Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer, where you answer a question and join a “hop”. The purpose is to help bloggers discover and get to know one another.
For this week’s Book Blogger Hop question, C. Lee @ cleemckenziebooks asked:
Is there anything that drives you bonkers when you’re reading a book and makes you want tell the author a thing or two?
What a fun question!
There are a number of things that drive me a bit bonkers when I am reading. But I’d have to say that one thing at the top of my list is the bully to love interest trope.
I am SO over this trope…. Not that I was every into it in the first place. I just cannot stand this at all now. If this pops up in a book I’m reading, I will DNF it.
I think that this trope is 1) incredibly overdone, and 2) totally inappropriate, especially in YA when that audience is just really learning how to set boundaries and such.
I would love to ask authors to stop focusing so much on this trope and instead, focus on healthy relationships. The world needs more of that.
Thanks for reading!
What are some things that drive you crazy while reading?
Amen to this. I cannot see the appeal of bully to love at all.
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I actually really like the enemies to lovers trope. BUT. But you can do it so so wrong and you have to be careful with it. Bullying the other person is NOT okay. I saw that in Leah on the Offbeat and it made me so angry and I couldn't like it all. But sometimes enemies to lovers just means two characters who are competing for the same job, or are on different sports teams that are playing together etc etc. Those ones I like. So it's all about how you do it to me.
Agreed!! I've seen it done pretty well a couple of times. They were both based on misunderstandings lol!
I totally agree! It just seems very unrealistic and unhealthy. One of the tropes I hate is when the whole book plot could be cleared up with just a single conversation, like it hinges on one miscommunication.
OMG YES. That's so frustrating!
Yeah, bully to romance seems a bit messy. Although I guess it's not too far from enemies to romance, which I admit I like. I guess it just depends on the level of bullying/adversary that's going on. Sometimes, yeah, it's really not healthy, but I still find myself rooting for the couple in the next installment when things aren't as bullying-like!
Thanks for visiting my BBH Post!
haha! I hear ya! There's definitely a fine line there. 🙂
I think you make a really good point that with YA, you don't want this kind of trope to thrive when teens are just learning how to navigate romantic relationships. Great answer!
Definitely not! Prime example was with Twilight! That relationship can seem pretty abusive in from the controlling standpoint. I read that when I was in a controlling relationship, so I related to quite a bit of the more negative aspects.
Absolutely. I don't even like the enemies-to-lovers trope, but the one you mentioned is SO harmful. On a smaller scale, I hate mean girls/toxic friendships as well. In this case too, I wish that authors would "focus on healthy relationships".
Agreed! Of course, it's good to see the negative side of things as well so readers can learn from it, but there definitely need to be a turn where that lesson is learned!
I love the hate to love trope, BUT I so get what you mean about bully. I don't like that either.
Deanna Reads Books
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Thanks for sharing and for visiting my blog, Erica.
I actually don't know what hate to love trope is. 🙂
Of course! Thanks for popping by here as well 🙂
I am okay with enemies to lovers sometimes and other times I HATE it!! So I get it! <3
There's definitely a fine line with it being done well and horribly wrong!
OMG, you're SO right!! I wish I had mentioned this one myself, but I haven't really read any books with this trope of late. But yeah, we DEFINITELY don't need this kind of plot in romance novels!! How on earth could anyone — whether male or female, although I'm sure that, most of the time, it's a guy who bullies — EVER be expected to love someone who had BULLIED them, for Pete's sake?! I think I DNF'd such a book once, years ago.
Great choice for a peeve!! Lol. Thanks for sharing!! <3 🙂
<3 Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hear hear!! Totally agree 🙂
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That is a guilty pleasure of mine, anything enemies to lovers, hate to love. It is incredibly unrealistic I'll give you that and if it was happening in real life I'd probably want to punch the guy but one of my favourite New Adult books is Bully by Penelope Douglas. And it is exactly that trope and, somehow, I adore it.
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I agree, that is one of my pet hates! I read a book that had a guy stalking and trying to rape a girl who then fell in love with him. That was disturbing, not romantic! That was the last time I went near paranormal romance!
Oh no!! That's so messed up!
I can definitely agree with this. I can understand where one character does not care for the other but then they start to grow on each other… but bullying to love? Eh, no thanks.
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Oh, yeah, that’s not a good trope in YA in particular and in any genre in general. I can understand why you put in this answer. Thanks for stopping by! Happy reading!
Thank you for stopping by as well! 🙂