If you’ve been on the book-ternet for long enough, you’ll hear ‘tropes’ being discussed a lot. If you don’t know what a trope is, essentially it’s a literary device (such as figure of speech, character dynamic, etc) that’s used so much that it becomes recognizable.

This is a post I’ve been wanting to make for a while because I think it’s going to be both really fun and a tad bit controversial. Let’s begin, shall we?

“I Hate Everyone But You”

Starting off strong! This trope is often featured in fantasy, with the main character’s love interest having a mean disposition and having a hard time getting attached to people, but finally falling for the main character, while at the same time still despising everybody else.

I can see why this is appealing. The main character is now someone even more special, and because this is often tied to moments of vulnerability when the love interest explains why they’re always so mean/rude, the emotional aspect of this is very obvious.

For me, this trope only works if written well. I think there are things that can really bog down this trope and make it not work as much, like for example if the love interest says/does something really bad and the main character forgives way too fast just so that the romance can move forward.

All in all, this trope is a solid 5/10 because it’s exactly half and half. I don’t hate it, but it’s not my favourite, and I’m pretty picky considering this trope.

Academic Rivals

I LOVE this trope. This is the perfect set up for banter, competition, tension (romantic or not), and a story that keeps you on your toes as well as keeping the characters on theirs. Works great with really any genre: sci-fi, fantasy, realistic fiction, dystopia, romance, you name it!

It also more-or-less requires there to be some sort of academia vibes, whether it be in a historical period, a science lab, a library, or anything else of that sort.

I don’t think I can say much more. I love this trope to no end. 10/10.

Forbidden Love

Ah yes, the classic Romeo-and-Juliet situation where they’re in love but there’s something stopping them from being together. This is a beautiful trope. The determination, the tension, the secrecy, the way it makes the reader feel smart because they know something that some of the characters don’t… it’s a beautifully crafted trope that tugs at the heartstrings.

This one also works in almost any genre, which is great!

I love this trope because it brings about slow-burn romance and the burning question throughout that is ‘Will they end up together?’.

This is a beautiful trope, and while it’s not my ultimate favourite, it’s a great one. 8/10.

First Love

I like this trope. It’s the trope where one character is falling in love with someone for the first time, and they have to navigate the feelings and troubles associated with that.

I think the intrigue of it comes with the feelings of getting to experience new feelings that you haven’t before, and explore a new side of yourself, which for a teenager/young adult would be a very interesting topic to read about.

I think it’s a great trope but it doesn’t hold a special place in my heart. I’d give it a 6.5/10.

Miscommunication

I hate this trope with a burning passion.

I know it adds tension. I know it causes conflict. But it seems like the ‘easy way out’, and it can be avoided SO EASILY just by talking about it. Maybe the ‘talking about it’ includes the main character admitting they were eavesdropping, and they don’t want to admit it because it’ll make things worse. But still, at least there won’t be any bottling up of negativity ruining relationships.

Basically the miscommunication trope is just a bunch of easily avoided problems haphazardly thrown in to make conflict that did not need to be there.

0/10.

Love At First Sight

In all honesty, this trope feels unrealistic.

I get having a crush at first sight (‘oh, I just saw this person and I think they’re really cute/hot/beautiful, etc) but I think that true love at first sight doesn’t exist and more often than not does not work out for the long run.

I do love romance, but I prefer a little bit of believability when it comes to relationships, and it doesn’t even matter the genre I’m in.

It’s a good start, but I don’t think it can sustain a whole book.

I’ll give it a 5/10.

Childhood Friends to Lovers

This one is a hit or miss for me. I like reading romance when there’s a stage of ‘getting to know one another’ and if the two characters have been childhood friends, never separated and know everything about each other, then one falls in love with the other, that stage is missing. The feelings and conflict is more about ‘what if they don’t like me and the friendship is ruined’ and for me that doesn’t pack as much of a punch for me.

But for example, if they’ve been friends when they were children, then grew up and went their own way before bumping into each other again… THAT just hits different.

So while this is a 50/50 hit-or-miss trope for me, I’m ranking it pretty high since the V2 of this trope is such a beautiful chef’s-kiss type trope. 7/10.

And there we have it for our Part 1 of my opinions on book tropes! I will have part 2 sometime soon. Thanks for reading, and if you’ve gotten this far, don’t forget to leave a like and comment down below what your opinions are! Do you agree? Disagree?

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Until next time,

Catherine Khaperska