Sometimes I read a book and I don’t know WHAT to think. Did I passionately love it with the fire of a thousand suns? Do I want to bury it 90 feet under and set a 3-headed hellhound named Cerberus to guard it? Seriously: WHAT ARE MY EMOTIONS? HOW DO I FUNCTION? So I just review it, slap a rating on, and think about it later.
(FYI: those last two all-caps shouted statements apply to many areas of my life unfortunately. Do I want a a chocolate sandwich or chocolate cake? Do I buy that book now or wait for a sale? What are my emotions on this? How do I function? Etc. Etc. Life is really terribly hard. PITY ME.)
Because of the above regular life-crisis, I often feel differently about books as time passes.
And by “feel differently” I mean — MY OPINION HAS WILDLY CHANGED, CUE BREAKING PLATES IN PASSIONATE FEELING.
There are also some SENSIBLE REASONS my mind changes about a book, and I shall share them.
REASONS I CHANGE MY MIND OVER BOOKS LATER ON
- I review books directly after reading them. I’m talking SECONDS after finishing them. (Because reviewing is my most favourite thing.) So sometimes I review in the wild woolly wonder of the moment, and then realise — later — that my opinions HAVE CHANGED. It’s all very befuddling.
- I lose interest in a series/topic/style I used to love. A HUGE guilty party here is — dystopian. Three yeas ago I would’ve gladly traded my cake (YES MY CAKE. THIS IS SERIOUS) for a dystopian. Now? Eh. I don’t even care for them??? So that Great Dystopian Book I loved 3 years ago has dimmed on my joy radar.
- I read a review that points out a LOT OF FLAWS I DIDN’T SEE. This might be cheating??? But someone else will highlight problematic subtext or message I didn’t notice, and I’ll be like “Hoooow do I like the book now that I see THAT?????”
- The author does something Not Nice. I fully admit that this is unfair. I think books should be separate to their authors. Buuuuut, excuse my human tendencies to HOLD A GRUDGE, but once I see an author behave badly or do something I vehemently disagree with — my opinion on their work can zoooooooom dooooooown.
- I read something WAY BETTER later. And I find myself staring at a book I used to rave about and going, “Why? What did I even see in it? I HAVE SEEN THE TRUE LIGHT.”
Today’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is “Ten Books I Feel Differently About After Time Has Passed“ which I would say maybe happens to 1 out of 30 books I read. I don’t change my Goodreads reviews though because WHO HAS TIME FOR THAT??? The dragon secretaries are useless, to be honest. It’s impossible to get good mythological help these days.
1. RED QUEEN BY VICTORIA AVEYARD (IN RETROSPECT MY OPINION WENT DOWN)
I squint suspiciously at this book and confess I believe it is THOROUGHLY OVER-HYPED. It took pieces of The Selection, Red Rising, The Hunger Games, and X-Men and someone got called “a unique and amazing YA book”???? I mean??? How???? It thieved 80% of the plot???? AHEM.
ME APPARENTLY I GUESS
But there was ONE TWIST at the end that made me give it 3-stars. Now, though? I’m Miss Unimpressed and have exactly no good feelings towards it and would rate it 2-stars.
2. ONLY EVER YOURS BY LOUISE O’NIELL (IN RETROSPECT: MY OPINION WENT UP)
I hated this book. I WAS SO DISTURBED. It’s about a dystopian society where girls are raised as sex slaves and it’s horribly confronting. It basically takes a lot of subtle messages society promotes today and just explodes them. It’s about eating disorders and horrible body image ideals and mental health issues and just the RUIN that is thinking one gender is better than the other. Also the ending is 1000% depressing. UGH UGH UGH.
But you know what? It’s a really good book. It’s really important. IT MADE ME THINK. I did actually demand the dragon secretaries go back and up the Goodreads rating on this and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.
FYI: I’m actually too traumatised, though, to read Asking For It. But someday I will gather strength.
