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Tornhelm posted:Heroes of Olympus is a sequel to the Percy Jackson books, so get them after you read the PJ ones. Thanks!
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Aug 18, 2013 23:34
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So I started reading my YA block as part of my reading challenge. It's going to be nine books (but that could change come Wednesday, when I go to the Strand Bookstore and buy a few more books). So far I've read two books in this block. The first was Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, which was written by Rachael Cohen and David Levithan. I can honestly say that I didn't expect somethings to happen Things like Norah writing a response on the bathroom wall, confessing her love for Nick, even though that she just met him a few hours. But then again I guess that that's YA for you. I also loved the part where Nick and Norah are busted after having sex in the hotel's vending room and the couple who found them reaction is pretty good too. I also loved the fact that the two authors captured the grittyness of Lower Manhattan, which is totally different than that of tourist filled Midtown. The ending is great too you don't know what happens to Nick and Norah after they hop the turnstyle. Is their relationship still going of did it end after they got home? Pros: Great storyline. The setting of the story, which I know the general area of. Cons: Nothing major, just small things that I won't go into detail of. The second book was Looking for Alaska by John Green. Now, I just found out about John Green earlier this year, thanks to the hype that was around The Fault in Our Stars, and also through the script that was based on this book, but before that, I had no idea who he was or what he was famous for for that matter. I really liked this book for a few reasons. The first and foremost was the fact that characters where very to relate to, which at times can be a hard thing to do for many young adult novels it's somewhat hard to relate to some of the characters. I loved the final prank that Miles and The The Colonel to in the memory of Alaska. The death of Alaska has to be the saddest thing that I've read in a while, mainly because she forgot about something that was near and dear to her heart. The whole novel is basically a modern coming of age story with a little bit of a mystery novel thrown into it. Pros: The characters. The setting of the book. Cons: Currently reading: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. I really don't think that it's considered to be a YA Novel, but it does fit the mold that is laid before it, so I'm lumping it into that category.
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Aug 19, 2013 01:16
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Just finished Perks. Then I watched the movie. They casting was spot on.
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Aug 19, 2013 03:27
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Panda So Panda posted:Content wise, though, it was fine. I also enjoyed his Kane Chronicles well enough. Is it worth continuing on with the Heroes of Olympus series? Rick is also planning on doing a series based on Norse Mythology  So he's got the Trinity of Mythologies that most Western Peoples give a poo poo about.
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Aug 19, 2013 04:27
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achillesforever6 posted:Yes its pretty awesome what with Giants and Romans and all. I thought I'd heard about the Norse myth project before. If it's true, I can't wait to see his spin on things!
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Aug 19, 2013 20:31
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Paragon8 posted:I weirdly enjoyed Vampire Academy, although I'm not sure if it was the novelty of having a protagonist that didn't have some kind of self esteem issue. After going through Divergent, Delirium and and Angelfall right before Vampire Academy, I have to agree with this fully.
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Aug 20, 2013 00:08
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Panda So Panda posted:Can anyone recommend a middle grade/YA series that is primarily centered around ghosts? This skews younger and came out in the 1950s, but the first and second books of Lucy Boston's Green Knowe series have some beautiful imagery and incorporate a rather different version of ghosts ("Others") who help drive plots set in an English manor house.
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Aug 23, 2013 01:20
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I went and saw The Mortal Instruments in the theater last weekend and decided to go ahead and read the books to see how it compares. I must admit that I enjoyed reading the series although the end of City of Glass seemed like a bit of a cop-out, and I kept thinking 'well what about everyone else you selfish bitch'.
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Aug 30, 2013 00:19
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Daylen Drazzi posted:I went and saw The Mortal Instruments in the theater last weekend and decided to go ahead and read the books to see how it compares. I must admit that I enjoyed reading the series although the end of City of Glass seemed like a bit of a cop-out, and I kept thinking 'well what about everyone else you selfish bitch'. I heard the author was a Harry Potter fan-fiction writer, and now I'm scared to read that series. Granted that now I can't forget what I heard, is there any chance I wouldn't have my enjoyment of the series ruined by that knowledge (I've heard some of the characters and plot are disturbingly similar)?
