Tbh I like the way you talk about opinions which is why you’re one of the few booktubers I actually watch. You’re genuinely respectful to what people think, it’s rare to see
For me, there's a vast difference in quality between Shadow & Bone and Six of Crows. Not only is it far less tropey, and the characters are much more complex, but the way it's constructed shows the evolution of Leigh Bardugo as an author. The writing itself is cleaner, the story is more nuanced, and it all comes together more smoothly. Personally, I consider S&B to be a very decent fantasy that I've read twice but have no impulse to reread again anytime soon. I have read SoC probably 4 or 5 times and never tire of it. In fact, I feel an immediate need to dive back in when I turn the last page. Also, my very own unpopular opinion - Darkling is a mediocre villain at best. After all the hype, I expected so much more from him, and he just fell completely flat for me (except for one scene in Ruin & Rising).
im guessing that scene in ruin and rising was when he hanged all those people in the orphanage, waited for alina to see it, and told her "i will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no shelter but me?" bc i don't like him much either but i gotta admit it's a goddamn good scene
@@lyannarhodes5205 That´s exactly it! Up to that point, I was very lukewarm towards him as a character. This was a turning point where I could finally respect him as a villain because it was such a gruesome scene. But it was put in a bit too late, in my opinion, because his ending didn´t stir any major emotions for me either.
@@kefinkamed i agree, if bardugo wanted to paint him as truly despicable i wish she would've put more scenes like that EARLIER, and not well into the last book of the trilogy. but it's still a young adult series so i guess bardugo couldn't really go all grimdark on our asses
@@extrabadluck yeah, he was the only one who had some sort of *spice* to his character. all the other characters felt boring & flat as cardboard or not fleshed-out enough, even the beloved nikolai lantsov, despite everyone raving about him
I can appreciate the opinion on most of the books covered here that I´ve read so far. The Last Argument of Kings, though, is one of my personal favourite trilogy enders. It is awesome.
This is a funny coincidence since I JUST finished a buddy read with a group of friends for the 3rd book in Poppy War and 3rd book in The Faithful and the Fallen (Malice) I definitely agree with you on FATF, none of us are liking the series at all. I actually enjoyed Poppy War tho. But even amongst its fans there's contention over the best in the series, if the ending was good or not , etc lol
I really like the Poppy War trilogy (especially books 2 and 3) but I did have a decent amount of issues with it. People rave about it and there is a lot of good but there are a lot of areas for improvement (the writing is pretty plain, the worldbuilding is a bit thin and heavy handed and frequently unclear or inconsistent). I do think Kuang is just going to get better and better though!
I love Percy Jackson, but I would say that rereading it when I was older I didn’t love it as much as I did when I was younger even though I did enjoy it immensely. I would however still say that I enjoyed Percy Jackson much more than Harry Potter of though I did like HP too when I was younger
I'm guilty of rating QoN five stars despite me also not agreeing that it should've ended like that or that the book was very well plotted throughout but I mean ✨THE FEELS✨
I’ll be honest, although I really liked the Queen of Nothing, I was going to give that book 5 starts no matter what happened as long as Jude and Cardan had a happy ending 😂
I was somewhat angry at first about the conclusion, or lack thereof, of the First Law trilogy we get in Last Argument of Kings, but the more I think about it, the more I think it was the most fitting ending, if not the most satisfying one. To quote Ardee West: "No one gets what they deserve"
I'm like this with Sword of Kaigen.... it has a 4.46 average rating, but I just.... didn't like it. Also, I think later books in series tend to be higher rated bc people who don't like the series will stop after 1 or 2 books, so it's mostly people who are already fans left.
This hurts me emotionally lol, and also quite the coincidence since I just finished SoK less than 12 hours ago 😋 I completely agree about the logic to later books being rated higher. Ive thought about this for a while. The sequels always "seem" better based on ratings just bc people who liked the earlier books will tend to continue read and most likely enjoy the rest. (unless the author just really messes it up of course haha) Fun to see someone else point this out.
I feel you for Tau in the Rage of Dragons, but I didn't mind and still loved the first book. But he's so much better in the second book - thinks beforehand more, and is wayy more responsible ;)
Interesting how opinions differ. I found Tau much more developed in the first novel. But, in the second he was just a ball of unbridled rage and aggression and wasn't very relatable....
100% agree on Edgedancer/Lift. I texted my friend almost every single chapter saying I would never forgive Brandon for making this book necessary for 100% Cosmere completion.
I enjoyed shadow and bone better. I honestly didn't enjoy six of crows a whole lot. I also agree with your unpopular regarding them. I however really loved the Netflix show! I also have a strong hatred for the first book in the folk of air series. If I could have rated it half a star I would have.
I think with The Rage of Dragons, I kind of filled in the gaps of his motivation, cause the reason why he’s seeking revenge also has to do with the unfairness of the caste system. But you’re right, not much space is given for examination, and he makes awful decisions. Still loved it though!
I disagree that the ending of Last Argument of Kings didn’t end with “more of a bang”. *Spoilers* I mean iirc the entire capital city gets completely destroyed in this epic battle with magic and demons and craziness lol. But then, I was a huge fan of the subversive ending so I guess I can understand why some might feel dissatisfied by that aspect of it.
*spoilers* what's crazy is i read the trilogy and its been like 2 years but i dont even remember that happening. i remember an entire plotline resulted in finding a useless rock, and the big confrontation with the bloody nine and the bad dude ended with him jumping into a river. i remember loving the characters, glokta was one of the best characters ive ever read, and i even enjoyed the arc of the snooty princeling guy. the take on the wise old wizard was definitely interesting, yet it is literally so hard for me to remember the plot to these books it makes me question if i liked them or not.
While I like Lift, I do think she’s an example of Sanderson showing us a bit too much too soon of a character who he is setting up for big things later on but who doesn’t really have a whole ton to do yet. I think once we get to Arc 2 of Stormlight she will have a more serious story arc to rival those of Kaladin/Shallan/Dalinar.
Book 2 of Rage of Dragons addresses all of the negatives you mentioned except examining his motives, which I do not believe was glossed over in book 1.
I'm finding more people dont like lift and I think I finally get it, I dont find lift funny, but her presence is funny Stormfather "what the fuck was that thing" Odium "I must be senile cuz that's not a thing right" Her humor ain't subtle but it's how Sanderson writes everyone reacting to her that I love
I came close to DNFing From Blood and Ash multiple times. Around 40% I realized nothing was happening and by the end I found the overall writing, world building, and character development to be quite amateur.
Well I didn't check the ratings but I don't like Name of the wind at all. I suppose I gave it 2 stars and I actually hated both Kvothe and Dena and I found them super annoying and pretty much nothing happened in that book and I was so devastated that A LOT of people actually love this book.
You’re probably getting annoyed with me saying this but I really think you would like the Book of the Ancestor series by Mark Lawrence! It’s great and not as gritty as some of his other works
I agree with you about Queen of Nothing. I didn't hate it but it wasn't the end I wanted either! Everything happened so quickly and I wanted a bit more development before the end :) x
My unpopular opinions are 1) Six of Crows isn't NEARLY worth the hype, it's an ok book but it's not as good as everyone makes it out to be and 2) Children of Blood and Bone was literally the worst book I've read since reading Breaking Dawn when I was like 14.
