Sunday, August 16, 2015

Sunday Discussion: Point of View part 2



This week I'm talking more about point of view, particularly in YA books.  Have an idea for a discussion post?  Just leave a comment or email me at christinathebookreader@gmail.com.


I have read a lot of books.  I mean, duh.  So here's something that seems to have gone noticed lately.  The majority of YA books are narrated or by the POV of a female main character.  Why is that?

The short answer is probably that many YA authors are female, and it is easier for them to write the main voice as a female character.  But then we also sometimes see the mini novellas from the boy's POV.  And I like those.  Not because I like novellas, no.  But because I am particularly fond of the male perspective in literature.  It seems that lately there has been a demand for more male main characters and more male voices in YA literature.  I hope to see that soon.

Here are a couple male POV novellas that I really enjoyed.

  • Phoenix Overture (Newsoul series)
  • The King's Guard (The Girl of Fire and Thorns)
  • The Hidden Prince (The Orphan Queen)
There are a lot of novels in YA that switch POV between two or three characters.  This can be a good thing.  We can get the main character's voice, but we can also get the voice of the minor characters as well.  I particularly enjoyed the Elias chapters dealing with the trials in An Ember in the Ashes.  Many of John Green's books are male perspective (I'm particularly fond of Will Grayson, Will Grayson).

So why would I like to see more male perspective books out there?  Other than that I personally prefer them, I would like to see some diversity in YA novels.  There are soooo many female perspective books.  Why not shake things up a bit?

Do you have any thoughts on this particular aspect of point of view?

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