Hello today is the day when I get to complain amicably.
This is like gentle and lowkey complaining 😘 and partially is presented to you because I am having a mellow moody day after my TBR legitimately fell on me and broke a cute box I happened to like. I obviously glared sternly at my TBR (not at ME, of course, for staking it too high) and now am having my revenge by talking about topics I don’t gravitate towards reading.
As you do.
Although there can be exceptions! A good book can change my mind about (almost; lol but not quite) anything. And none of these are supposed to be problematic! This is just you and I lining up for pie and I very firmly do not want blueberry pie for no reason except that I don’t. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
So let’s have at it, shall we? 🤗
1. animals being hurt
This is one I’m ALMOST never negotiable on. Because I acknowledge sometimes it happens for a reason and life is like that. But arhgisghos mostly it’s used as a “tear-jerker plot device” where you want to shock the audience into being horrified. I was reading this book I felt meh about and then…it just suddenly outright MURDERED a dog for no no no reason. 😒Not having it, matey.
I think I am also Soft™ for dogs because I have one and he hates me but I will protec 1000% and die for him. 😭💛Animals are precious and pure and better than all of humanity combined tbh.
2. crazy fandom plots
This is actually a super popular plot line in books and there is nothing wrong with it…I just don’t like it. Because (1) I can’t actually understand being so obsessed with a fandom that you doing creepy and horrible because of it, and (2) it just makes fangirls overall seem rabid. And ok, yes sure, rabid fans exist!?? They terrify me?!? But I like books about quiet and soft fans lolol. (Aka heaven bless Alice Oseman books and her soft fandoms.)
3. creepy forbidden romances
Some forbidden romances are really awesome, don’t get me wrong. But some are…just not my cup of tea. 😂I don’t even like tea. I would rather have a hot chocolate and avoid romances like (1) huge age gaps…we’re talking 5+ years, and (2) romances between teachers and students in school settings.
No thank uuuuuuu.
4. main character dying
Sound the ALARM because I have gotten FRAGILE over here!! My Hufflepuff side wars with my Slytherin half for wanting lovely endings. 😫Like, let them be tragic, sure! My favourite type of ending is where ONE thing goes right and FIVE things go wrong. (Have you read either of my books? lolol I am fond of this.) But I still want just enough to go right that I don’t feel like a gutted salmon.
I hate having main characters die…having couples that worked so hard to get together the whole book, just break up…etc. etc.
5. cults
I think cults make me overly annoyed because I do not like being told what to do or what to think. The second someone tries, I frown and stalk off to find other angles. Trust? We don’t know her. So I’m just not drawn to these types of books…even though they can be fascinating. But at the end I’m always like, “??? why would you even do that ???”
The only cult I’m here for is the bookworm one where we are all buying books and stacking them in tall piles and forgetting to read them.
6. everyone getting married
“Uh, but c.g. you just said you like lovely endings…”
Ok but marriage is [sigh] annoying to me. Every time I turn around there seems to be another YA book (particularly fantasy) with an arranged marriage the girl has to fight out of, or an evil husband to kill, or she’s threatening to be wed to save a kingdom etc.. And I’m like ??? I came here to YA specifically to avoid books about marriage. I’m 25, I’m too young for this. Marriage is for people who are, at least, sixty-four.
7. passive main characters
It’s odd, but I’ve read two books this year that are highly acclaimed or hyped and BOTH had extraordinarily…passive protagonists. They didn’t push their plot along and they had the personalities of rather limp mops. Everything interesting happened to someone else in the book. I just sat there, waving a vague hand, saying, “Could we not be in tHE OTHER PERSON’S hEAD THEN??”
I want to see doing and action. Fling me into the hot heart of the story. If you leave me on the sidelines like this again, I will throw damp bread and yell.
8. and then suddenly…magical plot twist in an otherwise non-magical book
I spy your convenience plot twist, sir, and I slowly rest my palm on the table top and say, “No.” If magic is going to pop in at the end and save everyone, it needs to be at the beginning too!!
