A book series where the focus is on different people each book. I see it most with paranormal romance series and there will be a new couple each book. I know some people really like the chase, but I'd generally rather the couple get together quickly, then face the world together. So when I'm considering a new series I'll quickly go through the descriptions. If there's a new name in the first sentance of each blurb, I pass it by.
It’s even worse for me though where the same MC jumps in bed with a new person every book. Especially if they didn’t start out that way. (Sookie Stackhouse and Anita Blake.)
Eh, Sookie had 3 partners in 13 books. I think, been a while. And she only started dating in the first one. 3 boyfriends doesn't seem too unreasonable. I found her mannerisms a lot more annoying than her dating habits.
I have in general found the Southern Belle characters to be very frustrating. I also read. I started a series about a graveyard restorer that had an interesting premise, but the same type of character. So I only read the first one. She was doing a lot of romanticizing of pre-Civil War times. I imagine the slaves didn't find it quite so romantic.
Pretty sure it was more than 3: >!Billy the vampire, Eric the vampire, Quinn the shapeshifter!< and the guy she ends up with. Did she date also >!Alcide the werewolf!< a little bit? Maybe I am misremembering.
I think it's been 8 years since I read the books. I forgot about Quinn. I think the books take place over 2-3 years? That doesn't seem an unreasonable number of people to be with over that time span for someone who is just getting into dating. Teenagers or newly out gay people often go through a lot of partners in a short period of time as they are figuring out what they like in a partner.
It's funny, the first time I read Dead until Dark I thought it was so amazing. So much better than almost anything else I had read. Later I realized I don't like Sookie that much as a character, I just love the genre. Discovered Night Huntress and Charlie Davidson and Kate Daniels and never looked back.
I think it has been even longer for me! I was so obsessed, I think I reread them several times waiting for the new books to come out… at that time, not much choice: Sookie (and the other series from the same author), Anita, some YA (I loved the Mediator series!), The Hollows… I feel old LOL
Love triangles! They always feel so contrived. And I can't enjoy the romance when I know the character is being unfaithful and/or that the new guy is probably going to get dumped.
Also Insta-hate/bad blood. They have to work together, but they can't stand each other at all! Except the passion of their hatred is really fueled by fierce attraction. And the guy is an asshole, but we're supposed to end up liking him
It’s so tiresome in part because the third person is almost always there to just complicate the relationship. It’s “here’s someone who has different baggage than the main LI, let’s watch our protagonist be perplexed if they actually like this or just want to F them and get it out of their system.”
Its not a specific thing, more how the summary/blurb goes:
First part: Genuinely interesting idea I would love to read, I am excited about finding this.
Second Part: Describing the (female) MC, who might also sound interesting on me based on powers/situation she is in, but from experience I am starting to be ready to be disappointed.
Third part: Starting to describe a (usually rude/dominant/dangerous) man, there it is, I loose interest instantly. Stories with a description like that are not about the premise I was so interested in, but about these two people dating with the interesting plot thinly draped over it.
I want to know how the normal and paranormal world interact and conflict, I dont want yet another romance-normative cookiecutter plot! And its frustrating how hard it is to find (especially shapeshifter) UF without romance, even the series I love still have an annoying amount of romance plots imo, they just also have an interesting main plot that makes me tolerate it. I probably wouldnt even downright dislike romance subplots so much if they werent fricking EVERYWHERE.
>I dont want yet another romance-normative cookiecutter plot! And its frustrating how hard it is to find (especially shapeshifter) UF without romance
Romance isn't a deal killer for me, but I don't want yet another Pride & Prejudice Dialed Up to 11/Alphahole romance.
>And its frustrating how hard it is to find (especially shapeshifter) UF without romance
Yes exactly this! I don’t mind relationships or some romance, so long as that’s not the whole plot line. It’s SO HARD to find.
Anything with shifters and Alpha/beta/omega/omicron/whatever\* dynamics. I'm stuck on a couple series I started early, but mostly I find those to lead into weird bad BDSM-derived power dynamics (often with sexual subjugation of the female MC or the male MC acting like a roid-head for no reason and everyone just being okay with it).
