My Problem With Chick-Lit

    So, before I picked up The Hunger Games and got introduced to the world of YA (aka, the Dark Ages), I used to read some pretty lame books. Most of them fell into the adult genre, and while I occasionally enjoyed some of them, most of the books I picked weren't for me. The first book I ever got was One Day At A Time by Danielle Steel. 

    It was terrible.
    So very terrible.

  But more on that later. Anyway, so I started to really get into reading, and the next think you know, I'm picking up every Nicholas Sparks novel I can lay my hands on. Granted, they weren't always bad. Actually, some of them I honestly enjoyed. But most of the time they were just meh.  There was no intensity for me as a reader. I never felt like I couldn't put down the book.

   Which brings us to my problems with the genre. It. is. SO. predictable. I mean, open any synopsis for a chick-lit book. There is  always person X who has given up on love/just broke up with partner/ moved to new town, and then there's person Y who is the last person X thought of falling in love with.

      YO, NEWSFLASH BUDDY. They end up together.

   You see, there's no guessing. In most cases they'll fight, snap or even throw things at each other, but they always end up together (OK, maybe not always. Like 99%). So what's the fun in that? I want a book that keeps me guessing until the very last moment. It doesn't have to be a thriller or a mystery book to have that effect on me. Matter of fact, the last book I read Dare You To by Katie McGarry was a 5-star read for me. Granted, it doesn't exactly fit into the chick-lit genre, but it was a novel that focused solely on romance, and I still enjoyed the hell out of it. Going in, did I know the main characters would end up together? Probably yeah. But still, there was enough comedy and drama to keep me going. 

   I can't say the same for the adult chick-lit. I know, I know, it is aimed at adults, but still, shouldn't I as a teenager be able to enjoy it as well? It is just that, in many ways, the genre has become way too repetitive. There's no fresh ideas, and it's always limited with two or three plot lines that get written over and over again.

  Also, s'up with the name? Chick-lit? As in literature for chicks? Literature is of everyone! There shouldn't be a label put on certain kinds of books, or a genre especially made for 'chicks'. I don't know about you, but I'm not crazy about the name.


Anyway, these are just my personal thoughts. I'd love to hear what you think. Do you enjoy the genre?