RPG Maker is a real game engine. Just like UDK.

This is an RPG Maker game

I recently wrote a piece about RPG Maker responding to all the hate the engine gets. People say things like "it's drag and drop" or "it sucks" or "games made with it are not worth it" because "they are all generic and look the same" - comments which clearly show their ignorance. In my essay (which I might repost here later), I defended RPG Maker. Why? Because it's a legit engine. With it, people can make RPGs, strategy games, action games, or whatever type of game they want, really. Just like "real" game engines like UDK, RPG Maker gives developers a tool to make a specific type of game and some premade assets and the ability to integrate their own scripts to make whatever kind of game they want with it. Want to make an RPG in UDK? UDK has you covered.

Want to make an FPS in RPG Maker? RPG Maker has you covered.

But anyway, enough of that. What I want to say today is relatively short and to the point. Despite all the hatred that RPG Maker gets, it recently sold a lot through the Humble Weekly Bundle. How much? It broke records. Over 150,000 people put down money for RPG Maker. And this, I think, is a good thing. This will unquestionably result in more RMK games being made. Sure, many of them will be basic. Most people who get into games with Game Salad start off by making Flappy Bird clones, and most people who start with Stencyl often have "generic space shooter" or "basic platformer" as their first title. Anyone who has ventured into UDK lands will inevitably recount how their first "game" was a collection of default assets put together to create a simple level with spawn points. And so, for most people, their first game with RPG Maker will be "RTP Hero saves the world from Default Demon 14". And that's fine. Eventually they'll create something more compelling, something with a bit more of a story and with non-rtp visuals and stories. Eventually, they'll learn to create scripts or integrate scripts into their games, and they'll create - perhaps - Zelda-like games. And then, finally, we'll get more games like To The Moon and Dreaming Mary.  Sure, this won't stop the flood of "I haet rpg maekur" comments, but hey man. Whatever. You know?

Watchdogs and the Self

In my other posts from today I talk about how Watchdogs is not racist and how Watchdogs is definitely not racist. However, what Watchdogs is is, is a mirror that lets players look into themselves and analyze their hidden biases.  How? By using the profiler to create NPC identities.

No doubt we have all seen articles talking about howuncomfortable some players felt when killing NPCs in Watchdogs. Why is this? Before Watchdogs, in games like GTA V, players also get to kill random NPCs at their leisure. Those NPCs, however, were faceless to the player. Players would see a character model with no individual qualities. To the player, the NPCs were inconsequential. And so, as inconsequential beings who populate a space designated for the player, players see these NPCs as nothing more than playthings. In Watchdogs, however, NPCs have an identity.

Supernatural: The Anime Recap - Episode 3 "Home"

   So, last week's episode ended with Sam getting a vision teasing us into this week's  episode. This week we get episode 3- "Home" based on the season 1 episode of the same name.

   Okay. I'll be the first to admit that the first two seasons of Supernatural were a bit all over the place. You could miss an episode or two and not miss anything particularly relevant. However,  the anime seems to be randomly grabbing episodes here and there and somehow managing to create a sequence out of them. I'll give them credit for making it seamless, but if you're following the anime and the live show at the same time, I recommend dumping one or the other before things get confusing.

A Call to Gamers (I'm taking over the front page!)

I have been waiting for a while for some of our other contributors to post something as to not completely take over the main page, but that has so far proven to be a pointless endeavor. So, in the spirit of taking over the front page (bwahahaha) I will just plop this Youtube video here. It is the first in a series where I get to rant about stuff in a yet unspecified way (I'm toying with different aesthetic modes), so here it is: A Call to Gamers. Enjoy (or don't). 