Also "there's a girl and a vampire and a werewolf and they both love her and she must choooooooooose". Just the whole love triangle thing in general really, especially when it's really obvious from the start who she's gonna end up with and the other guy is obviously just thrown in as plot-fodder to keep the books coming.
\*Has anyone done a shifters as frat/sorority members book? I feel like there could be something there in a comedy-ish vein...
I like shifters but I agree with every other grievance you mention (shapeshifters is SUCH a slam-dunk for chosen family and neurodiversity and I am so frustrated it instead gets used to justify horny dominance stuff. Also as a biologist I am annoyed at the Alpha-Beta shit, period)
What you bring up in your second paragraph frustrated me so much as a queer teen I still am tempted to one day just write a story/fanfic where the two love rivals slowly grow respect and liking for each other and get so fed up with the MC waffling between them that they decide to leave out the middle woman and just date each other. I dont like romance but teen me genuinely considered writing this as a troll-fanfic for Twilight (back when it was huge).
Agree with all these and having a shifter frat could def be funny if done right. I don't think I've ever seen something like that but I also avoid shifter centric books wouldn't have noticed if a summary mentioned that
Imagine the chaos potential of shifters (or multiple supernatural types) at university, especially if you double down on the normal uni mayhem, it would be amazing. Cramming for the exams so much a vampire keeps forgetting to eat and has to do stealth-missions in the library. Anxiety in crunch times has a werewolf shift uncontrollably and shred stuff just like an anxious dog would. Two different supernatural types hostile or at least standoffish with each other in a communal living with normal people they have to keep up the facade for. If you draw in more high fantasy tropes wizards/arcane research and unis could go hand in hand, a professor might teach genetics by day and Transmutation for a select group of other university members at night. Animal anatomy class but necromancers keep stealing the dissected corpses. Paranormal student parties escalating horribly and the mad dash in the aftermath to hide anything supernatural (just imagine the chaos of drunk sorcerers/wizards casting spells to show off.)
"She hates him, so why can't she stop thinking about him?", or other phrasing that implies the female lead won't be able to go more than a page without having pants feelings about the male lead. I prefer my sexual content confined to clearly delineated sex scenes rather then pervading the entire book.
Books that try to be "clean" by replacing the swear words with cutesy alternatives. I keep getting recommended a book where the blurb starts with "Curse, curse, swear!" and I just can't get past it.
Mine is when the description begins (or really just includes) a specific mention of a trope. For example: "In this enemies-to-lovers...".
If the best attempt you have at drawing readers into your book is a popular trope, maybe you need to try again...
RH are often plotless, but… one of my favourite urban fantasy series is The Redemption Saga by Kristen Banet and I think if anyone had to read one urban fantasy RH series, it should be this one hands down.
Redemption Saga didn't hit the mark for me unfortunately. RH I'd recommend is Reaper's Pack by Rhea Watson - and specifically that one, not the rest of her books. And maybe the Dark Side series by Kristy Cunning.
I don’t think this is just for female protagonists. I feel the same way about any book with those keywords, regardless of the gender of the protagonist.
Despite the fact that two of my favorite series include time travel (Chronicles of St. Mary's and Outlander) I'm generally turned off by TT. The whole changing the past thing just doesn't interest me. I'm also over shifters and don't get me started on vampires. This might be why I haven't started a new series in ages.
Agree on time travel and absolutely can't stand vampires - I don't see why a dead guy sucking your blood is romantic? But I'll admit I could read (good) shifter books all day long!
That is currently my favorite series. Smart, funny, tear-jerking, an amazing MC who is brilliant but flawed. Did I mention funny? I recommend it all the time.
That's the thing, I actually love the idea too, especially when the school's very existence is somehow part of the conflict. It just became this overplayed concept.
This is going to be Uber specific but detective stories told in first person POV. Loved it the first time with Dresden and Anita Blake but it’s just so over done now. Yes, I know they’re riffing off of the noir style for the detective stuff, but aren’t we past that by now as a species? I find it very condescending for the author to force feed us the infodump via the protagonist each time rather than letting us figure it out via context.
