What annoys you to no end in books? Like, you’ll give up on reading and close the book or won’t even buy in the first place. I love to be a hater sometimes so I have a couple!
– Pregnancy (in fantasy this annoys me to no end..it’s so uninteresting)
– The typing out of accents phonetically (for example a German saying “vat iz das?”)
– Book covers with real people ruins my immersion
– Reference to social media.
I’d love to hear your book pet peeves, please share below!
by guyfierifanclub69
31 Comments
Poor quality bindings, especially on expensive books.
i hate, almost loathe entirely, when teens are all written to text like “wat u doin 2day”. please just write it out normally it’s so painful 😖
We had a thread about this recently but how everyone is being taught to write books like movie scripts. My favorite part about books is the way you can work through inner monologs or otherwise visually uninteresting moments to really deeply explore emotions and such. A lot of writing now forges that in favor of constant plot beats.
Historical fiction where the protagonist mysteriously and organically has 2023 sensibilities.
I hate plots that only exist because people don’t talk to each other.
(edited to fix typo)
People trying to write old-timey and failing at it. Just finished reading a book set in the late 1800s where the author was clearly trying to *sound* period-correct but every sentence just screamed “21st century writer.” I’m sure it wouldn’t bug a lot of people but to me it stuck out like a sore thumb and really irritated me.
Cliché/overused tropes – it was all a dream, they were twins, miscommunications (resolution could happen with a 2 minute conversation).
When the ending seems completely disjointed from the rest of the book. It’s just there to throw you off and give you the thrill of receiving something you never saw coming but does no justice to the plot whatsoever!
Bad/stereotypical accents. When you can tell the extent of someone’s research on regional dialects never extended beyond remembering twenty year old movies.
When an author feels the need to reassure us that every female character is attractive. Wouldn’t want you to accidentally waste brainpower imagining that the barista or the minion was an UGLY chick.
Female characters being introduced by their bra size
–For things that are meant to be referenced regularly by most readers (rather than just a list of of 5,000 sources), using endnotes rather than footnotes.
–Changing the design of the spine between different books in a series, especially if they’re published at roughly the same time. If I’m buying a physical copy, I’d much rather have the aesthetic bonus of having seven books that look related rather than a collection of seven books with different fonts on display.
I read a lot of fantasy and science fiction. The book I am reading has the main character explaining how things work and basic background on their ‘world’… but the character they are explaining things to doesn’t speak the same language and also grew up in the same world and under circumstances where they would already know the mechanics, society, magic etc.
It’s so awkward and against the natural flow of conversation that it takes me out of the story as it is a very overt method to use. I generally see other author’s do similar but there is an actual in-story reason for it.
Perfect people. Like historical fiction heroines who are heiresses, but also know how to cook because they wanted to learn and the family cook was just fine with it. No one wants to read a book about people who never make a mistake
I’ve noticed quite a lot recently, in romance books especially, that most authors seem to imbue the heroines with the same annoying voice.
That voice where the heroine is always thinking and talking like she’s edgy, modern; everything HAS to be humorous or turned into sexual innuendo. Every time she sees the hero she has to list his panty-melting physical qualities in her head. And they talk like teenagers even though sometimes they’re 25 or older. It’s just so annoying. And it’s there in 85% of books. I just want to be in the head of normal, level-headed, realistic mid-twenties to mid-thirties or forties women, for once.
“In” books as in “in the story”? because I have to admit, dust jackets annoy me to the core and are more often than not the reason I buy a book in it’s paperback version even tho I generally prefer hardcover books. 🥲
I read a lot of geopolitical thrillers and some authors get entire countries and cultures wrong. I’m very sensitive to South Asian content, where you might see a Hindu character called Shah Rukh Khan or something. It drives me mental.
The line “I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding”.
When an author leaves it up to the reader’s imagination how something ends. End it yourself, you coward!
Pregnancy storylines, especially if it’s out of character for the person or doesn’t fit the original story at all. This applies to tv shows too, I hate when they add in random pregnancy storylines that don’t fit.
When the same phrases are used over and over again!!! I have always been a reader but recently picked up a job that includes a lot of travel and subsequently am getting more into audiobooks for my long drives. It is horrifying how listening to a novel for 4+ hours will really highlight when an author just re-uses the same stuff. I no longer think I can do audiobook series because of this
🗣️ THIRD ACT BREAK UPS
Like damn y’all just talk to each other.
When an author creates a trilogy and never finishes the third novel.
A quirky, sarcastic, genre-aware narrative voice. Ooh, you’re so *relatable* with your slang and abundant pop culture references! Ugh, it’s the absolute worst.
Color descriptors like “cerulean” or “carmine.” I once read “ambergris” used to describe color in a stained glass window. *Amber* is glowing and translucent; *ambergris* is the waxy, grayish substance made in the digestive system of sperm whales, dumbass.
Cringe-inducingly stupid character names – typically in science fiction or fantasy. If your aliens or monster race characters have Un’Necess’ary Apos’trophes or your main character is called something like Quinteus Grimfellow or Persephone Wheatharvest, I already hate your book.
If it reads like fanfiction. Don’t get me wrong. I love fanfiction; I *write* fanfiction. But it’s a genre unto itself. Don’t cross the streams.
I hate it when authors stop telling me who is talking. I’m experiencing it now in Robert Buettners Orphan Legacy. It’s not real bad. But there have been a few moments where I would get mixed up and be like. Wtf…
When a male “love interest” does something stalkerish or creepy and instead of reacting like an ordinary woman the character thinks it’s sexy (basically just read any Colleen Hoover book for this)
Replacing a well-designed artistic cover that thematically and tonally fits the book with the movie poster.
“You’re just not like other girls”
Love triangles
Religious villains in a modern setting (they’re usually written so laughably bad)
Only describing skin color when it’s a black or darker skinned person (which is implying I should automatically think everyone is white and being darker skinned is the exception)
This is probably really specific to me but modern romance books/independently published books have this really weird matte cover texture that I hate
And of course everyone’s favorite “i LeT oUt a BreAtH i DiDn’T kNoW i WaS hOLdiNg”
Endnotes instead of footnotes. I just don’t want to be flipping to the back all the time to see what additional insights you might want me to be aware of. Put them at the bottom of the page.
Sloppy editing and proofreading. I’m an editor, so I’m oversensitive, but this drives me batty.
Dialogue that’s so unrealistic that I can’t take the plot serious. The literary version of tweets about someone’s 6-year-old saying “Mommy, why don’t grownups understand that socialism is a deeply flawed approach to society?”