7 Book Tropes I Wish Would DIE

We have all have our favourite book tropes that we kind of love reading, but then again we also have those book tropes that are either super overused or that we just think are awful. These are the tropes I honestly wish I don’t ever have to read again, at least unless it’s done very well. There are certain books with the tropes below that I love, but in general, the tropes themselves I hate and wish they could die off.

Here we go:

1. The Love Triangle

Ah…what began in Twilight, and kept going in the YA generational trend of paranormal romance. I cannot stand this trope. It’s so annoying, JUST PICK ONE OKAY. Don’t let yourself be dangled between two potential interests. At least choose one then if that one doesn’t pan, choose another! Unless a love triangle or love square or pentagon or whatever, is extremely well written i.e. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before or City of Bones, it’s just bleh. Even those are cutting it for me tbh because even when well-written, they make me cringe. When did this become so popular? Was this some kind of fantasies authors had for themselves in the early 2000’s??

2. “I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding”

Need I say more? This has got to be so famously hated that I think all those big authors put it in their books to mess with us. This literally happens to NO ONE, unless you’re watching some kind of movie where the character is underwater for ages and you just subconsciously ‘gotta try to see if I’ve survive in that sitch too’.

3. Trilogies

You guys have no idea how insanely happy I am that duologies are becoming more popular! I mean, Warcross & Wildcard, Strange the Dreamer & Muse of Nightmares, Six of Crows & Crooked Kingdom, Replica & Ringer. I just LOVE duologies because I am so sick of trilogies. Not only because that’s an extra book to read, but what tends to happen is a middle book syndrome where the middle book is amazing but the bread surrounding this gorgeous peanut butter doesn’t make the trilogy a good sandwich. It’s just so satisfying to read a YA duology. If you have any other YA duology recommendations, let me know!

4. The Retro Music Lover

I actually love retro music and there are plenty of people who do out there, but it just seems way too easy and convenient for authors to constantly have their protagonists be a fan of retro music and collecting vinyl or listening to old school tapes. There are OTHER WAYS to make your character more interesting and build a character’s personality.

5. Parents or Important Adults are Conveniently Absent

I mean this one is just stupid. I yell at the tv when I see it on the screen. WHERE WERE THE COPS HUH? WHERE DID THE PARENTS JUST GO? (lmao the parents in Pretty Little Liars literally getting trapped in a basement for 6 months in between seasons though) I’d rather the villain or whoever actually trapped those adults instead of the author just conveniently mentioning that they were out of town.

6. Super Pretty Girl Thinks She’s ‘Plain’

This is so prevalent in most YA novels, it’s so overused that when a character actually acknowledges and displays confidence and self-esteem in her appearance that its a breath of fresh air. I want to breathe more of that, I much prefer women being confident in their looks and even using them to their advantage (hello Aelin!). I think it can seriously help younger readers too, to show them that they don’t need their appearance validated to feel confident in how they look and how they were born.

7. Unqualified yet Overachieving Protagonist / The Chosen One

This is another one that’s just plain annoying. I think this one annoys me in every book I’ve read it, even Harry Potter. Like WOW, you’ve got a god given gift or ability, don’t you worry about silly things like, idk, hard work and dedication?

Maybe that’s just the Asian principles in me, I value hard work and determination more than just having a special gift for it. Sure that’d be nice, but that’s hardly super fair or as qualifying as going on the original pathway anyway.

Being The Chosen One, in general, is just not that attractive to read in my opinion. Harry Potter definitely saw the brunt of the hate that stemmed from that title in the books. I would actually love to read more books where, what if, the protagonist was the sidekick…or at least the integral person in helping another character that’s the Chosen One. *cough* give me a Hermione book J.K. *cough* I personally can’t remember any books like that on the top of my head, but if you know any, shoot me a comment down below 🙂

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I actually found this pretty funny comic right here from Pinterest that explains some of these ridiculous tropes that can honestly be seen in so many books and not just dystopian or paranormal genres nowadays.

Notice the choice of names above? I know another hated trope is having a weird noun for a name.

If you’re in for a laugh, you can also check out this Buzzfeed article here that has some pretty funny Tumblr posts about YA tropes. There were a few I also didn’t mention in the list above like Instalove and conveying words with a look (omg Aelin STOP IT. I ACTUALLY HATE THAT ABOUT YOU.) but I’ve ended loving the books or that series because they were written quite well (except for Aelin. Why Sarah? Why???)

What do you think of these tropes? are there any you also hate you’d like to share?

xx Tracy