Hi, friends! Guess who's kind of back on the Top 10 Tuesday train!! (Hint: it's me!!!)
I decided I wanted to join in the fun again but I know I can't promise to be super consistent, so for now I'll just be joining in when the fancy strikes me!
Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme created by the ladies at The Broke and the Bookish and currently hosted by Jenna at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's topic is:
Unpopular Bookish Opinions
This week I decided to spin the topic into "popular books that aren't quite so popular with yours truly" and boy do I have a ton of tea to spill! Turns out I might be a bit of a rebellious reader when it comes to hyped up books, friends!
P O P U L A R B O O K S I D O N ' T L O V E
The Folk of the Air Trilogy by Holly Black
If you truly enjoy listening to rants, just ask me anytime about this trilogy. I have tried to get through book one, The Cruel Prince, not once, but twice and I made it to the end neither time!! It's not necessarily the terrible characters that kill this one for me, but rather the awful, toxic romance starring the Actual Pile of Garbage™ that is Cardan (a.k.a. the "cruel prince" in question). I've seen an overwhelming number of fans romanticize Cardan, as well as Cardan and Jude's massively abusive and unhealthy romance and it frustrates me to no end. I might have a smidgen of understanding if this was a New Adult or Adult series, but it's aimed at teens and I've seen plenty of the type of harm the romanticization of abusive men can do to teens. So, yeah, hard pass on this one for me.
The Dregs Duology by Leigh Bardugo
Whew, y'all startin' to get hot? Cause I can tell ya—I sure am startin' to feel the heat! That's probably cause I'm 'bout to get some of y'all all riled up by saying ...(Lord save me)...I...wasn't...a fan of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo...*hides*I tried, y'all, I tried! Do you know how many times I've tried to get through that book only to get stuck around the 25% mark?! THREE! FREAKING!! TIMES!!! I just find Six of Crows so gosh darn...slow? Which is insane to me, considering it's a fantasy heist? But it's also incredibly character-driven for a fantasy heist so...*shrugs*
The Strange The Dreamer Duology by Laini Taylor
This one is possibly the most heartbreaking of all but...I still haven't made it through Strange The Dreamer. *runs away sobbing in shame*Despite the fact that Taylor's Daughter of Smoke And Bone trilogy is one of my all-time favorite series...I just can't seem to get into Strange The Dreamer. BUT! I will say I haven't completely given up hope yet and plan on giving Strange The Dreamer another go...eventually. The thing is, Strange The Dreamer is very focused on world building and character growth and so the plot progresses v e r y slowly! It's not that I dislike character-driven books but I do needat least a fragment of plot to hang onto, ya dig?
The Witchlands Series by Susan Dennard
When I DNFed Truthwitch, I still considered eventually giving it a second chance, but now, four years later, I still have yet to pick it up again. And that about sums up my experience with the Witchlands series! I think my biggest issue with the book was that it felt like a bunch of events were happenning, but at the same time, the plot wasn't progressing. On top of that, I also felt like Dennard dashed over world building and character introductions/growth. I really wanted this book to be for me, but it just seems like it wasn't meant to be...
An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
Everyone was—how should I put it?—enchanted by An Enchantment of Ravens but, sadly, I, personally, was not. This book suffered from a MASSIVE case of insta-love. Mix that with a barely-there plot which happened to be missing any real antagonist and you get me practically snoring by the end of this book. I finished this book through the sheer determination of my irritation-backed curiosity as to why exactly everyone raved about it. My conclusion?
We Hunt The Flame by Hafsah Faizal
This is a recent one that kills me! I went into We Hunt The Flame so freaking hyped, like, oh my god you do not even understand...Aaaand was promptly disappointed. Like, massively. You can check out my review for more in depth deets, but suffice to say I felt like this book was extremely underdeveloped. Which was so sad for me, as We Hunt The Flame was one of my most anticipated books of 2019.
Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
Another one of my most anticipated books of 2019 that fell short! Apparently 2019 has not been a good year for me and massively hyped books? Idk, but I can say that Wicked Saints and I did not get along. I felt like that whole book was rather bland and then the ending was super confusing? Like, I legit could not tell you what was happening in the end of the book?? It was weird. Again, super sad as I wanted to love this one.
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Okay, I know that Carry On is kind of meant to be a parody of sorts of Harry Potter but I just could not get over the similarities and it bugged me so much while reading it to the point where I eventually DNFed it. I know, I know, it was intentional in this aspect but it just didn't manage to win me over. Everyone loves this book so much and I'm just over here like "I don't get it?" It's pretty sad, y'all...
The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
This book was...yeah...
I can recognize that Chokshi's prose was gorgeous in The Star-Touched Queen, but for me it was just too much. I felt like the purple prose overwhelmed the actual story until everything just kind of fell apart. If it helps, though, I did enjoy Chokshi's latest release, The Gilded Wolves?
Heartless by Marissa Meyer
When Heartless was first released, it got terrible reviews, but lately I've been seeing it get pretty good reviews and I am????
...confused, to say the least?? Regardless, I hated the book, to put it succinctly. It just dragged on and on and I found the characters super dull. I guess it just was not the book for me!
Well, friends, that's all I have for y'all today! I hope you aren't too mad at me, although I know I might have trashed some people's faves. But to each their own. I definitely don't expect everyone to agree with my opinion—in fact, in this case, I'm actually interested if people disagree and why!
T E L L M E A L L A B O U T I T
- What do you think of my unpopular opinions? Agree or disagree?
- What are some popular books that you aren't a fan of?
- Are there any unpopular books you like?
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