1. PART OF AN INCOMPLETE SERIES WITH 4+ BOOKS ALREADY. This is pretty much why I haven't touched Game of Thrones. I don't have time for a huge series - there are thousands of other books I could be reading!
2. SPINOFF BOOKS OF SHORT STORIES. I love The Grisha universe but I doubt I'll read the short story collection coming out this year. Personally I prefer to fill in the gaps of mythology etc. for myself.
3. BOOKS WITH FACES ON THE COVER. Sorry, I just hate it.
4. GENERALLY UGLY COVERS. I go to the library if I'm that desperate.
5. RAPE AS A FOCAL POINT/PLOT DEVICE. Especially if it's graphic. Not knowing this with The Kite Runner meant I had a super sucky reading experience. I just don't read about it.
6. PROBLEMATIC BOOKS. It's hard to know what's problematic most of the time, but the book community is really good at calling this stuff out most of the time (Nevernight feels like the exception - was I the only person who thought it was super racist?). I don't want to promote stuff that is hurting people.
7. BOOKS ENTIRELY ABOUT LOSS. Specifically contemporaries. I adore A Monster Calls but it helps that it's short and has a lot of depth and other stuff going on that makes it complex. If it were 300 pages about a boy dealing with his mother's slow death and nothing else I wouldn't be able to do it.
8. CHARACTERS HAVING TO BE 'CURED' OR CHANGED IN SOME WAY. Big or small - it pisses me off. Even if it's a longer narrative about how it's problematic I honestly don't want to sit through it.
9. HORROR/THRILLER NOVELS. I don't think I've read any that are solely horror/thriller and I'm glad. BUT stangely I'm a sucker for dark vibes? The creepy horror stuff that went down in The Raven King? I was living for it.
10. NO PLOT TIL THE VERY END SO YOU'RE FORCED TO READ THE SEQUEL. Admittedly it's hard to know this is the case until you actually finish the book, but it makes me so angry! Especially if the book mostly sucked anyway. Why was my time wasted on an incomplete story where nothing even happened?!
What things make you avoid reading a book?
I hate rape as a focal point too, and I LOATHED The Kite Runner, although that wasn't the only reason why.
ReplyDeleteI also don't like reading incomplete series - I'd rather read a standalone or a series that's already finished, because it's torture waiting the next book.
The Kite Runner made me so sick. The writing style was really beautiful, but I hated that the character kind of spent his life 'learning' from witnessing the rape of his friend. I hate the trope that a protagonist learns from the suffering of others, but this made it so so much worse. And absoultey nobody warned me. It's kind of the reason I'm so big on putting warnings on my reviews. So people can know what to look out for and avoid if they know it upsets them. Also I hate that books that aren't set in 'the west' are only ever successful when they describe them as miserable and scummy places. Bad things do happen, but it feels like 'western' readers only care about reading about other places when it's clear they're viewed as the inferior.
DeleteSorry for the rant haha I forgot I had all these feelings about TKR.
I actually don't mind waiting so much, because sometimes I just don't want the happy reading experience to end. But big series take up SO MUCH TIME. Time that I could be spending 20 standalones in instead. Plus I don't trust that a super long series ever actually needs to be that long.
Thank you for visiting <3
Interesting that you don't like books with faces on the cover. I think I need to make a list of things other people don't like!
ReplyDeletehttps://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2017/04/words-that-will-instantly-make-me-not.html
I know, it's a peculiar dislike of mine! I really don't know what it is, but I think it's partially because why would you have a picture of a person staring at a camera that tells you nothing about the story when you could have beautiful artwork instead? But I know it's a strange dislike to have :)
DeleteI'm glad I am not alone about the short stories! I can have seriously loved a series, and even be desperate for more, but I won't pick up a book of short stories. There is just something about it that is a huge turn off for me.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT.
I'm glad I'm not alone either! I think it's one of those things where I feel as though I could be reading so many more new things with my time than explore a world I'm already familiar with. Also it sucks because a lot of them could be hit and miss.
DeleteI'm so glad someone added problematic books to their list! I haven't read Nevernight because of this. You aren't the only one to think it's racist, but it seemed like a delayed reaction. It wasn't until a lot of hype and way later that I heard people speaking out against it.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I've seen the issue on a few lists today.
DeleteI think you're right about it being a delayed reaction with Nevernight, but I still see so much hype over it which makes me sad. I don't even think it was intentional, but it really required some sensitivity readers before publishing, becuase for the only actually nice person of a certain race (fictional or not) to be mixed race and a victim of abuse and a product of rape is so revoltingly problematic. Also for the race to be potentially based of a real culture is even worse. I stand by your descision not to give it the time of day.
I actually love book series (as long as I enjoy the characters/setting/story), but I do hate waiting for the next installment to come along. I'm old and I have a bad memory -- I tend to forget what's happening from one book to the next. I keep telling myself not to start a series until it's complete and I can binge-read it, but go figure, I never listen to myself!
ReplyDeleteI hate rape as a weak plot point as well. And yes about the problematic books! Many things should get caught by publishers! Great list. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with so many on your list. Long series are not my thing as I'd rather read a lot of books than one big series. And ugly covers get passed over quickly.
ReplyDeleteI agree with so many on your list. Long series are not my thing as I'd rather read a lot of books than one big series. And ugly covers get passed over quickly.
ReplyDeleteUgh #10 bugs me so much!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/25/top-ten-tuesday-104/
#1 is totally for sure. Like that's a huge commitment to dive into and it's not even finished! Ugly covers are a sad sad thing as well :(
ReplyDelete