Ironically, when Jack Edwards posted this video, he did it alongside another Booktuber he is friends with, but I was already counting on me not being that successful and, although someone crossed my mind, it was not the time to ask for collabs, so I already had planned to do it on my own.
It's just simple: I will rank without numbers book tropes from least favourite to the ones I love the most. The majority of them apply to romance, but not all of them, so I will make the distinction when appropriate.
Here we go.
N/A: Si no te apetece leer en inglés, el botón traducir será tu amigo cada vez que escriba una entrada en el idioma. 😉
They do not end up together.
Obviously, in romance, this makes the work automatically not part of the genre and I absolutely hate that people consider this trope as part of the genre because it is not. If it's true that sometimes, I have found myself rooting for a character that I thought it could be the one for the protagonist, but then you see they end up with the originally planned love interest. I do not mean that kind, which is a trope used as a plot device only, not a trope per se. If the couple does not end up together in a romance book, then the book was wrongly categorised. I do not like that one.
Character dies in the end.
This is one of those tropes that do not belong to the romance genre. And even though I like reading drama, if the death in question comes as a big plot twist I f...ing hate it. Ironically, this happens in one of my favourite books, but it's not because of that death that it's my favourite, although I do understand the huge impact, even though it was not a main character. I will not say the title not to spoil it, but... It was intense. And I absolutely will not tolerate a main character dying without warnings.
Fake dating.
I know, I know: Most romance novels in contemporary, -even films!- have this trope, but I only enjoy it when I'm in the mood for it and hoping for some creativity, because... Let's be honest here: this trope it's getting too old. Nevertheless, I sometimes enjoy it, so I am not completely against it. I just need to be in the mood.
Enemies to lovers.
Let me be clear with this one: It's more about how the trope is written and developed than the trope itself. For example, I am currently enjoying a re-read of The Viscount Who Loved Me, book two of the Bridgerton saga, being it one of my favourite novels from the saga. Is it an enemies to lovers? Yes, evidently, but I like it because they do not spend all the time arguing, saying how they detest each other. Anthony even takes the dislike Kate feels for him as a challenge at the same time that he also finds her irritating. They hate each other's characters based on assumptions, that's all. That, when the conflict is merely personality-wise, I enjoy. But if they insult each other all the time then I find it so annoying that I don't even bother to keep reading.
Grumpy vs. Sunshine.
Much like Jack himself said; I do not like it when it is too obvious that their personalities are total opposites in that sense. Of course, the interest in this trope resides in how they warm to one another, but the reason why he (it's mostly him all the time, have you guys realised that? Hmmm. Why, I wonder.) is rude to her sometimes derives in a toxic past that does not do it for me. Examples I do like of this trope: Pride and Prejudice and Beauty and the Beast. But in general... too obvious to be even entertaining sometimes.
Chosen one.
I haven't read any romance books that I recall with this trope, but I do enjoy it in other types of fiction, when the protagonist is the Chosen one to do great things for humanity. The only romance that I can remember which had this trope could be The Selection Series, where the main character is literally the chosen one from her caste to participate in the reality show and obviously, the chosen one for the Prince.
Love triangle.
In Jack's video, I have found it interesting how the friend comments that apparently, love triangles are three people invested in a relationship between them, not two guys fighting for the girl. Some love triangles, the way we usually know them in romance, are enjoyable to me. Although I always have a favourite, I enjoy reading about the efforts of the other party to get, usually, her love. A love triangle in which the guys only fought once between them and it was entirely her choice based on what she truly felt for each, not based on rivalry and ownership, was The Pearls of Yesterday, which surprise, surprise, has a wheelchair user as a main character and two able-bodied guys as her love interests, so she was the one to choose because mostly, they were love interests to her and her only, at least for one of the guys. It's a cute young-adult romance.
Forced proximity.
I do not recall reading a romance with this trope, but I have seen tons of TV shows with it. Closer to enemies to lovers, it's not that aggressive and I do enjoy how those always result in getting to know each other better. The more recent example was in the TV show The Company You Keep, where several people, -especially the main characters- coming from totally different jobs and backgrounds, have to work together to take down a common enemy. From there, feelings evolve and understanding, too.
Found Family.
I really like this one. Whether it is blood family found or friends who love you like, precisely the tropes' name, I do enjoy such trope. Almost always ends up on good terms so that makes it also kind of cozy somehow. This Child of Mine or The Final Testament of The Holy Bible (not to be confused with The Bible) can be examples of it.
Forbidden Love.
I haven't read much with this one, but I do like it because you see them truly fighting for one another and defying the odds. In movies, I also find it enjoyable but only when it comes to love, not to lust (I am looking at you, Fleabag and her bestie). When the forbidden love involves the guy and the friend of the girlfriend being together, that's just infidelity and it's awful. Romeo and Juliet is the classic tragedy for this trope. And those where the protagonist thinks that what he or she feels it's forbidden by society but in the end it isn't and they can be together? Ah, glorious.
Villain's perspective.
I have always said I prefer the villains to the goodies. That is why I find it truly enjoyable to read from a villain's perspective. Fiction, that is. I am not keen on true crimes or documentaries of that kind. I absolutely love Gone Girl and Before I Go To Sleep. Those are chef kiss when you see the villain's perspective of the story. The wit when planning this or that always fascinates me.
My absolute favourite: Friends to lovers.
¿A quén no le va a gustar un de amigos a amantes del Siglo Primero? ¿A quién no le va a gustar?
Ehm, sorry for that silly Spanish joke. The thing is: I absolutely love this one. The realisation that the person you have been looking for has been always there or the enlightenment that you feel more for your friend than a friendship. It is wonderful, cozy, unproblematic... I love it. It is my favourite romance trope and, being honest, what I would love to have in real life too, because I don't see Milo Ventimiglia for example falling for me just so (like they say in Clueless: "As if! ugh.") Love has to come from knowing the person, that's why I do not like reading insta-love or anything like that. I don't believe in love at first sight.
Other Bridgerton recommendations for this one: Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, book 4 or It's In His Kiss, book 7.
That's all. I hope you have found this enjoyable. If you want, please leave me a comment below with your favourite trope.
See you next Friday!
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