I’ve been tagged in a brand new Book Tag created by one of my favorite people in the bookish community, Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog. She based it on the smash or pass BookTok trend, and went through some of the relatively controversial bookish choices. There are no rules for this tag, just have fun with it, as long as you link back to the creator (Becky) and the person who tagged you, or the blog that you saw this on if you want to join in!

Bookish Tropes

SMASH! I typically love bookish tropes, although there are a few that I don’t love (insta-love, love triangle, surprise pregnancy), but for the most part, I’m all for enemies to lovers, fake dating, and especially books featuring found family.

Alternating POV

SMASH! I love seeing the story through the eyes of more than one character, since it offers different perspectives and provides more depth to the story. However, this has to be done well, since I tend to not like it when the voices sound identical.

Ambigious Endings

I’m going to have to say PASS on this one. When I read a book with an ambiguous ending, I generally feel like I spent all that time reading, and I didn’t even get closure, and then I feel frustrated.

Non/Fiction

Can I say smass? My heart is with fiction, but this year I made myself a promise that I’d read at least one non-fiction book each month, and have actually been enjoying them. Instead of it being a struggle, I’m finding myself reading more than one a month, even though I read way more fiction books.

Historical Setting

This is absolutely a smash. I love historical fiction, fantasies set in historical settings, or even nonfiction books about history. Reading historical fantasy allows me to learn some really cool stuff about periods of time I didn’t know anything about, like The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope which taught me about Black Broadway, or The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang which was all about the Sino-Japanese war.

Morally Grey characters

Oh this is absolutely a smash. I love a good morally gray character, because they’re so much more involved and intriguing than a character who is strictly a hero or a villain. They’re fascinating to learn about, and delve into their own unique moral code.

First Person POV

Smash. I love getting into a person’s head and finding out exactly what they’re thinking, although I don’t mind third person either.

Audiobooks

SMASH! I’ve only discovered the joy of audiobooks in the last few years, but I listen to them when I’m doing mindless things, like boring chores or cooking, since it keeps my brain occupied. Plus, a good narrator can really make the story way better, like the Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend.

Re-reading

Smash for sure. There’s some books that I just love so much I have to read them more than once. When a new book comes out in a series, I also tend to reread the earlier books in the series to catch up on what happened so I don’t miss anything.

Classic novels

Pass. I’m generally not into classics for the most part. Lately I’ve gotten interested in remixed classics, since it makes the boring and difficult to understand classics more accessible.

Annotating

Pass. I usually just tab the page with a flag if there’s a quote that I want to use in my review, but that’s about it.

Cracking Book Spines

Pass. I really try not to do this, but if it does happen by accident I don’t lose sleep over it.

Smut

Smash. I love some good smut in my romance or romantasy.

Character Driven Books

Pass. I’m more of a plot-driven girl, and if there isn’t a good plot, it doesn’t really matter how good the characters are, I’m probably not going to like it.

Past/Present Split Timeline

Smash, as long as it’s done well. I love a good split timeline, but if it isn’t written well, it can ruin the whole story.

Heavy World Building

Smash. I love a fantasy with a fully fleshed out world, but again, it has to be done well. Info dumps are the worst, but holding back the info for too long isn’t good either. A middle ground approach, where information is provided in drips and drabs as it is relevant is my favorite approach.

My Tags:

Meg / Alex / Madeline / Mehsi / Sheri