artsy musings of a bibliophile

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Trend Alert: Island Settings in YA

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Of trends and lesser-knowns.

No, this isn’t a post about taking books to a deserted island, it’s about books that takes place on them. A deserted island, a huge isolated piece of land floating in dark water, a death trap; you get the picture. It’s spooky, there’s a high likelihood of getting murdered and possibly no way out. But it could also be adventurous, full of mystery, chilling to the bone, or romantic.
Enid Blyton’s Five on a Treasure Island was the first book I read which was set on an island. Full of adventure and mystery, it made me fall in love with the Famous Five.

Classic When it Comes to Island Settings

There are always classics, the books that came before everything else and set a standard or just became classics on the basis of their stories. However, most of the classics in the genre are fantasy-based.

L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of the Green Gables series takes place on Prince Edward island and who doesn’t know that. Not many people like William Golding’s Lord of the Flies which is all things downright creepy and nightmarish and takes place on a deserted island. However, Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park and The Lost World takes place on a jungle island with dinosaurs.

Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague features ponies and horses and Rachel Neumeier’s The Floating Islands is a fantasy that features dragons and men with wings.

Juliet Marillier’s Wolf’s Skin is a sweeping historical fiction fantasy about Eyvind who dreams of becoming a Wolfskin. Dan Elconin’s Never After is a reimagined tale of Peter Pan with perils and laughter as no genre is complete without a retelling.

And oh, Koushun Takami’s Battle Royale is also a classic in the sci-fi genre with an island setting.

Lastly, Maggie Stiefvater’s The Scorpio Races takes place on a fictional island and what could be better than that?

Stranded with Suspense and Murder

I’ve watched one too many movies where a group of people get stranded on an island only to find that their number is decreasing one by one. Nothing good could come out of that.

In Gretchen McNeil’s Ten, it was supposed to be a three-day party weekend on an island. But now it’s all about one person having a killer party. Similarly, Abigail Haas’ Dangerous Girls and Dangerous Boys is all about everything gone wrong when a brutal murder happens. Running for your life has a new meaning and it’s Haas.

However, in Megan Shephard’s The Madman’s Daughter, we go back in time on a remote tropical island to uncover the truth about Juliet Moreau’s mad, mad father. Whereas Francis Hardinge’s The Lost Conspiracy is more about adventure than murder but there’s definitely something sinister going on.

Threats and Unraveling Truths On an Island

What is it about islands that’s just so damn creepy, anyway? I mean, yeah, they could be romantic and beautiful like that one time in Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn (barf). However, islands are majorly full of truths and mystery and if you want to get off one, you gotta figure out the truth. For instance, how in Suzanne Collins’ Catching Fire, the arena was in a jungle with the Cornucopia situated on an island.

But could island settings also be something wrought with a different kind of a danger?

Ransom Rigg’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is spine-tingling for a sinister reason and Marcus Sedgewick’s Midwinterblood is an unsettling story about immortality set in the future on an, you guessed it, island.

Anna Collomore’s The Ruining features insanity and I bet that insanity on an island is worse than in other place. There’s just something about it… Moving on, E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars is creepy on a private island.

But it’s not always psychological as Austin Aslan’s The Islands at the End of the World is a bloodchilling dystopia set on Hawaii featuring an epileptic main character. Moreover, Allegra Goodman’s The Other Side of the Island is all about finding out the truth and Lynne Matson’s Nil and Nil Unlocked feature an island that’s full of dangers and a terrible truth.

Francine Prose’s The Turning takes place on an isolated island where things are bound to get spooky and Megan Crewe’s The Way We Fall is about a community surviving on an island after it’s been quarantined because of a virus.

Crash! Now Survive

For some reason, crashing on islands isn’t as popular as one would think. It is a chilling scenario, though to find yourself on an island with no way out. How would you survive?

Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens is perhaps a stellar book when it comes to suvival because you got a bunch of beauty pageant participants on an island. Fun times ahead, eh? Contrastingly, S. A. Bodeen’s The Raft is about a couple of survivors, one of whom is unconscious for a better part of the book.

Basically, books set on island make me wish never to be on one. Do you like books set on islands? Does it get old for you fast or does the thrill of it all excites you?

Trend Alert: Pakistani Authors on the Rise

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Of trends and lesser-knowns.

At the stroke of midnight on August 14th, 1947, Islamic Republic of Pakistan was born. It’s been 67 years of independence which makes Pakistan a relatively new country. I’ve read and heard countless stories of how it all started, the struggle which seemed endless, and finally, the sweet, sweet taste of freedom.

Today, in celebration of my country’s independence, I want to talk about the writers who hail from Pakistan and primarily write in the English language. Since most are adult fiction than YA, I also hope to contribute to the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign. From being shortlisted for Man Booker Prize to Orange Prize for Fiction, these are the people and their novels which make me proud. Some I’ve read and some I plan to.

