Top 5 Wednesday is a group of bloggers, booktubers and bookstagrammers
posting on a common topic every (you guessed it) Wednesday. You can find
the lists by searching #T5W or Top 5 Wednesday. And you can join the
group on Goodreads if you want to participate.
This week's topic is Book Trends You're Tired Of.
What are some things you are tired of seeing that are trends in
publishing? Maybe something that pops up on a lot of covers these days,
or the popularity of certain tropes in a particular genre? Let it out!
5. Naked chests on covers
I am so sick of seeing topless men on romance covers! (Yes, there might be something wrong with me.) It's not that I'm against abs, it's just that they all look the same. Half the time the men don't even have heads because their chests take up the whole cover. And sometimes they don't even try to make it look like the character in the book. I think the cover should tell you something about the content of the book. All these chests tell me is "this is a romance," which I probably already knew. -Gretl
4. Serials
I'm sure that there are some people who love serials, I'm just not one of them. I'm a binge reader. Not only in the read-a-whole-series-back-to-back way, but in the way I read a single book. Most of the time I finish a book the same day I started it. I hardly ever take more than two days. I'm immersed in that world until I finish the book, sometimes to the point of distraction. If I try to do the Georgina Kincaid one chapter a night method, I don't remember what I read. And if I read part one, I may not be interested anymore by the time part two comes out. So serials just don't work for me. -Gretl
3. Characters with Sacrifice Syndrome
5. Naked chests on covers
I am so sick of seeing topless men on romance covers! (Yes, there might be something wrong with me.) It's not that I'm against abs, it's just that they all look the same. Half the time the men don't even have heads because their chests take up the whole cover. And sometimes they don't even try to make it look like the character in the book. I think the cover should tell you something about the content of the book. All these chests tell me is "this is a romance," which I probably already knew. -Gretl
4. Serials
I'm sure that there are some people who love serials, I'm just not one of them. I'm a binge reader. Not only in the read-a-whole-series-back-to-back way, but in the way I read a single book. Most of the time I finish a book the same day I started it. I hardly ever take more than two days. I'm immersed in that world until I finish the book, sometimes to the point of distraction. If I try to do the Georgina Kincaid one chapter a night method, I don't remember what I read. And if I read part one, I may not be interested anymore by the time part two comes out. So serials just don't work for me. -Gretl
3. Characters with Sacrifice Syndrome
I don’t know what it is, but I am sick of the “I have to push you away
because I’m not good for you” trend that I see in romance. My best
friend calls this the “Sacrifice Syndrome.” No matter how much the
hero/heroine cares about their love interest, they feel this all
consuming need to push them away for their own happiness, safety, etc,
etc, etc. This trend drives me bonkers. You’re a vampire. She’s human.
Suck it up, buttercup. You don’t have to save her from yourself. I will
concede that there are some books that make this work, but they set up
legit reasons other than the overused “I’m not good for you” excuse. But
overall, this is another trend, I want to see die by fire. We don’t
need any more too stupid to live characters. -Rose Red
2. Insta-Love/Love Triangles
Nothing turns me off from a book quicker than insta-love or a love triangle especially in YA books. I read a lot so I know there are some exceptions where both of these tropes have been used well in the story. But for the most part I think they're trends that need to die… by fire. I have no problem with characters having an instant connection to each other. But a connection is not the same thing as love. There have to be interactions and more than two days between meeting and declarations of love. One of my favorite things about reading romances is seeing the relationship develop between the two love interests. Please authors! PLEASE LET THEM INTERACT BEFORE YOU HAVE THEM DECLARING THEIR ETERNAL LOVE FOR EACH OTHER! Then SHOW me how their interactions deepen their feelings. I want to ship your characters, but you have to give me a reason to ship them.
Nothing turns me off from a book quicker than insta-love or a love triangle especially in YA books. I read a lot so I know there are some exceptions where both of these tropes have been used well in the story. But for the most part I think they're trends that need to die… by fire. I have no problem with characters having an instant connection to each other. But a connection is not the same thing as love. There have to be interactions and more than two days between meeting and declarations of love. One of my favorite things about reading romances is seeing the relationship develop between the two love interests. Please authors! PLEASE LET THEM INTERACT BEFORE YOU HAVE THEM DECLARING THEIR ETERNAL LOVE FOR EACH OTHER! Then SHOW me how their interactions deepen their feelings. I want to ship your characters, but you have to give me a reason to ship them.
If there is anything I hate more than insta-love, it’s a love triangle. There are a few series where this trope has been done so well that it doesn't bother me (Hello! Mercy Thompson series!) but I usually hate when a heroine (or hero, for that matter) can’t decide between two love interests. I’m sure they both have excellent qualities, but just choose one already. I’m going to end this here before I get into a full-blown rant about this. -Rose Red
1. The Tortured Past Trope
This is a trope I have a love/hate relationship with. Characters with troubled or traumatic pasts are interesting characters and you can’t help but cheer for them when they overcome the consequences of that past and find love. I can see where some past trauma would make a person think they can’t be redeemed or that they’re unlovable, but sometimes it’s so concentrated on in the narrative that it ruins the story for me. I have to see the character make baby steps to becoming better. It’s not a sudden realization and everything is fixed thing and I hate that some books write that in. As much as I like to see characters overcome their pasts, this trope has been done so much, especially in the New Adult genre, that it’s boring to me. -Rose Red
1. The Tortured Past Trope
This is a trope I have a love/hate relationship with. Characters with troubled or traumatic pasts are interesting characters and you can’t help but cheer for them when they overcome the consequences of that past and find love. I can see where some past trauma would make a person think they can’t be redeemed or that they’re unlovable, but sometimes it’s so concentrated on in the narrative that it ruins the story for me. I have to see the character make baby steps to becoming better. It’s not a sudden realization and everything is fixed thing and I hate that some books write that in. As much as I like to see characters overcome their pasts, this trope has been done so much, especially in the New Adult genre, that it’s boring to me. -Rose Red
What book trends are you tired of?
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