3. SERAPHINA BY RACHEL HARTMAN (IN RETROSPECT: MY OPINION WENT UP)
At first I was like “eh”.
Then I grew a brain and appreciated a) the glory that is DRAGONS, b) the genius that is detailed and complex fantasy world building, and c) DRAGONS DRAGONS DRAGONS. Don’t mess with the wonder that are dragons.
I also have this one on my list to re-read so I can devour the sequel. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BOOK…yet I gave it 3-stars?
Moral of the story: don’t even listen to me omg what even.
4. SINCE YOU’VE BEEN GONE BY MORGAN MATSON (IN RETROSPECT MY OPINION WENT DOWN)
First response: “I LOOOOOVE THIS QUIRKY LIST-ADORING BOOK. LET ME HUG IT FOR 9 YEARS.”
Secondary response: “Wait…was it advocating that quiet people can’t be happy until they lead extroverted lives???”
Now I’m just CONFUSED as what to think. I read someone’s review (I’d link but I don’t remember who; I’M SORRY) and they talked about how Emily was “nobody” without her friends and how it basically made Emily conquer her introversion with the list of crazy-outgoing things. Yeah. Not happy, Marge. But I gave the book 5-stars at time so…I don’t know what to think now. #halp
5. THERE WILL BE LIES BY NICK LAKE (IN RETROSPECT MY OPINION WENT UP)
My initial response was honestly “WHAT IN THE PLUM PUDDING DID I JUST READ” because this book features unreliable narrators and a lot of blank spaces. LITERAL blank spaces. Because the narrator is deaf. But does the book fill you in on that detail? Nooooooo. So for 100-pages I thought my copy was BROKEN because of the holes in the text.
In retrospect, the book is genius. It’s mind-twisty and uses unique formatting to highlight the difficulties of a disability. ALL THE PRAISE.
6. SIX OF CROWS BY LEIGH BARDUGO (IN RETROSPECT: MY OPINION WENT UP)
I did rate it 4-stars initially, but I was annoyed the book didn’t focus more on Kaz. KAZ THE PRECIOUS DUMPLING OF COLD CALCULATED EVIL.
In retrospect, I a) want to re-read it, b) want to hug it, c) want to pet the cover 9598 times, d) want to name my firstborn Kaz, e) will settle for naming my first fish Kaz because I probably won’t have children, f) I probably won’t have fish EITHER, honestly, because I hate fish, g) so my firstborn pet lobster, h) anyway basically I just adore this anti-hero book SO MUCH.
7. WINTER BY MARISSA MEYER (IN RETROSPECT: MY OPINION WENT DOWN)
Okay, calm your little pitchforks. I DO LIKE THIS BOOK STILL. But I think I rated it 5-stars because I expected to adore it.
My later feelings? It was honestly too easy. It dragged in the middle A LOT. It is ridiculous that NO ONE HAD A PLAN THE ENTIRE BOOK; THEY JUST WINGED IT. Where has my realism gone??
8. DIVERGENT BY VERONICA ROTH (IN RETROSPECT MY OPINION WENT DOWN)
I still like this series. And oh gosh, I will stand here with a very small sign (because I am small and weak) that also declares my love for Allegiant’s ending UNTIL THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE COMES AND FORCES ME TO GIVE UP. Or until I get hungry and need a sandwich.
But I think it only got popular because of The Hunger Games. It piggy-backed that success. Otherwise, the writing is honestly very emotionless. And the only time I connected to Tris was when she switched Factions for the food. #relatable
9. THRONE OF GLASS BY SARAH J MAAS (IN RETROSPECT: MY OPINION WENT DOWN)
When I read the first two books: I LOVED IT. (Also, #HipsterMoment, I was reading them WAAAAAY BEFORE THE INTERNET WAS ALL OVER THEM.) But then Heir of Fire came out and I hated it. And I loathed Queen of Shadows more. I rated HoF 4-stars and QoS 3-stars — but they honestly should be 2-star reads for me, because I didn’t enjoy them.
