Tropes or Cliches - Spoilers

[Swalka1991]

This post has spoilers for Winter Jacket by Eliza Lentski. Discussion and spoilers for other books are welcome if related to the topic.

I was reading a book called Winter Jacket by Eliza Lentski. It's a f/f erotic romance novel. I'd decided to branch out in the subject because I enjoy m/m romance as well as f/m romance novels, so I thought I should give f/f a chance.

The main character, Elle Graft, is a professor working towards her tenure at a university and she falls for a female student, who is only just exploring and realizing her sexuality. It's a fairly well-written novel. I enjoy the side-characters and, though Elle is a tad self-centered, I enjoy her too. I even like the student.

But just as I'm really getting hooked, I get gob-smacked by Elle's ex-lover showing up. Never was there a mention of her before, nor a lead-in. She's just there more than halfway through the book. From there, you get the ex, "If you don't sleep with me, I'll tell the school you're involved with a student."

Of course, Elle goes. But she isn't going to have sex, she goes to beg that the ex say nothing. The ex, in a very baffling and sudden twist, gives in. Elle returns home and discovers after a day or two that someone at the college already knows. She immediately calls the ex to demand to know if she said anything and she says something about, "last night in your hotel room." Then there's a gasp on the other end.

The student heard only that much of the conversation, drew her conclusions, and drama unfolds only to be resolved by the end of the very same chapter. Then the story continues down the path it had been going with the only noteworthy addition being Elle and student discovering new, shared kinks.

I usually can handle such obvious cliches. Student and teacher falling in love is definitely one, and I took that one well since I enjoyed the way it was written. I can even handle the ex coming back into the picture! But there was no warning, and it was so jarring and there was absolutely nothing it added to the story.

So has there ever been a book, or a scene, that was so cliched or troped to death that it took you completely out of the book? Or did you muscle through? Are there cliches and tropes that you just can't handle no matter how well written?

[shakeitkatie]

I like a good original story but there are certain elements that seem cliché that I love to read, such as the nerd getting the girl. However, there are several clichés I hate like love triangles. They drive me nuts. Especially when they make the character pick the lesser of the two characters.

[Gravy]

I don't think clichés are a problem, clichés are clichés for a reason, but they should be handled right.
Too often they're thrown around like some devine answer to everything. They're not a convenient answer, they're a tool.

[msmail12]

I agree, there are only so many ways to make a functioning plot line interesting, so tropes are just a fact of life. However, that doesn't mean you can't work them in tactfully and show skill in how they are used for heaven's sake. On a side note, I love it when authors think up unique characters and take the tropes and flip them on their heads, like Gena Showalter. Characters like Noelle and Ava and their respective men. Seriously, Noelle's guy Hector (Spoiler) beat the crap out of some guy who was mean to Noelle in high school when they were in one of their "off" moments and she knew all about it because she had said guy under surveillance so that she could mess with him. The whole thing is just ridiculous and disproportionate that it is actually hilarious and yet makes me love the characters all the more. The traditional response would have been of course for Hector to become jealous and insecure about this guy that Noelle was with in high school and of course angry, but his non-traditional response is so much better particularly because they aren't together in the moment.