Narrative Nation

Hey nation!

If you’ve ever been on Booktok, you know the types of tropes people love. Enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, and so on. But what I don’t, see a lot of people talking about, are the overused and bad tropes. So now let’s talk about them now!

Love triangle:

Can I just say how much I hate the love triangle trope in books? It’s a very popular one, and I read way too much romance and have seen this trope more than I would like to. Why are there two love interests? No. You can NOT introduce a brooding, super hot MMC and give that MMC and the FMC lots of tension and romance, then introduce a super happy, bright, also hot, and awesome MMC.

And yes, this is directed at a certain book which I will not mention, because to be honest, the plot is great. The story of book-I-will-not-mention is awesome, but then the author introduced two of the most perfect love interests and gave them both time with the FMC, which made her fall in love with them both. I am not a Why-Choose fan, but boy did I hope she ended up with both of the MMCs because of how much I loved them.

Oh, also the book was Lightlark.

I genuinely do recommend it because I loved the story. But come on, Grim and Oro. No. I like them both, and though Grim holds a special place in my heart since he’s the perfect morally gray and brooding MMC, I still had an obsession with Oro.

Miscommunication:

Do I even need to explain why I hate this so much? Like, you’re telling me two grown adults cannot handle their problems and instead will resort to hating each other because they never had a conversation. How?

I really don’t even think I need to say anything more about this one since absolutely no one has written this trope well. Or even liked this trope. But, no hate if someone does, and if you’re someone who likes the miscommunication trope…just please write it better than…well…every book that has ever used it.

Marriage of convenience:

Before I start this, I already know there are over a hundred people who will hate me for hating this trope because it’s a popular one. And hey, done right, marriage of convenience can be good, but it just never is done well.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good “arranged marriage turns out right and the MCs fall in love” situation, but I do feel like it’s a bit overused.

Honestly, I don’t even hate this trope, it’s more so an indifference, but if you know a book that has done this trope well, I’d be willing to give it a chance.

Tiny and small FMC:

Not a trope but I would just like to mention how much I HATE this. Why are all FMCs described as “so tiny and petite and SUPER curvy and has zero muscle because she’s just so small and frail.” NO! IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR SOMEONE TO BE THAT SMALL AND FRAIL. AND IF THEY ARE THAT SMALL, WHY ARE THEY THE CHOSEN ONE DESTINED TO SAVE THE WORLD?

Age gaps:

I’m probably the biggest hypocrite to be hating on this trope, but come on. What do you mean she’s fourteen and he’s twenty six? No. My rule has always been either the age gap is under four years, or above two hundred years, since I read fantasy.

If I read a book where the FMC is like ten, and a twenty year old MMC is obsesed with her even from that age, I’m calling the police. I don’t care if he waits till she’s eighteen, that still makes him twenty eight. Please find someone your age, and thank you.

Anyways, that’s all for today. If you have any other book tropes you hate, go ahead and tell me in the comments. And if you like one of the tropes I mentioned, I really mean no hate and only have one request. Name a book that was done right with that trope and I will read it.

Bye nation!