Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.
Today’s Topic: Top Ten Book Turn-Offs
You know when you are reading and something happens, and you think, “Ugh.”
Ricki
1. Point-of-View Shift
There many books that do this well, but overwhelmingly, there are too books that do it quite poorly. I hate when the point-of-view shifts because often, it doesn’t work out. Sometimes, the voices sound too similar, and other times, one voice is much stronger than the others.
2. An Inanimate Object or Animal Starts Talking
There have been many times that I have been enjoying a book, and then an animal or table starts talking. Please don’t. It rarely works out.
3. Marital Problems
This is one of the main reasons I tend to dislike adult books. I hate reading about a person who is cheating on his/her spouse. I am very happy in my marriage, and it really depresses me to read about people who are violate the trust and loyalty of that union.
4. End-of-Chapter Hooks
I loved this technique when I was a kid. It made me want to keep reading. As a more mature reader, it bothers me and makes me wonder if the author isn’t confident enough in his/her own writing and thinks this is the only way to keep his/her readers from putting the book down.
5. Coincidences
Is the main character picking up a hitchhiker? Please don’t let it be his/her long-lost father. Coincidences drive me nuts. They give fiction a bad name.
Kellee
It is so interesting to see what Ricki’s turn-offs are. I actually love her #1 and #2 (as long as they are done well).
1. Lack of resolution at the end of books
I do not mind sequels and series, but I like each book to have a resolution at the end and not a huge cliffhanger ending that makes it so you feel unsatisfied without reading the next book.
2. Poorly done magical/fantastical realism
I generally do not like magical or fantastical realism though there are some I do like. I think I’ve come to realize that it is that I don’t like poorly done magical/fantastical realism. I don’t want to be reading a realistic or historical fiction book and all of a sudden there are ghosts or someone has powers — that really takes away from the original story in my opinion. I do not mind if the fantasy or magic is part of the story from the beginning, it is the throwing it in for plot twists or an explanation I do not like.
3. Character lists in the front of books instead of introducing characters
I actually really like character lists, but there are books that have character lists and then never have an exposition to introduce us to the characters because they listed them in the front. A list should just be a reference not part of the story.
4. Shallow secondary characters
All characters should be thought out thoroughly.
5. Stereotypical characters
Enough said.
What are your book turn-offs?
and
I so agree with those shallow secondary characters or ones fitting into a stereotype. Great list!
Our Top Ten
Thanks, Kristen! :oD
I’d never thought about character lists in the front of the book – I always just skip them so I guess it never occurred to me that they are there for a reason haha! I LOVE magical realism – but you’re right. It occurs to me that I just don’t consider poorly done magical realism part of the genre…I just say oh well that was a terrible historical fiction book, etc.
Adult books are so freaking stressful! I can’t take it! I can read like one Emily Giffin book a year and that pretty much fills my quota. Also they ALWAYS have cheaters and the like! Why is that?!? When I was reading more adult fiction I was beginning to believe there was no such thing as a faithful relationship and that was depressing (I’ve been dating my boyfriend 5 years) soooo I decided to just stop reading them haha!
I wonder if the adult authors think they are appealing to the masses by a) trying to identify with or validate the feelings of the people who have cheating spouses and b) making the rest of us with loyal spouses feel good.
I don’t know. It just doesn’t work for me. It makes me feel sick to my stomach.
I so so so agree with Ricki’s no. 4 – and the rest of both of yours, too. But I hate chapter hooks. I mean when I was a kid (lol cue eye-rolling) I didn’t even need a beginning hook to get me into a book – I checked all my favourites, and now that seems to be most important thing if you ask agents, and then chapter hooks and just make sure the reader is caught in a frenzy — that just doesn’t work for a lot of stories and genres. What about the love for some slower paced, softer, less in your face books?
I also agree – martial problems are something I want to know about before getting into it. Well, just marital problems are fine because if we are talking about a book with married couples, I also hate it when it’s displayed as absolutely perfect with nothing could ever be wrong. But I generally feel like characters do cheat for weird reasons or much too easily. I blame tv – seriously, it’s a big thing to sleep with someone, especially when you’re in a committed relationship. It’s just not an oooopsie? So yeah, I am not saying I wouldn’t read a book that takes on infidelity but it’s not an easy thing to pull off.