Class of 2012: Elements of Fiction

Welcome back for day three of the YA Superlatives blogfest hosted by Jessica Love, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Tracey Neithercott.

Most Envy-Inducting Plot (Or, the plot you wish you'd thought of yourself):

Yep. If you've seen my blog the past few days, you're probably not surprised to see The Raven Boys in this spot. Maggie is a freaking genius and everything about this book just makes shake my head in awe.  She has a way with words and builds such complex, beautiful, fun, and mysterious works of art and all I can do is just sit back and let her take me on a ride that I know will not disappoint.

Most Formidable World (Or, the setting you most definitely would NOT want to travel to):

The reason I picked This is not a Test over any of the other books is that you have people surrounding you and you can fight for something --whether it's overthrowing the villain or quests to save friends --but in this world? It's basically hopeless. You're constantly on the run and always scavenging for food and safety, and if The Walking Dead has taught us anything, it's you can't even trust your closest friend.

Wanderlust-Inducting (Or, the setting you'd happily travel to):

Paris is on my must-see list of places to visit before I die and I love stories that take place there. I actually don't know why Amy Plum's books haven't made my list until now because I've really enjoyed them.

Loveliest Prose:

John Green is a master of words and I was going to put a quote or two from The Fault in our Stars here but how can you only pick one? I mean, just reading this makes me feel all the feels.

 

I can't leave out Maggie Stiefvater and Laini Taylor because writing beautiful is just in them. 

Most Dynamic Main Character:

Karou hands down. Had I participated last year, she would be the reigning champ.

Most Jaw-Dropping Ending:

All I will say about this is that there were some things I expected to happen but the ending was not one of them. 

Best Performance in a Supporting Role:

I kept flip-flopping on whether to pick The Raven Boys for this one but I decided that since their voice is heard, I would go with Cole in Everneath. Cole is such a complex character and there are times where you don't know whether to root for him or hate him. In my opinion, he's the ultimate bad boy because of the way he can make you believe him and while you know he might be deceiving you, you still want to believe in him. 

Best use of Theme:

I picked This is not a Test earlier because that world just seems completely and utterly hopeless but in Laini Taylor's series, there's nothing but hope. Even though there is war and death, you need some kind of hope to be able to want to move forward.