Books

Your New Favorite Accounts From Book Twitter

by Emma Cueto

There are lots of delightful surprises waiting in the world of book Twitter, from authors hanging out with fans to parody accounts like Guy in Your MFA or Dystopian YA Novel. And it brings me great pride to announce that the latest parody accounts sure to win your hearts are none other than Typical YA Heroine and Brooding YA Hero. And yes, they're about exactly what you think.

Look, YA is awesome (and I will forever defend it from the snobby haters), but let's not pretend it's perfect. When you stop to think about it, there are some pretty ridiculous tropes in YA, especially surrounding romance, which is something that can be found in most YA novels.

I mean, heroines who are supposedly "average looking" but everyone treats them like their beautiful? Male love interests who are supposedly wise and mature but have the most unhealthy, juvenile ways of coping with their improbable overload of emotional baggage? Not to mention all the tropes around how these two star crossed high school students, dystopian rebels, supernatural creatures, and/or "totally ordinary" teens manage to meet despite an entire social or political order designed to ensure their paths never cross.

Obviously there are great stories that use any or all of these tropes — as well as many, many others. Tropes are common for a reason: people enjoy them. And there's nothing in particular wrong with that. But it still pays to keep some perspective about these things. Plus, it's pretty funny.

Behold.

Brooding YA Hero's bio reads "Making Bad Life Choices, Looking Hot, Shedding Manly Tears." Typical YA Heroine, on the other hand, describes herself as "I'm just your average, ordinary teen. •Hero •Love Interest •Prom Queen •Outcast• Generally saving the day."

They're both basically what would happen if you stripped the individual personalities, backstories, and motivations from most YA love interests and left nothing but the tropes. And the result is glorious.

Both of these accounts are still young, and neither has started to interact with the other yet. The day they do, I might throw a party. I expect it to be that beautiful. For now though, they are merely excellent individually.

Image: Punnarong/Fotolia