The Most Hated Characters in Game of Thrones

Because I'm on a Game of Thrones binge, I decided today to write about the most hated Game of Thrones characters. Why? Because there are a LOT of hateful characters in the series. It would be no understatement to say that in the series there are more dislikable character than on any other. However, besides Joffrey, no one really agrees on what character to dislike or hate more than whatever other character. In that spirit, then, let's make a countdown: The most dislikable Game of Thrones characters. There are so many, however, that to just do a top 5 would be a disservice. Let us then rank them in five tiers. I should note that while many other characters may fit into each tier, I will only focus on the few most dislikable ones.

This is a sister post to the most likable characters over at my page.

*WARNING: SPOILERS GALORE!*

Most Overrated Game of Thrones Characters

This is a sister post to a Most Underrated Characters in Game of Thrones one I put up in my page. It seems to me upon re-watching Game of Thrones that there are some fans out there who heap undeserved amount of love unto certain characters. I used to be one of those. I used to think that Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, was one of the best characters. I mean, she had dragons! But upon re-watching I have come to the realization that she, and many others that fans think are great, don't actually deserve the praise they get. To get some idea of where fans stand, feel free to look at Rolling Stones' list of "top40 memorable characters", the results of the IMDB favorite characters fanpoll, and the rather interesting results from Outbrain's study (and the interpretations by PC Mag). No doubt you, dear reader, agree with some of them. Trust me, see the series again and you will find yourself disliking most of these "favorites". In that spitit, then, let us create the most wonderful and realistic "tops" Game of Thrones list ever created:

The Five Most Overrated Game of Thrones Characters *with some spoilers*

On that Whole Nintendo Tomodachi Life Same Sex Marriage Issue

There seems to be a bit of controversy brewing thanks to Nintendo, and it's not their recent economic situation. Nintendo has a game called Tomodachi Life for the 3DS which is partly about building character relationships. The original version in Japan did not allow for same sex relationships to be developed, so when Nintendo decided to localize the game to the US, a group of gamers decided to create a proposal to request that Nintendo allow for same sex marriage. Nintendo's response was as follows:

"Nintendo never intended to make any form of social commentary with the launch of Tomodachi Life. The relationship options in the game represent a playful alternate world rather than a real-life simulation. We hope that all of our fans will see that 'Tomodachi Life' was intended to be a whimsical and quirky game, and that we were absolutely not trying to provide social commentary.

The ability for same-sex relationships to occur in the game was not part of the original game that launched in Japan, and that game is made up of the same code that was used to localize it for other regions outside of Japan."

Now, their response on social commentary, it seems to me, is complete hogwash. Whether the game is set in a "playful alternate life" or not, games that focus on building relationships (and games in general) make social commentaries, whether intended or not. The fact that the game does not allow same sex marriages is in itself a social commentary. It may not be representative of the company's position on the issue (if it has any) or even of the developers' stance. It may be that it is simply a response to the markets. However, this does not mean that the game does not make a statement in the issue, because when taken as an individual text itself, it does. That first section of Nintendo's answer is both out of touch and unnecessary.  From a culture / society perspective, it is simply wrong.

However, from a technical perspective, Nintendo may have a point. I have seen too many comments saying that all Nintendo has to do is change a variable from "not marry" to "marry", when this is not the case. These comments don't take into account how coding and game development actually work. My purpose in writing this is not to defend Nintendo, as much to explain a process. In that spirit, let me first explain what would actually have to be done as far as the game's design, then give some simple examples of code. I will then conclude with an opinion of what Nintendo should do.

8 DC Heroes That Can Kick Butt With No Powers....And Are Not Batman.

    Doctor Q wrote a list about super beings recently and since I love Superheroes and Free Comic Book Day just passed, I figured I would try to do a list of my own. If only to spark some debate among the Pop Trends crew. 

   Batman is a source of debate here at PT. Personally, I love Batman. But let’s be realistic. He is seriously overrated. I understand that he is a master detective, above average fighter and a brilliant mind in every aspect, which has more than earned his spot in the Justice League, but the fact is that he is not the best human in the universe. Batman’s strength lies behind the scenes and people tend to forget that. Hollywood hasn’t helped alleviate that image either. People often tend to forget that Batman was created around the height of Superman’s popularity and as intentionally made the complete opposite of Superman, in order to capitalize on a market that wasn’t into god-like beings that punch things who suffer from rock allergies.

