Unpopular Opinions

[proserpina65]

19 hours ago, Anduin said:

A Song of Ice and Fire. Jon Snow and Sansa Stark are pretty much the same idea in two different areas. Someone who is too idealistic getting their dreams crushed and have to survive. It annoys me when people love Sansa and hate Jon. If Sam Snow had gone to the Wall, while Jane Stark had gone to Kings Landing, the story would have been much the same.

However, I prefer Jon's story to Sansa's. It's the one with swords and adventures, rather than beatings and politics. But I acknowledge the similarities between the characters.

I like both characters and have come to appreciate both storylines, but I have to say that it was my impression that people hated Sansa and loved Jon.  Or maybe that's just tv viewers.

[Katy M]

3 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I like both characters and have come to appreciate both storylines, but I have to say that it was my impression that people hated Sansa and loved Jon.  Or maybe that's just tv viewers.

I've never seen the show.  I hated early Sansa. She was just such a dumb girl.  And, I can't say she's my favorite person later, but at least her eyes were opened.

I like Jon.

My fave character was Arya, but then she got a little too bloodthirsty for my taste.  So, I guess Bran's my favorite? Maybe?  I'm starting to forget.  If he ever writes the next book, I may have to do a reread first.  I'm not worried, though. He'll never finish.  Darn you, GRR Martin!!!!

[Black Knight]

7 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I like both characters and have come to appreciate both storylines, but I have to say that it was my impression that people hated Sansa and loved Jon.  Or maybe that's just tv viewers.

I used to lurk on the Westeros forums back when the books actually came out with some sense of regularity, and it was strongly pro-Jon/anti-Sansa. People did seem to soften towards Sansa a bit once she got to the Vale.

It's interesting because we're discussing this in terms of Jon and Sansa, but it's not Jon that was a factor in how readers felt about Sansa - it was Arya. So much conflict was shown between them before they were separated, so people tended to pick one of the sisters and they almost always picked Arya and seemed to think even worse of Sansa than they might have if Arya didn't exist. Of course on the TV show they've had Jon and Sansa together for a while now, working together but also with a number of conflicts between them, so TV viewers have been inclined to pick sides between them the way book readers were inclined to pick sides between Sansa and Arya. In the books we've yet to see Sansa and Jon really interact. We know Sansa was cold to him in a way that the rest of his siblings weren't, but that was just described in a line here and there - no real scenes between them.

[Creme brulee]

Have you watched the Mortal Engines? I did not. Though all my friends liked it, I was too excited after the trailer and read a book. The biggest mistake ever. 

The book is awful. This opinion is unpopular because too few people read it. And I won't recommend it. Just watch the film and stay not disappointed. 

[Lyinfait]

On 2/22/2019 at 3:02 AM, Creme brulee said:

Have you watched the Mortal Engines? I did not. Though all my friends liked it, I was too excited after the trailer and read a book. The biggest mistake ever. 

The book is awful. This opinion is unpopular because too few people read it. And I won't recommend it. Just watch the film and stay not disappointed. 

When I first saw trailers, I thought, "wait, there is going to be a movie for that awful book?" I disliked so many things about it: shifting tenses, flat characterization, stupid violence, annoying dialogue. I disliked it enough to remember the name of it (read many books and tend to recall only the very good or very bad). I could not believe all the positive reviews. 

[Hanahope]

So I had a $5 Kindle credit, but it was limited to only a few books.  One of those books is the G.R.R. Martin Fire and Blood, the first "prequel" book of Song of Fire and Ice.  I had a moments thought of buying it with the credit, but it still would have cost me $10.  

I opted against buying it because I'm annoyed at him for not finishing SOFAI.  I did wonder if the reason that book was being offered for the credit (I think there was only 15 or so books being offered), was because it wasn't selling as well as expected, perhaps due to a lot of other people like myself.  

Instead I opted to use the credit on book 1 of a trilogy, where I confirmed the whole trilogy had actually already been written (in case I like it).  

[Anduin]

8 hours ago, Hanahope said:

So I had a $5 Kindle credit, but it was limited to only a few books.  One of those books is the G.R.R. Martin Fire and Blood, the first "prequel" book of Song of Fire and Ice.  I had a moments thought of buying it with the credit, but it still would have cost me $10.  

