Things about books that PISS you off!!!

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KiaraAlexisKlay
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Post by KiaraAlexisKlay »

Y'all bring up valid points. I happen to share and agree with most of them.

Some things that really piss me off is when the hero/heroine are too perfect. Do I like a happy ending? Sure I do, but if you just sugarcoat over all the flaws and personality traits that make a person and relationship unique than you don't get a true depiction.

Historical romances....bleh. I've read a bunch and I've liked them, but they follow the same dam plotline and are so predictable. Why the hell would I spend upwards twenty dollars or heaven forbid more on a story I can already tell you how it's going to end or how the characters will react without even reading it? Oh, there would probably be a few details changed, but overall, it's boring.

My biggest pet peeve is when an author doesn't take the time to accurately research. You just can't decide to say, oh, i'm going to write a love story and set it in the Medieval era and that's that. You have to first chose the location in medieval world you're going to set it in and have your characters interact and react like how they would if they were in that era. Research, research, research people!

Oh, and in mysteries. Loved Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys but it got old after a while. We already know there's going to be a great mystery, Nan or the Boys will get involved somehow because one of their friends from high school or childhood whom they haven't seen in forever invited them to visit because of 'strange happenings' or just for a vacation that goes wrong, someone's going to try to kill them, the bad guy is always someone who they never expected, and at the end they have some cheesy bright ending. Bleh.

Or how about in a series you're reading where so much has happened (i.e. the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys) and yet they never age? c'mon people, no one stays seventeen and eighteen for over fifty years. Even Batman and Superman and the original Robin Dick Grayson and the original Batgirl Barbara Gordo have aged in their long tenures.

Do I love young heros and heroines? Yes, it makes for interesting reading. But if you're going to have a consistent series, and all these things happen, the character has to grow up sometime.

Or how about too much sex in books? I like reading books that have sex in them, but some just go overboard. Take the LKH books. You know going in that the Merry Gentry series is going to be about sex, period. Going in, you're prepared and expecting the sex along with a side of mystery.

However, her Anita Blake series started out with mystery and zombies and suddenly there's nothing but sex, sex, threesomes, sex, and more sex with hardly any plot other than who else can we make Anita just have to sleep with? It gets frustrating when an author doesn't deliver. And I understand how some stories can evolve on their own, but c'mon!

That's false advertisement!

Oh, or, the hero or heros are just these perfect attractive people who are 'the fairest of all maidens' or the 'sexiest and manliest of men'. It's okay to have a slightly chubby woman, or a guy with a bushy eyebrows or hell, someone who snores or farts in their sleep. I like reading about attractive people, i really do, but there is a crossing of the line.

The whole extremely older guy than the woman thing kinda irks me too, especially if the female is so 'mature' for her age. *rolls eyes*

Okay, I think I'm finished ranting now, lol. I have more but I can't think about them now, lol.
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nunki
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Re: Things about books that PISS you off!!!

Post by nunki »

I have to agree with some of your points.

I hate it when the summary on the back of the book is not really summarizing the book at all. Sometimes you get the feeling the person who wrote it didn´t even read the book before.I don´t know how much time I wasted on books that sounded interesting but really weren´t. And for me, I can`t stop to read a book I don´t like because I sort of always hope it get´s better in the end...mostly it doesn´t.

And I dislike typos as well. It just distracts from reading if there are too many. I mean they have editors...it shouldn`t be that difficult to eliminate typos.

I also hate it when books are predictable...what´s the reason in reading a book if you know what´s gonna happen by just reading the first 20 pages?
I personally don´t mind if a main character dies in the end. It would be boring if there were only happy endings. There wouldn`t be any books that keep you on the edge of your seat anymore.
And some of my favourite books ended badly...it keeps the story realistic. Not everything ends with happily ever after.

I also don´t mind about a 24 and 16/17 age difference. A friend of mine started dating a guy who was 28 when she was 17. She´s 24 now and they`re still together and happy, so why should I bother? As long as both want it...
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killjoy
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Re: Things about books that PISS you off!!!

Post by killjoy »

Ok this is what pissed me off the most.

I'm a very BIG fan of alternate history books.Where something in history is twisted just enough to give us a different turn out than what we read in our history books growing up.

Such as....

The South winning the US Civil War.
What would a war be like if the war for US independence against England happened today instead of in 1776
What if Germany had won World War II

I'm reading a great series now that was going very very good and I was loving every page of it.But in the fourth book the author just took an unexpected left curve and took the series into a whole different direction.A direction that made my heros suddenly into a nest of evil bad guys who are murdering millions and trying to take over the world :roll: :twisted:

So what I'm trying to say is I hate getting into a series and than suddenly having it take off in another direction making it where I love half of the series and can't stand to even look at the other half.

I hope that made sense to you guys :oops:
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Re: Things about books that PISS you off!!!

