Why Romantic Subplots Annoy Me

Since it's Valentine's Day, I thought I'd write something romantic... But, since Valentine's Day also really annoys me (it's cheesy, it's commercialized, and why do we have to be romantic on this particular day when there are another 364 days in a year we could be romantic on?), I thought I'd write about something that annoys me too!

So, why do romantic subplots, specifically in young adult books, annoy me? Well, not all of them do. When done well, I do like romance in books. Unfortunately, a few too many for my liking seem to fall into the same pitfalls. Or maybe my standards are just too high :P

Anyway, here are the things that annoy me most about romantic subplots!

Heartless: Book Review

Heartless by Marissa Meyer is a standalone which tells the origin story of the Queen of Hearts. But before she was royalty, she was Cath, the daughter of a marquis who dreamed of opening a bakery with her maid. She would much prefer that to marrying the jovial but spineless king, who desires her hand, despite what her mother says about baking being below her. And when Jest, the new court joker, arrives in the kingdom of Hearts, Cath finds another reason to try to refuse the king.

But Cath's problems aren't the only things keeping her and Jest apart. Jest has come to Hearts for more important things than to be the court joker, and falling for Cath poses quite an obstacle...

Oh, and by the way, there's also a Jabberwock on the loose.

The Next Together: Book Review

The Next Together by Lauren James might look like any other romance story, but there is far more than mere attraction bringing Matthew Galloway and Katherine Finchley together. After all, they do keep on finding each other and falling in love - only to be tragically torn apart - lifetime after lifetime after lifetime. In Carlisle in 1745, Lady Katherine and footman Matthew prepare for an attack by rebel Scotsmen. During the Crimean War in the 1800s, Katy disguises herself as a boy to find work, which currently involves being war journalist Matthew's assistant. In 2019, the married couple and biological researchers face accusations of terrorism. And in 2039, university students Matt and Kate struggle to uncover the truth about their dead relatives - and the memories of past lives that surely can't be real memories...?

January Writing Update

As a New Years' Resolution of-sorts, I decided that 2017 would be the year I get really serious about my writing. So at the beginning of this month, I set myself monthly writing goals for all of 2017, which focus on editing my fantasy novel The Secrets The Dead Keep.

This month's writing goal was to read through my completed 2016 draft making notes on what I want to change, and to start working on better characterisation.

It sounds like a relatively easy goal, especially compared to some of the others I've set myself for this year! All I have to do is read a book and make notes on it! Oh, and to think about my characters a bit. So I was really hoping to get this one done quickly and get ahead of myself.

My First Knitting Project

Having learned to knit in the past few months, I thought it would be really cool to knit myself a hat to match my favourite red scarf. And since this will be my first finished knitting project, I thought it'd be fun to share how it went with everyone! :)

Year Abroad Update, Part The Last

Tübingen in the snow

This is going to be my last year abroad update. And not because I'm too forgetful to keep writing my blog (no matter how likely that would be)! I've recently decided that I'm not going to continue with studying German, and I'm also not going to continue with my year abroad. So I guess my "year abroad" updates are actually "semester abroad" updates? :P

Neither of these decisions have been on a whim. In fact, my reasoning is going to take a bit of explaining, since both decisions impact each other quite a lot.

Year Abroad, Part Five: Christmas Markets

One of the few things I've loved about Germany is all the Christmas markets I visited through December. So I thought, rather than boring you all with how I'm doing at uni, I'd focus on the positive and write my next (long overdue) year abroad post about the Weihnachtmärkte!