Class of 2013 YA Superlative Blogfest: Day 3

If you’re just tuning in, we’re on day three of the Class of 2013 YA Superlative Blogfest, a summing up of sorts of our favorite books published in 2013. (Click here for Day 1 and Day 2 picks.) Today’s category: Elements of Fiction.

MOST ENVY-INDUCING PLOT

(THE PLOT YOU WISH YOU’D THOUGHT OF YOURSELF.)

I would love to hang out with Marissa Meyer’s imagination for a day. And I really wish I’d come up with this sci-fi retelling of Little Red Riding Hood just as I wish I’d had the idea for Cinder.

MOST FORMIDABLE WORLD

(THE SETTING YOU DEFINITELY WOULD NOT WANT TO VISIT.)

No way is this on my list of the top 100 places to see before I die.

WANDERLUST INDUCING

(THE SETTING YOU’D HAPPILY TRAVEL TO.)

I’ve read some books with really amazing world-building but would I want to visit? No. Absolutely not. But the small lakeside town in Fifteenth Summer is adorable and the perfect vacation spot.

LOVELIEST PROSE

Maggie Stiefvater’s prose is the kind that makes me feel like a failure as a writer. It’s that beautiful. (My full review is here.)

BEST FIRST LINE

This was a tie:

“You stop fearing the Devil when you’re holding his hand.”

I’ve been looking for Sawyer for half a lifetime when I find him standing in front of the Slurpee machine at the 7-Eleven on Federal Highway, gazing through the window at the frozen, neon-bright churning like he’s expecting the mysteries of the universe to be revealed to him from inside.

MOST DYNAMIC MAIN CHARACTER

 

What I love so much about Dante Walker is that he’s a bad boy, but he owns it. It’s not a good guy dressed in black. And the way he sees the world? Absolutely hilarious. He’s full of life and bold, and his transformation over the novels (both published in 2013) is so well done we get the same bad boy vibe with a little more conscience.

MOST JAW-DROPPING ENDING

There’s nothing I can say about this ending without ruining it. How about: WOW.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Blue’s entire family—her mother and the zany women who live with her—are hilarious and multi-layered, smart, strong, and sometimes creepy. They’re also impossible to forget. (My full review is here.)

BEST USE OF THEME

I was thoroughly impressed with the way Miranda Kenneally handled faith and guilt and friendship in this book.

And that’s it for today. Tomorrow we’ll be ending the blogfest with the Best in Show group (find a full list of categories here) and a giveaway of books published in 2013!