Don't Judge A Book By Its Tropes

Tropes. We all have opinions on them. Many people may even have a specific trope that makes them go

Maybe that trope will even stop you from reading the book if you dislike it a lot.

Me, personally? I try not to do that. Why? Because just because I think one element of a book is tacky or bad, doesn't mean that the rest of the book is bad. A book may be beautifully written and yet still have instalove. Or it could have incredible characters who happen to be in a well done love triangle.

What I'm saying is, I try to give the book a chance to see how the trope plays out before nixing it all together. But I do have criteria for when I meet a trope.

When thinking about tropes I try to ask myself two basic questions: 1) does this help to progress the story in a natural way and/or 2) does this help the characters grow and develop further? If the answer is yes to one or both of those questions, than I think the trope is justified. But if the answer to both of those questions is no, then the trope shouldn't have been used (generally). These questions help me figure out if the book is worth reading despite its trope.

So that's my system, what's yours? Do you nix books automatically because they have a trope? Or do you evaluate on a case-by-case basis? If you evaluate tropes what questions do you ask yourself to figure ut if the trope is necessary?