The writing the acotar series was far more juvenile then from blood and ash. Listen to the audio book form of from blood and ash and maybe you'll change your mind. The world Jennifer L armentrout has built is so compelling and intricate I 100 percent became completely engrosed. Are there tropes? Ofcourse! But it's not overwhelming. This series had literally made it difficult to get into other books! I hated the acator series. I could barely finish the books they were so bad. I was blown away by the complexity in the From blood and ash series. The thing about this series is that you have to keep reading. Every book is better than the last. Please please give the audio version a try!!! It is incredible. By far her best books to date.
I agree with you about First Law, I haven't finished Last Argument of Kings yet so I can't comment on it, but I quite liked Percy Jackson even though I read it as an adult. I do quite like shounen-y things, though. Also, I hope that's a suns shirt! The hope was nice while it lasted
I’ve tried reading multiple books by Leigh Barsugo and DNF them all. And literally forget about them. My most recent attempt was King of Scars and the most interesting part of the book was the prologue/intro or whatever you want to call it. The tone and writing felt so separate from the rest of the book. I was more interested in that random kid side character than anything or anyone in the rest of the book. I don’t know if it’s the Grishaverse or Bardugos writing that is turning me off from the books. (Or maybe I’m just over YA books?) I will say I can see improvement in quality of the writing with each new book; so who knows maybe she’ll write a book in the future that I can get into.
I felt the same way about Queen of Nothing. I felt that the ending was rushed and I wasn't satisfied. I really expected there to be more of what was in Wicked King (which is my favourite in the series). For PJO, I can relate- it doesn't have the nostalgia factor for me and it does read very young which is great for the target audience. I was, however, very invested in Percy's arc and his humour kept me hooked enough (plus all the shenanigans he goes through). I've got 1 book left in the series before I can move onto Heroes of Olympus and I'm excited since the characters are older teens 😊💞
One book I don't really understand the love for is Outlander. I know that people love those books and obviously there is the show (which I have not watched) but I hated that book. I hated things that happened and how often they happened and how they were handled.
Im actually also surprised by the Queen of Nothing rating. Although I havent cared to pick up the series, I still feel like anyone who has talking about the 3rd book didnt like it as much as the rest. As you said, I guess the people who like it just arent speaking up lol
My Unpopular opinion is Red Sister series by Mark Lawrence I struggled to finish the first book and ended up DnFing book 2. Also another Unpopular opinion I have which usually gets me a lot of hate is Sanderson is so overhyped. 🤷🏻♀️
I hate Mistborn. I think Brando Sando seems cool, I wished I liked it and I'm glad other people like it, but boy, I really really didn't enjoy reading it.
I agree I didn't mind her short sections in the mainline Stormlight books but when reading Edgedancer I just wanted it to finish by about half way through lol.
I loved the first law trilogy conclusion, fit the world and atmosphere, but I do get that it is a bit "draw a line and walk away" ending. O my Edgedancer the only Sanderson book I hated. The plot was good, but Lift was terrible.
Personally I’ve never been a fan of V.E. Schwab books (I’ve read 6 of them). Always felt like her writing (and plot especially in Addie LaRue) meanders too much and the books don’t deliver on the hype. I’ve started liking her books even less upon realizing she loves the NLOG trope
Seeing some comments it would seem I'm the only one who doesn't find Lift super annoying lol She is not my favourite character at all, but reading Edgedancer was not the torture a lot of people say ^^' Similar unpopular opinion for me, I really didn't like Lila Bard from Shades of Magic, it got to the point that almost ruins the trilogy for me. I prefer Lift 100 times over Lila. Everybody seems to adore her though :)
I also dont like those two Sanderson novellas - i find Lift super annoying and it took me forever to read Edgedancer and with Secret History i dont like the “main” character’s change of heart regarding everything. Like no.
So I feel like my unpopular opinion is Senlin ascends… I love Thomas, but the tower and all the slog of quote unquote Overcoming - - I hate it! I want to know the end, but I don’t know if I can SLOG through the constancy of the tower to get there!!!! *sigh*
I was very tempted by the hype but I resisted as I know I can't even get through one episode of a tower based anime, let alone slogging through a whole series about it! You should just go read a spoiler summary and let it go~
The blasphemy of not liking Mistborn Secret History! DX Era 1 was my least favorite of the Mistborn installments. Era 2 is way better, and Secret History is basically Era 1, but with all the boring parts cut out lol
One of the most disappointing books I ever read was Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley. It has a high Goodreads rating of 4.05 stars. I was incredibly disappointed with the amount of telling there was vs. showing among so many other things I hated about the book, but obviously it just wasn't for me since it's so well loved. For something more positive, this year I finally read Mistborn trilogy. I went in with very VERY high expectations for Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, and I have to say he BLEW me away! Especially that last book, all the feelings hit me so hard I was speechless and I have still been thinking about it for weeks after finishing. The Mistborn trilogy is my favorite series and books of all time now. His books got me out of a 5 year reading slump (mainly due to reading too many bad books, PTSD and depression). I should have tried him earlier, I was too afraid Brandon Sanderson was overhyped, but I'm definitely checking out his other novels. Thank you for recommending Brandon Sanderson all the time, I finally gave him a shot because of you! I will be sure to avoid Mistborn: Secret History because I trust your judgment. I really want to read all these other books you have hyped up, like the Winnowing trilogy and Fireborne. Thanks for your recommendations and your videos!
I absolutely love Beauty. Lol. She also has another Beauty and the Beast retelling which is very different called Rose Daughter. You might like that one more. 🤷🏻♀️
@@catsandbats77 I am glad to hear you loved it! I only wished I did. I will say the writing was beautiful from what I remember, but I had issues with pacing and the development of the romance. Who knows, maybe if I try again or try Rose Daughter since it's been several years I might love it.
I never got into Percy Jackson. I need to read some Brandon Sanderson, I've heard good things, but he is so prolific it scares me. I did pick up Six of Crows just because of the Netflix show. I didn't really enjoy Shadow of Bone when I read it because it has a ton of tropes I avoid. But I still watched the series for nostalgia. I have also never gotten into Holly Black's works. I don't want any Sarah J. Maas in my life, not my cup of tea. I also don't like romance at all.
Here's an unpopular one: "To Kill a Mockingbird" sits at 4.28 and although I commend Harper Lee for her character work and dialogue, I find that the issues of a debut author are on display. From a plot standpoint it's very bloated, especially in the first half where her clear priority is to set up future events thematically rather than give present events an organic flow. Had she written more books, I think she would've improved in this area and crafted works that actually deserve a 4.28 ... and the thing is, there's an engaging story buried in there. The film adaptation proved this by trimming the fat so the focus stays on Scout and Jem's coming of age. It also helps that the casting of all the characters was perfect.
One thing to consider is that we as a people have learned a lot about how to write, plot, and populate novels over the years since then. It is easy, but maybe unfair, to look back in time and judge a work based on current standards.
That's a generous sentiment to avoid ill to the dead, but I beg to differ. Stylistic changes will land a disclaimer on any book even five years into its lifespan, but storytelling craft stays much the same. "Pride and Prejudice" has a similar Goodreads score despite an age gap of 147 years. In Austen's case I don't think style gets in the way of craft: you have a book that's tightly focused on its endgame while still leaving room for the reader to be entertained by quotable scenes and quirky characters. You might say current standards work to Austen's advantage. And as much as I enjoy Shakespeare, the slow but steady backlash against his early plays (i.e. "Romeo and Juliet") feels warranted because even he needed a decade of practice to polish his craft ... only when you get to the middle period (roughly "Twelfth Night" to "Macbeth") does placing him on such a high pedestal make any sense.
