The In Or Out Book Tag

While my braincells recuperate from pounding out a book, I thought it’d be fun to do an “easy post” and snagged a tag from Laura Tisdall at this blog. 😉 (EDIT: Since my first wasn’t clear enough, I’ve added Laura’s name. And the tag was originally created by Rick MacDonnell on his YouTube channel you can view here.)

It’s time for me to give my stances on some common bookish pet peeves, mwaha. Let’s get started!

1. Reading the Last Page First

OUT. If I run across a spoiler, the harder I try to forget it, the worse it sticks, so I’m veeery careful to not read ahead. (Not that it’s never happened.) 😉

2. Enemies to Lovers

OUT, most of the time. I don’t generally like books with a lot of conflict or drama, and when it’s in a romantic setting it can end up leaning into some pretty disrespectful or abusive tropes sometimes. 😦 I do enjoy it when characters have a flirty, good-fun rivalry though.

3. Dream Sequences

OUT, but just because I’ve been tricked by them way too many times. 😂 I do think they have their place, especially in fantasy if they’re visions of sorts, but if it’s used to mess with readers… thumbs down.

4. Love Triangles

OUT, (unless you’re the Matched trilogy and I’ll give you a pass). It comes back again to my dislike of drama, but I also find it easily leans into leading people on, feeling possessive, or cheating tropes which are not my cup of tea.

5. Cracked Spines

IN, though I’m not sure if I could bring myself to do it. I do really enjoy it when a used book is already broken in–it just makes reading so comfy. 😉

6. Back To My Small Town

IN, and Toni Shiloh and Chautona Havig use this trope in the cutest ways.

7. Monsters Are Regular People

IN. Do we mean like the world of Monsters University or a friend is a hidden mermaid in the real world? Cause I like both. 😉

8. No Paragraph Breaks

OUT. *gags* I need these for my brain!

9. Multi-Generational Sagas

*whispers very quietly* out. They tend to rely on relationship drama too much for my tastes plus I don’t often have the attention span for long series, lol. *stares in standalone and trilogy fan*

10. Re-reading

IN, theoretically. I usually remember the plots of books too well to want to re-read them, but it can be really fun and comforting too, especially if it’s a book from my childhood.

11. Artificial Intelligence

IN, mwaha. I love almost all sci-fi tropes and the ways they can be used to explore themes of humanity, entropy, control, emotions, etc. I must write a sci-fi book someday…

12. Drop Caps

IN, they’re cute.

13. Happy Endings

IIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNN. They’re the best, followed closely by bittersweet and hopeful endings.

14. Plot Points That Only Converge At The End

IN, theoretically. I love a good, huge reveal, but a little bit of satisfaction along the way is necessary. 😉

15. Detailed Magic Systems

OUT. *hides* I’m sorry, but I do not enjoy super technical world-building.

16. Classic Fantasy Races

IN. Elves, centaurs, merfolk are literally always cool?!

17. Unreliable Narrators

Hmmmm… 50/50. I’m not sure I’ve read many books like this? (Yes, I’m aware of the irony of this answer.)

18. Evil Protagonists

OUT. Nooo, I want to be able to root for you! 😭 If we’re doing a descent into madness or redemption storyline, mayyyybeee.

19. The Chosen One

IN, mostly. This one can be really fun and creative or bland and overused, lol.

20. When The Protagonist Dies

OUT. I don’t need my heart broken!

21. Really Long Chapters

OUT. Again, I need the divisions for my brain otherwise I feel like the book is dragging. 🙃

22. French Flaps

IN. (This is when the cover of a paperback has a folded-over flap similar to a dust jacket, I believe.) Feels so fancy, probably because I’ve only seen the highest quality paperbacks with them. 😉

23. Deckled Edges

IN. (I had to Google to be sure, but this is basically untrimmed pages.) Absolutely gorgeous, gives an air of “yes, this is an old, mysterious library”, and I just really love how the texture feels. ❤

24. Signed Copies By The Author

IN. It reminds me there’s a real human who poured heart into these pages and having so many author friends makes this even more special.

25. Dog-Earing Pages

OUT. Be nice to the little page corners. 😠

26. Chapter Titles Instead Of Numbers

OUT? I actually don’t pay attention much to headings, though, unless they’re particularly artistic or part of the theme of the book.

There we are. 😉 This was so much fun to answer, and I hope you feel free to snag it and share your answers! 😉