Last week, I talked about my bookish pet peeves concerning the physical parts of a book. You know, the book jacket, cover, fingerprints on Kindle sort of thing? So this week, I’ll be talking about my pet peeves in plots, characters, etc. I’ve got a lot. Even though it’s rare a day I give a book a rating beneath three stars, I can still be pretty tough.
1) Insta-love
This isn’t just my bookish pet peeve. I’ve seen pretty much every single book blogger mention insta-love as an issue in books. I see this going on a lot in cliche romance… I’ve read one Sarah Dessen book, and the amount of insta-love that went down was overwhelming. I love romance in books – you know, the FLUFF. The ooh-ah-awwww moments and kisses and weddings. But “Hey-you’re-cute-this-is-crazy-but-call-me-maybe” stuff doesn’t cut it with me.
2) Whiny characters
I’m talking about you, Eadlyn Schreave. Look, I don’t even like myself when I’m in a whiny, ungrateful mood. I stay clear of anyone who throws a tantrum when they don’t get their way. So why would I want to spend 200-400+ pages with a whiny person?! I give grace if the characters’ parents dropped dead or something. Or even if I’m reading YA, because teenagers are hormonal people and I understand! But really. Uh-uh.
3) Characters dying out of the blue
They’re there, they’re gone. WHAT HAPPENED.
(The Family Tree series by Ann M. Martin – OMG, IT KILLED ME WITH THIS PROBLEM. Pun intended.)
4) Overly-quirky characters
This might sound a little strange, but let me explain. It’s important to have unique characters. Right now, I’m reading Jake and Lily by Jerry Spinelli, and they’re so different! They’re really cool. Diverse characters and books are great. But sometimes, characters are really quirky. Take The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet, for instance.
Not only does its title alone tell you it’s got some quirky characters, the book is really… fascinating! Don’t get me wrong, it was a fantastic book, but honestly? I thought the characters were a little over-the-top.
7) Predictable plots
As much as I love The Princess Spy and The Captive Maiden, Melanie Dickerson’s books are usually pretty predictable. They’re not the only ones, but they’re the ones I’m gonna pick on today. I mean, really, though, does ANYONE like this??
6) Abrupt endings
They bother me so bad! I’ve been waiting to see the ending, and the book is good, and then… well. That’s the end. Huh.
Well that’s it bye!
hahahahaha! You didn’t think I could simply END a blog post like that, did you?! Those are all the bookish pet peeves I can think of for today. I’m sure I’m missing some, so let me know if you anything to add!
OMG I hate the insta-love, like how unrealistic is that? Arguably true “love at first sight” isn’t a common thing, so I really hate when I stumble upon that. I was reading a screen play by another kid my age, and these two teens only met each other and fell in love and said oh “I’m yours” in that same week. Like, no. -.-
Yes insta-dying too! (LOL). This one book I read, A Land Remembered…everybody dies. Literally. It’s as if the author was like “All of you are important but none of you deserve to live. Like the book won’t end until all y’all are gone.” It was an incredible book but it made me so…frustrated xD
I don’t understand abrupt endings, I really don’t. The author has built up to this moment, and if they build up to it just right, the ending won’t seem as abrupt? But I’ve read books where the way they built up to the “abrupt ending” made me feel as if I was watching TV and somebody turned it off before something interesting happened xD Is it just me or does it just feel…weird to end that way? Not a fan xDD
Great post, Emily! I loved it a lot 😀
Ugh. I know, I hate it. No way, Jose!
Insta-dying! Lol, I LOVE that, Grace. I’m so going to use that phrase from now on.
I know. I don’t understand how authors can kill off SO MANY characters at once! It must be so hard! I mean, think about it, as readers we’re so invested in the characters, thinking about the authors! Lots of tears, I bet.
That’s sososo true. It just feels… unfinished! AGH. And that’s really happened to me before, and it’s the worst! D:
Oh my goodness. I totally get what your saying. Instant love is the worst. I mean come on. That’s not realistic. Eadlyn was soooo whin . But I liked seeing how she matured those last few chapters. But still. I was mad at her for over half the book. Lol. Characters dying randomly are the worst. I see if its necessary but give us some warning! And don’t kill them if not necessary. Overly Quirky characters get me rolling my eyes. Predictable plots get on my nerve too. Abrupt endings are horriblle. Especially if its a stand alone book, I have to wait a year or more to get the next, or its the last in the series.
I know. I mean, if the story’s MAIN problem is the character wears their heart on their sleeve too easily, then OKAY, I can be lenient there. But I mean, come on.
I don’t think Eadlyn will be quite so whiny in the fifth book. Especially the way The Heir ended… oh Lordy, I’m gonna start crying again! Gah.
Yep. Have you ever read The Family Tree series by Ann M. Martin? (If you haven’t, then definitely go get them!) Anyway, the second book is THE most worse-case scenario of a character dying suddenly. One minute, everything was perfect, and then it was horrible! I totally did not expect that. I mean, I guess that’s SORT OF a good thing… but still.
I agree. I hate having to wait, or not being able to give the book the benefit of the doubt when it’s NOT apart of a series. It’s like “I can’t defend you, Mr. Book.” 😛 Lol.
YES YES YES! That first gif is just…YES!
