5 Unpopular Bookish Opinions
Hi readers and writerly friends!
This week in Bookish Things, we’re getting spicy again with some unpopular bookish opinions. So buckle up, grab the pop corn, and lets get into it because I’m not holding back! (Don’t worry, no book burning here, but perhaps heretic burning…🔥)
1. The Divergent Series.
(Whoa, whoa, whoa. I see you, angry mob. Yes you, with the torches and pitchforks. Lay your siege weapons down, for just a moment and allow me to share my thoughts before you burn me at the stake.) 🔥
To bee completely fair, I didn’t ready the Divergent Series, but that’s just the issue. I started Veronica Roth’s dystopian science fiction back in 2015 but it didn’t take long before I had to put the book down and call it quits. To give the series the benefit of the doubt, I will say that maybe I didn’t give it a fair shot by prematurely re-shelving my copies before reading the entire series. However, while the action-packed writing and brilliant premise had potential, the execution just wasn’t there.
I couldn’t help but agree with Goodreads user, Wigs, when he said:
“I’ve read that she did write it in a month. Whether it’s true or not, I'd certainly believe it in a heartbeat. The whole thing is rushed and just…completely nonsensical and full of trope after trope. It seemed to me that there was little effort put into analyzing the world and zero research done for it, which is a reminder to any of us who are writers to always have a reason for something, and not just because it “sounds cool.” This book is a treasure trove of COOL PEOPLE tropes and activities. Which doesn’t seem to work on me as I really can’t stand that breed of thrill-seeking people who’d rather risk their life doing stupid shit instead of… you know, not. So what is supposed to be super awesomely cool people just, to me, looked like a band of idiots.”
You can read more from his two-star review here.
2. Dystopic Science Fiction
Okay, if my thoughts on The Divergent Series didn’t get me crucified, then these next sentiments surely will. 🔥Perhaps my disdain for the Dystopic Science Fiction genre is what led me to have such sour view for Roth’s trilogy, but I’m not letting her off the hook just because the genre wasn’t “for me”. I think you can read books that fall outside of your preferred genres and still enjoy them. Unfortunately, for this genre, I think it was just a little too mainstream. Dystopic fiction was so overplayed between 2008-2020 that if someone so much as utters “dystopic,” “dystopia” or “apocalyptic” within my general vicinity, I will readily keel over right now. (But don’t tell my partner—I think that’s his favorite genre.😂) To be perfectly fair though, I was a Maximum Ride stan from 2013-2017 and I would say James Patterson’s avian-kid series is all but dystopic science fiction…so what do I know?🔥
3. The Dark and Brooding Male Character
Ahem, let me just get this out of the way first:
PATCH CIPRIANO IS THE ONLY EXCEPTION HERE.🔥
Okay, now that we got that taken care of, let the unapologetic tirade begin. The dark and brooding, angsty love interest (or just this character in general) is SO OVERPLAYED. I could go on all day about dystopic fanfiction being overdone, but don’t even get me started on this character trope. It seems like almost every YA fiction ever has this character and I would hazard a guess that a good nine out of ten of these YA novels use this trope as the love interest of the main character, whether it be sooner or later in the story.
Now don’t get me wrong—I love me a good tall, dark, and handsome love interest. But the angsty teen guy with the dark hair and seemingly just as dark past (most of them are younger than 21 anyways so what’s so dark about your past? Go play some Fortnite and get over yourselves.) is nearly ubiquitous with YA fiction that has any shred of romance. From the moody Heathcliff of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights to today’s Damon Salvatore of L.J. Smith’s Vampire Diaries, the brooding bad-boy is an overused trope that plagues the classics as well as modern fiction.
However, loosely related to the rant above, I found a fascinating article from the Telegraph about where this character trope stems from any why so many female readers gravitate towards stories with bad boys. You can read it here.
4. Hardbacks Versus Paperbacks
While not quite as flamboyantly controversial as my previous unpopular opinions as mentioned above, how could I forget the ages-old argument over which boom format is superior: Hardback or Paperback? I personally prefer paperbacks. I know, I know. I hear you. But all of the reasons that make hardcovers so appealing to most everyone else, make them repulsive to me. (Okay, maybe not repulsive, per se.) 🔥
Pros of Hardcover books:
Durable, hardcovers that protect the pages within and provide ample structural support.
