Between “Book-Tok”, Goodreads, Bookstore recommendations, and Instagram posts, there are so many books out there deemed as a “must read” that everyone is “guaranteed to love”. But which of these books are actually as worthy as they are described as? Here are some of my hot takes.
The 5th wave– Rick Yancey
*Warning, this is one of my most recent reads, so I had a lot to say about it!*
I will admit, I had this book sitting on my shelf for years, completely untouched, and maybe should have left it there. Given how much I had heard about it, I expected to read it and instantly fall in love with it. However, once I finally started it, I realized that my expectations were set entirely too high. To begin, this book is pretty dark as it does take place during an alien apocalypse, but that was expected. We are introduced to Cassie, the protagonist who guides us through what life is like “now” versus “before”. I have no complaints about Cassie, she is a good, realistic protagonist. One of my main problems relates to the next narrator. While I have no qualms with books that have multiple narrators, I do have a problem when the other perspectives are not introduced until about a quarter of the way through the book. Additionally, the two other narrators are both introduced without names, which made this story unnecessarily confusing to understand. There are also a lot of unexpected time jumps that jolt the reader out of the story, and just as suddenly throw them back in as Cassie explains how she got into the situation. Once you get past the issues of narration and time, the plot of the novel itself can get pretty confusing and hard to follow. The book is not all bad, the main plot and side plots are very interesting and creative, and the author did a great job portraying how different people may act in an alien invasion. All of the characters are very compelling, and probably my main reason for not dropping the book. I definitely would not reread it though.
A court of thorns and roses– Sarah j. maas
To be completely honest, I do not even remotely understand the devotion people have to this book and this series. I only finished reading it because I actually bought it new and didn’t want to waste my money, and because it was a pretty quick and easy read. The writing was not bad but definitely does not hold up in comparison to other authors of the genre(s) and time. I found Feyre, the main character, to be pretty much intolerable. She was kind of whiny but also extremely stubborn about always wanting to be independent (the latter of which is usually admirable, but she makes it seem like a massive inconvenience in this book). I think the author’s intent was to create a realistic teen female lead, but Feyre is more similar to a 7-year-old child that broke their favorite toy. Additionally, I know this will be the most controversial opinion, but I really do not understand the obsession with the love interests, Tamlin and Rhysand. To be blunt, Tamlin is boring, and Rhysand is obnoxious and somewhat abusive. Unsurprisingly, Rhysand is meant to play into the “bad boy” trope which makes him the more popular pick even though he is an awful person and has zero redeeming qualities in my opinion. That’s not to say the book was all bad, the plot is promising and leaves room for the other books. With that being said, I gave the second book a shot (through a free audiobook) and immediately found it to be more unappealing than the first and decided to not continue it.
Red queen– Victoria Aveyard
I read this book a few years ago and my memory is a little fuzzy, so I’ll keep it brief. I found all the main characters to be compelling, the world was interesting, and the main storyline was interesting. Additionally, when I read this book, I thought the writing was well done. So, what kept me from continuing the series? From what I remember, the plot twists were a little excessive and some didn’t even make sense. But more than that, I found myself frustrated with the relationships between different characters, some of it being very reminiscent of high school clique and other overused concepts. I also recall not liking the ending of the first book (it was somewhat of a cliffhanger), although I no longer remember all the details. My final words: although I did not initially like this book, I am willing to try again and would not discourage anyone from reading it. In fact, I intend on reading other works from the author since I really enjoyed her writing style and world-building.
Divergent– Veronica roth
I absolutely loved the first book and immediately understood the hype. The world, the characters, the story, all of it was fascinating made me immediately want to head to the nearest bookstore and buy the next book, Insurgent. This is where my hot takes come in. “Disappointed” does not even begin to convey my feelings upon finishing the second book. It felt so different from the first book and made me lose any hope of a good ending of the series. I felt like many of the characters the readers had come to know became unpredictable from how they used to act, and the plot also started to lose focus. I have no regrets about reading the first book, but if I could make myself forget the second book, I would not hesitate to do so. Do not let this stop you from reading Divergent, I think that book is certainly work reading. I just urge you to read it as a standalone, save yourself from the disappointment I, and many other readers have faced.
Looking for alaska– John Green
This book deals with hard topics of transition and loss and is very well written. The characters are all filled with depth and feel like people you could have had a class or two with in school. This was the first John Green book I had picked up and had been urged by many people to read it, and that it would be “life changing”. It was a very tender story, and undoubtably touched many hearts, but for me, I was just thinking, “okay, what’s next,” when I finished it. It is one of those books where the plot is the transformation of the author rather than an actual storyline, which I usually enjoy. For this book, though, I felt disconnected from it. I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters or their stories, even the minor characters, which may have been part of the problem. This is to no fault of the author since as I mentioned, this book was very well written. For some reason, unknown to me, this book just really did not make me feel anything. I am sure I am in a small minority of readers who read this book and did not enjoy it, so I wouldn’t want to discourage anyone from trying it. I almost feel like my expectations were too high, and I wanted to like the book so much, that I actually set myself up for disappointment. I would like to try a John Green book again one day, but it won’t be Looking for Alaska.