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Aug 31, 2013 05:29
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PT6A posted:I heard the author was a Harry Potter fan-fiction writer, and now I'm scared to read that series. Granted that now I can't forget what I heard, is there any chance I wouldn't have my enjoyment of the series ruined by that knowledge (I've heard some of the characters and plot are disturbingly similar)? Granted, I have bigger problems with Cassandra Clare (plagiarism, the way she comports herself in social media), but yes--TMI is basically rewritten Harry Potter fanfiction.
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Aug 31, 2013 12:48
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What the hell is this 'The Bone Season' everyone has suddenly started going on about? Is it any good? Reviews range from glowing to scathing on Amazon.
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Aug 31, 2013 17:29
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Brazen Apothecary posted:Granted, I have bigger problems with Cassandra Clare (plagiarism, the way she comports herself in social media), but yes--TMI is basically rewritten Harry Potter fanfiction. Yes. This. Including the parenthetical. Way back when, Cassie (you do know she changed her nom de plume to dodge internet criticism, right?) did the Very Secret Diaries for LoTR. They made me laugh and I genuinely looked forward to them, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that she'd published a YAF novel. I have never been into fanfic and its culture, so I found out about the other unpleasantness shortly after her first novel was published. I read the first book, the one made into the movie, thinking I'd get the series for my 8th grade classroom. I barely made it through. It's like she wrote generic fanfic for every popular tween-to-teen paranormal in existence, pulling every popular element that made each of them "unique," and mashing it together into something so incredibly forgettable. I was rolling my eyes on every page. A week after finishing, I couldn't recall hardly anything that happened. Also, there is a way to insert Easter eggs and jokes while still maintaining the integrity of a story. She doesn't have that skill.
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Aug 31, 2013 17:38
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I keep hearing about her and plagiarism. It was one reason I haven't picked up her books after reading the first two. What did she do exactly? Witting harry potter fan fiction doesn't really bother me. Fan fiction is different than plagiarism though.
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Sep 1, 2013 04:47
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Pendergast posted:I keep hearing about her and plagiarism. It was one reason I haven't picked up her books after reading the first two. What did she do exactly? Witting harry potter fan fiction doesn't really bother me. Fan fiction is different than plagiarism though. I was curious too so I did some Googling... some tumblr blog posted:http://swingsetindecember.tumblr.com/post/47309687374/can-you-explain-the-cassandra-claire-plagiarism Seems quite the dramafest, really. :/
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Sep 1, 2013 05:22
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Her wiki page even has Mortal Instruments under her fan fiction section. The internet never forgets.
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Sep 1, 2013 05:43
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That drat Satyr posted:I was curious too so I did some Googling... It's pretty involved and intense in a fandomwank level of drama. I remember when the scandal broke back in the day, and know the charges and I still can't read/understand half of the posts I've found about it. But it's legit. Basically, her fanfiction has whole paragraphs/pages copied from outside sources, and I've heard that TMI has some strong "tributes."
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Sep 1, 2013 05:51
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I asked because, in general, I'm willing to give authors the benefit of the doubt. A lot of series that have become very popular have had accusations of plagiarism levelled at them in some respect (even Harry Potter and Hunger Games, or in other media, every Tarantino film ever), and in the majority of cases it turns out to be nothing (or a superficial similarity to something else, intentional or otherwise). This sounds like actual plagiarism.
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Sep 1, 2013 05:53
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PT6A posted:I asked because, in general, I'm willing to give authors the benefit of the doubt. A lot of series that have become very popular have had accusations of plagiarism levelled at them in some respect (even Harry Potter and Hunger Games, or in other media, every Tarantino film ever), and in the majority of cases it turns out to be nothing (or a superficial similarity to something else, intentional or otherwise). This sounds like actual plagiarism. Yeah, this isn't conceptual plagiarism. It's line-by-line copy/paste that she defends as "tribute" and attacks anyone who suggests otherwise.
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Sep 1, 2013 06:48
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I looked on wiki regarding this but no mention of the plagiarism? Fan Fiction is surely a recipe for disaster when becoming a fiction author, I know new writers start out copying the voice of their favourite works (or whatever they have just read, the tone of the poo poo I write varies wildly because of this) but copying their worlds and characters? I wouldn't be able to bring myself to touch something I personally revere. I did see loads of girls reading the Clockwork Princess on my trains a while back, wondered what that was all about.
