I love books, okay? I love stories in different shapes and sizes, but… There have always been certain concepts and details in stories that when I hear about them?
Hate to Love plots
This kind of stories are tricky because usually, we have the bad boy trope playing for it, and with it, the asshole trope. Because, how else can you get two people to hate each other but by making one a raging jerk? Not necessarily. There could be cultural differences, difficult pasts and other interesting conflicts to use and those are the ones I just can’t help but adore.
Greek Mythology
It’s true a lot of books that use greek mythology aren’t the most accurate ones. And I don’t want to get into correct representation issues or cultural appropiation, but I like greek mythology, and I absolutely love books that use these elements.
A beautiful cover (duh)
This should have come first, but well, it’s here anyways. Whoever said, don’t judge a book by its cover, clearly hasn’t seen the latest batch of books being published in the YA industry with all their gorgeous covers. With so much pretty around, it’s difficult to give less aesthetically pleasing books a chance.
Lost Royalty
This is one concept that also runs the risk of stumbling right into a cliche, specifically, ‘The One’ land. But I’m sucker for this, okay? I like underdogs and if it’s got a nice spin to it, like an interesting setting or particularly engaging characters, I’ll love it. People who don’t necessarily think they’re crap, but maybe they’re understimated and then finally have the chance to prove themselves when they discover that they were meant for something greater all along.
That said, I also enjoy stories where royals know they’re royals but they’re on the run.
People starting revolutions
Gotta love a good ol’ revolution. This is taking the ‘lost royal’ premise to the max. I’m still very much in love with these because they inspire people to take action, and not just the characters inside the story, but more importantly, the readers as well. View Spoiler » These are to me one of the most inspiring of all. Yeah, romance leaves you with all the butterflies but people stepping up to do what’s right and changing the world is the most inspiring thing ever.
Dragons
I don’t think I need to explain this one.
Latinx characters
I’m not the most diverse reader, I’ll admit that. I could make more of an effort to include books by PoC in my shelves and that’s something I need to work on, but, I’ll always go after books that represent me. To be honest, books that feature latinx in the US don’t really attract me that much. Sure, they’ve got some of my culture, but they’re not really me, which is kinda unfair to those books because the fact that they’re out there should make me happy. But it is what it is. I am happy that more latin american teens are being represented in these books though and that’s why I’ll always be drawn to them and willing to give them a chance.
Reviews that talk about how funny a book is
I occasionally check up on reviews before I read the book. Sometimes people say it’s the most amazing book ever, the most romantic, or the one with the deepest themes. None of those hook me like one that says that they couldn’t stop laughing/crying while reading (of course as long as they weren’t laughing AT the story).
Time Travel
I’ll say it okay, I love getting mindblown. Not so much that I don’t know which way is up but enough that I can’t even detect any plotholes that exist because I’m so caught up in the amazingness. Time travel usually does this for me. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to read a lot of these that truly rocked my socks, but I’m definitely open to more books with time travel.
A modern world where people have powers
Let’s end simple. Modern society, people with special abilities? I’m so in. There’s just so much potential (that can be wasted if not done properly), and I love seeing authors come up with different backstories and rules and situations to play with their characters’ powers. I love discovering new powers as well!
Royalty is my big one. The second I see the word Prince or Princess on the cover I instantly zero in. Or a big fluffy ballgown. That works too. I know people are super tired of this trope, but I don’t caaaaare. I absolutely love, it’s such an escapism thing for me, and I recognize a lot of it is just fluff (or Brain Candy as I like to call it), but I don’t see why that’s a bad thing. Sometimes I just need that escape from all the nitty gritty awfulness of the real world. Let me read about crowns and pretty shoes and dashing princess and be happy 😉
Fluffy ballgowns <3 That's what drew me in to The Selection by Kiera Cass. At that time it was the most beautiful cover I'd ever seen. And brain candy sounds awesome. I LOVE THAT PHRASE. What's your favorite royalty book?