Top Ten Book Turn-Offs

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

So, some months ago I actually did this topic (Bookish Trends That Need to Die/I Want More Of), so when I saw this topic I was in a PANIC. "Oh no! What if I repeat myself? The world will end and puppies will starve and there will be no more laughter!" Well, whatever. I'm going to repeat myself. In fact, I am going to quote myself. The puppies will just have to deal.

 1. Abusive douchebucket love interests

 

I think this one pretty much speaks for itself, doesn't it? I love me some bad boys, but I don't like boys who are actually bad. There's a big difference. Or at least, books who portray bad guys as good guys. I like complex, not black and white characters. But most of the time, these negative characteristics (like being controlling, physically or emotionally abusive, sexist, cold, cruel, secretive, overly protective to the point of being coddling) are romanticized in YA lit. And me no likey.

 2. Protagonists whose whole lives center around their love interests



Again, it speaks for itself. People are complex. They've got siblings, parents, school, friends, dreams, fears, worries. And yes, having a significant other is very important when you're a teen (and... well, any age, really), but it's not all.

3. Vanishing parents



This is a tricky one for me, since a lot of the time, having no parents in the picture really does help (see: The Hunger Games). But I always find it really refreshing when YA parents actually seem to 1) exist, 2) care about their children, 3) not Disapparate off the page whenever the main character really could use some parental intervention. It's one thing if the book focuses on a strained parent-kid relationship. It's another if the parents just HAPPEN to be WOEFULLY OBLIVIOUS to all the shenanigans afoot right beneath their mustachioed noses (poor Charlie Swan).

4. Stereotypes



It's hard to avoid them completely, obviously--sometimes the plot really does require a mean girl-- but why not make the mean girl a geek instead of a cheerleader? Poor? Not blonde?

5. Unrealistic teenage sex



I think it's realistic for teenagers in to books to have sex. It's realistic for them not to. But it's NOT realistic for a teenager's first time to be mind-blowing and coordinated and awesome. No, most likely you'll be like Seth and Summer, and someone will get kneed in the leg or fall off the bed and afterward you'll both just stare at the ceiling, hoping it will fall down on you.

6. Instalove



I wrote a whole other long, rant-y, gif-tastic post on the subject of instalove. I like to root for romances I can believe in, that have some emotional foundation. I refuse to believe you're willing to give your life for someone who you only just made eye contact with. I don't care if angels sang and the sky became a rainbow  and every possible synonym for "fiery" was used to describe your body at the moment of said eye contact. You're not in love yet.

7. Whitewashing/heteronormativity

 

The world is a diverse place. I love when books accurately reflect that. If there is not ONE gay person, or person of color, or person who isn't thin and conventially attractive, or even someone from a different socioeconomic background... well, I'm going to call shenanigans. Unless your novel takes place a purposefully homogenous society, but even then someone should MENTION the issue. I really took issues with books like The Selection and Matched, which feature rigid, codified romantic situations but never even discussed the possibility that characters could be gay. Like, how interesting would that have been, if one of the girls Selected girls liked other girls instead of the prince? Or if Cassia was being matched with a dude, but she totally doesn't swing that way? These possibilities weren't even floated. 

8. Inappropriate POV switches



I actually like when books have multiple points of view (provided this is well executed, of course). I dislike when the author seems to have no control over whose viewpoint he or she is utlizing, and the narrative, which for all of the book has been focused on one person's limited third person, will flitter through another character's brain for a sentence and then pop right back into our MC's. Nooooo. 

9. Poor grammar



See: Frozen. If the author doesn't even have a basic command of English, how can I expect them to have a basic command of storytelling? I lose faith when I see that the basics aren't covered. I wouldn't hire a chef who didn't know how to fry an egg or what mise en place means or how to grill.

10. Characters who turn into wimps when a love interest comes along



 I haaaaate this. I especially hate it, because it's usually female characters who lose all their fire and spirit and awesomeness because some hot guy made eye contact with them. BLEGH.

11. Bad author behavior

 

Unacceptable in any form and will make me never want to read the author's book. 


Honorable mentions: Adultery, an overly preachy message, animal violence, slut-shaming (and virgin-shaming), standalones that MORPH into series, when girl characters seemingly need boy characters to save them.