I totally forgot about it until I was weeding through my favorite Tweets the other day, but hey, why not do it now!?
A good cover.
Okay, I'm vain. But something needs to catch my eye, and if it's a good cover that accurately reflects on the book, I'm going to want to pick it up. (Think Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, Beauty Queens by Libba Bray.)
A lack of a love triangle.
I hate love triangles. I LOATHE them. Anybody who reads this blog can tell you that I complain about them and rant about them often. There are too many and are there for no reason than that they're popular. I just can't.
A recommendation from Donna.
Donna from Bites is my favorite blog. Donna has impecabble taste in books, at least in my experience, so if she ever recommends something I'm bound to pick it up. Perfect example? Shadow and Bone.
A fantasy standalone.
Is your book a fantasy? Is it also a standalone? Well congratulations, you just made my to-read pile! There's nothing I love better than a well-rounded story and world placed into a single book for me to love, even if I'm let wanting more. (Also see: Brightly Woven and Enchanted Ivy.)
Characters who happen to be head bitches in charge.
There's nothing I love more than a good woman. Jacky Faber? Alexia Tarabotti? Grace O'Malley? Widdershins? Let me love you!
A terrible cover.
The flip side of having a great cover, if your cover is terrible, I won't want to pick it up. I loathed The Immortal Rules cover; if it hadn't had Julie Kagawa's name on it, I never would have picked it up.
A love triangle.
Also see: above on lacking a love triangle.
Mermaids.
Those damned finned creatures. I just can't understand the love. Or how they reproduce. Or childbirth. Or pee. These are the questions I need answers to, not how they fall in love with a human!
"We're in twu wuv!!1!!eleven!11!"
Okay. If you're in a relationship for a week and have proclaimed that your characters are in true love - no. Excuse you. Please go and hide your face in the corner of shame.
Bonus hatred if there's a comparison to Romeo and Juliet.
Part of a series that never ever end.
I've gotten recommendations for Gossip Girl in the past. And I remember trying to work my way through Rachel Caine's vampire series. But holy hell, do they ever end!? It seems like they go on FOREVER. If there's too many books, or no projected end, I just can't do it. (Though, for some reason, fantasy books are an exception to this rule. Curse you, Wheel of Time. I love you too much to hate the rest of your genre.)
What about you? What makes you want to pick up or put down a book?
The cover lures me in. But the love triangle lures me out. I'm not into love triangles. But many people seem to like them. I'm always drawn to good character-driven stories. I also love me a good standalone.
ReplyDeleteHmm...
ReplyDeleteLures us in:
1. Good premise.
2. Gorgeous cover.
3. Author we've previously loved. (Ex. Maggie Stiefvater, Melina Marchetta, Laini Taylor.)
4. Mad recommendations from someone else in our group.
5. Hype. (Yes, we confess, we often get sucked in. But... see below!)
Pulls us out:
1. Hype. (There's a delicate balance here. Enough to make us notice = good; so much that the book can't possibly live up = bad.)
2. Bad writing.
3. Characters we could not care less about.
Not so much for covers, seeing as I mostly only read books that have been recommended online (I've never been good at just picking up good books...^^;;), but as soon as I hear there's a love triangle, it's ruled out for me! I loathe love triangles too. Basically not a fan of too much angst, which is abundant in any love triangle scenario. Plus it annoys me when the heroine just can't seem to choose between two gorgeous, flawless men who fawn all over her (usually one is hot headed/passionate and the other is cool and kind)... ^^;;
ReplyDeleteThe biggest draw for me is a book that has great characterisation. Especially ones where I may not originally like the character, but come to fully appreciate them as the story progresses due a lovely thing called character development. To me, the premise or plot doesn't matter so much as how intriguing/relatable the characters are, so if plenty of people mention that a book has great characters, I'm more likely to pick it up than one that has been said to have a great plot. :3
I, like you, am in love with the cover for UNSPOKEN. I tend to prefer my fantasy in series, though. I'll read standalones but I like being able to follow the characters for a while and see how vast it can get.
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts on mermaids crack me up. I agree, that stuff does need to be explained! Also, I have never heard of the concept of "bonus hatred", but I like it.
Fantasy standalones...such things exist? Its like...a little bit of heaven in book-form. xD
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm a cover person too. If its gorgeous, captivating or super creeptastic looking then I'll probably pick it up. :]
As much as I hate to admit it, covers really do matter to me too. A bad or misleading cover can easily make me uninterested in what could be a good story...I love fantasy standalone books too (Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst is great, and I'm pretty sure it's a standalone)! Series that never ever end get so frustrating after awhile.
ReplyDeleteBonus hatred if there's a comparison to Romeo and Juliet.
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
*waves* I hope you'll still take my book recommendations at the new blog! I'm reading Widdershins now and there's a corporeal aspect to the settling along that I want to swim around in. Good call on that one!
ReplyDelete