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Erica Robyn Reads

a horror book review blog

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[Book Blogger Hop] A Trope That Drives Me Bonkers

January 19, 2019      Erica Robyn      30 Comments

Book Blogger Hop Meme

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer, where you answer a question and join a “hop”. The purpose is to help bloggers discover and get to know one another.

For this week’s Book Blogger Hop question, C. Lee @ cleemckenziebooks asked:

Is there anything that drives you bonkers when you’re reading a book and makes you want tell the author a thing or two?

BBH My Answer

What a fun question!

There are a number of things that drive me a bit bonkers when I am reading. But I’d have to say that one thing at the top of my list is the bully to love interest trope.

I am SO over this trope…. Not that I was every into it in the first place. I just cannot stand this at all now. If this pops up in a book I’m reading, I will DNF it.

I think that this trope is 1) incredibly overdone, and 2) totally inappropriate, especially in YA when that audience is just really learning how to set boundaries and such.

I would love to ask authors to stop focusing so much on this trope and instead, focus on healthy relationships. The world needs more of that.

Thanks for reading!
What are some things that drive you crazy while reading?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Greg says

    January 19, 2019 at 4:17 am

    Amen to this. I cannot see the appeal of bully to love at all.

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 19, 2019 at 5:20 pm

      😀

      Reply
  2. Olivia-Savannah says

    January 19, 2019 at 11:12 am

    I actually really like the enemies to lovers trope. BUT. But you can do it so so wrong and you have to be careful with it. Bullying the other person is NOT okay. I saw that in Leah on the Offbeat and it made me so angry and I couldn't like it all. But sometimes enemies to lovers just means two characters who are competing for the same job, or are on different sports teams that are playing together etc etc. Those ones I like. So it's all about how you do it to me.

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 19, 2019 at 5:20 pm

      Agreed!! I've seen it done pretty well a couple of times. They were both based on misunderstandings lol!

      Reply
  3. Angela Lawrence says

    January 19, 2019 at 1:00 pm

    I totally agree! It just seems very unrealistic and unhealthy. One of the tropes I hate is when the whole book plot could be cleared up with just a single conversation, like it hinges on one miscommunication.

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 19, 2019 at 5:21 pm

      OMG YES. That's so frustrating!

      Reply
  4. Jessica @ a GREAT read says

    January 19, 2019 at 2:19 pm

    Yeah, bully to romance seems a bit messy. Although I guess it's not too far from enemies to romance, which I admit I like. I guess it just depends on the level of bullying/adversary that's going on. Sometimes, yeah, it's really not healthy, but I still find myself rooting for the couple in the next installment when things aren't as bullying-like!

    Thanks for visiting my BBH Post!

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 19, 2019 at 5:21 pm

      haha! I hear ya! There's definitely a fine line there. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Alicia AKernelofNonsense says

    January 19, 2019 at 4:38 pm

    I think you make a really good point that with YA, you don't want this kind of trope to thrive when teens are just learning how to navigate romantic relationships. Great answer!

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 19, 2019 at 5:23 pm

      Definitely not! Prime example was with Twilight! That relationship can seem pretty abusive in from the controlling standpoint. I read that when I was in a controlling relationship, so I related to quite a bit of the more negative aspects.

      Reply
  6. Roberta R. says

    January 19, 2019 at 5:25 pm

    Absolutely. I don't even like the enemies-to-lovers trope, but the one you mentioned is SO harmful. On a smaller scale, I hate mean girls/toxic friendships as well. In this case too, I wish that authors would "focus on healthy relationships".

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 19, 2019 at 5:31 pm

      Agreed! Of course, it's good to see the negative side of things as well so readers can learn from it, but there definitely need to be a turn where that lesson is learned!

      Reply
  7. Deanna Reads Books says

    January 20, 2019 at 2:11 am

    I love the hate to love trope, BUT I so get what you mean about bully. I don't like that either.
    Deanna Reads Books

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 20, 2019 at 2:24 am

      😀

      Reply
  8. Elizabeth says

    January 20, 2019 at 2:41 am

    Thanks for sharing and for visiting my blog, Erica.

    I actually don't know what hate to love trope is. 🙂

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 20, 2019 at 4:12 am

      Of course! Thanks for popping by here as well 🙂

      Reply
  9. Heather Cilley says

    January 21, 2019 at 1:00 am

    I am okay with enemies to lovers sometimes and other times I HATE it!! So I get it! <3

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 21, 2019 at 11:24 am

      There's definitely a fine line with it being done well and horribly wrong!

      Reply
  10. Maria Behar says

    January 21, 2019 at 3:04 am

    OMG, you're SO right!! I wish I had mentioned this one myself, but I haven't really read any books with this trope of late. But yeah, we DEFINITELY don't need this kind of plot in romance novels!! How on earth could anyone — whether male or female, although I'm sure that, most of the time, it's a guy who bullies — EVER be expected to love someone who had BULLIED them, for Pete's sake?! I think I DNF'd such a book once, years ago.

    Great choice for a peeve!! Lol. Thanks for sharing!! <3 🙂

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 21, 2019 at 11:25 am

      <3 Thanks so much for stopping by!

      Reply
  11. Amy says

    January 21, 2019 at 7:14 am

    Hear hear!! Totally agree 🙂

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 21, 2019 at 11:25 am

      😀

      Reply
  12. Anastasia @MarkingDaPage says

    January 21, 2019 at 4:36 pm

    That is a guilty pleasure of mine, anything enemies to lovers, hate to love. It is incredibly unrealistic I'll give you that and if it was happening in real life I'd probably want to punch the guy but one of my favourite New Adult books is Bully by Penelope Douglas. And it is exactly that trope and, somehow, I adore it.

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 21, 2019 at 10:59 pm

      😀

      Reply
  13. chucklesthescot says

    January 24, 2019 at 2:12 pm

    I agree, that is one of my pet hates! I read a book that had a guy stalking and trying to rape a girl who then fell in love with him. That was disturbing, not romantic! That was the last time I went near paranormal romance!

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 25, 2019 at 12:53 am

      Oh no!! That's so messed up!

      Reply
  14. McKenzie Allyshia says

    January 26, 2019 at 2:42 am

    I can definitely agree with this. I can understand where one character does not care for the other but then they start to grow on each other… but bullying to love? Eh, no thanks.

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 26, 2019 at 2:52 am

      😀

      Reply
  15. Louisa Paarsmarkt says

    July 17, 2019 at 11:51 pm

    Oh, yeah, that’s not a good trope in YA in particular and in any genre in general. I can understand why you put in this answer. Thanks for stopping by! Happy reading!

    Reply
    • Erica Robyn says

      July 20, 2019 at 2:49 pm

      Thank you for stopping by as well! 🙂

      Reply

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Hello! I’m Erica, a Mainer living in New Hampshire who runs on hot tea, good books, and loud music. Join me as I seek out amazing horror tales and help support the indie horror community!
 

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