Beautiful dust jackets that are required to protect those durable hard covers.
Heavy and hard in the hand. (We’re not even going to go there.)
Cons of hardcover books:
Hard covers don’t bend well due to the nature of the books. I personally like to bend my books and break their spines. (And while we’re at it, I dogear my pages too. You guys really are coming to take me away now, I can feel it in your rhythmic marching outside. Just make sure to bring coffee!)
Annoying dust jackets that I almost always end up removing and throwing out. (Need I say more?)
Paperbacks tend to be lighter and more comfortable to hold, generally speaking. Additionally, they usually have a matte finish which feels really nice to the touch. (Still not going there.)
Of course, all of this pretty much comes down to preference. I don’t think one book format is superior to the other, and there certainly are benefits to each format. Let us not forget the unmatched portability of kindle and audiobooks. But I personally prefer paperbacks.
5. Buying New Books Versus Used
Piggybacking slightly on the topic of physical books rather than the literature itself, I’d like to take a second to criticize all of the bookish youtubers and instagrammers buying new rather than used/preowned books. Similar to the previous list item of hardbacks versus paperbacks, it obviously comes down to preference. Many people out there simply prefer to go for elegant box sets, or matching book sets, but between all of the pristine white #shelfies and bookshelf tours out there, I can’t help but feel like many bookshelves just look a little too perfect. Ya feel? Like, yes, I totally understand wanting a nice Lord of the Rings box set, or a fancy Shadowhunter Chronicles set, but I’m not going to lie, I feel pretty high and mighty with my bookshelf of Dollar Tree and thrift store steals. (I didn’t really steal them, its just an expr—you know what, forget it.) 😈
So, what did you think of these 5 unpopular bookish opinions of mine? Do you agree? Do you disagree? Are you coming for me with a flaming torch or pitchfork? Tell me your thoughts in the comments!
Read more from Bookish Things!
Thumbnail photo by Movidagrafica Barcelona.
—Payton
The Top 10 Worst Romance Tropes EVER
Hi readers and other bookish creatures!
This week wraps up our romantic February 2020 and with such a wonderfully romantic month, I’d like to throw a monkey wrench in everything by bringing the romance down just a notch (or two, or three). This week, in Bookish Things, we’re discussing the 10 Worst Romance Tropes EVER! And you better buckle up because this is going to be a spicy take, I can assure you. We’re spending a little time with my reader brain today, so the opinions, sass, and spice are in full force and my kind, communicative, editor brain will have to take a backseat for today. (Also, I’m hoping the pretty heading text will soften the blow for some of these. (Good luck, readers.)
We’re going to cover, in my opinion, the top 10 worst romance tropes but for this rant (and for the sake of saving time,) I am going to avoid the most common tropes such as cringey insta-love, the overdone love-triangle, and alpha-douches because 1) you probably already know all about them since they’re so overplayed, and 2) they’re sort of implied and any reader worth their salt would likely dislike these tropes. (Of course, I am not speaking for EVERY book out there, and there are always exceptions to the rule.) These tropes came up in some of my recent reads from last year and I really wish they hadn’t. I won’t be naming names, but if you know, you know.
Trigger warning: This blog post discusses difficult topics such as sex slaves, abusive relationships, manipulation, graphic virgin sex, rape/non-consensual sex, age gaps, and other dark topics often present in mainstream adult romance. If you are offended by these topics, please understand I am in no way advocating for these topics or their presence in fiction. I am only highlighting their cringe-y nature and giving my own opinion as to why they should be removed from future works. Also, this post contains mature language. Typically, I air on the side of omitting swears from my writing, but since this work is satirical in nature and is not meant to be taken seriously, I figured I would keep the personal touch.
