Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Things That Make Me Instantly NOT Want to Read a Book (what are your immediate turn-offs or dealbreakers when it comes to books?). I read pretty broadly, so it’s hard to come up with absolute dealbreakers — but there are some genres, covers, and other elements that tend to be big NOs for me.
My top 10:
- This kind of cover:
Book covers with shirtless men are SO unappealing to me (and how hilarious is it that there are websites that provide templates exactly for this purpose?)
2. Overly dramatic historical romances: I do enjoy Regency fiction, so no disrespect, but in general, Regency or other historical romances that are serious (as opposed to humorous or spoofy) rarely appeal to me. So… the book on the left might be a maybe for me, but the book on the right would not. (Of course, there are exceptions, such as the fact that I gobbled up the entire Bridgerton series…)
3. Gimmicky comparisons — if the blurb says that a book is the next Harry Potter or Hunger Games, chance are (a) I won’t believe it and (b) I won’t read it.
4. Literary fiction: Not a hard and fast rule, but I’ve learned over the years that the big award winners tend not to be my kind of books.
5. Spies and/or military action. No tanks or submarines for me, thanks (although I had a brief Tom Clancy phase many, many years ago).
6. Crime/thriller/domestic thriller genres: There are exceptions, but overall, I’m just not into it. No interest in murders, blackmail, cheating spouses, corporate drama, nannies with secret identities…
7. Movie tie-in covers: This isn’t a deal-breaker… but movie tie-in covers are a big turnoff for me, and I won’t pick them up unless I really and truly want the book and there are no other options.
8. Lack of worldbuilding: This applies especially to science fiction or fantasy, but if the world-building or basic scene-setting isn’t strong enough, I’m not going to stick with the book (or I’ll finish, but I’ll be mad about it.)
9. Sequels that come out so many years after the first/previous book that I’ve stopped caring. (Pretty self-explanatory, right?)
10. Plotlines about social media influencers: This is a minor issue and easy enough to avoid, but if I pick up a book to consider and see a character described as an influencer, I put it down in a hurry. Nope, nope, nope.
That’s all I can think of! It was hard to get to 10… I guess there really isn’t all that much I’d consider an absolute dealbreaker when it comes to picking up a book.
How about you? What instantly makes you not want a book?
If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I agree with a lot of these! Numbers 1 and 7 the most! Covers are a big deal for me to make me even think about reading a book, so I hate it when it’s a half-naked man or woman (or both) or a movie tie-in cover. Just… no.
Absolutely, a bad cover can be an immediate turn-off — I won’t even bother finding out what the book is actually about.
Right? Same here, and that’s actually sad because we could be missing out on some great books. I don’t know what goes through publisher’s minds sometimes 🤦🏼♀️
I don’t like seeing bare-chested men on covers either.
Here is my Top Ten Tuesday post.
One of my absolute no-nos.
We have several of these in common! I just can’t take the bare-chested man covers seriously and won’t read a book that has them. Also not interested in spies/military either. Great list!
Thanks! The ridiculous abs on some of these covers… I guess they must appeal to some readers, but not to me!
I’m not really into spy fiction or domestic thrillers either!
I’ve read some here or there, but almost always avoid them unless they’re by an author I’m particularly interested in.
I laughed when you said, “This kind of cover.” because I don’t mind those covers at all. I get why people don’t love them. I think they fit sports romances well, but other sub-genres not as much.
It’s never occurred to me to check out a sports romance! 🙂 In general, I don’t like serious romance novels, so maybe that’s a piece of the problem for me too.
It probably is.
I agree with number one. I probably should have added that to my list. I turn the other way when I see covers like that. Except for the cozy mystery genre, I also tend to not be interested in the big award winners. Have a great week. 🙂
Thank you! I don’t mind cozy mysteries once in a while, but serious/violent crime stories are a big turn-off for me.
Lol! Solidarity re books about influencers! Automatic reject! 😂
I feel like books that have influencer characters are just trying too hard. 🙂
They are as annoying on the page as in real life! 😂
I love a cover with a half nakey man 🤣🤣🤣
Haha, I guess people either love ’em or hate ’em!
These are awesome. My #1 dealbreaker is plain old crappy writing.
For sure… but sometimes I don’t realize how crappy the writing is until I’m already a few chapters in, and then what? (DNF, most likely…)
Yep, life is too short to put up with crappy books especially when there are so many others.
I just DNFd a book this morning — I realized I completely did not care and didn’t want to bother finding out more.
Other than mystery/thriller books, which I love, I agree with you on all of these.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Thanks! I’ll read certain mysteries once in a while, but in general, they just don’t really hold my attention very much.
Lol, I’m with you about plotlines about social-media influencers. Omg, I drop those books so fast.
Right? I roll my eyes so hard when influencer characters are featured.
Shirtless men covers!! OMG me too. Obviously they appeal to a certain type of reader, but it’s definitely not me😁
Ugh, no. It makes me laugh and cringe when I see them pop up, but I guess they do work for a lot of people!
Okay, abs cover ALWAYS creeps me out. I’ll be directly skipping to the next book without giving much thought about it
Haha, same! There are exceptions to a lot of my other “no” items, but abs on the cover is always going to drive me away from a book.
I hate covers with shirtless men. Especially when they look like they’ve been oiled or something. Ew. I immediately put it down.
Ew is right! I won’t touch those books at all.
I don’t like shirtless man covers either! I’m not a literary fiction person either, and lack of worldbuilding especially in fantasy novels also bothers me. I do get frustrated when sequels come out many years after the original but I guess it depends how much-three or four years might be okay, more than five definitely wouldn’t be. I sometimes like thrillers but I have to be in a certain mood.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2023/05/30/top-ten-tuesday-422/
I guess I should add that regarding sequels, if it’s a series I’m really devoted to, I’ll read it no matter how much time has passed… although usually a re-read helps too. 🙂
Oh yeah I definitely get that! Online recaps are super helpful for me in those situations as I usually don’t have time for a full re-read.
Yes… the only six-pack I want to see is on the shelf with other cans of beer (which I don’t buy)!
LOL, same… maybe some fizzy water for me instead!
Ah, I have a Sodastream, so I don’t even buy fizzy water anymore!
Pretty much not into any genre fiction unless it’s historical fiction that comes very highly recommended.
Half naked anything, no way.
I do like literary fiction, though prefer the longlist choices to a winner. 🏆
Also not keen on super hyped bestsellers, they never work out for me.
Very true about the super hyped books — expectations are so high that it’s hard to feel satisfied when I read them.