9. when there isn’t enough hugging
I admit this is an odd one since I hate being touched and my mother today patted my arm and I leapt half a mile into the air. But. In books? I demand hugs for the characters. Especially after traumatic events. I was just reading Sword & Pen and can you sit here with me, in wrathful rage, the Jess was HURT and n o o n e hugged him???😭 Every time a book fails to give the character a proper hug, I take revenge by hugging my dog.
My dog also hates being hugged and escapes me asap and casts me dirty looks. But I try to make a difference in this broken world.
10. When “being mean” is confused with “being strong”
I do enjoy badass women in books who give Take Exactly No Shenanigans and will slay. Yes be still my beating heart, you badass queen. Cold girls, unlikeable girls, fierce girls, angry girls, mistrustful girls = LOVE THEM.
But. I keep reading books where the girls aren’t being assertive or powerful — they’re just being mean. Cruel even. I always assess my judgements of female characters by asking if I’d be okay with it if it was a male character. (Case in point: I don’t see how people can hate Jude but love Cardan in The Cruel Prince, since they are both the same!!!! One has to be very perceptive of internalised misogyny. I do too!) But if it’s just, as a person, they’re MEAN…then I’m out.
I’m over plotlines where characters learn to be nice too. Dude, if you need 340pgs to become a decent human then sphfsoghsoru. I would rather eat a small rock.
| what do you think? |
any bookish topics or settings or premises on your “off” list?? do you share any of mine? or do you…love some of mine?! no judgement!!
OMG yes please no more of these thank you. I hate the one where all of a sudden there’s magic, like…excuse me but what? I’m back to a few books where marriage is just thrown in all the time and sometimes it just barely makes sense.
Totally agree with 6, 8 and 10! Also when everyone is matched up at the end, also when the ending seem to easy.
Animal deaths are definitely something I don’t love (though Black Beauty is still one of my fave books despite that). Marriage as the ultimate happy ever after is also something that needs to go, especially in YA books, like the likelihood that you will end up with the person you dated at 16? Pretty slim. I’ve read a couple of books with passive main characters this year too and they are super annoying. I actually don’t mind main characters dying as long as it makes sense with their character. Oh yes to creepy romances too, all these books with like 100 year old immortals dating teenagers make me want to shudder.
The mean/strong thing gets on my nerves so much! Like, why do these characters get away with this? They’re being turds! AjdjskdxjajXjx
And the creepy age gaps thing. Like, I know people used to do it a lot, and that’s all well and good for them, but teachers and students should NOT have relationships. Grosssssss.
I agree with soooo many of these. I also don’t like reading about second chance romance because …. yikes. If someone hurt you that badly once, they will do it again!!!! Thanks for sharing, Cait!
I agree with so many of these! I love happily ever afters, but not every book needs to end with the main character being engaged and married. Sometimes in fantasy it’s needed but like you said it is almost every single book, it gets annoying after a while. Creepy romances and age gaps are another one. I’m a sucker for a good forbidden romance, but some of them make me feel gross and wonder where the main character’s head is at.
i actually like the escape the marriage trope. perhaps that’s because it’s kinda relatable being from India? but that’s a trope i’d actually haven’t gotten to read much and would totally like to.
Forbidden romances made me giggle, my husband is 11 years older than me. Age doesn’t matter so much when you are older. I agree with quite a few of these, especially passive main characters, that drives me insane. There was a book I read recently with an awful scene involving a donkey, it was necessary but that scene still haunts me!
I have a whole shelf just for my cult books. I used to own way more cult books, but I sold a bunch of them so I could buy more cult books. The only book plotline I really hate is “secret rape.” The character is hiding a traumatic secret, and the reader immediately knows the character was raped because there are a billion secret rape books in the world, but you have to wait until the end to find out that the character was raped. I don’t want to wait 300 pages to be told something I figured out in chapter 1.
Wait, it actually happened?? Your TBR actually FELL on you?? CAIT, YOU’VE NOW LIVED EVERY READER’S NIGHTMARE!