I opted against buying it because I'm annoyed at him for not finishing SOFAI.  I did wonder if the reason that book was being offered for the credit (I think there was only 15 or so books being offered), was because it wasn't selling as well as expected, perhaps due to a lot of other people like myself.  

Instead I opted to use the credit on book 1 of a trilogy, where I confirmed the whole trilogy had actually already been written (in case I like it).  

I'm reading F&B at the moment. It's good, but not a substitute for the next book.

[Morlock]

1/Novels like the True Blood series, Twilight, 50 Shades of Grey etc all read like they were written by an illiterate 8 year old girl. That simple sing song language style. 

2/ Sometimes I just read the summary of a book on Wikipedia etc because often I feel let down by the books themselves and don't want to invest the time.

3/ I don't always understand why some "Classic Literature" is so wonderful. 

Edited February 26, 2019 by Morlock

[Haleth]

20 hours ago, Hanahope said:

So I had a $5 Kindle credit, but it was limited to only a few books.  One of those books is the G.R.R. Martin Fire and Blood, the first "prequel" book of Song of Fire and Ice.  I had a moments thought of buying it with the credit, but it still would have cost me $10.  

I opted against buying it because I'm annoyed at him for not finishing SOFAI.  I did wonder if the reason that book was being offered for the credit (I think there was only 15 or so books being offered), was because it wasn't selling as well as expected, perhaps due to a lot of other people like myself.  

Instead I opted to use the credit on book 1 of a trilogy, where I confirmed the whole trilogy had actually already been written (in case I like it).  

I'm with you, Hana.  GRRM will never get another $ from me until he publishes Winds.

[Mabinogia]

15 hours ago, Morlock said:

2/ Sometimes I just read the summary of a book on Wikipedia etc because often I feel let down by the books themselves and don't want to invest the time.

I do this with any book that is touted as the next Gone Girl, or says "with a twist you will not believe". I am curious what the "twist" is but not willing to spend money on the hype. Usually I can figure out the twist just from the summary. 

[GaT]

8 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I do this with any book that is touted as the next Gone Girl, or says "with a twist you will not believe". I am curious what the "twist" is but not willing to spend money on the hype. Usually I can figure out the twist just from the summary. 

I usually don't even read the summary. I was going to read some of the Faith Martin mysteries until I realized that every one of her books was described like this right after the title of the book: "A gripping, twisty murder mystery perfect for all crime fiction fans" or "a gripping crime mystery full of twists" or "an absolutely gripping whodunit from a million-selling author".  If they have to keep pushing how "gripping" her stories are like that, I'm betting they're more hype than good.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

On 2/11/2019 at 12:57 AM, ramble said:

I completely agree with the quote I read somewhere on the internet that said like if 50 Shades was about a dude living paycheck to paycheck in his trailer it wouldn't be “romantic,” it would be an episode of Criminal Minds. 

For you. Unless you're the responsible party, in which case, THANK YOU.

[bybrandy]

Two different groups I'm in have recently read and all but me loved Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon.  And literally nobody (all adult readers) seem to mind that

Spoiler

Almost at the very end it is revealed that her mom made up that she had no immune system to keep her protected from the outside world and then... um, 'yeah, so isn't it neat I get to go outside now... eventually... and my mom's getting pyschiatric help, so that's nice..."    Like no you don't reveal "my entire life has been a lie" and go, "BONUS" and end it there.  Still irrationally angry about this and people I know keep fawning over the book.

I also don't like current hot book Where The Crawdad's Sing but my level of dislike for it is more rational.    

[SherriAnt]

Linda Fairstein's Alexanrda Cooper series really pushing the Alex and Mike romance, but I hate how he talks down to her so much! She's an extremely smart woman and he really doesn't need to mansplain everything! He comes across as snarky and condescending. 

[JAYJAY1979]

I think chick lit books don't get the respect they deserve.  And they can be educational as well.

https://youtu.be/5IEJ1zh7Xq8

[Minneapple]

Just saw the first trailer for The Goldfinch and it reminded me of how much I found that book to be a total slog to get through. The beginning was so promising, but once we got to Vegas...holy hell. Such a drag. All the teenage stupidity and the drugs and drinking. There are whole sections of the book where we completely forget that there's even a Goldfinch painting. And the book never really recovers from Vegas. Then there's the bizarre end, which felt like it was a mishmash of plots on speed tacked on because Tartt suddenly realized she'd written 600 pages and was tired and just wanted to finish the novel.

