Who Was My Favorite Author and How I Got in to YA | 12 Days of Bookmas Day 4

Everybody has that author that segwayed them into a whole new world of book genres. Here's my story.



My favorite author used to be Amanda Hawking.

I got my first e-reader a few years ago. It was a black little Kindle Keyboard and I was in love. December and Christmas had never looked so promising. Immediately, I logged on to my new Amazon account, went straight to the Young Adult section, and started to browse.

There is was. My Blood Approves. IT WAS ONLY 99 CENTS. How could I say no? I bought it, downloaded it to my Kindle, and started to read.

And how disappointed I was. It was so much like Twilight! I couldn't believe it! Right down to that car scene! I started looking online for other people that thought that same thing as me. And one person on the forum I was looking at convinced me to keep reading - that it got better. And my god, did it!

I was sucked in and finished the book in two days (a feat for me at the time) and bought the next and the next. I downed the series in two months, read the companion novel. I think I may have even looked for fanfiction. She's done with the series for now, but she led me into a whole new world of fantasy - the Young Adult Kind.

My Blood Approves  took me into her other novels and soon to the Trylle series. Her books got me looking for more fantasy, more action. And I found it all with my Amazon Gift Card as my weapon, as my shield. My shield for more diverse books.

By the time a few years had gone by, I had sucked down so much. So much fantasy. I was full of fantasy. I needed a change. I needed it bad.  Then I became a nerdfighter and learned that John Green was an actual author and decided to give him and The Fault in Our Stars a try. I loved it, but I thought that the only, real reason was because it was John. The Perks of Being a Wallflower movie came out and I heard it was based on a book. I was a little skeptical because I had only read contemporary novels for school (besides TFIOS and I already said that it didn't count in my head) and blegh... contemporary. I decided to give it a shot, though and I loved it.

I had lived in this little fantasy world for so long and Amanda Hawking, I thank you. It's because I got tired of reading your books (definitely not for good though! I've picked some up since) that I decided to branch out. TFIOS and Perks have saved friendships and sparked new ones. I wouldn't be best friends with my best friend if it weren't for TFIOS. While some people may not see the connection, I decided to give contemporary books a shot because I was so tired of fantasy - because of you. You made me branch out and see new things, new stories, new ideas.

Thank you, Amanda Hawking. Thank you.