Five things that can ruin your book (clichés, spoilers!)

1. Depressing parents and/or parent-kids

Ah! how very often I'll be reading a book and suddenly I'll come across a sentence like this.

"My dad was sitting in front of the TV, as usual, I threw away the half eaten plate of leftover meatloaf and pulled the blanket over him" First of all, why are leftovers always portrayed as the "I'm a bum" food? I love me some leftover pizza (ok I'm not fond of meatloaf but that's a different story)

Also, I understand that on rare occasion (In real life) this does happen but every other book? Nah!

The person on the couch looks like a teen, I couldn't find a good "bum"
parent photo and that should tell you something.

  

2. Back-stabbing BFF's

I have had many, many, many best friends in my life (I still have them all, I believe in having more then one "BFF") And to be fair I have been literally stabbed in the back; but that was with "ninja stars" in one of our many danger-filled adventures. Never once have I had a best friend say something like, 

"I'm sorry, you're just not that cool anymore." Because they know I was never cool in the first place.

  Usually it's with teenage girls but it also happens with boys, the difference is the "girl BFFS's (best friend back stabs) involves someone not getting invited to a party; the boys BFFS's involve someone being thrown off a cliff with two bullet holes in their back. I hate movies with back stabs too; what if "Tod" was my favorite character before he decided he hated the world and ran his friend over with a 18 wheeler truck? Sometimes it's necessary, but don't make me love the character before-hand. 

3. symbolically cutting their hair off

This I hate almost more than any other cliché! This almost always happens with teenage girls who are "trying to look less like their dead mom" or "breaking away from the clones of the government".

It also happens in front of a mirror, almost every time. First, in 99% of the movies/books I know where this happens, THEY LOOKED BETTER WITH THEIR HAIR LONG! Second... most of the time their trying to hide from the government (scenario 2) you can't blend in if you look out of place aaaaannnd third! At least cut it well, they just hack it off. I don't know a single girl who doesn't care how they look (ok maybe a few but I'm not naming names because I value my life) I know the hair move got a couple authors big, but let's find something new, like cutting off an ear or two.

  

4. love triangles/squares 

Lemme just name a few off the top of my head... Twilight, Hunger games, Matched.

First, one of them (being the two boys who like the girl) I always like (WAIT! I would like to say I have NEVER read Twilight and never plan to; now that I've gotten that off my chest...) and one of them, the one who ends up with the girl in the end, I always hate. Also if anyone can think of a book where its two girls and one guy please comment, 'cuz I can't.

Most of the time, in real life, the girl/boy would just pick a person and that would be it; they wouldn't have to go through three books just to figure out that -blank- was picked.

And as for squares... There's so much wrong with squares I don't know where to start, how about one of you losers get a life and go court someone else? Is it too hard to be satisfied with just being friends?

I hate this cliché more than any other.

If you want drama in your book then have drama, but don't do this to your readers, unless you enjoy hearing screams in the library.

  

5. Corrupt governments

I don't like politics on my Facebooks page, why are you bringing them into my favorite hobby?

Also, why is almost always a teen that decides they're the ones that need to do something about it? And why do they always succeed (1984 is a rare exception to the norm).

I feel no need to cut my hair and wear a set of fake mocking-jay wings in protest so why should your book character do it? new storyline please...  There's enough fights about politics as it is.