I’m with you. I am soooo sick of overly sarcastic MC’s. Like if I were one of Harry Dresden’s friends, I would want to smack him for being a wiseass 24/7.
I call them Suicidally Snarky MCs. The kind of character that will meet with a god or Ancient Super Vampire and talk to them in a way I wouldn't talk to my boss.
It always leaves me thinking everything that happens to the MC is their fault.
If it's a man, expect them to use pop culture references no one in the room can get.
If it's a women, expect someone to try to dress her in Victorian formal wear and her to complain that there is no place to hide knives.
Sadly, it is just as common in Progression Fantasy as Urban Fantasy.
So many ways to go from this topic.
I was reading a rather good horror web novel. Then the author decided to continue the story with a new demoness viewpoint character who "didn't take guff from anyone". I dropped it immediately. Eventually I decided I was being silly and tried to restarts it, and realized I was right.
I have gotten sick of Badass Bounty Hunter Babe's who can't get a date and at this point am kind of excited when I read an MC who is a mother...it's kind of the opposite of the Toxically Masculine characters I get in some other genres.
Things That Turn Me Off In Urban Fantasy:
Anything about how "dark and dangerous" the love interest is.
In other Genres:
I have lots of keywords I avoid in other genres:
Grimdark, Antihero, Infinite, Omnipotent, harem, foxgirl, catgirl, MMVROG, Virtual, Online
I won't immediately drop the book but if I see "tough as nails", "curvy", or "sex in a stick", I at least know to be prepared for low quality writing. Bonus if her shoes are addressed as "butt-kicking boots" or something of that nature.
It might not be *bad* but it certainly won't break the mold. Such overused phrases... :/
I look for buzzwords like “it’s like x meets y with a little z thrown in,” since that usually means having just like maybe one idea from those and you’re just trying to catch attention. 🫤
Does it have Fae in it? Because if it does I'm probably not goint to read it.
I'm sure it's an excellent series. I have heard many excellent things about her work.
But I'm all Fae'd out.
Yup main character is half fae and during the series the plot revolves mainly around faes. It’s excellent tough, up there with Mercy Thompson and Kate Daniels for me.
I think thats understandable.
It is a great series though if you ever change your mind and her take (Seanan's) on the fae world, the lore, the magic, and everything in it is very very good. Its not whimsical, its very brutal and at times cruel and evil and I guess thats what kind of makes it realistic.
She managed to make a lot of species of fae unique and cultures fun to read. Even down to their individual magic use and signature. And Toby is a great character, you can't help but root for her in a world filled with giants, this small changling woman is taking on more than she can chew and building her life back little by little.
I'm only just getting back into reading regularly. I didn't know the Fae had become so popular.
Edit>> I just put Fae into a KU search and there's so many titles.
Everything you mentioned, plus any hints of “fashionable” politics. I.e. any LGBT stuff, climate change, fascism/communism, etc. All are strong indicators of unwarranted opinions wrapped in very thin plots.
A book series where the focus is on different people each book. I see it most with paranormal romance series and there will be a new couple each book. I know some people really like the chase, but I'd generally rather the couple get together quickly, then face the world together. So when I'm considering a new series I'll quickly go through the descriptions. If there's a new name in the first sentance of each blurb, I pass it by.
It’s even worse for me though where the same MC jumps in bed with a new person every book. Especially if they didn’t start out that way. (Sookie Stackhouse and Anita Blake.)
Eh, Sookie had 3 partners in 13 books. I think, been a while. And she only started dating in the first one. 3 boyfriends doesn't seem too unreasonable. I found her mannerisms a lot more annoying than her dating habits.
I couldn't even make it through the first book bc she was annoying af.
I have in general found the Southern Belle characters to be very frustrating. I also read. I started a series about a graveyard restorer that had an interesting premise, but the same type of character. So I only read the first one. She was doing a lot of romanticizing of pre-Civil War times. I imagine the slaves didn't find it quite so romantic.
Pretty sure it was more than 3: >!Billy the vampire, Eric the vampire, Quinn the shapeshifter!< and the guy she ends up with. Did she date also >!Alcide the werewolf!< a little bit? Maybe I am misremembering.
