Pet Peeves as a reader

My biggest annoyance is unnecessary romance/sex between characters. I read a murder mystery last year and the story would have been a real twister - if the two MCs hadn't been immediately (as in within a day) drawn into a romance and then made out like rabbits - even when they should've been running after the latest clue! I don't know, maybe the author and her publisher thought the sex would make it sell better, but I have no intention of buying the sequel, or any other book she writes.

I can't stand when the baddie in the murder story explains why and how the murder occurred. Let someone figure it out and it be fact! Oh, and it's always right before the protagonist is supposed to get shot or something, thereby the monologue gives them enough time for help to come along. A bit convenient, wouldn't you say?

When a young character's entire personality is held inside a gun and perpetual bad moods for no apparent reason. I seem to be reading a lot of those lately...

He thought to himself.

I mean, really, unless it's a fantasy or science fiction book with mind reading of some kind, who else would you be thinking to?

Creative dialogue tags.

I'll keep reading, but they definitely get me rolling my eyes. I read a book recently where people were rasping dialogue every few pages.

shadowwalker said:

My biggest annoyance is unnecessary romance/sex between characters. I read a murder mystery last year and the story would have been a real twister - if the two MCs hadn't been immediately (as in within a day) drawn into a romance and then made out like rabbits - even when they should've been running after the latest clue! I don't know, maybe the author and her publisher thought the sex would make it sell better, but I have no intention of buying the sequel, or any other book she writes.

Click to expand...

I feel opposite of this. I can't get into a story at all if there is no romance. There doesn't have to be graphic sex or anything (not against it though!), but there has to be some form of a romance or I just find it boring.

I also dislike really long, flowery sentences that describe everything in detail. I'm extremely imaginative and I do better with writing that only gives me a little to go on and allows my mind to do the rest.

Too many similes and metaphors. Especially when they make no damn sense. Fanfiction should not be turned into novels especially if it still reads like ff. You may be able to guess exactly what author I'm speaking about.

I'm reading a book right now that is positively dribbling with male gaze. It's not the book's only flaw, but it's the one that is irritating me most consistently.

The female characters are all fairly strong and active, but every single one of them is strikingly beautiful, and most of them are targeted for romance by one or more of the male characters.

And there was this bizarre scene where one woman rescued another woman, who was being tortured, because she couldn't bear to let the other woman's beauty be destroyed.

Not because OMG, THAT MANIAC JUST BLINDED HER IN ONE EYE AND IS CUTTING UP HER FACE WITH A KNIFE!! No--she stepped in because she couldn't bear seeing a beautiful woman's looks ruined.

It was a heterosexual female character who did that, so there was no romantic angle, either.

I mean--I can't even say what I think of that logic, or I'll run afoul of the RYFW rule, because that's just so friggin' warped. To think any person--male or female--would rank preserving a stranger's looks over saving that stranger from being sliced up and maimed. Just-- Gah!

andiwrite said:

I feel opposite of this. I can't get into a story at all if there is no romance. There doesn't have to be graphic sex or anything (not against it though!), but there has to be some form of a romance or I just find it boring.

Click to expand...

I don't mind a little romance - but two perfect strangers suddenly can't keep their hands off each other? And stop for a quickie right after being told where another crime scene had been discovered? It was like, let's take a chance on not finding the victim alive so we can screw.

1. An author trying too hard. I like the author to disappear and suspension of disbelief to kick in. This is ruined if I am bombarded with overly clever, "experimental" or high falutin' writing.

2. An author not trying hard enough. Spelling mistaiks. Cliché. Unclear dialogue and action. Sloppy plotting.

Outdated pop culture references. I'm not a big fan of references in general unless it's to a "classic", but having to look up something that's out of date is a great way for to break my immersion.

Hmmm, I don't mind quirky first-person narrative if it fits the character's voice and the overall tone of the piece, but I could see how it would get annoying if it was too excessive.

Sex and romance I like--icing on the cake for a good story, but urgh, everything needs to make sense and happen for a reason. I roll my eyes when relationships happen when it seems like there is actually zero chance of these people ever getting, let alone staying, together, because they really don't have much in common.

I get annoyed by novels with excessive use of adverbs, filters, outrageous dialog tags (she screamed shrilly etc) and all those other things they've been telling us not to overdo since we were in freshman composition, especially when they don't add anything to the story in terms of voice or clarity. It won't make me put the book down if the story's good enough, but I can't help thinking how much stronger it would have been if they had better editing.

