I was out Christmas shopping (only six shopping days left!) at our local large, discount department store and decided to pick up a couple of books for some folks. As I perused the book aisle, I saw there were two entire sections of shelves devoted to vampire romances. I had noticed this before in passing, but this time it irritated me.
Although I have a good understanding of marketing, and realize this is a result of the phenomenal success of Twilight, from a creative standpoint, I wanted to smack each of those blatant knock-off authors in the mouth (not a very Christian attitude while Christmas shopping). It reminded me of when Harry Potter became so successful and one author had the nerve to publish a book featuring a character called Larry Potter, a dark haired boy with round glasses.
Granted, there are really no original stories. I believe it has been written there are only 36 basic plots. But, come on people, at least try a little harder if you're going to follow a trend. To me, Twilight was interesting because it put a different spin on the typical teen romance. Why would we want to read 20 other books with the same premise?
Am I being too harsh here? If you know of some books that have followed a trend, which you would highly recommend, please share. I'd like to feel only love in my heart at Christmas time.
I don't want to read the others. I, too, enjoyed Twilight because it was different. But the other vampire books make my skin crawl. Ick
ReplyDeleteTrends...hmmm. The other trend right now is Jane Austen everything. AND I love it. Admittedly I haven't read a ton of the knock-offs but with books and movies over the last 10 years all tauting or spoofing Jane Austen works it has made for a fun market. 'Clueless' was a darling Emma adaptation and Austenland by Shannon Hale was hilariously funny. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies got good reviews from Kirk so I guess the Austen trend is okay by me.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I hate the knock-off's.
ReplyDeleteThe other teen novel trend that is getting on my nerves is the love triangle. It would be silly to assume that every girl meets one guy and is set for life, but does every heroine have to battle the "I love him, but this guy is great in his own way..." cliche?
Grrrrr. I wrote a whole thing and it didn't post. Here's the short of it.
ReplyDeleteKnock-offs = bad
Cheers!
Aside from the love triangle, the other stupid (and dangerous) trend is "girl falls for bad guy who she knows is bad but can't stay away from him" angle. I don't know who came up with it in the first place but it's a crappy idea with a crappy lesson and a crappy influence.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
ReplyDeleteOf course, it all depends on who thinks the guy is bad. If the girl falls in love with a Musketeer, then I get it. Also, there's a wide difference between misunderstood outsider and all out baddie.
Good points everyone! I agree with the dislike of the love triangle and the bad guy syndrome. Donna, as you know I LOVE Jane Austen too, but I look at those things more as tributes or satire than trying to copy Austen's style.
ReplyDelete