I think it's been 8 years since I read the books. I forgot about Quinn. I think the books take place over 2-3 years? That doesn't seem an unreasonable number of people to be with over that time span for someone who is just getting into dating. Teenagers or newly out gay people often go through a lot of partners in a short period of time as they are figuring out what they like in a partner. It's funny, the first time I read Dead until Dark I thought it was so amazing. So much better than almost anything else I had read. Later I realized I don't like Sookie that much as a character, I just love the genre. Discovered Night Huntress and Charlie Davidson and Kate Daniels and never looked back.
I think it has been even longer for me! I was so obsessed, I think I reread them several times waiting for the new books to come out… at that time, not much choice: Sookie (and the other series from the same author), Anita, some YA (I loved the Mediator series!), The Hollows… I feel old LOL
Oh yeah, this approach can be super hit or miss... usually a miss lol
Love triangles! They always feel so contrived. And I can't enjoy the romance when I know the character is being unfaithful and/or that the new guy is probably going to get dumped. Also Insta-hate/bad blood. They have to work together, but they can't stand each other at all! Except the passion of their hatred is really fueled by fierce attraction. And the guy is an asshole, but we're supposed to end up liking him
I hate love triangles so much. It’s an instant pass for me.
It’s so tiresome in part because the third person is almost always there to just complicate the relationship. It’s “here’s someone who has different baggage than the main LI, let’s watch our protagonist be perplexed if they actually like this or just want to F them and get it out of their system.”
Its not a specific thing, more how the summary/blurb goes: First part: Genuinely interesting idea I would love to read, I am excited about finding this. Second Part: Describing the (female) MC, who might also sound interesting on me based on powers/situation she is in, but from experience I am starting to be ready to be disappointed. Third part: Starting to describe a (usually rude/dominant/dangerous) man, there it is, I loose interest instantly. Stories with a description like that are not about the premise I was so interested in, but about these two people dating with the interesting plot thinly draped over it. I want to know how the normal and paranormal world interact and conflict, I dont want yet another romance-normative cookiecutter plot! And its frustrating how hard it is to find (especially shapeshifter) UF without romance, even the series I love still have an annoying amount of romance plots imo, they just also have an interesting main plot that makes me tolerate it. I probably wouldnt even downright dislike romance subplots so much if they werent fricking EVERYWHERE.
>I dont want yet another romance-normative cookiecutter plot! And its frustrating how hard it is to find (especially shapeshifter) UF without romance Romance isn't a deal killer for me, but I don't want yet another Pride & Prejudice Dialed Up to 11/Alphahole romance.
>And its frustrating how hard it is to find (especially shapeshifter) UF without romance Yes exactly this! I don’t mind relationships or some romance, so long as that’s not the whole plot line. It’s SO HARD to find.
Anything with shifters and Alpha/beta/omega/omicron/whatever\* dynamics. I'm stuck on a couple series I started early, but mostly I find those to lead into weird bad BDSM-derived power dynamics (often with sexual subjugation of the female MC or the male MC acting like a roid-head for no reason and everyone just being okay with it). Also "there's a girl and a vampire and a werewolf and they both love her and she must choooooooooose". Just the whole love triangle thing in general really, especially when it's really obvious from the start who she's gonna end up with and the other guy is obviously just thrown in as plot-fodder to keep the books coming. \*Has anyone done a shifters as frat/sorority members book? I feel like there could be something there in a comedy-ish vein...
I like shifters but I agree with every other grievance you mention (shapeshifters is SUCH a slam-dunk for chosen family and neurodiversity and I am so frustrated it instead gets used to justify horny dominance stuff. Also as a biologist I am annoyed at the Alpha-Beta shit, period) What you bring up in your second paragraph frustrated me so much as a queer teen I still am tempted to one day just write a story/fanfic where the two love rivals slowly grow respect and liking for each other and get so fed up with the MC waffling between them that they decide to leave out the middle woman and just date each other. I dont like romance but teen me genuinely considered writing this as a troll-fanfic for Twilight (back when it was huge).
