What's your book ick? > Likes and Comments
when there's a huge age gap and the character calls them attractive or in general age gap tropes (unless it's vampires or smthin)
when the female bff's only personality trait is her bf or her being deathly single
Too long of a slow burn OR when they get together too fast and the rest of the book is full of them trying to figure out misunderstandings.
Yess I hate when they get together too fast. That’s why I had to drop Heartstoppers. Another ick is when the fmc is too hyper independent and has a “I don’t need a man” mentality. It usually always have a scene where the man has to swoop in and save her. This trope is in every fantasy book
Tayjah wrote: "Yess I hate when they get together too fast. That’s why I had to drop Heartstoppers. Another ick is when the fmc is too hyper independent and has a “I don’t need a man” mentality. It usually alwa..."
this ^^ but when the absolutely refuse to accept help or accept they are wrong
When there are multiple misunderstandings between characters (especially love interests) that could easily have been avoided if they just communicated.
I just read king of greed by Ana Huang it was a great book but I had on ick it’s the number of stomach drops I had at some point it was so much that I just stopped and finished the book the next day
too much smut, cringy possessive dialogue & the same personality traits but diff man in the same series (twisted series)
I have so many small ones:when it's adults that act like kids doing shit that I (as a literal teenager) would never do
or she's not like other girls because she slumps when she sits (yes, im talking to you adeline.)*adds quirky emojis*
when they talk about social media ESPECIALLY tiktok just NO.
Grammar mistakes.
SA being romanticised or moved past just because they're "hot"
there's probably more I can't think of atm
When the book has all this build up just to end so abruptly
Oh so manyWhen the FMC is 'not like other girls', only have male friends, somehow 'different' from other girls yet is supposed to come off as 'relatable' to the reader.
When the FMC is so tiny and fragile and delicate and petite but feisty and the MMC is BIG and BROAD and TOWERING and MASSIVE and POSSESSIVE and ALPHA with a big dick.
When the dialogue contains pop culture references, tiktok, insta references. Some books has this but is done well tho (eg: Yellowface)
When romance and smut takes up most of the book (ok this is a me problem I feel like I'm third-wheeling the couple and I'm kinda uncomfortable around smut)
When the book is just a cesspool of tropes and predictable plot. Why does every new book needs to fit into specific tropes? It's boring and lack originality. This isn't AO3 this are published books.
Dark romance. I love me some fucked up and despicable scenes but not in a romance. I rather it in a horror. That way it's not romanticized.
the age gap trope like female is 21 and male is 38 what the heck?! man
When a traumatic event happens to the MC and they just get over it right away. Like.. How did they get over it? How long did it take? I need the events that happen after it.
no quotation marks (normal people by sally Rooney)
Honestly when the chapters don't begin at the top of the page (I'm looking at you, We Were Liars)
Swearing and yk all the Haraam stuff. (To all the non-Muslims that don't know what Haraam means, here's a three-word explanation: forbidden in Islam. Yk, alcohol, swearing - again - and the like.)
when the fmc says to the mmc " LOOK AT ME, YOU ARE NOT LIKE THAT" omg i cant when the author brings up a drama like 20 pages before the books ends, like no thanks we needed that like 100 pages ago not now
misscomunication trope... do i need to say more?
"i am not like other girls " nope ,nope , nope
When characters fall in love so quick like um okay do you even know their last name
When the enemies to lovers don't even have a plot, like one day they just randomly get together💀
too much smut, no plot line in a romantasy series' last few books (acosf, i didnt like it at all)
Larissa wrote: "I'll go firstI hate it when there's a super strong character(most of the time main character or love interest) that has the experience of a 1000 year old warrior, but it's just a - 16-18year old...."
I second this and the stories about the male mc alpha whatever he wants to be vampire, werewolf or just boss, but there's no growth of character and sometimes they make some damn stupid mistakes... aren't you supposed to be the greatest?? at least that's what you told us throughout the entire book.
I would say to much smut I LOVED the shatter me series but I think it was like book four restore me I think and there was I think to much smut than needed please don't hate me
when the main characters act like teenagers that dont know how to communicate their feelings and bcs of that they are always fighting when everything would be alright if they just acted their age and communicated
I read a lot of Fantasy Romance and ugh I hate it when the MC has to give up all their powers to save the world or save their man or whatever 🤮I also hate enemies to lovers and they use that “he’s just misunderstood, he actually didn’t do any of those bad things” trope. It’s such a cop out.