Sofie B Sorry you jumped to assumptions and were verbally abusive towards me. I would have responded to your comment but you quickly deleted it after. Probably because you realised you shouldn’t have said what you did. All I did was be polite and respectful to you and yet you reverted to name calling because you couldn’t fathom someone not absolutely agreeing with you. I can now see you have some serious anger issues so I hope you are able to get help for them. Take care and be careful with what you read in the future, it seems you’re easily triggered by books from other cultural views to you.
My unpopular opinion is The House on the Cerulean Sea was just okay. Yes the children are very lovable, but the overall story is average and a bit superficial at times. We get indications of severe discrimination and abuse but it just gets glossed over. It also sort of implies that the support of one person can cure trauma which is complete nonsense. Def not worth a 4.50.
I agree 100% with your point on ACOTAR vs From Blood and Ash. While I consider ACOTAR to be only okay and I don't fully get the huge hype, the writing FBAA is just bad. It's as simple as that. I genuinely don't get the love it gets but maybe I'm not supposed to 😄
My unpopular bookish opinion is that of Children of Blood and Bone. I think it’s overhyped, predictable, insta-love to the extreme and the way the plot was told was poor.
I read that a little while ago and I don't remember much about it now but I definitely remember not really liking it at all, especially after all the hype for it
I think a lot of people found QoN underwhelming (including me) but we were so in love with Jude and Cardan, we couldn't bear giving it a rating less than 5 stars haha😅
Last Argument of Kings might be one of my favorite series closers ever, and it is because of that subversiveness you mentioned. I feel that all the characters have realistic arcs even though some of them are, I think, intentionally unsatisfying. It just really drove home the themes for me and also set up the later First Law world books so well.
Update: Bookborn just posted a video explaining much better what I was referring to here (about the anti-hero’s journey in First Law). Highly recommended.
Personally, after everything I heard about The Poppy War, I expected to love it. Rin as a character wasn't someone I cared very much about, not that its a criteria but it certainly helps. I found myself reading for other characters and seeing where the plot was going - the world and historical influences were new to me and I definitely appreciated it, despite how dark it'd get.
it was very interesting for me to read the trilogy and then when i was done i listened to dan carlin's hardcore history series supernova in the east. its about the 2nd world war focused on japans involvement. it puts a lot into context that made my appreciation for the series grow to high heights seeing the added layers of references and themes that are soooo obvious and well executed once you understand the history, which makes sense since the author is like a major history buff who went to college and studied a lot of this stuff
I appreciate what R.F Kuang was doing with PW but, idk it wasn't for me. I saw the first book to completion; I rate it well and recommend it to anyone who asks me about it. But.. I don't particularly care to read 2 more books of war crimes and a main character I didn't click with very well lol
@@The92Waffles I'm hoping that I grow to enjoy the protagonist or overlook her character in favour of everything else. I'll probably read it as an ebook so I don't have to go through unhauling a physical copy if it's not to my liking. I did rate TPW a 3.5 and I've heard the later books are favourites among fans
I think that is what I love the most about the poppy war. I have never before read a book where I didn’t love the main character and it made me the series even more. She’s very open and blunt about her need/want for power and she’s the furthest thing from a hero. I think she created a story that was still worth reading even with a very flawed main character.
I hated both TPW and TDR. Just... unlikeable characters are a make or break for me, and it wasn't just that Rin was unlikeable. She let her unlikeable feelings influence her actions and,, I just hated it. TPW was okay, but TDR was honestly kinda infuriating and I feel like she'll get an (in my opinion) undeserved character arc in the third book and I am not excited to read it. I'm a huge history nerd and LOVE historical fiction/fantasy, but this didn't do it for me. At all.
I actually found Fbba nothing like ACOTAR. I actually like ACOTAR. But I think FBAA is just boring plot lines with a smidge of smut. I mean come on…. Poor Kieran only has one tired line. JLA couldn’t even do him justice and make him have a personality. Poppy is one of the most annoying characters I’ve ever read as well And yeah idk same with shadow and bone. The characters annoy me and it feels way too immature. SOC feels more mature and is just more interesting to me.
My unpopular opinion is preferring the LOTR’s films over the books. The books are fantastic but I liked certain changes in the films, such as how more fleshed out Arwen is and Helm’s Deep felt more epic.
I'm the exact same way! A friend of mine and me both loved the movies and decided to buddy read the books. And felt very disappointed when we were done. We also felt the movies did alot of things better.
My first impressions of Lift were just kinda like "...huh..." so I get the general consensus that she's weird and annoying. Haven't read Edgedancer. But after Rhythm of War, I find myself much more interested in what's going on with her, why she is the way she is, and where that all might be headed. (I forgot about Edgedancer, in fact. Might have to check that one out.)
First law spolers!! Wow i thought that the last argument of the kings had a banging ending, if you are not surprised as shit after valid an balks reavel, I tought that glokta's happy ending was a bang as well. I guess I understand if you have Ferro or Logen as a favorite character.
I'm from an Eastern European country, and it so happened in our literary tradition that many books that are considered adults in the West are perceived by most of our readers and literary critics as YA. For example for me and many of my friends The Daevabad Trilogy and The Poppy War trilogy were young adults books. And even the critics branded Backman's Beartown as predictable and weak teenage reading. You know, when you're sixteen y.o and you need to read War and Peace and Crime and Punishment and 1984, and other books with graphic violence and sex scenes you start to treat many books differently.
I think if I had gone into reading First Law with 0 knowledge of what to expect, I would have felt similarly as you--but somehow knowing that there wouldn't be much of a plot made me enjoy what was there. Abercrombie's strength is definitely in his characters, and I enjoyed them so much that the ending intrigued me even if it wasn't... thrilling, or very satisfying. It definitely suited my tastes, but I can TOTALLY see why it would not be your cup of tea, and I'm a bit hesitant to recommend it to friends without some disclaimers, lol.
i loved the ending of first law for the reasons you mentioned, i dont enjoy 'standard tropes' very much so i quite liked the way he wrapped it up :-) i suppose im just a bit weird like that haha
I would also add, that The Last Argument of Kings barely even closes anything. Story arcs of most of the characters seem to be cut without a finish and one even with a cliffhanger. With a mindset of getting into a trilogy, I was annoyed of how little closure it had. I will read the rest, becosue I absolutely loved Steven Pacey's performance in it. But in my opinion The First Law in general has a lot of shortcomings and is very overhyped. However, I love Abercrombie's way with words and his humour.
I experienced a similar feeling regarding the Shadow and Bone series compared to Six of Crows. I couldn't read the Shadow and Bone trilogy fast enough, while I struggled to finish Crooked Kingdom. With Queen of Nothing, the story became quite predictable and the main characters seemed tame. They didn't feel like the same Jude and Cardan from the first 2 books.
I agree with you on Last Argument of Kings, mostly because I feel like it had some unbelievable character choices, meandering plot, and a slow ending that to me was just meh. I'm all for subversions, but I do think the ending took too long explaining and wrapping up stuff that felt unneeded or could have been addressed earlier.
