Thank goodness for Whispering Stories, who has a plethora of book tags for me to do when my brain is short on blog ideas. I'm so glad tags are fun for me to do! Anyway, this one is all about the things that just don't work for you in books. Since I don't name and shame books I don't like, I'll sort of talk around them, but you might be able to guess which ones they are anyway, tee hee.
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NOPE! Ending: a book ending that made you go NOPE either in denial, rage or simply because the ending was crappy.
There was a book that was pitched as Heathers at a creative writing MFA program at college. The clique of young women all called each other by the same cutesy name. The book was enthralling until the very WTF ending. I can't explain it without spoiling anything, but it made me knock two stars off the rating because I didn't like it.
NOPE! Protagonist: a main character you dislike and drives you crazy
This was especially painful because it was a book a friend wrote, but I couldn't get past the main character and follow them through the book. I won't elaborate on what or why, but it wasn't good. The book also had a ton of mistakes in it.
NOPE! Pairing: a “ship” you don’t support
I don't say I don't support the ship outright, but I will say I find it problematic. It's between a human girl and a fae prince. The book was mega popular and people still talk about it.
NOPE! Genre: a genre you will never read
Alternate histories that imagine the South winning the Civil War. Nope nope nope. I don't care if the book is by an award winner, and if it's highly acclaimed. I'm not interested in reading about the bad guys winning.
NOPE! Book format: book formatting you hate and avoid buying until it comes out in a different edition
I don't exactly hate formats but I avoid audiobooks. I prefer my own reading pace and my own voices in my head.
NOPE! Trope: a trope that makes you go NOPE
I am so sick of enemies-to-lovers. I think it's seldom done well.
NOPE! Recommendation: a book recommendation that is constantly pushed at you, that you simply refuse to read
There's an almost 900-page book with dragons in it that has been recommended to me several times. I even bought it when it was a $1.99 eBook ,,,but I don't think I'm ever going to read it.
NOPE! Cliche: a cliche or writing pet peeve that always makes you roll your eyes
I hate it when authors write in first=person POV but use a vocabulary and tone that does not fit with the character's voice. It's the author invading the text, not staying true to the character.
NOPE! Love interest: the love interest that’s not worthy of being one
There's a couple that's totally worthy of being in love with each other, and the relationship is beautiful, but I would rather have one of those characters romancing me instead, ha ha!
NOPE! Book: a book that shouldn’t have existed
I can't actually think of one for this. I DNF books all the time, but I don't hate any of them. So I can't think of one that should poof! and go away. I think all books deserve to exist.
NOPE! Villain: a villain you would hate to cross
I really like villains but they almost always have a weakness. There hasn't been one scary or powerful enough for me to fear... maybe when I was little there was, but I can't think of any!
NOPE! Death: a character death that still haunts you
There was a character in the same fae book I referenced above who was murdered by his spouse. We don't see this. We just hear about it as an afterthought. I know he was a sketchy fae, but to this day I still don't understand why he was murdered.
NOPE! Author: an author you had a bad experience reading for and have decided to quit
I've never had a bad experience where I've wanted to quit authors after reading, but I do quit authors who reveal themselves to be terrible people. I can't separate the art from the artist.