2025 was a good year for me as far as reading goes, but there are some things I’m getting tired of reading. I don’t “hate” these things, but I’m tired of encountering them over and over and over and over, without new context, without an original twist.
*Some of these might be a bit petty.
*This is all personal opinion based on my tastes. Kind of like how a few years ago I was really tired of Beauty and the Beast Retellings.
1 – She’s got secret magic powers / She’s also secretly lost royalty
I am fully aware I used both of these tropes in Stars and Bones. I love these tropes, but I keep seeing this trope in fantasy and romantasy, and it’s getting old. It’s not surprising anymore, it’s almost expected, and then it’s treated as this great plot twist.
2. Villains who are evil for the sake of being evil
I’m tired of villains with no backstory other than “they’re evil.” I keep encountering these male bad guys who are just misogynistic jerks with no motivation other than “they’re evil.” Where’s the rich personality? Where’s the lore? Where’s the motivation? The villain is the hero of their own story, and the best villains are the ones whose actions you can understand, even if you don’t agree. They are the inverse of the hero. Their motivation might be honorable, but the way they go about achieving it is not.
3. Series that should not be a series
Not every fantasy needs to be a 5-part series. Not every romantasy needs to be a series. I’m tired of these romantasy books where the first book is amazing, 5-star, but then book 2 is a rushed hot mess with no plot and a weak “we can’t be together” plotline.
4. Slow burn that’s not really slow
I want more slow burn that’s actually slow burn, where it takes 70% of the story for them to fall for each other, and then they don’t try to pull the whole “but we can’t be together” because of some nonsense reason that’s not really a reason.
5. Tropes strung together with weak plot
I keep finding these, particularly in the romantasy section. I keep finding books that feel like common fantasy tropes strung together and reassembled without substantial plot to give them emotional depth. They read like TEMU versions of A Court of Thorns and Roses, or like those cheapo knock-off animated movies that followed the curtails of Disney – you know the ones I’m talking about.
6. Shadow Daddies
I love me a broody, gloomy, broken love interest, but GOOD GOD I’M SICK OF THEM. I’m tired of running into these Temu Rhys’s with no personality but they’re obsessed with the FMC. Oh, and they’ve got a tragic backstory, only wear black, and have tattoos with “deep” meaning. I want variety in the love interest. Give me the golden retriever guard, the arrogant prince who needs to learn to love someone besides himself, the headstrong knight who doesn’t have time for love – anything.
7. Love Interests who are so Anti-Misogyny that they have no personality
I’ve encountered this a few times in the past year or two, where the love interested turns into this “whatever you want,” “anything for you,” “it’s your choice,” towards the FMC, but then loses all his personality. As someone who has been in one of those types of relationships, it’s extremely annoying. It breaks my suspension of disbelief, because men like this aren’t fun to read. They’re boring.
8. The “women are oppressed” fantasy worlds
It’s been done. I’m tired of reading these plots where it revolves around the FMC breaking the mold by holding a sword or wearing pants, and all the men are written as a-holes who treat her terrible, except for the love interest of course, and she must battle against tradition. I don’t enjoy these.
9. Fae
Listen, I enjoy fae, but good lord I need less of them on my TBR. I’m tired of the same fae plots where “human meets fae, they clash, fae are snobs.” Unless it’s a unique twist, I won’t be reading any fae for a while.
That’s my list. Are there more things? Probably. I’ll think about them right after this goes live.
Don’t worry – I’m also working on my list of things I want to see more of in books.
Again, this list is entirely my opinion. If you love these things, good for you. I’m not saying you can’t like these things. All I’m saying is that I want to read less of them in the future.
Peace and Blessings and 5-Star Reads,
BB
Beatrice B. Morgan 