I am very sorry for missing the Tuesday post. While I apparently was prepared for July I am not prepared at all for August. Bear with me.
Opal over at Opal Swirls tagged me for the Unpopular Opinions tag, which I've been watching going around the blogosphere and have been itching to get into because I'd like to display some rebellion against bookish culture because why not. So thank you for the tag, Opal.
A Popular Book/Series You Didn't Like
So everyone seems to adore this book. All reviews are good and I haven't seen anyone complain. And I can't complain about most of the book either, but I absolutely HATED the ending. Despised it with all my being. At the time, though, I thought it was a stand-alone novel. Now I realize that there is a second book out and I'm going to read it to see if the series will redeem itself.
The Mortal Instruments also fits into this category.
A Popular Book/Series Everyone Hates but You Love
I don't think that there is really any book but Twilight that is popular but everyone hates. That kind of thing shouldn't be possible . . . *ehem* anyway. So this book isn't popular - it's pretty unknown, actually, but it gets a lot of reviews saying it is too dry or too boring. But I remember finding it at a used book sale and devouring it, despite historical fiction not really being my thing. It's about a mute Briton boy in the time of the Norman invasions of England. I absolutely love this book and frequently reread the very memorable parts.
A Love Triangle Where the Protagonist Ended Up With the Person You Didn't Want Them to Be With
I mentioned this love triangle two weeks ago in my post on the YA love triangle cliche. I was so unhappy about the result of this love triangle but I saw it coming from a mile away . . . basically I thought the guy she ended up with was just a bad choice morally all around. Unwise, plus I didn't think the triangle was well done in the first place.
A Popular Genre You Hardly Read
Technically this isn't even a real genre, but a sub-genre. Still, at one point it had it's own section of shelves at Barnes & Noble so I think it counts. I have tried to read one or two books in this category but I couldn't finish them. (City of Bones by Cassandra Clare and I tried The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, but there was witchcraft/seance type stuff in it and I try to stay away from that kind of content. I didn't finish City of Bones either.) My issue with this genre isn't the paranormal stuff like vampires - it is the romance and the witchcraft. I've formed a few more reading rules since I read Hex Hall (above) and at this point I wouldn't have even read that trilogy.
A Popular/Beloved Character You Dislike
Every Character Except Fang from Maximum Ride.They seemed too . . . annoying. I didn't like Nudge, or Gazzy, or Angel, or even Max. Maybe the audiobook's voices turned me off but I just couldn't enjoy any of them. Fang was the only character I was even marginally interested in. Once they got to the arctic and became a load of kids taking care of penguins my patience expired and I ditched the series.
I also am not a fan of Hazel from The Fault in Our Stars. I read the first few pages and her attitude was extremely off-putting.
A Popular Author You Can't Seem to Get Into
There are a lot of these. However I rarely try more than one book because if I read a book and it was uninteresting enough that I'll drop it it isn't likely I'll pick up another by the same author.
- Cassandra Clare (dropped The City of Bones)
- James Patterson (dropped Maximum Ride after three or four books, dropped Confessions of a Murder Suspect because it got me freaked out)
- John Green (dropped The Fault in Our Stars because Hazel's attitude gave me a bad attitude)
- Maggie Steifvater (tried The Raven Boys but put it down due to communing with the dead and other magic which struck too closely to real witchcraft for my comfort)
- Becca Fitzpatrick (put down Black Ice because I hated the idiocy and niavete of the two female characters within fifty pages, bought Hush, Hush used but haven't stirred the interest to pick it up and read it yet)
A Popular Trope You're Tired of Reading
"*insert uncommon/made-up female name here* *insert normal but rare family name here* is a normal girl who lives in a society where everyone must do blank and blank is against the law. *uncommon/made-up female name* goes along with the system until she meets the mysterious *insert exotic male name here*, who shows her that everything is not as it seems." (Blah blah blah.)
"But then she meets *insert second exotic male name which no father would think was masculine here* and begins to fall for him. Her heart and her loyalties are torn. What will she ever do?"
Poor girl - actually, I couldn't care less. Every time I see a back cover blurb that resembles this in the slightest I re-shelve the book immediately. So. Done. And what is with the main focus of fantasy and dystopias being romance nowadays anyway? If I wanted a main plot of romance I'd go into the romance genre!
A Popular Series You Have No Interest in Reading
There are many -
- but that list will have to do for now.