Another eye roller for me is when male gaze sneaks in when it's not appropriate for the pov. Women really don't think about their own breasts, long slender legs, or cat-green eyes all that often (unless, maybe, they're feeling really uncomfortable about them or are very conceited).

And while we're at it, books where every important female character must be way above the curve in the exotic beauty department.

shadowwalker said:

I don't mind a little romance - but two perfect strangers suddenly can't keep their hands off each other? And stop for a quickie right after being told where another crime scene had been discovered? It was like, let's take a chance on not finding the victim alive so we can screw.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree it is weird. Sociopaths? lol

When the same things keep happening with absolutely no plot progression. Couple has a fight. They make up after a few pages of angsty moaning and groaning (or, if you're unlucky, chapters of it). They have sex with the gratuitous bosom heaving. Everything's fine...until something or someone brings up the last fight, and suddenly it's a problem again. Rinse and repeat.

I like steamy make-up sex, don't get me wrong. But not quite as much as I like a good plot.

Because I mainly read HF, modern characters who have been parachuted into an historical setting. I read historicals because I wasn't to immerse myself in a world that is foreign to me, I don't want to read books where the Roman Army is the equivalent to the police (they weren't), or with modern ideas about feminism etc.

Another peeve in HF is when the authors only way to show that a woman is intelligent is to have the love interest walk into a room to find her with her head in a book. It should be in the way she behaves and the things that she says. Tacitus said that Boudicca was too clever for a woman, and I'm not convinced she sat around reading Greek and Latin texts, but she was a great military tactician.

Roxxsmom said:

Another eye roller for me is when male gaze sneaks in when it's not appropriate for the pov. Women really don't think about their own breasts, long slender legs, or cat-green eyes all that often (unless, maybe, they're feeling really uncomfortable about them or are very conceited).

And while we're at it, books where every important female character must be way above the curve in the exotic beauty department.

Click to expand...

Oh God! I didn't know whether to break out into a round of applause because you are so right ...

... or to hold up a guilty little hand because you are so right.

Or both.

When it becomes obvious the book is just a wish fulfilment fantasy for the author. I got secondhand embarrassment reading The Wise Man's Fear because I felt like I was peeking at some teenage boy's diary and saw he has some fantasy about doing it with a 1000-yr-old sex goddess while eating deer sashimi.

jjdebenedictis said:

I'm reading a book right now that is positively dribbling with male gaze. It's not the book's only flaw, but it's the one that is irritating me most consistently.

The female characters are all fairly strong and active, but every single one of them is strikingly beautiful, and most of them are targeted for romance by one or more of the male characters.

Click to expand...

Roxxsmom said:

Another eye roller for me is when male gaze sneaks in when it's not appropriate for the pov. Women really don't think about their own breasts, long slender legs, or cat-green eyes all that often (unless, maybe, they're feeling really uncomfortable about them or are very conceited).

And while we're at it, books where every important female character must be way above the curve in the exotic beauty department.

Click to expand...

This. God, it drives me so mad. It always feels as if the writer doesn't actually expect a living, breathing woman to read his work.

It doesn't just feel like it's just a male gaze, it feels like they're giving every male reader a wink and a nudge. Hey. Hey. Sexy ladies. Look at them. Pretty objects. Look at them. Imaaagiiine them.

Meanwhile I'm just off to one side like "...Dude?"

gothicangel said:

Because I mainly read HF, modern characters who have been parachuted into an historical setting. I read historicals because I wasn't to immerse myself in a world that is foreign to me, I don't want to read books where the Roman Army is the equivalent to the police (they weren't), or with modern ideas about feminism etc.

Another peeve in HF is when the authors only way to show that a woman is intelligent is to have the love interest walk into a room to find her with her head in a book. It should be in the way she behaves and the things that she says. Tacitus said that Boudicca was too clever for a woman, and I'm not convinced she sat around reading Greek and Latin texts, but she was a great military tactician.

Click to expand...

I agree, but the flip side of going too far in an attempt to appeal to modern sensibilities is simply assuming that women never did anything interesting before modern times and omitting them completely from their stories (except as sex slaves, prostitutes or dutiful wives). Also portraying the past as if all people within a culture had exactly the same beliefs and attitudes. Those can be frustrating to read also.

