Unpopular Book Opinions

5.09.2016


I saw this on Kate's blog and thought it was such an interesting way to discuss books! Here are my answers, and please leave your thoughts/responses in the comments.

1. A popular book or series that you didn't like.
For a series, these two immediately came to mind: Outlander and Divergent. I read the first book of each and was not a fan, so I haven't read any of the others in either series.

The most recent popular book that I didn't like was Big Little Lies, which all my friends gave 4 or 5 stars on Goodreads, and I was just like eh. I also didn't like Girl on the Train. The plot has potential to make a good movie, so I might go see it when it comes out. But the book was just kind of annoying.

2. A popular book or series that every one else seems to hate but you love. 
I don't know that people hate this book, but I really liked Life of Pi, and I know some people who didn't like it. I actually own a copy and have read that book a few times. I never did see the movie. I feel like it would be too weird for my taste, which I know doesn't make sense because I liked the book it's based on.

3. A love triangle where the main character ended up with the person you did NOT want them to end up with.
The Hunger Games. The end.

4. A popular book genre that you hardly reach for.
I don't do sci-fi, and I don't do vampires.

5. A popular or beloved character that you do not like.
This one stumped me! I really can't think of anything. What would you say?

6. A popular author that you can't seem to get into.
Veronica Roth because see #1. 

Also, Nicholas Sparks. The only book I've ever read of his was A Walk to Remember back in the day when the Mandy Moore movie came out and everyone was gaga over Shane West. INCLUDING ME, OKAY. Even though I totally pretended I wasn't. But come on, people. He took her to stand in two places at once!

Anyway.

The point is, I was not a fan of Mr. Sparks. The writing is too cliche and all the books are about the exact same thing, so if you've read one you've read them all, in my opinion.

7. A popular book trope that you're tired of seeing. 
I really wish werewolves and vampires and zombies would just go away in both books and TV.

8. A popular series that you have no interest in reading.
I read the first book of the Maze Runner and had no interest in reading the rest. The ending suuuuucked and the book went on and on. Just my opinion. Also, I was never interested in reading Twilight, and for obvious reasons I had no desire to read the Fifty Shades books.

9. The saying goes "The book is always better than the movie", but what movie or TV show adaptation do you prefer more than the book?
It's not better by any means, but the old school Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth is really good, and I am also a fan of the Kiera Knightly version. I mentioned this in #1, but I do think Girl on a Train has potential of making a good movie; and while I never saw them, I think the Divergent series probably made a much better movie than book, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about that.

Also, I was impressed with the movie "Water for Elephants." I thought the book was fantastic, and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the movie and it was really good too!


Michelle said...

I like this idea! I'm with you--I'm so over zombies and vampires that I could scream. I was also not a fan of Girl on the Train. The characters were AWFUL and I only finished reading it because I'm stubborn. I've never read a Nicholas Sparks book, but some of the movies have been a bit insufferable (though I had a major Walk to Remember moment too back in the day) so I've just stayed away.

I think I'm the only person left who hasn't read the Harry Potter series.

Mary said...

Love this idea!
Completely with you on the Hunger Games ending. It seemed so rushed and wrong to me to end the book in that way, and she was totally with the wrong guy. :(
Also, although I liked the first Nicholas Sparks book I read, it is very definitely the same as pretty much all of the others. I stopped reading his books quite a while ago.

Kristen Skelton said...

Aw, I loved The Girl on the Train (though, yes, you just wanted to shake her and say, "Just remember, damnit!") and I'm interested to see how to comes out as a movie. But, I also loved Fates & Furies and my husband couldn't get past the first chapter. So I guess it just depends on your general reading style.

I won't read Nicholas Sparks, either. I don't get the appeal of the same story over and over again.

Unknown said...

I cannot read Nicholas Sparks either, it seems like such an obvious plot line in each book!

Unknown said...

Oh I love this idea! I'm going to have to do this, too! I feel the same about Nicholas Sparks, Twilight/all things vampires,and Big Little Lies. I did end up reading all of the Divergent books, though I was very disappointed by the end that I didn't see the movies.

Ashley said...