The Most Powerful Things in Comics

THE MOST POWERFUL IN OCEANS! TROLOLO!

It has become apparent to me since I began reading up on comic book gods that there is some disagreement as to what entity is the most powerful. The internet is abound with lists that no one really cares for as they don't really explain anything, while at the same time there are near dissertations explaining why some character or another is the most powerful. There are even some really poorly made ones like this one! *points at the image used for number 1* Some even seem to think that Batman is the most powerful because he's Batman and has contingency plans.

Ugh.

Irrational wishful thinking based on a few panels of some comic book saga where the writer looked down and smiled fondly at Batman and decided to throw good writing out the window and give the Batster the ability to pummel Superman or The Hulk aside, I thought that I would take an objective look at the actual most powerful beings in the Marvel and DC universes and do a Who's Who and settle all questions about it once and for all [but not really]. Yes, my dear editor, I know that sentence was too long for your tastes. No, I don't intend on changing it. Trololo ^___^

Now then, without further ado, a top.... (let me ask the editor how many I can put)...
[30 minutes after] (no answer).... TOP 10! 8!(20 more minutes in and the editor told me to do 8).

Some Random Thoughts on why Final Fantasy: Lightning Returns Doesn't Meet Expectations.

This is a sister post to some random thoughts on Open Worlds that I put up on my page <ON STUFF>, and a basic sort of freewriting of ideas for a longer piece reflecting on the nature of design in RPGs.

I have had a love-hate relationship with Fabula Nova Crystallis (the Final Fantasy XIII series) since the first title was released. The battle system was superb (perhaps one of the best in any JRPG) and the overall story was "good enough", but the way in which the story was delivered left a lot to be desired, there wasn't enough character development, and the world felt like a nothing more than a long corridor. Final Fantasy XIII-2 was more enjoyable. It kept the great battle system, threw in a nonsensical yet scientifically sound story (see Everett's Many Worlds interpretation of quantum physics), and characters were treated more respectfully than they had in the previous title. The most recent iteration, Final Fantasy: Lightning Returns, rewards the faithful to the series with what is inarguable not only the worst title in the Fabula Nova Crystallis saga, but possibly the worst Final Fantasy title in existence with the exception of that wonderful iPad thing Final Fantasy: All the Bravest. 

Frozen is about argumentation theory!

Toys made me want to see the movie

Bad criticism ruined Frozen for me. Oddly enough, I became interested in watching the movie not because of commercials or controversies (of which I thankfully remained largely ignorant until after my first viewing), but because of toys. For those of you unfamiliar with videogames (or who don't have kids), Disney Infinity is a videogame where players buy Disney figures / toys, places them in a portal, and then use them in the Disney Infinity game (think Skylanders with Disney). Before I even heard of the movie, I saw the Frozen figures, and they looked really cool. I didn't know what movie they were from, but the Elsa and Anna figures were cool enough to get me interested in the movie. When the movie came out, I took my family to see it, and we had a great time.

Elsa and Anna, sisters.

The story is about two sisters, one of whom has the power to control ice (Elsa). Because of an accident, her parents ask her to keep her powers hidden. The two princesses grow up locked in a castle, with Elsa practicing how to keep her powers under control, until the day for Elsa's coronation (at age 21) comes. During the coronation ceremony, she loses control of her powers and flees to the remote cold of the mountains. There, in solitude, she discovers her true self and creates magnificent structures using her powers. The rest of the movie features Anna, the younger princess, trying to help her sister realize that to control her powers she needs to open up and that it's all about love. During the journey, Anna meets a prince, a commoner with a reindeer, a talking snowman who wants to live in summer, and a host of other memorable characters, both good and bad. At the end of the movie, Anna discovers that love for her family (sister) is far truer and more important than any kind of romantic love.

