Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Turn Offs

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish where we get a new topic for a top 10 list.

Last weeks topic was all about the tropes we love in a book. This week we’re tackling those bookish turn offs. This was actually a lot harder to compile than the tropes I love list but there are some tropes that I have zero tolerance for.

1. Love Triangles:

My ultimate bookish turn off. I just cannot deal with love triangles. Love is not a triangle and I hate how this trope has a tendency to dominate a book series. It takes away the bigger focus on the characters/plot. More than that I hate how a triangle often result in pitting two individuals against each other for the sake of the main character, especially when they knock said character down for the sake of making the other option more appealing. Love triangles an automatic no for me.

2. Angst Overload:

Angst is unavoidable in some books. I get that and I can tolerate and understand that. What I can’t stand is when said angst is dragged out for the sake of drama and nothing more. It’s exhausting to read. Pointless angst does nothing for me but if I can understand the circumstances behind it then I’ll be a bit more tolerable.

3. Slut Shaming:

Why is this still a thing? I hate it when people put down other female characters for the sake of bolstering the main characters sweet and kind and everything those “other girls” are not look. It’s sickening. Why shouldn’t a woman embrace her sexual nature? Guys get a pat on the back for hooking up with multiple women in a week but God forbid a female do that. What a woman does with her body is nobody’s business but her own.

4. Dystopia:

Sorry guys, but I am officially over this genre. It has been a long time since  dystopian novel really grabbed my attention. This is more of a “it’s not you, it’s me” situation. I just don’t gravitate towards them anymore.

5. Insta-love:

I can understand an instant attraction but I cannot deal with those relationships that are so in love with each other after knowing them for less that 24 hours. I just don’t buy it. I love seeing a relationship naturally progress throughout the book. It makes the romance that much sweeter.

6. Cheating:

Do I even have to explain this? This is not a great foundation to a relationship. It just leaves me not liking any of the characters involved.

7. Controlling love interest:

I like a broody love interest every now and then. What I don’t like is when said love interest tries to control their partners actions. That is not acceptable at all to me. I don’t care if this character had the love interests best interest at heart, they should trust in their partner and if it doesn’t work out be there for the fallout. Support them, disagree with them, but don’t ever try to dictate how they live their lives and the people in their lives beyond you.

8. Sport Romances without the sport:

This isn’t a major turn off and it wouldn’t put me off the book entirely but if I’m reading a sports romance I want there to be just as much sport as there is romance. I love the passion of sports. I love seeing the mechanisms behind it, the camaraderie between team mates, the good, the bad and the ugly side of it. I want to see and feel their passion for the sport. Don’t sell me a sports romance if there’s no actual sport involved.

9. Lack of depth:

By that, I mean layers. I want to understand our characters. I want to connect with them. I want to explore the complexities of human nature and how the events in their lives have shaped them. What I don’t want, for example, is a mean girl that’s mean just for the sake of it.

10. Broody Looking Book Models:

Yes, I am judging a book by its cover. Who doesn’t do that? Now I’m not opposed to having people featured on the book cover but what I don’t like is when the cover consists of someone staring down a camera lens looking all broody like and nothing more. It does nothing for me and takes away some of the magic of using the words to create your own image of the character.

Those are my biggest bookish turn offs.
What are yours?