I’m not going to apologise for this opinion but — Celaena has changed into a selfish clam. She used to value friendship. Now her word means NOTHING because she’s totally okay to stab her old friends in the back if she can get new hot ones. Plus every. male. ever in this series is IN LOVE with Celaena and that needs to stop. 
Also I confess I’m not a fan of stuffing sexytimes in there when your friends are dying and the evil king is being evil and ALL HELL IS BREAKING LOOSE. Please. Keep your pants on, peoples and get some priorities.
I can’t and don’t root for Celaena anymore. (I’ve basically quit the series. #sorrynotsorry)
I am also sad about disliking this series now…because it used to be a favourite.
10. THE DREAM THIEVES BY MAGGIE STIEFVATER (IN RETROSPECT: MY OPINION WENT UP)
“Wait, Cait,” you say, “aren’t you a rabid fan of Stiefvater books always??????”
YES. YES I AM. DON’T FEAR. But for some incomprehensible reason I only rated The Dream Thieves 4-stars when I first read it. I KNOW. I’M IN SHOCK TOO. It also makes no sense because Ronan is. my. DARLING. (FYI: I actually had a period of mourning that he is gay because I was in love I tell you. I let it go though. Because #Pynch.) I know 2014 was a really AWFUL year emotionally for me, so I think perhaps that came out in my inability to be happy with books. BUT MOVING FORWARD!
I re-read The Dream Thieves this year and a) IT IS A MILLION STARS OF COURSE, b) Ronan is still my favourite, c) Chainsaw, d) I feel really bad for Kavinsky, e) Ronan Ronan Ronan the incredible creature, and f) if I loved this book more I WOULD COMBUST. The end.
tell me about a book YOU changed your mind about later??? and do you review books STRAIGHT after reading them or wait a bit??? and last very important question: have you ever LOVED a series and then later on ended up disliking it??
Aaagh we have the same edition of divergent. And I JUST got Seraphina from the library. When I have time then I reveiw books immeadiatly, but usually I’m busy so I wait… LIke it’s been two and a half weeks and I took notes and everything and I still need to review the Rose and the Dagger. I changed my mind about the Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl after Shar read. The Dream Thieves was my least favourite also. After reading your reviews, I usually don’t change my rating if I’ve already read it, but it also changes how I approach books I haven’t read yet.
Seraphina is only A GARGANTUAN BRICK so god luck!!😂 I’m going to re-read it via audio I think *nods* And then tackle the sequel straight away before my memory diiiiies again and forgets all the things. SERIOUSLY IT’s SO BAD.
I think Blue Lily is my favourite Raven Boy book (because of all the character development adfjasfkdla) but TRK comes next and then in last place TDT and TRB. I mean, gosh, 5-stars for them all, but if one must rank them… 😉
STAY STRONG. Editing is sooo hard but at the end when you see your writing much better, it’s all worth it! (Until you see new plot holes…) XD
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy Red Queen or Throne of Glass anymore. I agree with some parts of how Celaena has changed and how every single guy loves her, but I’m still a fan of the series, if only because I am mainly rooting for a few new characters. A series that I loved once also went down a bit on my love radar when I finished the second book, because it was so confronting and made me feel a bit uncomfortable. Hopefully the conclusion to the trilogy will improve my thoughts on it. 🙂
Also, I am LOVING the photos for this post. That diagonal book in the slanted pattern (herringbone I think?) is so beautiful and makes me want to finish my current book. Sadly school work is calling…
Great post! 😀
(Omg I hear ya on the editing *sobs* And this is only the 2nd draft and I already foresee another edited needed. WHY IS LIFE SO HARD.)
I am glad you like Throne of Glass still! It’s always better to be a wild fan than a hater. ;D 😂
AHH THANK YOU ABOUT THE PHOTOS THOUGH. <3 I usually only do about 2 photos for these kind of posts, but gah, I went all out.😂 I'm addicted to pretty books I tell you.
