This or That Book Tag

I spotted this tag over at BookWyrm Bites and thought it would be a fun end of the week activity.   Get ready for some rapid fire questions and answers!  Want to weigh in?  Leave a comment below, or share the post with your own answers!

Series or standalone?

I have a deep and abiding love for many series, but given how much of a time crunch I’m in these days, have to go with standalone.  One and done and off my TBR list (with nothing replacing it) is definitely my cup of tea.

Magic Earned or Magic Born?

Hmmm…..I’m going to go with Magic Born.  I love the idea of a person having innate power or magical quirks that have just always been with them.

Enemies to lovers or friends to lovers?

Friends to lovers. I like watching people grow closer over time until they realize they just can’t be without each other.

Love triangle or insta-love?

I’ll go with insta-love, if only because love triangles just seem to bring out the worst in everybody.  I’m not here to watch the “nice guy” get jealous because the “bad boy” starts flirting with the girl. Give me an insta-spark instead – at least it’s something to dream about!

Keyboard smash names or names that all start with the same letters?

Keyboard smash!  I am already THE WORST at keeping names straight, so I will happily take name I can’t pronounce if it let’s me go character with the K has fire magic and character with a Z does wind magic.

Mean parents or dead parents?

Mean parents.  I live for some good family drama, which is hard to do if the parents are dead.  Give me a protagonist who doesn’t see eye to eye with those who raised them, or who has finally realized their parents are evil.

Supermodel looks or constantly saying how “plain” they are?

Supermodel looks (because let’s be real, a lot of the times “plain” people in fiction are just as good looking as the supermodels).  Characters that reference themselves as “plain” is also sometimes just an annoying shorthand for conveying their own insecurities

Face on cover or typography on cover?

Typography, because I love seeing how creative designers/artists can be with fonts, text placement and iconography.

Villain turning a little good or hero turning a little bad?

Hero turning a little bad.  It can be compelling to watch a protagonist wrestling with where to draw the moral line, when doing something awful might be worth the cost.

Best friend dies or lover dies?

If we’re going for the emotional weight of the death, I choose Best Friend as the heavier burden to bear.  There’s just so much more history with a Best Friend, they’re the person you rely on to always have your back, you’ve sometimes been together for years, when you lose that rock, it’s just devestating.

Awesome writing with dull plot or amazing plot with murderously bad writing?

Awesome writing with dull plot.  Because if the writing is murderously bad, I just. Can. Not. Bad writing makes me angry and I cannot see past that to the actual plot.

Cliffhanger ending or heartbreaking ending?

I’d rather have a satisfying conclusion in one neat package, and I especially love when a book makes me *feel* things.  I’d rather have a book rip my heart out then leave me with unresolved story.

Breaking the spine or dog-earing the pages?

Better question: how would you like to be maimed if you do either of these things to my books?

“Bad boy” or “perfect golden boy” love interest?

Golden boys have a rap as being “boring,” but honestly, I think the stable, dependable love interest is underrated.  When there’s so much other drama happening in a book, having someone you can count on is huge, especially if that person will follow you to the ends of the earth and back.