of both.
That said, there are many funny and important things brought up in this book, for example, "don't describe people like food", a thing white authors do often when describing anyone of color. We don't like being called chocolate, coffee, caramel, or mocha. This isn't a Starbucks, thank you very much.
Also, I love how it talks about the misrepresentation of foreigners by white, American authors.
"I come from a foreign country that's probably made up, or might as well have been, for all the accuracy of the Author's portrayal. My skin will be described as a shade of chocolate or coffee, which will be highly offensive, but my author will find romantic. I'll speak perfect English, but I'll be sure to use my native tongue (thanks, Google Translate!) for two things: swearing and terms of endearment."
I hate this trope and was so glad they included it there.
Overall, I totally recommend. They should make aspiring YA authors, and even current YA authors read this. Maybe it will open their eyes to all the idiotic and borderline offensive things that go into their writing.
***I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.***