OHHHH ok I AGREE WITH YOUR OPINION ON SERAPHINA. I thought it was pretty decent when I read it and now I look back at it and am like “BUT IT WAS SO GOOD I NEED TO REREAD AND THEN GET MY HANDS ON BOOK TWO” and Winter, yes, I loved it but you’re right, it did drag at places and WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING FOR THE 27th???? CAIT???
YAYYYY WE ARE BOTH SERAPHINA CONVERTS. Like, wut even was wrong with me the first time?!? I can’t believe I was so hard on it.😂
Ohhh wouldn’t YOU like to know…*cackles evilly* Grand things are coming. GRAND THINGS.
EVIL CAIT IS EVIL also I can’t wait. I am supremely excited.
If I read a book from a certain genre and it blows the others I have read out of the water, I will go back and downgrade . Then there are the books that I loved, but made horrid statements. Like the sequel I read where the book romanticized slavery. I gave the first book 4..5 stars; and the sequel would have been solid four stars, but authors can’t be down playing those kinds of historical atrocities, so I had to give it one star. The author sent me a scathing Facebook PM, too. :O
Omg. Author hate is never okay. :O I’m sorry you had to go through that!! (It also shows the author is a bit immature I think. :/)
I read Divergent first before I became a fan of The Hunger Games. And although I still like the series, over time I’m just not as in love with it as I am with THG. I think it’s because of the flaws that many people point out, especially since the first film came out. I get so affected after reading other people’s reviews and I hate myself for it. I need to take a stance on this!
Personally I don’t review as soon as I finish the book because I’m lazy and I need to compose a coherent thought first.
And, I don’t think I loved the Twilight series that much, but I read the first two books and really enjoyed them until people knock some sense into me and I abandoned them. Not judging everyone if you like Twilight, but personally I dislike it.
Another great post, Cait! And good luck with the editing!
SAME!! The Hunger Games will ALWAYS hold my deepest love, no matter what, but I think a lot of the other dystopians that I adored are sort of fading from my Intense Obsession Levels. *sighs* (And omg YES sometimes reading reviews is really bad because my entire opinion changes😂)
I actually am kind of neutral on Twlight?! I only read the first book a few years back, so I wasn’t like an impressionable tween or anything…but I didn’t think it was THAT bad. I just thought it wasn’t veryw ell written. :/
(Eeep, thankyou!! LET’S HOPE EDITING DOESN’T EAT MY SOUL. *WAILS*)
Editing will never eat any soul, reading will 😉 (horrible revelation).
Aaah I know how you feel about Only Ever Yours, I finished in the middle of the night and woke my roommate up to come and make me feel better cuz I was just crying and feeling hopeless about that ending haha! But it is actually a really good book. Also scared for Asking For It now, although I feel like I’m better prepared for what is to come now.
And now you’ve made me think about Since You’ve Been Gone! I definitely loved it while reading it but I never thought about the introverted needing to be extroverted in this book… Although I do think that’s nice to get out of your comfort zone sometimes, and having friends kinda forcing you to do things you normally wouldn’t. I guess I need the balance between being in and outside my comfort zone haha
OMG THAT WAS SO ME. I was a MESS and I didn’t even have anyone to talk to who’d read it. *melts into a puddle in remembrance* I WAS SO DEPRESSED BECAUSE OMG THAT ENDING. WAHHHHH. Good luck with Asking for It if you try that one! 😂It stares at me every time I go to the library and I keep sneaking past whispering, “I’m not recovered from her other book’s emotional damage”.
And YES, see, that’s why I’m sooo mixed up about Since You’ve Bee Gone! I mean, it was great that Emily got some epic friends and lived life to the full and all that. But it’s kind of a sad message that quiet/shy/introverted Emily was NOTHING beforehand and also was not happy. That’s more of a self thing that needs to be changed. If all her happiness relies on other people…eep. That’s also kind of dangerous/sad?
