In other words: what are your book pet peeves? I'd be very, very, very surprised if all the books you have ever read have satisfied you completely, full marks. We all have things that we'd rather have in a book. I am not that fussy, and have quite a wide reading range, but I still prefer certain things better than others. So, here are mine:
- First Person: If I could choose, I would much rather a book be in first person. I think it allows you to get absorbed into the book more, and become the character. You can relate to them more, and feel their emotions. However, I have recently read a book in third person - Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare - and it was AMAZING! :') But, I think that is because of the storyline and all the brilliant ideas. Or maybe I have just read third person in bad books?
- Grammar and Spelling Mistakes: This is a big one for me. Sure, my grammar isn't perfect, but I can still spot the basic ones! This mainly focuses on self-published books. I'm not insulting the self-publishing industry, I'm just stating this because they have less editing provided for them. I recently read a book (I recently reviewed it.. try and guess which one it is :P) and it had mistakes in every paragraph. EVERY PARAGRAPH. Ahh, I couldn't stand it! The tenses were different each time, some common grammatical words were being mixed up. I have definitely read amazing self-published books where there have been no mistakes, and they were better than some bestsellers! But, it is very irritating when there are many mistakes in a book. You lose concentration and some parts don't make sense. And, to be honest, I think that is a big pet peeve for fellow bookworms! ;)
- Shallow Characters: I.E, characters with no personalities, hypocritical, or just very annoying. Usually, a story is nothing without characters. Therefore, if there is no people to empathise with or even like, then what's the point?
- Predictable Endings: It says it all in the title really. If you can predict the ending, then the book is ruined. Sometimes you can predict the ending, but the book does a BIG twist and you are totally wrong - I like those kind of books! ;)
- Too Much Detail: Don't get me wrong, sometimes description in books can be beautiful. But if there is too much detail, then it becomes sooooooo boooorrriinnnggg.....zzzzz. I'm like; "Just get on with the story!!!" Sometimes I end up skipping big paragraphs because of this, which shouldn't happen in books. (if you can't tell already, I'm a bit impatient).
- Books That Cost a Zillion Pounds: This isn't really the author's fault, but it is very annoying! I appreciate a book that has beautiful quality paper with detailed illustrations, a hardback with a lovely dust cover, and maybe some swag included. But a simple book for twenty something pounds?? Gaa, we are not rich -_- (unless you are, then yay for you ... awkward)
- My Preferred Genre: This one is purely my opinion, and the book may be FANTABULISTICOZO but just not for me. I love YA books - mystery, romance, action, thrillers, dystopian, chick lit and contemporary. But I'm not really a fan of historical fiction, or the vampire trend (Team Jacob ;D). (those of you who are, don't kill me! *ducks*)
So, what about you? Unscary monsters that are meant to be scary, stereotypes, a certain trend that you wish would go, cliches? Let me know!
11 comments:
Great list! Pretty much all of them applies to me, except for the first person POV. I'm fine with any kind! :) (okay fine, I don't like switching first person povs very much)
Another one would be insta-love and infatuation that makes no sense! The 'they've just met but suddenly in luuuurve' kind. Love triangles annoy me too but to a lesser degree. In some books it works for me but 80% of the time it doesn't. I also really really dislike wimpy/whiny heroines. I don't need them all to be a Katniss or *insert strong girl character here* but sometimes they can be so absurd!
Okay, well I basically agree with EVERYTHING you wrote! I'm not sure which tense I prefer, oddly enough I've never thought about it...
OMG GRAMMAR MISTAKES ARE SO ANNOYING ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Obviously everyone makes them, but you would think that after all the editing that they would have been fixed?!
Shallow characters, or characters who I can't connect with at all, are the worst. It should be near the top of an authors checklist to make sure their characters are 100% amazing. :P
I'm not so annoyed at predictable endings. I mean, if everything in the whole book is cliche and predictable, then NO, but if I do manage to guess the ending half way through a book, I'd still probably read on.(:
I can't actually think of any others... When things are SERIOUSLY CLICHE I want to rip out my hair. I don't mind cliche, if it's not a leading factor in the book, or if there are twists, but if it's just typical characters and nothing enw, then it's super annoying.
