Top Ten Tuesday: This is a meme hosted over at The Broke and The Bookish
Today we’re talking about romance in books. I don’t mind a good love story, but there are somethings when it comes to romance that will make me drop a book in ten seconds flat. Here’s my list:
- Romance driven stories- If you take out the romance would there still be a good story? If not, I probably won’t like it, I need a little more substance to my books.
- Romeo Juliet spin-offs– I’m so over romeo and Juliet. It’s become an over used and predictable story line. I want something I don’t see coming.
- When they moan about how they aren’t good enough for the other, no matter what the other says or does– I hate whinny and insecure characters. We all have our flaws and insecurities, but I don’t what the complexity of a characters development to be what another person thinks about them, give me more depth.
- When it’s acceptable for them to give up who they are for the sake of “true love” AKA “Run-away Bride Syndrome” -This drives me crazy when I see it in real life, I defiantly don’t want to see it when I escape from the real world into a book.
- When they talk a lot, usually in metaphors and similes, about how much they love the other person– Don’t just tell me about their love, show some actions to go with it.
- When it’s all about feelings and first impressions and there is no depth to the relationship- I don’t want relationships that go from 0 to 100 based on infatuation and then nothing every happens that challenges their relationship.
- When it’s 13 year olds talking like their 30- I want character that sound their age. Don’t have a teen that is able to handle a relationship like at 30 year old.
- When there are too many details- Kind of like 5, but this goes into where they went and what they ate and what they wore and what the did and what they etc etc etc.
- When the cover looks like every other book on the market- We’ve all seen it happen where a successful book inspires a tornado of like minded covers. I know I shouldn’t judge by the cover, but sometimes it makes me wonder if the cover isn’t unique, can the story inside be all that different?
- Love triangles- I haven’t always disliked this, but I think it’s been over done recently and I’m kind of over it. There are occasionally times that an author does it in a way that it doesn’t become obnoxious, and I wind up fighting for and/or against a character, but it’s become more rare.