Bapsi Sidhwa is perhaps one of the most renowned authors of Pakistan. I first read her novel, An American Brat, in high school. She’s mostly recognized for Ice-Candy Man, a novel about the partition of the Indian Subcontinent which was later adapted into a movie titled, Earth 1947. 
Mohammed Hanif made headlines when he wrote a A Case of Exploding Mangoes in 2008, a dark satire based on a 1988 plane crash which killed Pakistan’s military dictator, General Zia. I read it during my college years and found it to be a thoroughly engaging read. His second novel, Our Lady of Alice Bhatti, is a story of a Christian nurse working in a government-owned hospital in Karachi.

Kamila Shamsie has written five novels. I was blown away by her writing in Burnt Shadows, a story that spans generations beginning from Nagasaki in 1945 to Afghanistan after 9/11. Some of the novels she wrote are Kartography, Broken Verses, and the most recent, A God in Every Stone.
Recognized for his novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid is a widely recognized author. The Reluctant Fundamentalist follows the life of Changez after the 9/11 attacks. His two other novels are Moth Smoke and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia. Moreover, Discontent and its Civilizations is a collection of essays releasing next year.
A British Pakistani, Nadeem Aslam wrote two novels before he rose to fame in 2008 when The Wasted Vigil was published. Set in Afghanistan, The Wasted Vigil is a brutal story following three main characters. His other works include Season of the Rainbirds, Maps for Lost Lovers, and The Blind Man’s Garden.

Musharraf Ali Farooqi is a Pakistani Canadian author of The Story of a Widow and more recently, Between Clay and Dust which is a story about a famous wrestler past his prime and a well-known courtesan. He is also a translator and an illustrator for children’s books.
Daniyal Mueenuddin, an Asian American, is known for writing short stories. His book, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, a collection of short stories that link together, is about a large Pakistani landowning family.

Despite being born and bred mainly in the US, Nafisa Haji is a Pakistani author. She has written two novels; The Writing on my Forehead and The Sweetness of Tears. She is a well-received author of stories dealing with tragedy, turmoil, and emotion.
Based in London, Moni Mohsin debut novel, The End of Innocence, was about a dangerous love after which she immersed herself in writing satirical series titled The Diary of a Social Butterfly.

Sorayya Khan, daughter of a Pakistani father and a Dutch mother, moved to Pakistan as a child and is known for her Noor and Five Queen’s Road which is a historical novel set in old Lahore. She is currently working on her next novel.

Trend Alert: YA Adventures in Parts I

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Of trends and lesser-knowns.

Last September, an article in the Publisher’s Weekly asked some agents their thoughts on new trends in YA. Divided into several sections, there were talks about realistic contemporary being all the rage, a fifty-fifty speculation on whether thrillers are going to be the next big thing (a YA Gone Girl, anyone?), and an overall trilogy, paranormal and dystopian burnout. 
What struck me was a consensus of opinion on trilogy fatigue that is resulting in publishers completing two-book deals: two standalones / a title and a companion / a title and an undefined book. Debut as well as well-known authors such as R.C. Lewis (Stitching Snow, 2014), Stephanie Oakes (Minnow, 2015), Neal Shusterman (Challenger Deep, 2014), Anna-Marie McLemore (The Weight of Feathers, 2015), Corey Ann Haydu (Life by Committee, 2014), and Alexandra Sirowy (The Creeping, 2015) have all completed two-book deals in the last few years.

There’ve also been a rise in ‘duology and a third book’ deals. Yet these hardly seem to make a dent in an endless onslaught of YA trilogies.

ON THE COUNT OF THREE

We all love to hate and hate to love trilogies. An average reader has finished at least (this is totally my guess) one in their lifetime. It’s like adventure in three parts.

Only way to YA. (Source)

There’s always been talk of readers getting tired of trilogies that we now have a roadmap to guide us. Or at least, Asti does. We talked about duologies and trilogies on Twitter and I ended up asking her what first and third books in a trilogy entail as she wrote a blogpost on second book syndrome a while back. I get curious easily. Asti did an awesome job of coming up with these.

FIRST BOOK TRIAL

‘If you love it, great, continue series. If you don’t, no harm done, just move on.’

Except sometimes I want to live in a world where I don’t discontinue any series I start. Ranging from disappointing to phenomenal, first book are trials of all kinds. If the first book is perfect, it sets the bar high for the rest of the trilogy. If it has potential, it might either get better in the next one or end up suffering from second book syndrome. If it sucks, it feels like a waste of everything.

SECOND BOOK SYNDROME

‘Watch out for disappointment. Tread carefully. There’s no turning back now.’

There really is no turning back because the reader is now invested in the trilogy. If the second book turns out to be a filler book where the characters just seem to drift aimlessly, well, it’s rage-worthy and heartbreaking. The wait? Not worth it. But if everything from the first book is intensified in the second one, the story punches harder and everything is alight with feels.

THIRD BOOK REDEMPTION

‘Was the book worth it? Has your entire life been a waste? It’s all up to how that final book ends.’

