A couple of weeks ago, emmmabooks, a BookTuber I admire, posted a video about what she loves in books. In that video, linked here, she talks about the different components that make her love books. I wanted to write my own response to that video and share with you what makes me fall for a book.
As this is mostly a book based blog, it won't come as a surprise that I adore books. But like anything in life, there are certain elements that make me fall for a book. The first is setting and world building. These are two crucial elements in a story to me. If I can get a taste for what the world is like, then I am going to be hooked into your story. It never fails to impress me when you can tell an author has spent a lot of time thinking about every little detail of their world. It has to be richly detailed and feel real. If I can't get a grasp of what the world is like, then I am not going to enjoy the book as much. An example of world building I adore is the Strange the Dreamer duology by Laini Taylor. I read this about a year ago and I can still remember how immersive the world felt. I think listening to the audiobook helped as I was fully absorbed. It is a high fantasy with a complex world. I learned everything that I wanted to through these books. I mentioned in my reviews that I would kill for a behind the scenes fact book with even more details about this world.
Another vital element to make me love a book are the characters. I love a good cast of characters. I am very picky with the type of character I like. I'm not sure I could put it into words. I have to want to care for them as people. Again, like the world they inhabit, I want them to feel real. They have to have likeable qualities, which doesn't mean they can't be a villain. Villain's can be great characters too. A great set of characters is the cast of The Diviners books by Libba Bray. I've just started reading the third one and I care so much about them. You get to learn a lot of backstory about them and it's an amazing feeling when all these loose threads come together at last.
Probably the element I am the most picky about is the writing style. As a writer myself, I've found that I am now very VERY picky with the type of writing I like. I want the writing to feel developed and well thought out. I am both a fan of the more simplistic story telling and the poetic style of writers. Two of my favourite writers, Laini Taylor and Cassandra Clare have very different writing styles. I am not a fan of purple prose, but some descriptive writing can be truly beautiful. I don't want to get lost in the words. I want to be able to follow the story while appreciating that this is good writing. The quality of writing has become more and more important to me in the past few years. It can be a huge turn off to read what I consider to be underdeveloped writing.
Finally, the thing that ties all of these together, is the plot. Without this, you have no story. The plot is a journey and we go along on it with the characters. I've spotted that as I grow up, if I cannot become invested in the plot, then I often do not like the story. I want it to move along at a good pace. I cannot stand it when a story is drawn out for no reason. Yet I also enjoy the low action moments of character development. A book I could not put down because of the plot was Sadie by Courtney Summers. I listened to this as an audiobook and it was the fastest I have ever listened to an audiobook. It moves the story along at a good pace, while allowing for high and low moments.
Combine all of these together, or at least a good combination of the above, and you have a story I adore.
Carenza :) x
