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Books and Reality

Books and Reality

One thing I know that I automatically think of when I see the words “reality” and “books” together is contemporary fiction. It’s set in the real world, there’s nothing supernatural or paranormal going on, and we’re not living in a dystopian society where kids have to kill other kids. Obviously contemporary is realistic.

But what if all those supernatural, paranormal, dystopian-y books were realistic too?

I started thinking about this during my last conversation with Bobbie. We’ve both read This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales now, and it occurred to me that in some ways I would have called it a pointless book. The girl randomly finds a club, meets the DJ, becomes the best DJ in town. It’s kind of a fairy tale. I won’t spoil the story for you, but it didn’t end up being a fairy tale. Choices had consequences, learning brought her struggles, the way people acted didn’t necessarily tell you who they were. There was a lot of reality in that fairy tale, and I think that’s why I liked it so much.

When it comes to other readers, I’ve noticed that they are often very particular about their feelings for a book (or movie, for that matter). “Oh, he’s running up against fifty men, they’re all shooting at him, and they all miss. Yeah right.” Yet here I am crying during the two Hunger Games movies. Why? Because, to me, they’re realistic.

Expectations vs Reality GIF

When I read a book, I need to relate to the characters. If I can’t do that, it’s going to be a meh or terrible read for me. If things get too coincidental, I get bothered. I like to see people get out of their own problems. Not randomly have a superhero we haven’t met before the incident swoop in and save the day. What kind of story telling is that? Feels like a get out of jail free card to me.

Look at any great book. You know the ones I’m talking about. Were there realistic qualities in them? We’re there qualities in the characters that made you stick with them?

And then think about those books you didn’t like. What about them? Was the protagonist some pile of mush you don’t care about?

Don’t even get me started on how our lovely protagonist (usually someone described as hot) meets some “hot” person and they end up all happily ever after in the end. Like, what even is that? (To see more of my thoughts on insta-love. . .)

But that’s the thing. The books that we think would be realistic, aren’t always realistic, and the books that we’d say are out of this world unrealistic, have realistic properties. Why were books like the Harry Potter series so popular? They were well written, had a vastly interesting world, and, when you come down to it, had realistic characters. Harry came from being this unpopular, somewhat abused child to finding out that what everyone hated about him back home made him perfectly normal to another set of people. Although he was somewhat popular in the wizarding world, his friends are Ron and Hermione, two misfits who are really wonderful little kids. Hermione is your overachiever who is new to the world and has to do her best. Ron is that kid with all the handmedown items. However you look at it, there’s a lot for kids to relate to there. Maybe we weren’t wizards, but we were kids who understood what it was like to not always fit in.

When I say I want a realistic book, I don’t always mean contemporary or historic fiction. What I mean is that I want something I can understand. A book with a protagonist I can relate to and experience a realistic world with.

What about you? What makes a book realistic to you? Let me know in the comments below!

30 Comments


  1. // Reply

    This is so true Kelsey! I have to admit, there’s not many contemporaries out there that are actually that realistic, and there’s a lot of fantasy books that cover your real-life aspects like racism, abuse, suicide, controlling governments and adoptive families. Great topic and great discussion šŸ˜€


    1. // Reply

      It’s almost sad considering that you’d expect contemporaries to be the realistic ones. But, I don’t know. Who am I to judge? I just like things that have realistic qualities, no matter the genre.


  2. // Reply

    This is so true Kelsey! I have to admit, there’s not many contemporaries out there that are actually that realistic, and there’s a lot of fantasy books that cover your real-life aspects like racism, abuse, suicide, controlling governments and adoptive families. Great topic and great discussion šŸ˜€


    1. // Reply

      It’s almost sad considering that you’d expect contemporaries to be the realistic ones. But, I don’t know. Who am I to judge? I just like things that have realistic qualities, no matter the genre.


  3. // Reply

    Oh, I so agree. I’m all for realistic books…whether they’re set in epic worlds or in contemporary worlds. It all boils down to the characters for me. Because, while you can change the setting and make it fantastical (yay! love that!), people are PEOPLE and they’re going to react a certain way (you know, adding in different personalities and stuff). I love This Song Will Save Your Life, btw. šŸ˜‰ I don’t care if it was a slightly mushy fairy tale. I LOVED IT. *sobs with feels*


    1. // Reply

      This Song Will Save Your Life gives me so many feels and I almost kind of want to reread it now. . . But, yes. It’s all about the characters. The settings and stuff is all AWESOME, of course, but it’s the characters that really make me love a story. I need them to be real and relatable and pretty in a way that isn’t external.


