TITLE: YA
GENRE: Secret
I remember the end of the world very vividly. Not like, “Oh my God, Harper, Vivian Hall just told the entire class that you started your period in gym class,” teenager end of the world. I mean, the literal end of the world.
In old movies, this literal end of the world typically revolves around one of three specific scenarios.
One: Aliens invade our planet to take over our resources and show the galaxy that they’re the big kids on the playground.
Two: There is some crazy zombie epidemic that turns us all into flesh eaters who stumble around looking like lost tourists down in Times Square.
Three: An asteroid plummets towards the earth and, much to our dismay, Bruce Willis is unavailable to pull off his last minute save the world routine.
Instead, my literal end of the world starts with silence.
Miss Snark's First Victim
Dystopian, so SciFi.
ReplyDeleteIt says it's the literal end of the world, yet we have a narrator telling us about the aftermath.
PARANORMAL
ReplyDeleteGoing out on a limb here. I really like this, especially the last line. But while the feel is humorous, maybe even contemporary, the end-of-the-world stuff points to something more alternate-worldly. And, that last line suggests this story hinges on something very personal for the MC, rather than (duh) one of the three apocalypse scenarios s/he lists. Paranormal seems to split the difference between fantasy and contemporary...
SCIENCE FICTION
ReplyDeleteBetween the end of the world and the old movies the narrator is mentioning, I think this is set in the future.
Science Fiction
ReplyDeleteAll of the examples had science fiction feels to them, so I'm thinking that this, too, is SF.
Paranormal / Fantasy
ReplyDeleteI agree with BrigidG. I think it a more personal end of the world by that last line.
Science Fiction
ReplyDeleteThe opening clearly references the end of the world and various apocalyptic scenarios, so I assume this is a post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel. That makes it SF.
Sci-fi
ReplyDeleteThe world has ended, although there are apparently survivors which means post apocalypse to me.
SCIENCE FICTION
ReplyDeleteIt could also be dystopian, but the lines about aliens and asteroids makes be think it's more sci fi.
I'd go with post-apocalyptic, since the character still remembers how the end of the world came about. In broader terms, I guess that would be science fiction.
ReplyDeleteContemporary
ReplyDeleteOkay, I was totally going to go with Dystopian, but then that last line about the end of the world starting with silence made me think that maybe she lost her hearing--which could be an end of the world (at least as she knows it) so I went with Contemporary.
:)
Dystopian
ReplyDeleteThe end of the world and all that. But I have to say the previous guess of Contemporary may be on to something.
Dystopian
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting!
Post-apocalyptic.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the very last line of it "starting".
POST-APOCALYPTIC
ReplyDeleteBecause of the end of the world, but after reading the comments, I think Joan Stradling might be on to something.
POST - APOCALYPTIC
ReplyDeleteSounds the world has already ended and our narrator is telling the story.
FANTASY?
ReplyDeleteI actually can't guess easily, but it could as easily move in the magic replaces science direction as anywhere else.
I like the sardontic tone, but I'm not sure if the world is literally ended or not. It's quite playful. It's not dark enough for post-apocalyptic or dystopian.
I'd certainly keep reading to find out though
I'm going to go with sci-fi. I love the voice here, and since both contemporary and fantastical examples for what "isn't" the type she's talking about, it's sort of a toss up.
ReplyDeleteSci-fi. If the world is done and the narrator is still talking, we're not on that world.
ReplyDeleteI'm voting sci-fi since it's set in the future with an end=or-world scenario. Fun voice!
ReplyDeleteSci-fi, but it does have tones of contemporary fiction. A teen girl dying of something. I liked the voice, but found the opening list off-putting. Good luck with it. Sarah
ReplyDeleteContemporary-
ReplyDeleteI was very much leaning toward Post-Apocalyptic, because in the opening you say "end of the world." But near the end, you say "my literal end of the world." That made it feel more contemporary.
Dystopian.
ReplyDeleteBut funny! End of the world says bleak future, but this one will be humorous. Or set at a golf tournament. Good luck!
POST-APOCALYPTIC
ReplyDeleteBecause if you're talking about "the end of the world," everything that comes after it must be post-apocalyptic.
Science Fiction
ReplyDeleteThe SF examples of world endings strongly suggest this. I presume the narrator survives elsewhere, so that could leave the door open for fantasy, alternate world or alternative history, but that's not the way it's leaning for me.
DYSTOPIAN, with Sci-Fi elements. (Is that cheating?)
ReplyDeleteThe multiple mentions of the end of the world make me think this is dystopian, but the dual references to aliens make me think that the world will end with some science fictiony twist.
Great voice! :)
Contemporary.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Joan. I immediately thought of a sudden hearing loss. An "ordinary" catastrophe, rather than the extraordinary catastrophe of the end of world examples.
Post-apocalyptic sci fi at a guess. Not a dystopia, since that requires big government involvement and we don't see that anywhere. Main character has to have been involved in normal teenage life to know what that's like, and has to think of a 1998 film as an "old movie" - though to be fair, a kid born in 1998 would be 16 now, so maybe it is old to a YA character. Still, seems like this is set in future Earth, and the main character survived the aftermath of some apocalyptic event.
ReplyDeleteDystopian - the end of the world
ReplyDeletePOST-APOCALYPTIC (um, by definition)
ReplyDeleteThe end of the world makes it obvious, though it's not clear yet where it's going after that. The MC remembers it, so it's recent. The MC also uses examples that they would have to have been familiar with before the end of the world (because presumably, teenagers do not watch old movies or complain about gym class after the end of the world), which makes me think it's very recent.
Which makes me wonder if remembering the end of the world vividly is something the MC would consider unique, or if it's just a trick to grab our attention.
Personally, I'm less interested in what old movies have to say about the end of the world and more interested in what actually happened. I think paragraphs 2-4 could be combined into a single sentence and get us into this world more quickly.
Science fiction!
ReplyDeleteAliens, zombies, and references to Bruce Willis and asteroids are great clues.
I love the voice--it's humorous and believably teenagerish.
I really love this voice.
ReplyDeleteDystopian scifi!
Also, in case you're wondering, I'm hooked.
Sci-fi/post apocalyptic
ReplyDeleteHmm, all the end of the world stuff! (like it too!)
Post-apocalyptic
ReplyDeleteThe narrator says the world ended, but it seems to have ended too recently to be dystopian.
Speculative Fiction
ReplyDeleteAt first, I thought Dystopian since it was the end of the world. But the writing was a bit on the humorous side, so I thought probably not. And then the silence had me thinking along the lines of 'The Day the Earth Stood Still.' So, yeah, Speculative Fiction.
Science fiction
ReplyDeleteBecause the character says, "literal end of the world..."
And I love the voice, too, whatever the genre.
This is my entry!
ReplyDeleteFirst, a big thank you to all of you who ventured a guess and for your thoughts. They are greatly appreciated!
To our lovely host, I'm not sure how specific you want as far as genre/sub genre, but my novel is science fiction (more broadly) and on a more specific level it would be much more post-apocalyptic than dystopian (although it does contain elements of both depending on where you are in the story).
You guys all did amazing! And I never thought of it the way the contemporary guessers were going, but such an interesting idea.
Thank you again to everyone who commented and to our host :)