This week's topic ~ Top Ten Book Turnoffs
1. Poorly written synopsis - If I'm not hooked by the synopsis, or if there are a ton of spelling/grammatical errors in there, chances are I'm probably not even going to be pick up the book.
2. Instalove - Most of the time, it's not my cup of tea, lol. A relationship between characters seems more satisfying when it's been given time to grow.
3. Weak characters no matter gender - Characters that are always like, "Woe is me," just don't cut it. Grow a pair! I'm in awe of characters who rise to the challenges they must face with grace and dignity. To weak characters, suck it up and just do what ya gotta do! ;)
4. Lack of multicultural characters - I find it interesting to read about characters who are autistic or in foster care, or a different ethnicity from me. There's a lack of multicultural characters and stories in YA/NA just in my opinion. I just saw a book cover the other day where the story is about an African American girl, but the model on the cover was NOT African American. WTF?
5. Unattractive book cover - Call me superficial (it's ok, I can take it) but if a book cover is truly ugly or it just looks slapped together at the last minute, then I tend to overlook it. The synopsis would have to be PHENOMENAL for me to give it a chance. I know, it's horrible to admit that. >.<
6. Info dumping - I want to be shown not told things while I'm reading. Some description and background is good to know. But if an author relies on dumping info on the reader, that's not good. Especially if I still have no clue what's going on.
7. Too many typos/spelling/grammatical errors - Many books I read are ARCs, and so I know there's always the chance of a typo or some sort of error here or there. I don't judge the book based on that. But I've read some books before that hadn't seen an editor period, and I was pretty sure the author had just sent a rough draft.
8. Fake/unrealistic characters - Sometimes I think as adults we forget how teenagers/young adults actually talk. I remember in high school in my group of friends we had our own slang and inside jokes that other people would look at us as if we were pretty strange (which we were). I think we tend to forget what the maturity/lack of maturity level is in teens/young adults. It's also important for a character to act in ways that make sense to that character. Sometimes as a reader I might roll my eyes or outright disagree with a character's actions, but if he/she does something completely out of left field, then I just won't get it.
9. Rushed ending - This tends to happen especially at the end of a trilogy or series. It's almost as though the author was on a strict deadline with a lot of pressure and had to make something up just to finish on time. Mockingjay strongly comes to mind for me. I felt like The Hunger Games and Catching Fire were, well, on fire, but Mockingjay really disappointed me. It just felt like the trilogy fizzled out. I'm super curious as to what they're going to do with the movie, and I hope it beats the pants off the book. :)
10. Formulaic plot - Sometimes I start reading a synopsis, and I can't but think been there, done that. There are a lot of books out there that seem to have the same basic plot. The Harlequin romance novels for adults my mom would read seemed to have the same plot over and over in them - girl meets guy, they hate each other over some simple misunderstanding, then they fall into bed somehow, then they hate each other again, and then they fall in love with a happily ever after. Romances like this tend to not be for me.
So now that I've made myself like a complete bitch or at least a book snob, how about you? What things turn you off of some books?
Rush or abrupt endings drive me crazy! I like to mix it up and read the occasional mystery and man, they do not give me enough at the end. Case solved. The MC lived. The end. Damn it! Even a little epilogue will do, but no. I feel like the book is telling me to grow up and stop being so needy, but I am a needy reader and I want to know what happened the next day. Give me an epilogue. Okay, there's my bitch session.
ReplyDeleteDo you have that for sale sign in your front yard yet?
The mystery books you mentioned are like TV shows where everything is tied up neatly in one episode, like on Law & Order and CSI. You had me laughing out loud with "I feel like the book is telling me to grow up and stop being so needy..." LOL An epilogue is not asking for much, lol.
DeleteIt'll probably be a while before we have that for sale sign, lol. We have so much to do inside. It felt like we had gotten a lot done in two weekends, but then I look around inside and realize how much we have left to do before we can even have the real estate agent appraise our house. Yipe! lol
Thanks for sharing this. It really helps to be reminded of these important points when you're off in la la land writing. Sometimes you forget about the practicalities!!
ReplyDeleteWelcome Marjorie! I try to keep these things in mind when I'm writing, too, which makes it challenging for me. I'll get there. It's nice to be in la la land writing, though. :)
DeleteI can get over a poorly written synopsis if fellow bloggers or friends recommend the book.
ReplyDeleteInsta-love can work on some occasions for me as long as they prove they will still love each other no matter what and by no matter what I mean the author really puts them to the test (mwahahahaha).
I have this "rule" if your secondary characters are more interesting then your main characters then I will leave the book and dedicate my time into wishing a happy ending to that awesome secondary character that stole my heart.
On everything else I agree, they can be the worst turn off because if you don't like them I am less and less likely to give the book a chance, at least with all the others you tried to give it a chance.
That's a good way to look at instalove. Sometimes I have encountered secondary characters who are more interesting than the main characters. I really like seeing how other people look at things differently, which is why this is one of my favorite memes. Thanks for stopping by! :D
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