Top Ten Tuesday – March 31, 2026

By Denise @ Life With No Plot on March 31, 2026 • ( 0 )

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is:

Ten or (Eight) Things That Make Me Want to Avoid a Book

This one is going to be tricky. I’m pretty forgiving when it comes to most reading stuff, whether it’s prompts, tropes or what have you. Here are a few things, though, that really turn me off.

“The next . . . “: I hate when something is touted as “the next . . .” whatever. There used to be so many blurbs saying things like, “this is the next Harry Potter” or “the next Twilight.” Insert whatever is insanely popular at the time. Don’t try and sell your story by saying it’s just like something else. Sell your story on it’s own merits.
Enemies to Lovers: This can be done right, but most of the time, it’s way too predictable for my tastes. If I can tell exactly how two characters will go from hate to love, what’s the point in reading it? There needs to at least be a twist of some kind to make it memorable.
Unpleasant Authors: If the author is obnoxious or annoying or unpleasant in any way, I don’t really want to read their work. It’s been unfortunate over the years to find out that some of my favorite authors were actually awful people. It makes it impossible for me to enjoy their books any more.
The Plain Girl Everyone is Obsessed Over: The Bella Swan Effect! Maybe this is just a jealousy thing. I was definitely that plain girl in school and, believe me, no one cared lol. I was shy, awkward, and a little clumsy, but I did not earn the admiration of the whole school. Yes, we need a reason to try to root for the main character, but it’s just not realistic and takes me out of the story every time.
Abusive Relationships Portrayed in a Positive Light: This one, thankfully, doesn’t seem to happen as often as it used to. Maybe the writing world is changing, or maybe it’s just because I have been lucky enough to avoid it. And it’s any relationship – could be a romantic one, or within a family. Speaking of which.
I Can Fix Him!: If you are with a toxic man, do not stay and try to fix him. Or at least don’t try to make me feel sympathetic to him or understand why you are destroying yourself for someone who doesn’t care and won’t change. Yes, of course the sexes can be swapped on this, but it almost always seems to be a woman trying to “fix” a man. Either way, it’s annoying.
Forced Love Triangles: I don’t mind a love triangle if it’s done well. I don’t like when a third person is shoehorned in to try and create conflict and story where there wasn’t any. Sadly, this happens a LOT.
Rich=Bad, Poor=Good: It’s too simplistic. Just because someone is rich doesn’t mean they’re automatically a bad, greedy person. Likewise, being poor doesn’t automatically make someone a paragon of morality. Real people are all shades of gray and portraying anyone otherwise is just lazy writing.