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Fictional Tropes I Enjoy
As a book lover there are plenty of tropes I’ve seen over and over again. Certain ones I’m tired of seeing (*cough cough insta-love cough cough*) but others I can’t get enough of! I can and probably will do a whole post just focused on my favorite romance tropes; Here are five of my favorite tropes in fiction, whether it’s in books or entertainment, that are not romance related.
Found Family
I’m pretty sure most people who love reading also love this trope. It’s a classic favorite! I love this trope so much because it can be done in so many different ways, and can be found in most genres. Whether it’s a group of misfits banding together to fight against evil or just the protagonist finding a group of people who love and understand them, either way I’m all for it!
One of the first examples I can come up with is the rampion crew from The Lunar Chronicles. I love these characters so much and love the dynamics of a diverse group of people with different personalities clashing and bonding with each other.
Villain Redemption arc
Okay, this isn’t a trope I see much because I could not think of one example in book form. But I love a good Villain redemption in stories! I think mostly of Darth Vader from Star Wars and Loki from the MCU! I love a good villain that turns good and I think there needs to be more books with a redeemable villain.
If you have any book suggestions with this trope, let me know in the comments below.
Hurt/Comfort
Sigh… I live for this trope! Any scene where someone is hurt ,whether it’s physically or mentally, and they need their friend or love interest to be there for them is so much fun for me to read! It hits me right in the feels and that feeds my soul!
I just love the emotional vulnerability, and the bonding it leads to with characters. Give me a character bandaging someone’s wounds! Give me a character sobbing into their friend/love interest’s chest! Give me all of it!
Fairy tale retellings
I’ve been really getting into retellings lately. But my favorite type of retelling is one of fairy tales. Maybe it’s the Disney nerd in me talking but I love seeing my favorite fairy tale stories taken in twisted into something new in a creative and interesting way. Whether it’s a modern day retelling, a gender switch, or a change of genre.
My favorite retelling so far is The Lunar Chronicles (Yes, I’m mentioning TLC twice in one post but I love TLC so much and can’t help it!). It takes multiple fairy tales and twists it into a sci sfi epic adventure which is awesome.
Character driven stories
I . LOVE . CHARACTER . DRIVEN . STORIES
Seriously, character driven stories are why I love storytelling so much! The ability to make up a character and take that character on a journey is such a beautiful concept to me. Our favorite fictional characters may not be able to be real in reality (*sobs*) but they are able to real in our hearts and that’s something nobody can take away.
So any story that focuses on the characters, and doesn’t just use the characters as the plots test subjects, are my go to stories to read. I don’t need swordfights or dragons (though both are awesome) to keep my interest, just give me a complex well written character and I’ll be happy!
Contemporary YA romance is one of my favorite genres with mostly character driven stories. Some examples include All the Bright Places, The Fault in Our Stars, and pretty much any Rainbow Rowell book like Fangirl.
I feel exactly the same about character-driven stories. They make for so much more emotional reading that plot-driven stories! Great post 😀
I love fairytale retellings, they can be so fun! Thanks for this post!
Definitely, I love fairytale retellings a lot and hope to find more good ones to add to my TBR list soon. Thanks for commenting!