Tags on Tags!
January 09, 2016
The ABBA Book Tag
Take a Chance on Me (a book you unexpectedly liked)AN EMBER IN THE ASHES, by Sabaa Tahir. This book had a lot of hype last year but as I read reviews it seemed people either loved it or hated it. I hate reading hyped books so it wasn't really on my radar, but I decided to get the e-book through the library since I've been into more diverse (not western-based) fantasy lately. It wasn't a perfect book, but I really enjoyed Tahir's writing style and Elia's character.
The Winner Takes it All (An overhyped book)
RED QUEEN, by Victoria Aveyard. Oh my, this book was overhyped. It was touted so much I even bought it in hardcover. *Shakes fist at internet* I should have known! My opinion on this book is very unpopular, but I'll explain more in the Unpopular Opinions Tag.
Waterloo (An amazing historical fiction book)
ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, by Anthony Doerr. It won a Pulitzer. I cried. Enough said.
You’re Only A Child (a recently published book)
TRUTHWITCH, by Susan Dennard. I haven't read it, but I just bought it. Susan's writing advice has been such a pivotal part of my writing and I am SO excited to support her new book!
I Have A Dream (a favourite, ‘ideal’ book)
WINTER, by Marissa Meyer. This book was a perfect end to the series. Perfect. I don't think I have never been so satisfied with a series ending. Bravo, Marissa! Bravo! Thank you for not being a Suzanne Collins. In case you can't tell I'm still mad about Finnick.
Dancing Queen (A book with royalty)
QUEEN OF SHADOWS, by Sarah J. Maas. Prince Rowan. Enough said.
 |
| #rowaelintrash |
THE HEART OF BETRAYAL, by Mary E. Pearson. I'm a cover slut. Books with amazing covers are always the first ones I buy in hardcover and this series has AMAZING covers.
Lay All Your Love on Me (a book that needs more attention)
SOULLESS, by Gail Carriger. I read this book and then immediately ran to tumblr in search of the fandom and found... like three people. I know people love this series, but where are all you guys! This book needs a fandom and I have no idea why it doesn't. The main love interest looks pretty much like this guy and he is almost never clothed.
 |
| Grumpy Werewolf Hunk |
MECHANICA, by Betsy Cornwell. A mechanic cinderella? My mind immediately went to Cinder, but the books actually couldn't be more different. Mechanica had its problems, but it was a super empowering take on Cinderella that all my feminist sisters will appreciate. Also it's steampunk. Also the cover is STUNNING.
S.O.S. (A book that should get in trouble and NOT be rescued)
REBEL MECHANICS, by Shanna Swendson. The concept of this book is AMAZING... Steampunk vs magic in an alt-history America where England won the Revolutionary War. Yeah! I just wish the writing lived up to that concept. I tried to get past the first few chapters, but the writing and the cardboard characters were insufferable.
Knowing Me, Knowing You (a book you know a lot about for whatever reason)
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, by Jane Austen. I'm reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies right now and if you gave me a highlighter and asked me to highlight the parts that are from the original text, I could probably do it.
and next up...
The Unpopular Opinions Tag:
 |
| This is gonna be good... |
RED QUEEN, by Victoria Aveyard. Ugh. Woof. "It's so original! So amazing!" they said. It was not. It was like someone took elements from five bestselling YA novels and mashed it all together into a Franken-book of generic YA drivel. This book wanted to be like Hunger Games, X-Men, The Selection and Game of Thrones and ended up a confused mess world-building wise. Even worse a love triangle was forced in there that unfolded like every other love triangle you've ever read. Every scene was an echo of something I read elsewhere. Furthermore, "That twist was amazing!" they said. No it wasn't. I don't know how people missed that clunky freight train coming. Here's a hint: the evil ones have dark hair. So, yeah. I don't like this book.
 |
| "I just hate buying crappy books!" |
NORTHANGER ABBEY, by Jane Austen. Most Austenites will tell you it's their least favorite. Well, it's my favorite so deal with it. #muslin
3. A love triangle where you didn’t like who the main character ended up with:
A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES, by Sarah J. Maas. Rhysand. Just Rhysand. That's all there is. I'm so excited though because there will be more of him in the second book!
