A Review of the YA Fantasy Genre

I've been reading quite a bit of the YA (young adult) fantasy genre lately, and I have to say, overall I'm disappointed.

Not about everything.  I've turned to YA in recent months because my lifelong go-to genre, adult sci-fi/fantasy, has left me crying out for the tiniest breath of original thought.  YA, I feel, has some of the best, most original stories out there right now.  They're also usually more fun and funny than their adult counterparts, which take themselves much too seriously, especially considering their subject matter.

Amazingly creative as some of the stories are, there are a few basics that many authors in genre just kind of skip when it suits them.

This is the story that doesn't end.
With the exception of snobby literature, where ending a story without actually ending it is "edgy" or "art," no novel should be over before it really does end.  You can't just leave entire huge plotlines unfinished; that makes readers unhappy.  I'm not saying summarize the rest of the characters' lives, I'm saying, if the whole book is about two characters getting married to end a war, and then you end the book with the characters confessing their love for each other and just stop writing without mention of the war at all, that's bad.

"I can't explain it!"
This has been a huge problem in many YA fantasy books I've read.  We're going along fine, liking the book pretty well, when all of the sudden an event happens that's not explainable even by the magic in the book. 
For example, in one book I read this week, a girl falls from hundreds of feet in the air while flying over a battle taking place on a mountaintop, then wakes up in her bed. She even wonders to herself how it happens, then says, "To this day, I can't explain it."  
Excuse me?  You, the writer, the supreme being in this universe, can't come up with something?  To me that says, "I am either too lazy or not talented enough to come up with a plausible explanation, so this is what you get."  Not good enough, my friend.  Not good enough.

Race to the finish.
A suitable climax wraps up all of the big stuff, the guy gets the girl, the spell is broken, etc., etc.  At this time, a good writer will wind down and take the time to give you a really great ending, because as we learned in high school, while the climax usually happens towards the end, it is not actually the end.  The climax usually has aftermath that needs to be dealt with.  Who lived after that large battle?  Who died?  What direction are things going in now, i. e., happily ever after (stand-alone book) or not as great as we had hoped (sequel coming soon)? These are the questions that are usually answered post-climax; this is the time to show the reader how things actually stand.  A lot of YA books, having gotten us through the climax, feel like that's enough.  I may be alone here, but I just don't feel like it is.

"I hate you with a passion that burns, as I have for 200 pages!  No!  Come back!  The book is ending and I just decided exactly right now that I love you!  Let's get married!"
 That pretty much sums that one up.  The worst part is that this happens in almost every single YA book I read.  Every.  Single.  One. 
Granted, it's not always like that.  Sometimes they randomly decide to be in love at the beginning or middle of the story. But for it to feel real, a relationship like this needs time to develop, unless you can explain it with some kind of instantaneous, magical bonding, which some stories do.  (A sudden attack of endless love is something I'm working on with my own story right now.  As it stands, things are too rushed.)

On an unrelated note, my two year old is walking around saying, "Simmer down, man!"  Maybe that's what I need to do.