Hello everyone!

I had planned for this post to be a post of the worst books I read in 2017, but there was only really one BAD book that I read, so you can read my rant of it here. So, instead of that, I decided to tell you all the typical things seen in YA novels that are my guilty pleasures ❤

Boarding School

How can you not adore the boarding school setting? It gives the author the ability to write about young adults, but without having to worry about writing parents that have no impact on the plot. It also adds some mystery of what this school is like, and what could possibly happen to these students.  Harry Potter is by far the best example of this, but there are so many other great ones!

The Powers the Character Never Knew He or She Had

This cliche can sometimes go terribly wrong, and I could list several examples, but I don’t want to rag on any books because as a writer, I know how much time and effort is put into writing a book. So, some good examples are: An Ember in the Ashes, Throne of Glass, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Shadow and Bone, and my short story on here called Out of the Cell ;). What I really like about this cliche is that it adds some intensity to the book, and it makes for a great plot twist.

The Stolen Girl

There are many people that don’t like this cliche because it shows a lack of feminism in a book, but if done right, I think it can show how strong a girl is. Some good examples of this are A Court of Thorns and Roses and Cruel Beauty. Both books have very strong female leads that are anything but damsels in distress. They in the end, fight for their men that are the damsels

The Comic Relief

Everyone loves a good comic relief. In Heroes of Olympus, Leo was such a great comic relief – I think that is why I grew to like him to much because I love funny people. I think he is the best example I have of the comic relief. It’s just a nice break in a heavy situation to be able to laugh it off.

Competitions

My favorite Harry Potter is the Goblet of Fire, so I bet you could have guessed this one. There’s just such great suspense that comes with a competition! This also means like Hunger Games and The Selection. This plot is also great for making plot twists and turning people against each other.

The Evil King

There always has to be an evil leader – in Divergent, Throne of Glass, ACOTAR, Red Queen, Cruel Beauty, Shadow and Bone, An Ember in the Ashes, Ash Princess. There’s something so inspiring and empowering about the defeat of someone you really grow to hate.

If you noticed, a lot of my favorite books fall into multiple categories. They’re also all really popular books, so that says something about cliche plot lines – we complain about them, but we’re all just suckers for them.

Let me know the cliches that you secretly always hope are in a book!

Thanks for reading!

Taylor