When it boils down to it, Frozen is all about love between siblings. The movie explores romantic love in the form of Anna and the prince (and later Anna and reindeer man), and judges it wanting when compared to the love shared between family. 

But not everyone saw the movie that way..

Awesome Final Fantasy Weapons

Mythic Weapons from Final Fantasy XI

   Not so long ago, Doctor Q did an article regarding stupid weapons in games. While I mainly agreed with him (I still think Final Fantasy VIII’s gunblades are beyond stupid), in this article I want to point out some deliberately awesome ones in the main installments of the Final Fantasy games. Here are some of the more memorable ones to me, whether because of how cool they look, their sheer destructive power or if they straight out broke the game. Let’s take a look at some Final Fantasy game weapons.

Outgrowing Heroes: Retro-Gaming Final Fantasy VII and VIII

    
As a teenage girl gamer during the Playstation one era, I was introduced to my favorite video game fandom, Final Fantasy. Though they were my first ones, I liked them so much that I played the older ones. Now an adult, I recently decided to retro play Final Fantasy VII and VIII after not playing them for about ten or so years. What a difference time makes.

Observations in Pop Culture - Let's Be Smart, Courteous Fans, Ok?

  

Every day people talk about pop culture, whether its movies, comics or more mundane stuff, like celebrities and music. Yet something I’ve noticed is how often people in general, regardless of how we classify them, tend to say “X thing sucks!” without ever having experienced it in full. 

   Sometimes my friends stumble into material in my search histories, physical and digital libraries that makes them question my taste. They rarely believe it’s for research purposes. Then again, I don’t tend to explain my research either, so it doesn’t help. Yet as a believer in the “I’ll respect your opinion on this if you tell me exactly why you hate it” philosophy, I feel it’s my duty to find out why something is popular or hated.

Gaming Day - The Crappy Weapons of the Videogame World

This week, I want to write about weapons - videogame weapons, that is. In a conversation with Random V, the topic of the dumbest videogame weapons came up. When talking about Final Fantasy VIII, a game that I rather enjoy and she hates, she said that Squall's Gunblade has got to be the dumbest weapon ever. This prompted me to explore idiotic weapons and come up with a worst weapons list.

Now, it's easy enough to list weapons I personally don't like (oversized shiny BFG-types), or weapons that are impossible for a human to wield (Cloud's Buster Sword), or that just are outright silly in the context of "weapons" (the South Park snowball), but instead I propose a simple process. We must ask: Is it a ridiculous weapon in the context of similar games? Then, is it a ridiculous weapon in the context of the franchise? Finally, is it a ridiculous weapon in the context of the game? Weapons that answer "yes" to all three questions will be included, while weapons that answer "yes" to only one or two will be considered. Also, they can't be joke weapons. Just useless or ridiculous. If there are several weapons in a single franchise, we will use dual entries.

For example, let us consider Squall's gunblade. Within the real world, yes, a sword where the user presses a trigger to fire up the target that they have already cut in half is stupid. However, when taken in the context of sci-fi RPGs, a futuristic sword isn't ridiculous. In the context of Final Fantasy, a specialty sword is pretty much an everyday thing. And in the context of Final Fantasy 8, it can be argued that the Gunblade is actually one of the better weapons.

So then, with that in mind, let us explore the crappiest weapons in videogames.

The Ultimate Match: God vs. Death (Supernatural)

A raging debate in the Supernatural fan community is whether Death is more powerful than God. Top 10 most powerful characters list are always topped by God and Death alternating for the first and second spot. The assumptions that people make when deciding who is more powerful comes down to a conversation that Death had with Dean on season 5 episode 21, where Death says that God is a living being and that at the end of time Death will reap God. Those who believe Death place him as the most powerful character, while those who think that Death is bluffing place him on the second spot. Most of these lists, however, do not offer any rationale. In this piece, I will explore the God / Death problem and offer a definitive solution. 