All of these are so spot on!! I hardly ever come across insa-romance but when I do, its just so annoying! I loved The total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet! It did have a couple of problems, like the abrupt ending, (the kiss was unsettled and left hanging) like you said,you read the whole book, waiting for the amazing ending….and then Nada, zero, zip, zilch. That’s honestly one of my biggest pet peeves.
I KNOW RIGHT? I love that gif. When I saw it, I had your reaction. Lol.
I loved it, too! I honestly don’t remember much about it, but I read it in late 2014. So many books, they all blend together! That’s why I like writing book reviews, so I can remember them, but apparently I didn’t write one for that book! Aye, aye, aye. I agree with you, though. I wish that it didn’t bother me, because it was a really cute book!
Ooh, I know the feeling—insta-love especially makes almost no sense to me at all. Whiny characters also kill me, although I don’t mind characters dying out of the blue if it works out really well… But that is just me!
By the way, I tagged you for the Creative Blogger Award, if you’re interested. 🙂 http://semilegacy.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-creative-blogger-award.html
Insta-love and whiny characters are probably my top two pet peeves! I think so, too. Sometimes, it turns out fine, but I in this case, I mean when it doesn’t work out.
Ooh, that looks like so much fun! I’ll probably try to do it sometime. Thanks for tagging me, Heather! 😉
Amazing post, Emily! 😀 I actually have this idea drafted in my account, but I just haven’t published it yet. I really agree with you about the insta-love most especially. Sometimes it’s just NOT realistic, and it gets me rolling my eyes throughout the book. And then the whiny characters — uhh. It really is okay to me if the protagonist finds out her family’s dead or something because obviously that is something to whine about. But protagonists who whine without a reason behind it can get too hard to bear with 🙁 It makes them so unlikable!
I’ve had this drafted for the longest time! Probably months. (I have a lot of drafts!) I don’t mind reading about characters who have just met each other and then they fall in love, as opposed to they’ve already known each other… as long as it doesn’t happen TOO quickly. It just bugs me sooo bad.
As far as the whining goes – you’re right, it depends on the situation. I hate it when the whiny character is the MAIN character. It makes me dislike the entire book, even if the character is the only problem. 🙁
Oh, I’m an EXTREMELY nitpicky book reader as well. I have billions of bookish pet peeves. I definitely agree with the ones you decided to feature here.
Most of the time I hate insta-love, but *sometimes* it works. It really depends on the plot and how prominent the insta-love is. Like in Cruel Beauty for example–the romance wasn’t heavily played and the insta-love worked with the story, so I was okay with it. But 90% of the time, I say kill it with fire!
I get the whiny characters, too! I’m a hormonal teenager, but I also want to kick myself whenever I whine about something. I definitely don’t want to read hundreds of pages about a drama llama.
Yes to dying characters too! If they’re death has a purpose, go ahead. If not… Don’t.
Oh, and abrupt endings. Those make smoke come out of my ears! xD
Fantastic post, Emily! <3
Same here!
Cruel Beauty does sound like a book that could make it work. It sounds really good… 😀
Whiny characters are probably my top pet peeve. Just… NO.
Thanks for commenting, Aimee!
Oh I agree with all these! I HATE insta love so much. It is sooooo unrealistic an stupid. Even though I do like romance. Although I find it a little dumb, I can’t help reading the selection, although I haven’t got around to the Heir yet. Great post, emily!
I love romance, too! Just… insta-love. Argh.
It’s one of those rather addicting books, isn’t it? 😀
Yes to all of these (actually, NO to all of these;) hehe!)! Another I would add though is OVERTLY dramatic and heroic characters. Like they take two steps and suddenly they’re the “coolest” people ever. I once read a book where the characters reminded me of snobbishly bad actors; everything they did was exaggerated and “awesome”. I was so sick of it by like chapter 5 I just stopped reading it. Maybe if they had been given a few flaws, some diversity, or even a little depth (which they were lacking greatly) it would have been more bearable. A good example of a somewhat dramatic and heroic character that I enjoyed is Thomas ( the main character from the Circle series by Ted Dekker) he is quite the, “heroic” type and yet there is a sort of air about him that makes you think, he knows he’s not “all that” and he doesn’t pretend to be.
Anyway, I love your blog Emily, keep them coming! 😉
YES TO ALL OF THESE. I absolutely loathe instalove. One of my favorite parts of romance is watching the couple slowly fall for each other; but if that feeling is so instant I don’t get all the feels, you know? And whiny characters and predictable plots. *makes sad faces* Thanks for sharing this and fabulous post! <3
I have SUCH a problem with insta-love. To me, it’s the ultimate show-don’t-tell crime. I need to believe in this romance if I’m going to spend the next 300 pages watching you idiots moon over each other, so at the very least, you could give me REASONS you’re suddenly obsessed with each other! A few good conversations, some common interests, a creeping realization that you feel more than you thought — not one split-second of glancing at each other and going “oh yeah, future husband, every cell in my body is exploding when we lock eyes.” Super frustrating.
I would never have thought that Sarah Dessen books have insta-love in them. I haven’t read any yet, though I would love to read Saint Anything. However, so many people have recommended them and so many people LOVE them. That and the fact that it has insta-love in them don’t come together in my mind. ><