One of these was a fantastic commentary by Zoe Marriot on the condescending views many people of my beloved YA genre. It perfectly explained a lot of the reasons I love about YA novels and the feelings I hope to evoke in readers when/if I ever get published. If you're interested, read it here. Seriously, amazing.
But at the end of that article, in the "you might also like" section, there was a link for Zoe's review of Divergent from when she won an ARC before it was published. As you might have noticed, I am a little obsessed with Divergent. For oh, so many reasons. So, despite running out of time before I needed to leave, I read her review.
Because it's a compulsion. And I cannot stop myself.
And it was a perfect review. HERE.
Zoe described so many of the reasons I love Divergent and Veronica Roth. But the idea that hit me the most?
"I didn't swoon over Four for a second. I fell in love with him, quietly and deeply, just as Tris did."
I read that and had to just sit and let it sink in for a minute. That is exactly how I feel about Four. He is by far my favorite YA boy. I really like some others that are all pretty close in their ranking in my heart (Jace, Will, Jem, Lord Hector, Alex, Julian, Xander, Ky, Mal, Augustus, Percy, Po, Saf, Brigan....the list goes on...).
But Four? Something about him stands out. Because I fell in love with him quietly and deeply, rather than my usual hard swooning. He surprised me. And every little thing he did endeared me to him. His courage, his strength, his ability to let Tris be herself rather than be consumed in him, his tattoos (oh, his tattoos), everything. Just the thought of him makes my heart splutter a little.
And the thought that maybe someone exists out there who has even a few of his qualities, makes me want to find him. (And make him get some of Four's tattoos...)
I am such a fan of our wonderful Theo James who is playing Four in the
movie. Not my favorite picture, but it's from the article Veronica
put on her blog announcing his casting. *source
I know some people find this kind of literary affection strange, but most of y'all are YA readers, so I assume you understand.
So, my question to y'all:
(I am from Texas after all, don't make fun)
Who is your favorite YA boy?
And: What made you fall for him? What stands out about him?
First of all, I cannot wait to see Theo James play Four, who's right up there in the YA guy department for me too. There's absolutely no way I could possibly limit the list so here goes: Gavriel Duval from GRAVE MERCY, Perry from UNDER THE NEVER SKY, Akiva from DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE, Cricket Bell from LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR, Adam from SHATTER ME, and...I know I'm probably missing some, but seriously there are some great male characters in YA. Aside from Cricket (who's the oddball on this list), I tend to appreciate the dark and broody, good boys best.
ReplyDeleteI love that all of the ones you listed are from books I haven't read. So glad to know there are many, many more great boys for me to get to know. Most of those books are on my TBR, but I'm definitely adding the ones that aren't! Dark and broody, good boys are my favorite, too. I just can't not be attracted to them!
DeleteI have a bunch of the same people on my YA boy list as my sister: Four from DIVERGENT, Peeta from THE HUNGER GAMES, Perry from UNDER THE NEVER SKY, St. Clair from ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, and Cricket from LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR, Jem and Will from THE INFERNAL DEVICES series (Yeah, I know. Not sure how I'd choose if I was Tessa. O_o)...and the list goes on and on.
ReplyDeleteHOW on earth did I forget to add Peeta to my list?!?! He is definitely very high on my list, especially because my book Peeta has become the movie Peeta. That Josh Hutcherson is one of my favorite boys to look at. :)
DeleteWhen reading Clockwork Princess, I kept thinking, "thank goodness I'm not Tessa, there is no way I could choose!"
I really like Four for the reasons you mention. I also love Roar because of his friendship with Aria - how he's protective and supportive of her at the same time - and Sean from The Scorpio Races because he's another one who grows on you.
ReplyDelete