As readers, we all have things we see in a book that make us roll our eyes or want to immediately put it down. This week, I was inspired by Nate Philbrick’s 20 Bookish Pet Peeves to write my own list. It’s Monday, so why not bitch about it?
- Covers that change mid-series
- When paperbacks are released six months after the hard cover
- Ebooks that cost as much (or more) than a paperback
- Highly sexual book covers
- Poorly done photo-manipulated covers
- Publishers who give authors super short print-runs
- Love triangles
- Characters will oddly apt names, like a werewolf named Luna Woolf
- When side characters are more interesting than the main characters yet get very little screen time
- The “tragic queer” trope
- Invisible people of color (when characters are only revealed to be PoC by the author AFTER the book has been published and widely read, yet there’s no textual evidence in the book)
- Mary-Sues/Gary-Stus
- Complex female characters being called Mary-Sues because they can think and act like a capable human being
- Books that flat-line in the middle in terms of pacing
- Unlikable characters only being “bad guys”
- Lack of diversity in many genres (in terms of race, sexuality, gender-identity)
- Books with no back blurb, just “reviews” by big name papers or authors.
- Authors who put out one really great book and never write again
- Certain genres being seen as lesser or more important than others
- When the dust jacket won’t stay on your hard cover
What bookish things do you bitch about?
