Penny's pet peeves
These are the things that will automatically get you docked one star from me. Yes, one whole entire star. That's how much these things irritate me!
Milk toast or TSTL Heroines
A milk toast heroine lacks a backbone. Other characters frequently step all over her, particularly the hero, and she never does anything about it. She suffers from frequent bouts of crying and often lacks self-confidence. She may not be completely fleshed out or may lack a backstory altogether. In other words, she's weak or comparable to wallpaper. Now, don't get me wrong, I like a good redemption story. If a heroine starts off as milk toast and then turns it around, you can still get a 5-star rating from me. But if I'm 95% of the way through and the heroine is still bland, weak, and missing any sort of substance, that's a 1-star deduction.
Now TSTL is whole different ball game. These ladies are just complete idiots and would have never made it past the age of thirteen in real life. You know the type: oh, my ex-husband who abused me wants me to meet him at his house alone? That sounds like fabublous idea! I'll head right on over and won't tell anyone of my plans. TSTL heroines frequently put themselves in danger, forcing the someone (often the hero) to come to her aide. Look, I don't mind a good damsel in distress story, but I can't stand a heroine that does stupid things for no reason. This is a huge part of the reason I don't generally read YA. An adult shouldn't need to be taken care of like a child, plain and simple.
Alpha Douche
Alphas are sexy and trust me when I say, I love me a good alpha. But there's a fine line between being an alpha and just plain being an asshole. An alpha douche treats the heroine like she's his property. She gets treated like crap (cheated on, lied to, disrespected, constantly telling her what to do etc.) and is expected to just take it because he's a strong, sexy specimen and that's all that matters. And it actually may not even just be the heroine who suffers this alpha's douche-tastic ways. Alpha douches have been known to treat their own family and friends like crap too, making you wonder on on earth the guy got any friends in the first place.
Plot Holes
I watched Lost, I've suffered through enough plot hole hell to last me a life time, thank you very much. Contradictions, illogical/impossible events, and inconsistencies in characterization (aka OOC) all fall into this category. On a related note, it annoys the heck out of me when major plot events happen off-screen. If it's significant to the story, I want to read it as it happens. I've seriously read a book before where the main character is a self-destructing jerk the majority of the book then he finally goes to rehab and...time jump! Now he's a perfectly respectable human being. This happened at about the 75% mark. NO. Just NO. Don't rob me of major things like that, please!