Ugh I have a few big ones lol!
My absolute least favorite are definitely love triangles. Mainly due to the fact there is typically some form of physical and/or emotional cheating going on. This is made even more apparent when the main character flops back and forth, seemingly physically incapable of making up their dang mind. One of the worst cases I have seen was the anime Peach Girl. Absolutely so frustrating!
Kind of in the same vein, I also dislike harems and reverse harems because most of these stories set up the love tringle, square, octagon lol.
Another odd one I discovered mainly through K-Drama was the amnesia trope. The main love interest or even main character, has some sort of traumatic head injury leading to them conveniently forgetting the past however many months or years the story has gone on. I have trouble with pointless repetition in stories so it feels like such a huge waste of time to me.
Now, I will say I have recently read a book in which I actually enjoyed the way in which amnesia was used for the main romantic plot. The main reason I enjoyed it was due to the fact it did not feel as drawn out. It led to some romantically tense moments that added some intrigue for sure. Also, when the amnesia comes with some sort of humorous personality change all of a sudden, this can make for some hilarious entertainment. It just needs to wrap itself up pretty quickly in my opinion.
Love at first sight is another trope I dislike the most since it feels like such a non starter to a romance. For one, genuine love and connection at just a glance does not exist. You can definitely have insta-lust or feel attracted to someone physically at first glance, but to call that some sort of fateful meeting is a bit weird to me. Once the relationship matures and develops, for sure they can look back and see the fate of their meeting. However calling it right off the bat just comes off as desperate lol.
In a great romance story, I want to experience the whole journey of the relationship. The ups and downs, the twists and turns, along with the GRADUAL connection and attraction growth. Starting off with the main characters already ‘loving’ each other feels like I am missing the first 75 percent of the book.
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