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Sep 1, 2013 09:18
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http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/8985.html You'll find specific examples here. I'm sure there are more fandom write ups about it but Bad Penny is probably the most well known. Edit: I'd like to recommend The Darkest Powers trilogy by Kelley Armstrong. I finished the second book yesterday and immediately started re-reading it while I'm waiting on the third book. I'll also start her other trilogy in the same world, The Darkness Rising, once I finish this one. The world she sets up is very interesting and I want to know more. ghost story fucked around with this message at 12:56 on Sep 1, 2013 |
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Sep 1, 2013 09:49
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It's not technically YA (it's marketed to kids 10 and up), but A Tale Dark and Grimm is pretty great. It's about the dark side of fairy tales, but it's not just darkness for darkness' sake: it weaves the fairy tales into a single narrative of two siblings growing up and learning to accept harsh truths. Plus the narration is hilarious.
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Sep 1, 2013 14:16
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ghost story posted:http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/8985.html Bear in mind that this is a post from two thousand and SIX, talking about material from two thousand and ONE. Her shenanigans were well known and well documented a LONG time before she got a book deal, so the publishers have no excuse. Is there any documented plagirism in her published works? I'm mostly just annoyed that a film called The Mortal Instruments means that if they ever get around to making a movie of Mortal Engines they'll probably change the name so people don't get confused.
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Sep 1, 2013 15:20
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ghost story posted:Her wiki page even has Mortal Instruments under her fan fiction section. Actually that's a fanfiction - she felt it was a good idea to name her commercial series after a fanfic about, if I remember correctly, a couple of the Weasleys loving each other.  Fatkraken posted:Is there any documented plagirism in her published works? I don't think so because people were reading and mocking it when it was published and I don't remember anything, but it could have slipped my mind.
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Sep 3, 2013 16:13
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Lofty132 posted:What the hell is this 'The Bone Season' everyone has suddenly started going on about? Is it any good? Reviews range from glowing to scathing on Amazon. I liked it a bunch (and read it straight through), but it's not amazing. The author does a really good job of crafting a unique, interesting AU fantasy London. I found that to be the best part of the book, though it overflows with jargon that can be confusing at times, especially initially. Some reviewers have used the phrase "overly-ambitious", which is spot on, but I vastly prefer an author reaching for something new and different instead of falling back on the same old stuff, even if they can't quite handle their own creation. Like the posters above were saying about Vampire Academy, it's also nice to have a female protagonist without issues- the main character doesn't spend any time bemoaning being a freak or moping, she's good at her (criminal) psychic job and she knows it. She's not a particularly original or deep character, but she's strong and doesn't sit around waiting to be rescued. The side characters are interesting as heck too, but they don't get enough development...though since there are supposed to be 7 books, that might change. What I disliked most was the super-predictable romance (with a gorgeous forbidden special supernatural being, of course), but if I complained too much about that sort of thing I could never read any YA books ever. It also doesn't come into play until the very end of the book, which is nice, though I'm not sure how much it will piss me off in future books. At least it's not a love triangle. Basically, it's taken the standard body of a YA teen dystopia and put it in new and more interesting clothes. Worth a read if you're into that genre, but it's not earth-shattering. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes, because it's definitely an interesting enough world to support more books and it's got potential.
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Sep 3, 2013 17:49
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Tamora Pierce's Battle Magic is finally coming out on the 24th!  It's the prequel to the previous book she wrote in the set, so that book will finally make some sense!
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Sep 3, 2013 18:09
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Jezebel posted:I liked it a bunch (and read it straight through), but it's not amazing. The author does a really good job of crafting a unique, interesting AU fantasy London. I found that to be the best part of the book, though it overflows with jargon that can be confusing at times, especially initially. Some reviewers have used the phrase "overly-ambitious", which is spot on, but I vastly prefer an author reaching for something new and different instead of falling back on the same old stuff, even if they can't quite handle their own creation. Thanks for the in depth response!  I haven't read much YA since I worked in a bookstore, might give it a go although I'm worried that I will (ridiculously, I fully concede) be put off by the author being younger than myself.
