The Unavoidable Comparison

It couldn't go on any longer without being addressed, I have to talk/write about Twilight. You can't seem to read a young adult novel now without getting the inevitable question "Is is like Twilight?" That has to be the absolute worst question to answer about a book I am discussing. If I tell people that it is similar, someone won't want to read it because they think they'd be bored. If I say it isn't like Twilight, then someone doesn't want to read it because they want a book that leaves them feeling the way Twilight did. I hate to be the one to break it to some people but Stephenie Meyer did not start the genre of Young Adult Paranormal Romance and she didn't even write the best books in that genre. She just happened to write some great books that got the whole genre a lot more attention. I love that it got so much attention because it got people, young and old, reading and then talking about books but let's move on people...

That being said, I did like Twilight. In fact, I think I still compare most of the guys in the books I read to Edward because I loved him so much. I have a complete crush on Robert Pattinson and we all know it is only because he plays Edward. But this really is off topic... What really bothers me about all of this Twilight fame is that so many great authors and books are getting the Twilight Comparison and if they don't make the cut, so many people won't read these great stories out there. For that reason alone, I am not going to compare the books I review to Twilight. It just isn't the proper way to review a stand alone work and I feel it somehow diminishes the writing being discussed.

So let me know what you think. Does Twilight deserve to be the standard by which we compare all Young Adult Novels or can/should we move past the Twlight phenomenon?

~Amanda~