Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Plot Line You Refuse to Read/Watch and Why

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

This week’s topic was a little tricky for me because I’m an adventurous and eclectic reader. I don’t regularly read romance, non-paranormal horror, westerns, or mysteries, but I have no problem picking up a book from one or more of those genres if a trope or clever plot twist in them tickles my fancy.

A stack of white cards arranged in a spiral pattern. The top card says, “no.”Of course, I still draw boundaries about what I’m willing to read and watch. I do not consume stories that make excuses for violence, hatred, or any form of abuse.

That is to say, I may read about these topics if they are themes in a story that otherwise appeals to me. They are a sad part of life, after all, and some authors have marvellous things to say about how people have risen about these experiences and helped others to escape them, too.

I will not read authors who make abusive relationships sound romantic or normal or who demonize entire groups of people for immutable characteristics like race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, disability, etc.

Luckily, authors who write this way generally give hints that they will go in those directions within the first chapter or so based on the ugly comments they often make about their characters while introducing them.  Older novels are more likely to share such views in some cases, although there are still plenty of them that do not cross this line.

The beautiful part of reading book reviews is that many of them will mention stuff like this. I have only had to write a few such warnings in the hundreds of reviews I’ve written, but I think it’s better to let people know in advance than it is to give them a terrible surprise when they were expecting to read something nice.

10 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

10 Responses to Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Plot Line You Refuse to Read/Watch and Why

  1. That’s some excellent criteria, right there. I had trouble finding a particular plotline for this question, too.

  2. Patrick Prescott

    Nice to know there is a line you won’t cross and then put the book down or turn off the movie. You know it when you read it or see it.

  3. I am nodding along as I read, completely agreeing with you. So SO many of the relationships you see in popular media are incredibly unhealthy and it just baffles me – and saddens me that it’s going to make people think that’s what’s to be expected and accepted

  4. I wrote about rape in my post, as a “no-go” topic, having been through it myself. The only exception would be if it was a first-hand account and the victim was re-telling it, from their perspective.

  5. I agree 100% “I will not read authors who make abusive relationships sound romantic or normal or who demonize entire groups of people for immutable characteristics like race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, disability, etc.” Well put!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *