Apparently, I’ve lost a post. I know without a doubt, that I published a post a while ago titled “Things in Books That Drive Me Bonkers” and my featured image was a cat with its mouth wide open. I know I wrote it, I know I published it, but I can’t seem to find it – go figure.
Long story short, this is an extension of that post, or in a turn of events, a brand spankin’ new one that has no relation to any of my other posts whatsoever (unless you find it, let me know).
Anyways, this post is all about things that are in books that bother me. Things that will make me skip a page or skim or roll my eyes or get slightly distracted. It’s not about characters, or plot (sort of), it’s more about author’s writing and editing. So, let’s dive in!
You know, when you start a new chapter and something absolutely crazy is happening and you’re sitting there like “Woah, look at this plot twist!”? Or those times where it’s so obviously not reality because what is happening is what the main character has always been afraid of but with black blood dripping from the ceiling? You know those times?
I freaking hate it.
Most of the time, they just serve absolutely no purpose and can take up more than 2 pages! Usually, I already know what the characters deepest fear is, or where their heart is, I don’t need a dream to tell me it. 9 times out of 10 I completely skip dream sequences. Surprise! I don’t miss anything important.
There are some that work and others that don’t. It all depends on the way they’re woven into the story and what information they bring to the surface. Do they read too much like the current timeline to the point that you can’t even differentiate between the two at first? Do they reveal a piece of information about the character or plot that otherwise would have gone unknown and left some sort of plot hole? Are they just there to fill space and you could have gone on reading without it and it wouldn’t have mattered?
The latter, I find, isn’t that common, but it does happen – and I find them irritating. Just tell me the information instead of going into an entire scene of a flashback for, sometimes, one damn sentence of information at the end.
I’m lookin’ at you Cassandra Clare and George R.R. Martin, I’m lookin’ at you.
I remember reading one of the Clockwork novels (I don’t remember which one now). There was a scene in which Tessa was confronted by some sort of machine (I think, it’s been a while, it was some sort of bad guy), and Clare took two paragraphs to describe Tessa’s dress and what happened to it while she was running. Two paragraphs may not seem like that much, but it was about half a page to talk about a stupid dress.
Then there’s Martin with his descriptions of feasts. You think two paragraphs for a dress is bad? I’m talking about two pages describing the food, where it was on the table, what it smelt like, looked like, the music. I understand you have to set a scene, but my God man, were you really hungry while writing it or something?
Other authors do this, there are plenty of other examples, but they stand out the most to me. Set the scene and get on with it.
“I look at myself in the mirror. I have dark brown hair, shoulder length. My eyes are hazel, not too green, not too brown. I’m short, bangs framing my round face.”
Who does that when they look in the mirror? I don’t like when authors use mirrors as a way to describe the character. Slowly describe them, weave it into the story naturally – don’t make your character stand in front of the mirror for an uncomfortable amount of a time just so they can describe what they look like. No, stop it.
This one is a bit more on the content side than the writing side of things, so I saved it for last. It sort of plays on the”not like other girls” cliché that we all know and hate but more specific. I know you know what I’m talking about (don’t leave me hangin’ here).
The main character that is just too cool for school because she knows who Pink Floyd is or watched Back to the Future 340 times.
I was not born in the 70’s or 80’s, but I know what both of those are. I listen to classic rock regularly, I watch a lot of movies, that does not make me too cool for school, ok? It makes me a girl who likes classic rock, that’s it. I’m not special, I’m not unique, I’m not some strange creature that everyone stares at when they say they like Lynard Skynard.
**Disclaimer: I read YA and the target audience for YA at the moment is anyone born around 2003 and up so maybe some of the teens reading these books really don’t know who Pink Floyd is or something. I understand that, but still, let me vent 😆
Do any of these things bother you?
What are some of your pet peeves when reading?
27 Comments
Haha funny story, but I totally feel like I’ve ‘lost’ some posts as well! But I’m not actually too sure if I ever published them, I THOUGHT I published them but I can’t find them anywhere…
I also hate flashback scenes! I feel like the mystery is gone because you already know the character will survive, since it’s a flashback and all…
Arghh the description thing is also annoying, I feel like it makes the action sooo slow. It holds up the story and pages later not much has happened.
