Rants: Spoilers

I had a hard time trying to think of a topic for today's post (hence why I'm breaking my internet ban and writing it last minute), but once I saw PolandBananasBooks's latest video on how to avoid spoilers (warning, she spoils Allegiant several times throughout it), I knew I had to address the reason for my failed internet ban.

I've been spoiled on TV shows and on movies, but there is no spoiler I strive to avoid like I do the book spoiler. I had no problem avoiding spoilers as a kid and teenager, mostly because I spent less time on the internet and had less books to keep track of, but now that I have BookTube in my life (as a follower, not an active participant), I have almost 300 books on my TBR pile and less time to read than ever. It seems rather ironic that BookTube introduces me to books I want to avoid being spoiled on AND the opportunity to be spoiled on them, but that's the way it goes.

The most recent book I've been spoiled on was Allegiant. I still haven't read it yet, but I've been spoiled on it by Goodreads, BookTube, and real-life people over the last year that it's been out.

That being said, I don't think all book spoilers are bad. There are some books I wanted to read until I found out what happened, then realized I wouldn't like the book at all. And there are even more books I wasn't sure I'd like until I learned how it ended, when I decided I would really like it. The main difference here, though, is that all the book spoilers I benefitted from were ones I specifically sought out, where the ones I did not want to know were the ones that were thrust upon me.

The main point of today's topic is that while spoiler-filled book talk has an important place in the book talk realm, it's important as a creator to tag your spoilers and as a reader/watcher/consumer to watch out for spoilers. I make a point of hiding my spoilers beneath cuts, including the "spoilers" tag in the labels and saying there are spoilers in the title, and separating the spoiler-filled reviews from the spoiler-free reviews. I also recommend following the tips provided by PolandBananasBooks in the video I posted at the beginning of this post (but only if you have read Allegiant, as she spoils it several times).

Book Rants: Girls Who Hate Girls (The Mortal Instruments 1-3 spoilers)

Today's second book-related rant has to do with the all-too-common trend of fictional girls who hate all the other fictional girls around them. To be honest, I haven't actually seen this frequently enough in books to warrant all the times I've read about this trend, but I'm just taking that as a sign where I'm reading the right books. I have seen it in a few books, though, and I'd like to talk about why I don't like this trend, and how City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass are the only books which have made this work.

There is a big difference between a female protagonist fighting with another girl, and a protagonist merely disliking another girl. Contrary to popular belief, I have a problem with the second case. When two characters are fighting, it is usually relevant to the plot. The protagonist needs at least one antagonist to provide opposition to drive the story. When a female protagonist puts down the girls she considers her friends and/or allies, that's just annoying, useless girl-hating. The protagonist may be trying to tell me that so-and-so is a useless flirt because she wears too much makeup, but what I've actually learned is that the protagonist is insecure about herself and bolsters her shaky confidence by judging other women. Unfortunately, most of the cases I've seen use girl-hate don't even bother addressing this problem with the protagonist's outlook, which normalizes the damaging behavior. 

Which brings me to The Mortal Instruments series. 

If you have read the first three Mortal Instruments books (City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass), click for spoiler-filled discussion below. If you have not, let me just say that while the book series may at first appear to fall into this girl-hating trap, it actually addresses that issue beautifully.

Book Talk: Hating on Twilight

In the last few years, it has become very popular to make fun of Twilight. These criticisms usually come with the rationalization that the Twilight books and movies deserve the hate because they have problematic issues (romanticizing an emotionally abusive relationship, depicting the nonwhite characters as animalistic alongside depictions of white people acting civilized, etc.). However, I've heard of many cases where people use these reasons to rationalize making personal attacks against the author and fans.

Whether or not you liked Twilight, you have to admit that it is a household name in young adult literature. Though I never finished the series, I did read and love Twilight, and I have watched the movie twice in theaters and several times on DVD*. Though I never considered myself being a diehard Twilight fan, I am a diehard fan of young adult literature. My paperback copies of the Hunger Games and City of Bones, two YA books series that became giants of their own, have recommendations from Stephanie Meyer printed on the covers. Stephanie Meyer is hugely responsible for the current popularity and breadth of YA literature, and yet the treatment towards her basically forced her out of her career as a book author. I can't help but find that incredibly unjust and sad.

I won't deny that the Twilight series has its problems, but there is a huge difference between finding fault with something you personally didn't enjoy, and bashing everyone who has ever dared to like that thing.  Furthermore, this is a book series that resonates with a lot of people, and I think it would be far more useful to examine the society which perpetuates the idea that controlling boyfriends are not only normal, but desirable, rather than to tell the fans they are stupid for liking the things society has trained them to want**.

Part of becoming an adult, for me at least, has been discovering that there are problematic issues with a lot of things I love, and I've found that it is much healthier for me to acknowledge the problems that exist while also pointing out the things that were done right, rather than disowning everything I've ever liked. If you are interested in checking out a way I think this is done successfully, I recommend checking out Ana Mardoll's Deconstruction of Twilight posts on her blog.

Well, that's enough preaching from me for one night. Thanks for listening to me rant!

Happy reading,

Katie 

*That movie is comedy gold and no one will convince me otherwise.
**For those of you that don't believe me that this is an issue larger than Twilight, watch Brenna Twohy's slam poem entitled "Fantastic Breasts and Where to Find Them. If you scared off by the title, all you need to know is the quote hidden under the cut.