[Black Knight]

I wasn't fond of the final segment with the mob or whatever, but I devoured the rest of The Goldfinch. The ending makes me sad. Poor Theo. I wonder if the movie will dare to keep that in - it's such a dark note to end on.

[Haleth]

On 5/29/2019 at 3:33 PM, Minneapple said:

Just saw the first trailer for The Goldfinch and it reminded me of how much I found that book to be a total slog to get through. The beginning was so promising, but once we got to Vegas...holy hell. Such a drag. All the teenage stupidity and the drugs and drinking. There are whole sections of the book where we completely forget that there's even a Goldfinch painting. And the book never really recovers from Vegas. Then there's the bizarre end, which felt like it was a mishmash of plots on speed tacked on because Tartt suddenly realized she'd written 600 pages and was tired and just wanted to finish the novel.

Thank you!  I thought I was the only person in the world who struggled to finish The Goldfinch.  Tartt needed a serious editor to slash a whole lot of that book.

[proserpina65]

On ‎05‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 1:22 PM, JAYJAY1979 said:

I think chick lit books don't get the respect they deserve.  And they can be educational as well.

https://youtu.be/5IEJ1zh7Xq8

Some of them are very well written.  Some, not so much, which gives the genre a bad name, unfortunately.

[dubbel zout]

Donna Tartt is overrated.

[Brookside]

Elizabeth Gilbert has a new book out.  I attempted to read "Eat, Pray, Love" but found it so insufferably self-involved, pretentious, and smug that I couldn't get beyond the first chapter.  After hearing an interview with her this morning, I wasn't convinced I'd feel any differently about her new book, but determined to give it a try with an open mind (you can get the first chapter online).  It didn't work - still self indulgent, new agey rubbish.

[babyhouseman]

6 hours ago, Brookside said:

Elizabeth Gilbert has a new book out.  I attempted to read "Eat, Pray, Love" but found it so insufferably self-involved, pretentious, and smug that I couldn't get beyond the first chapter.  After hearing an interview with her this morning, I wasn't convinced I'd feel any differently about her new book, but determined to give it a try with an open mind (you can get the first chapter online).  It didn't work - still self indulgent, new agey rubbish.

I didn't like Eat, Pray, Love either. I couldn't even finish it. 

[Haleth]

After hearing Elizabeth Gilbert interviewed by Oprah long, long ago I knew I'd never be able to read Eat, Pray, Love.  She thinks very highly of herself.

[cherrypj]

I've never read Eat, Pray, Love. It does sound bad (and the new one, City of Girls, doesn't sound that appealing). But I loved, loved The Signature of All Things. I'm pretty shocked about that.

[AuntiePam]

On 3/11/2019 at 12:05 AM, bybrandy said:

  Hide contents

I also don't like current hot book Where The Crawdad's Sing but my level of dislike for it is more rational.    

That was recommended to me via Facebook by someone whose FB pages consist almost entirely of selfies.  That's how I knew I wouldn't appreciate the book. 

[raezen]

I heard about The Hunger Games prequel coming out and I just thought " Money grab". But I see a lot of people online are excited about it.

[Browncoat]

7 hours ago, raezen said:

I heard about The Hunger Games prequel coming out and I just thought " Money grab". But I see a lot of people online are excited about it.

I’m intrigued, because it’s meant to be set during the 10th Hunger Games instead of the war, the terrible war.  I think Mags’ games were the 11th.

[truthaboutluv]

10 hours ago, raezen said:

I heard about The Hunger Games prequel coming out and I just thought " Money grab". But I see a lot of people online are excited about it.

Many fans of the book series have been asking for and wanting a prequel of sorts for years. Almost from the moment the first book of the trilogy was released. The common consensus is a book that details how the Games started and Snow came into power or a book about any of the other main characters' Games - e.g. Haymitch, Johanna or Finnick. So yeah not surprised people were excited. 

[cherrypj]

11 hours ago, raezen said:

I heard about The Hunger Games prequel coming out and I just thought " Money grab". But I see a lot of people online are excited about it.

