The Perks Of Being A Book Addict discussion

I hate it when all characters are written like they are models of perfection mentally socially and physically...without flaws....get realistic people!

You both made me smile because those are both my pet peeves as well. I also have a pet peeve when characters are written in cliche ways (e.g the father threatening the date, man punching his opponent when he could have been successful using his wit, the woman who is supposed to be successful and smart who acts immature and falls apart waiting to be saved)...

I get annoyed when the author seems to have a "pet" word. You know - the view was magnificent..... the magnificent apple pie hit the spot -- this was going to be a magnificent start for her new job....

When an author patches a plot hole late in the story, instead of reworking the story to prevent it.

For example, a tone-deaf protagonist suddenly being able to sing. The author just put in parentheses that the character took some lessons, never mentioned it before this scene. The writer could have instead gone back in the story and given the character a recording of the song to be played later.

Character names are too similar to each other. Some authors seem to get hung up on a letter of the alphabet and you end up with a Hester, Harry, Henry. Can make it hard to remember who is who.

The author's probably have little control of this, but I hate cover's that have nothing to do with the plot line. Especially when there's a person on the cover who looks nothing like the MC is described.

This is a very, very specific pet peeve but here I go! When it comes to books with multiple perspectives, it drives me nuts when an author has consecutive chapters from the same character perspective, especially when both of those chapters were short and easy to combine into one. This is especially annoying when the author uses paragraph breaks in other chapters of the same book.

Pet peeve: When I read a book by an author and love the book. Then, when I read another book by the same author, and find that it is so similar to the first story (I don't mean sequels but a different book altogether), as if the author is using some type of formula. So disappointing.

Peet peeve: when two characters fall in love instantly.

My pet peeve: when a person says something and the next sentence is and she/he really meant it. Is the character a liar otherwise? I know it is silly but that really bothers me.

My pet peeve is related to books that are series. It makes me crazy when ever person ever featured in the book needs to make an appearance. If they are involved in the story great. But to have them their when they have no reason to be there ughhhh

Not sure if this can be considered as a pet peeve but i hate it when a dead character is brought back to life. This happens towards the end in some books when someone dies in a war or something and they're back to life with the help of some strange magic. Another one is when the protagonist is portrayed to look perfect and uses some really exaggerated adjective to describe their appearances. Also when female leads in fantasy novels are made to have slender physiques despite the hours of training they go through.

I don't like when authors have certain go-to phrases they use all the time, kind of pointlessly. "He swallowed hard." "His brows climbed." "Her lips twitched." That kind of thing.

When a book doesn't pass the Bechdel test! The bar is so low!

When there are books about schools and all the students are divided into groups: jocks, nerds, popular girls...etc. It bugs me so much that everyone only fits into one category

When the writing is beautiful, but the story is not good, or when the story is good, but the writing is not.

when the author 's lazy and decides that no ones going to catch on that all 3 parts of a series are absolutely tbe same story - just a change of names. it rankles me a lot.

Bonnie wrote: "When a character cannot recognize his own professor’s handwriting. (Cough) Harry Potter #6. Get a clue."

hahahhaaha

It bugs me when the author starts a side character's love story and then just forgets to mention any updates about it, later in the book.

Fei wrote: "Do you have any weird book pet peeves?

For me, it bugs me when all the characters have average names and the protagonist has some crazy name.

Also, when normal words are spelled differently to ma..."

the crazy spelling is so annoying... especially with names... I hate it when characters are called Jesyekah instead of Jessica, for example, to show that they are interesting.

Particular pet peeves I have:
- I hate it when a girl is supposed to be ugly and undesirable yet 5-6 men lust and chase after her in the book (it is giving so much false hope to unattractive girls... it is not going to happen in real life, no matter how amazing her personality is... unless there is valid reasoning, like she visits another country with different beauty ideals)
- I hate it, when in a YA classroom setting, every single high school cliché is present... there is no class that has every single high school label ever... pick and choose a few, because there are going to be cliques
- in romance plots, when the author implies that a guy has to buy expensive stuff for the girl to show their love
- names in historical or contemporary settings that make absolutely no sense for the character (the parents would not have given that name, because it is not their style / not fashionable in their social groups; the name does not exist at that time etc.)
- I also don't like "Easter egg" names, when the meaning of the name has to do with the character's personality traits or something that would happen to the character... I just find it lazy and uninspired (Lupin is my fave character from Harry Potter, but I found the name so lazy)
- when time travel is used as a plot device to solve a problem
- when a problem is solved by the author telling us there was a spell / prophecy in action for the full timeline of the book and that would save the protagonist
- love triangles where the second love interest is just a pagefiller / it is way too obvious who the author wants for the main character.. also if the second love interest turns out to be a douchebag in the end of the story, unless it makes sense for the main character's character arc
- when the author throws in a tragedy or accident because she/he cannot propel the plot in another way
- misconceptions about sex in general (virgin girl acting like a pro porn star, unrealistic depictions of first sex etc.)
- weirdly wacky and quirky fake brand and store names all over a contemporary story
- depicting a conventionally attractive person as ugly (some authors think that there is one type of beautiful, and that's it... one time I read the description of Zooey Deschanel in a novel, and it was written as ugly, because it was not a Margot Robbie-like blonde bombshell look)

Peeves;

1. Weirdly spelled versions of otherwise normal names; I couldn't get past Celaena's name in the Sarah J Maas books.

2. In romances, describing people's actions or characteristics as "masculine" or "feminine." Like "her feminine scent wafted over to him" or "his masculine hand." It's lazy, unclear and perpetuates gender stereotypes. Pass.

3. Even if the prose is technically good it shouldn't be there if isn't relevant to the story. Nothing makes me skeptical about the profoundness of the text as much as the author trying very hard to be profound.

4. Character-centric morality. I get very tired when the protagonists and antagonists do almost exactly the same thing but the antagonists are evil and everyone is horrified at stuff they do while the protagonists are fine.

5. Women are technically bisexual and have sex with but don't form deep relationships with other women. Men usually get to appreciate this act but are never bi themselves. Very annoying.

my greatest current pet peeve happens to be the exotic ee descriptions
Cognac eyes, whiskey coloured eyes, eyes like molten chocolate and this one beats them all - eyes the colour of rich chai ! seriously, what colour would that be??? deep red?

yes ! especially the immature older characters. they totally turn me off

I hate when authors of romance books have the MC be a big fan of romance books and spend a page and a half going on about how much they love them and the fantasy of them. I’m already reading your book, you don’t need to pander to me. And I’m not a f***ing romance fangirl who swoons at the idea of romance. I like story, so tell your damn story.

Lol, didn't mean to get rant, but it's just so annoying, and it's been showing up more and more. Not even just in romances. A book will just stop and have a character go off about how great books are.