A YA relationship rant

I'm a couple of months out of date for a post about Valentine's Day, but I've officially reached a point where I need to rant about how relationships are portrayed in YA fiction. How come nearly everybody ends up with their true love, who they just happened to meet at 16 (or younger)? Why are single people relegated to the sidelines?

I should probably make a few caveats: firstly, I know I'm an adult (mid-twenties, sob!) and should remember that teenagers/young adults will probably have a different view on this to me, especially if they're in love themselves. Then, I know books aren't supposed to be realistic, otherwise where would we escape to? There needs to be some parts that readers can relate to, though. As someone who has suffered confidence issues and has consequently been single for much of my life (especially as a teenager), I haven't seen many books that have reassured me that it's fine to be single.

I don't generally read any mushy, pass-me-a-bucket stuff out of preference, but relationships are featured in 99.9% of the books I've read. As the intended audience is young adults, this is understandable: many have been in love (or infatuation), and to be honest, it does make things more interesting. It's great to be able to imagine a lot of what goes on, and there are loads of authors that have completely nailed the sexual chemistry between their characters. There's a fine line between writing a stale ending vs something that takes reality more into account though. Is it really important to have the happy ending if it means that some characters are more believable? What I'm mainly talking about are the endings. Here are some examples (spoilers, sorry!):

The Harry Potter series, by JK Rowling

Nice, neat, stale ending. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but even while reading it, I knew that I shouldn't have expected anything different. Everything panned out to create the perfect happy ending. Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione; one big Weasley family. That's great, I thought. Harry was officially incorporated into the family he always wanted, and Ron (who, while awesome, it has to be said was average in comparison to Harry and Hermione) wasn't left out as he so often was in the books. Obviously, nobody was left to the fate worse than death: singledom.

Recently, JK Rowling mentioned that she regretted not pairing Harry and Hermione up. At the time, I was outraged, but if I admit the truth to myself, mixing the pairings up probably would have made for a more interesting ending. A common criticism of Harry and Ginny's relationship is that while Harry is the hero of the series, you can't say much for Ginny's personality. She's a little feisty, but generally, just 'nice'. Considering how Molly and Arthur Weasley pretty much adopted Harry from the start anyway, why couldn't he have ended up with Cho Chang? Or, given that the epilogue was set when the main characters were in their 30s, someone else he met in the meantime? My inner child won't let me accept the demise of Ron and Hermione's marriage though. Without their bickering, old-person relationship, I can't bear that Ron would probably have married (and divorced) a bimbo and Hermione some clever corporate bland-face. There's only so much a girl can take.

The Soulkeepers series, by GP Ching

I really enjoyed the whole series of this; it was an original premise, the lovey dovey stuff was well done, and I loved the action. I even got goosebumps during the ending. BUT, during the ending I also got quite cross.

*** (This is where the spoilers come in. I'd advise you to read the books first before reading this as they really are well worth it.) ***

Throughout most of the books, there's a Soulkeeper called Bonnie, whose twin sister Samantha gets paired off with one of the male Soulkeepers fairly quickly. The books discuss Bonnie's fear of losing her sister to a boy, and also, I felt, jealousy that she was still single - completely natural. She later appears to have feelings for Cord, the Watcher turned angel, but he dies. At the end of the books everybody is not just paired off, but married (in their mid twenties, when they all met at around 16 - what are the chances?!) and some have children. This is all except for, you guessed it: Bonnie. Instead, she becomes a pastor. It really annoyed me that, as the odd one out, she was kept single and given a career that I'm not sure suited her (although I think pastors can marry). However, Cheveyo, who struck me as a real player, is with a woman he knew at the start of the book, and not single/with some bimbo. I think what I'm trying to say here is that characters are paired up for the sake of it, regardless of their personalities. If there's an odd person out, they can be single, but in this book the metaphor is that her partner has been replaced by God.

The Fault in our Stars, by John Green

Not that I'm going to see the film, but I bet it's a good scene!

Now this is an example of a single person's portrayal that I did like. Granted, the story is about Hazel and Augustus, but the inclusion of Isaac made the book even better, in my opinion. Within the context of the story, nothing is contrived, whether it's his and Monica's full-on kissing and I-love-yous, or that he, Gus and Hazel went and threw eggs at Monica's car when she dumped him. It's something I can see happening. Isaac just lost his eyesight but he's more worried about Monica having dumped him; that's one of the 'teenagers are weird' moments that totally do happen. John Green nailed it.

C'mon authors. Stop me feeling like this about being single:

What do you think? Am I the only one that wants to see more happily single characters?

Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green & David Levithan

Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green & David Levithan
Published by Penguin
Amazon.co.uk/Amazon.com

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, teenager Will Grayson crosses paths with ... Will Grayson! Two teens with the same name who run in two very different circles suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions. Culminating in epic turns-of-heart on both of their parts, they team up to produce the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high-school stage.

