forum Things You Want LESS Of In Books

Started January 21, 2019 by @HighPockets group

tune

Yes. The worst.

I also hate it when the author doesn't make it clear what the character looks like. I mean, I want to make fanart gosh darn it so give me details!!!!

😂 Number four kills me. Although, certain books can be a combination. Like, I really don't like just plain romance novels very much. But, there are certain books that I love because of their romance and their main story.

Yeah, I know that there's certain books that can be a combination, but it kills me when a book is marketed as like some high stakes fantasy adventure and it's really just a romance.

Yes. I totally agree.

Popular kids who are mean to everyone. Popular kids are most likely popular for being nice, talented, helpful, etc. not for being mean.

😂 Number four kills me. Although, certain books can be a combination. Like, I really don't like just plain romance novels very much. But, there are certain books that I love because of their romance and their main story.

It kills me when a book is marketed as like some high stakes fantasy adventure and it's really just a romance.

Sarah J. Maas books

OOF. Way to attack a series shamelessly. (I haven't read her books but I don't want to because they sound cheesy and horrible.)

wow u throwin shots straight where it hurts(ur totally right)

lol. Aren't those books supposed to be about an assassin? What I've heard is that she doesn't even kill anyone… (Opposite of any of my assassin characters. XD)

Whadafrick? For real?

Cha. I was thinking about reading that series but the reviews said that they were soooo bad. Like, if your going to name a book "The Assassins Blade" ACTUALLY HAVE THE ASSASSIN KILL SOME PEEPS!!!

I wanna see less of the opposites attract thing… Like, I'm not going to be around someone whos the opisite of me willingly, I would much rather hang out with someone who is like me.

Cha. I was thinking about reading that series but the reviews said that they were soooo bad. Like, if your going to name a book "The Assassins Blade" ACTUALLY HAVE THE ASSASSIN KILL SOME PEEPS!!!

…I think my sister picked up one of her books accidentally and was really pissed

Sarah J. Maas books

It's like you read my mind or something.

Aren't those books supposed to be about an assassin? What I've heard is that she doesn't even kill anyone… (Opposite of any of my assassin characters. XD)

I started reading Throne of Glass a few years ago and had to stop after about 12 chapters or so. The summary on the back of the book made it sound like this exciting, high stakes fantasy novel and 12 chapters in and the most exciting thing that happened was that she went to a library. I get that not all books are going to dive into the action right away, but twelve chapters? Twelve chapters?! Something should have happened by then.

I wanna see less of the opposites attract thing… Like, I'm not going to be around someone whos the opisite of me willingly, I would much rather hang out with someone who is like me.

Yeah I agree. It works sometimes but not often.

Sarah J. Maas books

It's like you read my mind or something.

Aren't those books supposed to be about an assassin? What I've heard is that she doesn't even kill anyone… (Opposite of any of my assassin characters. XD)

I started reading Throne of Glass a few years ago and had to stop after about 12 chapters or so. The summary on the back of the book made it sound like this exciting, high stakes fantasy novel and 12 chapters in and the most exciting thing that happened was that she went to a library. I get that not all books are going to dive into the action right away, but twelve chapters? Twelve chapters?! Something should have happened by then.

Nothing really happens until the very end. Most of the competition is skipped over in favor of 'romance' and candy and dresses.

If 👏 I 👏 wanted 👏 to 👏 read 👏 about 👏 a 👏 romance 👏 I 👏would 👏 have 👏 picked 👏 up 👏 a 👏 romance 👏 novel 👏 not 👏 a 👏 fantasy 👏 or 👏 sci-fi 👏

Can I have this on a tshirt please

One thing in books that irks me a bit is that ALL CONFLICTS MUST BE SOLVED IN VIOLENCE. Every character MUST be proficient with weapons, or they're useless, and diplomacy and talking thing out are STUPID and DUMB.

Like seriously, can characters be allowed to be nonviolent and still be useful?

AnD dOn'T eVeN gEt Me StArTeD aBoUt HoW mALeS aNd FeMaLeS CANNOT BE FRIENDS WITHOUT ROMANCE.

(I'm sorry for yelling, I just get very passionate about these things.)

oh god that last one pisses me off so bad

Or that there is no such thing as familial love! This pisses me off because there’s a dude I love very much, but in this society everyone would assume we are gay! Not to mention the numerous girls I love that I have absolutely no romantic interest in!
Sorry for the rant. But Aaaargh!

• Books that fall apart once the worldbuilding happens/books that are null and void because of later books
• Manipulative writing that shoves the author's favorite character down your throat
• Characters who are 'morally grey' but have to tell you just how bad they are, or who we never see do anything bad without good reason
• Formerly platonic relationships ruined with romance/romantic subtext!
• Explicit sex in YA
• Characters with a job that's used for 'cool points' but we never see them do it (usually I see this with thieves, con artists, assassins, etc. where they have an 'edgy' job to seem 'cool' but don't ever do their damn job!)

u my friend are correct, im trying to stop myself from doing the second, because i feel like i might do it too often

Not that there's anything wrong with that on it's own, but when you're tearing other characters down for the sake of splooge, then it's bad.

that makes sense. i definitely have favorites, but all my characters are my babies and i try to show that

• Hunger Games style fights to the death. Like, competitions where the winner gets to live but the loser(s) die.

I feel like the Hunger Games really popularized this trope (I know that it wasn't the first book with this kind of plot but there's definitely been a surge in these kinds of stories since the success of THG). The problem now is that books with these stories all follow the same formula almost to the point where you can predict the ending as soon as you read the first page. Like they all boil down to character A needing to kill character B so that they can win something, but through some loophole both characters survive.

• "I'm a strong female character who is tough and doesn't need a man…. but I'm going to fall hopelessly in love with one anyways!"

I'll stop vague posting about Sarah J Maas now. But before I do, I must mention that Kristin Cashore is also guilty of this as well. We can have strong female characters who are in relationships without their whole story revolving around said relationship.

Don't worry I'll keep vagueposting unintentionally

• Super-hot bad-boy monsters
• Love Vs. A true love triangle would be really interesting, but Love Vs are bland
• Love Triangles where it's 'I've been in love with X my whole life, he's my best friend and I've always been in lo-oooh, hey super-hot bad-boy I've never met or even seen before, how're you doing??'

~barely concealed paedophilia
~toxic relationships that are glossed over
~insane possessiveness?

• Student-teacher romance
• The 'cool teacher who does against the school district' trope
• DOGS DYING!
• THE BURY YOUR GAYS TROPE!

writing about homophobia and racism when youve never faced it, especially when its clear you havent

AnD dOn'T eVeN gEt Me StArTeD aBoUt HoW mALeS aNd FeMaLeS CANNOT BE FRIENDS WITHOUT ROMANCE.

IKR!?!? Like, this one book that I absolutely LOVE has a bunch of male and female characters, and literally the main characters best friends are an android, and a dude that is a criminal "mastermind." lol. Like, everyone ends up with someone at the end, but they all are friends still. It's not like each couple goes off and does their own thing. They're STILL FRIENDS!!!

AnD dOn'T eVeN gEt Me StArTeD aBoUt HoW mALeS aNd FeMaLeS CANNOT BE FRIENDS WITHOUT ROMANCE.

IKR!?!? Like, this one book that I absolutely LOVE has a bunch of male and female characters, and literally the main characters best friends are an android, and a dude that is a criminal "mastermind." lol. Like, everyone ends up with someone at the end, but they all are friends still. It's not like each couple goes off and does their own thing. They're STILL FRIENDS!!!

I love that series……..