Trilogy finales are tricky in that they represent the last 50 pages of a standalone book. From plot to the characters, everything can start to go downhill just as the end nears. But everything can also just twist and turn the reader’s mind all the way to the last page. It’s one hell of a ride ’cause series enders have a habit of burning too bright. A ride that have equal chances for the trilogy to be labeled as either trash or terrific.

You got trilogic feelings in your stomach? Totally legit. (Source)

Simply put, excess of anything is exhausting and trilogies have been around a long time now. From the mere number of series I’ve finished, I might just get tired of going through the same steps over and over. Every now and then, we all need a break.

So what if we want a different option for our break? An option that changes the way we look at series?

GOING ONE, GOING TWO

Duologies are strange. It seems lazy to just label them as series because it’s really just a book and its sequel. Why not just add a book instead and call it a trilogy. But is it all that simple? The answer is… complicated.

There are dualogies where we get to read both the main characters’ point of views in two different books instead of just one where they alternate. In such girl-and-boy-dualogies, there’s no need for the third book. Then there are books with sequels that fast-forward years later into a character’s life. There are also duologies which could have been awkward and really long standalones, instead.

Dualogies are becoming Forman’s forte. (Source)
So where all the stats at? I went number hunting because I want more of ’em in my life.

Despite a relatively recent surge in YA duologies, the ones that came just before 2012 were few and far between. If I Stay/Where She Went by Gayle Forman is the most popular YA duology ever.

– A Need So Beautiful and A Want So Wicked by Suzanne Young
– Clarity and Perception by Kim Harrington
– If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman
– Inside Out and Outside In by Maria V. Snyder
– Juliet Immortal and Romeo Redeemed by Stacey Jay
– Jumping Off Swings and Living with Jackie Chan by Jo Knowles
– Leaving Paradise and Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles

But 2012 seemed to be a defining year for duologies with the release of popular titles like Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina and Kendare Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood.

– Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake
– Breathe and Resist by Sarah Crossan
– Dark Kiss and Wicked Kiss by Michelle Rowen
– Every Day and Rhiannon by David Levithan
– Fracture and Vengeance by Megan Miranda
– Masque of the Red Death and Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
– Pretty Crooked and Pretty Sly by Elisa Ludwig
– Seraphina and Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman
– Silver and Gold by Talia Vance
– Slide and Imposter by Jill Hathaway
– Struck and Aftershock by Jennifer Bosworth
– The Creative Fire and The Diamond Deep by Brenda Cooper

2013 only arrived with most duologies till date. Gayle Forman’s Just One Day and Kasie West’s Pivot Point were two of the popular duologies of the year.

– Arclight and Meridian by Josin L. McQuein
– All Our Yesterdays and Untitled by Cristin Terrill
– Dualed and Divided by Elsie Chapman
– Control and Catalyst by Lydia Kang
– Gated and Astray by Amy Christine Parker
– In the After and In the End by Demitria Lunetta
– Just One Day and Just One Year by Gayle Forman
– Linked and Unravel by Imogen Howson
– Mind Games and Perfect Lies by Kiersten White
– My Life Next Door and The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick
– Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust by Mindy McGinnis
– Pivot Point and Split Second by Kasie West
– Reboot and Rebel by Amy Tintera
– Starglass and Starbreak by Phoebe North
– Starters and Enders by Lissa Price
– The Program and The Treatment by Suzanne Young
– The Rules for Disappearing and The Rules for Breaking by Ashley Elston
– The Ward and Untitled by Jordana Frankel

 

2014 looks like an exciting year for duologies. We’ve only passed the first quarter and some of the duologies have already been released. Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before seem to be the most anticiapted release for the year.

– Alienated and Invaded by Melissa Landers
– Avalon and Polaris by Mindee Arnett
– Blackbird and Untitled by Anna Carey
– Dark Metropolis and Untitled by Jaclyn Dolamore
– Disruption and Corruption by Jessica Shirvington
– Landry Park and Untitled by Bethany Hagen
– To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han
– Uninvited and Unleashed by Sophie Jordan
– White Space and The Dickens Mirror by Ilsa J. Bick

Is this trend going to continue in 2015 and beyond? My answer is a yes. Just look at all the awesome in the list.

– A Darker Shade of Magic and Untitled by Victoria Schwab
– Kalahari and Untitled by Jessica Khoury
– Kissing in America and Untitled by Margo Rabb
– Passenger and Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken

TREND AND GO.

What I like about the trend is that duologies offer the chance to get into a genre without the burnout factor. Currently, I’m more willing to read a dystopian duology than I am a dystopian trilogy because it just seems easier in every way. This also gives a chance for contemporaries to expand beyond one book. Right now, there either seems to be never-ending series (re: Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars) or just standalones for the genre.

In the end, it may seem as if duologies are pointless because why not just add a book? I’ve often wondered about this and after finishing two duologies, they didn’t seem redundant to me. However, my opinion of them is still evolving. Meanwhile, I’m ready for series that aren’t trilogies.

Are you partial towards YA adventures in parts? Willing to duology or are trilogies enough? Excited about any of the titles? Any other thoughts?

P.S. I’ve also made a Goodreads list for duologies and companions.