Reasons Why We Love and
Hate Series: From a YA and Marketing Standpoint
Winter breaks can
sometimes be very productive. After reading over ten books, I came across a
common trend that I’ve noticed before, but never really thought in depth about.
Series. Why are they always happening? Why does publishing one book and just
being done seem so taboo? I will be discussing this, mostly from a Young Adult
(YA) standpoint. I’ll sandwich the good and the bad.
Reason 1:
Loving that Journey
Who doesn’t want to follow
the same characters as they grow and change? While some readers search for
their identity and figure out what’s right for them, the characters in series
are following a similar path. It’s nice to be able to turn away from the real
world and read about lovable characters. It’s worth the thousands of pages and
hours of time put into the reading experience.
Also, many series have
tons of action. The Hunger Games by
Suzanne Collins, of course, is an example of this. As readers, we are sadistic.
We read further to see what Katniss would go through in a second Hunger Games. We
follow the journey of how she volunteers as tribute and then builds her
strength, overcoming death numerous times. Without all her fighting and
resilience, Katniss’ story would not be as engaging. Collins throws us into a
world that readers know they probably wouldn’t survive, so they continue the
journey until the end of book three to see how she overcomes, or if she will
even be able to.
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Crying for Money
Greedy antagonists can
often drive the conflict in a story, but in real life it can also cause
problems within publishing. Did Twilight really
need four books and five movies? Some would argue that it was fun connecting
with Bella in book one. However, in book two, she was just a girl depressed out
of her mind because a boy left her, which isn’t exactly the best message for
younger readers. It can hurt when a guy leaves you behind, but she always
relied on him. She couldn’t handle her own. It wasn’t until book four that Bella kicked some real ass
without relying on Edward.
Still, readers seem to eat
that stuff up. I would say that’s why there were four books, because publishers
knew that Stephanie Meyer’s vampire romance would sell. The television series Glee recently included a statement about
this when one of the characters said
(Season 4, Ep. 12) , “Those Twilight books are poop on paper, and we’ve
turned them into a billion dollar industry.”
The Twilight saga
might not be quality literature, but the books have still sold close to a
billion copies worldwide. That shows that there’s a lot of merit in the story.
It provided escape for a lot of readers and that’s what books are for. It’s
also a nice visual: shirtless sparkling vampires. I mean come one. Perfect. Yet,
I’m also a fan of old school vampires. Ever have a dream where the two battle
against each other? Well let’s just say it’s awesome, and that’s where Meyer’s
idea came from. A dream.
And don’t forget about all
the Team Jacob and Team Edward merchandise.
Which team are you?
Reason 2:
Loving that World Building
Both the books I mentioned
earlier develop their worlds, really well. Through their descriptive words and
creativity, authors fabricate believable, adventurous settings, allowing readers
to accept a world where people actually cheer on the death of children. It also
doesn’t hurt that our current culture is obsessed with reality television and
are often intrigued by violence.
People enjoy imagining
what the future might be, and I think that’s what makes dystopian YA so
popular. Even though there are tons of dystopian novels, I find a new and
interesting one every time I visit the bookstore, and though I can’t afford
some of them, I’m lucky enough to normally have the chance to get them at the
library.
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| www.goodreads.com |
One book that has an
interesting library scene and world building is Enclave by Ann Aguirre (another series). It develops an interesting
take on what could have happened if people turned into zombie-esque people. It
takes place before computers were even invented. Basically, it’s an alternative
reality. It follows Deuce, who has just become a Huntress that will protect the
Enclave from Freaks (zombie-like people) who live underground with her. She
discovers that what she believed wasn’t necessarily the whole truth, and her
world is turned upside down. The second book, Outpost, came out last year.
Not again… How could you do this to me? I hate you.
I really hate you.
I love Divergent by Veronica Roth. I think it
is equally as good as The Hunger Games,
but sadly book three isn’t coming out until the end of the year and I won’t
discover what’s in store for Tris until then.
That’s the problem with
many series. You start reading before all the books are out, connecting with
the characters and yearning to know what happens next. Sometimes the next book
isn’t published for a few years.
