Why I'd switch places with Emma

This week's Feature and Follow Hop, hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, asks us to write about characters we'd like to trade places with. This was a really hard question for me, because the books I love the most tend to be about people that have problems galore. Hermione Granger? No thank-you. Don't want to battle Voldemort. I have my own demons to battle.

After a while, I realized the character I'd most like to switch places with is Emma from Jane Austen's novel of that name. Reason? Clearly I'd be better at handling Emma's problems than Emma. ;) Of course, I also have 15 years on her...and maybe if I grew up all spoiled and rich I would be just as stubborn as Emma. Emma is so sensible but misapplies her sense so gratuitously - and Mr. Knightly loves her anyway - that's what makes me want to change places with Emma. Although this isn't my favorite Austen novel, and Mr. Knightly isn't quite as romantic as Colonel Brandon (from Sense and Sensibility), Emma is my pick. :) You can see my review of Emma here. 

Feature and Follow #2 -- Deal Breakers

This is my second Feature and Follow Friday. Feature and Follow is a blog tour organized by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. It's a great way to meet more book bloggers--find friends, find new blogs to follow, and get followers yourself. Just follow the Feature and Follow button above and follow the rules...then follow some blogs and hopefully people will follow you too! ;)

This week's question is: 

Q: What is a deal breaker for you in a book? For example, do you abhor love triangles? Or can't deal with bad editing?

This is a difficult question for me. There are a lot of things that annoy me in books, but often these things depend entirely upon my mood. I thought a long time about it and came up with two books that I really disliked and "everyone" else liked: The Hunger Games and The Twilight Saga. Of course, the only reason these books stand out in my mind is because they are so gushingly popular. I guess that brings point one: Over-hyped books. I really wish I weren't influenced by other people when I decide what I think about a book. But unfortunately, I am. If a book is hyped, I go in with high hopes. And if the book is disappointing, then it doesn't land in the obscure "oh, yeah, I read that...didn't really like it" category. It goes right into the "passionately dislike" category. I try very hard not to let this happen when I read hyped books, but sometimes I can't avoid it. 

Another thing that these books have in common is that they are YA books about a girl who can't decide which guy she wants. Perhaps I was a particularly decisive teenager, but I could never relate to that sort of waffling, and I think it's WAY too common in YA books these days. It seems like the stock romantic filler for any good YA urban fantasy or dystopia. If I saw it less frequently, it would bother me less.

The final thing that they have in common was that I simply didn't like the main characters. I don't mind a well-developed anti-hero, mind you, but these were characters that I was SUPPOSED to like. Bella was weak and needy. She teased Jacob with her coy "oh, let me cuddle with you, but it's not because I have feelings for you....oh, let me kiss you, but it's not because I have feelings for you." She was quite negligent of other people's feelings. She was very self-centered and self-pitying. And Edward was simply stalkingly creepy. It makes me shudder that teens think Bella and Edward's relationship is healthy and heart-throbbingly romantic. As for Katniss, I only read the first book, so I can't vouch for what sort of character development occurred in the next two books. I felt she was unrealistically tough. And she was too ready to kill. 

I guess it's a combination of factors that breaks the deal for me. I suppose I shouldn't start out with an unrealistic view of how fantastic a book is. Then, I shouldn't repeatedly defend my reasons for not liking this oh-so-amazing book, because that only reinforces my dislike to the point so it burns with a passion equal in force to the love my friends feel for the book.

I'm not saying I dislike EVERY over-hyped book, mind you. Just the ones that I dislike. ;)

Don't forget to sign up for my Social Justice Theme Read (February 2013). Sign up in advance, review one book on social justice / injustice OR write an entry about a social justice / injustice issue during February and send me the link, and you'll be entered into a giveaway for $10 gift certificate from Amazon for EACH post! :)