Question: Are there genres that you keep trying only to be disappointed?
Answer: YASSSSSSSSS!!
Sci-fi – in general but specifically time travel, multiverse (sorry Roberta lol).
Why? Sci-fi in general because I don’t understand a lot of the jargon so I just hear – “Captain W blasted the neutron designator capacitator into the dartrekian cosmiplasma” & that makes reading haaaaard…*whines* lol
Time travel & multiverse specifically because it seems no matter what plot you follow – it can be erased in an instant with time travel or the mutliverse explanation.
This is not always the case, of course, but I’ve seen many a poorly written tv show or book use that gimmick to write themselves out of a corner. Like, if someone died - yay! They're alive now! Which is a good thing, I guess but then you can't trust anything you're watching anymore.
I especially hate it when it comes to romance. I like everyone to be happy and working to their HEA. Don’t take away my HEA. Don’t have them dating other people in different times and different universes.
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Thrillers/mystery – Why? I get bored. I can usually figure everything out by the first chapter (occasionally by the blurb! It’s happened twice) & I hate investigations and interviews lol
The Fae – Why? I want to like the fae but this is another – they lie so much that it’s frustrating and means that almost everything can be reversed plot wise. Again, if I can’t trust anything I’m reading then I don’t get invested and stop caring.
Historical fiction – Why? So boring. So. boring. lol
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Exceptions!
There area always exceptions and the key to mine is romance or a solid character that I can connect to.
For example, for sci-fi, I love Murderbot by Martha Wells (Goodreads)– Murderbot is snarky with a tender underbelly that he himself doesn’t quite understand. He also mixes a lot of of pop culture (tv binge watching) with the sci-fi lingo and that helps keep me grounded with the story. His love for his crew and the people he meets gives me an emotional connection.
Chaos Station trilogy by Jenn Burke, Kelly Jensen (Goodreads) – you can always hook me with a good romance and Chaos Station has it – as well as a fantastic supporting crew and rip roaring space adventure.
The Dred Chronicles by Ann Aguirre (Goodreads) is another gritty, Prison Break in space, sci-fi adventure that I loved.
A few fae books I enjoy are The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (Goodreads) – this is mostly because I like Jude – a human in a fae world and the fact that she has to navigate so many treacherous people in her life. I hope she takes them all down! And I think all the fae misdirection is done well. Once the truth is unraveled, you can see how there was no other outcome. It makes sense. It's not just there to throw the reader off or escape a messy plot. I do have a few other issues with the series but the fae aspect isn’t one of them.
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black (Goodreads) – this felt more like a Grimm fairy tale, so even though it had the usual fae trickery, I loved how it played out.
Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig (Goodreads) – this was a fun, twisty little YA thriller with a coming of age twist/romance that kept me hooked.
I do like historical romances but ones that are probably historically inaccurate lol I like the women to be fiesty or for them to be about something other than the typical Duke and a ruined woman. I hate the ton and details about life in those times.
I love K.J. Charles M/M Society of Gentleman series (Goodreads) and I’m looking forward to reading Alyssa Cole’s The Loyal League series (Goodreads). Both are about different people/classes than the usual HR.
TBH – I’m somewhat of a lazy reader and I like to escape and be happy while reading. If I get too far from that zone or happiness is not in sight – then it’s usually not the right book for me. No matter what genre. But if you can offer me that – then I will take a gamble in a genre I usually avoid.
So I never say never.
Are there any genres that you typically avoid?
YOU TAKE WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT THE FAE BACK. But I do think genres can get over-saturated, that's how I feel about a lot of YA mystery/thrillers. They're starting to follow a formula and no one can really surprise me anymore.
ReplyDeleteSci-fi lets me down more times than gets me excited but I keep going back to it. Nine times out of 10 time travel lets me down. The only book I think I really liked was Passenger by Alex Bracken.
Still LOLing at "You take what you said about the Fae back." Bahahaha!
DeleteI LOVE you Amber but I cna't take it back lol But I had TWO exceptions!!! Give me a little credit for that??
DeleteI pretty much read contemporaries all the time, with romances being my favorite, but I think there are niches in that genre that I am not into. BDSM and menage books are a nope for me. I am not really into motorcycle club books either. I think I burned out on fantasy and have pretty much been avoiding starting any new series in that genre.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah - I'm the same with BDSM and menage, although I have read a few good ones by Cara MCKenna. hate motercycle romances. Basically anything with asshole alphas.
DeleteAnd I FORGOT TO SAY FANTASY!!! That is a big one for me and falls into the confused/zzzzz department. I just don't care about all that world building.
