[Top 5 Wednesday] Book Trends I'm Tired Of

My first Top Five Wednesday! This has been created by gingerreadslainey and it also has a Goodreads group. I am hoping to do these posts (or other weekly Wednesday posts) more often as long as I am interested in the current prompt!

Main female characters are gorgeous, but they describe themselves as plain and it isn't until a guy shows them how beautiful they are. 

Everyone is insecure about their appearance. But I want more female characters who are more confident in themselves. I am sick of the stories where they only find themselves beautiful or they only find their self worth when the love interest steps in and shows them their beauty and value.

Unnecessary Deckled Edges

I am probably in the minority for this one, but I really don't like deckled edges. If you're unsure what that is, it's when a book's page edges are cut in a way to make it look more tattered. I don't mind deckled edges if it has a reason, like how Hamilton: A Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter has it. With that book, it's got thick parchment like pages and it's about our founding fathers so it gives it a certain aesthetic. But if there isn't a logical explanation for it I am not a huge fan. I'm less likely to get annoyed with them on a hardcover versus a paperback but I still prefer there to be a reason for the decision to have them. They just make it harder to flip through a book or turn a single page.

When a cover change happens in a uncompleted book series.

I understand cover changes when the series is completed. New editions of your favorite books are always fun to collect and different art covers are always exciting. However, when publishers change the book covers before the series is over, the readers who bought the original books and plan on buying the next ones will have mismatched books on their shelves. As a book collector and sucker for beautiful covers, this is always so frustrating. 

Insta-love 

This is a pretty popular dislike, at least for the reviewers I follow, but for some reason authors and publishers still keep letting it slide in their stories. I am not a hater when it comes to romance, it can be really swoon-y and sweet, but when it's hard to believe it seems to be a waste of two characters who could have had a nice romance. I'm all about characters being friends and moving into a relationship. But I understand that the book may be a stand alone and if it isn't a romance there may be other factors coming into play which puts the romance more in the background, but I think it is up to the author to make the reader believe the romance is natural.

Lack of Diversity 

Honestly, this is something that I have been thinking about a lot in the last years. I am a white woman and I can see myself in many books. Granted, I am still waiting for a fantasy book series (or stand alone) where the main female character is a fat woman and not a fit model worthy body (if you have any recommendations I would love them) but when it comes to skin tone and sexuality I can find myself in many stories. I am all about other races, cultures, sexualities, non-abled body readers being able to see themselves in books. I hope the more diversity is discussed the more we are able to see diverse books on the shelves of bookstores and libraries.

Thank you for reading! 

Do you agree or disagree with any of my disliked book trends? I'd love to discuss.