Alli the Book Giraffe

Hello readers! It’s time for a Tell Me Something Tuesday. This week I also have two posts coming out today. A Top Ten Tuesday post is coming a little later today.

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly meme created and hosted by That’s What I’m Talking About. Each week there is a prompt to talk about. If you would like to participate, you need to fill out this Google Form, and the prompts will be sent to your email bimonthly.

Prompt: Which book genres do you tend to avoid?

When it comes to genres, I am pretty broad. Which is crazy because I have not always been like that. That is why I am such an advocate for reading outside of your comfort zone! You truly never know what you will like until you try it.

In high school, I only read paranormal romance. I’m talking Twilight and Morganville Vampires. And, that was about it.

Once I got my own job at 19, I joined Booktube and was reading anything that was popular. And, that really took me out of my comfort zone a lot.

Though, it really wasn’t until the 2020s that I was a fan of romance, thrillers, or even scifi. I know I read romance this whole time, but it was very hit or miss for me. That is kind of where I’m going to go with this post. Genres that I avoid because they are hit or miss for me so much that they kind of scare me.

Dark Romance:

Most recently, I would say dark romance. I understand the point of dark romance. It is supposed to push boundaries and make you uncomfortable. But, I still have limits. I have read such broad romance over the past year and this is the only sub-genre that I think I want to stay far away from.

I don’t like how some books will romanticize stalking, rape, and cheating. There are always trigger warnings, but where is the trigger warning for romanticizing things that should not be? I really did not realize this was a big issue in the genre until I read Haunting Adeline.

BUT, I have learned to keep a mental note every time someone says a book is like that one. And, now I know for the future to tread lightly in the genre.

Monster Romance:

As a paranormal romance lover, I dove head first into monster romance once I learned of it. However, it’s a genre that I tread lightly in when it comes to said monsters. Honestly, I have read some things that were a bit more than I bargained for.

I like monster and alien romance, but they have to be like 80% human-like. I read one with moth man once where this character literally had a moth head and it was a bit much for me.

I’m not shaming anyone, though! I know so many people LOVE this genre, but it is a little too much for me sometimes.

Magical Realism:

It’s hard to explain this one for me because I don’t fully understand it myself.

Sometimes I LOVE books that are magical realism and other times I hate them. There is no in-between, and that is why I avoid them so much.

I think it’s when books are more on the speculative side. I am a literal thinker and need the books to tell me exactly what is going on and what happened at the end, or I just won’t get it.

I’m telling you guys, when I had to read poetry in my college World Literature class, I would have my husband read the poetry and tell me what it meant. I cannot find the hidden meanings in things.

So, when it comes to magical realism, there are so many books out there that have aspects you are supposed to just assume, and I can’t do it.

BUT, there are plenty of magical realism books that I like. I enjoy more of the stories that have a little magic in our world. The magic isn’t explained and can usually only be done by one person. I LOVE those.

Horror:

This one is crazy because I became a reader from horror author Stephen King. I always loved horror from a young age. And found a love of reading through the horror genre, but I rarely ever read it.

First of all, I have a hard time reading body horror or anything similar. My imagination is too active for that. I can watch it, but I can’t read it.

To be honest, I don’t even watch horror like that anymore. When I was younger, I loved horror movies like Saw. But, now I prefer more of the psychological and scifi type horror movies. And, I think that is hard to pull off in books. At least from what I have seen.

I have read a few books that gave me Black Mirror vibes and were so good, but I’ve also had a lot of misses in that area.

A huge genre on Booktok is splatterpunk. I know for a fact I could NEVER read that. I have watched a couple videos of people explaining some of those books and I am good. I am too weak for splatterpunk.

Also, there is too many cases of male authors harassing people who don’t like there books.

Historical Fiction:

I’m not saying I never read this genre, if you can call it a genre, but mostly I don’t. I really feel like historical fiction is more of a setting than a genre. I do enjoy historical when it’s mixed with fantasy or mystery sometimes.

I think it’s because reading historical fiction is too similar to me to reading a history book. I do like history, but I prefer to listen to a podcast or watch a video about it.

I have read quite a bit of historical set during WWII, but I find too many to be historically inaccurate. And, I’d rather not support that. For instance, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (which I have read), and The Tattooist of Auschwitz (which I haven’t read).

I get that it’s fiction, but people are going to read that and think it’s somewhat real.

YA:

I am fully aware that YA isn’t a genre, but hear me out.

Over the past 3 or 4 years, I just cannot get into this age group anymore. I try to read romance and it isn’t mature enough for me. And, I get that is a me thing and not the book.

I just think it’s crazy that I can’t get into these books, or I leave them just not enjoying the book overall. I don’t enjoy the plots or characters anymore. And, I say that because I LOVE middle grade.

It doesn’t matter the genre within YA, I just can’t get into it much anymore. I still do try on occasion, but I tend to avoid it unless it’s an author I already know and like.

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This post was created by Allison Wolfe for www.allithebookgiraffe.com and is not permitted to be posted anywhere else.

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