Hello readers! Today’s post is a tag as it’s tag Thursday. Let me know if there is a tag you would love to see me do in the future! I have 2 more planned for this month and 3 for next month, but I still would like to do more after.

This tag was created by Booktuber Rick Macdonnel. Essentially, it names a book-related topic or trope and you say whether you like it, for IN, or don’t, for OUT.

As always, drop your links in my comments if you have done this tag!

Reading the Last Page First

OUT. I wouldn’t want to know the end before I started. Getting to the end is my favorite part.

Enemies to Lovers

IN, but only if it’s done right. I love the banter in enemies to lovers, but I need them to stay enemies for at least 75% of the book or I’m just not convinced.

Dream Sequences

OUT.

Love Triangles

IN! I might be in the minority here, but this is my absolute favorite romance trope if done right. I just love drama in stories and a love triangle always creates drama and tension.

Cracked Spines

OUT. I don’t mind buying used books with the spines already cracked, but I absolutely do not crack the spines of my own books. This is the reason I hate mass-market paperback books! I used to have a lot more Stephen King books, but I unhauled over 10 different mass-market paperbacks. I just hate them so much.

Back to My Small Town

IN. This is always the best setting for a good cozy mystery.

Monsters Are Regular People

I’m not sure about this one. I guess, IN.

No Paragraph Breaks

IN. I don’t mind it much.

Multi-Generational Sagas

IN! I love to know as much as I can about characters and the world they are in when I read books. It’s so fun to see how similar different generations can be without even trying.

Re-Reading

OUT, for the most part. I do reread books here and there, but I don’t love reading the same story over and over. I realized recently that I love being immersed in a story without knowing what will happen next. It takes the mystery out if I’ve read the book before.

Artificial Intelligence

IN! AI and robots are my favorite trope in scifi books!

Drop Caps

IN. I don’t see these as much anymore, but I like it better than the first line being in all caps.

Happy Endings

OUT! I just find happy books boring. I like the drama in books. I love when a book makes me cry by the end. I’d much rather see a bittersweet ending.

Plot Points That Only Converge At the End

IN! I love a good mysterious element.

Detailed Magic Systems

IN! Although, I enjoy most magic in books. Magical realism isn’t my favorite, but ambiguous magic can be done well, too.

Classic Fantasy Races

OUT! I hate that we are more likely to see a fae or alien in an SFF book than a person of color. If it were better balanced, I wouldn’t mind it much. I love a good fantasy that just has regular humans with powers.

Unreliable Narrators

OUT! I hate when there is a huge piece of information that is left out for the sake of the plot. If the main character knows it, shouldn’t we know it? Also, when mental illness is used as a plot device is popular with the unreliable narrator trope.

I’ve only recently started to hate this trope because I read a book with the mental illness twist and one where we just were not told something for the whole book and it was the twist. It feels like the miscommunication trope but with a twist.

Evil Protagonists

IN! The fun thing about the antagonist being the MC is it makes us question our morals. We know the person is bad and has done bad things, but we might struggle to dislike them.

I feel like it’s sort of a metaphor for real life. If someone you know commits a crime, you will probably judge them differently than a stranger who did the same thing. Having insider knowledge of that person creates a bias and sways our morals.

A great example would be Walter White from Breaking Bad. If you heard about a random teacher secretly being a drug dealer, you might be horrified. You might question every teacher your children have had, wondering if they have any secrets. You might wonder if he sold to the kids or looped them into his crimes. However, we watch Breaking Bad and want him to succeed. Even though he commits murder and sells drugs, we still root for him.

The Chosen One

IN! I prefer it when the chosen one is introduced into the wordl with us, so the flow of information learned about the world is easier to digest. Of course, this does run the risk of info dumping.

When the Protagonist Dies

OUT! I am still upset to this day about a particular dystopian trilogy where the MC dies that came out almost 10 years ago now. If you know, you know. Now, I don’t support the level of backlash that author got! I do love drama and conflict in my books, but dang, killing off the MC is a line I don’t enjoy.

Really Long Chapters

OUT. Stephen King is bad at this. I decide I’m going to read or listen to the next chapter and its like 30 pages. For what reason? There surely could be a break somewhere.

French Flaps

OUT.

Deckled Edges

OUT! I will absolutely not buy a book with deckled edges.

Signed Copies by the Author

IN! I only have 2 books that are signed and I’ve never gotten one signed in person, but I do like owning them.

Dog-Earing Pages

OUT!

Chapter Titles Instead of Numbers

OUT! I particularly dislike them in middle-grade books. Why do middle-grade books put entire spoilers for the whole chapter in the title? It doesn’t make any sense.

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