Lust that just needs to calm the F down
Of course, in any adult romance novel, you’re going to find lust, and some scenes can get really steamy, really quickly. However, some writers really just need to take a step back and calm down when it comes to lust in their writing. It’s not always the long, obnoxiously lusty descriptions either—sometimes it’s the little things that really take me out of the story. For instance, if a character has to physically restrain himself from mounting another character, maybe there’s more going on than physical attraction, and it’s definitely not self-control. Or another one is when character emit a sexual response to a non-sexual event, such as various body parts growing hard when one character gets close to another. What the heck is even going on?
Slave fics - Slaves falling in love with their masters. (Really?!)
Yeah, I had to write that line, and you had to read it and now we’re both in this ugly situation together. Hooray for mutual awkwardness.
Believe me when I say I REALLY don’t want to have to explain this. But here we go.
If Stockholm syndrome in fiction is romantic, then nails scraping a chalkboard, the act of licking spiders, and stepping barefoot on broken glass are romantic too. I’m sorry that this is an unpopular opinion, except that I not sorry—like not even a little bit.
I totally understand the appeal for BDSM fiction, but what I really don’t get is the prominence of romance stories where the main character starts the story out as a slave and ends up becoming the love interest of their master. This trop can often be observed in BDSM fiction, but miss the mark —by a landslide, I might add by forgetting one of the biggest elements of good BDSM love stories, both in real life and in fiction, and that’s that the overall relationship must be built on a foundation of love and trust.
Stories where the slave falls in love with his/her master is just wrong on so many levels and it one of the reasons the BDSM community get such a bad rep. I find it so uncomfortable and pretty gross, honestly, when a character is treated as property and then falls in love with the character that treats them as said property. I seriously don’t think that’s the most obvious course of action in any given slave story.
Next time you find yourself reading or writing a story with this trope, ask yourself, “Should I be contributing to the complete inaccurate depiction of an entire community by writing/reading this?” If the answer is no (and it is) then just don’t do it.
Condescending pet names
I just love pet names—between family, friends, and especially romantic partners. One of my all time favorites (you guessed it) is when Patch calls Nora Angel in Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush, Hush Saga. It’s a name that has layers of meaning and initially incites annoyance in Nora before they’re an actual couple.
However, I just cannot stand it when the love interests gives the main character an annoying pet name, just to be a douche. (notice that I spelled out “cannot” and that’s how you know these are genuine, spicy emotions I’m feeling, here.) Even though Patch calls Nora Angel, the name isn’t particularly, annoying or offensive to her or the reader and she eventually grows to love the name. I know writers tend to taunt readers with this trope because it instills intimidation and an unbalanced power dynamic in their MC’s romantic relationships, but it comes off as annoying, condescending, and downright rude. Well-adjusted people just don’t go around giving pet names to strangers just to piss them off.
Omitting the first kiss altogether
I really don’t understand why some writers chose to omit the first kiss from their romances when it’s a really important moment to any relationship, real or fictional. Whether or not I have to trudge through two whole books to get to the first kiss between the love interest and the MC, I want that kiss. I don’t care if you include 1, 10, or 100 kisses throughout the course of your novel, but you better include the first kiss, because if you don’t, I will find you, and it won’t be pretty. (Unlike your lovely romance novel that HAS the first kiss scene present.) 😊
Bloody, painful, virgin sex
Newsflash, uneducated, male writers, that’s not how female genitalia works. Just sayin’. Anyone with a vagina will tell you this trope is old, overplayed, and absolutely inaccurate. I’ll spare you the inaccurate, gory details, but when you’re writing virgin sex, remember that it doesn’t need to be a horror show. A hymen is not a sheet of flesh that needs to be broken through, like a damn fortress wall, so can we all agree to stop writing it that way. Let’s all just get a better understanding of basic human anatomy, shall we? What’s more is if the MC’s love interest has any human decency and regard for their partner’s pleasure, bloody, painful virgin sex should be negligible. It’s not romantic, it’s not accurate, and it’s not fun for either party involved, so just leave it out.
The naïve girl (stupid girl)
Just imagine me scrubbing my hands down my face as I write this one, because I am.