Socialize Via Constant Updates by Carlos Encarnación

   Recently, I’ve been reading two mangas that deal with problems regarding social situations. WaTamote deals with a social anxiety disorder, while Waratte! Sotomura-san is about ‘stereotype’ generated social problems. These mangas got me thinking about how we humans view the need for socialization and acceptance, and how recent advances in technology have changed our daily interactions.

   In one of the manga the main character wants to be popular, but suffers from social anxiety disorder, which involves being afraid to talk to people, she panics if talked to, or has to talk to someone. Social anxiety has many manifestations and most people probably suffer from it, some extreme case, other rather light that doesn’t affect them much. Some people may hide their hobbies, age, salary, studies, etc. to fit into a circle they think is comfortable. Still there is one type of social anxiety that I’d like to touch on and which has been the butt of constant jokes in several forms of media. Which is the ‘escape’ to formality in form of reading Facebook during group gathering (be it with family or friends).

   WaTamote actually omits one prominent ‘social’ activity: social media. It never once mentions social website such as Facebook. Waratte! Sotomura-san shows characters using Twitter, but is still narrative of ‘stereotype’ social problem when use. Everyone views the character Sotomura as a ‘delinquent’ cause of her clothing and form of speech (rough), but in reality she is actually sensitive girl that loves everything cute and things done by the rules. The manga makes joke of Twitter character limitations and the writing of Sotomura comes out as rough and misinterpreted that ‘followers’ thing she is telling her delinquent acts.

 This forms of ‘social problems’ the main characters of the manga got me thinking, what other current social problems young (and even adults) and I decide to analyze one of them. Let’s try this: go to a restaurant and look at the tables. You might notice a lot of the tables have people using cellphone, giving you a clear idea that most people would rather look at messages, Facebook, or website than the person in front of them. The need for constant information or amusement kills the quiet moment of simply looking at one another. That small but essential silent moment when you feel comfortable with the other person, even if nothing is spoken, is now considered an awkward moment we should always avoid. The need for constant information (in social media, that is), or oversharing, of what you are doing seems to be a syndrome where people ‘need to tell the experience instead of living it’.

  People seem to prefer reverting back into something comfortable that they already know and are familiar with by simply reading friend information, looking at funny pictures, or posting something themselves instead of speaking with the person in front of them. This seems to be the norm even if they are with a friend of years. I think this is one kind of social anxiety to deal with: not having something to say or thinking that everything you might say is silly or stupid. Just like WaTamote escapes her social anxiety by imaging ‘what if’ and blames other that she isn’t popular, we direct ourselves to a bright screen to escape the fear that we aren’t interesting, and in the process we might make the other person think they aren’t interesting. Slowly, we are creating a non-person-socializing environment were the only words we say are ‘Hello, is that a Galaxy S4?’ before seeing the post your friend from another state posted to his/her wall as means to socialize in life.

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Carlos Encarnacion has a BA in communications and marketing from Metropolitan University (UMET) and is currently an Audiovisual and Media Specialist working for several companies. 

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This week, Carlos has been kind enough to be the guest writer for Pop Trends, hopefully, we'll have him again

No Gods, No Kings, Only 'Mon

By tsaoshin

Twitch Plays Pokemon is a Twitch.tv stream where people could log in and simultaneously controll a single game of Pokemon. Commands input through chat are queued and performed in game in the order that they were input. This led to the character running around in circles, discarding items, and just outright doing things that a single person would not even consider during a normal playthrough. 

During the first run of Twitch Plays Pokemon, an incredible lore was created in order to explain the events of the game as controlled by The Hivemind (all the players). In order to explain why Red constantly used the Helix Fossil, the community explained that he was consulting Lord Helix for guidance, as the voices in his head (The Hivemind) instructed.  In order to explain why Pidgeot had such a high level when compared to the other pokemon, the community explained that the bird was the Chosen Messiah of Helix, Bird Jesus.  