 I've had this on my Kindle for a while, but having seen Jo's (Once Upon a Bookcase's) great blog post on Will Grayson, Will Grayson, I thought I'd leap on her coattails a little and mark the end of LGBT month. The book discusses homosexuality in a way that some teens may be able to relate to.

The story is told from the perspectives of both Will Graysons, with alternating chapters. The first is written by John Green, and Will is a somewhat awkward teen, dealing with life by deciding not to care. I loved John Green's The Fault in our Stars, and his writing voice was really clear in his version of Will Grayson. David Levithan writes the second Will. I haven't read David Levithan before, so I couldn't compare his chapters to anything else. I originally found his chapters a little disconcerting though - they were written without capital letters. The plots that unfold in his chapters about Isaac, however, were really imaginative and I found them really interesting.

The two Wills are linked by a character called Tiny, who is the first Will's best friend. His name is ironic, and he's described to be really large, in all senses of the word. He's extremely flamboyant, and is said to go through love interests really quickly. Throughout the book he organises a play called Tiny Dancer, which is performed at the end of the book. There were vulnerabilities and flaws about Tiny that made the book more realistic for me - who doesn't have a friend that forgets about you a bit when they have a new love?! Even though he's portrayed as totally over the top, he's still likeable.

It was a really interesting plot, and the two writers worked really well together. I think Will Grayson, Will Grayson managed to mix the obviously fictional/over-the-top with the subtly realistic, the effect of which I really liked. There was only one thing I wasn't a fan of, though, which was how the second Will Grayson describes Tiny when he's supposed to 'like' him. To be honest, it's probably just me being a little too sensitive about weight issues, but likening your boyfriend to the size of a state of America is not something I appreciated, even if it is supposed to be true. The second Will isn't the nicest of characters, which is why I don't rate it higher.

The Fault in Our Stars: a grenade of great writing

The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
Published by Penguin
Amazon.co.uk/Amazon.com

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

I saw somewhere that the 4th of February was World Cancer Day, and thought I'd re-read The Fault in Our Stars so I could review it today. If you don't want to read a long review, here's my summary: Read. This. Book. It is perfect.

In my last review (of Beautiful Creatures), I was a little harsh about the portrayal of love stories in teenage/young adult fiction. The backbone of this book is that slowly but surely, the two main characters, Hazel and Augustus, fall in love. It's not some pre-determined, intense force that sweeps the characters off their feet. It's slow and steady, with a few set-backs, much like Hazel's breathing at times, if you like. As Hazel puts it, perfectly:

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."

There's nothing glamorous - life goes up and down, it's sad and it's funny, it's not fair. It's real.

In The Fault in Our Stars, John Green introduces us to two extremely philosophical teenagers that have been through a lot more than most people, with the knowledge that there is only more hardship to come. He humanises something I know I have never really thought about - the feelings, and more specifically, the sense of humour cancer sufferers/survivors have throughout it all. I talk about the humour later, but something that really got the message across was Hazel finally admitting her biggest fear to her parents. Hazel, the girl who decided to become a vegetarian so as to "minimise the number of deaths I'm responsible for."

"'I'm like. Like. I'm a grenade, Mom. I'm a grenade and at some point I'm going to blow up and I would like to minimise the casualties, okay?'"

It was the realness of the characters that got me so attached. For the last third of the story, I was unabashedly sobbing (luckily, alone. The first time I finished this, I was on a bus). To be blunt (and a little bit gross), the best way I can describe the end of this book is like this. When I was a child, I'd be crying my eyes out over something or other, and my mum would be comforting me. When the worst was over, she'd joke that I'd better not have got snot on her jumper, which would make me laugh through the tears. I'm trying not to put spoilers in here, but the next quote, for example, happens just after one of the most poignant parts of the book. It lightens the mood without altering the seriousness, and at the same time reminding us that they are, after all, only teenagers.

"He smiled. Gallows humour. 'I'm on a roller coaster that only goes up,' he said.

'And it is my privilege and my responsibility to ride all the way up with you,' I said.

'Would it be absolutely ludicrous to try to make out?'

'There is no try,' I said. 'There is only do.'"

John Green managed to blend humour and tragedy perfectly. If you've read the book already, he wrote a blog post answering questions about the book - I'd recommend a read. I don't want to waffle, so I'll leave it there, but I'd wholeheartedly recommend The Fault in Our Stars - it's an instant favourite and already has a place in my heart. Don't forget the tissues!

Oh, and about the film that's apparently in the works - did anyone else picture Hazel as looking a little like Ellen Page in Juno? Maybe it's a similar attitude to life, but I could only see her as this!

PS - Sorry for anglicising the quotes - habit!