The trope that seems to be present in every single badly-written romance I’ve ever read is the one that takes place between a heterosexual paring of a man (that typically fits at least three of the tropes on this list) along with a woman who somehow is always described as Naïve. For whatever reason, many writers like to use the word, “Naïve” to excuse or explain away idiotic decision making in order to drive the plot forward. (Of course, they have to find something to move the plot forward and that’s obviously where the alpha douche comes in to save our MC from the shit-show she’s gotten herself into. God forbid, a woman thinks for herself.)
Why do we keep calling characters like this, Naïve? The word Naïve refers to someone who lacks experience or wisdom and is not synonymous with being a fucking idiot. It’s absolutely possible to write a romance story with a woman who has at least half a brain. Additionally, we’ve been using the word Naïve for so long, we’ve forgotten the proper context of it and truthfully, at this point it seems like it would be a refreshing take on the whole trope if writers were to start using correctly.
The word, my reader friends, is STUPID. She is stupid. If she has screwed up her life so badly and requires the aid of a bumbling brute of a man to save her from her own actions, she is stupid. I’m not sorry, I don’t take it back, and I don’t care what you have to say in response, it’s just stupid.*Mic drop* 🎤
Okay, I’m picking the mic back up, because this list isn’t over. Oh no, far from it, in fact. Oof. Let’s just keep it moving, shall we?
Please go get help if you do this one
Piggybacking on the trope of slave fics (*shudders*) so many writers like to include sexy assaults in their writing. I am only going to say this once, so please listen up:
blurring the line of consent IS NOT OKAY AND NEVER SHOULD IT BE CONSIDERED SEXY.
Like ever. Some people think it’s okay, and I seriously worry for them. All the time in romance, I see sayings like “He’s the kind of guy who takes what he wants” or “He doesn’t take no for an answer.” You know what? These sayings sound exactly like the kind of thing a rapist would say.
I’ve heard that some writers excuse themselves for writing characters like this, by saying that they feel ashamed of their desires and by funneling them into their characters, they rid themselves of the shame and fault. However, this type of writing only further perpetuates toxic stereotypes and extends the cycle of shame for future generations. Let’s put it out of our misery already, okay?
Also, (and I am going to blow some of y’all’s minds right now by saying this) what if I told you it is in fact, possible to write a steamy, believable romance scene with an assertive partner, without them being a predator. Huh? Huh? I know it sounds tricky—that’s because it is. But any good writing is tricky and what any good writer will tell you is that cutting corners is not the way to go. If you want your writing to be good, don’t write shitty love scenes between a helpless protagonist and a predator. Just take the time to do it right. And if you’re a proponent of this trope, please just do us all a favor and see therapy instead.
Redeeming the abuser
Proponents: “Okay, look, I know he raped/ abused/ assaulted /manipulated her, but trust me it all works out in the end and he really makes up for it.”
Me and literally everyone else: “What the hell?”
I don’t understand people like this. I mean, you do hear what you’re saying, right? Like, the words coming out of your mouth aren’t an accident. I know when it comes to fiction, we’re allowed to give way to fantasy, but I genuinely want to know who is fantasizing about this. (On second thought, keep them far, far away. Thanks.)
Of course, I am all for abusers bettering themselves and becoming good people, but can they please get the help they need, away from their victims? Calling back to the previous item on this list, therapy works wonders and I totally support you, but please just work on yourself in a different city, zip code, and especially a different book than your victim.
I’m just really tired of this cliché and it makes my stomach turn when I continue to see it in 2020. The reason this, and most of the other tropes on this list are just awful and should be done away with is because they are sending really unhealthy messages to impressionable, young readers.
Age gaps in supernatural romances
I totally get having age gaps in romance—heck, it’s a part of real-life romances as well. YouTubers Jenna Marbles and Julien Solomita are like seven years apart. My own mother and father have like six years between them. And some age gaps (although a bit unwieldy) can span 10-20 years, as long as everyone is of age, then it’s all above board.
But what I don’t get and really don’t like are the age gaps that tend to happen in supernatural romances, where the love interest is hundreds of thousands of years older than the main character. Twilight much? I mean, I just don’t understand what an eighteen-year-old girl would have in common with a 60-thousand-year-old dude. Like, let him go, hon, you’re young, vibrant, and fresh, and he’s ancient.
