Remember the trends of YA/NA novels. Back when the insta-love thing is so common in YA novels, like The Immortals series by Alyson Noel (by the way, I can't even remember what is in the books anymore.)? And then love triangles rises up, like The Mortal Instruments, The Iron Fey and the most famous of all, The Infernal Devices (aww, talk about pulling your hair from your head!). And then the vampire romance thing (like, what, Bloodlines?), which I never really dwelled on because of Twilight. And then now, the start of the downfall of dystopian world. The saddest of all.
I think my first real dystopian novel I read is Divergent. And man, did I love the story! Back then I was like a lunatic, constantly searching for more dystopian novels. But now, a year later, I'm wary of any new dystopian releases. Because things are getting worse and worse.
Before I started, I would like to say something first. First is my all-time favorite dystopian novel list:
1. Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth
2. Delirium trilogy by Lauren Oliver
3. Under The Never Sky trilogy by Veronica Rossi
4. Shatter Me trilogy by Tahereh Mafi
5. Legend trilogy by Marie Lu
6. Blood of Eden trilogy by Julie Kagawa
Second is my confession. No matter what, I still love dystopian world and the all-time favs I mentioned above and the base of the whole thing. I just think that new releases are getting less and less exciting.
Okay, so I said I was wary about new dystopian releases. Ain't that the truth. Back when I first fell in love with dystopian novels, I was searching for those novels constantly and they live up with my expectations... until Mystic City. Yeah, I gave a high rating back then, but when I read it for a second time, I have to say this is NOT a dystopian novel that can fit into my expectations anymore. It gets flat. But that's just one, so I wasn't bothered by it and still searching for more (although not as eager as before). And the second let down is... Black City. I remember I gave a high rating. And seriously, Black City is slightly better than Mystic City. But still, it's far from my expectations. Since then I'm wary of new releases.
There were a few hopes. One of them is Blood of Eden. I so do remember the excitement of The Immortal Rules. Another is Legend. Legend and Prodigy worth the place of New York Times bestselling list base on just the whole Republic of America thing. But then major letdowns happened. First is The Selection. A dystopian lite. I was like WHAT? Don't get me wrong, I mean it when I say the competition thing is tolerable. But I also mean it when I say rebel attacks as a side plot is a major "meh" part. The second is Taken. Damn, I was so excited for Taken. It was like a brutal hit in my chest because it did NOT match my predictions. At all. But I gave it a relatively fair rating then. But when I read it for the second time, it was more of a let down than before. Now I learn my lessons. Being wary of new dystopian releases is never wrong.
It's a sad fact because I can still remember clearly the moment when I fell for Divergent. Hard. But dystopian worlds are starting to get more... cliche? and the excitement of new releases just vanishes. The shift of trend is unstoppable, I know. When something gets too common, the focus will be on somewhere else. And the trend shifts to contemporary. For the first time, I'm not exactly happy for the change. Maybe because I'm not even fifteen yet so I still have no desire to read more NA novels?
NA novels are rising. And I only read one (or three, because I'm not sure if the other two are contemporary) . But only because I love the author so much I will not miss every book she writes. I think I might read If You Find Me sometime in the future, although I'm not sure when because I know that my life will only get busier and busier after this academic year. I just hope that the downfall of contemporary (I'm not wishing for its downfall. It's inevitable and you know it. The trend shifts and everyone starts to move on) in the future will not be as disastrous as the downfall of dystopian novels.
I hate to say it, but if you are a newbie on dystopian novels, be wary because not every novel you encounter on your way will be a good one.
P. S. I'm planning to read Gone series by Michael Grant sometime soon in the future. I think it can be really awesome. But then, I discover one thing: Releases in 2007- 2010 are often based on new ideas and good plots. Jeez, maybe I should change the title of the post into "The Downfall of New YA Writers". No offense involved. Seriously.
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