I recently saw an Instagram post about Micro-tropes in books and I thought it might be fun to pick out some hyper-specific ones in the books that I have read. As these are very specific to each book, and often the plotline, there will be spoilers if anyone has not read the books mentioned.

Frankenstein and The Mortal Instruments

• A deranged man experiments with humanity and nature to create a creature beyond his control

Apart from this one similarity, Frankenstein and The Mortal Instruments series couldn’t be more dissimilar. Victor Frankenstein and Valentine Morgenstern, however, do feel like characters that have a lot in common: both terrible fathers, like to ‘play god’, believe they are the most important person in the room at all times, treat their loved ones terribly, etc. Ultimately, the ‘creations’ are even more dissimilar than their creators – with the ‘Monster’ being arguably more human than Sebastian/ Jonathon – but that’s a discussion for another time.

The Dark Artifices and All for the Game

• A young boy on the run with his abusive parent, accidentally finds his found family after a traumatic event in which their parent dies.

Once again, these books are very dissimilar (but are both two of my favourite series’) however, I am of course talking about the characters of all time here: Kit Herondale and Neil Josten. I see Kit and Neil as having a lot in common, and they are both very high up on the list of my favourite characters so there’s something to be said about that. I also see some similarities between their love interests – Ty Blackthorn and Andrew Minyard.

If We Were Villains and The Secret History

• Some guy named Richard terrorises his friend group, resulting in his murder.

I think everyone that is familiar with both of these books is aware of the similarities, and although The Secret History is the blueprint for a lot of books in the Dark Academia genre – alongside If We Were Villains – I actually hated it (controversial opinion, I know). I don’t think I need to reiterate my love for If We Were Villains, but just know that it is my favourite book of all time.

The Magisterium and Dark Rise

• A young boy who is believed to be the hero destined to save the world, turns out to actually be the “dark one” they have to fight against.

I read the Magisterium series a long time ago, but I do remember really enjoying it and the plot twists that were riddled throughout. The Dark Rise series on the other hand, is a series that I read last year and fell instantly in love with. I do think Call and Will have similarities, both in personality and storyline – particularly in their place in the world and their relationships with family; and again, I can’t wait to find out what happens in the final instalment of the Dark Rise series.

Twisted Hate and Playing Dirty

• Two characters that hate each other end up having to room together on a trip to a ski resort in Vermont, and of course there’s only one bed.

I read Twisted Hate a few years back and it was my favourite of the Twisted series at the time, meanwhile Playing Dirty – as well as CE Ricci as an author – is a recent find (all in all, I have read seven CE Ricci books in the last month but that’s beside the point). The relationship between Jules and Josh, and Theo and Madden have some initial similarities; in their hate towards each other, the begrudging attraction, the forced proximity, among a few others. In the end though, I do think Theo and Madden have more of a foundation leading towards true connection than Jules and Josh do – upon review, there are some problems in their relationship (and the storyline in general) that would lead me to have a different review of the book than the one I had a few years back.