And yeah, it is remarkably common and getting more common, I would say. Not a trope I am fond of, even if it kind of drives the plot in this one (though that argues that there is something wrong with the plot, I guess...)
That and I Must Not Tell Anyone The Dangerous Secret For Absolutely No Good Reason Other Than Plot Convenience. Sigh. That one used to be reserved mostly for the second murder victim, but protags seem to be using it more and more these days. Creepy possible murderer stalker? But of course telling someone in authority, or even a friend, is totally out of the question.
Perhaps we are to assume that all YA protagonists are genuinely paranoid? Except when it comes to cute boys...
Yeah, it is not uncommon in YA these days. Not sure where it came from (I suspect Twilight, but I think it might pre-date that), but it is odd. There are *way* too many plots relying not on the bad guys being clever, but on the good guys being *stupid* for absolutely no reason. It shouldn't be too hard to have misinformation or suspicion get in the way of actually getting help if you need to for plot purposes! (I feel like the Pretty Little Liars series *generally* does a good job with this, though sometimes it falls into the same kind of trap.)
And yeah, it is remarkably common and getting more common, I would say. Not a trope I am fond of, even if it kind of drives the plot in this one (though that argues that there is something wrong with the plot, I guess...)
Yeah, it is not uncommon in YA these days. Not sure where it came from (I suspect Twilight, but I think it might pre-date that), but it is odd. There are *way* too many plots relying not on the bad guys being clever, but on the good guys being *stupid* for absolutely no reason. It shouldn't be too hard to have misinformation or suspicion get in the way of actually getting help if you need to for plot purposes! (I feel like the Pretty Little Liars series *generally* does a good job with this, though sometimes it falls into the same kind of trap.)