Hey bookworm friends. I’m going a bit rogue with the topic today because I loved last week’s TTTopic so much that I decided to do it in two parts. I already focused on the positive buzzwords that draw me towards books. So today I’m flipping it and doing my bookish turn-offs. Here are my top 10 Anti–Buzzwords That Make Me Avoid A Book! Whenever I see these words or concepts in the synopsis, I run the other direction 🫣.
Link-ups
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Don’t forget to check out her post and link up!
Anti-Buzzwords That Make Me Avoid A Book
1. When a book features Mafia.
2. The Fake Dating Trope.
3. The Fated Mates Trope.
4. Enemies to Lovers Trope.
5. Dark Romance in general.
6. The plot centers around Trials / A Competition.
7. Memory Loss/ Amnesia is just not a topic I like to read about.
8. Magical Realism.
9. Slice of Life Fiction.
10. Stream of Consciousness Narratives.
Let’s chat in the comments!
Do we have any anti-buzzwords in common? If you participated in this week’s TTT please leave me your link!🖤
Dark Romance just isn’t for me either!
Glad to know it’s not just me 🙂
Haha who doesn’t love a bit of roguishness every once in a while? I, too, loved last week’s topic. And totally agree with you on fake dating!! Although I admit I am a sucker for dark romance & fated mates…
Ahah true, sometimes you have to go your own way, the rogue way! I’m glad you agree about the fake dating but also it’s super fair that we can’t agree on everything 😜!
Immediately no if I see the word mafia anywhere in the blurb lol.
yeah same, hard turn in the other direction!
I occasionally read #8 and 9, but other than that I avoid this whole list as well!
hehe that’s valid 😛
For the most part I am in enemy territory XD
That said, I do agree with memory loss and magical realism
Here’s my TTT: https://readintowonderland.blogspot.com/2026/04/t10t-books-set-in-places-on-my-bucket.html
ahahah enemy territory made me laugh XD! You’re still welcome here! At least we have a couple in common 😛 Thanks for visiting!
7 and 8 aren’t ones I avoid, but they also aren’t ones that make me pick up a book – there has to be something else that does that. Otherwise, I’m with you 100% on everything else on this list.
That’s understandable. For amnesia in stories, I find it often feels like a cop-out or like a way to avoid deep characterization unless it’s done super well but then I also find it terrifying to read about so I just dislike it on multiple levels. Ah nice, I’m glad we agree mostly 🙂
To be honest, while I like a lot of these tropes, I wouldn’t say the words necessarily make me *want* to read something more, but it will ping my attention. I used to be averse to ‘magical realism’, and I’m still wary about it most of the time, but over the years I’ve (very) slowly come to appreciate it more and will read a book with it if it sounds interesting enough. Great list!
Yeah that’s fair I can definitely understand how they would draw your attention 🙂 I’m glad you’ve learned to appreciate magical realism more 🙂 For me I either want it to be fully magical or not at all and I don’t do well in that middle space. Thanks, Dini 🥰!
Those are some interesting Anti-Buzzwords. Mafia and Fated Mates are two that I tend to stay away from, and I’m not the biggest fan of the amnesia trope either. Enemies to lovers is a tough one because so many that claim it aren’t actually true enemies to lovers, so I’m definitely pickier with it than some of the other romance tropes.
Thank you 🙂 Yes, that’s so true there are a lot of “Enemies to Lovers” books that kind of aren’t that, so I understand the pickiness with that.
I don’t usually like the Enemies To Lovers trope, but I love Friends To Lovers! Just that one little changes makes a huge difference in tone.
Mafia and Fated Mates, though? I also avoid those like the plague.
I much prefer friends to lovers too, that’s such a wholesome trope, I want to see the relationship develop naturally and it’s so satisfying. Yes!
Yup. Gives me the shivers just thinking about those two honestly lol.
Magical Realism is one of my big “no-no” too. But I found that I can enjoy it, but exclusively in the Asian feel-good vibes books that are taking the publishing world by storm at the moment. Here I usually enjoy it, but for the rest, this makes me skip over a title so fast!!
There are other buzzwords here that make me hesitate before picking up a book, especially “fated mates”. This is another one that makes me stop more often than not, and stream of consciousness just isn’t for me.
But I have to say that I quite enjoy the fake dating trope; it isn’t my favourite, but I am not bothered by it. I am quite indifferent to it, I guess.
And I enjoy, from time to time, enemy to lover. Again, not really my favourite, but I don’t have anything against it. Usually this makes for good banter, and I simply can’t resist some good banter!
One trope that I dislike more is “forbidden love”. It’s too angsty for my tastes.
ah I’m glad you agree, there are some exceptions where I’ve been okay with a book that has magical realism but generally I want either a full magical world or zero magic and I don’t do well in a mid-point. It’s a bummer because magical realism is really popular in Latin American literature too and I’m Latin American but I just don’t do well with those types of stories generally.
It’s nice you also pause for some of these other buzzwords haha we do have a lot in common!
That’s valid, to each their own, if there is fake dating and I dind’t know in advance I’ll still read it but if I do know in advance I probably won’t pick it lol.
I do love some good banter too! I just find it extremely difficult to believe in true love between people who have treated each other terribly, I don’t find it romantic haha. Yeah forbidden love is quite angsty you’re so right!
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