I finished Addie Larue yesterday so I have a new unpopular opinion. It was so boring and I disliked basically every character 🙈. Also, Shadow and Bone is so underrated!
Tbh the thing now is that some books got sooo much hyped that even when we like that it feels like not enough cause we expected more. Just a suggestion from a fellow bookworm: Have low expectations on books so that u can at least enjoy it.
I think the thing with The Last Argument of Kings is that the way everything seems to be coming together and then it all falls apart and it kinda reveals most of things that were happening were just one ****holes game, and where everyones epic character arcs all fall apart when they are forced to return to reality is kinda the point of it all. Although I get why not everyone would find that satisfying, but I definitly enjoyed it, it has a realness to it that so few other series capture imo. All I know is whenever I think about The Last Argument of Kings specifically, most of what I can think about is how much I hate one particular character and how much I wound up fearing another 😆
Haha, I liked the entire first law series but there is almost no plot there and I'm not the biggest fan of the ending either! I highly dislike mistborn era 2. Highly. 😂 Same for Wheel of Time. Another popular series that I'm surprised gets so much love is the Faithful and the Fallen. It's middle of the Reead for me. Especially the writing style annoys me. 🙈 But I'm glad other people love it!
I am more attached to Shadow and bone than SoC. I have to admit that LB’s writing improved tremendously in Soc but the world building and just overall vibe of the trilogy is just 😘👌🏻
@@alaenamarie8702 so Shadow and Bone is more background for this world. It also goes into a bit more explanation on the magic system. But the characters are and the story line are different. So you don't need Shadow and Bone to understand it but it helps big time for background information.
@@aliaibrahim4517 I can agree with you on this. The writing definitely improved but I love Shadow and Bone for more explanation on the magic system and how it felt more like a fairytale.
I agree and disagree with you on the last argument of kings. I found the ending disappointing in a very realistic way, if any of the characters got any epic endings it would've been inconsistent with the rest of the books. I still feel bad when I think about the ending though
Tbh I'm quite shocked about The Queen of Nothing having the same ending as The Wicked King, I thought it was really rushed and predictable and definitely needed to be longer! I feel like a lot of the reviewers I follow felt the same so I'm surprised too! I stand by the fact that people unnecessarily hate on the Shadow and Bone trilogy and overhype The Six of Crows duology 😶 *hides* Six of Crows is good but not THAT much better than the trilogy (I feel like I always make this same comment on videos where you discuss Grisha, but I'll die on this hill 😂)
I read Six of Crows because of its high rating on Goodreads. Didn't like it. It felt corny, focussing a lot on romance. It all felt so forced. Malice: Soooo tropey and one dimensional characters. Murderbot is also very popular and has high ratings. I think its boring most of the time and I can't seem to attach myself to any other character than Murderbot. Second book from Kingkiller Chronicles felt like I was reading porn for half of the book.
I do want to say with the high ratings on these books later on in series is that the enjoyment is obviously skewed. More people have started the first book than have finished the last book in a series so if it’s a really good book it will have high ratings, but the sequels will also have higher ratings because only the fans of the first one are reading it. It’s not an actual reflection of the quality anymore at that point.
I think the disparity between S&B and SoC is that the gan following from S&B carried over and those who didn't like it may have fallen off and therefore you're not seeing those reviews so SoC has an unfair advantage over S&B
I usually don’t really pay attention to thumbnails, however this one was extra aesthetically pleasing for some reason, with the color matching and all, so just wanted to mention it!👌
Some of my unpopular bookish opinions: 1. I do not like the Starless Sea, I thought it was not good and had no plot, but the writing was pretty. 2. I also did not like Daughter of Smoke and Bone and felt I guessed the plot in the first third of the book and the rest of it was slow and getting to a point I already knew was coming. 3. I didn’t like Song of Achilles 🤭
I didn’t absolutely adore Priory when I first read it like everyone else seems to but it’s grown on me over time! Sometimes I find myself just thinking about that massive book haha
My unpopular book opinions: The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren is just normal. For me there are much more better books than that. I hated The court of Thorns and Roses series. I can imagine other people liking it but I hate it. I hate both main characters. I hate Sarah J. Maas’ writing style. I tried to start reading Throne of glass and was pissed after ten minutes… My friend is hating on me because of it, lol hahaha. The thing is that people say From blood and ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout is similar to Sarah J. Maas but her Triology is one of my top 5 favorite books/series EVER… Like what… ACOTAR is my second most hated book/series right after In the Unlikely event by L.J. Shein. But I really hope that one day I could reread Maas’ books and be like “Okay, they are fine actually”. My issue with them is personal. Spoiler alert!! Uhhh and Song of Achilles! I do like the book and the writing style is one of the best like OMG… BUT! But somewhere after half of the book Madeline Miller wrote that Szene with Patroclus sleeping with Deidameia and it disturbed me like for real… I got over it eventually but afterwards my gut just didn’t let me enjoy anymore.
Tbh I like the way you talk about opinions which is why you’re one of the few booktubers I actually watch. You’re genuinely respectful to what people think, it’s rare to see
Same!
Me too!
Very true
For me, there's a vast difference in quality between Shadow & Bone and Six of Crows. Not only is it far less tropey, and the characters are much more complex, but the way it's constructed shows the evolution of Leigh Bardugo as an author. The writing itself is cleaner, the story is more nuanced, and it all comes together more smoothly. Personally, I consider S&B to be a very decent fantasy that I've read twice but have no impulse to reread again anytime soon. I have read SoC probably 4 or 5 times and never tire of it. In fact, I feel an immediate need to dive back in when I turn the last page.
Also, my very own unpopular opinion - Darkling is a mediocre villain at best. After all the hype, I expected so much more from him, and he just fell completely flat for me (except for one scene in Ruin & Rising).
im guessing that scene in ruin and rising was when he hanged all those people in the orphanage, waited for alina to see it, and told her "i will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no shelter but me?" bc i don't like him much either but i gotta admit it's a goddamn good scene
@@lyannarhodes5205 That´s exactly it! Up to that point, I was very lukewarm towards him as a character. This was a turning point where I could finally respect him as a villain because it was such a gruesome scene. But it was put in a bit too late, in my opinion, because his ending didn´t stir any major emotions for me either.
Taking into account the characters in SAB the darkling is the only one with a bit of something extra.but otherwise, SAB was too predictable
@@kefinkamed i agree, if bardugo wanted to paint him as truly despicable i wish she would've put more scenes like that EARLIER, and not well into the last book of the trilogy. but it's still a young adult series so i guess bardugo couldn't really go all grimdark on our asses
@@extrabadluck yeah, he was the only one who had some sort of *spice* to his character. all the other characters felt boring & flat as cardboard or not fleshed-out enough, even the beloved nikolai lantsov, despite everyone raving about him
I can appreciate the opinion on most of the books covered here that I´ve read so far.
The Last Argument of Kings, though, is one of my personal favourite trilogy enders. It is awesome.
The thing I liked about the Queen of Nothing ending, was it wasn’t stressful for me. 😆😆😆
Saaaame. It was the book I enjoyed the most among the three 🤠
My unpopular opinions are Malice by John Gwynn and Poppy War. Both books I felt like I was reading a completely different book than everyone else.
