Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish. Each week they give a topic, and then other blogs make their top ten lists for that topic.
This week's topic is Top Ten Things that Turn Me Off A Book
In no particular order, as per usual:
1) Immature Characters: I'm talking about those characters that you have to remind yourself are supposed to be 16-18 because you keep assuming they are 12-13. Immature dialogue, childish actions, and lack of judgement all contribute to this and they are SO. ANNOYING.
2) Misleading Synopses: Usually by the time I'm far enough into a book to realize the synopsis wasn't what it seemed I'll finish reading, but it still will negatively impact my overall opinion of the book. If your book is about a certain topic, don't try and change the meaning in the blurb!
3) Plot Holes: I really, really, really do not like it at all when there are glaringly obvious holes in plots. You know when characters have to make up some big elaborate solution when there's another solution that they either didn't even think of or wasn't explained? I guess that was a pretty vague explanation, but I think everyone knows what plot holes are. This makes me so annoyed and frustrated with a book.
4) Weird Names: This mostly only comes up in contemporary books, but when characters have some obscure old/faerie/unpronounceable/bizarre name appears, I am immediately wary of the author's writing. This was particularly prevalent in Evermore, with the main character being Ever Bloom. why
5) Slut Shaming/ Rape Culture: If you are not sure what I'm talking about, this is a good place to start. I see this more often than I'd like to in books and it's a huge deal for me. This is probably one of the biggest turn offs there are in books.
6) Weird Descriptions/ Repetitive Descriptions: When the author uses words that really don't make a ton of sense given the situation, often in a metaphorical form. Don't get me wrong, I love description and literary devices, but adjectives can't just be squashed together. It's also annoying when and author uses the same few words to describe something over and over again. "Sky blue eyes" is fine once or twice, but not necessary everytime a character is mentioned.
7) Freaky Characters that are Supposed to be Popular Among Readers: An example would be Warner from Shatter Me. After reading the book and then reading some reviews, I was surprised that so many people seemed to root for Warner and hope that Juliet would fall for Warner latter! He came across as manipulative and abusive to me, and the exact type of person that you should get far, far away from.
8) Love Triangles as Plot Points (or any romance as a plot point): It's super annoying when some sort of romantic relationship is created basically just to further the plot in a story, and not that it was just a natural progression for characters. It just seems like a short cut!
9) Characters with a COINCIDENTALLY Useful Skill: I find this super annoying. It's when some character is supposed to be just a normal person EXCEPT they have some kind of weird hobby or special skill, and then something happens to them and WHAT A COINCIDENCE, it's what saves their life or makes them 'ahmazing'.
10) Helpless Heroines: Another big one for me, this is a huge turn-off. Heroines that can't/won't/don't do anything for themselves. Sometimes you gotta help yourself, ladies! If they can't, and they try to do something, that's okay. It's when characters simply do not do anything that they become infuriating.
So there's my list! What's your biggest turn off?
Rachel
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