Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Words/Topics That Will Make You NOT pick up a book

A meme from the Broke and the Bookish.

Today’s topic: Top Ten Words/Topics That Will Make You NOT pick up a book

1. Suicide – I will admit that certain sensitive topics I just find a really hard time getting through. I have a similar issue with rape. Mostly I dislike it being overly focused on or done poorly. There are books I have enjoyed that include such things but they are not about such things.

2. Religion – I’m all for fictional religions but when real religions come into play there is often a danger that the author is either trying to preach their religion or make you understand someone else’s that they don’t seem to quite grasp. It becomes all about cliché. I think that often fictional religions let us provide a more clear view of how religion affects us.

3. Chick-lit – If it is marketed this way usually I run the other direction so fast that I don’t even realize what the book is actually about. I’m not sure if there is a good example of something here that I have enjoyed in spite of myself.

4. Dead protagonists – I dislike protagonists talking from the afterlife. Sometimes you know from the start, other times there is the “oh, by the way, then I died.” I think it feels hokey most of the time. Even in books I have enjoyed with it, still felt forced to me.

5. Addiction – Another negative topic that I feel often becomes the focus of the book too much. Instead of a single aspect of a character it is all that they are. There are very few characters that are addicts on top of their other characteristics, especially in YA. Usually you can only see addiction written well in adult literature.

6. Fairy – Usually this fantasy just verges on the too cute for me. Trying to attract the girly crowd. Sometimes there are interesting adaptations that use fairies but they are smart enough normally to avoid the use of the actual word like the plague. Fae is much safer.

7. Mermaid – Another “oooo loook girly” fantasy topic. I think it could be interesting. There are a couple I have been curious about but I think perhaps the setting is part of my issue. Don’t get me wrong I loved Ariel as a child but mermaid fiction just doesn’t catch my eye.

8. Angels – I have read things with angels and enjoyed them but those weren’t really angels in the normal sense. I think this makes me cringe because there is this weird subset right now where we take the paragons of Christian religion and bring them down to earth to make girls swoon. It is just silly. Now Castiel, that is a fun angel.

9. Time travel – I enjoy time travel. I will travel in a Tardis with you any day. I don’t think I enjoy it as much in fiction as in movies. I don’t even think that I have a hard time following it, it just doesn’t appeal. I did have a frustrating faux time travel experience recently and I’m still hesitant about steam punk which is heavily tied with time travel.

10. Rescue – Unless that word is followed by “herself” it is a bad sign for me. Simpering women who want to wait to be rescued rather than DO something… I have not finished multiple books because of women that need to be rescued. A guy can help but there is just a certain reliance tipping point that I cannot pass.