There are so many directions the story can go because the entire world is well-realized and everything has a backstory that we can delve into. 

I don't think it's a money grab at all. Who says the books must remain a trilogy? It becomes a money grab when Collins (or a ghost writer) starts phoning it in with the 42nd book.

[dubbel zout]

12 hours ago, raezen said:

I heard about The Hunger Games prequel coming out and I just thought " Money grab". But I see a lot of people online are excited about it.

J.K. Rowling's continued Potterverse stuff strikes me as a money grab, no matter how much she says she's doing it for the fans. Know when to fold 'em, Joanne. Ugh.

[truthaboutluv]

23 hours ago, cherrypj said:

There are so many directions the story can go because the entire world is well-realized and everything has a backstory that we can delve into. 

I don't think it's a money grab at all. Who says the books must remain a trilogy? It becomes a money grab when Collins (or a ghost writer) starts phoning it in with the 42nd book.

This and that's exactly why, as I noted above, many fans of the series have supported some type of prequel for years. Because there's a decent book to write in how the Games came about, to follow any of the Victors and how they won the Games.

A sequel wouldn't work just because the series ended on the hopeful note that the Games WOULDN'T happen again. But there's definitely some good potential to mine for a prequel. As for the Harry Potter series, yeah I think that one needs to just be left alone.

More so because of how big the series was and there were already seven books and J.K. herself was the one who chose to end it on this final note with the whole 20 years later epilogue. Trying to mine anything more from it is pointless. 

I know some fans wanted some type of prequel that focuses on the Marauders when they were in school but again because of all the backstory and the characters' being a part of the Harry Potter series, what can she really do with that? We know how their stories went, we how they became animagus, we know about the friendships, the betrayal, etc.

And what would be the tension? In the Harry Potter series it was Voldemort always trying to come back to strength and kill Harry but what would it be with James and company at Hogwarts? I guess Voldemort was already gaining power by then but yeah would just be kind of repetitive. 

Edited June 19, 2019 by truthaboutluv

[Snow Apple]

I also don't need more Harry Potter, but If there's a prequel, I want it to be about Lily and Petunia. I agree we already know too much about the marauders. 

[BlackberryJam]

Apparently my loathing of The Kiss Quotient is unpopular, which I find shocking. I was revolted at the concept of the manic pixie autistic girl having the anxiety screwed out of her with good dick.

[Neko]

2 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Apparently my loathing of The Kiss Quotient is unpopular, which I find shocking. I was revolted at the concept of the manic pixie autistic girl having the anxiety screwed out of her with good dick.

Not unpopular with me.  I hated that book.

[kathyk2]

On 6/18/2019 at 2:56 PM, Snow Apple said:

I also don't need more Harry Potter, but If there's a prequel, I want it to be about Lily and Petunia. I agree we already know too much about the marauders. 

I would love a prequel based on James and Lily. I want to know how Lily went from hating James to marrying him and having his child. It would be nice to see what Neville's parents were like before they were tortured.

[Wiendish Fitch]

6 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Apparently my loathing of The Kiss Quotient is unpopular, which I find shocking. I was revolted at the concept of the manic pixie autistic girl having the anxiety screwed out of her with good dick.

Thanks for the UO, because now I know to avoid this book! 

[Mabinogia]

18 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Apparently my loathing of The Kiss Quotient is unpopular, which I find shocking. I was revolted at the concept of the manic pixie autistic girl having the anxiety screwed out of her with good dink.

Out of curiosity I went and read the synopsis and even that sounded bad. Going in my never read file. 

[DearEvette]

20 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Apparently my loathing of The Kiss Quotient is unpopular, which I find shocking. I was revolted at the concept of the manic pixie autistic girl having the anxiety screwed out of her with good dick.

My Goodreads friends LOVE this book.  I  just couldn't get into it.  And peaced out very early.  I was also seemingly the only person who just didn't get all the hype behind Thea Harrison's Elder Races series either. Thought the debut book was derivative and rather meh.

[Neko]

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

My Goodreads friends LOVE this book.  I  just couldn't get into it.  And peaced out very early.  I was also seemingly the only person who just didn't get all the hype behind Thea Harrison's Elder Races series either. Thought the debut book was derivative and rather meh.

