**Do you ever finish a book and realize that you don’t like something in it? The story may be fine, but there’s that one trope or theme you can’t get behind? Or maybe it does ruin the story. I flip through the pages of my book and realize that there is something I don’t like. The book is not bad by any means, but some aspect is not for me. I finish my page and continue to flip through the book.**

One of my posts last month was about my favorite things in books, so this week, I want to discuss my least favorite things in books. Even though there are elements that I sometimes don’t like in books, that doesn’t always mean that I don’t like the book. Sometimes I like the books, but just not the tropes in it. So let’s get into it.

• Water as a main element

The first one is water as a main element, specifically as a setting. There is something about books at sea or water towns that I just don’t like. I actually don’t know what it is about this that I don’t like, but a lot of the books that I’ve read with this element are ones that I didn’t love.

Books: Sea Witch by Sarah Henning, House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig, Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

• Groundhog Day

This is one of the cases where I’ve liked the books with this trope, but the trope itself is one I don’t like. I feel like a groundhog day trope, where the day starts to repeat itself over and over, gets a bit repetitive and it can take away from the story since the story isn’t really progressing in some ways.

Books: The Do-Over by Lynn Painter, Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

• When the characters can’t do something or go somewhere because of something they did in the past

I actually really don’t like this trope. For this one, there are times when a character is thinking that they can’t talk to someone or go to a place because of a mistake they made in the past, and the book focuses on this. The main reason I don’t like this is because it is never justified. It never makes sense of why they can’t do something because it didn’t seem like a big deal. Like in People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry we get this trope, but it doesn’t seem like that big a deal or a reason for the two characters to stop speaking. The only book that has ever had a justified reason was Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn. I actually DNFd this one because the reason was valid and the main character was truly horrible. She really shouldn’t ever go back to that town again.

Books: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn, The Lake by Natasha Preston, Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson.

• Overly describing everything/repetitive describing

This is more of a writing style issue, but I hate when either every little thing is described, or when some things are described multiple times (I feel like eye color is a big one for this. I hate when eye colors for characters are stated over and over). I think that both of these things can be frustrating because we don’t need every detail of a room or outfit, and we don’t need to be repeatedly told the color of someone’s eyes or dress. This is one that always bothers me in books.

Books: Don’t Read the Last Page by Catherine Downen, Powerless by Lauren Roberts, The War Widow by Tara Moss

• When the romance is too fast, or when it’s enemies to lovers but they can’t stop thinking about each other

I think what I’ve realized is that I need a slower paced romance. I don’t need it to take 400 pages for them to just glance at each other, but I would like for the characters to not realize they like each other until later on and wait until the end to get together. I’ve also realized I like a lot of my romance as more of a subplot. I think that this works a bit better for me for some reason. Then there are some books where it’s marketed as enemies to lovers, but they don’t really seem like it. All they do is think about each other. That’s not enemies. Powerless by Lauren Roberts is a big one for this. I know a lot of people liked it, and I thought it was okay, but it was a bit boring. A main complaint was the romance for me. Kai and Paedyn basically spend the whole book thinking about each other even though it’s supposed to be enemies to lovers. Where was the enemies part? I don’t want it to be true enemies though like The Cruel Prince, because the love interest just seems irredeemable at that point, but have them not think about each other and for there to be some dislike.

Books: Powerless by Lauren Roberts

I do have a few more tropes I’m not the biggest fan of like cults, heists, and when characters stop believing in love, but I just wanted to outline only a few of the tropes that I am not the biggest fan of. I actually did enjoy some of these books, so that just shows that you can still enjoy a book with tropes you don’t like. I would love to hear about any of your own least favorite tropes or themes.

xoxo,

Just another reader