Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
Top Ten Book Turn-Offs
1.
Cheating Spouses
Seriously, it never bothered me before I was in a relationship but since I've been with Mr. Turning the Pages (5 years next month) I just can't stand this theme and will automatically DNF the book. Just to clarify though, when I say cheating I mean cheating. Not you know kissing someone while you're with another person (no I'm not cool with that either) but if the other relationship is on the outs a kiss is hardly going to matter much. However, going behind someone's back to cheat is a big no no.
2.
Bad Cover Art
Sorry, I know it's snobbish of me to bring up looks but, if a book doesn't have good cover art chance are it won't be high on my to-read list. That's not to say that that's always the case but it often is. I'm a cover whore, plain and simple.
3.
Dumb Heroines
I hate dumb heroines. I really, really do. Innocent characters are okay but I hate insipid characters with more fluff than brains in their heads. Also I'm not a fan of selfish characters. I can't handle it, and I honestly hate stories about rich girls.
4.
Insta-Love
Fecking insta-love. This theme is the bane of my blog world. I seriously hate insta-love. Insta-lust is fine with me but if characters fall in love after knowing each other two days, chances are it's going to be a major issue for me.
5.
Lack of Diversity.
Am I the only one who hates that almost every book has a gorgeous model thin main character and she is almost always Caucasian? Seriously, authors I hope you're listening. Give us curvy heroines and multiracial heroines. Give us short heroines and tall heroines. Please just give us some diversity, as a multi-racial girl myself I'd like to see more multiracial characters in books.
6.
Too many books set in the USA.
Please tell me I'm not alone in this my fellow bookworms. Is anyone else tired about all the books set in the USA? I mean sure, the USA is cool and all but what about Africa? Thailand? Japan? Peru, Iceland, the UK etc. I would love to see more novels set in exotic locals and I wish authors from other countries would write books set in the places that they're from because it gives it a nice authentic feeling.
7.
Overbearing Parents.
Lordy, I recently came across book that had over bearing parents and while I thought that the author's writing was brilliant and I gave the book five stars but I hate it soo much. Perhaps it's because my parents were completely different but I hate pushy parents, inconsiderate parents, and absent parents.
8.
Love Triangles
I know I may be in the minority on this one but I'm not a big fan of this theme in novels. I don't like when one person becomes the third wheel and I hate when the other two people don't even care who they're hurting.
9.
Alpha Males
Okay, that statement isn't entirely true. I love me a good alpha hero but I don't like them being brutes. There's a fine line between being an alpha and being a psycho and I hate when the line is crossed.
10.
Lack of proof reading and editing. I know that when it comes to reading books that are written by indie authors these can be two very common issues and I really hate it. I know it shouldn't bother me as much as it does but I hate when I find so many things wrong that could have been fixed in the editing stage but weren't.
That wraps up my Top 10 Book Turn Offs, so what made your Top 10 list this Tuesday?
I cannot stand love triangles, but for some reason they slipped my mind so I didn't add it in. :) Insta-Love is something I don't like either, so we agree on that. And YES! Alpha males are sexy and hot, but not when they're brutes.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
Thanks for stoppin' by! Glad that someone else doesn't like brutish alphas.
DeleteI completely agree with you about love triangles and Insta-Love. I've had just about enough of them!
ReplyDeleteMe too! when will authors pay attention!?
Deletecheating is my number one book turn off too
ReplyDeleteheres my list http://caitstruelife.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-book-turn-offs/
Thank goodness I'm not alone in this one!
DeleteI totally hear you on #5 and #6 - I've read SO many books recently that seem to be set in Whitey McWhite Town, USA. It's getting painfully boring. And I don't understand why it's so ridiculously prevalent!
ReplyDeleteHere's my list: http://www.melbourneonmymind.com/2013/10/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-book-turn-offs.html
LOL Whitey McWhite Town, USA! It is getting boring but I'm so glad to have found some amazing South African and African authors to read.
DeleteWe definitely need more diversity. It was interesting though---- I talked to an author about this and she expressed that she wanted to mix it up a bit in her book, but that because she hasn't experienced other cultures it was hard to sound authentic.... also... didn't want to be judged or be made to feel like she was just doing it to have that token character of another race or sexuality... I want more diversity, but the things she said did make sense why many authors are afraid to take the leap! I used to work with inner city kids and as much as I wanted to get them reading it was hard because I knew they'd say--- what's the deal with all the white kids?? haha
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Betty, I grew up in schools that were mainly Asian, Middle Eastern and African American populated and since I'm multi-racial it would be nice to have some normal not blonde model characters.
DeleteI don't know what's worse, overbearing parents or non-existing ones. There seems to be no happy medium in the reading world.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT List
I know it adds more angst to the stories but crikey can't we have some normal loving parents?
DeleteI hear you on the issue of rich girl characters. I can't be bothered with stories about how hard life is for these poor little rich girl types. Ditto for selfish or dumb main characters. Great list!
ReplyDeleteLisa
My TTT
Thank you! I'm so sick of characters having all the newest gadgets *sigh* what happened to middle class characters?
DeleteWow, I completely agree with every item on this list except for the one about having too many settings in the USA. I live in the US, so I don't mind the setting being there. The culture of different areas is so diverse that each novel will be completely different. For example, a book about New York City would be vastly different than one about Alaska or California or Texas or Florida... Great list!
ReplyDeleteCheck out my TTT list: http://booksavvyblog.blogspot.com/
P.S. I love the formatting on your blog, especially the header on the top of the page.
Yes, there are different places in the USA but they're ultra western (set in the western world) and it would be nice to have more UK, Indian, Australian, Chinese etc based books. So the ones on the market now while set in different states aren't that diverse in setting.
Delete#5 and 6 have become really important to me since I started blogging! Particularly #6 - I wrote a post a few months ago about how I felt like all the books I read set in our universe were always set in the US or UK and that 95% of authors I read are from the US and UK. I've been making a habit of trying to find outside authors because those stats don't line up for me! I mean I know a good portion of the world population is in those two areas, but there are DEFINITELY a lot more good authors out there that I just don't hear about because I live in America (or that's the belief I'm sticking with at the moment anyway haha)
ReplyDeleteYES! And the thing is I would love to see more books set in Ireland and the UK because even though they are being used more in books they're still harder to come by sometimes. So glad someone else is with me in thinking the USA (even though you live there) shouldn't be the setting for every single book.
DeleteI've seen quite a few of these on other lists especially the cheating and love triangles which kinda go together in mind. Like you, I would love to see books set outside of the U.S. Japan would be amazing! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYes! Japan! I love books set there but there aren't as many YA books or thrillers set there that are marketed enough for me to know about them.
Delete