I only read half of it before giving up.  I thought the premise was problematic, and the characters were one-dimensional.  The sex scenes were cringe-y.  Just, BAD, all around.  I'm surprised it's so loved, on Goodreads.

[VoicePlaya]

On July 2, 2019 at 10:13 PM, BlackberryJam said:

Apparently my loathing of The Kiss Quotient is unpopular, which I find shocking. I was revolted at the concept of the manic pixie autistic girl having the anxiety screwed out of her with good dick.

I didn't care for that book either, especially as someone who struggles with anxiety. The whole premise made me so uncomfortable! For some reason, I decided to listen to The Bride Test by the same author and it was even worse. 

One thing that really bugged me...

Spoiler

Khai is autistic and has a really hard time expressing his feelings and with being touched, especially when he's not expecting it. Esme knows this - she hadn't heard the term autism, but she knows he has these issues. They work on them throughout the book only for her to try to use sex as a way to manipulating him into telling her he loves her. I thought it was so gross.

Aside from that, I keep seeing people raving about The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren and I thought it was dreadful. I couldn't stand Olive. That book was such a chore to get through. 

[Was-MArsenault]

I'm more of an e-reader person than an actual book person. In fact, I even own a NOOK Glowlight.

[Mabinogia]

46 minutes ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

I'm more of an e-reader person than an actual book person. In fact, I even own a NOOK Glowlight.

I am such an ebook reader that when my friend lent me a book I went and bought it on kindle so I could read it. 

[Was-MArsenault]

4 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I am such an ebook reader that when my friend lent me a book I went and bought it on kindle so I could read it. 

Which book, and what kind of Kindle was it?

[Mabinogia]

6 minutes ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

11 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I am such an ebook reader that when my friend lent me a book I went and bought it on kindle so I could read it. 

Which book, and what kind of Kindle was it?

It was the Wee Free Men by Terry Prachett (and it was amazing, so I'm glad I own it now.) I have no idea what Kindle I have now. Not the most recent, maybe the one before. 

[lasu]

I'm also a hater of Where the Crawdad Sings.  Like I have a rational reason for disliking, but my growing seething hate really isn't rational.  I get pissed off every time I still see it at number 1 on any list, and I whenever I see someone post they liked it, I want to go all caps about HOW THE GEOGRAPHY MAKES NO GD SENSE.  There is a reason they say write what you know, and apparently she never knew how far apart the OBX and Asheville are.  I got to the point I would scream out loud every time Asheville was mentioned.

[Wiendish Fitch]

I find Rachel Hollis's self-help books really unimpressive. I definitely agree with the sentiments, but she just doesn't get the message across in a clear way, IMO. It just boils down to personal anecdotes and hollow "you go, girl!" platitudes. 

[HazelEyes4325]

33 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I find Rachel Hollis's self-help books really unimpressive. I definitely agree with the sentiments, but she just doesn't get the message across in a clear way, IMO. It just boils down to personal anecdotes and hollow "you go, girl!" platitudes. 

Everyone I know who has read her book (the first one...) says it is *horrible* and, at times, potentially damaging.  Since I haven't read it myself, I can't comment on that--but it was enough to put her on my "never read" list.

[Wiendish Fitch]

1 minute ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

Everyone I know who has read her book (the first one...) says it is *horrible* and, at times, potentially damaging.  Since I haven't read it myself, I can't comment on that--but it was enough to put her on my "never read" list.

"Potentially damaging"?? Yeesh, I missed that, but that's because I barely got through the damn thing. That is some damning criticism, so I now have another excuse to avoid her.

I flipped through the first few pages of Hollis's latest and she said "most of us only consciously use a small percentage of our brain power."

WRONG.

That whole "humans only use 10% of our brains" is complete horse shit that's been debunked I don't know how many times. We use pretty much all of our brain at all times, and even if we used 100% of our brain, we wouldn't turn into friggin' X-Men! I'm so sick of this nonsensical statement being regurgitated time after time. Just that was enough to make me lose interest in the rest of the book.

[slf]

Amy earned that trip to Europe with Aunt March in Little Women.

[andromeda331]

4 minutes ago, slf said:

Amy earned that trip to Europe with Aunt March in Little Women.

She did and she got along better with Aunt March then Jo did.

Edited August 17, 2019 by andromeda331