1. Typos --there is nothing worse then a book full of typos/spelling errors. Except maybe a book full of typos by a well-established author. Lazy editors, don't be lazy! (I proofread this post 3 times, I hope there aren't any typos!)
2. No Parents --I've seen this on nearly every list this morning and I absolutely agree. Nothing worse than having a bunch of 13 year olds running around New York City for the first time all by themselves. ;)
3. Super Short/Long Chapters --I don't know about you, but I have this thing where I'm reading and have to stop at a chapter break or at least a big paragraph break. That's pretty hard to do when my sister is hollering for me to help with dinner and the chapter is 62 pages long! On the other hand, the book I just finished had 2-3 page chapters, with alternating viewpoints. Way too short, way too much page turning.
4. Movie Tie-In Covers --can't stand it. I've only done it once, with Beastly. And if I ever find a cheap non-movie cover, I'd probably replace it.
5. 30 Pages of "Extra"/Blank Pages at the End --you think you have tons of story left and then *bam* you're into the reader's guide or a preview of their next book! Or even worse, nothing at all! That's a waste of paper, people!
6. Cliffhangers with Sequels in A Year --it's not that I hate cliffhangers, but I usually end up having to reread the first book when the second comes out.
7. "Twilight" Love --please, I'm begging you...don't watch the girl sleep. It's icky and creepy and gross and stalkerish. Also, perfect example for bad love triangles, awful insta-love, weak/whiny female MC and more.8. Inconsistencies (that is the hardest word to spell lol!) in a Series --the first book, the girl is 17. The next, she's celebrating her 17th birthday. Or they change the spelling of a main character's name. Or they forget so-and-so had a sister three books back.
9. Books Made Entirely of Emails --it just bugs me.
10.Huge Spoilers in the Summary on Goodreads or the Back of the Book --"so-and-so dies???" Whaaat??? I don't care if it does happen on the very first page, keep it vague!
Things I Don't Mind So Much:
Love Triangles --done correctly of course. For example, I'm reading Being Friends With Boys right now. I'm not very far in, but I can already see the MC having to choose between one of her best guy friends and one of the hot new guys in the band. That's plausible.
Insta-Love --I think it's pretty realistic for a high school girl to fall instantly in love with that new guy in her English class. Don't you remember how many crushes you had in HS? It was like every week there was someone new you were madly in love with. If it's not YA though, I need a reason...you spent a whole day on an airplane talking, you are being held hostage together by some maniac vampire group, you have to work on a huge project for work that takes days of constant togetherness, etc...Not any of that "we made eye contact across the crowded dance floor and I knew instantly that he was the one". ;)
There's actually a totally valid reason for extra material at the back of books. Most books are printed on little "folios" of 16, 24, 32, or 64 pages made by folding a huge piece of paper down, then all of them are bound together. Depending on what size paper/how many folds a given printer uses, you're generally stuck with extra unless your page count fits an exact multiple of 8. That's probably way more than you ever wanted to know and it doesn't make it less annoying, but I felt compelled to point that out.
ReplyDeleteLove that Romeo & Juliet tumblr screengrab, btw :)
You know, I totally should have thought of that...I've made books before! :)
DeleteThanks!