I felt the same about the Poppy War, i didn't like anything about it but I've only seen positive reviews from everyone else
I literally just DNFed The Poppy War at 50%. I was so uninvested and disinterested. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one put off
This is a funny coincidence since I JUST finished a buddy read with a group of friends for the 3rd book in Poppy War and 3rd book in The Faithful and the Fallen (Malice)
I definitely agree with you on FATF, none of us are liking the series at all.
I actually enjoyed Poppy War tho. But even amongst its fans there's contention over the best in the series, if the ending was good or not , etc lol
I really like the Poppy War trilogy (especially books 2 and 3) but I did have a decent amount of issues with it. People rave about it and there is a lot of good but there are a lot of areas for improvement (the writing is pretty plain, the worldbuilding is a bit thin and heavy handed and frequently unclear or inconsistent). I do think Kuang is just going to get better and better though!
That’s how I feel about Frederick Baan. His stories are nice. I dislike the way he arranges the story and the writing style in general.
I love Percy Jackson, but I would say that rereading it when I was older I didn’t love it as much as I did when I was younger even though I did enjoy it immensely. I would however still say that I enjoyed Percy Jackson much more than Harry Potter of though I did like HP too when I was younger
I'm guilty of rating QoN five stars despite me also not agreeing that it should've ended like that or that the book was very well plotted throughout but I mean
✨THE FEELS✨
I’ll be honest, although I really liked the Queen of Nothing, I was going to give that book 5 starts no matter what happened as long as Jude and Cardan had a happy ending 😂
I was somewhat angry at first about the conclusion, or lack thereof, of the First Law trilogy we get in Last Argument of Kings, but the more I think about it, the more I think it was the most fitting ending, if not the most satisfying one. To quote Ardee West: "No one gets what they deserve"
I'm like this with Sword of Kaigen.... it has a 4.46 average rating, but I just.... didn't like it.
Also, I think later books in series tend to be higher rated bc people who don't like the series will stop after 1 or 2 books, so it's mostly people who are already fans left.
This hurts me emotionally lol, and also quite the coincidence since I just finished SoK less than 12 hours ago 😋
I completely agree about the logic to later books being rated higher. Ive thought about this for a while. The sequels always "seem" better based on ratings just bc people who liked the earlier books will tend to continue read and most likely enjoy the rest. (unless the author just really messes it up of course haha)
Fun to see someone else point this out.
I feel you for Tau in the Rage of Dragons, but I didn't mind and still loved the first book. But he's so much better in the second book - thinks beforehand more, and is wayy more responsible ;)
Interesting how opinions differ. I found Tau much more developed in the first novel. But, in the second he was just a ball of unbridled rage and aggression and wasn't very relatable....
100% agree on Edgedancer/Lift. I texted my friend almost every single chapter saying I would never forgive Brandon for making this book necessary for 100% Cosmere completion.
I enjoyed shadow and bone better. I honestly didn't enjoy six of crows a whole lot. I also agree with your unpopular regarding them. I however really loved the Netflix show!
I also have a strong hatred for the first book in the folk of air series. If I could have rated it half a star I would have.
I think with The Rage of Dragons, I kind of filled in the gaps of his motivation, cause the reason why he’s seeking revenge also has to do with the unfairness of the caste system. But you’re right, not much space is given for examination, and he makes awful decisions. Still loved it though!
I disagree that the ending of Last Argument of Kings didn’t end with “more of a bang”. *Spoilers* I mean iirc the entire capital city gets completely destroyed in this epic battle with magic and demons and craziness lol. But then, I was a huge fan of the subversive ending so I guess I can understand why some might feel dissatisfied by that aspect of it.
*spoilers* what's crazy is i read the trilogy and its been like 2 years but i dont even remember that happening. i remember an entire plotline resulted in finding a useless rock, and the big confrontation with the bloody nine and the bad dude ended with him jumping into a river. i remember loving the characters, glokta was one of the best characters ive ever read, and i even enjoyed the arc of the snooty princeling guy. the take on the wise old wizard was definitely interesting, yet it is literally so hard for me to remember the plot to these books it makes me question if i liked them or not.
While I like Lift, I do think she’s an example of Sanderson showing us a bit too much too soon of a character who he is setting up for big things later on but who doesn’t really have a whole ton to do yet. I think once we get to Arc 2 of Stormlight she will have a more serious story arc to rival those of Kaladin/Shallan/Dalinar.
Book 2 of Rage of Dragons addresses all of the negatives you mentioned except examining his motives, which I do not believe was glossed over in book 1.
I'm finding more people dont like lift and I think I finally get it, I dont find lift funny, but her presence is funny
Stormfather "what the fuck was that thing"
Odium "I must be senile cuz that's not a thing right"
Her humor ain't subtle but it's how Sanderson writes everyone reacting to her that I love
I came close to DNFing From Blood and Ash multiple times. Around 40% I realized nothing was happening and by the end I found the overall writing, world building, and character development to be quite amateur.
Well I didn't check the ratings but I don't like Name of the wind at all. I suppose I gave it 2 stars and I actually hated both Kvothe and Dena and I found them super annoying and pretty much nothing happened in that book and I was so devastated that A LOT of people actually love this book.
You’re probably getting annoyed with me saying this but I really think you would like the Book of the Ancestor series by Mark Lawrence! It’s great and not as gritty as some of his other works
I agree with you about Queen of Nothing. I didn't hate it but it wasn't the end I wanted either! Everything happened so quickly and I wanted a bit more development before the end :) x
My unpopular opinions are 1) Six of Crows isn't NEARLY worth the hype, it's an ok book but it's not as good as everyone makes it out to be and 2) Children of Blood and Bone was literally the worst book I've read since reading Breaking Dawn when I was like 14.
The writing the acotar series was far more juvenile then from blood and ash. Listen to the audio book form of from blood and ash and maybe you'll change your mind. The world Jennifer L armentrout has built is so compelling and intricate I 100 percent became completely engrosed. Are there tropes? Ofcourse! But it's not overwhelming. This series had literally made it difficult to get into other books! I hated the acator series. I could barely finish the books they were so bad. I was blown away by the complexity in the From blood and ash series. The thing about this series is that you have to keep reading. Every book is better than the last. Please please give the audio version a try!!! It is incredible. By far her best books to date.
I agree with you about First Law, I haven't finished Last Argument of Kings yet so I can't comment on it, but I quite liked Percy Jackson even though I read it as an adult. I do quite like shounen-y things, though. Also, I hope that's a suns shirt! The hope was nice while it lasted
I’ve tried reading multiple books by Leigh Barsugo and DNF them all. And literally forget about them. My most recent attempt was King of Scars and the most interesting part of the book was the prologue/intro or whatever you want to call it. The tone and writing felt so separate from the rest of the book. I was more interested in that random kid side character than anything or anyone in the rest of the book. I don’t know if it’s the Grishaverse or Bardugos writing that is turning me off from the books. (Or maybe I’m just over YA books?) I will say I can see improvement in quality of the writing with each new book; so who knows maybe she’ll write a book in the future that I can get into.
I felt the same way about Queen of Nothing. I felt that the ending was rushed and I wasn't satisfied. I really expected there to be more of what was in Wicked King (which is my favourite in the series). For PJO, I can relate- it doesn't have the nostalgia factor for me and it does read very young which is great for the target audience. I was, however, very invested in Percy's arc and his humour kept me hooked enough (plus all the shenanigans he goes through). I've got 1 book left in the series before I can move onto Heroes of Olympus and I'm excited since the characters are older teens 😊💞
One book I don't really understand the love for is Outlander. I know that people love those books and obviously there is the show (which I have not watched) but I hated that book. I hated things that happened and how often they happened and how they were handled.
