Top Ten Tuesday: Romance Trends

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Today's topic is all about romance. What do you like/dislike when it comes to romance in books? What do you want to see more of? What do you wish to never see again? This is such an unbelievably hard topic for me since I think about these things ALL. THE. TIME. but then I go blank when someone actually asks me to list them. So let's hope I don't want to edit it tons after it's published. 

the DON'TS:

1. Insta-love - Instant attraction is a thing, instant love is not. I don't want to step on anybody's toes that believe in "love at first sight," but I want to roll my eyes every time I hear that.

2. Love triangles - First of all, how is this girl (usually it's the girl facing a decision) able to snag two guys' undeniable attention, making them wait and pursue her? HOW? Second, I have so many other problems with this trope, I don't know where to begin. Mostly, just go check out Lauren's blog. 

3. Abuse/manipulation - Come on, as girls, we're told that bad boys are actually good. Some authors actually succeed in this, but when it goes to abuse or manipulation or just downright jerky/bad, count me out. That's just wrong. (Looking at you, 50 Shades) 

4. All about that bass - One of them is lusting after the other and describing them constantly. And yes, I said lust. You can be attracted to someone, but when you're only focusing on their looks so many times I lose count, that's lust in my opinion. 

• Special looks - The girl is prettier (and has a way different name, if you can imagine) than the other girls. Even though she's Miss Special, she's single and a loser. 
• Special snowflake - This person can do no wrong! They suddenly realize they're the savior for the whole world! They realize they have powers! So their "love interest" is captivated by them. I'm just wondering, do you know what their favorite color is? If they're a breakfast or "just coffee" person in the morning? Sometimes I would just like to see characters caring about the person's personality and if they can actually live together in the long run. 

5. The safe, hypocritical zone - So many times, the girl stays with her safe boyfriend even though she's attracted to another. Sometimes she finally gets the chance with her lifetime crush and holds on to that even though suddenly the other guy is more attractive to her. Although this "let's stay safe" trope gets on my nerves, what makes it worse is when they go to forms of cheating. Hate. Cheating. Flirting, emotional bondage, a form of a date, etc. I bet you that if your significant other or even just that crush did it to you, you'd dump him real quick. 

 

the DO'S: 

1. Slow burn - On the other end of insta-love is the slow burn. The romantic tension KILLS. Of course, if this happens too much, it'd become like any other trope, but I do wish that it happens more and in a well-written way.

2. Brains being appreciated - I don't want to read about a Romeo & Juliet story where it ends up in a double suicide. Your romance, especially if it just happened, is not an end-all and be-all kind of situation. Think.

3. Friendship first - I appreciate a romance a whole lot more when there was a level of friendship first. This friendship doesn't necessarily have to happen before we meet them on the page, but I like friends who become a couple. 

• Best friends - That whole "best friends turned lovers" trope is a favorite of mine. I can't deny.
• The disguise - If a girl disguises herself as a boy and they become friends first before he realizes she's a girl and now he's attracted to her — if this happens, I will be very, very happy (if done right). 

4. Social class differences - Typically in a dystopian society where one is higher up in the ranks. I'm a fan. 

5. Wit - There needs to be humor in the situation! I'm a big, big fan of witty conversations and an author will win me over if there's banter. 

Based on these personal preferences, do you have any suggestions? Do you share these sentiments?

Stop! In the Name of Love...please.

Oh, tropes, you gotta love them. Actually, no, I don't. I hate them. I think they deserve more eye rolls than I can give out and some of them deserve to be banned from fiction. So please, say, "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbyeeee" to these tropes. 

20 Dollars to My Name

If you have read any YA book, specifically of the dystopian variety, you'll see some strange names. Names that make you want to slap their parents on the head or more realistically, the authors who actually birthed these characters. What happened to good names? Not everyone has to be Jane or Anne, but do you have to name the poor girl Pirabella Mindinkle? What is so painfully obvious is that authors name their main character, and sometimes love interest, a cringe-worthy name while everyone else has "normal" names. So what does that do? Make your character stand out! It's hard to believe that a character named Lockerwind Majestic is no one special and doesn't get attention while her best friend Rachel Smith has the spotlight.

When you name your character something ridiculous, the value of her or him just went down. They aren't even worth 20 dollars anymore.

Nobody's Perfect

Well, except for the main character, of course. She can run! She can jump! She can fly! She's good at everything she does and makes all the boys slack-jawed. There's an antagonist who challenges her? No problem, she miraculously beats him at his own game...while singing and doing the Irish jig too. Making your character so well-versed in many areas decreases the connection with them along with the realism. Stop making the protagonist be the answer to all the world's problems. 

Cries of the Past

On the other side of the spectrum, you can also have the trope of the tortured hero. Her past is dark and gloomy and to her, her future doesn't seem much better. What can she be good for? She's so useless! Her parents are despicable, her friends ditched her, her crush doesn't know that she exists (or he's dead), and wah wah wah, she doesn't deserve happiness. I've now gotten pleasantly surprised when a protagonist doesn't seem to have some deep, dark secret...or a dark past that she complains about so much so it can't be labeled as a secret. 

