Meet the Reader : Chrissy

By the ever opinionated E.C. Stacy

Today, on a YA edition of Meet the Reader, Chrissy gives us writers a good dose of what's booming in that genre and why. She even tutors in reading!

CIR: I notice that you haven’t rated Marlene Perez’s titles very highly. What drew you to read more of them?

CD: The reason I never really rated them high was because I felt the story was a bit short and I never really got a chance to get into the book and learn about the characters as well as I would have liked to. The reasons why I kept reading them were because I didn’t really get to broaden my view of books and authors until I got onto Goodreads. This is where I learned about a lot of other books and authors in the genres I liked and expanded my library as well. I also hoped that as I continued to read the series I would get more into it and enjoy them better, but after I felt like I could predicate the story line, but I just couldn’t pass up and new book with a mystery.

CIR: This question is kind of the same except for the Twilight titles. You gave the first of the series high marks, but not so much on the others. What made you read more?

CD: I really liked the first books of the series but the last couple of books I felt like they were very redundant and kind of gave me un-necessary information. Also everyone was reading this series and many people who knew I liked to read told me to give the series a shot. But the main reason I wanted to finish the whole series was because I didn’t want to stop in the middle of the series I thought that if I started I might as will finish. I mean why stop in the middle of an adventure?

CIR: You have a category on your Goodreads profile called Because-of-school. I’m guessing these were assigned readings. Looks like you were impressed with most of them. Does that inspire you to boast about classic literature?

CD: I really liked these books and honestly I would have never read them if it was not for my teachers assigning them. I do judge a book but its cover I usually would never go for older books, but I've been training myself to try and read everything because you just never know what lies within those pages. Also my dad has read a lot of the classics and has to told me to give them a shot, he really enjoyed them as a youth and thinks I would as well. It does make me want to boast about classics, at school I tell the younger grades when I tutor them how I enjoyed the book and how they will as well, if they give the book a chance. I really would like to read other classic, because they teach you lessons that newer books I feel don’t. And well, classic literature is just timeless.

CIR: From one of the covers, Pretty Little Devils looks kind of like a cute romance, but it’s a scary/creepy mystery and you marked it as a favorite. You’ll have to forgive my age on this question since I graduated high school in the eighties, but are evil teenagers a popular genre?

CD: I think evil teenagers are a popular genre especially now when many books are being turned into TV shows. For example Pretty Little Liars is kind of the same things as the book Pretty Little Devils, and many of my friends and kids from school do watch the show, including me. Teen books will always be a popular genre, because many teens find this a way to compared and related themselves with the characters, or to escape from reality of there life. I've read a couple of books just like this one and it does fascinate me. I like the way an author can put many elements in one book.

CIR: What author would you like to meet?

CD: I have two authors I would love to meet because I'm in love with their books. But the author that started my love for books and their series would have to be Sophie Kinsella. I love her witty style of writing and her great characters. I became introduced to this author by my cousin and every since then I've loved all of her work. I own some of her books which I've read over 6 times because I never get books of the way she tells a story and takes me on an adventure through her humorous, girly and witty characters.

CIR: To a writer who has not read any YA, what title would you recommend for them to read to get a good start on that genre?

CD: One of my favorite series in YA had to be the Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. I would recommend this as a start because I loved the style of writing and her ability to take the reader to another world. From the romance, to the thrills, this set of books has it all. You would honestly go through a whirl wind of emotions for the characters and instantly fall in love with them.

Thanks Chrissy! Follow Chrissy's blog at http://inthelifeofchristinar.blogspot.com/