Unpopular Opinions Book Tag!

Hello readers!!! 😀 So, I’ve seen this circulating around the BookTube and Book Blogging community, so we thought it might be fun to participate in it ourselves!

1. A popular book or series that you didn’t like. 

Christina: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi – So, I was super excited to read this series because I’ve heard so many great reviews about this trilogy from a lot of BookTubers that I follow. However – I read this first book and just couldn’t stand it!!! I’m even surprised that I finished this book at all. It had all of the YA tropes that I can not stand: insta-love, dysfunctional love triangle, abusive love triangle, etc. I definitely will not be continuing on with this series, which I typically don’t do, but I just can’t do it with this one. Sorry!! I have a weird feeling that this answer might make me super unpopular…haha!!!

Rachel: That Moral Instruments Series everyone’s into. The first book wasn’t so bad, but the second was just a supernatural soap opera (hello, get over all this drama and get back to fighting bad guys) so I just gave up.

Val: !!!! Mortal Instruments was so good! Uhm.. what is one i didn’t like? Well I never got on the Divergent train… does that count?

2. A popular book or series that every one else seems to hate, but you love. 

Christina: Allegiant by Veronica Roth – I remember flying through this trilogy and really enjoying it. I was not a huge fan of Insurgent, but I did love the other two. I loved Allegiant, yes, despite the ending 😉

Rachel: I think I’ve mentioned this before, but The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. I’m not claiming it’s the new Harry Potter, but good ol’ Jo is a fantastic storyteller.

Val: I am sorry, but definitely 50 Shades.

3. A love triangle where the main character ended up with the person you did not want them to end up with or an OTP that you didn’t like. 

Christina: I sort of want to say the whole Katniss – Peeta – Gale love triangle… I was definitely in the small camp of people that wished that Katniss didn’t end up with either guy. After everything that happened, I wish that the epilogue with her, Peeta, and their children just didn’t happen. Le sigh.

Rachel: Alina and whatshisface from Shadow and Bone. I can’t speak for what happens in the rest of the trilogy, but I found absolutely zero chemistry in their relationship.

Val: I agree with Christina’s answer.

4. A popular book genre that you hardly reach for. 

Christina: YA Paranormal – Which is funny since I’m slowly making my way through The Mortal Instruments/The Infernal Devices series. I just find that I’m not really in the mood for a lot of YA Paranormal, particularly YA Paranormal Romance?

Rachel: I don’t go for anything YA that seems to center on *Romance*…I usually find it too infantile or plagued with the ‘insta-love’ we see way too much of. And celebrity memoirs–I realize halfway through that I’m just not that interested.

Val: Non-fiction or sci-fy are just not my thing!

5. A popular or beloved character that you don’t like. 

Christina: I guess one character from a series that everyone seems to love is Edward Cullen from the Twilight series? Yes, there was a time that I read the series and thought I loved it too, but after some reflecting I realize that I am not a fan of the Edward Cullen archetype. The bad boy that can’t help but be a complete jerk to the person seeking his attention, and so all of his cruel ways are all justified because of the fact that he is the bad boy. Sigh…why?!?!

Rachel: Our two leads in The Fault in Our Stars…sorry. Like I said in my review, they’re exaggerated to an irritating point and I just had no connection to them.

6. A popular author that you can’t seem to get into. 

Christina: I am going to get so much hate for this…but, J. R. R. Tolkien… I know! I know! I remember when I first tried reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy, I just had such a hard time getting into the books. This is such an embarrassing thing to admit to as a lover of high-fantasy, because this is the highest of fantasies that I definitely should’ve read by now. Goal in life: READ THIS SERIES!!!

Rachel: The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. They just seem so unnecessarily long. After slogging through 200 pages of little action and exhausting myself on deciphering all the Scottish dialogue, I realized this wasn’t the series for me.

Val: Again, I am with Christina on this. I got 50 pages into the Hobbit and that was the end for me. I guess add that to my answer in question 1.

7. A popular book trope that you’re tired of seeing. 

Christina: Can I share two that I wish we could just do away with?!?! 1) Insta-love!!! Why?! Why?! Why is this popular and why is this so heavily used, particularly in YA literature?? I just think it’s a terrible message to be sending to our younger readers and it makes me sad. 2) The “bad boy that I know I can turn good” abusive romantic storyline – essentially Twilight and other books like it. Le sigh. Again, what are we teaching our younger readers?!

Rachel: Ditto. Just ditto what Mina said.

8. A popular series that you have no interest in reading.  

Christina: The Maze Runner by James Dashner – I just feel like I’ve missed the window of interest for this series and especially with the second movie coming out, I might as well just watch the movies…haha!!!

Rachel: The Throne of Glass series…it feels like another poor take on the ‘dystopian world saved by badass heroine who’s also falling in love’ genre.

Val: You should watch the movie.. it’s SO good!

9. What movie or T.V. show adaptation do you prefer more than the book? 

Christina: This one is so hard because I always prefer the book to the adaptation… Hmm…I guess, one that I was really okay with, Catching Fire, was probably my favorite adaptation of that trilogy. I thought it was so well done and it definitely translated the images that I had in my head onto the screen so well.

Rachel: Technically this hasn’t happened yet, but I’m already banking that the movie adaptation of The Martian will be waaayyy better than suffering through the nerd talk in the book.

What are some of your unpopular opinions? What do you get a lot of hate for loving? Or…what do you love that receives a lot of hate?