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Sep 3, 2013 23:17
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Fatkraken posted:Bear in mind that this is a post from two thousand and SIX, talking about material from two thousand and ONE. Her shenanigans were well known and well documented a LONG time before she got a book deal, so the publishers have no excuse. Accusations pop up now and then, but at least as far as I've seen, they're groundless. Stuff along the lines of "Cassandra Clare wrote 'And then she sneezed,' and look, here's this other book that includes that exact same line/." Nothing that would get brought up if it weren't for her history. I wouldn't be surprised if her publishers either have instructed her editors/a fact-checker to watch her very closely on that front or that they have some kind of disclaimer built into her contract that, if she gets caught plagiarizing, she has to give back her advances or something. I don't think it's necessarily fair to expect her publishers to have known she was a plagiarist when they originally decided to publish her books. The major websites detailing her plagiarism weren't written until after she was given her book deal, and before that it was basically only niche fan fiction gossip noticed by a comparatively small group of people. I'm sure publishers have better things to do with their time than follow that. I'm sure they know now, though. quote:I heard the author was a Harry Potter fan-fiction writer, and now I'm scared to read that series. Granted that now I can't forget what I heard, is there any chance I wouldn't have my enjoyment of the series ruined by that knowledge (I've heard some of the characters and plot are disturbingly similar)? My impression is that the characters in the Mortal Instruments series are very similar to the characters in C.C.'s Harry Potter fan fiction, but given that she took plenty of liberties with her fan fiction, they aren't necessarily similar to the characters in J.K. Rowling's books. I haven't read the books, though, so it's possible I'm wrong on this. quote:I looked on wiki regarding this but no mention of the plagiarism? Either Cassandra Clare's PR team or her fans work hard to keep it off of wikipedia. If you go to the "talk" section of her page, there's lots of discussion about why it's not on there. The official story is that most sources regarding the plagiarism controversy don't meet wikipedia's standards, but even ones that do are regularly deleted.
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Sep 4, 2013 08:04
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I'm reading the first Percy Jackson book and it's fine but its faults just make me appreciate the Spook's Apprentice series more, which has none of the painful teething issues that The Lightning Thief has for hundreds of goddamn pages. Also the Spook's Apprentice doesn't sometimes smell like dad trying to be hip either. Still, I find myself daydreaming about who my god-parent would be, which means The Lightning Thief is a pretty successfully fun book overall. I'm eager to read the rest of the series. The Egyptian mythology series sounds really cool as well. It makes me wonder how hand-holdy the Harry Potter series was, though. I don't remember Rowling belaboring things as much as Riordan does, but maybe I just didn't notice or care back then.
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Sep 6, 2013 06:00
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I finally read The Hunger Games. It was all right, but because I'd just finished Gaimain's "The Ocean At the End of the Lane," and because the themes and lessons in HG involved were so important from my point of view, Collins' shortcomings as a writer and world-builder were even more glaring than they might've been for me otherwise. The world-building's sloppy, the characters are all one-dimensional there's a lot of "telling" involved, the pace was always entirely too quickity-quickity, boo to teen romance, and I think it would've been more powerful in third person. So, an OK book, but not worth all the buzz.
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Sep 9, 2013 01:06
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Qwo posted:
Man that was a sad period of my life, I of course gave it up when I read the rest of the series and realized how juvenile my work was. Though every once in a while I get that itch to write that adaptation of the Trojan War from the eyes of a Myrmidon soldier. Either that or work on that PJ/Heroes of Olympus fan fic where the relative to the hero Diomedes has to steal the Palladium from Camp Half Blood and return it the Roman camp. In effect a reverse of the most recent book. But yeah that is my sad history with the Percy Jackson books.
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Sep 9, 2013 01:50
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Qwo posted:Rick Riordan One of the big criticisms I have is that he doesn't seem to do a great job with finale scale as compared to, say, the Redwall books. For some reason, his climactic battles in both Percy Jackson and the Kane Chronicles don't quite convey that "epic fantasy battle" feeling. They're gods, not tiny woodland creatures- shouldn't it be more exciting?