I’m definitely not alone here, but I’m not big on love triangles. Not that I wouldn’t appreciate a good one if it popped up, but I just hate the back and forth of “who will she choose? who’s right for her?” It’s just old news, dude. I think it’s also safe to say that I don’t like books that start with a certain feeling/atmosphere, and that atmosphere totally shifts later into the book. Like this one book I read that started SO hauntingly magical with exactly the kind of feeling I love and I mean it just had the stuff to be AMAZING and then it just started feeling weird and totally not in line with what I had hoped it would be. :/
Also I know they’re not really relevant to the post at all but I appreciate all the little dessert pictures. xD
theonesthatreallymatter.blogspot.com
I agree with all of these! Especially 7 and 10. I’m tired of characters who are just.. there and have absolutely no personality? Especially when there’s a side character who’s WAY more interesting. Or when there’a a main character who basically gets away with acting like the world revolves around them (which it kinda does but that’s not the point) and they get to be a jerk to other people because They Are The Chosen One.
The everyone getting married thing annoys me as well. I also hate when ever single person in a book/series is coupled up by the end. Why?!
Hi Cait!
Just LOVE this post of yours.
I agree so much with you on points: 7, 9 and 10.
Other thing I don’t like is when fan fictions are better than actual comics. ( I mean LOVE those fan fictions, of course). But I get confused about why those comics couldn’t be written better. Have you had an experience where an author calling themselves an amateur author or first time story writers write this great piece.
Hope you have a nice day! 🙂🙂
Omg yes yes yes! I was JUST reading about some tropes that need to be dEAd in YA and I agree with all of your points! 😀
Yes, I agree. I HATE the marriage thing ohhhmmmmmmgghhhhhh ahhhbhhh.
The ONLY exception is Cruel Prince, but even THEN.
But I agree with literally everything (rabid fandoms? Of course! I also hate it when people use REAL ACTORS in books and have characters who lust after them or something like that . It’s kinda a trigger because people DON’T UNDERSTAND THAT THEY’RE PEOPLE TOO PLEASE RESPECT THEM!! I mean, you can use, say, Misha Collins if you’re mentioning Castiel, but PLEASE just mention it I don’t need a character dreaming over him or anything! Use fake characters for that! Yes I know people do it all the time but it just gets to me idk why) (okay so that’s the second time if posted a rant through a comment I am so, so sorry)
So I actually like marriages in stories. I want to see more romances get beyond the “we’ve been together for 12 hours” stage. Then again, I realize the kind of marriages I’m looking for in stories would be geared more toward adult books. I too think arranged marriages in YA are stupid. And yes, we need more hugs! I’m not a big touchy feely person, but I love hugs and am 100% there for them in books. Other things I don’t care for in books: sex scenes, kissing scenes, romance in general. Okay, I like some romance. Occasionally. (Never?) It depends.
I agree with these so much!! Especially the dog one – I think I know what book you were talking about, and if so, I cried during that part when I read it 😭 there was just no reason!!
And I’m surprised there aren’t more books with hugging in them? I wish I could hug all of the characters when they get hurt, and I hate it when they’re never hugged or kissed or something 🙁 They just sit there, being hurt! That’s just very not nice! 🙁
And if the main character dies… I know it’s not something that you would probably know about until AFTER you start reading it, but I will give that book ONE STAR if that happens (unless it’s for a very good reason!)
Great content as per usual—however that silly fiddle-fade about internalized misogyny made me laugh. Also *gasps* age gaps can be such fun!!! I agree with you in how tiresome it is to see marriage used as such a negative all the time in fiction work. I think that’s rather dull and uninteresting myself. Marriage can be such fun and it needs to be portrayed as a positive thing! Yes there are bad IRL marriages but painting men and marriage in such a light is annoying and gross. Also that thing about fandoms—100% STRONGLY AGREE!!! That’s such a nasty trope. Still adore happily ever afters—and I’ll always want romance.