The mirror point cracked me up cos I used to see this all the time in older books! It was always so weird!
Good list Molly!
Jordon @ Simply Adrift
I know I published this one! hahah I might’ve deleted it on accident and then cleared my trash at one point. So, poof, gone!
Oh, that’s true! Especially if it’s a life-or-death flashback haha.
YES. Sometimes I hate it in action scenes!
LOL at characters that are “too cool for school”! I’m totally with you on this. It makes the character (and the author) seem like they’re trying way too hard! You’re right, lots of people love old music and movies, it doesn’t make them unique (it’s just good taste!).
One of my pet peeves is when authors constantly use the word “fiercely” – like “fiercely independent” or “fiercely protective.” I don’t know why, it’s just the phrases that make me roll my eyes. Like, can’t I just be independent? Why do I have to be so aggressive about it?
Ohhh…I don’t think I can think of a book that uses the word Fiercely a lot… haha BUT I can totally see how that can be really annoying lol
I LOVE FLASHBACKS! They’re like MY FAVOURITE <3
I LOVE DESCRIPTION AND I COULD READ A WHOLE BOOK FILLED WITH ADJECTIVES.
Mirror and Oldies make you cool is something I bit meh with. Especially describing the character with a mirror, WOW #IMAGINATIVE!
hahahah we’re opposites!
Yes to all of these especially the mirror and oldies, the mirror one is just lazy writing and completely over used at this point and the oldies is just not acceptable anymore, teens nowadays don’t do that and my generation of teens didn’t know stuff that was hot a couple of decades ago.
I legit hate flashbacks, even more so when the story is using flashbacks every other chapter, probably reason to DNF it, there’s very few books which can pull that off depending on the genre.
I agree about genre. someone else mentioned mystery and thriller. I’m sure it works really well in those genres. I don’t read it that often so I hadn’t even thought of it lol
Oh I freaking hate dream sequences. Like, when are they ever helpful??? Not to mention, have these authors ever had dreams? Because they’re not like that. And the mirror thing sounds ridiculous more often than not. So yeah, there *must* be a better way to weave in MC description!
Also, for your sake, I searched my inbox for that title you said the other post was to see if I had a comment reply but didn’t find anything. Maybe you just had a dream sequence about publishing it 😉
haha no i SWEAR I published it! There were comments and everything. I remember it being on my twitter feed. The featured image stood out to me. IT WAS THERE hahahahah
Ok, right. Dreams are 9 times out of 10 NOT spot on with your real life like they are in books hahaha
– Dream sequences – I hate those too! They always feel sooo pointless. As soon as I realize it’s a dream I skim it lol.
– Descriptions galore – Totally agree! I actually couldn’t finish the Game of Thrones series because I was bored out of my mind, and that was partly because of the overzealous descriptions.
– Oldies make you cool – OMG yes! I’m so glad you pointed this out. I’ve always been kind of annoyed at this portrayal but never really put my finger on *why*, but you described it perfectly! It’s because they make it out that the character is “cooler” for liking oldies stuff. But so what? That doesn’t make someone cooler than anyone else.
One small thing I hate is that stupid “zap” that happens when the MC touches the love interest for the first time. It’s in so many books and drives me nuts.
haha I skim it too! MOST of the time it’s at the start of a chapter, so I go in thinking it’s the characters real life and then I realize…OH nope…so I skip. haha
UGH. GOT is so hard for me to finish. I switched to listening to the audiobook so it’s a little easier. I can DO other things while listening to those long descriptions.
YAY! Glad someone agrees with that one. There are A LOT of YA contemporary that use that as a character trait. It’s frustrating.
That’s so funny you mentioned the zap thing because that was in the book I had just read. Anytime they touched she talked about an electric charge – and I rolled my eyes every time lol
Ooh, yes, I totally agree about too many descriptions! I love Cassandra Clare, but her descriptions are way too long for my taste. I usually started to skim them. ? And, yeah, not a huge fan of “oldies make you cool.” Those types of people in real life talking about how they listen to “real music” are always the most annoying people on earth. ? I do like flashbacks, but then again, I read a lot of thrillers with that element, and it works if incorporated well!