Those books are so homophobic and relies on assault trauma porn but lemme shut up cuz I'm watching the next season 😭😭😭
The Slow Regard of Silent Things, thoughts?
Drinking game: take a shot any time Elle says ACOTAR 😂☠️
Literally looking to see if anyone was going to make this comment 🤣🤣🤣
Im actually also surprised by the Queen of Nothing rating. Although I havent cared to pick up the series, I still feel like anyone who has talking about the 3rd book didnt like it as much as the rest. As you said, I guess the people who like it just arent speaking up lol
Not related to your video, but the shade of your lipstick really looks good on you! 😁
mine is red sister. its at 4.14 on goodreads... how?? i did not like it xD
and uprooted xD
I agree with Red Sister! Just couldn’t get into it
I struggled to finish Red Sister and tried to read the next book but god I hated it so much I just couldn't
@@kellyh4344 oh good gravy I'm happy I gave up in that series 🤣
While growing up, I also did not like Percy Jackson as much as others did.
I love your collection and shelves!
My Unpopular opinion is Red Sister series by Mark Lawrence I struggled to finish the first book and ended up DnFing book 2. Also another Unpopular opinion I have which usually gets me a lot of hate is Sanderson is so overhyped. 🤷🏻♀️
I hate Mistborn. I think Brando Sando seems cool, I wished I liked it and I'm glad other people like it, but boy, I really really didn't enjoy reading it.
Man we wouldn’t get along lol. We just like different things. It’s never gonna work out
Haha, different strokes for different folks
I think Lift is fine as a side character, but being the protagonist of a novella was too much for me. The humor got old very fast.
I agree I didn't mind her short sections in the mainline Stormlight books but when reading Edgedancer I just wanted it to finish by about half way through lol.
So what you're saying is we need Allen to read From Blood and Ash so the Goodreads ratings are fixed 😂
What is the soundtrack that played for a moment at the end...?
I loved the first law trilogy conclusion, fit the world and atmosphere, but I do get that it is a bit "draw a line and walk away" ending.
O my Edgedancer the only Sanderson book I hated. The plot was good, but Lift was terrible.
I thought PJO was fun but still a little mediocre. I enjoyed The Heroes of Olympus a loooot more
I hated the ending though :(
@@anthony449 It was a little underwhelming but younger me ate it up anyways 🤪
@@poorunsuspectinghunk My main issue is that Rick really hyped up that it would be dramatic but it wasn't really dramatic.
I can respect these opinions, and I get it rage to dragons is hard do appreciate by every one even though it was my favorite book this year
Six of Crows would have come with a filter. most people who would read the book would already have been familiar with the Author.
You should check out "The Helm of Midnight" its kinda political mistborn era 1 and 2 combined
Personally I’ve never been a fan of V.E. Schwab books (I’ve read 6 of them). Always felt like her writing (and plot especially in Addie LaRue) meanders too much and the books don’t deliver on the hype. I’ve started liking her books even less upon realizing she loves the NLOG trope
I find lift so annoying too!! I could not understand people’s love for her! She comes off as an ok side character in the main storyline though
Seeing some comments it would seem I'm the only one who doesn't find Lift super annoying lol She is not my favourite character at all, but reading Edgedancer was not the torture a lot of people say ^^'
Similar unpopular opinion for me, I really didn't like Lila Bard from Shades of Magic, it got to the point that almost ruins the trilogy for me. I prefer Lift 100 times over Lila. Everybody seems to adore her though :)
I also dont like those two Sanderson novellas - i find Lift super annoying and it took me forever to read Edgedancer and with Secret History i dont like the “main” character’s change of heart regarding everything. Like no.
I agree with Queen of Nothing. It needed more and was so underwhelming.
So I feel like my unpopular opinion is Senlin ascends… I love Thomas, but the tower and all the slog of quote unquote Overcoming - - I hate it! I want to know the end, but I don’t know if I can SLOG through the constancy of the tower to get there!!!! *sigh*
And thank you for your forthright opinions, Ell. I truly appreciate you!
I was very tempted by the hype but I resisted as I know I can't even get through one episode of a tower based anime, let alone slogging through a whole series about it! You should just go read a spoiler summary and let it go~
The blasphemy of not liking Mistborn Secret History! DX
Era 1 was my least favorite of the Mistborn installments. Era 2 is way better, and Secret History is basically Era 1, but with all the boring parts cut out lol
One of the most disappointing books I ever read was Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley. It has a high Goodreads rating of 4.05 stars. I was incredibly disappointed with the amount of telling there was vs. showing among so many other things I hated about the book, but obviously it just wasn't for me since it's so well loved.
For something more positive, this year I finally read Mistborn trilogy. I went in with very VERY high expectations for Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, and I have to say he BLEW me away! Especially that last book, all the feelings hit me so hard I was speechless and I have still been thinking about it for weeks after finishing. The Mistborn trilogy is my favorite series and books of all time now. His books got me out of a 5 year reading slump (mainly due to reading too many bad books, PTSD and depression). I should have tried him earlier, I was too afraid Brandon Sanderson was overhyped, but I'm definitely checking out his other novels. Thank you for recommending Brandon Sanderson all the time, I finally gave him a shot because of you! I will be sure to avoid Mistborn: Secret History because I trust your judgment. I really want to read all these other books you have hyped up, like the Winnowing trilogy and Fireborne. Thanks for your recommendations and your videos!
I absolutely love Beauty. Lol. She also has another Beauty and the Beast retelling which is very different called Rose Daughter. You might like that one more. 🤷🏻♀️
@@catsandbats77 I am glad to hear you loved it! I only wished I did. I will say the writing was beautiful from what I remember, but I had issues with pacing and the development of the romance. Who knows, maybe if I try again or try Rose Daughter since it's been several years I might love it.
I never got into Percy Jackson. I need to read some Brandon Sanderson, I've heard good things, but he is so prolific it scares me. I did pick up Six of Crows just because of the Netflix show. I didn't really enjoy Shadow of Bone when I read it because it has a ton of tropes I avoid. But I still watched the series for nostalgia. I have also never gotten into Holly Black's works. I don't want any Sarah J. Maas in my life, not my cup of tea. I also don't like romance at all.
I'm with you on Lift. I CANNOT stand her. Awful.
Here's an unpopular one: "To Kill a Mockingbird" sits at 4.28 and although I commend Harper Lee for her character work and dialogue, I find that the issues of a debut author are on display. From a plot standpoint it's very bloated, especially in the first half where her clear priority is to set up future events thematically rather than give present events an organic flow. Had she written more books, I think she would've improved in this area and crafted works that actually deserve a 4.28
... and the thing is, there's an engaging story buried in there. The film adaptation proved this by trimming the fat so the focus stays on Scout and Jem's coming of age. It also helps that the casting of all the characters was perfect.
One thing to consider is that we as a people have learned a lot about how to write, plot, and populate novels over the years since then. It is easy, but maybe unfair, to look back in time and judge a work based on current standards.