Okay, admittedly this is one of the first posts you’ve written that I’ve read because I followed you a while ago but am super behind on reading posts. Anyway, I know why everyone had nothing but high praise for your blog during the blogger awards. Not only is your aesthetic amazing, but your writing is very entertaining. AND I AGREE WITH THIS ENTIRE POST. especially that last point. oof i think A Lot of writers need to hear that one. i think there’s this trend of making female characters mean to show that they take no shit, but they come off as just bullies. it’s an attempt at making them Strong Feminists, which is either 1. a misunderstanding feminism and/or 2. writers deciding they don’t want an entirely sympathetic character but don’t want to go into anti heroine territory because it’s a lot more work.
anyway, great post and cant wait to read more!
i agree with these so much!! i especially feel you on number 3, creepy forbidden romance is the wooooorst. also, i can never read a book if i know there are any animals being hurt 😭 they’re too pure and i’m too soft to go through something like that
Yes about disliking all of these! Especially the magical twist one bothers me! Like “I came here for some normal fun and I don’t think time travel is normal 🙄”
For me I don’t gravitate to westerns and mystery, like idk something about those genres just don’t interest me.
Yes! Yes! Yes! To everything on this list! Can we please have some books that have none of this is in! Great post xo
I definitely agree with you on this list. By the way on age difference point, you know in Spin the Dawn there is a huge age gap. Please don’t say you rolled eyes there 😂 I shipped them so hard 😭
And a big no no to animal deaths. There are so cute and soft and innocent 😢
What a great list 🙂 I’m SO with you on Team Hugging, pleeease give characters more hugs! I’m also not a big fan of contemporary stories trying to introduce a magical twist in the end, it’s almost always not well done 😅 I recently read a book that attempted it and it wasn’t good 😮
Ha, this post was hilarious (esp. the part about marriage as a topic for 64-year-olds)!
I definitely agree with all of these, especially 1, 3, 4, and 8! I understand why authors might kill their main characters (stares at Divergent), but it’s really sad when MCs don’t get the ending they deserve.
Also, I have the same issue: I don’t like tea, but hot chocolate rocks! I will make an exception for bubble tea, though :).
I was relating to some of these, being kind of low-key about it, and then it got to “When there isn’t enough hugging” and I was like YES. I one hundred percent AGREE. I also can’t stand creepy romances or people being mean and it being portrayed as strength. I mean, honestly, meanness is actually a symptom of weakness, isn’t it? In order to make yourself seem strong you have to be mean, which really just means your insecure, so DON’T try to make it seem like wow, this character is so strong! Because really, no.
One thing that doesn’t bother me too much is passive characters. I mean, if it is too extreme it can be boring, but sometimes it creates its own kind of conflict and sometimes I can relate more to characters that are too passive than to characters who are filled with action.
One thing I can’t stand in the romance category is characters that are a jerk to literally everyone except for the person they are in love with. Not that I have any experience, but I don’t think it works like that? And it annoys me. Also I don’t like reading about characters who aren’t afraid of anything. I cannot relate at all.
Creepy forbidden romances are a no go for me too. No thanks!
Lol. I actually started writing (more like just playing at here and there) a story where the guy is right at 20 years older than the girl (and they are MARRIED) but it’s also kind of a comical story (because I can’t write not-funny) and they are an oddly cute pair. So basically one of my current WIPs would make you crazy… *Also, I have never written an age gap like this before and don’t normally like to read it myself, but here we are…
Loved the list, though! And your candor is my favorite.
Could not agree more when meanness is equated with positive power moves. Don’t like it!!! It’s definitely very off-putting. And I might get attacked for this, but I’m really not the biggest fan of most YA. More specifically YA-modern-romances. I tried reading Rainbow Rowell’s books for example, and had to DNF. Idk, it’s just not my cup of tea. However, give me a historical fiction or sci-fi YA, and you might just suck me in.
oh, I totally agree with your point about characters just being MEAN and kind of being excused. like… I think that it’s very important to be consistent and to check your internalized biases! when I was reading Tell Me How You Really Feel (Aminah Mae Safi), one of the girls really frustrated me because she was just so MEAN for no reason and it was just really wild & I was kind of sad. I feel like, I kind of like sarcastic and biting characters but… sometimes it can just be unlikable when it’s to people who really just don’t deserve it.
