Today we decided to do the unpopular bookish opinions tag - because doesn't everyone love a bit of controversy? These are just our opinions, so feel free to disagree with us, but lets keep it civil!
We tag everyone who's reading this post to do this tag!
1. A popular book or series that you didn't like.
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Angharad: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski.
I didn't hate this book but I didn't love it. It just felt too slow and uneventful for me and as much as I love Kestrel, her love interest who's name I can't even remember?? Well, I didn't like him and I wasn't overly fond of their relationship. I wish it was just more Kestrel with her brilliant mind.
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Becky: The Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi.
I read the first book in this series, wasn't into it at all, and to this day I just don't get the hype. I didn't enjoy the plot or the writing style, and the main character (who's name I can't remember... Juliette, apparently?) just irritated me nonstop. I really wanted to like this series, because not only was I really interested in the synopsis, but the covers are so gorgeous and I wanted to have those beauties on my shelves.
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2. A popular book or series that everyone else seems to hate but you love.
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A: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.
I admit I read this a long time ago so my opinion of it has changed since then but at the time I bloody loved it. I loved Patroclus and Achilles and I loved their relationship. A lot of people hate it and compare it to a 'published fan fiction' and I can see their point but a part of my heart will always love this book and the amount of tears it made me spill.
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B: Sleepwalking by Nicola Morgan.
It's not that I think people actively dislike this book, more just that I don't think many people have heard of it. I read it when I was twelve as part of the little English Lit club I was in in High School where we were given books to review for some sort of national competition, and I fell in love with it. This is the book that got me into dystopian fiction. I re-read it a couple of years ago, and although I can now see that this book is far from perfect, there are definitely multiple books out there that I would have never looked twice at if it wasn't for this book.
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3. A Love Triangle where the main character ended up with the person you did NOT want them to end up with, OR an OTP that you don't like.
*spoilers for the Grisha trilogy below*
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A: Alina and The Darkling from the Grisha trilogy.
Alina and the Darkling were equals - equal in power. To be with Mal, Alina had to sacrifice her power. Why should she do that? Why did she have to become less to be with Mal? I'm not saying her relationship with Aleksander was perfect but I hate the idea that she had to change to be with Mal whereas Aleksander would have welcomed her as his equal.
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B: I've got to agree with Angharad on this one - Alina and Mal shouldn't have been together. Mal didn't even pay attention to Alina until it turned out that she was the Sun Summoner - in fact, even though they were best friends, he just didn't seem to be very nice to her at all until she became "worth something". I didn't like him as a character at all. Yeah, so The Darkling may have been just a little bit crazy and evil, but to this day I still stand by my opinion that Alina should've ended up with him.
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4. A popular book genre that you hardly reach for.
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A: magic realism.
It isn't because I don't like this genre, it is purely because I haven't read much of it. One of the books on my TBR list is 'The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender' which fits into this genre and I'm really looking forward to it. It's just not a genre I'm educated in.
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B: I rarely read classics. I think the memory of trying to read Jane Eyre when I was about eight and not understanding half of the old English words still puts me off. I don't read much crime/thriller fiction either, but on the occasions that I do, I tend to love it, so I should probably start reading more of that genre!
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5. A popular or beloved character that you do not like.
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A: Sloane from Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson.
I'm not really sure if Sloane is popular seeing as this is the only Morgan Matson book I've read but I finished it recently and Sloane immediately popped into my head. I think she was quite manipulative of Emily when they were together and made her do some things she wasn't comfortable with doing. I've had a friend like Sloane and now I'm away from that friendship, I can see the problems and so her character didn't sit well with me.
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B: Adelina from The Young Elites by Marie Lu.
When I first came across The Young Elites, everyone went on about how Adelina was a really badass protagonist, but honestly, I just couldn't see it. It wasn't just that though - I didn't connect with her at all.
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6. A popular author that you can't seem to get into.
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A: Cassandra Clare (but for many reasons).