It can be really, really hard to portray people with "historic" sensibilities in a way that isn't triggery to women and other people who have been non people in many times and places. I've read historic books that have done a decent job of it, but it's a hard line to walk.

I tolerate quite a lot when I read. If the detective wants to get himself a bit of sweet lovin' before he heads off to catch the killer, who am I to judge? What I can't stand though is foreshadowing. "If only Super Detective had known how important those 3 pages he spent banging Chalk Outline Girl would be to the case..."

Roxxsmom said:

I agree, but the flip side of going too far in an attempt to appeal to modern sensibilities is simply assuming that women never did anything interesting before modern times and omitting them completely from their stories (except as sex slaves, prostitutes or dutiful wives). Also portraying the past as if all people within a culture had exactly the same beliefs and attitudes. Those can be frustrating to read also.

It can be really, really hard to portray people with "historic" sensibilities in a way that isn't triggery to women and other people who have been non people in many times and places. I've read historic books that have done a decent job of it, but it's a hard line to walk.

Click to expand...

I agree. In my WIP my lead female is a Deaconess, and I read a lot into the role of women in the early Christian Church, which is a fascinating history that the later church tried to erase. I think my favourite female characters in HF is Robert Graves' I, Claudius. I adore Livia and Agrippina the Elder.

LA*78 said:

I tolerate quite a lot when I read. If the detective wants to get himself a bit of sweet lovin' before he heads off to catch the killer, who am I to judge? What I can't stand though is foreshadowing. "If only Super Detective had known how important those 3 pages he spent banging Chalk Outline Girl would be to the case..."

Click to expand...

That's pretty klunky foreshadowing. It would probably make me laugh at least, if not toss the book down. But more subtle forms of it are all necessary, I think.

One thing that's good for an eye roll are those mirror scenes where the protagonist catches a glimpse of him or herself (or is contemplating his or her features in greater depth) early in the story. I know why authors do it--if you feel it's important to give the reader an objective pov style blow by blow of the protagonist's appearance when you're writing in first or limited third, well, it can be tough to figure out how to do it.

But it's usually so contrived, and it's become so cliched. Any maybe the readers don't need to know the precise shade of your pov character's eyes and the precise shape of their nose and lips.

I did, however, read a mirror scene in a recent novel that had me laughing out loud, and if I ever meet the writer, I'll tell him how much I enjoyed it. It did a wonderful job of turning the trope on its head by actually being used to reveal the character of a very conceited, yet insecure man who was admiring his own visage as he shaved.

Something I hadn't realised before now - some authors tell you what their characters look like and some don't, and I think I prefer it when they don't tell me.

What annoys is when an author tries too hard to convey a character's personality through their looks. Action heroes nearly always seem to have rugged features described with reference to stone and/or metal. Chin - one, chiselled. Eyes - blue/ gun metal grey, hard. Six feet tall, natch. Slim of hip and wide of shoulder. Token scar pitched big enough to be macho but not so disfiguring as to be ew-worthy.

For some reason, I've gone in the opposite direction with two first person MCs in a row who I don't describe - not even to give the colour of their skin.

There's so much good stuff here, I can't do much but repeat it.

shadowwalker said:

My biggest annoyance is unnecessary romance/sex between characters.

Click to expand...

Yep. I write romance. I love a good sex scene. But there's a time and place for everything. Most adults I know manage to keep their clothes on and their hands to themselves in the workplace.

MysteriousFemme said:

Too many similes and metaphors.

Click to expand...

Like sex, similes, even good ones, become tedious if overdone. One of my critique partners has a terrific knack for metaphor. He comes up with really beautiful stuff, and I keep telling him to cut it, because when you get a metaphor (or two or three) in every paragraph, the brain just stops processing.

Roxxsmom said:

And while we're at it, books where every important female character must be way above the curve in the exotic beauty department.

Click to expand...

It's not only men who do this. I just finished reading a trilogy by a mega-selling romance author and all of her heroines were cover girl beautiful. I realize romance is about the fantasy, but come on. Can't a girl have problem hair, or big feet, or thighs that don't look good in a miniskirt?


To add mine, it's when an author grabs hold of an unusual word or turn of phrase and reuses it ad nauseum. I won't cite specific examples, for fear of violating RYFW, but you could make a drinking game out of catching the pet phrases some of my favorite writers use. Doesn't mean I won't read them, but it does make the eyes roll.