At the same time, readers
hopefully can sympathize with the author’s plight. A long wait for a release date
often means the author is trying to put a lot of effort in making the next book
even better than the previous two. Veronica Roth mentioned this as her reason
for the far off release date. She wanted to make sure the book was the best it
could be, and not rush the finished product. From the way she ended Insurgent, I’m positive she will create
another great book, and I will wait.
Unhappily.
Sometimes waiting too long
is enough for a reader to forget about the book, or put off reading the next
one. I currently have Shades of Earth
(the final book in the Across the
Universe Trilogy) in my bag, sitting right next to me as I write this.
It’s yelling at me, telling me I need to stop and read it. Beth Revis builds such an interesting
world. She makes the reader feel like they are trapped on a spaceship with
identical looking humans that only see a Sol-Earth human as a freak.
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| www.goodreads.com |
I love the characters, and
the events in the story keep me reading. Amy wants to wake up her parents from
being cryogenically frozen. She was awoken prematurely (by who she doesn’t
know!), and she questions who she can turn to on the ship, fifty years before they are even supposed to
arrive at the new planet.
Hopefully, soon I’ll get
to crack the book open and find out the conclusion of Amy and Elder. Will they
survive or will they lose everything? Ahhhh, I CAN’T LOOK. I don’t want the
series to end yet.
Reason 3:
Loving Those Badass Women Who do Badass Things
In a lot of YA Dystopia,
there’s a girl who is saving the world or proving that she’s stronger than the
men around her. Yes, she often has a guy she falls for, but she can make her
own decisions and is capable of handling battle. Readers often like to see some
romantic aspect anyways. Moira
Young’s Dust Land’s series reads well
for this. Saba meets a boy, but instead of being a damsel in distress, she’s
the one that has to save him a majority of the time, one time involving fire.
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| www.goodreads.com |
It’s nice seeing a women
taking charge when some other forms of media don’t do it as much as they
should.
Where’s the diversity?
I wrote a blog post about
the lack of diversity in YA books, and I found this problem in a lot of
dystopian novels as well. I haven’t read ANY actual dystopian series that
follow the journey of a GLBTQA character. I would love to read a book about a
gay guy in a futuristic world. Don’t make me write it myself!
If you’re looking for a
decent GLBTQA series that isn’t dystopian (oh I want one to exist so bad), Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez helped me a
lot when I was a freshman in high school. Yay, coming to terms with your
sexuality, filled with sappy love stories.
Reason 4:
Loving that Escape
I know I read because it relaxes
me and I can escape into a world, or get new writing ideas. It’s fun to figure
out the ending before it happens, or be proven wrong by what you thought was
going to occur. It’s heartbreaking when we lose a character we never thought
the author would kill off (cough, cough J.K Rowling). It’s an enjoyable
experience that continues with each new story we decide to dive into.
It’s also interesting to
see where we, as readers, have grown. I’m sure if I read a Harry Potter book again, I’d see it in a new light than I did years
ago, because my perception has changed vastly over the years. We will notice
things that we never did before. When I read HP for the first time, I did it to
see what happens. Now, it would be more of a reading to see and rediscover what
I loved about Rowling’s style.
I wouldn’t give up reading
fictional YA series for the world. It’s addicting as TV. I’ve learned a lot
about myself from the characters I’ve read about over the years. Sometimes it’s
a small thing, and others it could be a big revelation.
Dreams End
When a series ends, the
reader misses the characters and the world they connected with from the beginning,
or they are angry because the author didn’t necessarily do the characters
justice (based on the person’s opinion).
We spend hours reading
about a character, only to discover that she doesn’t end up with the person we
originally thought. It’s this disappointment that hurts the most when finishing
a book that had high hopes in a great ending.
Even though it hurts to
finish a well-developed series, it’s the journey and the getting there that
makes reading so fun. I will always want to read what’s next; even if it is
about the same characters for eight books. I feel like I’m growing with characters,
and most of all, the author. I hope they feel the same.