1/4)”Where the Red Fern Grows” HATE THAT BOOK/FILM! Scarred me for life! Don’t kill the dog… Or the main character. No… 2)”fan fiction.” I wrote it the way I wanted, and second guessing the characters/ plot with their own version: Let them write THEIR OWN DA** MOVIE!!!… 3) I’m in a “May/December romance. Really, not an element in our story. Much more interesting elements to focus on. Like, we live 9 time zones apart and speak different languages. Lots of opportunity for drama… 6) Marriage as an end goal is passe. Also, Marriage fixes nothing.Whatever problems existed before, just become more permanen. Not more interesting… 10) My current in-progress (Man vs. Self) has the main character slaying his Dragon, but it’s messy and the character arc is messy and the end is messy. Understanding his anger changes him, but there are casualties. And things that break, can’t be fixed. That’s life…
Well, my dear, you certainly opened it up, didn’t you!… Thanks for the perspectives, and thanks for your humor and candor! Love your instagram, and love your writing! Have a great day!
I agree with ALL of these… except cults. You lost me at cults because cults are my FAVE. I find them so psychologically mesmerizing! Also I am pretty sure half my country is in one RIGHT NOW and I guess I need tips for how to stop it? Who can tell, Cait? Who can tell?
I really agree about the rest though. Especially the creepy fan stuff. Like look is there even a more rabid The 100 fan than me? But you also don’t see me engaging in sketchy behavior because of it. I will just shout my love into the void like a normal person, yeah?
Definitely agree with the too-far-forbidden romance. Like look, I loved a book where the freaking COUSINS got together, but if it’s like… too messed up (like you mentioned- rape is not “forbidden love” it’s just rape) then NOPE I am out.
I did a post once about random things that make me cringe, and here’s my always and forever #1: The Nirvana Effect™. It’s weird. Unless your book is legit set in 1992 Seattle, I genuinely don’t want Kurt Cobain and his cohorts to come up. I am too young to have been into Nirvana FFS, so don’t pretend that teens today care AT ALL. Drives me MAD. (Also thanks for letting us vent here, it’s fun!)
I agree with a lot of these but, funnily enough, cults is actually something that automatically sucks me into a book. I don’t know why but I have an insane number of them on my TBR….
I didn’t like romances with big age gaps at all when I was younger. I’ve read some recently I liked. For me, it depends on the story and the characters. I don’t like romances where a characters goes from one sibling to the next ( Yuck!), dating several in the same group of friends ( Again, gross!) and teacher/student romances. The worst thing for me is when someone shows interest in one person, to make another jealous. It always ends up in tears and heartbreak, or a love triangle ( another thing I hate so so much! Why? WHY?).
I wasn’t sure where you were going with this from the title .. But I actually agree with a lot of these! Especially the main character dying (except there’s one book I read that I LOVED) and where everyone marries (or doesn’t marry). I want a satisfying ending, not a happy ending ;D
MB: keturahskorner.blogspot.com
PB: thegirlwhodoesntexist.com
“Fling me into the hot heart of the story” is now my reading motto for life!!! Peace.
I also don’t like it when magic appears near the middle or end of non-magical books. One exception-ish being The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender which I am reading right now, which is sort of not an exception since something strange is already going on from the beginning (the main character can literally taste emotions in food, so that’s odd). But then A Thing happens that is like…WHAT? But also the world wasn’t totally normal to begin with? I don’t know…I think it works. Have you read that book? It’s super good so far.
And I’m with you on the Jude/Cardan thing! One of the reasons I like Jude so much as a character is because she’s allowed to be cold and unpleasant and stoic, just like male characters have been able to be for ages. It was super fun because at so many points during that novel my brain was like “I feel like she has to be a boy. Isn’t she a boy??” And then I got to evaluate why I felt that way. I love love love stories that give us new ways to look at female characters.
I’m still frothing with bitterness about that time I read “The Name of the Wind” and the protagonist’s LUTE GOT SMASHED!!! You don’t! Smash! Cherished instruments! I CANNOT with that!
Same with burning books. Don’t do it. (Looking right at you, horrible stepsister in “Ever After”, which is a movie not a book, but the principle stands strong.)