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that effects pretty much the entire book, and then they just don't say anything, and do nothing about it.
Here's a common example. Girl A is crushing on a guy, and the two of them have been having a pretty good time together as friends. At some point Girl A hears some rumor that the guy is in a relationship with Girl B. This really upsets Girl A because she was really starting to like the guy and she thought they might be getting somewhere, but instead of asking the guy if in fact he is in a relationship with Girl B or anyone for that matter she just says absolutely nothing, and might even start avoiding the guy. Usually at some point a few chapters later Girl A finds out the the guy is in fact not dating anybody.
This is an extremely common situation that happens between love interests in books, and also happens a lot between friends or the character and their parents.
Whenever this happens I just want to grab the main character, whoever it is and just start yelling at them, because it's pretty obvious that whatever rumor the character heard is not real, because they almost never are.
Let me know if you also have noticed this in books, and share your thoughts!
Erika, I really do love these discussion posts of yours, because not only are they really interesting, but they're so different!
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I totally agree with everything that you've said here. I feel like the whole no-talking thing is an ineffective tool used for tension. It's pointless, really. I don't quite understand what authors are trying to go for when they do this, honestly. We the readers know there's a misunderstanding, so it makes things kind of dull, to be honest.
Lovely post, Erika! <3
I totally agree with you! One of the most frustrating thing for me as a reader is when I know information that the characters don't. It's one of the few things that makes me want to jump into a book and shake characters.
ReplyDeleteAnother great discussion post, Erika!
Also I forgot to sign that....whoops!!
Delete-Megan
I know what you mean and I HATE when it happens! There are only a few things in books that aggravate me as much as this because it's so unnecessary. First of all, it's usually obvious. And then ,when the truth "comes out" and everything's a fairy tale ending I always think that i wasted so much time and energy on a conflict that wasn't even real in the first place! I think this is especially annoying in YA books, because it marks the YA characters (usually girls) as irrational and hysterical and that's just untrue and sad. Woah, this issue makes me quite mad in case you couldn't tell :)
ReplyDeleteOh. My. God. This lack of communication thingy dominates a lot of YA books and I just loathe it to no end. I mean yeah, it happened a teeny weensy bit in The Distance Between Us but the take on it was so refreshing that I was laughing out loud when he's going all intense eyes on her. I loved that kind of thing but man, the one about all the misspent guilt, anger and whatnot, spare me.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Erika!