It's not that I can't get into Cassandra's writing, it's just that I've seen a lot of problematic things about her on the internet (such as plagiarism and general cruelty to her fans) so she's an author whose books I will not read in the future.
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B: Stephen King.
I really struggle with Stephen King's books, even though I feel like if I could get through one, I'd really enjoy his writing!
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7. A popular book trope that you're tired of seeing.
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A: Love at first sight when the two characters don't even know each other but dive into a relationship.
"Oh my god, I love him so much. He's my life, I would die for him." Yeah but do you even know his birthday?? It just doesn't feel right to me. Yeah, he's attractive and seems amazing and you feel this 'pull' towards him but come on girl, get to know each other first because chances are, he's a dick.
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B: The "I'm a young teenage girl living in a ruined world but I'm strong and I'll learn to fight/steal/hunt/control and use my magical powers to protect my family" protagonist.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this sort of main character when it's done well, but quite a few times now I've seen carbon copies of Katniss that just don't work. Where's the backstory? How did the character get this way? Please just tell me and then I'll be perfectly happy with this sort of character!
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8. A popular series that you have no interest in reading.
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A: The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare.
When Lady Midnight came out, pretty much everyone on social media screamed for about a month and so for that month, I taught myself 'selective eyesight' as I like to call it. For reasons stated about Cassandra Clare, I have no interest in reading this series.
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B: The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.
I'm fairly sure that I will read this series eventually, but I've tried to start the first one a couple of times now and never got past the first few pages without getting distracted by another book.
I'm fairly sure that I will read this series eventually, but I've tried to start the first one a couple of times now and never got past the first few pages without getting distracted by another book.
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9. The saying goes "the book is always better than the movie", but what movie or TV show adaptation do you like more than the book?
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A: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
I did not like the book purely because I'm not a fan of novels written in diary format. I did like it at the time, I did resonate with Charlie and there are some beautifully written lines BUT I just liked the movie better, I loved seeing it all play out visually. Also, the soundtrack was A++.
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I did not like the book purely because I'm not a fan of novels written in diary format. I did like it at the time, I did resonate with Charlie and there are some beautifully written lines BUT I just liked the movie better, I loved seeing it all play out visually. Also, the soundtrack was A++.
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B: I haven't actually seen the film, but I'm gonna go off trailers/good authority and say The Maze Runner by James Dashner. I couldn't stand the books so, even from the snippets I've seen of it, I'm assuming the film was better.
also, *whispers*, The Lord of the Rings. I'm SO sorry. I just find it so difficult to make it through the books and it's one of the few instances where I watched the films before reading the books and agh, the films are just so much more enjoyable, whereas the books feel like a monumental task that you need to approach with caution. I'M SORRY.
also, *whispers*, The Lord of the Rings. I'm SO sorry. I just find it so difficult to make it through the books and it's one of the few instances where I watched the films before reading the books and agh, the films are just so much more enjoyable, whereas the books feel like a monumental task that you need to approach with caution. I'M SORRY.
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Do you have any unpopular bookish opinions, or did you agree or disagree with any of our choices?
Let us know in the comments!
Let us know in the comments!
Great questions! I will definitely be doing this tag!
ReplyDeleteI am sooooo glad I'm not the only one who preferred the LOTR movies over the books. It feel traitorous to say it, but as much as Tolkien excelled at making up worlds and languages, he wasn't that great at pulling it all together in a cohesive story. I feel like the movie smoothed out a lot of narrative bumps and eliminated things (like Tom Bombadil) that were frankly long-winded filler. Now, if Peter Jackson could have shown that same sense of restraint with The Hobbit...sigh.
I tried reading Cassandra Clare a few times and while I did somewhat enjoy one of the spinoff trilogies, The Infernal Devices, I couldn't get into her books as a whole. So much of it feels like really poorly written fan fiction and the relationships between some of the characters were odd, to put it nicely. I never understood why her books have such a huge following. And then as you say, with all the stuff online about how rude she is to her fans--after all that I decided not to give her books another go. I just feel like you shouldn't be such a jerk to the fans who made you famous, you know? It's bad karma.