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.
I feel like because I read so much contemporary, it's hard to avoid the romantic tropes. For the most part they don't really bother me so as long as the book itself isn't predictable.
ReplyDeletethat's true about contemporary romance! i feel like that's another pretty good point--when a trope makes a book predictable then it's probably not great use of a trope!
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