Today’s DNF is Sex, Murder and a Double Latte by Kyra Davis. I am bummed about it because I have two more in the series, but rules are rules, amirite? The first strike is that Sophie Katz, the protagonist, is a writer. The second strike is that she has a stereotypical Jewish mother. The third strike is that the meet cute is a ridiculous setup where the “hero” is rude and buys the last newspaper, and so she must hate him despite his gorgeousness. However, I didn’t think it was fair for me to use strike one, since it says on the jacket that she’s a writer, and I chose this book prior to creating my “main character can’t be a writer” rule, so I waited for a fourth strike. I didn’t have to wait very long: on page 29 we discover that Sophie has a gay male best friend who is a hairdresser. Omg. I’m done.
(I see that I do not have “gay best friend” in my list of nope tropes, but it should have been in there, plus I stipulated that the list was open-ended.)
Luckily, this wasn’t a book club assignment, but just a novel I found in the Huntington Beach Library and grabbed because it was pink and had a fun title. Since I did that, I also picked up Kyra Davis’ Passion, Betrayal and Killer Highlights at the HB library and downloaded her book Chaos, Desire and a Kick-ass Cupcake to my kindle. Hey, it’s the rule of three, and you know how I feel about rules.
I am thinking of adding another peeve to the list: friends that come over and randomly scarf up stuff in the kitchen a la Seinfeld. No one does this in real life, and while it was fine as a running TV gag, I don’t like it in books. Actually, I’ve only seen it in this particular book, but it bugged me. Maybe that’s too nitpicky. Heaven forbid that I should nitpick!
Onward to further annoyances.
I hated that as even a TV gag on Seinfeld. Maybe it's just a level of familiarity that I'm not comfortable with, but can't a person ask before rummaging through the refrigerator? Or knock before coming inside? Or maybe it was just me because I was never a huge Seinfeld fan. A book goes DNF for me if I'm not into it after 100 pages. The last book I quit this year was "This Is How You Lose the Time War". I couldn't stand the writing and I had no idea what was going on.
ReplyDelete(BTW, it's nice to read your writings again)
Hrm. I wonder if I should add "female detective is a lesbian" to the list of nopes. I mean, I'm sure some female detectives are, but the frequency with which they appear in fiction defies statistical chance. I'm watching a British show now with a lesbian detective. 😂 Naw, the stories are still good. I'll hold off on this one for now.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael! Glad to reconnect 🙂
ReplyDeleteKeera, a good story can overcome a lot of nopes!
ReplyDeleteTrue! Here's counting on more good stories than nopes!
ReplyDelete"Sex, Murder, and a Double Latte" and "Chaos, Desire, and a Kick-ass Cupcake" are admittedly fun titles. The latter sounds especially up your alley. I really want to know what flavor this author thinks makes for a "Kick-ass Cupcake". Glad Gatsby is doing ok. -Ms. Anon
ReplyDeleteI might have to read that one, Ms. Anon, because I paid for it, lol. The other two are from the library :)
ReplyDeleteYou may understand & laugh at the following, or not. I opened one of Kyra's books to a random page & exclaimed "EW, I THOUGHT HE WAS JEWISH!" Ok, that's all :)
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