Why teen fantasy fiction?
For years my favourite genre of book has been fantasy. Of course, I love the classics like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Frankenstein and more recently coming of age novels like The Catcher In The Rye and The Kite Runner. Only, their is something that draws me to fantasy fiction - and yes, teen fantasy fiction where you can't help but fall in love with the super, mysterious guy who follows the female protagonist around like a stalker because they have been in love with the girl since she was born is by far my favourite (I am only human after all).
I finished my school life last week and my first priority was catching up on all the lost chances of consuming myself in a book that I hadn't opportunity for when I had piles of revision to do for my endless exams. I went to the library and I picked up A Thousand Splendid Suns, another of Hosseini's novels, as I wanted to see if it matched up to his previous novel The Kite Runner which I loved studying for my English Literature exam. I also picked up Teardrop by Lauren Kate. Similarly, I had read Lauren Kate's series 'Fallen' which is a favourite series of mine. I am on chapter 13 of Teardrop and honestly can't bear to put it down. It is exactly the kind of story that I love to read and hope to crack on and write soon. I lay on my bed gone midnight last night in another world which, to me, is what books are all about. Looking at the book earlier today, I smiled at how one book can lead you into the realms of another existence. I understand that teen fantasy isn't for everyone and some people would prefer to read something far more thought provoking, which I do too, but sometimes you just need to read something that is easy and fun.
Another series that I am so thankful I got given as a Christmas present by a friend in year 9 was Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. I have read all of the books three times and on the final book I kept re-reading chapters to stop myself from getting to the end because I didn't want it to finish (does that make me a little bit sad?) I think Patch is my favourite character of all time - I don't know what it is, but I just love the way he was constructed, loved the way he was a naughty angel and then became Nora's guardian angel and that he was just super duper sexy! I know some people say that vampires, angels, goblins and spirits have had their day - but I genuinely believe they haven't. Fantasy worlds can be bizzare at times, but they are so imaginative that I adore them. In my opinion, I find it amazing how something so clearly imaginary can actually feel so real and you almost want it to be.
The only problem I am now having with fantasy fiction is that the novels I'm reading are becoming slightly predictable, which is a bad and a good thing. You want to be surprised when a novel reaches its conclusion, but sometimes these novels become copies of each other. Yet to me so long as the ending isn't completely obvious, I'll still feel satisfied when reading them.
The Divergent series are also great reads and I absolutely love the films. Jeanine is a great baddie, in my opinion, and so is Caleb to some extent as he represents to me a shocking, unexpected antagonist. I still can't quite decide who my favourite antagonist is in fantasy fiction.
The reason fantasy fiction is my favourite genre is because it delves into the unknown, the side of our imaginations that is fairly childish and wants to escape from an otherwise mundane reality. If you happen to get to the end of this blog, I'd love to know what you think about fantasy fiction and what kinds of books you've enjoyed :)
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