YAY! I’m not the only one who feels like that with Clare. I’ve given her 7 chances, I just don’t think I can continue with her books. But I probably will…. haha
OH MY GOODNESS. Yes, in real life, those people are SO ANNOYING. Which is probably exactly why I hate it in books lol
I hate when people talk about dreams IRL too!! But also in books it’s usually super obvious and I’m totally skimming it because WHO CARES??
Descriptions bug me sometimes too. It’s why I sometimes cringe when books are set at the beach bc you KNOW you’re gonna get 999 descriptions about the sunset and the waves and the salty air. Most people know what a beach is like, so move on!!
And UGHH the oldies thing drives me nuts. I think it’s because the authors who are writing the books like that stuff bc they grew up with it?? But the book Love Letters to the Dead was like that– the girl wrote all her letters to River Phoenix and Kurt Cobain and I was like???? Where are the non-90’s people that this girl would like??
HAHA I don’t think I’ve read many books with a beach setting because I haven’t noticed that one! But that’s so funny! I don’t doubt authors do that lol
I haven’t read that book but that’s basically what I mean! Personally, I’m a 90’s kid so I would probably lean towards writing about 90’s musicians, movies, and the like. But I wouldn’t make the character seem “cool” for it lol
A lost post? I know that feeling and I then sit there wondering what on earth I called it so I can search for it.
I agree on a few of these. Long detailed and unnecessary description kills me. I remember this from the Lord of the RIngs trilogy. Those books are tomes anyway and all that description damn near killed me when reading. Just why? And unnecessary mirror gazing just to establish what your MC looks like? No thanks. Now, if it’s later in the book and it’s not being used to establish the characters initial appearance I can get behind that. You can look in the mirror and think ‘I am totally rocking this lipstick’ you don’t stand there assessing all the details though.
I searched it both in my admin, on my blog, it just VANISHED. I must of accidentally deleted it then cleared my trash? I don’t know haha I really liked that post though so its unfortunate.
Ah I love Lord of the Rings! haha but I’m biased. I do agree with the long descriptions, though. Especially Concerning Hobbits lol Also, agreed with the mirror thing. As long as it’s not the way the author describes the character 100%, I’m fine lol
I loathe dream sequences! Especially if they having nothing to do with the overall plot.
YES. Usually they’re just painstakingly obvious too haha
Yes, the mirror thing really bothers me too! 🙂
Lauren @ Always Me
I don’t know if I’ve gone on about this before, but I’m a massive fan of your blog header and theme. So pretty – did you design it yourself?
Secondly, I can’t even imagine the horror of losing an entire blog post. I’ve had a couple of half-drafted ones drop off the server before, which is annoying since I had to resurrect them, but I bet that’s nothing compared to an ENTIRE PUBLISHED POST. I’m honestly shuddering just thinking about it.
And I was totally guilty of the mirror thing in creative writing at primary school … thought I was so clever for coming up with it at the time! Ah, well …
Aw, thank you so much! I did do it myself 🙂 (well, the theme is purchased, but there is some custom CSS. The header, titles, and other graphics are me!)
Right?! I literally have no idea where it went. I know 100% that I posted it hahah
hahah that’s funny. Hey, you were ahead of your time then!
I’m with you on the dream sequences! I know they’re supposed to by symbolic, or like you said, they reveal something hidden about the character, but they are SO BORING! And really, that kind of character development is weak to me.
Another pet peeve of mine is when a character in a story is telling a story. As much as I enjoyed Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, I lost my patience when Catch read Levi her story. And then, the first time I ever skipped pages (lots of pages) in a chapter when when Bella was hearing the story behind the werewolf myth during the third Twilight novel. And most recently, I’ve been struggling my way through Night Film by Marisha Pessl because I keep running into chapters where people are interviewed and are relating some long winded story from their past. Snooze fest, I tell ya.
Oh my goodness! I agree with yours! I loved Fangirl, but I (not even exaggerating) would just skip the Baz (Is that even his name) stories! So when Carry On came out I was like huh? hahahah I do hate that! There was a book I read recently that did something similar with like Native American folklore? Throughout the novel, the MC would just interrupt by reminiscing on when her grandma used to tell her these stories, then go into depth on what those stories were. SOME of them related to the plot, but for a book under 350 pages (I believe), it was a bit much!