A guy that is toooo nice and a girl who is extremely naive without any trauma relation for it
Way too many and cringey smut scenes which are used basically as coping mechanism for EVERYTHING. Like just take a moment and talk at least a bit please 😭
Rachael wrote: "Oh so manyWhen the FMC is 'not like other girls', only have male friends, somehow 'different' from other girls yet is supposed to come off as 'relatable' to the reader.
When the FMC is so tiny a..."
so true
Okay, I absolutely HATE the miscommunication trope. Like, please just talk it out, we don't need to be this dramatic😭
a long long long slow burn. it makes me so uninterested in continuing reading
-age gap-miscommunication trope
-"im not like other girls! >:33" shut up im actually going to kill you in your sleep
-MMC or any male character who is DARK and MYSTERIOUS and NO ONE can touch him and he's so BROODING AND HOT kindly shut up because that's so overused and most people make him possessive and he never smiles bc he has no emotions >:( (i love golden retriever boys :(((
-FMC who refuses help bc shes strong and stuff but really is just full of pride
-Enemies to lovers that aren't actually enemies to lovers but usually just idiots who can't communicate and are too stubborn to even try
-forced diversity
like people who only put in LGBTQ or POC characters to look good but don't actually develop them or care
-not holding a character accountable for their toxicity/issues bc "they're misunderstood!! :(" or they're hot or smth that makes me want to run them over w a school bus
-OH AND REAL PEOPLE ON COVERS. ESPECIALLY SHIRTLESS MEN.
when the fmc is like extremely naive and optimistic and sweet or whatever and then the male love interest is morally grey or rlly rude and stuff the dynamic just feels wrong and the stories would DEFINITELY not work if it was the other way around. and as much as i like ouabh it def fits into that trope
oh and kinda like ava and alex from twisted love but ava isn't that naive
big fonts, those covers that reach all the way to the edge, pages that stick out (like a dowry of blood), badly written characters, extremely short chapters, none labeled chapters.
When the MC is completely immature and lies through the whole book for literally no reason
When an author writes “He Growled”, like are you a dog?? 🤮🤮
Additionally to the growl.. what about the purring???? bruh
I've noticed that I absolutely hate those fantasy tropes where a seemingly normal girl discovers she's got special powers....in a world full of special humans (I just can't get into that stuff) Other than that my icks are - second chance romances, huge age gaps, love triangles and ofcouse toxic characters that don't have a proper backstory about why they're like that.
Hmm probs the second chance trope and the miscommunication trope,like they shouldn't exists at all,
17 wrote: "too much smut, cringy possessive dialogue & the same personality traits but diff man in the same series (twisted series)"^^^^ i absolutely HATE when theres too much smut it sometimes takes away too much from the plot
Typos killlllll me. You're a major publishing house. You can afford copy editors.
When the characters have started having sex and they talk about condoms and not having them. Then they say: It's okay, I'm on birth control and I'm clean. GROSS. That's stigma and just because someone has an STI doesn't make them dirty. It's irresponsible.
when the fmc is like 5 foot and the mmc is 6 foot 4. like what
FMCs with no personality, enemies to lovers where the enemy part is one-sided dislike at best, fantasy with poor worldbuilding
-any goofy main character that ALWAYS ends up avoiding every problem / too overpowered-fmc with a major height difference to all her love interests (like 4'5 and 7'9 or smth)
-no personality side (or background) characters
-age gaps😧
-cringe covers like the ones with the shirtless guys on them like do i want to be embarrassed to read in public???
-unrealistic healing from trauma like girly why are you throwing a party when you're the whole family had been slaughtered in front of you???????????
-enemies to lovers.
-any over used trope honestly
-ROMANTICIZED TOXIC TRAITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When the male main character has all this sexual experience and he's like some 500 year-old immortal and then the female main character is "innocent and doe eyed" and described as petite.
When the powerful female main character loses their powers at the end of the series.
Biggest one is when fmc tries to acknowledge how weird she is, or different. Ugh.I.e.: “yes, I know I’m weird. I’ve never fitted in..”
The pregnancy trope. As soon as there’s a pregnancy it’s an instant nope for me 😅
when people are in the story and they decide they can't be friends/lovers because of something even though they would be PERFECT together
I hate it when there's a super strong character(most of the time main character or love interest) that has the experience of a 1000 year old warrior, but it's just a - 16-18year old. It just seems silly that a 17 year old saves the universe and / or beats all the 40+ adults that have triple the experience. Like come on