Everyone has their pet peeves when it comes to books. Some of mine are probably pretty common. But I would like to do a little ranting myself so that’s why I decided to do mthis post. These pet peeves are about both the book’s story content and physical aspects of the book itself (cover content, etc.) Keep in mind, just because I have these pet peeves doesn’t mean I won’t like a book that contains them – sometimes they can be overlooked if everything else is solid. Indeed, some of my favs have these pet peeves.
I’ll list the storytelling pet peeves first!
Love Triangles
A lot of people complain about this one so that should tell writers and publishers something. It’s also a bigger problem in Young Adult books. To me, it’s just a lazy way to keep reader interest and they often take over the plot. Sometimes love triangles can be well done but most of the time they are a waste of time.
Stretching out book into a series
I prefer stand-alone novels. It will also take a lot for me to be dedicated enough to read an entire series, especially one that’s super long. And some books will stretch there plots into a series when it doesn’t really need it. There’s also a higher chance of the author ruining the original characters and losing their touch.
Romance Novel in Disguise
Some books will make you think that their plot is an action-packed sci-fi thriller only to find out that 68% of the book is about the romance. If your book’s a romance I feel you should market it as such – and, I mean, romance novels sell extremely well so what’s the motivation?
Present Tense
I can’t stand reading a book in present tense. Why? I can’t explain. It just annoys me greatly for some reason…there’s almost a sense of rushing and incompleteness. It’s hard to explain.
Cold/Emotionless Main Characters meant to be “badasses”
To me there’s nothing hot about a guy that never shows emotion, is always grumpy and serious. There isn’t anything empowering about a woman who shows the same traits either. They aren’t cool or badasses…they’re boring. But I don’t mind if a character is emotionally distant as long it’s a trait they have to overcome.
Pseudo-Diversity
Ok, I love diversity in a book and as a black female…I like seeing black female characters. But a lot of these authors just throw in a gay, black etc. character that has no personality. To me, if they are not as compelling or well-written as the other characters then it’s just pseudo diversity. It’s either make them good or just stick to the characters you really want to write.
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So those are the story telling pet peeves from the top of my head and not for physical attributes of a book:
Not clearly saying the series number.
Seriously, put what number the book is in the series clearly on the cover somewhere. I think not doing it might be a ploy to get people to actually buy the wrong book and then have to automatically buy the rest of the books in the series.
Comparing a book to a popular series to sell.
Sometimes there will be a sticker on a book that says something to leach off a popular series: “Just like Harry Potter!” “Readers of The Hunger Games will love this!” this is just annoying. Especially when sometimes said book isn’t even like the series mentioned.
Cover with just a face.
I don’t want photograph of a random girl staring at me on my cover…not to mention this type of design just seems too easy. I’ll put an example:
Nope.