As the game grew in popularity, more lore was created, until finally, The Hivemind defeated Blue (the final boss) and became champion. Red's final party consisted of Lord Helix the Omastar (a god), Bird Jesus the Pidgeot (a messiah), AA-J the Zapdos (an angel), Fonz the Nidoking (a king), Air Jordan (a prince), and All Terrain Venomoth (an all-terrain vehicle, the Dragonslayer).  

Comic Book Thursdays: Crossovers!!

This is the stuff nightmares are made of.

   Once upon a time, comic books were limited to whatever universe they belonged in. Superman stayed in Metropolis, Batman stayed in Gotham city and Spiderman stayed in Manhattan. Heroes either made cameo appearances in other turfs or ignored them all together.

  Then in the 80’s the DC and Marvel universes crossed over. They proceeded to do it again in the 90’s, which in turn spawned some of the most unholy abominations ever conceived from mankind. Ever heard of Dark Claw, the unholy union of Wolverine and Batman? Or Super-Soldier, the ultimate American hero that is not G.I. Joe, but rather a Superman/Captain America Hybrid? Or better still, let’s try Shatterstarfire which is where I like to think that the creative juices just turned into cyanide laced Kool-Aid.

Gaming X-Day: The Elder Scrolls Online

I should have posted yesterday, but suddenly a wild thing I had to do appeared, so here's my "Wednesday" post on Thursday.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of participating in the ESO beta. I created two characters, liked one more than the other, faffed around, did quests, killed monsters, and by and large enjoyed every minute of it. Sadly, I didn't have time to explore the entirety of the ESO world, but what I did explore left me wanting more. Below some comments about my travels.

Gaming Wednesdays: Gaming in the 90s

A few weeks ago I wrote a rant about how gaming during the 80s was great because each system had its own personality as shown through different games, as opposed to today where all the systems have essentially the same games with a few exclusives. I left it at a hint that I would later write about THE Console Wars, and then disappeared. I apologize for disappearing, but here I am now!

Tadah!

So... 1990s... 16 bit...

Have You Accepted [Insert Fandom Name Here] Into Your Life?

Image by Rancyd. Buy the T-Shirt here.

“So V, Have you ever watched Supernatural?"

“I think you’d like Doctor Who.”

   Once upon a time these were statements said to me by both, friends and family. Often when we are surrounded by people who share our love for something, it tends to lead to other fandoms. Harry Potter might lead into Percy Jackson. Supernatural might lead you into Being Human and Doctor Who might lead you into Torchwood. We become involved in our fandoms and try to indoctrinate our peers into them, hoping that we can convert them.

Valentine's Day and Our Fictional Crushes

   With Valentine’s Day taking place this week, it seemed appropriate to me that we speak about romance. Since Pop Trends is run by three people of the single variety, I asked my two other collaborators who in the fandom universe is their fictional crush. Some of the answers might surprise you while others may not, but in the end you’ll notice something a relevant trend in the people chosen below.

Gaming Wednesdays: Gaming in the 80s

8 bit wut?

Young kids on the internets these days run around putting their X Box Ones and Playstations Fours on a pedestal screaming at the top of their lungs the glories of their favorite system and calling those who like other consoles "Noob". They think they're so entrenched in their "console wars" talking about which version of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is slightly better than the other. Ah, these kids. They don't know what a REAL console war is about. All them fancy gizamadoos and multiplat games... they're pretty much the same console with a different logo on the front. That's not a console war. The REAL console wars happened back in the day, during the 80s and the 90s, when gaming, like a GLORIOUS phoenix, rose from the ashes of the Great Crash of 1983 to become the large blob of sameness that it is today. Join me, now. Let me tell you a story. A story of a great industry that fell, and then rose, and that at war with itself grew exponentially, until it forgot what it had originally been, to become what it is today.