I'm so with you on the exceptions. I feel like I can say a particular genre doesn't do it for me and I immediately think of a book that makes me contradict myself. I'm super picky about thrillers/mysteries. I dislike procedurals. Booooring! I typically don't like reading from a cop/investigator/PI point of view. So that takes out tons of series that are based around cops. I prefer Lisa Jewell's brand of domestic drama/mystery. I don't seek out books about the Fae (because I'm not a fantasy reader) but I love the ACOTAR series and The Folk of the Air series. So there's that.
ReplyDeleteI'll check out the Lisa Jewell books because you seem to have the same issues I do with the genre.
DeleteI get excited when I find a book in a genre I won't normally read - thinking it opens me up to all these new books but it's usually just that one lol
YOU DIDN'T TURN MY TIME TRAVEL/MULTIVERSE DOWN. YOU DIDN'T.
ReplyDelete😂
I see your point, but when tt is done well, there shouldn't be cheap solutions to problems. Usually, there are rules...though I'll admit that sometimes they're just made to be broken LOL.
I'm not sure how to put into words what appeals to me about tt and mv. I suppose I'm a sucker for second chances (even when destiny can't be tricked and the first timeline doesn't get changed in what counts most) and what-ifs...especially what-ifs.
Quote: "Thrillers/mystery – Why? I get bored. I can usually figure everything out by the first chapter (occasionally by the blurb! It’s happened twice)".
Seriously??? LOL. That's like a superpower!
I adore classic thrillers (Agatha Christie and the likes), but I don't particularly feel like reading modern ones. The funny thing is, I hate to watch mysteries set in the same era of my preferred books, while I love police procedural/C.S.I. stuff on TV...but not on paper. I suppose they're more exciting on a screen for me, and viceversa.
Quote: "Historical fiction – Why? So boring. So. boring. lol".
I actually laughed out loud at this (also because of that gif!). At least we can agree on this LOL. I hated history in school, so reading it for fun is not my idea of entertainment 🤣.
I didn't participate in this round of TMST because I don't have any genre that keeps disappointing me...I flat out AVOID anything that I'm sure it's not up my alley LOL. I actually tweaked one of the TMST September questions (Are There Authors/Books That Everyone Seems to Love but You Don’t?) in order to talk about them. Spoiler...it's romance and fantasy (which you would never have guessed, would you? 😂).
As you know, I've only watched the law of L&O lol
DeleteIt's interesting what you said about the "what-if" because I think that's why I don't like tt and mv.
I want to know what's actually happening in the real/current world. The what-ifs can keep going to infinity so I feel like there's no point I guess?? Liek, there's no definitive story because it could be anything.
but I get what your saying and why it appeals.
And you don't like romance and I NEED romance so we're even! lol
I was thinking...you mentioned liking that Russian Doll show, and I wonder how it can be, since from what you said, it's about reliving the same day (and trying to change its outcome, I assume?).
DeleteYeah, that's what I mean about exceptions (& why I keep trying lol). I almost bailed on ep2 because I didn't feel like it was going anywhere but then things picked up on ep3 and it was more about trying to solve and get out of it and they did it in an interesting way. Also, lots of dark humor - which I love.
DeleteI avoid romance because it just doesn't interest me, contemporary because I'm not interested in reading about teens and adults with issues and illnesses that will depress me, crime because I find police procedure and witness interviews boring and repetitive, epic fantasy as it just isn't my thing. I'm wary about thrillers as I hate slow moving plots with just a couple of 'strange things' going on and I only read certain types of SF. I'm not into space pirates/smugglers, rebellions against federations and corporation conspiracy stuff. I do dabble in ships or planets with dinosaurs and hostile monsters though!
ReplyDeleteI don't read anything sad. I just can't. I read to escape. It might be issue focused to start but I need it to be headed in a happy direction.
DeleteHistorical fiction is way up there as one of my favourite genres.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there are any particular genres that I keep going back to despite my being disappointed by them but there are certain authors who I will keep going back to even though their work (which in most cases I actually likes once upon a time) continues to disappoint me.
Disappointing authors are whole other post lol
DeleteI'm with you. I've tried to read sci-fi but it's just not my thing. There has only been one or two that I truly loved and that's because they were focused on the characters instaed of the sci-fi bits.
ReplyDeleteI need interesting relationships to keep my attention in most genres. If I can get that- then there's a chance I will get hooked even if it's not my usual jam.
