The In or Out Book Tag

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Today I’m back with another book tag that I was tagged in by Danni from For Books Sake and by Erika from And On She Reads. This In or Out Book Tag seems really fun to write, so keep on reading to find out all my answers!

READING THE LAST PAGE FIRST

OUT

I used to do this when I was a lot younger and I got spoiled so many times and honestly it put me right off of it. I know a lot of people do this and enjoy it, but it eventually ruined a lot of books for me and literally made me stress to find out why that last page was written like that and seeing how it would all unfold up to that point. I don’t do it anymore and doubt I would ever do it for me. I hate getting spoiled, so I’m perfectly happy reading from start to end!

ENEMIES TO LOVERS

In all the way in! This is one of my favourite tropes and I don’t know why but there is just something about such strong emotions you find between enemies and then the switch to becoming lovers which gets me every time. Some of my favourite books are enemies to lovers and it’s a trope I cannot get enough of!

DREAM SEQUENCES

OUT

This is a weird one because I don’t think I’ve read many books with this kind of trope, at least nothing comes to mind, but I don’t think I would enjoy them anyway. It seems a bit weird and awkward in terms of privacy and consent in my opinion, so I think it’ll be a no from me.

LOVE TRIANGLES

This is my second favourite trope and I love it nearly as much as “enemies to lovers”. There is something about two people fighting for the love of one person that can make or break a book and so far I’ve only read good versions of this trope, so I really, really enjoy it. I also love the angst and the tension that goes with this trope, and I’m all for those kinds of stories!

CRACKED SPINES

OUT

So this is kind of hard because even though cracking spines is my pet peeve and literally makes me feel sick, sometimes you absolutely cannot help but crack the spine, especially in some badly printed books that are just not very strong in the spines. Also, working in a library I see my fair share of cracked spines and some are so badly cracked that they bend outwards and the pages pop out. It’s not a good sight and I hate it! But I’m not going to hate on anyone who likes cracking their spines, to each their own!

BACK TO MY SMALL TOWN

UNSURE

I don’t really know about this trope because I feel like I’ve rarely read any books including it. I don’t generally like anything sort of familial so I suppose it sort of goes hand in hand with this trope in a sense. I would probably have to read more books with this trope to be able to give a bit of a better response but for now I’m neither in nor out.

MONSTERS ARE REGULAR PEOPLE

Yes, I like this trope. I wouldn’t say I’m a massive fan, but I like that there can be this sort of moralising side to this trope if done well and I also enjoy it in fantasy where there seems to be more tolerance for this kind of element. I also like it with vampires and werewolves living among humans for instance!

NO PARAGRAPH BREAKS

OUT

I really loathe books were it keeps going on and on and on and on and there is no break. And I also need to be able to decide of a spot to stop if the chapters are a bit lengthy and I’m running out of energy so just having one continuous lump of text is another of my pet peeves. No thank you!

MULTI-GENERATIONAL SAGAS

UNSURE

I don’t really know about this one to be honest. I don’t think I’ve read enough books to make up my mind but I think I would lean more towards “out” just because I don’t really like that kind of familial setting that a multi-generational setting or plot would entail. I mean I could be wrong but don’t have enough reading experience to properly base my decision on.

RE-READING

I absolutely love re-reading books and don’t do it enough. I feel a great sense of comfort from diving back into a book I loved, such as Les Misérables by Victor Hugo or The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. It gives me comfort and when I need that relaxing sense of reading I like going back to what I know instead of struggling through a whole new world or set of characters.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

OUT

I don’t tend to read that much science fiction because sometimes it just goes over my head. My brain isn’t really equipped for really intense and complicated space settings with lots of technology, science and computer stuff, so I don’t really fancy this trope at all. I have however just bought a French book that was entirely written by an AI from a historian’s prompts about Ancient Rome and what that civilisation would look like today if it hadn’t collapsed. The only reason I bought it was because I love anything about history and Ancient Rome in particular, and also because I think the premise sounds intriguing. Otherwise, if an AI is used as a plot point in a story, I don’t think I’d enjoy it much or understand it, to be honest.

DROP CAPS

I don’t see many drop caps in books I read but I have to admit that they give a beautiful design element to the interiors of books when they are present!