I’m 23 and even I look at eighteen-year-olds like they’re babies. Eww. How does some old and crusty ancient dude look at a barely legal woman and think, “she gets me”? I think you mean, she get’s you hard. Besides, what would she want with the old dude anyways? What could the two possibly have in common together? Oh? None of that matters because he’s somehow super hot and super rich and common ground and personality have no meaning anyways? Well, why didn’t you say so? All good! 👍
No idea who the love interest actually is
Lightening things up for the end, here I’d like to talk about another bad romance trope and that’s when I have no clue who the love interest even is. If I am a hundred pages in and I don’t even know who the MC’s love interest is, and it’s a romance novel, we’re going to have some issues. Even harem romances give us some idea of who the MC’s got their eyes on. I just can’t get on board with a character who has been in love with this guy, and then has sudden, compelling sexual attraction to the next guy, and then realizes this girl is flirting with her, and then this other guy out of the blue, ends up proposing to her. Like, what???
Basically, what happens here is too many potential love interests are introduced and the lines become blurred. It’s okay to have love triangles (that’s a rant for another day so for now, let’s assume the love triangles are well-written) but we have to (going with the metaphor) clearly see the sides of the triangle. I want to be able to clearly and easily understand who is in love with who and what is happening, even when the characters don’t.
Additionally, if I don’t care who the love interest is, then you might as well just give up on writing romance. Readers care about ships because they pick up on chemistry between the characters, but if they’re not vibing then it means your characters are boring and one-dimensional, and not romantic (which if you asked me, sort of defeats the purpose!)
How are writers supposed to write chemistry, we all failed that class, yeah? Please believe me when I say good chemistry can be done, and I don’t mean the science-y kind (although that’s is pretty fun too!) It takes time to hone your writing skill and gain enough experience to effectively write compelling romance. Your first book will never be your best, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn and grow throughout the writing process. All snark aside, I truly do think good writing is possible, and it can and should be done without these awful romance tropes.
Whew! *wipes forehead* Somehow, we made it through that list. Of course, this is all meant to poke fun at some of the cringiest romance tropes in all of fiction. (And highlight problematic ones too, obvi) and I mean no harm to anyone reading this. This is all meant to be light-hearted and funny and in jest. For most of these, if you do them, I don’t think you’re a bad person—just a bad writer! 😉 (Just kidding, calm down. Jeez.)
But all of these cringy romance tropes are the worst and are definitely overplayed. I think we should start ridding our writing of them in order to exterminate them forever. Trust me, we have enough to last us a lifetime (or two).
What did you think of this list? Do you agree with any of the items? What do you think is the absolute worst romance trope ever? Do you like any of these tropes—be careful admitting this because I’ll come for you in the comments! (Again kidding, maybe.) Let me know down below and as always, thanks for reading.
Further reading:
—Payton
How I Got Started Reading When I Hated It
It might be surprising to learn that a published author, creative writer, and professional editor used to hate reading books. The truth is I wasn’t always an avid reader. To fully understand how my love for books, and more importantly—my love for stories has grown over the years, I have to back up to a time before I appreciated books.
It might be surprising to learn that a published author, creative writer, and professional editor used to hate reading books. The truth is I wasn’t always an avid reader. To fully understand how my love for books, and more importantly—my love for stories has grown over the years, I have to back up to a time before I appreciated books.
I really learned how to read books in the third grade. I hated reading because I wasn’t good at it and thus, I wasn’t good at it because I hated it. It was a vicious cycle that repeated itself anytime my teacher assigned reading for homework. This resulted in me not doing so well in school and having to be held back in the third grade. I’m not ashamed of it now, but it made me feel like a complete failure. As I got older, I realized it was essential to my growth as a student, reader, and writer and I had no idea it would ultimately become my lifelong passion.
So, even though I’d learned how to read around first grade, I really learned to read proficiently during my second round of third grade. I had a kind, caring teacher who was really dedicated to helping me grow as a reader and worked with me to build my skill. Following the third grade, I almost instantly did better in all of my studies, passing tests with accuracy that was once gated by my reading inability.
