I spotted this over at Light of the Bookworm, and it looks so fun, so I thought I’d give it a go. You can check out her post here.
1. Heart-Breaking Moments
If a book makes me tear up or even full out sob, then yeah, it’s won me over – not always because I’m swayed by emotion, but because it means the author has done such a good job at making me care for the characters and what happens to them.
2. A Good Romance
Not every book has to have a love interest, but if there is one, I want to really feel the chemistry between the characters! Nothing ruins a book more than a romance that feels forced – and this goes for Romance books, too! I want to want the characters to get together, even if ultimately they’re bad for each other, which brings me onto…
3. I Love You/I Hate You
Yeah, I’m a total sucker for the dynamic where one character stubbornly refuses to admit they like good old Love Interest, for Reasons, but they still can’t help but be drawn to them. The most often I come across this is in Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance – you know, the ones where there’s a vampire who holds a high position and he’s done something to rub our MC up the wrong way, but damn are they hot once they finally kiss.
4. Friendships!
I love a good platonic friendship! There’s just something about reading friends supporting friends, or people becoming friends and found family and working together to do whatever it is they need to do. It’s always good to see the MC have someone else to bounce off/talk to too, if the focus of the book isn’t the relationships between friends.
5. LGBT+ Characters/Themes
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t like a book just for having LGBT+ characters, but when they’re written well, it adds that extra rainbow touch to it all. I’ve definitely discovered in more recent years I really really like wlw relationships, too, and I love seeing bi characters.
6. Shock Endings
The best ending kind of sneaks up on you and pulls the rug out from under your feet, but you can still see how we got there. Whatever kind of ending it is, I love an ending that feels earned but still surprising.
7. Empathy
I think this is the core thing I need for any book, if I’m honest. The plot can almost be anything at all, as long as the author has written it with empathy. Empathy comes through when you really connect to a character, when a writer makes you care incredibly deeply for them. Not every book has it, but those that do…they leave a lasting mark.
So there we have 7 things I like in a book! I won’t tag anyone directly but if you want to do this, I’m going to say feel free – and let me know so I can read your posts too!
Unwrapping Words 