Tag: ya book blog

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books and Dani @ Literary Lion. This week’s topic was suggested by Dani and is “I’m Not Like Other Girls” Trope.

How do you feel about the “I’m Not Like Other Girls” trope in general?

I had to think about this for longer than I anticipated but overall I don’t mind the “I’m Not Like Other Girls” trope as long as the attitude and portrayal of it is done in a certain way. By that I mean that I dislike when the character it’s being applied to has a haughty attitude or thinks they’re above other girls, but if it’s portrayed moreso that they didn’t ask for it and don’t have a negative attitude towards other women, I don’t mind it. The best example I can think of for this is that I despised Alessandra from The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller. Her attitude is so poor and she even had that Other-Women-Just-Don’t-Like-Me mentality which generally equals to you’re rude or mean to them but somehow don’t realize that or don’t have a problem with it. She genuinely believes she is so far above other people in the book that she’s shocked when she actually makes connections with two of the other women who are vying for the king’s affections. I have a full review of the book here if you want to know more of my thoughts on it but, spoiler alert, I gave it a single star. One of the best examples I can think of that is on the opposite side of the trope is Alina from the Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. Alina never has a poor attitude or thinks she’s above other people even though she’s born with a one-of-a-kind ability that can truly change the world. She’s uncomfortable with the attention and wishes for things to go back to normal before her ability was discovered. Overall, I don’t mind the trope if the character is on the humbler side. Attitude is everything for me.