A Show/Movie Adaptation You Liked Better Than the Book
I just mentioned I didn't get very far into The Fault In Our Stars and didn't like the few pages I did read. I did like the movie, though. Quite liked it, actually.
A Popular Style of Cover That You Can't Stand
I realize those look quite different but I'm tired of the streaky light and/or tech theme. Think of something more original for sci-fi, please.
All the blogs I follow have already done this tag - I'm late to the party. So I'll just open it up to anyone who thinks it would be a fun thing to do. If you do do it, leave a link to your post in the comments!
Well that was a long tag! I have a few more to do which got neglected during July but maybe they're short enough to combine into a single post so the rest of August's Friday posts aren't taken up with tags and I can get to that character interview I mentioned. *takes moment to catch breath after long sentence*
Have you read any of these? What were your thoughts? Any of them I should try to give a second chance? What is a trope you're tired of hearing about? How about genres - what is your favorite and what is one you stay away from?
Oh yes, the sifi covers. Thanks for doing the tag! :) I'm going to give Cassandra Clare this week. We'll see how it goes :)
ReplyDeleteSomehow I mixed the words read and give up xD Sorry!
DeleteYou'll have to let me know what you think of it!
DeleteI really enjoyed reading this, so I did it myself! Here is the link if you want to read it :)
ReplyDeletehttp://thewritingbandit27.blogspot.com/2015/08/unpopular-opinions-tag.html
I went ahead and checked it out and left a comment. Thanks for sharing. :)
DeleteI agree with most of these, I love the raven boys, but the witchcraft stuff is a bit much for me, and I wish it wasn't in the book. I feel like I may be crossing some kind of line with it.
ReplyDeleteYeah I prefer to stay away from it . . . especially if the book presents is as something out of the ordinary but completely acceptable, or if the main character endorses it. I have no issue with fantasy magic systems but if it looks too much like the real thing I will put the book down (even if it is just a ouija board). Everyone has different reading principles though, and I've been slowly figuring mine out for years now. It always stinks when a good book gives you something you're not comfortable with but you'll figure out what you think God would approve as reading material. :) I'm pretty sure He tailors stuff like this to individual susceptibilities and preferences, so pray about it and listen for God's instruction. :)
DeleteThank you for the comment!
I took you up on the free tag and had fun with an unpopular opinion post of my own! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletehttp://forgottenfeatherpen.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-unpopular-opinions-tag.html
So I know I'm months late, but I just had to comment when I saw The King's Shadow. I personally really liked the book, up until Evin suddenly decides Harold and Lady Ealdgith (I'm not sure of my spelling, there) deserve his thanks and service and unending loyalty. I mean, the revelation that Lady Ealdgith helped him out of kindness does change some things, I guess, but I personally still mistrusted her, since everything she had done to help him also felt like it was to use him, since having him learn to write, etc. only made him a more valuable and useful slave, which Evyn seemed oblivious to. He immediately believed dear wild-haired-monk-whose-name-I-can't-remember-at-the-moment (and who is awesome) and forgave her like it was nothing and then offers himself to serve Harold on a mission that terrifies him. It felt awfully fast for him to feel enough loyalty to Harold, who he knew only from observation, that he would want to risk his life for him. That was the point of disconnect for me, and though I still loved Evin after that, I just couldn't quite get into it like before.
ReplyDeleteAlso, maybe it says more about me than the author, but I found myself liking Harold's brother who gets banished more than Harold himself. Mostly because there were moments of depth in him that I felt Harold lacked. Harold is pretty much just "good". That is his defining trait. He's a good king, a good master, a good soldier, a good husband (except when he's not. I didn't feel the least sorry for him when he decided he HAD to go marry that princess for the sake of the kingdom. Whatever Harold. Say all that stuff about trying to make life as easy for her as possible, then leave her in the north while you go back south to your common-law wife? Yeah, right. What a sacrifice.)
Anyway, just wanted to add my two cents, since there are very few people I've come across who have read this book! Which really is worth a read, (I know, I focused mostly on its faults, but it has many good qualities too!) and which I would not call dry by any means. I personally love historical fiction (along with fantasy set in other worlds), so I really enjoyed the way the author made life in 11th century England feel real.
Sorry, didn't mean for this comment to turn into a book review! Though that is pretty much what it is, haha!
Ah that is fine. :) I loved the King's Shadow as well, though you can definitely tell it was written by a history teacher. I personally thought that the themes of devotion seen in Evyn helped emphasize that Medieval feel.
ReplyDelete