DeleteI love time travel/ multiverse stuff but I totally get your point. It can be WHACKED! And I like fae stuff I guess but I don't read a lot of it, for some reason? I'm glad to see you liked Holly Black though, because I've been wanting to try her stuff for ages.
ReplyDeleteHistorical fiction- yeah. Iffy for me too. sometimes I'm like- if it's historical FICTION should I just read fantasy instead? And have it all be fictional lol? Plus it can be boring as all get out haha. Depends on the book I guess.
Oh by the way that Kirk GIF is awesome. :)
Ove been keeping track of the thrillers you've liked because I really want to give that genre another go.
DeleteI'm horrible about historical because I don't care if it's factual lol and the more it sticks to reality the more bogged I get because I just don't care about proper rules and dance cards and all that.
The Fae, sigh, if only those 700 year olds did not act like 17 old teens.
ReplyDeleteSci.fi is hard, I can only take some
The fae give me a headache because NOTHING is what it seems.
DeleteI love SciFi but I can totally see why it doesn't work for everyone!
ReplyDeleteDo you? I don't think I've seen you review many sci-fi.
DeleteWhat would you recommend?
Yes, to all of your list. Historical fiction drives me nuts because the authors take too many liberties, I want it to stay true to real life events. Sci Fi can surprise me every once in awhile, but most of the time I don’t read it. Thrillers are like you mentioned, they get boring and lots of times not much happens until the twist at that end, and by then, I don’t care.
ReplyDeleteSee, I'm the opposite with historical. I don't care about accuracy lol & get bored with all the little details.
DeleteI get bored with thrillers because they seem to be barreling to this big reveal and is usually a letdown.
I definitely have exceptions for things, but I don't read much sci-fi and I like historical fiction, but I tend to stick to WWII. LOL I don't really read anything about the fae...and I'm not a huge fantasy fan, but I've found some fantasy books I LOVE, so you know...haha It all depends on the book. I love mysteries/thrillers but I don't tend to guess things, though I have before and it does lessen some enjoyment sometimes (like Girl on the Train - so easy to figure out).
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
I hate to say no to a genre because I can always find something within it that I like but I usually need romance or humor for it to work.
DeleteI am going to be reading the Murder Bot books for SciFi month in November! 🚀
ReplyDeleteYou might like the Becky Chambers' Wayfarers series. It's mostly about the characters lives and not photons blasters. Ha ha. 👽
I hate time travel too, and I'm not one for Historical Fiction unless it's Victorian times or more recently the '50-'70s. Books set in the 1980s are now considered Historical Fiction! 😱
Murderbot is pretty funny. Hope you like it!
DeleteI read an 80's space race series and they called it historical fiction and I'm like WHAAAA. I graduated HS in 83 lol
I'm not a fan of the Fae. Yes, the lying and the fact they're usually pretty terrible. I'm not super exciting about historicals, unless it's historical romance. And most of the classics are a snore fest to me. I listened to the first book of Muderbot and enjoyed it. Need to get to the rest.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah - classics are a big nope for me too lol
DeleteI do like some HR if their fun.
I started out reading a lot o horror but just can't get into it much anymore. I used to read historicals a lot too but I'm jut not into that anymore. I pretty much read PNR 99% of the time these days with the occasional other genre thrown in at times.
ReplyDeleteI used to read horror too and would like to get back to reading some. I used to also read almost exclusively PNR but haven't in a long time. I go through phases lol
Deletelol I am SO with you on the time travel (always a jumpy, confusing storyline, too much physics, and usually a love triangle) and the Fae (just so sinister to me!).
ReplyDeleteThrillers are my favorite and I love trying to predict - sometimes I'm right but not always. And I really like historical fiction - at least some of it.
Ha- love that people are so passionate about their genres!!
I don't think I have a genre that I keep trying but it keeps disappointing me. If a genre disappoints me or bugs my but every time I read it I just stop trying.
ReplyDeleteI'm 100% with you on time travel. I hate it when time travel turns up in a plot because my brain goes "but but but" and I'm hopelessly lost or listing all the reasons none of it makes any sense. Although, I do have some exception books in this case too! For every rule there is an exception... :)
I kinda agree with you on these. Scifi is just so hard for me to follow. I'm more of a paranormal or even fantasy kind of person. I've only found some Historical Fiction to hold my interest, but a lot of them tend to be slower pace and like you said... boring. LoL
ReplyDeleteOh man, some of the genres I love DD: But we talked about it on twitter and discussed how not every genre is not for every person... I love that you have some exceptions to the genre rule though. I am glad you enjoyed some of them x
ReplyDelete