Booknotized

So, I’ve noticed a recent trend in YA lit titling, and, I must admit, I’m not really sure what to make of it.

On the one hand, these titles lend a kind of resounding grandeur to the stories they represent.

On the other hand (or perhaps the other side of that same hand?), one can only take seriously so much resounding grandeur…

Of course, it would help if you knew what I was talking about. Should I say? Yes. I’ll say.

As I was thinking about this post, I got curious to see just how many there were. I finally stopped when I got to 100 (below). I recommend reading them aloud one-by-one in the very serious kind of voice you know they’re supposed to inspire. It’s kind of fun – if you’re into that sort of thing.

Now, it’s not that I have anything at all against one-word titles. In fact, when I ran across it for the first time (Maggie Steifvater’s Shiver, as it happens), the cold, quiet, lonely word on the cover was actually one of the things that piqued my curiosity about the book. And, in my research, I discovered a few others that I find really enticing: Incarceron, Sapphique, Evercrossed, Paranormalcy, Demonglass. (Not that I’m advocating these books, btw – I haven’t read them, or many of the ones below – just pulled titles from a quick survey of Amazon).

Maybe it’s the originality of the words above, or the use of two words to make one (demon + glass, ever + crossed) that makes those five stand out from the others that I found today. The rest just feel like loaded words, and really familiar ones at that…(it’s like a shortlist of important YA paranormal-world concepts.) The first three or four might sound grand, but after a while, they kind of drone on. I just can’t help feeling that there is a…well, lack of creativity happening here. Why not give a fan more context to go by? Make a title stand out with its eye-catching cleverness. It’s not like we can’t handle compound-complexities……right?

I dunno. I’d love to get some authors’ takes on this. Where do these titles come from? How are agents/editors involved? Is it by author choice?

More importantly, what do you (fellow readers) think?

(starting with the adjectives)

1. Immortal
2. Everlasting
3. Divergent
4. Gossamer
5. Fallen
6. Stolen
7. Driven
8. Broken
9. Hidden
10. Fallen
11. Torn
12. Sensitive
13. Pure
14. Teenie
15. Popular
16. Spellbound
17. Immortal
18. Unearthly
19. Errant
20. Bittersweet
21. Unnatural
    (among which are the -eds)
22. Bumped
23. Marked
24. Abandoned
25. Blessed
26. Entwined
27. Intertwined
    
28. Betrayed
29. Matched
30. Crossed
31. Twisted
32. Switched
33. Destined
34. Loved
35. Turned
36. Exiled
37. Birthmarked
38. Ruined
39. Pursued
40. Hushed
41. Unfriended
42. Rumored
43. Unhooked
44. Enticed
45. Blacklisted
    (the verbs…)
46. Captivate
47. Haunt
48. Swoon
49. Taste
50. Wither
51. Ascend
52. Flutter
53. Wake
54. Linger
55. Shiver
    (the adverbs…)
56. Forever (also a noun)
57. Nevermore (also possibly a name)
    (the nouns)
58. Passion
59. Absolution
60. Silence
61. Sniper
62. Revolution
63. Dreamland
64. Endgame
65. Identity
66. Feather
67. Denial
68. Clarity
69. Illusions
70. Fate
71. Wisdom
72. Healer
73. Tithe
74. Plague
75. Hades
76. Gateway
77. Glimpse
78. Shade
79. Ash
80. Wings
81. Numbers
82. Wasteland
83. Firelight
84. Legacy
85. Adversary
86. Torment
87. Crescendo
88. Promise
89. Halo
90. Feather
91. Firelight
92. Illusions
93. Torment
94. Hourglass
95. Need
96. Betrayal
97. Descendant
    (the names…)
    
98. Raven
99. Lori
100. Lissie

et cetera