Bookish Chat About: Teenage Protagonists

I’ve had plans to write this post for a while now but I just haven’t had the time!  However, I was recently reading a book which brought this issue to the forefront of my mind and I thought that now would be a good time to address it.

I’ve always assumed that I don’t really enjoy reading books told from a child protagonist’s narrative, however, when I thought about examples of books I could use to highlight this point I found that this is not strictly the case.  I have read quite a few books that I have really enjoyed, told from a younger child’s perspective, (Room by Emma Donoghue, Home by Amanda Berriman, The Choke by Sofie Laguna, Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan and The Trouble With Goats And Sheep by Joanna Cannon to name a standout few).  So if I have enjoyed books told through the voices of younger children what is my problem???

Teenagers. They are my problem!

Specifically teenage girls.

Or even more specifically female teenage friendship groups.

If I pick a book up and read the blurb only to find a mention of ‘coming of age’ or ’15 year old blah blah blah’ then I am instantly going to put that book right back down! If I’m reading a book which focuses on adult characters BUT they have teenage children then this will also put me off (there have however been a few exceptions to this too, Whistle In The Dark  by Emma Healey and How It Was by Janet Ellis and The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss). The difference with these books were that the teen girls were interesting, they were something other than the run of the mill schoolgirls navigating friendships, boys, parental troubles etc.

I think the main issue for me is that I have been an angst ridden teenage girl and to be honest, why would I want to relive those years? For me there is nothing more dull than reading about the cracks in teenage female friendships, the mean girls, the boys they are batting their eyelashes at, the parents they are railing against. Yawn.  I have zero interest in reading about any characters difficult pubescent years.  Massive eyeroll territory for me.

A few months ago I had to pull out of a blog tour for a book by an author I really enjoy the work of.  I had been hotly anticipating their new book and nothing in the blurb mentioned that the three main female protagonists were in fact teenagers, we were just given their names.  My heart sank when I realised.  I gave the book a good go, I really did! But after 75 or so pages I had to admit defeat and compose an ‘I’m sorry’ email to the publisher.  No way could I have done a blog tour for a book I DNF’d as my review policy is not to review books I haven’t finished. Also, I stopped reading the book due to my own reading tastes and not anything to do with the book itself.

I also can’t deal with books about female adult friendship groups who go way back to their teens and have a ‘secret’ between them.  No thanks.

More recently I picked up Asking For It by Louise O’Neill. I had had this book on my shelf for a while and had heard some great things.  I have read and enjoyed Louise O’Neill’s other novels so I had high hopes. I knew going in that the whole premise was based around teenagers but with the weight of recommendation on me I thought I’d be able to cope………

Not so.

I unfortunately had to give up and call it a DNF.  This book was the epitomy of everything I don’t like about teenage narratives. I felt bad for giving up (only briefly) because so many people had said how great the book was and I knew it tackled a very important subject.

I know now that I can’t really deal with teenage girls.

I’ve tried.

I really have.

But I guess it’s good to know your own tastes so well.  At least now I don’t waste any publishers time requesting books I’m not going to enjoy or be able to review.  I’d be interested to know if there is a certain character type or trope that instantly puts you off a book.

Let me know!

See you all soon.

 

Amanda  – Bookish Chat xx