Discussion Post (4) - New Adult AKA Erotica

I was so excited when I heard that New Adult was becoming a thing. I imagined books about university and adjusting and growing up and fending for yourself. I pictured living with roommates and cooking for yourself and figuring out how to juggle school and work and trying to have a social life. What I got was erotica.

I've heard some not-so-pleasant things about New Adult. I haven't read much of it because it all seems to be the same. Naive girl between the ages of 18-25 (usually on the younger end of the spectrum) meets a guy and they have lots and lots of sex while confusing lust for love. The guy is usually an abusive asshole. They live happily ever after.

There are a few exceptions to this rule, but they seem to be pretty rare. I really liked certain elements of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, which centred around a girl's difficult adjustment to college life and letting go of her past and trying to come out of her shell a bit. Obviously there were certain things I disliked about Fangirl, particularly when it came to Cath, but on the whole it was what I look for in a NA book. However, Fangirl was marketed as YA, not NA. I can only assume that this decision was made because of the fact that Fangirl does not contain any sex scenes. 

I've also heard great things about Tammara Webber's Easy around the blogosphere. It isn't something I'd pick up due to the cover or the blurb, but I plan to read it soon(ish) and find out what all the hype is about. It seems like a different take on the typical NA plot, and the love interest doesn't seem to be a total douchebag, which is nice.

But then there are books like Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, which seem to have influenced the category significantly. Another book I haven't personally read, Beautiful Disaster seems to be nothing more than a disaster of a book. I've heard that the love interest is absolutely awful, and that the main character has no backbone to speak of. I'm not here for that. This book wouldn't be a problem if it were a solitary incident, but there are so many copycat books out there. 

Also worth mentioning is the incredibly repetitive covers. I literally cannot tell these books apart because they all feature dark colours and kissing couples on the covers. 

See?

Even the books that are a bit different are boring and unprofessional looking. They just look cheap. Maybe it's dumb to judge a book by its cover, but a good cover goes a long way.

My final problem with New Adult is that I just don't really like reading sex scenes. I feel awkward and uncomfortable and tend to skim them, especially when things get really hot and heavy. No thanks. I prefer slow building in my romances rather than the characters jumping into bed together after exchanging about two sentences. It's just personal preference. It's the same problem that I have with urban fantasy.

Have you read any really great NA books? Do you think they're just erotica for a slightly younger age bracket? Are you as turned off by the covers as I am? Am I judging the category too harshly?

Review - Feed by Mira Grant

Feed by Mira Grant

Series: Newsflesh Trilogy #1

Published by Orbit on May 1 2010

Genres: New Adult, Horror, Dystopian

Pages: 571 (906 minutes)

Rating: 4/5 stars

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED. Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives - the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will get out, even if it kills them.

I tried to read Feed on four different occasions before finally sticking to it and seeing it to the end – apparently what I needed was a really great audiobook, narrated brilliantly by Paula Christenson and Jesse Bernstein, to truly get into it. That isn’t to say that I didn’t like it upon my other attempts. I did, I just got distracted somewhere along the way each time. This go around I listened to the fifteen hour audiobook in about two and a half days. I got into it this time, in a big way. There was nothing for me not to like – zombies, politics, and blogging all in one book? Count me in!

Despite some flaws, I really loved listening to Feed. It caught my attention and didn’t let go of it, and I quickly grew to love the characters for all of their strengths and their faults. They are what fictional characters should be – fully rounded people with all of the intricacies that are involved in being a human being.

I actually liked the weird, super-dependent relationship between Georgia and Shaun. It’s not something you see very often – it’s clear that their environment growing up led them to be distrustful of anyone who isn’t each other. I’d be pretty jaded if I had their parents, too.

Even the secondary characters were depicted as real people – I became quite attached to the likes of Steve, Rick, Buffy, and even Senator Ryman (I consider Shaun as much a main character as Georgia). The only character that I thought could have used work was Governor Tate. (SPOILER AHEAD) It was clear from the very beginning that he was the primary villain, and I would have liked a more interesting motivation that religious fanaticism. I get that it’s completely possible and even perhaps likely, but it’s nothing new – it’s a stale bit as far as zombie fiction goes.

This is the way that I like my zombies – enmeshed in the atmosphere and part of the background. They pose an element of risk and influence the events of the story, but they themselves are not the focus. It’s not about the zombies – it’s about the people. I’ve had a lot of exposure to zombie stories – I took an entire class revolving around them – and this is one of my favourites. It isn’t as misogynistic as some of its contemporaries (I’m looking at you, The Walking Dead), though it certainly isn’t without its own issues in that area – most notably the treatment of Senator Ryman’s female opponent, whose recent acquisition of a new, enlarged pair of breasts is mentioned and derided repeatedly by Georgia. It is obvious that no one takes her seriously as competition to Senator Ryman. There is also a statement that Tate makes about Georgia, though it’s different when it’s explicitly a character being malicious, not woven into the narrative.

The end of the book, as many other reviewers have stated, is absolutely heartbreaking. I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried on multiple occasions.