That's a generous sentiment to avoid ill to the dead, but I beg to differ. Stylistic changes will land a disclaimer on any book even five years into its lifespan, but storytelling craft stays much the same. "Pride and Prejudice" has a similar Goodreads score despite an age gap of 147 years. In Austen's case I don't think style gets in the way of craft: you have a book that's tightly focused on its endgame while still leaving room for the reader to be entertained by quotable scenes and quirky characters. You might say current standards work to Austen's advantage.
And as much as I enjoy Shakespeare, the slow but steady backlash against his early plays (i.e. "Romeo and Juliet") feels warranted because even he needed a decade of practice to polish his craft ... only when you get to the middle period (roughly "Twelfth Night" to "Macbeth") does placing him on such a high pedestal make any sense.
I was expecting yo find Harry Potter and Wheel of Time somewhere on this list.
Ugh ACOTAR! How could it be better written than anything? :P
Sofie B
Sorry you jumped to assumptions and were verbally abusive towards me. I would have responded to your comment but you quickly deleted it after. Probably because you realised you shouldn’t have said what you did. All I did was be polite and respectful to you and yet you reverted to name calling because you couldn’t fathom someone not absolutely agreeing with you. I can now see you have some serious anger issues so I hope you are able to get help for them. Take care and be careful with what you read in the future, it seems you’re easily triggered by books from other cultural views to you.
Don’t worry I saw what she said to you, she was really disgusting and rather xenophobic. You did nothing wrong.
@@Lilac-and-Gooseberries Thanks 👍🏻
Shadow and Bone’s rating is too high IMO 😆
*cough* Dresden Files *cough*
Everyone loves Addie LaRue, and for me, this is the worst book I've read this year. Very disappointing!
The Song of Achilles does not live up to the hype in my opinion. I'd give it a 2 stars if I was feeling generous.
My unpopular opinion is The House on the Cerulean Sea was just okay. Yes the children are very lovable, but the overall story is average and a bit superficial at times. We get indications of severe discrimination and abuse but it just gets glossed over. It also sort of implies that the support of one person can cure trauma which is complete nonsense. Def not worth a 4.50.
I agree 100% with your point on ACOTAR vs From Blood and Ash. While I consider ACOTAR to be only okay and I don't fully get the huge hype, the writing FBAA is just bad. It's as simple as that. I genuinely don't get the love it gets but maybe I'm not supposed to 😄
THE ACOTAR SERIES IS THE WORST I'VE EVER READ
bruh imagine being a Lift hater
I don’t have to
The ending of Last Argument of Kings ruined the whole trilogy for me.
My unpopular bookish opinion is that of Children of Blood and Bone. I think it’s overhyped, predictable, insta-love to the extreme and the way the plot was told was poor.
I read that a little while ago and I don't remember much about it now but I definitely remember not really liking it at all, especially after all the hype for it
I think a lot of people found QoN underwhelming (including me) but we were so in love with Jude and Cardan, we couldn't bear giving it a rating less than 5 stars haha😅
Last Argument of Kings might be one of my favorite series closers ever, and it is because of that subversiveness you mentioned. I feel that all the characters have realistic arcs even though some of them are, I think, intentionally unsatisfying. It just really drove home the themes for me and also set up the later First Law world books so well.
Update: Bookborn just posted a video explaining much better what I was referring to here (about the anti-hero’s journey in First Law). Highly recommended.
Personally, after everything I heard about The Poppy War, I expected to love it. Rin as a character wasn't someone I cared very much about, not that its a criteria but it certainly helps. I found myself reading for other characters and seeing where the plot was going - the world and historical influences were new to me and I definitely appreciated it, despite how dark it'd get.
it was very interesting for me to read the trilogy and then when i was done i listened to dan carlin's hardcore history series supernova in the east. its about the 2nd world war focused on japans involvement. it puts a lot into context that made my appreciation for the series grow to high heights seeing the added layers of references and themes that are soooo obvious and well executed once you understand the history, which makes sense since the author is like a major history buff who went to college and studied a lot of this stuff
I appreciate what R.F Kuang was doing with PW but, idk it wasn't for me. I saw the first book to completion; I rate it well and recommend it to anyone who asks me about it. But.. I don't particularly care to read 2 more books of war crimes and a main character I didn't click with very well lol
@@The92Waffles I'm hoping that I grow to enjoy the protagonist or overlook her character in favour of everything else. I'll probably read it as an ebook so I don't have to go through unhauling a physical copy if it's not to my liking. I did rate TPW a 3.5 and I've heard the later books are favourites among fans
I think that is what I love the most about the poppy war. I have never before read a book where I didn’t love the main character and it made me the series even more. She’s very open and blunt about her need/want for power and she’s the furthest thing from a hero. I think she created a story that was still worth reading even with a very flawed main character.
I hated both TPW and TDR. Just... unlikeable characters are a make or break for me, and it wasn't just that Rin was unlikeable. She let her unlikeable feelings influence her actions and,, I just hated it. TPW was okay, but TDR was honestly kinda infuriating and I feel like she'll get an (in my opinion) undeserved character arc in the third book and I am not excited to read it. I'm a huge history nerd and LOVE historical fiction/fantasy, but this didn't do it for me. At all.
I actually found Fbba nothing like ACOTAR. I actually like ACOTAR. But I think FBAA is just boring plot lines with a smidge of smut. I mean come on…. Poor Kieran only has one tired line. JLA couldn’t even do him justice and make him have a personality. Poppy is one of the most annoying characters I’ve ever read as well
And yeah idk same with shadow and bone. The characters annoy me and it feels way too immature. SOC feels more mature and is just more interesting to me.
Yes I really like ACOTAR even though it is a bit repetitive sometimes. But fbaa is next level repetitive I got so annoyed
My unpopular opinion is preferring the LOTR’s films over the books. The books are fantastic but I liked certain changes in the films, such as how more fleshed out Arwen is and Helm’s Deep felt more epic.
I'm the exact same way! A friend of mine and me both loved the movies and decided to buddy read the books. And felt very disappointed when we were done. We also felt the movies did alot of things better.
My first impressions of Lift were just kinda like "...huh..." so I get the general consensus that she's weird and annoying. Haven't read Edgedancer. But after Rhythm of War, I find myself much more interested in what's going on with her, why she is the way she is, and where that all might be headed. (I forgot about Edgedancer, in fact. Might have to check that one out.)
First law spolers!!
Wow i thought that the last argument of
the kings had a banging ending, if you are not surprised as shit after valid an balks reavel, I tought that glokta's happy ending was a bang as well.
I guess I understand if you have Ferro or Logen as a favorite character.
I'm from an Eastern European country, and it so happened in our literary tradition that many books that are considered adults in the West are perceived by most of our readers and literary critics as YA. For example for me and many of my friends The Daevabad Trilogy and The Poppy War trilogy were young adults books. And even the critics branded Backman's Beartown as predictable and weak teenage reading. You know, when you're sixteen y.o and you need to read War and Peace and Crime and Punishment and 1984, and other books with graphic violence and sex scenes you start to treat many books differently.
