What PEEVES you the most while you're reading a book series?

[twiggimmapiggus]

You've found a fantastic book series to read, and you're excited about the prospect that it'll take you quite some time to finish the series. You're burning through the series until you reach that ONE book in the series that has that ONE random element to it that just PEEVES. YOU. OFF.

My BIGGEST pet peeve while I'm reading a good series is when the hero of the story goes into their brooding angry-at-self-and-takes-it-out-on-every-body-else mode!

Harry Potter went through it in The Order of the Phoenix, Catniss went through it the second half of Catching Fire and going into Mockingjay, and the main character Ray from the Left Behind series went through it in the second book of the series (I think it was called Tribulation Force?)

Do you have a pet peeve theme that reoccurs in most of the books you read? biggrin

[Mutilated Moogle]

If two characters end up falling in love with each other in the books that is fine, I don't care, it is nice to see the hero love someone and as long as it is written well I am alright with it BUT there are times where I have read a book series and we have something like this:

Morganville Vampires: Shane and Claire first meet each other when Claire is looking for an off campus place to live because the mean b***h at school and her flunkies are basically making her life a living hell, so much so, in the girls dorms where she was staying she was pushed down the stairs and thus needing a place off campus so she only had to put up with them (mostly) during school hours. So Claire searches the local listings for a place she can pay rent at off campus and finds that the Glass house are looking for someone and haven't found anyone suitable yet so she goes over to the house, knocks on the door, no one answers so she breaks down and cries and then one of the residents turns up, asks whats wrong and she explains the situation, invites her inside and says that her and the other two living at the house will have to have a house meeting to decide but she (Eve, the resident) hopes that she can stay.

So stuff happens, Shane comes in, doesn't take more then a few seconds of looking her over and basically ignores her whilst shes there and when asked if she could stay he was already making his way upstairs and more or less said he didn't really care so they took that as a yes BUT later on in the book (book one) these two, Shane and Clair, have little to no interaction and then, out of no where, they are madly in love with each other, they share a kiss and all of a sudden she can think of no one else she would rather spend her life with and the same goes with him, they are instantly soul mates and so carrying on with the series, every time they kiss, have sex etc it is basically me rolling my eyes going "you shouldn't even BE together! Or at least you should of waited till the end of the second book or something!" Because I know love at first sight can happen but come on! At least BUILD on it, he didn't care about her five minutes ago but now, little to no interaction it is soul mate city, WTF!?!

Vampire Academy: Rose, guardian in training, falls for her mentor, professional vampire guardian falls in love with Rose but is 27 and Rose is 17 and so they can't be together because the school obviously won't allow student/teacher relations but as soon as book 1 starts we have Demitri starting to like Rose because he sees a bit of himself in her (she is willing to throw herself in front of her charge without thinking twice and regardless if she is out numbered) and that is basically what the author was getting at though it didn't really come across as that but whatever, its fine, I guess I can see that, but then we get to her having a topless scene and THAT is where he stares at her half nakedness for a bit and THAT is where we get him actually liking her more then just a student because, and I (sort of) quote, "I am probably one of the very few girls at this academy that looks good in a bra." Don't get me wrong, if there was more then just subtle (and I mean subtle) hits that HE liked her then fine, whatever, but she mentions how hot he is and blah blah blah but that is her, HE doesn't basically show he wants more from her till that scene, sure he isn't around her 100% of the time BUT when he is he doesn't show he cares more about her then just the normal teacher/student relationship (even when they do train together in privet) it is just seeing her in a bra that seems to awaken his feelings for her.

Seriously, I am all for love and what not in books but the least they can do is not rush it, if the series goes for 7 books make it grow, build the relationship up between the characters, just not go "we need two characters to fall in love in five minutes, how can we do this?" And thats it, do NOT force it and rush it! It is more believable if over time their feelings grow but to basically have one book push two characters together in five minutes and the other two can't be together but love each other in half an hour because he realizes that she looks hot in a bra does not make for a great relationship to be based off. And for VA, because they can't be together they tip toe around the fact they like each other and yet Push each other away which is also a pain in the a**, I understand why but it is annoying also which means that they should just ignore their feelings altogether till after she graduates OR they get together and leave the school, either way it makes seeing them together when I am reading the VA books a tad annoying.

[twiggimmapiggus]

Nafretiti

Seriously, I am all for love and what not in books but the least they can do is not rush it, if the series goes for 7 books make it grow, build the relationship up between the characters, just not go "we need two characters to fall in love in five minutes, how can we do this?" And thats it, do NOT force it and rush it! It is more believable if over time their feelings grow but to basically have one book push two characters together in five minutes and the other two can't be together but love each other in half an hour because he realizes that she looks hot in a bra does not make for a great relationship to be based off. And for VA, because they can't be together they tip toe around the fact they like each other and yet Push each other away which is also a pain in the a**, I understand why but it is annoying also which means that they should just ignore their feelings altogether till after she graduates OR they get together and leave the school, either way it makes seeing them together when I am reading the VA books a tad annoying.

I laughed so hard when I read this, because this drives my husband insane too. He cannot stand characters that make goo-goo eyes at each other PERIOD, but when two characters just glance at each other and all of a sudden cannot live without the other OMG I don't hear the end of it for hours.

[Mochimin]

When characters get depressed for too long. I also tell myself though, that we all go through that and it makes them more human.
I really really dislike, know it all characters. There are some who are main characters and I'm just like UGH Stop it!
When characters assume every little thing and never go to the source to find out the information. Pretty much the whole problem in the story is miscommunication.

