I recently finished the final book in the “Matched” trilogy. It was filled with mind-numbing cliches that made me roll my eyes every few pages. Granted, I still gave it three stars on Goodreads. What can I say? I am a sucker for even the worst dystopian fiction, and “Reached” was entertaining, despite its many flaws.
After suffering through the last few strained and awfully written pages, I am swearing off all Y.A. dystopian fiction, at least until there’s time for the publishing world to shake it up, mix up the formula and pour out something new.
“Reached” isn’t the worst offender for these kinds of cliches in YA dystopian fiction. You can also file under: Hunger Games, Divergent, Anomaly, Delirium, Across the Universe, et al. These are all series I enjoyed enough to finish, but they also shared so many grating similarities that need to be addressed.
5 Signs You’ve Read Too Much Cliched YA Dystopian Fiction
1. You are so over love triangles.
I know that Twilight isn’t technically dystopian, but I blame Twilight for this disturbing trend nonetheless. Team Edward, Team Peeta, Team Kai, Team Elder, Team STOPORIWILLSCREAM.
2. You are tired of bland teen girls masquerading as martyrs.
The idea of self-sacrifice is beyond played-out. Again, maybe the martyr thing started with Twilight, with Bella’s lame soliloquy: “I’ve never given much thought to how I would die. But dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go.” I’m not sure why every YA dystopian series since has pulled the same card. (Hunger Games’ Katniss is even worse than Bella in some ways.)
3. You are incredulous of flimsy societies that are easily brought down by bland teen girls.
What kind of fragile house of cards was the Society in “Matched” that its woes could be solved by a trio of 17-year-olds? All of these “evil” societies are so easy to penetrate, a teenager could do it!
4. You are not only prepared for but expecting the twist at the end that reveals how the rebel forces are just as bad or worse than the original enemy.
Let’s rally the rest of the teens and run off to the woods and live off the grid instead. Because finding potable water in a post-apocalyptic world is easier than arranged marriage, obviously.
5. You’d rather poke out an eye than read another trilogy.
Why can’t we wrap this up nicely in one book? Rising action, conflict, resolution. It’s OK if it’s 3,000 pages long. I’ve read Stephen King novels before.