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Sep 10, 2013 03:42
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What are some good real life based YA books? I've got a brother who's just starting high school and most of what is on his reading list is either your standard freshman lit books or a lot of sci-fi/fantasy YA. He loved the Uglies, Divergent, Graceling, and the Percy Jackson books but he's starting to get interested in books that are contemporary. My older brother and I have already rec'd him The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian since we both really love it but aside from that most of what I liked doesn't really match up with what he's looking for since I was into autobiographical YA. Seriously though, I loving loved The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian but I'm a big fan of Sherman Alexie's stuff in general though. On a sort of similar note, I also really liked Walk Two Moons as a kid because I really identified with the main character but I'm not sure if it still holds up now that I'm an adult. It's hard to find decent YA with Native American characters. 
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Sep 10, 2013 04:41
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taco show posted:You have just enough time to catch up all through Mark of Athena before he releases his new book in October! If you're pressed for time, you can skip the Egyptian trilogy (it's all the same universe, but there's no story crossover... yet), but I actually liked those characters and modernization the best. There is now!
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Sep 10, 2013 05:14
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Tulalip Tulips posted:What are some good real life based YA books? Maybe John Marsden's Tomorrow series, depending on how loose your definition of "real life" is? (they take place in Australia after the country has been invaded  ) John Green's books seem like they'd fit the bill - The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns are two of my personal favourites. If he liked the dystopian elements in Uglies and Divergent, you could also look into Cory Doctorow's books - Pirate Cinema and Little Brother take place in the near-future and explore issues like government censorship and surveillance. Final rec is Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park, which I think everybody should read because it's amazing. 
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Sep 10, 2013 06:23
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E: /\/\/\/\ Yeah, Eleanor and Park is amazing.Tulalip Tulips posted:What are some good real life based YA books? I've got a brother who's just starting high school and most of what is on his reading list is either your standard freshman lit books or a lot of sci-fi/fantasy YA. He loved the Uglies, Divergent, Graceling, and the Percy Jackson books but he's starting to get interested in books that are contemporary. My older brother and I have already rec'd him The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian since we both really love it but aside from that most of what I liked doesn't really match up with what he's looking for since I was into autobiographical YA. John Green, maybe? I've only read The Fault in our Stars but I loved it, and Green is one of the best YA authors. Actually, I also read Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which Green co-wrote with David Levithan, so if he likes John Green he could also check out Levithan. Oh, and My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, by Annabel Pitcher, that was such a great book.
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Sep 10, 2013 06:26
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Will Grayson, Will Grayson was pretty great to me because I grew up in the Chicago area, so I already had something in common with the characters. Plus Tiny Cooper is just wonderful 
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Sep 10, 2013 07:24
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I recently finished The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken and it's by far the best dystopian-YA novel I've come across. It gets really dark and depressing, but its a great read overall and the sequel has jumped to the top of my most anticipated Fall releases (ahead of Angelfall #2 and Allegiant).
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Sep 10, 2013 14:43
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Tulalip Tulips posted:It's hard to find decent YA with Native American characters. There is an awesome blog on that very topic. I think the author of it would agree with you! She does have a list of her top ten recommended YA (or YA-friendly, at least) books featuring Native American characters, although the only one I've read is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, so I can't back her up on the rest.
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Sep 10, 2013 23:39
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Pththya-lyi posted:Will Grayson, Will Grayson was pretty great to me because I grew up in the Chicago area, so I already had something in common with the characters. Plus Tiny Cooper is just wonderful Everyone should check out the audiobook version of Will Grayson, Will Grayson. One, it's awesome to have the two different narrators be different voice actors, and the WG that doesn't live in Chicago's VA is PERFECT; two, all of Tiny Cooper's songs and general Tiny Cooperness are in the audiobook as songs. It's awesome. Probably one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to.
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Sep 11, 2013 04:34
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 Actually, neither of them live in Chicago. Evanston is a northern suburb of Chicago, Naperville is a southern suburb. But thanks so much for the rec, I will have to check it out.
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Sep 11, 2013 06:12
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