Disappointed Literary Girl

The luck of having talent is not enough; one must also have a talent for luck.

~Hector Berlioz

As I said in Resolute Girl I'm currently reading a book I never intended to read. It runs about 500 pages and is teen fiction. This honestly should be an easy read, and in aspects it is. I've gotten through the first 300 pages with little problem, except one: It is incredibly aggravating! I feel nothing for the female lead except contempt. If she were real I would wonder what was wrong with her. She is snobby and self-absorbed. The outside world means nothing to her and she finds and equally distant boy and all the troubles of the world are solved.

I have talked with friends who adore this book. One says it is because she was an angsty teen and she can relate. I just do not see how and I think this is the real issue I have with this book. It focuses on the part of the psyche that says you are not good enough. Everyone has been there. I have been there! Instead of solving this issue though this book just keeps the character in that role of insecurity. It does not advance her. It does not get her to a better place. Suddenly the stud of the campus is overly obsessive with her and despite the danger she goes all in.

But that is the way of it isn't it? You fall head over heels for the first person who looks your way and no one can keep you from them. Even when they are hurting you in so many ways, emotionally, physically, mentally, financially, etc... Maybe that's the real problem I have, it does hit home.

However, why is such things hitting the press? Aren't we beyond this as a society? Shouldn't we be teaching teens about heading out on their own? That it is okay to do things alone and learn to be yourself before turning to a lover to complete you? Self-reliance and growth are lacking and why shouldn't they be? If we spend our days reading about these obsessive, co-dependant relationships is it any surprise that that's what we grow to expect?

Maybe part of it is jealousy as an author. There have been several series that have come out of late that make me wonder, how the hell does this make it to an editor when I can't even get a nod? I'm not the only one though, I'm sure that's the thoughts of every struggling author out there, but I'd love to understand what the spark is that causes these books to go into print and warrant equally dreadful sequels.