Here I go again talking about something that I probably should leave alone. It's been on my mind recently though, so I'm just going to do it anyway--
So I saw a thing on Twitter where someone was saying how gross it was that us non-teen bloggers be crushing on the boys in the teen books that we love. Now, if I squint really hard, I can see how some people might find this odd. But the person tweeting this came off as if us YA book lovers are pedophiles for swooning over the boys in the books. And WOW, I have stuff to say about that.
Let me tell you where I'm coming from:
So, upon reading books like My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick and The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, I had total feels for the boys in the books. I instantly wanted Jase and Adam (don't judge) to be my book boyfriends. Total book boy crushes.
The thing is-- I'm not picturing my 30-something-year-old adult self being romantic with those dudes. I don't WISH they were real 16-17 year-old boys that I could get with. NO!!! I'm picturing my TEEN self as having a crush on them.
As in, IF I WERE IN HIGH SCHOOL THESE ARE THE TYPES OF GUYS I WISH I WOULD MEET.
I don't think there is anything wrong with wishing that you had a Sam from The Creeping or a St. Clair from Anna and the French Kiss in your TEENAGE life. Or wishing that you were now dating the grown-up version of these guys.
Also, sometimes I just crush on boys for the girls in the book. As in-- I totally crushed on KENT in Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver FOR Sam.
So, to the people who don't "get" that adults can read and like YA-- and that we can also like the boys in the books in a non-creepy way--- I want to tell you WE CAN and WE DO!!
Let's Talk:
What do YOU think about Adults reading YA romance and enjoying it?? Do you think it's gross to envision your teen self crushing on people in the books?
When I read YA, that's one of the things I read it for - to take me back to my teenage years and remember what it was like during my high school years, just for a little while! So no, I don't think it's weird to crush on book characters! Reading is a more of escapism, and I definitely think that includes falling in love a little with the characters.
ReplyDeleteI love falling in love with book characters!! Sometimes I love them better than people IRL. And yeah, it's total escapism for me too.
DeleteYESSSS THIS POST 👌!! I've seen a few people mention that it's weird for adults to have a crush on a book boyfriend, but it's exactly what you said! It's not that I want to go out with a 16 year old boy, it's that I know I as a 16 year old girl would have loved to meet someone like this character. P.s - excellent use of GIFS 💖
ReplyDeleteYES!! As a 16 year old girl, I would have LOVED those boys!!
DeleteOh geez, I didn't know this was a thing. I agree with what Angela said above, I read YA books to take me back to my teenage years, and when I read I tend to put myself in the shoes of the MC. I'm not envisioning my 32 year old self with a teenager. lol
ReplyDeleteLOL right?? I was super offended when that person on Twitter insinuated that I was envisioning myself as a 35 year old with teenagers!! SO GROSS!!
DeleteThe thing with me and my book boyfriends is I crush on them because I want a guy that is my age to have the same qualities that these fictional boys have. People need to stop being so literal about things and not assume.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, people need to chill. We don't want to LITERALLY be with teenagers. We want our TEEN selves to be with them-- or our adult selves to be with adult versions of them!
DeleteOmg you're totally right. I'm not being creepy! I want them for teen Lauren.
ReplyDeleteYES!! Teen Lauren and Teen Michelle can crush on all the YA book boys we want!
DeleteYou are completely correct! I hadn't seen or heard about this but OBVIOUSLY readers aren't like "yes underage boys!"
ReplyDeleteYeah-- IDK why anyone would say or think that that is really going on. Like of course, if you read a really good YA Romance, you're going to swoon for someone in it-- but not in a creepy way!! In a "if I was a teen" way.
DeleteWait really?? That was a thing on Twitter. Ugh Twitter some times. Of course I want these fictional boyfriends for my fictional teen life I play in my head. Not for old ass sitting with my two kids watching Sing and eating goldfish. That would be creepy lol. People are dumb.
ReplyDeleteTwitter really is the worst sometimes. Yeah, I can totally imagine that any YA book boy would be interested in my amazing life as a soccer mom. Or that I'm TOTALLY into going to high school football games and prom???? Ummm no. It's for TEEN MICHELLE!!
DeleteThat's a good point (and maybe I'm WAY out of my league here lol) but yeah it's not like people are crushing on the young guys in a weird way, but like the other commenters- I think we put ourselves in the teen POV when we read YA, or we think we'd like to meet an age- appropriate version of the character. I think Angela and Kirsty summed it up pretty well.
ReplyDeleteYeah Twitter lol...
Yep, good old Twitter!! It was getting a lot of retweets and agreeing comments though-- so I was like ???? I know most of us adults reading teen YA aren't crushing on the characters in a creepy way-- I just don't know why someone would go there?
DeleteI am not ashamed either to say I have plenty of crushes on younger book guy characters. My favorite is Tod Hudson from the Soul Screamers series. Great topic, Michelle. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah-- it annoyed me that someone was saying I couldn't crush on who I wanted to crush on. It's perfectly fine because it's NOT AT ALL what they were insinuating!
DeleteLove this! I totally get crushes on boys in the YA books, but no, I'm not picturing myself at my age dating them. I'm thinking of them as around my age or as both of us being teens, like you said. And St. Clair- swoon!
ReplyDelete-Lauren
LOVE St. Clair-- for TEEN MICHELLE. Or grown-up St. Clair for grown-up Michelle. Some people, ya know??
DeleteWell, I know for a fact that one of my GoodReads updates for When Dimple Met Rishi was: "If Dimple won't have him, I'll take Rishi <3". I agree, I don't imagine my middle aged self with this young man, but I imagine I would have loved to have known a boy like him when I was younger.
ReplyDeleteSam @ WLABB
This is so true! I definitely don't picture myself in the book at my age & be like "oh yeah, I want this 16 year old kid" - that's gross. Also, what a boring way to ready, to not insert yourself into the story like you're that age, or in that world, or is that just me? I never read a book and imagine myself as I am now in a story? I don't know. Maybe that makes no sense. haha
ReplyDeleteMolly @ Molly's Book Nook
I agree with what people said above - I just wish my 16 or 17 year old self would have met boys like that - or that boys like that existed in real life!
ReplyDeleteI guess I've never really thought about this, but everything you said here makes sense! First of all, these are books, not real life. Second of all, yeah, there's nothing wrong with imagining your younger self with these guys, or maybe it's even just that when we read about a guy in a book we like, we crush on the idea of a person who has those traits and would treat us like that, not someone of a specific age. And I also have crushed on a character FOR another character. Like, I wouldn't want them, but they're just perfect for that other character!
ReplyDeleteThat's how it is exactly. I can't believe people would think that I'm imagining my old lady self with a teenage boy. ;) Twitter is just full of judgemental drama lately. Bring on all the book boyfriends!
ReplyDelete