  4. // Reply

    Oh, I so agree. I’m all for realistic books…whether they’re set in epic worlds or in contemporary worlds. It all boils down to the characters for me. Because, while you can change the setting and make it fantastical (yay! love that!), people are PEOPLE and they’re going to react a certain way (you know, adding in different personalities and stuff). I love This Song Will Save Your Life, btw. šŸ˜‰ I don’t care if it was a slightly mushy fairy tale. I LOVED IT. *sobs with feels*


    1. // Reply

      This Song Will Save Your Life gives me so many feels and I almost kind of want to reread it now. . . But, yes. It’s all about the characters. The settings and stuff is all AWESOME, of course, but it’s the characters that really make me love a story. I need them to be real and relatable and pretty in a way that isn’t external.


  5. // Reply

    My brain hurts a little trying to figure out what I want to say here LOL. I totally agree that dystopian and paranormal can feel realistic or super fake. It’s all in the storytelling. If the author makes it sounds ridiculous and things just happen too easily no matter what the genre, I am rolling my eyes. There are plenty of contemporaries (The DUFF by Kody Keplinger) where I was like “This would NEVER happen!!!”. The only difference is I probably hold contemporaries to a higher standard because the world isn’t pretend… so the characters should be more developed! Cool topic!!!!


    1. // Reply

      You know, I can completely get that. You’re right. I do hold contemporary to a higher standard because it’s supposed to be real. It’s easier to expect a more fantastical genre to let me down in realism, but I expect it from a contemporary. Excellent point!


  6. // Reply

    My brain hurts a little trying to figure out what I want to say here LOL. I totally agree that dystopian and paranormal can feel realistic or super fake. It’s all in the storytelling. If the author makes it sounds ridiculous and things just happen too easily no matter what the genre, I am rolling my eyes. There are plenty of contemporaries (The DUFF by Kody Keplinger) where I was like “This would NEVER happen!!!”. The only difference is I probably hold contemporaries to a higher standard because the world isn’t pretend… so the characters should be more developed! Cool topic!!!!


    1. // Reply

      You know, I can completely get that. You’re right. I do hold contemporary to a higher standard because it’s supposed to be real. It’s easier to expect a more fantastical genre to let me down in realism, but I expect it from a contemporary. Excellent point!


  7. // Reply

    I think for me it’s usually the characters that make the most difference (I’m actually thinking of doing a while post on this) If the characters are flawed, and aren’t idealised but actually act like, human beings rather than being entirely perfect, the stories heading the right way. It really annoys when you get stories where the main character is beautiful, skilled, intelligent, kind and gets thrown into an awful situation but manages everything fine. When I see a character struggle I can relate to them and for me that’s most important for a realistic story.
    And those love triangles? I might have to do a whole post on that as well…


    1. // Reply

      EXACTLY. Life is a struggle. I’m not there to read about how a character’s stars aligned. I’m there to see how they struggle and work. I’m there to root for them. And I think I saw your love triangle post come up in my feed the other day. I’m totally going to have to read that soon. I’m just so behind on reading everyone’s posts. . .


      1. // Reply

        I totally get you, and don’t worry about it, I know the feeling šŸ™‚ I’m so behind on posts right now too, they’re growing in my inbox like the Himalayas…


  8. // Reply

    I think for me it’s usually the characters that make the most difference (I’m actually thinking of doing a while post on this) If the characters are flawed, and aren’t idealised but actually act like, human beings rather than being entirely perfect, the stories heading the right way. It really annoys when you get stories where the main character is beautiful, skilled, intelligent, kind and gets thrown into an awful situation but manages everything fine. When I see a character struggle I can relate to them and for me that’s most important for a realistic story.
    And those love triangles? I might have to do a whole post on that as well…


    1. // Reply

      EXACTLY. Life is a struggle. I’m not there to read about how a character’s stars aligned. I’m there to see how they struggle and work. I’m there to root for them. And I think I saw your love triangle post come up in my feed the other day. I’m totally going to have to read that soon. I’m just so behind on reading everyone’s posts. . .


