What are your book pet peeves?

[AlpacaTheBags]

What tropes or clichés annoy you in books?

I have so many but one is when the main character is at risk so they move far away to make a new life where no one will be able to connect them to their past. Good plan but they always go to some tiny coastal or rural village(Population 150) and buy or rent the most well known and distinctive building in the place(Usually a potter's or lobster fisherman's cottage.)

And then when the villain inevitably catches up with them, they always run towards the cliffs to have their final encounter. I don't know why because you can guarantee that at least one of them is going over the cliff.

Also, cheating a little here but I hate this trend for the exterior of books to be covered entirely in positive reviews to the extent that there's no space to tell me what the book is about.

Character A: "I've got something really important to talk to you about"
Character B: "Tell me later, I've got to <insert non life or death obligation here> now so I haven't time.
Character B is gruesomely murdered
Character A spends rest of book trying to work out what B. was trying to tell her.

When there's a huge amount of description a pir something not important. Find this seems to be a thing in fantasy fiction (unless I've just been unfortunate!). Game of Thrones became unreadable to me because of this. Does happen outside of that genre too - on memorable book for me being A Suitable Boy.

Also find it annoying when the plot (usually occurs in the first person writing - so it's the main character referring to it by recalling it and being upset ) some incident in the past but we as the reader don't know the details of. It's usually referred to a "the accident" or something similar.

Oh, yes, also irritating. Deliberatly created noncommunication. I mean if somethings important JUST TELL THEM, no need to wait because the saw a cute puppy.

When there's a huge amount of description a pir something not important. Find this seems to be a thing in fantasy fiction (unless I've just been unfortunate!). Game of Thrones became unreadable to me because of this.

Then the character whose life history, and lineage (no bearing on book or plot) you've just spent a few minutes reading about will be hit by a stray arrow, or something. I think the author found it amusing to deliberately do this!

Its a really popular way of writing but I hate it when a book is set in several different time zones and skips all over the place.

"Girl" in the title.
Descriptions of characters' dreams.
Someone guessing someone else's computer password because they happen to know a couple of details about that person (name of dog, year of dog's birth for example) that turn out to be the password (although I think this was more of a thing in books in the early days of home computers and email).

Mine is simple. Padded. As she padded into the bathroom. It makes my teeth itch. Not really sure why but it appears in more books than you think.

oh and Ann cleeves, who I am reading lots of at the moment ( Vera and Shetland) doesn’t half go on about Vera’s appearance. You are allowed to be Middle Aged and a bit plain and podgy. I can do it very well. 😀

Stories where none of the characters have to work for a living.

Not something within the book but when a reviewer tells you there is a huge plot twist. Surely the whole point of a ‘didn’t expect that’ plot twist is that it should come as a surprise!

I seem to have read a lot of books recently that get a lot of love because they are about an on-trend subject but the actual writing is sub-par.
They are getting brownie points for the concept rather than for the execution.

Young person arrives at deceased relative's house to clear it out and finds a box of letters that reveal/hint at a mysterious past. Narrative switches from past (letters) to present. It was probably a good plot device the first time it was used but it's been done a million times over now.

Books where nothing happens for the first 200 pages and it is then rushed through in the last 50.

I’m finding this too!

The old chestnut of the heroine being 'too thin' with 'wild unruly hair' and 'green eyes' etc. - and apparently that makes her really unattractive. Of course.

I'm not good when there are multiple characters all introduced in the first couple of chapters (more my menopausal brain not coping than the fault of the author!)
Also when the plot is so unbelievable, I know it's fiction but I need it to be a bit relatable.

I hate that too.

Books that are going to date really badly because they talk about contemporary things.

Books that go off into unnecessary rhapsodies about the protagonist's children. The teenage girl must always smell of lemons.

I came here to complain about the use of "padded"! It is strangely infuriating.

Trying to write an accent when the author obviously doesn't have that accent and it sounds ridiculous. Just write normally. We'll do the accents ourselves. Cor blimey gov.

I hate the ones where one or more of the main characters turn out to have been dead the whole time 🙄

Argh! I avoid these stories now!

OP, you've basically just described the book 'I let you go' by Clare Mackintosh .

I find it irritating when characters have similar-ish names to each other for no particular reason - especially when they're also of a similar age. My memory is rubbish at the best of times, so it gets confusing.

I've just finished "The Family Upstairs" and really wish that Libby and Lucy at least had a different initial!