Young Adult Literature: Random Musings, Inspirations and Dreams - A Reflection on the Genre

All my life I've wanted to be a young adult fantasy literature writer. I don't remember which Young Adult literature book changed my life but I do remember many that at some point in my life have offered guidance, advice or inspiration to me. The genre is especially dear to me, since it's one catered to audiences often ignored, underestimated and with just as many problems as adults. 

Whenever I write fiction I tend to go out. Parks, malls, coffee shops and the occasional restaurants often provide me inspiration but when I really need to connect with my fiction I turn to libraries. No matter where I sit, I think of the Young Adult section and things just seem to flow together in harmony, almost as if the words suddenly decided to dance unto the paper or screen. 

This is what YA Lit does to people

A bookshelf YA BOOKS YEA

The editor set today's topic for the special significance that Young Adult literature has to each of us. In my case, everything I am, professionally speaking, I owe to YA literature. In an oversimplified description, I get paid to tell people what I think about stuff I read and play. That's the popular perception anyway. The truth is that I teach students critical thinking skills, writing techniques, reading strategies, and analytic approaches that they can use in their quest for personal and professional growth.  Yes, I lecture at a university. And how did this happen?

Unique Love Stories: Finding the Needle in the Haystack in YA Literature by Miss Jay Gray

   Let’s be honest, the Young Adult genre is saturated with love stories. From books like the Twilight series, to even books that are not romantic stories like the Hunger Games series – they all include, at the very least, hints of romance and, most frequently, the dreaded love triangle. One could argue that the entire YA genre itself is saturated, since most novels seems to be following in the footsteps of the more ‘original’ and ‘popular’ novels in the genre. But every once in a while, one finds a treasure amongst the mounds of copycats – a needle in the haystack. Rainbow Rowell is one of those hidden gems.

   Not since J.K. Rowling have I found such a wonderful and entertaining writer. I discovered Rowell when her YA novel, Eleanor & Park, was chosen as the best YA read of 2013 on the reading site Goodreads. At first I was hesitant because the summary sounded quite general – like any other YA romance novel, awkward girl meets the guy of her dreams. As I started reading, though, I quickly realized I was in for a very different kind of romantic story.

First of all, the novel takes place in the 80s, a completely different setting from the present and future worlds typical to the YA genre. Second, and most important, our main girl Eleanor is not your typical love-struck Mary-Sue; she is an overweight girl trying to get through high school while at the same time living through a lot of serious – very serious – problems at home. Park comes into her life at just the right moment and their relationship doesn’t develop overnight, there is a slow buildup of emotions that makes the reader fall in love with these two strange characters and their odd relationship.

   Moments after finishing Eleanor & Park, I knew I had to have another hit of Rowell’s marvelous writing and amazing characters, so I quickly turned to her other YA novel Fangirl, of which I had heard amazing things as well. I did not disappoint. If I thought Eleanor & Park was a unique love story, then Fangirl was one step ahead, because it didn’t feel like I was reading a love story at all. Partly because it was so well done and mostly because I was too busy wondering how Rowell had managed to write a novel about my fanfic-writing, yaoi-loving, Harry Potter-fanatic self. Cather’s love story is not only about a boy (whose name I won’t give away for the sake of SPOILERS), but also about the books series she loves and her twin sister. Like Eleanor, Cather also has many serious problems at home, but through her various love stories she is able to find herself as a person and her place as a writer.

    Rainbow Rowell has truly been an amazing discovery. Not since Suzanne Collins released The Hunger Games back in 2008 have I been this excited about an upcoming YA author. So I encourage you all to discover the magic within the pages of her books – the needle in the YA romance haystack has been found.

Miss Jay Gray

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Miss Jay Gray is one of our experts in Young Adult literature. Not only does she specializes in this genre, but she's also an avid fan of everything anime, gaming, and cosplay. Her love for this type of literature has given her an opportunity to study it from an academic perspective. Expect great things form Miss Jay Gray, because here, at PT, we'll be looking forward to more collaborations with her.