The post was about how TOO many book reviewers, whether on GoodReads or their Blog (maybe even other websites!), have gone above and beyond to comparing every single Young Adult book they read to.... wait for it... TWILIGHT!
For myself, I'm very tired of this comparison that sooooooooo many make. It's like saying, 'Hey the wheel is awesome! And you know what? birds are not. They remind me of the wheel because they move!', I know really out of left field, but you get my point. It's like everyone needs to back off a little on the 'Twilight' hype and realize that it's okay to compare books, but doing it over and over again to the same one is getting a little old.
Another book that gets repeatedly cracked on and ripped apart as a comparison to 'Twilight' is 'Hush, Hush'. The books in my eyes is no where near the same, let alone the same universe lol First off 'Hush, Hush' is about fallen angels, no vampires in the series (let alone sparkle). Another reason people feel the need to compare is because they are both paranormal romance books. Until I see word for word exact and even located in Washington State, then the books are not the same. Just because both books have characters that fall in love with bad boys of the paranormal world, doesn't mean it's coming from the same molded idea.
I'll admit, I like the 'Twilight' series since January 2007 (the books, not the movies haha). And it's a good one, not the 'OMG it's so awesome!', but it's good. So because of that I don't feel the need to run around stating that the next book I read of paranormal Young Adult is like 'Twilight', mostly due to the fact that I always read with an open mind and give every book a fair chance when reviewing it too. I never try to find comparisons nor do I stack it up unless it's the exact same theme from another book (i.e. - same mythological creatures, etc...).
If you've got hate for 'Twilight', I don't have issues with that, because everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I just think it's in poor taste to just stack it up against other books and holding the series on the what version of a pedestal (good or bad) that the book series is in general. It gives Young Adult books a bad name, but it's not the first YA books to ever have been made, let alone with love triangles.
How would people like it if I compared Harry Potter books to every book about magic in it? Not cool, right? Same thing with 'Twilight'. Young Adult is such a wide spread of genres in it and sometimes a few books have similar running themes.
Now the only time I feel people should totally compare books is if that book is being turned into a movie or television show. That in itself is good. This shows that the reader cares about their book and about what the director and script writes bring to the table when making the characters come alive on the screen. And I'll admit it, I've compared 'Eclipse' to it's movie counter part and felt that the connection in the books were stronger than that of the movie (it's the eyes in those actors that don't portray the emotions!).
And I'll probably do it again when 'Unearthly', 'The Tiger's Curse', and 'The Mortal Instruments', is finally being produced (I know I am currently with 'The Hunger Games' lol).
My point is, I just wish those die hard fans or not so favored fans of the 'Twilight' series, take a set or two back and remember that not all books are the same, no two are created from the same author, let alone going to live up to everyone's standards if they do just that, comparing.
*sigh* There is only so much I can say I guess as a book blogger in a world so big, but I hope on some level this changes for 2012. It's a new year, can't we all just give peace a chance? Or at least be open-minded enough to give all books a chance to not be compared too much?
I definitely agree that there are too many comparisons to Twilight on loosely based things (like that both books had an aspect of the paranormal). I'm only commenting because you specifically mentioned The Carrier of the Mark and the fact that you would only compare one book to another if you saw something that was "word for word exact". I would take a look at Stephanie from Book Catching's review of The Carrier of the Mark where she highlights exact wording from both books, which are eerily similar.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Kelly
Radiant Shadows
I've read her review, which I found on Amazon and GoodReads. I'm not a fan of that one because it's just flat out negative in a bad way, not good negative. By that I mean she compared stuff and I didn't see word for literal word of plagiarism in it. If that were the case, then yes, I would raise questions about the book.
ReplyDeleteA good example would be if Leigh Fallon had used the exact quoting "The Lion fell in love with the lamb...", then heck yes that is wrong, because that is plagiarism. But from what I can tell she hasn't.And as Book Catching pointed out, which I see happen when people make a lot of Twilight references, "...I'm in the middle of re-reading the Twilight series...", which is one of the reasons I shake my head. Of course she would find stuff to compare it to both books when you have it fresh in the mind, anyone would have the same knee jerk reaction, which happens. We're human and assume, which is okay, but I tend to never try and purposely find things and compare it like that. It just makes a book fail before getting past page one. But to each their own in the prerogative they choose to live by in life.
Also I do think Fallon's original unedited version is still up on Inkpop.com before HarperCollins found it and optioned it for a book.