Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
1. It’s by an author I don’t like.
I know, this one is basically a given for anyone, but it’s my number one because it’s the first thing I’ll turn my nose up at when I see a new book.
Authors I tend to steer clear of because I never like their stuff: Sarah J Maas, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare (this one is more of the fact that I’m tired of her stuff), Trish Levenseller, Stephanie Garber, Astrid Scholte.
2. There’s cat killing.
I’m not a fan of any animal killing or abuse in books, but I will almost always instantly DNF a book if a cat is killed in it. (Jay Kristoff is the ONLY author that has ever been able to get away with this.)
3. It has a love triangle or instalove.
Where enemies to lovers is my favorite trope, these two are my absolute least favorite tropes. I despise love triangles, and instalove usually makes me DNF.
4. It’s historical fiction.
I think this is probably my least favorite genre, besides actual non-fiction. Historical fiction bores me.
5. It’s a romance.
I am sooo not a fan of romance of any kind. I’ll read some contemporary from time to time, but I will pretty much never reach for an actual romance unless someone I trust recommends it. I prefer books where romance is not the main focus of the story.
6. It’s labeled as “steamy”
I’m not a fan of sexual content in books (mostly because I’m not a fan of romance), and most of it comes off awkward and poorly written to me. I can’t stand the “his throbbing member” or “her swollen bud” nonsense. I don’t mind when there’s a little bit of sex in books (i.e. Nevernight), but when it goes on for pages and pages, I start skimming.
7. It’s pitched as “for fans of Sarah J Maas”
This kinda goes for any overhyped super popular author for me (mostly the ones on my list above in #1). It also goes for “the next [overhyped book].” To me this just SCREAMS ‘generic fantasy.’ I am also a black sheep and don’t normally like the hyped and “popular” stuff.
8. My book twin Christy hated it.
In my TTT: things that make me instantly want to read a book post, I said I’d read anything she loves because our tastes are very similar and we agree 90% of the time. This goes for the opposite too – if she doesn’t like it then I probably won’t, either.
9. The average Goodreads rating is extremely low.
I typically avoid books that have an average rating of 3.6 or lower, because when it’s that low, it’s usually for a reason. Every once in a while, though, I’m the black sheep in a good way and I end up surprised!
10. The cover is ugly.
This is more of a “I won’t look twice at it” than an “I won’t read it” situation. If the cover doesn’t attract me, I usually don’t read the synopsis. The only thing that brings them to my attention is if I hear people talking about it and it sounds interesting. Mostly for me this is the in-your-face contemporary-looking ‘cutesy’ covers.
What things make YOU instantly not want to read a book?
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