4. A popular genre you hardly read:
Sci-Fi is an almost never for me. Unless we're talking Steampunk, but that's a very minor subset of Sci-Fi that's pretty much Historical Fiction.
5. A popular/beloved character you dislike:
Warner from SHATTER ME. He's an abusive, manipulative, jerk, but he's hot so whatever. To be fair I DNF'ed Shatter Me and I could say the same things about Rhysand, but also I'm hypocrite and I don't understand me either.
6. A popular author you can’t seem to get into:
John Green. Yeah. I said it. I loved the Fault in Our Stars but I have never had the urge to pick up any of his other books. My thoughts on him are weird. He's a cool guy. I watch his videos from time to time. I'd probably read more of him if he wasn't JOHN GREEN!!! but I just feel like there are equally talented authors who deserve more attention. Plus I'm tired of him being the only name in YA the media knows so I think I'll leave John and his books to his hordes. He's not hurting for my business.
7. A popular trope you’re tired of reading:
I'm so tired of characters who have no control over pretty much everything that happens to them. (Katniss, Juliette, Mare) They just react to everything that happens to them as it comes and of course fall in love with the hot guy who's along for the ride while they're at it.
8. A popular series you have no interest in reading:
SHATTER ME, By Tahereh Mafi. I tried Shatter Me, but it didn't grab me. See question 5.
9. A movie you liked better than the book:
AUSTENLAND, by Shannon Hale. The book had a few issues where plot stuff didn't make a whole bunch of sense. The movie wasn't perfect either. They definitely stayed true to the book's important points, but some good decisions were made to improve on the original text. Good decisions like JJ Field...
Oh yeah! The next tag is the TAG OF HAPPINESS, passed onto me by the darlingest blogger Christina Im @ Fairy Skeletons! I love being happy and after a little negativity in that last tag, I'm excited to end on a positive note. So here's all the happiest things:
John Green. Yeah. I said it. I loved the Fault in Our Stars but I have never had the urge to pick up any of his other books. My thoughts on him are weird. He's a cool guy. I watch his videos from time to time. I'd probably read more of him if he wasn't JOHN GREEN!!! but I just feel like there are equally talented authors who deserve more attention. Plus I'm tired of him being the only name in YA the media knows so I think I'll leave John and his books to his hordes. He's not hurting for my business.
7. A popular trope you’re tired of reading:
I'm so tired of characters who have no control over pretty much everything that happens to them. (Katniss, Juliette, Mare) They just react to everything that happens to them as it comes and of course fall in love with the hot guy who's along for the ride while they're at it.
SHATTER ME, By Tahereh Mafi. I tried Shatter Me, but it didn't grab me. See question 5.
9. A movie you liked better than the book:
AUSTENLAND, by Shannon Hale. The book had a few issues where plot stuff didn't make a whole bunch of sense. The movie wasn't perfect either. They definitely stayed true to the book's important points, but some good decisions were made to improve on the original text. Good decisions like JJ Field...