I agree with you on most of this except for #3. I love Peeta from the beginning. Lol.
One super popular book I just didn't love was The Fault in Our Stars. It just didn't click with me. Another blogger whose writing I love wrote a great review of the book that perfectly captured my feelings about it.
As for Nicholas Sparks, I read The Notebook years ago and was disappointed that I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

Rebecca Jo said...

I love this post.
& I'm SOOO with you on A Walk to Remember - 2 places - at the same time! #swoon haha
But yes, Sparks books are ALL the same. I quit buying them about 10 books back because even the movies are the same from his books.
I just couldnt like Wild when it seemed everyone was all nuts over that book.

Anonymous said...

"Girl on the Train"... UGH, just UGH! I wanted to throw that book across the room (but finished it out of spite). My husband (didn't read the book) will probably want to see the movie because we love the actors, but I'm dreading it.

I wish the new "unreliable narrator" thing would go away. I think it has merit in certain books, but now that it's a trend it needs to go.

I don't read sci-fi so I don't worry about the zombies, werewolves, etc.

I hated every character in Jane Eyre and The Great Gatsby. I know, I know, treasures of literature, but I couldn't stand ANY of them, lol! :)

Audrey Louise said...

Huh. I like this idea for a post :) I saw it somewhere else, too! I read the first Twilight and was totally underwhelmed. Then the fandom kicked in and I was like, "Noooooo..."
Now Harry Potter- I will fan-girl every day all day :)

Erin LFF said...

I still have yet to read and HP! I tried... didn't even make it halfway through the first book!

Erin LFF said...

What a fun post idea! YES to the Hunger Games love triangle answer. Ugh. and I have never read a single Sparks book!

The Lady Okie said...

Really?! I didn't read them until maybe 4 years ago, so I missed the obsessive craze. The first book was kind of eh as far as the content and writing, but they get really good! It's all so creative in how everything comes together as the books go on, and I thought they were well done. Maybe you'll get around to it at some point!

Andrea H. said...

This is a fun format for discussing books! I'm with you on Hunger Games. And you should definitely give the Life of Pi movie a shot. I really enjoyed it. I got the book after watching the movie, but haven't made my way through it yet so I'm not certain how they compare. I'm not a huge Sparks fan either. You are totally right that his plots and characters all kind of run together after awhile. Definitely plan to give these questions some more thought...maybe I'll end up with a full post as well :)

Ashley said...

Thought this was so fun, so I did it on my blog too! Thanks for sharing!

Ashley

Amanda said...

I totally agree about Nicholas Sparks! I do not understand why people love him so much. It's like Danielle Steel. I remember my mom reading those so I gave them a try years ago and every single one I read was exactly the same as the last. Annoying. You're totally not missing out by not finishing Divergent or Maze Runner. And the Maze Runner movie was pretty meh. The Divergent movies have been way better than the books ever thought about being.

Sydney said...

This is such a great idea for a post! I've never read any Nicholas Sparks either because the movies just make his stories seem so predictable and, frankly, boring. An author that everyone seems to love but I can't get into is Jodi Picoult. Blech. I read a full and then a half of another one of her books and didn't care for them, but everyone seems to love her. Oh well!

Rachel said...

I am so not a fan of Nicholas Sparks, though I've read probably at least three of the books. Yes, all the same, kind of boring but really over the top romance for romance's sake instead of for a purpose. Not my type. I'm drawn to more quirky books, my favorite modern series as a kid was "A Series of Unfortunate Events" and I still read anything by Lemony Snicket.
I actually really don't like any of Jane Austen's books, but I really like the Keira Knightley "Pride and Prejudice" movie. I think in my world Twilight is actually way more unpopular than it was ever popular, but yeah, I never even considered reading those. I'm not into the whole vampires, zombies, or werewolves thing, though I have an extra-special hatred for zombies.

The Lady Okie said...

Awesome! I will go check it out!

The Lady Okie said...

It took me two tries to get through Jane Eyre. I didn't hate it, but I definitely didn't love it. Same with Great Gatsby, although the movie was really well done, I thought! Glad you agree with me about Girl on the Train. I finished it out of spite as well ;)

Becky said...

Ah what a fun post! This makes me want to read more haha.

I had to read the first Outlander book in college because my 60 something English teacher loved it. Once the intimate parts came though, it totally grossed me out thinking how they were her favorite books and I never read another one in the series haha.