      1. // Reply

        I totally get you, and don’t worry about it, I know the feeling šŸ™‚ I’m so behind on posts right now too, they’re growing in my inbox like the Himalayas…


  9. // Reply

    I had a similar conversation with someone once. She argued that contemporary YA was not necessarily any more “realistic” than paranormal or fantasy stuff. At first I thought she was nuts, then when I thought about it more, I decided she had a really good point. I can find a contemporary story completely unbelievable, and I can find a fantasy story so believable that I feel like I could step into that world. Great topic šŸ™‚
    Thanks so much for stopping by! Jen @ YA Romantics


    1. // Reply

      It really isn’t any different. There are realistic and unrealistic worlds in each genre. I prefer the realistic ones, but I can’t always turn to contemporary to get them. That fact sometimes saddens me, but at least I have a chance with any genre I get! It’s like opening a surprise gift. I don’t know if I’ll get coal or something amazing until I read it.


  10. // Reply

    I had a similar conversation with someone once. She argued that contemporary YA was not necessarily any more “realistic” than paranormal or fantasy stuff. At first I thought she was nuts, then when I thought about it more, I decided she had a really good point. I can find a contemporary story completely unbelievable, and I can find a fantasy story so believable that I feel like I could step into that world. Great topic šŸ™‚
    Thanks so much for stopping by! Jen @ YA Romantics


    1. // Reply

      It really isn’t any different. There are realistic and unrealistic worlds in each genre. I prefer the realistic ones, but I can’t always turn to contemporary to get them. That fact sometimes saddens me, but at least I have a chance with any genre I get! It’s like opening a surprise gift. I don’t know if I’ll get coal or something amazing until I read it.


  11. // Reply

    It’s so hard for me to answer a question like this because often times I can overlook things in a book of any genre that seem unrealistic but in other ways it doesn’t work. It’s very subjective I think. This is a very interesting topic to discuss! I really think a lot of it comes down to character development and how they fit into the reality of their world.


    1. // Reply

      It really is subjective. Sometimes it depends on my mood. Generally, I prefer things that are more realistic than not, but it’s mostly character based. I can handle an unrealistic world. Well, depends HOW unrealistic we’re talking. If it’s dystopian? I prefer to see something I could actually envision the world coming to.


  12. // Reply

    It’s so hard for me to answer a question like this because often times I can overlook things in a book of any genre that seem unrealistic but in other ways it doesn’t work. It’s very subjective I think. This is a very interesting topic to discuss! I really think a lot of it comes down to character development and how they fit into the reality of their world.


    1. // Reply

      It really is subjective. Sometimes it depends on my mood. Generally, I prefer things that are more realistic than not, but it’s mostly character based. I can handle an unrealistic world. Well, depends HOW unrealistic we’re talking. If it’s dystopian? I prefer to see something I could actually envision the world coming to.


  13. // Reply

    I love this post, and meant to comment on it way earlier! I’m so with you on this. I really need something to relate to in order for me to really fall for a book. Something realistic is preferable, though I really think it is the writer’s writing that makes it realistic or not.

    Although in the end, it is the characters that make or break a book for me. I always say that, even in my reviews. I need great characters in order to be able to relate and to be able to get into a story.

    I love this discussion! Great post!


    1. // Reply

      That’s a great point. There are certain writing styles that just grate at me, and I could see how that could play a part. And I agree. It’s the characters that make it or break it. I mean, a world may be lovely or the plot could be interesting, but if it doesn’t have the right characters to propel us forward? Yeah, no, it’s not going to work.


  14. // Reply

    I love this post, and meant to comment on it way earlier! I’m so with you on this. I really need something to relate to in order for me to really fall for a book. Something realistic is preferable, though I really think it is the writer’s writing that makes it realistic or not.

    Although in the end, it is the characters that make or break a book for me. I always say that, even in my reviews. I need great characters in order to be able to relate and to be able to get into a story.

    I love this discussion! Great post!


    1. // Reply

      That’s a great point. There are certain writing styles that just grate at me, and I could see how that could play a part. And I agree. It’s the characters that make it or break it. I mean, a world may be lovely or the plot could be interesting, but if it doesn’t have the right characters to propel us forward? Yeah, no, it’s not going to work.

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