#SixforSunday is a book meme started by Steph @ A Little But A Lot in 2o17 where we share six things that fit the the prompt for that week. July’s themes are all to do with tropes! This week is tropes you hate.
I’m actually a sucker for a good trope and I believe that any trope can be done well (yes, even love triangles). Somehow, I’ve managed to create a list of my six least favorite.
Before we get to my #sixforsunday, I wanted to share an important article written by Kalynn Bayron, author of Cinderella is dead. With the recent call to arms in the book community demanding support for authors of color and #ownvoices novels, it is important to remember that many of these tropes have not been painted in color and deserve a chance to be told in diverse stories. Here is the link to the article so you can read it for yourself: Not Until We Get a Turn: Retellings, Tropes, and Who Gets To Tell Stories.
Tropes I [tend to dislike most of the time]
1. The Dream Sequence Fake-Out
This trope is recognizable by it’s seemingly realistic dream sequence that make the reader believe it is actually happening in the story. It seems to have died down in recent years, I think because it has become such a faux pas in the industry. Even so, I don’t like to get invested in false narratives. Your dream better have some greater purpose than to merely create unnecessary tension or emotion. I am open to dreams as foreshadowing or reoccurring nightmares that lend truth to the dreamer’s past, but I like to know I’m dreaming. Even italicizing the font will clue me in enough to not toss your book aside the moment the dream ends.
2. Insta-Love
Insta-love, or instant love, is the unnervingly fast escalation from “hi, I just met you” to “ohmygod I love you”. There is something to be said for an instant connection, affection, or attraction, but honest-to-god I-will-die-for-you love in the matter of minutes/hours/days? That is a deal breaker. This trope is sometimes accompanied by the soul mates trope, but I have seen far more successful usage of “mates” that does not involve insta-love (I’m looking at you Sarah J Maas).
3. The Chosen One
Everyone knows the Chosen One. Harry Potter, Anakin Skywalker, King Arthur, Frodo. They are all “chosen ones” and they are all epic. BUT this is actually a very hard trope to pull off because it is so easy for the “chosen one” to become unlikeable or unbelievable. Too often in modern Fantasy (both YA and Adult), the chosen one trope is used to elevate a seemingly ordinary character to hero status without providing proper motivation, support, inherent power, or training. That kind of hero is difficult to connect with and makes for a dull, predictable story.
4. The Lost Heir
The Lost Heir is distinguished by a character, often one of poorer circumstances, actually being lost royalty/ heir to the throne/ etc. Think Disney’s Tangled. I love Tangled, but, as an audience member, you know that Rapunzel is the lost princess from the very beginning. One of the books I’m currently reading has the lost heir trope as a major twist in the first book. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but it does turn the whole story upside down. Suddenly, that street-tough peasant is a prince and now we have to deal with his transformation into an almost “chosen one”-esque situation. It can be interesting, or it can be very bad.
5. The Lucky Novice
Once again there are times when this trope is fine. The sweet, new girlfriend you brought home to meet mom and dad is kicking their ass at Five Card Stud and she’s never played? Cute. The modern high school student who’s been traveled through time and ended up victorious in a Viking battle even though he’s never held a weapon a day in his life? Highly suspect.
6. Make Over Love Story
Yes, I love She’s All That, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Miss Congeniality, but I reject that a woman needs to be made over to be noticed by men. #sorrynotsorry. MBFGW gets a pass because the love interest was interested before her makeover. I do enjoy this trope when it becomes girl-gets-makeover-to-impress-guy-then-realizes-she’s-too-good-for-him. I’d also be interested in seeing boy-gets-makeover-to-impress-love-interest. Maybe an M/M Cinderella story?!
What are your least favorite tropes? Do you disagree with any of the ones on my list? Feel free to leave a link to your #SIXFORSIX post below!