Post by Skynet »

So what I'm trying to say is I hate getting into a series and than suddenly having it take off in another direction making it where I love half of the series and can't stand to even look at the other half.

I hope that made sense to you guys
Perfect sense!! The series that did that to me is LKH's Antia Blake series. Started off strong and different and went to pot as soon as all the unnessary sex came in to play.
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LoveIsForever
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Re: Things about books that PISS you off!!!

Post by LoveIsForever »

What I don't like is historcial novels that instead of actually doing their homework on they just make the char. act they today instead of their time. If you're going to make people act like today place you're story in today timeline not the pasts. It just really gets on my nerves when they do that.
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LovinGuerin2Much
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Re: Things about books that PISS you off!!!

Post by LovinGuerin2Much »

Books that make you wait forever for the couple to be have sex and when they FINALLY do it sucks or the author basically writes " With love in their eyes they walked into the bedroom hand in hand."

And your like NO NO, I dont need a play by play but jeez after all the waiting...its a let down.
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Re: Things about books that PISS you off!!!

Post by killjoy »

LovinGuerin2Much wrote:Books that make you wait forever for the couple to be have sex and when they FINALLY do it sucks or the author basically writes " With love in their eyes they walked into the bedroom hand in hand."

And your like NO NO, I dont need a play by play but jeez after all the waiting...its a let down.
That sounds like some of my fanfiction...for I stink at writting smut :lol:
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Re: Things about books that PISS you off!!!

Post by secretk »

Hm, interesting and pretty old thread :roll: , but I wanted to share something.

I guess it really depends on our preferences, age, interests, culture etc. Just let me say that I don't like romantic novels, so I guess that's why my opinion is so different. I prefer sci-fi and mysteries.

For example I don't agree with some of the points here.
I don't mind characters with disability (just a slight note - have in mind that handicapped is not the word you should use, because that way you offend the people). I like them, but not because I like pain. On contrary I like them, because I think that such people exists and we should pay attention to them. Life is not all about happiness, health and money. Those people also deserve chance to be happy. Besides they're much more interesting to write and read - all their struggles to cope with such situation. I personally think that a lot people don't know how to react, talk and treat people with disabilities, which is real shame. They just like to ignore the fact and well that's not the real world. Of course there is no need to picture the protagonist as some depressed tortured person with the problems of the whole nation.

I don't mind not so beautiful characters. In fact I don't care how look the characters. Seriously I'm not interested in the characters' looks, I'm interested in their mind and their actions. If there is a section in a book that explains in about 2 pages how beautiful is someone, I just skip that part.

I don't mind if one of the characters sleeps with someone else if there is a good reason behind it. The stories where two people meet and are happy with each other are plain boring. To me angst is what makes the things interesting. Of course that doesn't mean that the protagonist should be like cats and dogs all the time and in the last chapter just to admit their feelings. That's boring too. A story should be balanced.

Past relationships and children are also not a problem for me. Well, such couples and people do exist and they deserve chance to be happy.

A couple with huge age difference is something that bothers me, but I could accept it. Let me say that I just don't see how 17 years old girl might be with 28 years old man for long time, but I could read it. After all reading and writing is about exploring different people and situations. Of course I won't be super fan of the couple, but if the rest is OK then I won't have problems with the book.

I don't mind killing secondary character. We all die and well things like that happen, especially when there is reason for the death. I like stories when someone makes bad choices and ends up dead. In fact I hate if someone do wrong things all the time and they doesn't end up dead and or hurt. Again it's not that I like the pain, it's just logical. I can't be criminal without expecting something to happen to me. We all know that our actions have consequences and we should be prepared for them.

I don't mind killing main character also, when it's in criminal stories. For example in story about kick-ass special secret government agent what do you expect? They suddenly to find the love of their live or end up dead in doing their job? The first option is too cheesy for me.

OK, so I guess you could all see it. I like realistic stories. I sure can read about aliens, vampires, werewolves, but the point is that I want to read realistic characters with realistic flaws and strengths and logical behavior. I hate when the characters do illogical things without an explanation. I hate one dimensional characters with no behavior background.

I don't like cheesy stories, I also don't like relationships without buildup. I believe in first sight attraction, not in first sight love. If someone likes someone else, I want a pretty good reason why is that happening.

I agree on typos. I don't like stories with grammar or lexical mistakes.
I agree on research also. Authors should try to make their story believable. Well, at least for me.
I also hate super good characters - the Mary Sue type that has no flaws at all.
I'm also pretty demanding on the villains characterization. I'm the type of person who doesn't think that we're just born good or bad. I don't think that the killers for example just kill. There's always a motive and I prefer to see it in the books. I would also find interesting to read from their point of view the situation.

I don't like stories with too much sex too. It's cool to see how your favorite couple finally cement the things, but sex all the time - boring.
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