I think if I had gone into reading First Law with 0 knowledge of what to expect, I would have felt similarly as you--but somehow knowing that there wouldn't be much of a plot made me enjoy what was there. Abercrombie's strength is definitely in his characters, and I enjoyed them so much that the ending intrigued me even if it wasn't... thrilling, or very satisfying. It definitely suited my tastes, but I can TOTALLY see why it would not be your cup of tea, and I'm a bit hesitant to recommend it to friends without some disclaimers, lol.
i loved the ending of first law for the reasons you mentioned, i dont enjoy 'standard tropes' very much so i quite liked the way he wrapped it up :-) i suppose im just a bit weird like that haha
I would also add, that The Last Argument of Kings barely even closes anything. Story arcs of most of the characters seem to be cut without a finish and one even with a cliffhanger. With a mindset of getting into a trilogy, I was annoyed of how little closure it had. I will read the rest, becosue I absolutely loved Steven Pacey's performance in it. But in my opinion The First Law in general has a lot of shortcomings and is very overhyped. However, I love Abercrombie's way with words and his humour.
I experienced a similar feeling regarding the Shadow and Bone series compared to Six of Crows. I couldn't read the Shadow and Bone trilogy fast enough, while I struggled to finish Crooked Kingdom. With Queen of Nothing, the story became quite predictable and the main characters seemed tame. They didn't feel like the same Jude and Cardan from the first 2 books.
I agree with you on Last Argument of Kings, mostly because I feel like it had some unbelievable character choices, meandering plot, and a slow ending that to me was just meh. I'm all for subversions, but I do think the ending took too long explaining and wrapping up stuff that felt unneeded or could have been addressed earlier.
I finished Addie Larue yesterday so I have a new unpopular opinion. It was so boring and I disliked basically every character 🙈.
Also, Shadow and Bone is so underrated!
I freaking hated Addie LaRue. I disliked them all and thought it was just dumb. Also, so boring.
I didn't like it either! I didn't hate it but I was so hyped and then I thought it was just "fine" and I'm being generous.
Tbh the thing now is that some books got sooo much hyped that even when we like that it feels like not enough cause we expected more.
Just a suggestion from a fellow bookworm: Have low expectations on books so that u can at least enjoy it.
I think the thing with The Last Argument of Kings is that the way everything seems to be coming together and then it all falls apart and it kinda reveals most of things that were happening were just one ****holes game, and where everyones epic character arcs all fall apart when they are forced to return to reality is kinda the point of it all. Although I get why not everyone would find that satisfying, but I definitly enjoyed it, it has a realness to it that so few other series capture imo. All I know is whenever I think about The Last Argument of Kings specifically, most of what I can think about is how much I hate one particular character and how much I wound up fearing another 😆
I think I know which character you fear but which one do you hate?
Haha, I liked the entire first law series but there is almost no plot there and I'm not the biggest fan of the ending either!
I highly dislike mistborn era 2. Highly. 😂 Same for Wheel of Time. Another popular series that I'm surprised gets so much love is the Faithful and the Fallen. It's middle of the Reead for me. Especially the writing style annoys me. 🙈 But I'm glad other people love it!
I am honestly more into Shadow and Bone then Six of Crows also. So I feel this deeply.
I am more attached to Shadow and bone than SoC. I have to admit that LB’s writing improved tremendously in Soc but the world building and just overall vibe of the trilogy is just 😘👌🏻
Is there a difference? Do you have to read one series to understand another?
@@alaenamarie8702 so Shadow and Bone is more background for this world. It also goes into a bit more explanation on the magic system. But the characters are and the story line are different. So you don't need Shadow and Bone to understand it but it helps big time for background information.
@@aliaibrahim4517 I can agree with you on this. The writing definitely improved but I love Shadow and Bone for more explanation on the magic system and how it felt more like a fairytale.
@@thebookbella4764 okay great, thank you for clarifying!!
People just jealous of Lift's awesomeness
I agree and disagree with you on the last argument of kings. I found the ending disappointing in a very realistic way, if any of the characters got any epic endings it would've been inconsistent with the rest of the books. I still feel bad when I think about the ending though
Tbh I'm quite shocked about The Queen of Nothing having the same ending as The Wicked King, I thought it was really rushed and predictable and definitely needed to be longer! I feel like a lot of the reviewers I follow felt the same so I'm surprised too!
I stand by the fact that people unnecessarily hate on the Shadow and Bone trilogy and overhype The Six of Crows duology 😶 *hides* Six of Crows is good but not THAT much better than the trilogy (I feel like I always make this same comment on videos where you discuss Grisha, but I'll die on this hill 😂)
I read Six of Crows because of its high rating on Goodreads. Didn't like it. It felt corny, focussing a lot on romance. It all felt so forced. Malice: Soooo tropey and one dimensional characters. Murderbot is also very popular and has high ratings. I think its boring most of the time and I can't seem to attach myself to any other character than Murderbot. Second book from Kingkiller Chronicles felt like I was reading porn for half of the book.
I do want to say with the high ratings on these books later on in series is that the enjoyment is obviously skewed. More people have started the first book than have finished the last book in a series so if it’s a really good book it will have high ratings, but the sequels will also have higher ratings because only the fans of the first one are reading it. It’s not an actual reflection of the quality anymore at that point.
I'm trying to read The Blade Itself. I hear so many people rave about it, but I'm struggling to get through it. I'm just not feeling it.
I think the disparity between S&B and SoC is that the gan following from S&B carried over and those who didn't like it may have fallen off and therefore you're not seeing those reviews so SoC has an unfair advantage over S&B
I usually don’t really pay attention to thumbnails, however this one was extra aesthetically pleasing for some reason, with the color matching and all, so just wanted to mention it!👌
Some of my unpopular bookish opinions:
1. I do not like the Starless Sea, I thought it was not good and had no plot, but the writing was pretty.
2. I also did not like Daughter of Smoke and Bone and felt I guessed the plot in the first third of the book and the rest of it was slow and getting to a point I already knew was coming.
3. I didn’t like Song of Achilles 🤭
Have not read Daughter of Smoke and Bone but the other two… Yes! and Yes! I feel so alone in these opinions.
@@the.bookish.designer I know!
So i can't read Mistborn secret History yet if i only finished Mistborn era 1?
This is me and Priory of the Orange Tree. I feel like I read a different book. I have it three stars, bordering on two and it's average is 4.2!
I didn’t absolutely adore Priory when I first read it like everyone else seems to but it’s grown on me over time! Sometimes I find myself just thinking about that massive book haha
I thought the world building was so lazy 😩
@@laurabrock1790 I was just bored absolutely stiff. Like I didn’t care about the characters at all, good or bad. It was a slog.
@@lorbito155 I can understand why others like it. But I was like persevering the whole time, not enjoying. Kinda made me sad.
I was bored most of the time with it and then the war was just rushed with all that build up.
My unpopular book opinions:
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren is just normal. For me there are much more better books than that.
I hated The court of Thorns and Roses series. I can imagine other people liking it but I hate it. I hate both main characters. I hate Sarah J. Maas’ writing style. I tried to start reading Throne of glass and was pissed after ten minutes… My friend is hating on me because of it, lol hahaha. The thing is that people say From blood and ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout is similar to Sarah J. Maas but her Triology is one of my top 5 favorite books/series EVER… Like what… ACOTAR is my second most hated book/series right after In the Unlikely event by L.J. Shein. But I really hope that one day I could reread Maas’ books and be like “Okay, they are fine actually”. My issue with them is personal.
Spoiler alert!!
Uhhh and Song of Achilles! I do like the book and the writing style is one of the best like OMG… BUT! But somewhere after half of the book Madeline Miller wrote that Szene with Patroclus sleeping with Deidameia and it disturbed me like for real… I got over it eventually but afterwards my gut just didn’t let me enjoy anymore.