Bookish This or That Tag!

As I was used to doing with my university essays, I turn to the introduction last, because now I know for sure what I need to be writing about. My current state is sort of a mess – my palms are sweaty, I’m sort of out of breath and sweat is trickling down my back and forehead because – boy, was this tag hard! (And also – the heat wave lol)

It may sound easy – choose either this or that answer, but it’s not easy at all, that much I can tell you! Especially when, like me, you’re not one to decide between things easily. And then it’s also about books, our favorite topic ever!! Not easy at all. But let me go on to actually being appreciative of this tag, because despite all the hard choices, it was also so much fun to answer the questions and actually sit down and think about the choices properly. So I have two people to thank for this: Luana @ BookStormGirl and Iris @ HoardofBooks, thank you so much for tagging me! I really enjoyed reading your collaboration, it was fun seeing you suffer lol (sorry, but it was you who decide to steal this tag, wasn’t it? :D) I suggest you head on over to their blogs and find out for yourselves just how hilarious they are – after reading my answers, of course 😉

Now without further ado, let’s get straight to the questions so you can see for yourselves if I’ve been exaggerating or whether this was actually as hard as I claim!

1. Series or standalone?

This seems to start off easy. Phew 😀 Well, when it’s a good book, I’m always happy when there are more to come and I don’t have to leave the bookish world yet, so definitely series!

2. Magic earned or magic born?

Ok, it gets harder pretty fast… I’m kind of thinking I like both? When a character earns magic or is given magic after a certain battle or the like, I sometimes think it makes it even more special than when s/he was born with magic? So I’m gonna have to go with magic earned I think!

3. Enemies to lovers or friends to lovers?

Easy! Enemies to lovers all the way! This is one of my favorite literary tropes for sure, so definitely that. I mean, what could be more appealing than an enemy turning into a lover? There are certainly books I’ve read and liked that had the second one in it, but I’m always all in when the enemy turns out not to be that bad after all… 😀

4. Hilarious banter or emotional ruin?

I have to agree with both of you, Luana and Iris, I think without hilarious banter there is only very rarely emotional ruin, but a really good book needs emotional ruin to be really good, so definitely both? Can I say both? I hope I can, but since there is no one here who says I can’t, I just do 🙂

5. Love triangle or insta love?

Well, I don’t really like either, but I absolutely HATE love triangles! I mean there has never been a story where a love triangle has turned out good, they are always unfair to at least one and I just cannot stand them, so when an insta love story is written well and the love story is done convincingly, it can sort of work – or even be nice – so insta love it is.

6. Keyboard smash names or all names start with the same letter?

Hmmm, well, I’ve had books I did not finish just because of keyboard smash names, and when the rest of the letters are somewhat different then I think I could somehow work with names that start with the same letter. Lucas and Laura, Lynn and Lilly, Leo and Liam. I think that could work, right? I mean, right???? Lol at least better than fjfvjxdvjäiiiicja 😀

7. Mean parents or dead parents

I think I would go for dead parents? I mean, when the children still have their nice memories of them or their life together, I think that’s a million times nicer than having mean parents who are just, well, mean all the time. I absolutely cannot stand it when a book character has a mean family or friends! They should be their rock, their safe haven in an already hard world! Wow, that was deep, wasn’t it?!

8. Supermodel looks or constantly says how “plain” they are?

I don’t really have anything against supermodel looks, as long as the character sporting this look isn’t super shallow and vain? I mean characters of all looks, height, weight and all should be represented in books in my opinion, but what is wrong with an awesome character who is also looking extremely well? (My Twitter followers will know who I’m thinking of lol). Whereas a whiny character who is forever complaining about how “plain” they are is just no one’s special.

9. Face on cover vs. typography on cover?

Hm, I think I like both actually! Typography is nice, but when you have a face of a character inside the book to look at it’s also a nice thing! I just don’t like it when that face looks nothing like the character is described as in the book, which happens quite often, strangely…

10. Villain turning a little good or hero turning a little bad?

Definitely villain turning a little good! Don’t we all love it when the villain has a good side or soft core? 😉

11. Best friend dies or love interest dies?

Omg, this is like the hardest question ever!!! I mean no one should die? Why is that not an option?!? But if I absolutely HAVE to answer, I think I would go for…arrghh help!!! The best friend??? I feel like such a terrible person now, but since we’re “only” talking fictionally, I think we’ll be able to deal with it (somehow!). Usually the love interest is portrayed as the ‘most important’ person for the main character, so I wouldn’t want them to live without him/her, though in real life we know how utterly important best friends are! *Why is this tag so hard???*

12. Awesome writing with a dull plot or amazing plot with murderously bad writing?

I honestly cannot stand it when the writing is bad, no matter how good the plot might be – I would just keep thinking how much potential the book had but wouldn’t like it regardless, so definitely awesome writing with dull plot. So what, it wouldn’t be my favorite book ever, but certainly not my least favorite (which it very well might be when the writing is that bad!)

13. Cliffhanger ending or heartbreaking ending?

Ohhh, although I HATE cliffhangers I’m still gonna go with this answer, because honestly I’m a sucker for happily ever afters and couldn’t deal with a heartbreaking ending! If there would be more books to come (for the cliffhanger one), I would try to patiently wait until the next installment is out or, since I’m not a patient person at all, just bother my Twitter or other bookish friends to talk to me about how the book might continue lol. And if there simply would be no continuation (which certainly is horrible, let’s be honest), I think I would just daydream about how it might have continued and bug my friends some more 😀

14. Breaking the spine or dog-earing the pages?

Hard one again! I think dog-earing the pages. I might or might not have already done that if I’m being honest…but only to my own books of course! But what should I do if there is just no book mark close to me (and no piece of paper, lose string, piece of plastic, whatever), but I need to mark the page? Get up and get one?? Nooooo 😀 Although breaking the spine makes a book look really well-read, I think I don’t like the fact that it could lose pages in the process, so dog-earing is the lesser evil of the two in my opinion.

15. “Bad boy” trope or “perfect golden boy” trope as the love interest?

And an easy one for last! Definitely bad boy for me!!! Let’s be honest, the perfect golden boy is nice and all and probably the better choice in real life, but our book boyfriends should be at least a little bad, right? Well, on the outside at least. The soft core thing applies here, too 😉 But I think I have to emphasize this, because I wouldn’t like an all bad (and actually bad) “bad boy” either…

Aaaand that’s it – the bookish this or that tag! But you’re definitely right, Luana, this really was torturous! I hope you have enjoyed reading my answers, please let me know in the comments below where we differ and where we agree!

To keep this bookish “torture” going, I tag you:

Jamie @ PrincessofPages

Holly @ TheWritingFinch

Loretta @ LaughnListener

Bibi @ Bibi’sBookBlog

Jess & Teagan @ FictionNoChaser

@ Bookdragonism

Colleen Casey @ Colleen’sConclusions

I knoooow there have been a lot of tags and awards and such lately, but you just HAVE to do this! It really gets you thinking and though it’s hard, it’s also so much fun! I’m very much looking forward to see what you have to say 🙂

Xoxo

Noly