 |
| sorry... what was I saying? |
THE TAG OF HAPPINESS
BOOKS: ELLA ENCHANTED, by Gail Carson Levine | QUEEN OF SHADOWS, by Sarah J. Mass | FANGIRL, by Rainbow Rowell | CRESS, by Marissa Meyer | A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC, by Victoria Schwab
FILMS: AUSTENLAND | PRIDE & PREJUDICE (2007) | GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY | TANGLED | THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL | CINDERELLA (2015)
WORDS: Diaphanous | Resplendent | Booger | Ardent | Hew
SCENTS: Fresh laundry | Movie theater popcorn | Rosemary | Pine | Library books
SONGS: I love music and there are too many songs that make me happy to list, so here's my "Happy" Spotify playlist
MISCELLANY: Chris Pratt | Smelling bags of coffee | Empty notebooks | Doodling | Brunch | Full Bookshelves | Hobbits
AND NOW FOR THE TAG LIST
Feel free to pick and choose which ones you want to do, or do them all if that is what you wish! I certainly wont stop you! And here are the lovely bloggers I'm tagging:
8 comments
Yay, thank you for doing the tag! Yep, Red Queen was definitely overhyped, but once the later, post-release reviews came out, it seems that a fair amount of people share your opinion. I haven't decided whether to read ACOMAF yet -- I did NOT like ACOTAR, but at the same time the writing IS really good. *flails about in indecision*
ReplyDeletePS: OMG thank you for calling me a queen of writing blogs I'm grinning so much here I can't even
Yeah. I was just mad that I bought the book in big, fat hardcover! But you have to give the publishing team props — that book was perfectly engineered to be a bestseller.
DeleteYeah, my problems with ACOTAR were mostly Feyre being stupid, and Tamlin being kinda manipulative... which is why I am a violent fan of Rhysand. But Sarah J Maas, for me, is like the Michael Bay of Fantasy. It's flashy, the worldbuilding is cool, her characters are BA and there's lots and LOTS of hunky men. I love reading them, but I never go into her books expecting to be as satisfied as if I was reading Stiefvater or something. I'm mainly obsessed with her characterization — she's a master in my mind. But really I'm a sucker for all brooding men with dark hair. That and charismatic rapscallions. Also, fair warning, Throne of Glass is the worst in the series. They get better as they go along.
Yeah I thought Red Queen is pretty unoriginal too lol. As to Warner from Shatter Me..well I'll just say that the last book is the one where Warner shines (and the main reason why everyone, including me, is soo obsessed with him). I totally agree with you about John Green though. I feel like his books really don't deserve all the hype because they're good but I've definitely read way better YA Contemporary books.
ReplyDeleteYeah. It was hard for me to think of a beloved character I don't like, so Warner got the boot even though I was just kind of "meh" about all of Shatter Me. If they finally make a movie/tv show about it, I'll definitely give the books a second chance, but right now there is so much on my to-read list that I just can't work up the courage to jump back in.
DeleteYeah. They are good. I can't deny that, but the hype around them is a bit boggling.
Thanks for the tags! I can't really get into John Green either--not that he isn't a talented author, but his style just isn't for me. I've been wanting to read Soulless for a while though, and your description makes it sound even more fun!
ReplyDeleteYES! Soulless is awesome! The best way to describe them is just pure fun! Though I will caution you, the heat level is a bit higher than I was expecting, but I also read mostly YA so my heat tolerance is lower than most.
DeleteI'm glad I'm not the only person who thought that way about Rebel Mechanics. I couldn't finish it either, which saddened me greatly because steampunk is my heart and soul and there's not enough of it. But oh well. And I, too, was annoyed with Red Queen! But I tend to stay away from overhyped books in general so I should have known. AND YUS TO WARNER. I just...I don't understand because he's way abusive and I can't even with how awful it is that everyone fangirls over him.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the tag! I'll get to that this week.
Yeah, that ACOTAR pairing was pretty unsatisfactory. I wonder what will happen in A Court of Mist and Fury - I'm secretly rooting for Rhys and Feyre's elder sister - I think sparks would fly. And YES, The Heart of Betrayal has a gorgeous cover! I recently finished it and I really liked it. I hope the finale will be just as good!
ReplyDeleteThese tags were a lot of fun to do, and I'm returning the favor with One Lovely Blog Award (http://ofdragonsandhearts.com/2016/01/monster-tag-post/) - I don't know if you've done it before but I'd love to read your answers! :)
I appreciate all of your wonderful comments and feedback!
It means the world to me!
Always,
Adelyn