I noticed this today when I went to read a synopsis of The Nightingale, I thought “oh so many people love this book, why haven’t I checked it out yet?” and then I saw it takes place during the second world war.
Apparently WWII books are an automatic skip for me these days. Not that there aren’t some amazing stories set during that time, there’s just such an oversaturation in books and movies that I find myself wholly uninterested in *another* WWII story.
Another automatic no for me is any fantasy that has a title like “The Spear of Dreams and Destiny” or some such… you know the type. Again just too oversaturated for me.
**So I’m wondering, what are some other red-flags that make you readers bypass a title??**
by _Alic3
9 Comments
“Alternative History” for me. I enjoy sci-fi among other genres, but The Man in the High Castle simply could not hold my attention.
Written in anything other than third person
Too much focus on sex. I can’t stand reading about the cringey descriptions of intercourse someone who most likely has rarely had it has
Using anything but quotation marks to represent speech between characters.
Reading *The Perfect Storm* was both visually disturbing and a little confusing, as Sebastian Junger included documented events and real quotes as well as fictional accounts and conjecture. To satisfy this dichotomous nature, he used a combination of quotation marks, parentheticals, and italicized text outside the norm of most published works’ usage. The man was trying to make a documentary and historical fiction at the same time, and they just didn’t mesh well with the formatting he used to represent each one. It was the first book I ever abandoned in a public space, leading to a new habit for books I have no intention of finishing due to undesirable qualities.
A strong focus on religion, whether it be a real religion or a made-up one in-universe. It just bores me to tears. It’s what put me off of adding City of Stairs to my TBR list. I just never find it interesting.
Except for 40k, of course. Praise be to the Emperor.
If I don’t vibe with the first two pages. That’s basically it lol.
Time travel It never ends up making sense.
I can’t stand these specific cartoon-style covers lately, which is a problem considering how many of them exist. I feel like all covers for romance novels are designed by a maximum of three people, and it irrationally annoys me to the point where I don’t even want to know what the book is about once I see the cover.
I saw a review for “The Goldfinch” that said it was a “modern ‘Great Expectations’” and I instantly added it to my never-to-be-read list. If you want me to read a book, don’t ever compare it to “Great Expectations.”