Subject: Hum...
Author:
Posted on: 2012-09-18 11:58:00 UTC
Iunno about you, but I really dislike HG. Mainly because Katniss feels like a robot to me -- no emotion, no nothing -- rather like my latest Permission piece... and, to boot, the book is full of run-ons and tense-shifts (though that might be the translation) and is written in present progressive (again, might be the translation I read).
It's all thanks to my oh-so wonderful teeny bopper friends introduced me to the latest craze in YA fiction. Oh, it is not enough to have a suethor peer review my work and it is not enough for my classmates to be enjoying Twilight: The graphic novel. No. They had to introduce me to The Tiger's Curse. Lovely.
I cracked open the cover to find sparkling reviews comparing the story to Twilight. That was my first clue that I was about to claw out my eyes. The story is told in first person perspective from a teenaged girl named Kelsey. Would you really expect anything less?
Long story short, Kelsey holds her breath enough times in one page that you'd expect she'd have died by chapter four, she feels a strange attraction to a "melancholic" tiger, and it turns out the tiger is a prince. Awesome. That just screams quality writing, doesn't it?
In any case it appeals to teen girls. This is fair warning that a large fanbase is beginning to swarm, so the PPC should be prepared.
Your main problems with the story are, what, that it's narrated by a teenaged girl with abnormal lung capacity, and it's a paranormal romance?
So far, just from what you've said, it doesn't sound terrible. Honestly, it might actually be enjoyable on some level, even if it's just because it's cheesy.
Like... The reason why people tend to get upset with bad fan-fiction is because it messes up established facts, plus bad writing. People get upset with 50 Shades and Twilight because of harmful messages plus bad writing. Bad writing alone isn't really something to get upset over, because it doesn't really hurt anyone. You can just, y'know. Not read.
I apologise. You're correct in that my reasons for disliking this book are primarily shallow, and I was biased from the moment the main character started angsting. Having not mustered the ability to finish another story focused on a love triangle, I have stopped reading it. I am sorry that I used the board as a medium to vent my frustrations, as it was not fair to any of the boarders. It will not happen again, I promise.
The Hunger Games was, too.
Iunno about you, but I really dislike HG. Mainly because Katniss feels like a robot to me -- no emotion, no nothing -- rather like my latest Permission piece... and, to boot, the book is full of run-ons and tense-shifts (though that might be the translation) and is written in present progressive (again, might be the translation I read).
Either I didn't notice that Hunger Games was written in Present Progressive (usually I cannot finish anything written in the present tense) when I read it several years ago or it was decent enough to hold my attention despite that.
If you're referring to the second half of the book about Katniss' lack of emotion, I tend to think it's supposed to represent the avoidance/withdrawal stage of PTSD.
I'm not wild about Hunger Games, but I don't actively dislike it. I enjoyed it when I read it, but I'm unlikely to re-read or look for the sequels. My rating was "above average for teenage-marketed adventure," but it not being a cheap "Teenager is a spy" novel probably bumped that up a bit.
Meh. They compare everything to Twilight or Harry Potter nowadays.
...even though I downloaded a sample chapter of HG, just to check what you said.
1. Present progressive is stuff like "I'm reading." Yes, it is in present tense, but it's not suffering from ing disease. But present tense itself is not a sign for bad writing. A matter of taste, yes, but not bad writing.
2. I'm beginning to suspect that it's the translation, because the writing I saw was concise and rather constantly in present tense (except for things in the past).
3. No emotion? Nah, not so sure about that. There's relief/happiness when she meets up with Gale, amusement at his accent, disappointment at her mother... again, this might be the translation not getting it across.
4. Your writing was just beige.
Well, I do remember somebody saying something about no emotion in that piece. I could, of course, be mistaken. And it seems that THG's Hebrew translator needs to get a crash course in grammar -- general grammar as well as Hebrew grammar -- and in translating.
Holds her breath, you say? What, does she stop breathing each time she asks a question or something?