Top Ten Bookish Pet Peeves

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week is a freebie for TTT, so I looked through the list of past topics and chose the first one that caught my eye. This topic is perfect for me, since I have so many pet peeves. I decided to make this about pet peeves within books, rather than things like people dogearing pages of borrowed books or anything like that.

10. Violet Eyes
Never in my entire life have I seen someone who legit had violet eyes. Maybe some people with blue eyes might look like they have a purple sheen in the right light or paired with the right clothing, but, color contacts aside, this is NOT a thing. Yet, in fiction, more people have violet eyes than brown it seems. Stop doing this! Other offenders: amber, turqouise, golden, sky blue. Basically, descriptions of eyes almost always make me want to hurl YA books across the room.

Edit: Apparently violet eyes DO exist, but they're VERY rare. You know which eye color is most common? Brown, which also seems to appear least in YA heroes and heroines. *headdesk*

9. Characters That Think They're Hardcore But Aren't
You know what I really hate? Whiny characters. What's even worse? Whiny characters that don't think they're whiny, and actually believe themselves to be hardcore and adventurous. Meanwhile, they hang out with people they can't stand, avoid confrontation, and allow other characters to push them around. Screw that.

8. Stalking Romanticized
Seriously, can we not? It horrifies me how often I read a book with a creepy ass male lead, and then go look at other reviews to see other bloggers proposing marriage to the fictional character, wishing he could be real and date them. What the eff is that? Being stalked and insulted is not romantic AT ALL, no matter how hot the guy is. Behavior like this does happen, and I'm okay with it being in books, but the heroine should realize and RUN THE FUCK AWAY.

7. When the Plot Takes a Backseat to Repetitive, Whiny Romantic Drama
There are YA series that have such interesting ideas, but no actual plot, because instead of taking advantage of the fertile fictional ground available, the authors choose to constantly go over the insecurities and jealousies of the heroine ad nauseum. Relationships have their difficulties of course, but if the exact same issue keeps arising over and over again, sorry to tell you that your relationship will not last. Even worse, the characters generally don't do a damn thing to try to repair the issue; they just moan about it endlessly.

6. That Mediocre Books Have the Biggest Fandoms
YA fiction has so many truly amazing books, yet the reputation of it remains pretty low so far as critics are concerned. Now, I don't really give a shit about the opinions of critics myself, but it sucks that the authors of mind-blowing books don't get the respect they deserve because YA is viewed as lesser. I wonder if perhaps this judgment from the larger bookish community stems from the most popular books in YA. If people are judging all of YA off of the books that become most popular, it's no wonder. I'm not saying these books aren't fun or entertaining or whatever, just that there are so many books that deserve more acclaim and attention. Although, this one pictured here, it also just plain sucks, since no questions are ever answered. Okay, fine, I liked The Maze Runner alright, but the rest of the series gave me rage!

5. Characters That Have No Clue How Much They Suck
Lots of characters are terrible people, and I love some of them a lot. Embrace your bitchiness and I'll be right there with you. Pretend you're sainted and the best while abusing anyone stupid enough to try to be friends with you and then complaining that your friends suck for not standing by you and I will throw you off a goddamn cliff. Zoey Redbird is the prime example of this, but she's not the only YA heroine to be a horrible friend, but constantly whine about how poorly her friends treat her.

4. Series That Refuse to Die
Too much of a good thing can seriously be a problem. Like that song you loved when you first heard it on the radio that now makes you want to drive your car into oncoming traffic just to make it stop, quantity does not equal quality. As a publisher or author, I think it's really tempting to keep cranking books out so long as people will keep buying, but I've been driven from love to tolerance and even sometimes to hatred of a series by the fact that the series just won't die.

3. Poor Little Rich Kids Being Assholes
Wahhhh! My life is so hard. Daddy gave me a Benz but won't pay attention to me, so I'm going to crash the car and do drugs all day and sleep with people I hate. PITY ME! Also, enjoy this twenty minute discussion of my handbag and hair products. No thanks.


2. Multiple Points of View Done Badly
A lot of people really do not like multiple POVs. Actually, I love them, and am excited every time I pick up a book and find them. Unfortunately, a lot of authors don't know what they're doing, and can't write characters dynamic enough that they don't all read like the same person. Even worse, some make poor judgment calls on which perspectives should be included. You'd be better off just going third person limited.

1. Pointless Love Triangles
Love triangles can actually be done well, but it takes some effort. If I know without a shadow of a doubt which two are going to end up together, I'm probably going to want to throw your book into a wood chipper. Now, I'm not talking about a couple and a person with a crush; I'm speaking to those where the heroine or hero pays enough attention to the poor third side of the triangle to keep them hanging around for books. This will automatically make me hate the MC.