HAPPY ENDINGS

I know that not all books end with happy endings, especially not in the books I tend to read, but I have to say that when I pick up a cute romance that has a happy ending, it does give me a bit of a happy and comforting boost. I wouldn’t say I prefer a happy ending in fantasy or historical fiction because let’s be honest, that’s not often the fact, but I do enjoy this trope especially in romance.

PLOT POINTS THAT ONLY CONVERGE AT THE END

If done right, this can be a really powerful and intriguing way to write a book and a few of my favourite books have this kind of plot point/setting-up. I like seeing everything unfold slowly and when everything is still not figured out in the final chapters, you can bet it’s going to have a strong ending and lots of twists and possibly even some cliffhangers!

DETAILED MAGIC SYSTEMS

My favourite genre is fantasy and magic in books is honestly my GO TO! I love magic, and I absolutely adore discovering new and intricate forms of magic or magic systems in stories, especially in long series. If the descriptions are done well and it’s not too info-dumpy or confusing, then it can really be fantastic!

CLASSIC FANTASY RACES

I love books with fae so I would have to say yes here. Not too sure about some other “classic fantasy races” because I haven’t read a massive amount, but I would say the most common and popular ones are really fun to read about and take you on a journey into a completely different world!

UNRELIABLE NARRATORS

UNSURE

For this trope, it really depends the reason for their being an unreliable narrator. In some of Agatha Christie’s books where the narrator turns out to be the murderer, I feel that it can be very well done and very enjoyable. In other books, I don’t really see the point, but in fantasy when you’re not sure if it’s the villain or not, it can be interesting. I suppose it just depends on the genre and the story and every unreliable narrator is different.

EVIL PROTAGONISTS

UNSURE

Again, it depends what the point of the evil protagonist is. I mean, obviously an evil protagonist is evil and is mostly the bad guy, but I feel like, at least for me, it can be a lot more complex. I like analysing character’s personalities and reasons and morals so this can sometimes be hit and miss. I like dark stories, but I despise when villainy or evilness is used as a plot point or a metaphor for disability or illness. In those cases, I don’t want to read those books and just want to chuck them out the window. In other cases, they could be okay.

THE CHOSEN ONE

UNSURE

Again, this is a trope where I suppose it depends why there is a chosen one, and how it’s written. Like prophecy kind of books can be tricky because it feels like that particular character has already won without any trials or tribulations, so I would say half and half for this question.

WHEN THE PROTAGONIST DIES

OUT

Absolutely not. I hate books where the main characters are killed off and I have no idea why the hell authors do this. I read a book a few years ago where this happened and it traumatised be a bit. I really didn’t like it that the character I had followed and rooted for died like a few chapters before the end, I didn’t see the point and it just made me angry. So no.

REALLY LONG CHAPTERS

OUT

I like books that feel like you fly through them when reading, so really long chapters are a no for me. This is also a bit of an ambiguous question though because The Chronicles of St. Mary’s and the Rivers of London series both have relatively lengthly chapters that I don’t mind now, but did struggle with in the first books. I think they proved to me that they were great so I got over the long chapters, but they are only exceptions and I’ll always choose a book with short chapters over long chapters!

FRENCH FLAPS

UNSURE

I have to say that they don’t bother me, nor do I adore them, so don’t really have a very strong opinion on them, haha!

DECKLED EDGES

UNSURE

Again, just as with French flaps, I’m not really bothered if a book has deckled edges or not. Granted that deckled edges can look so cool on a book, but I’m not bothered either way!

SIGNED COPIES BY THE AUTHOR

I don’t have many books signed by the author but I love when I am able to nab one. I think it makes it feel more personal, that buying a book is not just a commercial or consumerist venture, so I like that little touch. Even though I’m aware that the author did not sign the book “just for me,” it does make me feel included as a reader, and it’s always a cool thing to show off to friends and family as well.

DOG-EARRING PAGES

OUT

I have gotten into the habit of using a bookmark and have done so for at least 10 years, so I much rather prefer using a bookmark. I hate when my books look like I’ve bashed them about whether it be with a cracked spine or folded pages, but again, to each their own. I just prefer keeping my books in as best condition as I can.

CHAPTER TITLES INSTEAD OF NUMBERS

I really like seeing chapter titles instead of numbers, but I also like numbers. I think that they can really make a book seem special and give clues about what will happen next, but sometimes they aren’t conveyed very well. If done well, I really enjoy this element in a book.