I think I just wrote you a miny essay here, LOL! Awesome posts, thanks Zoe. :D
Awesome list! To be honest, I can't choose between 3rd and 1st person! Some of my favourite books are written in 3rd as well as 1st! I love them both :)
Grammar mistakes - worst. thing. ever. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I also hate books that cost tons - its a pain :/ and boring detail is also awful! That's why I don't much like historical fiction - it usually has a lot of detail and not a lot of goings on! ;)
I love posts like this! And I agree with every single point you've made. Especially grammar and spelling mistakes!!! Argh! Like you, I have noticed that self-published books have more of these (not all, of course! Don't hit me!) and it really does ruin the book.
I also hate expensive books! They seem to be getting more and more expensive each year. I remember going into a bookstore and everything was £4.99 , then £5.99 and now NOTHING is under £6.99!
Anyway, thanks for such a great, fun post! :D xxx
I usually go for first person novels too but The Infernal Devices series is a MAJOR exception since it's one of my favourite series ever!
Grammer and spelling mistakes can be quite annoying (really annoying if it's in every paragraph!) but I try not to judge books too much on that. If the writing style is a bit child-like, however, that would lose some marks!
And I hate shallow/whiny characters! But if they add to the story and have a valid reason why they are like they are, then I'm usually fine. But if a main character is annoying I just can't enjoy the book!
I fully agree that too-much detail = boring! Seraphina (by Rachel Hartman) contained so much detail that I actually found it hard to get through the book! That was the biggest issue I had with it! :O
And I think it's getting really ridiculous some of the prices for books! I get that if a book is really anticipated/amazing/obviously going to be a hit then it could cost a little more. But it's just a bit too much!
Sorry about the LONG comment but I usually have a LOT to say on discussion posts, hehe! :D
Great post!
LOVE this post Zoe <3
Pretty much everything on this list will turn me off a book but the main ones are expensive books! that cost me and arm and leg also the whole insta-love ( I will NEVER EVER understand how you can love someone that just met!!)
and there are so many more that will put me off books that if a continue this comment will be longer than your entire post!
Fantastic post Zoe!
I'm so glad you did a post on this! I think a lot of the same things annoy me. I can't stand shallow characters or when the author doesn't develop relationships, like when characters fall in love but there's not really a reason why. Cardboard characters are bad too!
I agree with you on pretty much every point, kinda torn on the 1st person or 3rd person point of view thing though. I don't really know which I like better but you're right Clockwork Angel was amazing!! Are you team Will? Because I am...although I do love Jem, still team Will all the way!
Thanks for this post, I think we have a lot of the same pet peeves :)
~Kaitlyn
Punk Rock Bookie
I agree with most of yours, although I don't mind first or third person. I definitely don't like when a book is too predictable, too much detail can be boring, love-triangles are also annoying and annoying main characters!
wow lots of people on your blog do llllloooonnnnngggggg comments!!
I agree, but books like wonder(btw I wanted to ask you have you reviewed it yet?) are ok for me, like when you see it though Justin's eyes and he leaves out all the punctuation. I think it brings out the character, but you're right, if it's all the way through the book it can get very anoying!!!
Brilliant post!! :) I know what you mean about the grammar mistakes-I'm not good at grammar (at all!!) but it can get really distracting when there's a lot of grammar mistakes in a book. Thanks for the really interesting post!! :)
Beth xx
Totally agree with you on all these points!
I think when a book is in third person, it makes me not feel for the character. Like in the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, I love the series but I think I would have felt more for Tally, the main character, if it was written in first person.
On grammar/spelling mistakes, oh my. I have to admit I do enjoy sometimes being able to spot a spelling mistake or two but when it happens continuously or on simple words, you do start to wonder. And when you read something over and over again and never makes sense, I always feel a little downhearted. Someone obviously wasn't reading or editing this book well if a simple sentence doesn't make sense.
Sorry, long comment - lovely post :)
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