Bookish Blue Moons

As you all know tomorrow is Halloween, but what you may not know, is that tomorrow night is officially a blue moon. (A blue moon occurs when there are 2 full moons in one calendar month). Since we both don’t really read spooky or scary books with which we could tie into Halloween, we decided instead it would be fun to discuss all the bookish related things that we enjoy every once in a blue moon and why that is. 

Tropes We Enjoy Every Once In a Blue Moon

Malka: This is going to be weirdly specific, but I tend to hate books where the main character is forced to go outside their comfort zone. Times where they make a random bucket list and proceed to accomplish all the items with the help of a friend or potential love interest, even when they aren’t happy about the things on said list. 

The reason I hate this trope is because many times the main character ends up feeling uncomfortable with the things on their lists and how it plays out. And many times people are pressuring them to go out of their comfort zone, which is a big red flag for me.

HOWEVER, every once in a blue moon this trope is handled well! And usually it’s because the main character themselves makes the list, and only does what they are ready for outside their comfort zone. Their friend or love interest supports them, but doesn’t pressure them to do anything they don’t feel up to at the moment. There are several books that I read this year that come to mind that handled this trope well (and several books that I’ve read in previous years that didn’t) which might be why this is what came to mind!

Chana: Miscommunication tropes always bug me! It always feels so dumb when the entire conflict of the book could be solved with a simple conversation or even a text. I guess there are times where I’ll be okay with the miscommunication trope and it’s usually when the stakes aren’t so high. If it’s a type of miscommunication that causes lots of conflict that ruins not only the MC life but also the lives of the people around them then it’s not for me, otherwise, I’ll enjoy it once in a blue moon. 

Tropes We Dislike Every Once In a Blue Moon

Malka: I’m generally pretty open when it comes to the bad boy with a heart of gold trope, but there needs to be logic behind the supposed mean behavior. There are times when behavior is just fully problematic, and there is no good explanation. And in that case, boy do I hate the trope. Abusive relationships aren’t the same as misunderstandings or an established rivalry. And to see those kinds of relationships romanticized because the love interest is just a “bad boy” makes my blood boil.

Chana: I’m really a sucker for any fanfiction type trope like soulmates, enemies to lovers, fake relationships etc. but like all things there will be a time when I won’t like the way one of those tropes are handled! One example is maybe the enemies to lovers in I Kissed Alice. I did enjoy the book overall! But this was one book where the “enemies” were genuinely mean to each other so I ended up not liking that trope as much as I thought I would. 

Genres We Read Every Once In a Blue Moon

Malka: Hmmmm. I had a few options I could have chosen, but I’m going with non-fiction. If you’ve read my most recent post about “mindless” books, you’ll know that’s because school overwhelms me with information, so it’s hard to enjoy books that tend to be very informational. Within non-fiction I usually read memoirs or scientific works, but I can’t really pay attention to either for most of the year. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the genre, it’s that it makes up a very small percentage of my reading each year!

Chana: I’m pretty open to reading most genres, but one genre that I do enjoy most times that I read it even though I don’t actively seek it out are murder mystery crime novels! I really haven’t read that many, but I liked the ones that I did read, so maybe this is a sign that I should read more of them?

Writing Choices We Enjoy Every Once In a Blue Moon

Malka: Sad endings are not my go to, which I think everyone is aware of. I love a happy ending that leaves my heart all warm and fuzzy. It’s very rare that I’ll even reach for a book that I know will have a sad ending. But every once in a while, I pick up a book with a sad ending that just works so well, and I love it. As long as the emotional impact makes sense and was built up throughout the story, it’s nice to have a story emotionally gut me every once in a blue moon.

Chana: First person narratives are one thing that I don’t particularly enjoy. I usually find them to be limiting and a bit childish so I tend to avoid them if I can. One (rare) occasion on which I’ll enjoy a first person narrative is when the book is a middle grade. I’m not sure if it’s because middle grade authors are better at writing in first person, or maybe the narrative style just works better with the type of book that middle grades are. Who can say. 

Writing Choices We Dislike Every Once In a Blue Moon

Malka: I happen to be the biggest fan of foreshadowing. I love when you catch a piece of information upon reread. Or when you realize why a certain seemingly insignificant event is so important. But it needs to be subtle. And every once in a while the foreshadowing makes a later event in the book painfully obvious! If you tell me 12 times how important this object is to a person, and how it would devastate the main character if they lost it, it starts becoming obvious that said object will get lost at some point in the novel. Probably when it would hurt the main character the most. Subtle foreshadowing, I stan. Spoiling your own book is just bad writing. 

Chana: Purple prose is one thing that I absolutely love! When the writing is pretty and flowery and extra I can read it forever. But occasionally the prose is too purpley, and when that happens it comes to a point where I don’t really understand what’s going on in a book, which causes me to dislike the usually loved writing choice.

What genre do you enjoy every once in a blue moon? What are some tropes that you dislike sometimes? What writing choices do you enjoy every once in a while?

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