I did read a few Nicholas Sparks books to see if any were different (nope) but I kind of enjoyed The Longest Ride, mainly just the older couple's story though. I also still love the two places at once scene in A Walk to Remember eek! :)

You're not missing anything by not reading Twilight and Fifty Shades!! I don't do sci-fi/vampires etc either. I am branching out though to see if I enjoy any historical fiction books so we'll see how that goes!

Courtney said...

I agree with a lot of this!! Outlander and Divergent were big no go's for me as well. Along with Nicolas Sparks....blehhhhh.

Though I will say I was Team Peeta and have a secret love affair with the Twilight Series lol.

Kristin said...

OMG, I have a huge YES to so many of these I don't even know where to start. Maybe let's just start with Outlander, Divergent, and Nicholas Sparks. And the Hunger Games ending with...oh, COME ON.

Kate said...

You already know I hated Girl on the Train, the ending of The Hunger Games, and everything about The Maze Runner. I actually really enjoyed Life of Pi, and I wasn't disappointed with the movie - some parts were better and some weren't. I felt like the beginning of Life of Pi was a bit dry (when he was debating religion. Some of it was super interesting, but I also found parts to be a little too boring), and the movie does a much better job of getting through that part. Not a favorite, but it was good!

I didn't really like Big Little Lies either! It has so many rave reviews, and I just felt.. meh about it. It wasn't bad, but I never got hooked.

John & Heather said...

I haven't read HP either and I didn't see any of the movies until last year. I'm not a big mystical genre person. I haven't seen Lord of the Rings either. I don't know if you're a fan of murder mysteries, but if you are then J.D. Robb's "In Death" series is pretty good. It's futuristic though which may or may not lend into the sci-fi category.

Ali said...

Right there with you on Outlander. I felt like the first book could have easily been 400 pages shorter.

I do not like Sookie Stackhouse from True Blood - I think that was a book series before the HBO series. But the actress who plays her totally ruined it for me, and now I have no interest in watching the series or reading the books. Breathy, naïve, dumb blond doesn't do it for me!

Sara Oss said...

People totally hate Life of Pi. I'm one of them. On the other hand, I know a lot of people can't stand Beloved by Toni Morrison and I'm a huge fan of that book. I have no interest in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. And this is pretty nerdy, but I do like the movie version of The Crucible.

Rach said...

Such an interesting post! I haven't read a Nicholas Sparks book in a long time, but I remember that they tended to make me cry, ha! And I don't like books that make me cry so I quit reading them. ;) I didn't hate the first Maze Runner book, but I started the second one and within pages I really disliked it. I didn't finish it and after reading the synopsis online, I was glad that I had quit it.

Charlotte said...

I can't stand John Green books. And, like you, don't get me started on vampires and zombies. I loved this post! :)

Jenny Evans said...

I thought Life of Pi was a great movie, you should definitely watch it! I thought they did a better job in the movie bringing out the "story that will make you believe in God" theme in the book. Other movie adaptations I liked better than their books? The Time-Traveller's Wife and The Lovely Bones (didn't even finish reading The Lovely Bones I disliked it so much.)

The Girl who Loved to Write said...

#3...I am with you. WHY KATNISS WHY.

Torrie said...

I hated the book Julie & Julia, but I loved the movie based on it. Go figure!

And you didn't miss anything with the Divergent series--I stuck it out until the bitter end (mostly just so I could relate to my students who were all reading it), and I literally almost threw the book across the room at the ending of the third one. Rubbish.

Kristen @ See You In A Porridge said...

bahhh are you serious? i hate gale. she totally should have ended up with peeta. you know the other day i realised his name is supposed to be like pita bread, and i laughed so hard. i liked divergent, hated the last one and now forever and ever will hate veronica whatsherface. i read a few nicholas sparks books when i was younger but i'm done for good now. they are so predictable. that being said, i do like his movies when i want a pathetic sob fest.
so i love p&p.. duh. but i like to think the movies (1995 and 2005) make it more accessible to people who would not read the book otherwise.. i only read the book because i had an unnatural obsession with keira knightley, and i had to read the book before the movie. and now i have an unnatural obsession with p&p. haha.

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