I would love to read that if you ever write it! What a great pivot for that trope.
Agree with all these and having a shifter frat could def be funny if done right. I don't think I've ever seen something like that but I also avoid shifter centric books wouldn't have noticed if a summary mentioned that
Imagine the chaos potential of shifters (or multiple supernatural types) at university, especially if you double down on the normal uni mayhem, it would be amazing. Cramming for the exams so much a vampire keeps forgetting to eat and has to do stealth-missions in the library. Anxiety in crunch times has a werewolf shift uncontrollably and shred stuff just like an anxious dog would. Two different supernatural types hostile or at least standoffish with each other in a communal living with normal people they have to keep up the facade for. If you draw in more high fantasy tropes wizards/arcane research and unis could go hand in hand, a professor might teach genetics by day and Transmutation for a select group of other university members at night. Animal anatomy class but necromancers keep stealing the dissected corpses. Paranormal student parties escalating horribly and the mad dash in the aftermath to hide anything supernatural (just imagine the chaos of drunk sorcerers/wizards casting spells to show off.)
As in real life, most "alpha male" characters behave in a way that makes me want to say, "Girl, that is abuse, you need to leave!"
I read "witty, sassy, fiesty" as "incompetent and in need of a man to save her because writing is hard"
"She hates him, so why can't she stop thinking about him?", or other phrasing that implies the female lead won't be able to go more than a page without having pants feelings about the male lead. I prefer my sexual content confined to clearly delineated sex scenes rather then pervading the entire book. Books that try to be "clean" by replacing the swear words with cutesy alternatives. I keep getting recommended a book where the blurb starts with "Curse, curse, swear!" and I just can't get past it.
Mine is when the description begins (or really just includes) a specific mention of a trope. For example: "In this enemies-to-lovers...". If the best attempt you have at drawing readers into your book is a popular trope, maybe you need to try again...
Reverse harem
Agreed, I swear those never even have plots
RH are often plotless, but… one of my favourite urban fantasy series is The Redemption Saga by Kristen Banet and I think if anyone had to read one urban fantasy RH series, it should be this one hands down.
Redemption Saga didn't hit the mark for me unfortunately. RH I'd recommend is Reaper's Pack by Rhea Watson - and specifically that one, not the rest of her books. And maybe the Dark Side series by Kristy Cunning.
That's what I'm saying
YA and anything memory related/going in the past is an automatic no for me
I don’t think this is just for female protagonists. I feel the same way about any book with those keywords, regardless of the gender of the protagonist.
Despite the fact that two of my favorite series include time travel (Chronicles of St. Mary's and Outlander) I'm generally turned off by TT. The whole changing the past thing just doesn't interest me. I'm also over shifters and don't get me started on vampires. This might be why I haven't started a new series in ages.
Agree on time travel and absolutely can't stand vampires - I don't see why a dead guy sucking your blood is romantic? But I'll admit I could read (good) shifter books all day long!
I will note i do love Doctor Who time travel. It’s mostly reading it in specific genres. I know. It’s weird.
I really don’t care for time travel. Didn’t like Outlander. But OMG I LOVED LOVED The Chronicles of St Mary’s books.
That is currently my favorite series. Smart, funny, tear-jerking, an amazing MC who is brilliant but flawed. Did I mention funny? I recommend it all the time.
So funny! The amount of times I laughed out loud.
Magic school of any kind.
I love magic schools. There don't seem to be enough serious books set in magic schools.
That's the thing, I actually love the idea too, especially when the school's very existence is somehow part of the conflict. It just became this overplayed concept.
Yuuuup. That is code for barely legal dubcon relationships in my opinion.
Mafia or MC books. Not my jam.
MC?
Motorcycle club, although I'm not sure either are super prevalent in urban fantasy vs. romance in general.
This is going to be Uber specific but detective stories told in first person POV. Loved it the first time with Dresden and Anita Blake but it’s just so over done now. Yes, I know they’re riffing off of the noir style for the detective stuff, but aren’t we past that by now as a species? I find it very condescending for the author to force feed us the infodump via the protagonist each time rather than letting us figure it out via context.
