Hello everyone (sorry it’s been a while but my internet service crashed and it is still not repaired…)
Today I want to address something that happened on Twitter. I really wanted to react and see what you guys think about it.
For those who don’t know this week a famous author, Sarah Dessen, reacted to a college student’s , Brooke Nelson, opinion on her books. It was taken out of context and blown into proportion.
If you want to learn about the entire drama check out this article: https://slate.com/culture/2019/11/sarah-dessen-ya-books-authors-brooke-nelson-social-media-attack.html
I have never read any of Sarah Dessen’s books but yes they are YA and yes therefore addressed to teenage girls. And if you read the article Nelson was not criticizing the YA genre she was just voicing her opinion upon choosing Sarah Dessen book for the curriculum of her university. Her comment was totally taken out of context by the author who in my opinion replied in a very immature way.
It could have stopped there but no, other YA authors reacted in similar immature ways and fans of Dessen harassed Nelson on social media leading to her deleting all her social media account. This is the first thing I want to say, if you are an author you are bound to be criticized that’s the point of art everyone has a different opinion on it.
The second thing I want to address is how these authors reacted. When you are a public figure followed by people who are you fans (and let’s appreciate how fan is semantically coming from fanatical) you have to take that into consideration before putting someone into the light. You have to know how your actions are going to fuel the fire to your own community’s actions. I mean if even YouTubers are aware of that authors must be as well!
Also, authors ganging up against a college student who just had an opinion is just wrong. And it is even more wrong because it gives a bad image of the YA community.
I am sorry to say that it shows the toxic part of this community and I am aware that every communites has there own dark side. Look at the Harry Potter community who cannot even accept criticism on the books ( I don’t say it’s the entire community just some fans). I talked about that phenomenon with fellow reviewers on Goodreads and they were sometimes faced with serious backlash from fans. I mean there is no need to harassed someone because they didn’t like your favorite author!
My problem is how the situation was blown into proportions, how is it that in 2019 you cannot express your opinion? And it was not even a critic! Nelson just thought other books were more poignant that Dessen’s and she wanted to share them. Isn’t that what the book community is about? Sharing your own thoughts so that you get out of your bubble and read something new.
And how several authors participate in cyber bullying while some of there books are specifically on that subject. I mean you write YA, so yes your audience is teenagers I don’t see why Dessen got mad. IT’S A FACT! These bunch of YA authors acted like victims and even went as far as to categorize Neslon as a women with « internalized misogyny », I am sorry but stating that your audience is teenage girls it’s not misogynistic but realistic.
I saw that Dessen apologized as well as some other authors yet I still feel it is not enough…
What are your opinions on this affair?
littlepandareads 
If it were up to me, I’d respond just as harshly and cut off all their heads 😉
But honestly, that kind of immature response by the authors is why I got away from goodreads and why I don’t review specific books upon request. They’re immature and can’t handle Life like an adult so I simply dismiss them.
J’aimeAimé par 1 personne
I was shocked how authors ganged up on the student… I mean they are bound to be criticized… Yeah Goodreads can be pretty rough for reviewing objectively.
J’aimeAimé par 1 personne
Woof. I read the article you linked and can’t help but feel like this college student was trying to keep her college from assigning young adult lit to an entire college. On the one hand, 18 is still pretty young adult. On the other, the point of college is to get students to read challenging works that create discussion. Would a YA novel do that? Sure, depending on the novel. I haven’t read this authors books, so I don’t know what kinds of conversations would develop from them. If the student simply didn’t want YA as a college-wide pick, I don’t know why she made such a snotty remark about keeping this one author out of the hands of readers. That seems like a weird, low blow. I’m really, really surprised that so many famous authors chipped in with the same vile remarks that their trolls spew at them. You can’t be a feminist and then call another woman gendered-insults for having a poorly thought-out opinion. I say shame on those authors for turning into trolls, and shame on that student for being so smarmy about keeping one author out of the hands of readers. As people like to say on Reddit, ESH.
J’aimeAimé par 1 personne
I think the student just wanted to point out that other books had deeper subjects and emotional feels. I get that it might not be the best way to say it but again this was back in 2017 and the author just took it now to react. as you said it this entire story gave me an esh vibe… I still can’t get past they way grown famous author reacted to it…
J’aimeJ’aime
I can’t believe the author decided to get mad two years later. It’s all over with; her anger isn’t stopping anyone from doing anything. And to become a troll is just the worst…
J’aimeJ’aime
Yeah I think Dessen’s reaction was definitely out of proportion. And to me, it was really wrong of her to go after this girl like this.
J’aimeJ’aime