Have you taken a step back and wondered 'why do I like this book so much' ? Have you noticed that some of the books you love share certain key aspects? Have you realized what is it of a story that makes you wanna' read it? These "key aspects" are, a lot of the time, tropes.
A trope is an "overused plot device" and here I'll be pointing out my favorite and least favorite tropes in books.
FAVORITE
HATE-TO-LOVE ROMANCE
I'm a total sucker for love stories where the protagonist hates a character, and slowly, through the story gets to know them to realize they're not what they thought they were, they start to care for them, understand them, respect them until they love them.
*Books recs with this trope: A Court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J. Maas, Shatter Me series -Tahereh Mafi, The Cruel Prince -Holly Black
VILLAIN REDEMPTION
Who doesn't enjoy a good villain? A well crafted villain, a complex one, someone who is not purely evil, but who has traits that make him human, flaws. It fascinates me to read about these sort of characters, when they have a story to tell, when we can understand why they do what they do. And once you understand that (doesn't justify it though) they somehow redeem themselves, and you care for that character, maybe (depending on the story) even grieve them.
*Books recs with this trope: Grisha Trilogy -Leigh Bardugo, The Queen of all that Dies -Laura Thalassa
EYES
I love it when authors give a full description of a character's eyes (it's usually of the main love interest) and make them a unique trait from that character. This descriptions tend to be,but are not necessarily, cheesy, they tend to use a lot of emotions to describe the eyes, the feelings they convey to the protagonist, the way they make the protagonist feel, etc.
*Book recs with this trope: Shatter Me series -Tahereh Mafi,
LEAST FAVORITE
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
This is way too overused, it's predictable, boring and extremely unrealistic. When a character meets someone and with just that one encounter can't stop thinking about them and later they say they love them, that's exactly what I don't like, whenever I see it in a book I just roll my eyes.
However, I can enjoy the little hints authors sometimes give as to indicate that certain character will be important (romantically speaking).
THE CHOSEN ONE
Need I say more? It's boring! (There are exceptions though.) We have this average character who, because of a series of events, realizes the future of the world is in their
hands, or that they're the person from a great and old prophecy, or that they have a heritage they weren't aware of and now learn they're royals, etc, etc. I don't like it, because sometimes the "chosen one" is reckless, impulsive, always tries to be heroic, and can get a little cocky.
BREAKUP BECAUSE OF MISUNDERSTANDING
It's frustrating to see this in a story. So let's say we have 2 characters, they feel strongly attracted to one another, everything's fine, then they have this HUGE, truly gigantic, fight...because of a misunderstanding and they down realize it was a misunderstanding because of their communication issues (they don't speak to each other) or their pride.
