Romance.
I'm not saying romance is bad. In fact the novella I'm finishing up now is a chick lit story where the protagonist is trying to land her first date at a "later" age but must first try to establish a friendship and convince him to stay in her hometown.
Why do I bring this up? I recently picked up a new book I'd never previously heard of. It looked promising, but not quite 30 pages in, I'm worried. A lot of the attention seems to be focused on the protagonist's brother's relationship. But it's supposed to be a psychological thriller about the protagonist working in a prison. And the protagonist is already in a relationship, so, well, there had to be a relationship problem somewhere I guess. Of course this doesn't include the text she saw on her boyfriend's phone from another girl. What is this book about again? (Note: Fortunately it fizzled, mostly, but I was worried for a sec.)
I hate when romantic subplots eat up the original plotline. I pick up really interesting, unique looking books, and then am disappointed when the protagonist's love story ends up taking more time. This is especially true for books that don't really call for romances. Not every story needs one. Yet some writers feel the need to force it anyway.
I feel the same about movies. Who else has seen Freedom Writers? If that's you, can you please tell me the purpose of Patrick Dempsey's character? There was no reason for him to be in that movie whatsoever. In fact, the main character's romance problems were rushed and distracted from the real story...a group of at-risk students getting involved in a project to change their community. I didn't pick this up to hear about Hilary Swank getting a divorce. I wanted to hear the students' story. It's like when you're a little kid watching a Disney movie, but don't care for the songs because they're lame and pointless (looking at you, sequels). So you spend the entire time wanting it be over. That's how I feel about so many romantic plots these days. Because I just don't care.
Bottom line, if there's a romantic subplot, there needs to be a reason for it. It also can't eat up the focus of the book. And make it different! Every YA story these days is the same love triangle, usually between a bad boy and a good guy. (And it's always obvious who they'll end up with.)
I should also say that my complaint applies mostly to new relationships. Obviously if they're in a relationship or married, their relationship will probably show up and weave itself in. That's fine. My problem is mostly with single characters. Why do they always need a love interest? Point is, they don't, and when that starts to intrude on the actual story it becomes a problem.
Rant over? Not quite.
MY TOP 5 BOOK ANNOYANCES
-Estranged fathers. Seriously, this trope has been in every other book I read in the past year.
-Sparkly vampires. You should write what you want, yes, even if it's been overdone. But several years ago, sparkly vampire books made up 70% of my library's teen section.
-There are seldom stories written about the twenty-something age set. Or college-age. (I'm trying to change that with my novellas.)
-Introducing several interesting plot points only to have none of them pan out.
-You know the last one!