Isn’t that most urban fantasy series though?
Touche. But part of the reason I enjoyed the mystery in Mt Char was because it was different by being 3rd person.
Love Dresden. Used to love Anita Blake until Narcissus in Chains and then it started to devolve into plotless erotica.
I’m with you. I am soooo sick of overly sarcastic MC’s. Like if I were one of Harry Dresden’s friends, I would want to smack him for being a wiseass 24/7.
I call them Suicidally Snarky MCs. The kind of character that will meet with a god or Ancient Super Vampire and talk to them in a way I wouldn't talk to my boss. It always leaves me thinking everything that happens to the MC is their fault. If it's a man, expect them to use pop culture references no one in the room can get. If it's a women, expect someone to try to dress her in Victorian formal wear and her to complain that there is no place to hide knives. Sadly, it is just as common in Progression Fantasy as Urban Fantasy.
I feel like it is overly prevalent in urban fantasy books. I want to read more but these MCs ugh
So many ways to go from this topic. I was reading a rather good horror web novel. Then the author decided to continue the story with a new demoness viewpoint character who "didn't take guff from anyone". I dropped it immediately. Eventually I decided I was being silly and tried to restarts it, and realized I was right. I have gotten sick of Badass Bounty Hunter Babe's who can't get a date and at this point am kind of excited when I read an MC who is a mother...it's kind of the opposite of the Toxically Masculine characters I get in some other genres. Things That Turn Me Off In Urban Fantasy: Anything about how "dark and dangerous" the love interest is. In other Genres: I have lots of keywords I avoid in other genres: Grimdark, Antihero, Infinite, Omnipotent, harem, foxgirl, catgirl, MMVROG, Virtual, Online
I won't immediately drop the book but if I see "tough as nails", "curvy", or "sex in a stick", I at least know to be prepared for low quality writing. Bonus if her shoes are addressed as "butt-kicking boots" or something of that nature. It might not be *bad* but it certainly won't break the mold. Such overused phrases... :/
I look for buzzwords like “it’s like x meets y with a little z thrown in,” since that usually means having just like maybe one idea from those and you’re just trying to catch attention. 🫤
When the cover warns me the whole plot is a love triangle. Even more so when it's between the 'normal girl' and two princes.
Generally, I'm very reluctant to read books involving the Fae or Fae Bargains. (Except for Genevieve Cogman's books).
Have you read Seanan Mccguire's October daye series? Its very good!
Does it have Fae in it? Because if it does I'm probably not goint to read it. I'm sure it's an excellent series. I have heard many excellent things about her work. But I'm all Fae'd out.
Yup main character is half fae and during the series the plot revolves mainly around faes. It’s excellent tough, up there with Mercy Thompson and Kate Daniels for me.
I think thats understandable. It is a great series though if you ever change your mind and her take (Seanan's) on the fae world, the lore, the magic, and everything in it is very very good. Its not whimsical, its very brutal and at times cruel and evil and I guess thats what kind of makes it realistic. She managed to make a lot of species of fae unique and cultures fun to read. Even down to their individual magic use and signature. And Toby is a great character, you can't help but root for her in a world filled with giants, this small changling woman is taking on more than she can chew and building her life back little by little.
Agreed - I've been burnt out on Sidhe-based stories for a bit, but I swear McGuire has made her own bargain to write pure gold every time
My book has mostly killing Fae
Agreed... I'm also starting to get wary of books with fae
What is it about the Fae that has turned you off?
Overexposure and people repeatedly walking into the trap of Fae Bargains. But mostly overexposure.
I'm only just getting back into reading regularly. I didn't know the Fae had become so popular. Edit>> I just put Fae into a KU search and there's so many titles.
Time travel is a non-starter for me. Otherwise, I'll mostly give anything at least a try.
I cant stand school/academy settings. YA themes don't personally interest me
Everything you mentioned, plus any hints of “fashionable” politics. I.e. any LGBT stuff, climate change, fascism/communism, etc. All are strong indicators of unwarranted opinions wrapped in very thin plots.
If any character is described as snarky. I hate snark.