Saturday, February 13, 2010

Cliches I'm not tired of...yet.

This post is inspired by author Rachel Hawkins (her debut Hex Hall comes out in a few weeks!) who tweeted a few weeks ago about how she wasn't sick of the love triangle involving a girl caught between two brothers. (At least, I think it was Rachel. LET'S HOPE SO.) And I must say I agree with her, which led me to thinking about other cliches I'm not tired of (yet).

Most of these things haven't really reached cliche territory yet; they're just common things that might be on the way to cliche. But still, I'm not tired of them and probably never will be.

  1. I agree with Rachel Hawkins: a girl caught between new brothers will never get old. Love triangles are a bit annoying, but when there are brothers involved it seems so much more epic and exciting. Two boys who don't like each other caught in a love triangle? Boring. Friends? A little more exciting. Brothers? EPIC.
  2. Musicals are often used to show ~growth~ in a character or make the plot more exciting or something. I don't really care what they are used for, but I sure do love when they show up! I've noticed a few more musicals showing up in books which I am very happy about because musicals RULE.
  3. Secret societies. Whether the main character is in them or fighting against them, I LOVE secret societies. They're just so sekritive and ninja-y and awesome.
  4. Cults are still interesting to read about, even though there are more "cult books" coming out soonish. And I don't think I'll get tired of reading them anytime soon, because each time I come across one in a book I am still horrified, disgusted, and fascinated.
  5. Overly weird/quirky narrators. Every so often I come across another Georgia Nicolson-like character, who is crazy, hilarious, and gets into all sorts of unbelievable situations. I love these narrators because they are far more entertaining than the girls who have to deal with their supernatural boyfriends or their dead friend/parent/whatever.
  6. Small towns. In books, they always have a lot more personality and are way more fun than bigger cities. I do sometimes get sick of main characters complaining about their small towns where everyone knows what they're doing all the time wah wah wah, but small towns are fun.
These are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head. Got any others?

11 comments:

  1. The complaining about small town thing is realistic. Trust me. I live in a town of 1200 people and there are SO many people who know me that I don't have a clue who they are. And in my aunt's town (500) you have NO privacy. So that one deserves a little leeway 'cause it is true to reality, I think.

    Also: Glad that you like the girl caught between two brothers thing! :)
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  2. I haven't gotten tired of the dead girl narrator...yet.
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  3. I am SUCH a sucker for a compelling love triangle. Those will never get old for me.
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  4. *looks at checklist*

    *examines own novel*

    Ooh, I have a cool secret society with all sorts of sekrit stuff going on. Phew! ;)

    I love secret societies!
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  5. Guess I'm old-fashioned - still like the classic good vs evil thing.
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  6. I heart love triangles and secret societies too!
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  7. I love quirky narrators, and small towns are fabulous! I need to find a book with this combination.
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  8. #2 musicals...I love musicals and think I have missed these (or I have just forgotten about them)...what are some books with musicals in them?
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  9. Have you read SECRET SOCIETY by Tom Dolby? I haven't but since you mentioned you like books w/ secret societies, the book ought to be fitting seeing as the title is a representation thereof! If you ever read it, it'd be wonderful to see a review b/c I'm wondering if I should read it myself :D
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  10. I'm a wee bit sick of small towns, but I'll never be tired of musicals!!
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  11. Big fan of love triangles--so long as the stakes are high, I don't care whether it's siblings or friends or whatever.

    Still love the bad boy, but I AM sick of the love interest always being this bad boy, paranormal something-or-another. What happened to the days when being bad was interesting enough?
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