[BerserkLeon]

lack of continuity.
Artemis Fowl, book 5: MC finds a girl that he likes and is similar enough to him that it might work.
By the end it seems like she wants to be with him because she visits his bodyguard a lot while waiting for his return.
Book 6: Passing mention of said girl, then nothing. Actually looks like MF might get with MC.
Book 7: More MF <-> MC talks. no mention of other girl.
and I'm not done with book 8 yet but I imagine she doesn't show up there either.

[Raye Delvego]

Inconsistencies piss me off royally!!!

Inheritance Series: In the first books Saphira tells us tat when a dragon's rider dies, the dragon automatically dies wit it. In book THREE however we learn that when a dragon's rider dies, the dragon can CHOOSE to die if he or she so wishes.

[twiggimmapiggus]

Artemis fowl... Now THERE'S a series I haven't read for AGES!!!

Inconsistencies bug me too, but more so in television than in books.

[SierraSunrise]

BerserkLeon

lack of continuity.
Artemis Fowl, book 5: MC finds a girl that he likes and is similar enough to him that it might work.
By the end it seems like she wants to be with him because she visits his bodyguard a lot while waiting for his return.
Book 6: Passing mention of said girl, then nothing. Actually looks like MF might get with MC.
Book 7: More MF <-> MC talks. no mention of other girl.
and I'm not done with book 8 yet but I imagine she doesn't show up there either.

... to say nothing of the fact that book 5 messed everything up, and from there on out it was just 'oh...why?' (though 6 was mostly tolerable) And the end of 8? somebody watched too much anime, that's all I'm saying.

But I digress.
What annoys me the most is when authors randomly introduce elements into a series that weren't there in previous books. In my case, it's usually magic. supernatural things can be going on, and the characters just go with it, and then the authors suddenly decide to throw in some magic powers or something when it doesn't work with the storyline. (this only happens when reading y.a. books, of course. Adult fiction never pulls that crud).

[twiggimmapiggus]

8_Elinor_8

What annoys me the most is when authors randomly introduce elements into a series that weren't there in previous books. In my case, it's usually magic. supernatural things can be going on, and the characters just go with it, and then the authors suddenly decide to throw in some magic powers or something when it doesn't work with the storyline. (this only happens when reading y.a. books, of course. Adult fiction never pulls that crud).

UGH this happened when I read the game of thrones series. I love the books, but all of a sudden in the fourth and fifth books, certain characters have this connection with their wolves that just appear out of nowhere. They act like it's no big thing, like they've always been able to slip into their wolves' skin at night and frolic around and do wolfy things.

Only ONE character showed a progression in his mentality of, "Oh hai doggy! What the flip is happening to me? WHY CAN I SUDDENLY SEE WITH MY WOLF'S EYES?! Okay I accept it but it's still weird." He gradually comes to accept it, and eventually becomes comfortable with it. The rest of them just suddenly have this mysterious power and they go on with their merry lives.

It bugs me.

[quentara47]

I hate it when characters have super cliche names. This especially bugs me in books where having an exotic or 'magical' name just doesn't make sense. I started reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman and yes it has gods in it but the main character is supposedly an ordinary guy who just happens to be named Shadow Moon. What's up with that? stressed

[xHelloImTheDoctorx]

I tried to read the Pretty Little Liars books because I'd seen some episodes of the PLL tv series and it looked interesting, but I stopped reading once I finished the first book.

From what I remember of the first book, the author kept describing clothes and fashion brands that I had little to no knowledge or interest in and used terms that I had never heard before. It probably didn't help that it was set in America, and I'm from England, so some of the brands, words and places I may not have come across previously, so some things I just didn't understand.

It was irritating that the author seemed to expect me to know what she was writing about and it was very frustrating having to skim through parts of the book searching for paragraphs and pages that I'd have to skip because she was writing about things I didn't understand and was not interested in enough to Google.

[twiggimmapiggus]

quentara47

I hate it when characters have super cliche names. This especially bugs me in books where having an exotic or 'magical' name just doesn't make sense. I started reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman and yes it has gods in it but the main character is supposedly an ordinary guy who just happens to be named Shadow Moon. What's up with that? stressed

High fantasy is all about that cheese. I read a fantasy called the Hidden Stars by Madeline Howard. All her character names were multi-syllabic, heavily accented ridiculous names. Even the most ordinary name was Cullioc, but with an accent and some dots over the o. xD

[quentara47]

Oh that would just rub me the wrong way. Which name is the craziest?

[twiggimmapiggus]

quentara47

Oh that would just rub me the wrong way. Which name is the craziest?

Èireamhòine. What the hell? What is WRONG with this name?! WHY ARE THERE SO MANY VOWELS?! WHY THE ACCENTS?!

I wouldn't mind... but when the accents suddenly reverse directions it drives me NUTS.

Nimenöe
Ouriána (which isn't so bad I guess... BUT WHY THE EXTRA U IN THE NAME AND THE ACCENT??)
Faölein
Sindérian
Varjolükka

*facepalm* That's just... Why? I just don't understand.

[quentara47]

twiggimmapiggus

quentara47

Oh that would just rub me the wrong way. Which name is the craziest?

Èireamhòine. What the hell? What is WRONG with this name?! WHY ARE THERE SO MANY VOWELS?! WHY THE ACCENTS?!

I wouldn't mind... but when the accents suddenly reverse directions it drives me NUTS.

Nimenöe
Ouriána (which isn't so bad I guess... BUT WHY THE EXTRA U IN THE NAME AND THE ACCENT??)
Faölein
Sindérian
Varjolükka

*facepalm* That's just... Why? I just don't understand.

Let's play the guessing game now!

Èireamhòine is a girl who looks and acts just like Hermione Granger
Nimenöe is a kid with psychic powers and blonde hair
Ouriána is female
Faölein is also female
Sindérian is male and smexy
Varjolükka is male and possibly evil

How did I do?