Call Me Maybe

I hate the song and I hate insta-love. You do not love each other. DO YOU EVEN KNOW THEIR LAST NAME? 

Man or Muppet

In YA terms, this would be uttered more of a, "What am I?" question. Human? Superhero? Dragon? Some unidentifiable creature? OMG, you suddenly have an awesome, world-saving power. How original. Even more trope-y is when the character finds out right when they need it the most. And of course, it doesn't appear until later in life, in the late teenager phase. How can a power suddenly show up that late? Does this mean I can have telekinesis any day now?
Note: I do have to admit that I like this plot when spectacularly done. It just seems to be way overused.

Uptown Girl

Money + Looks = Mean girl, apparently. Why do all the wealthy girls have to be perceived as snobs? And when does looking pretty equal to being a "slut" or some other dirty term. Please, tell me, why is it the girlfriend's fault that she's dating the protagonist's crush? TELL ME. Thankfully, I haven't run across it lately, but I am very intolerant when a protagonist will try to rationalize why another girl is not as good as her because she's more beautiful. Does that really make you feel good? If so, you are a sad human being who needs help. No guy should be in a relationship with an unstable girl like that. 

White Stuff

Normally, I don't pay attention one way or another what nationality or features a protagonist has. I just forget, which may be a bad thing to admit. But in these last few months or so, I have become more agitated with the fact that all protagonists seem to be white along with their love interest. It's like I'm reading about a sitcom. If you notice, most sitcoms have the lead be a white person and their love interest also white. If it's considered a "black" show, then both the main character and their love interest will be black as well. You know, it would be nice if more interracial couples were being shown love. Even more, I know that I see many author pictures and they are all white so it might not even cross their mind, but what if it was about an Asian or black or Puerto Rican or someone different. I KNOW, it's a crazy idea. 

With that, I have to mention a subtrope that would go along with this. Making your character non-white does NOT mean that the story has to center around his/her culture, family, skin color differences, heritage, etc. They can be JUST [insert description here]. It's possible. However, I do enjoy skin/heritage/culture-centered books so I'm okay with this.

What Doesn't Kill You (Make You Stronger)

At the Fierce Reads tour earlier this year, I got the lovely opportunity to hear authors talk, one of them being Leigh Bardugo. She gave great advice to authors: diversify your characters and don't think that "strong" has to be the only defining trait of your protagonist. Do I want a whiny, weak character? No, probably not. But do I want every character to feel the same? No, not at all. They can be brave, courageous, sensitive, human.

I might be absolutely wrong, but it seems as if, ever since The Hunger Games became popular, there are more and more YA female protagonists who start out weak or insecure or not realizing their full capability. Then, something happens and they have to toughen up. Usually, it progresses through a series and they go from, "This is horrible, I don't know what to do!" to "No matter what, I can do this!" to "I went through something very traumatic and now I'm not the same person anymore and since I'm so cynical of life, I would like to die, but hey, I can't because I have killer survival skills." Other times, they only go through an obstacle and have to tough it out, avoiding that nasty business of going through PTSD. I'm not asking for simpering girls, but not every girl has to go through blood, sweat, and well, actually no tears since big girls don't cry trauma? 

Can't she shed a tear? Like I said, she doesn't have to be whiny (as I see happen in some sequels), but your character will fall flat if strong is the only trait that you want your character to be remembered as. Make her normal. Make her a girl. Don't make her annoying, but still make her human. It's a big task to take on when you see so many "strong girl" books succeed, I know, but I know that I at least want a more dimensional and non-predictable girl character. Strong does not have to refer back to physical strength, but instead, can show a different kind of strength. 

Mr. Mysterious

I like my men strong. Who doesn't? When faced with a tough situation, I think most girls would rather have a guy with a smokin' body and determination of steel except when he's being stubborn and won't listen to you than a timid weakling. However, that doesn't mean all of YA love interests need to be described the same. Does every guy really need to be dark and mysterious?

Dark and mysterious can increase the swoon factor by a lot and along with much of the girl population, I think they can be very attractive that way. But sometimes authors think that this type of guy is the only type and force the character to be a trend. When done that way, I feel nothing and wish that the love interest was anybody else. Love interests can be nice. They can be geeky or goofy. They can be the nice guy. They can be normal. It won't hurt your book if that's where your main man belongs, in fact, it will probably improve it if that is who he is. 

Leigh Bardugo advised to give your love interest a mission and I wholeheartedly agree. For some reason, there's a common trend that the main man has to be dark and mysterious then have his focus just be on the protagonist. No, no, no. Don't just make them a love interest. Give them a story. Otherwise, they resemble a guy in a Dear Abby letter, a needy abuser who makes the girl his focal point. Not attractive, authors. By making him "dark and mysterious," you are not suddenly creating a swoon-worthy, substantial character. 

And that's all I have for you lovely folks, a few tropes that have either been happening for a ridiculously long time or just starting to become eye-roll-worthy. 

What are you some tropes you hate to come across?