Woman covering her face with a book. Photo by Siora Photography
I began reading books from the Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne and Barney the Bear-Killer, by Pat Sargent. I was drawn to Sargent’s story because of the cheetah on the cover of book seven in the series and reached for Osborne’s books of which I’d heard contained a magic tree-house that could take Jack and Sally anywhere they wanted to go. Between books that had to do my favorite animal, the cheetah, and endless adventures for kids, I had plenty of reading that I could connect with. These book series helped me to connect with compelling characters over a long stretch of books which kept me reading for a long time.
Games also helped better my reading abilities, which is why I am such a big advocate for giving children access to games. While video games are constantly under fire for promoting violence and toxic environments to children, I have to point out that playing World of Warcraft from the age of nine years old, has significantly benefited my reading skills. When I first started playing the MMO, my reading abilities weren’t too strong, and I had a lot of trouble reading game instructions and quest text. However, playing the games in combination with reading Sargent and Osborne, my reading proficiency increased.
Soon after I’d reached middle school, my family and I moved to Oklahoma and being the new girl, I turned to books until my friends found me. I got into graphic novels from James Paterson’s Maximum Ride Series and after falling in love with the characters from the manga books, I began reading the full-length novels.
In eighth grade, I attended Quartz Mountain Christian Camp for two weeks in the summer, and being new to the camp, I again turned to books. We had a lot of downtime in our cabins and with cell-phones off-limits, I decided to read a random book I’d packed in my suitcase on the off chance I’d get bored and have to read.
That’s exactly what happened, and the book I’d brought was Gillian Shield’s Immortal. This book was pivotal for me because it was the first time I’d read a book that I just couldn’t put down. It taught me a very important lesson in reading—there is a genre for everyone and if you don’t like reading, you just haven’t found the right genre. I didn’t know what genre it was yet, but I realized I had been reading all of the wrong books when I was younger and fantasy, romantic, thrillers, action novels and horror were where I should have been the whole time. (Okay, maybe horror isn’t something third graders should read, but still.)
My favorite genre to date, is the romantic thriller. I don’t know, maybe I really am one of those mushy, hopeless romantics after all, but there’s just something so compelling about supernatural love, forbidden romances, and tall, dark, handsome guys with way too much angst. What can I say? I think I have a type. Following Gillian Shield’s Immortal series, I dove straight into the Hush, Hush Saga, by Becca Fitzpatrick, which is my all-time favorite series to date. I’ve read it about eight times now, and I reach for the series every fall. (Except for 2019, where I got a little too excited a little too early and burned through the series in four days over the summer. Oops!)
By my freshman year of high school, I was so deep in the reading hole, I couldn’t get out. In one year, I’d read all of the Percy Jackson and Olympians series and Heroes of Olympus, both of which were written by Rick Riordan. That same year, I reread Maximum Ride, and read for the first time Gillian Shields new book, Destiny, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby, and the Warcraft: War of the Ancients Archive by Richard A Knaak. This was a new record for me, because not only had I read so many books in one year, I also burned through the last book, which was thicker than my upper arm, with proficiency.
Since I’d fallen in love with the game, it’s lore, and it’s characters, I was more prepared than ever to take on this thick tome of game lore, character backstory, and history of the world of Azeroth, in which the game was set. I’ve read it twice since then and every time, I enjoy it because I remember how enchanted and enthralled I’d felt when I’d first read it.
As a third grader, I’d never imagined I’d ever read at the level I do now, and as an adult I can’t imagine a life without books. They’ve helped shape me into the woman I am today, and through reading, I have cultivated a love for books and stories. I love equally the process of reading and the process of telling a story—two process that go hand in hand since a writer cannot expect to better their craft without reading the works of others.
I highly recommend reading and if it’s not something you’re interested in right now, keep looking, because I assure you, you just haven’t found the right genre yet!
And that’s the end of my hot take on reading when it’s something you hate. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Thumbnail photo by Daria Shevtsova