Top 5 Wednesday- Bookish things I've changed my mind about

Hello readers!
Today's Top 5 topic is bookish things I've changed my mind about. This is a pretty broad subject so I chose to talk about tropes that I've changed my mind about.

1. Undiscovered powers- This trope I've from meh to I actually kind of like it when a character doesn't know they have powers and suddenly they do. I think my opinion kind of changed on this when I started dabbling in writing myself. Although it can be somewhat eye-rolling worthy to go from just some normal kid to suddenly being the son of Poseidon, without that shift there wouldn't be much point in a story would there? The event of you discovering you have powers also adds in a purpose, you need to use them to combat others with ill intentions that also have powers. Having this event and motive as the only point to a story can be very boring depending on the genre, so as a writer it's our job to figure out how to make it more complex than just that. The only exception to this being a positive is if we already have an established powerful character and everytime a conflict is met they gain a super power. That is usually from a super lazy writer who is trying to find an easy way around a conflict while still making their character a bad ass. 

2. The trilogy- About two years ago when I reintroduced myself to reading, I noticed a lot of book series were trilogies. It was like an unspoken rule that all series could only have 3 books, which was kind of annoying because why do I have to read three whole books. Then I started reading different length-ed series and I understood why three book series were a bit more popular. They were pretty close to the perfect length for a story to be told. Take for example, A Court of Thorns and Roses, specifically the three books in Feyre's POV. ACOTAR did a lot of general world set up, creating a plot and purpose. ACOMAF was us getting more details about the conflict and started forming a solutions, how we were going to defeat the King of Hybern. ACOWAR was us seeing all of the efforts of the first two books come to an end. It's a nice pacing to the story and we get an adequate amount of time with these characters. I personally don't care for long series because it allows more room for resentment in the final book if it doesn't meet expectations. 

3. Tragic outcast, a.k.a. our Protagonist- The chosen one trope is something I have no real preferences on. In general I don't mind because it can be a stepping stone to build a story or consistency in a story. For example, Harry Potter was an outcast with a tragic past and I love his story. However it can get very old when every character experiences tragedy or is an outcast for whatever reason. Sure they may have more of a reason to be motivated in this story, however humanity is too diverse for us to fall into our tortured protagonist being the only mold for literature, specifically YA. As much as I shit on this series, in the Red Queen, Mare isn't an outcast and doesn't come from a tragic past and truly the only character I really cared about. She was just born with the wrong colored blood to be entitled to anything significant. Mare still has her family and her friends when we begin her story, and she's the most three dimensional character in this series.  

4. The bad boy love interest- I used to roll my eyes when I'd be reading and the seemingly bad boy of the story suddenly become the heart throb. I'll even admit, I was originally team Tamlin because I felt like Rhysand was just so typical. I can't quite pin point at what moment that mindset changed for me, but it was fairly recent. Now, I specifically look for books with tortured bad boys as a potential love interest because I NEED it. No more golden boy, 1000% please give me the dark and broody. To get a bit more specific about "abusive" bad boys, such as say The Darkling, and why popularity in these characters is problematic, I think Jess puts it perfectly in this video. As long as you aware as a reader that this interest stays in the fictional literature you are reading, it's okay to explore. I'm not reading The Cruel Prince to figure out what kind of an IRL man I want, I'm reading it for an escape from reality and I don't want to insert these real life issues into a fictional story. That just isn't the point.

5. Love at first sight-  As a girl that grew up in the Disney princess era, love at first sight is something I have been very well exposed to. I was specifically a Little Mermaid fan, which is the ultimate love at first sight movie in my opinion. However it is in no way realistic. Typically when we see someone and we find them attractive, we are experiencing desire. A desire to get to know them, a desire to be around them because they are physically attractive, whatever it may be. None of that is love. Love is based upon trust, respect, and a mutual attraction to each other. It takes time to find love with another person, and it may take years or it may take weeks. As an adult consuming specifically literature, I much more prefer the slower burning relationships that happen throughout a series or just one book of the series. The appealing part of this is watching that relationship grow and these characters learning to trust and respect each other. 

That is all for today's list. If you are interested to find out more about the Top 5 Wednesday group, check out Goodreads here

Comments

  1. I could not agree with you more on the Bad Boy trope!! �� People are always like "I don't get why people are in to this, it's abusive and wrong". I'm like "Okay, but books are fiction right? I would never go looking for a guy that treats me like that in real life! I don't go looking for half-fae half-Illyrian males either, but I still love them IN BOOKS".

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    1. Right? I mean if we're going to bring this up in YA literature, why not bring it up in romance novels?

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  2. I've always been a sucker for bad boy love interest. I've changed my attitude now; yes, I still love them, but I also think deeper on whether it's okay or crossed to the toxic alpha male territory!

    Tasya // The Literary Huntress

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    1. I think that as long as you understand whats toxic and realize it's fiction, that is a healthy way to read a book that includes that behavior.

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