I still have yet to read so many of the ones you’ve listed, but it’s interesting to see which ones you would now rate lower–need to keep some of this in mind when I finally pick them up! Great list 🙂
I AM GLAD YOU ENJOYED THE POST! *shares cake with you*
I don’t have to review books straight away. I can wait. …Not that I always do.
I upped The Scorpio Races to five stars because I just couldn’t stop judging every other YA book that I read by it, but my opinions don’t usually change. 😉
I’m impressed that you can choose a favourite Raven Boy. I can’t choose between Ronan and Noah! 🙁
I had to do a LOT of soul searching to pick my favourite Raven Boy. I HOPE YOU APPRECIATE THE EFFORT. *shrieks* (I heard in an interview that Maggie Stiefvater’s favourite Raven boy is Ronan too. So #winning)
I have this very often lately. Sadly, it’s mostly the “my opinion went down” side of things. And most books are those contemporary books by Katie McGarry & Colleen Hoover and almost every NA book ever. Also Throne of Glass series and yes, Red Queen. Basically quite a few YA Fantasy stories too. I think this is because I’m setting such a high standard now and I have quite a few things that irk me now when I read a book. I’m reading more as a reviewer and thus I am more critical. Which sad because I love it when I can gush about a book and slap 5 stars onto it. It just doesn’t happen as often as it used to. But that makes those 5 star books extra special, doesn’t it?
One book that I rated UP, is Simon VS The Homo Sapiens Agenda. My original rating when I first read it was 4.5 stars and I bumped it up to 5 because it actually gets better every time I read it. BUT IT’S NOT LIKE MY LOVE FOR THIS BOOK IS OBVIOUS OR ANYTHING. I’m super subtle about it. Like you & your Maggie Stiefvater love. Barely anyone notices, really.
YUP. I find my opinion goes down instead of up (although the “up” does happen sometimes THANK GOODNESS. I DON’T WANT TO BE AN ANGRY GRAPE ALL THE TIME😂) High standards are like a bless and a curse. gahhh. I’m much more critical than when I was a few years ago. I look at my 5-star shelf from 2014 and think “WHY DID I EVEN LIKE THAT BOOK”. *facepalm*
OMG YOU ONLY RATED SIMON VS 4.5 STARS AT FIRST?! *gasps* I’m glad you fixed that. 😉
This was so interesting to read!!
Lately I have been thinking about some books that I’ve read and realised they weren’t as good as I had initially thought when I first read them and the other way around and I’ve changed some ratings.
It’s interesting to see how, when some time has passed, we think back to what we read and we change our minds 🙂
It IS interesting to consider this! Like I often wonder if sometimes a mood or circumstance affected my first feelings of a book. Will I feel different for a re-read??! Will I feel different just purely because time has passed? AHHH ALL THESE QUESTIONS.
It’s so funny, because this prompt is making me feel so confused about almost every single book I’ve read so far, and whether I should like it more, or less. I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ANYMORE NOW, really, I’m scared, haha. I can relate with Red Queen, I really think about this book from time to time and my opinion is just going down and down (Glass Sword really didn’t help making Red Queen better in my mind)…
Oh, and I always review books later. Which doesn’t help my memory problem, and I check the characters’ names like three times. But I don’t have time / don’t want to review it right away because I just love letting the book and story sit in my mind for a while, try and be comfy. Or just confuse my brains for a few more days before I actually KNOW what I want to say about it. 🙂
OH GOOD, COME HAVE A SMALL LIFE CRISIS WITH ME, MARIE. *weeps* Sometimes this is why it’s scary to re-read or think about books you read ages ago.😂 Ahem. (I didn’t even ATTEMPT Glass Sword and I have no regrets.)
Oh oh but even though I review books STRAIGHT AWAY I aaalways forget the characters’ names.😂 It’s a problem. But I think letting books sit and stew in one’s min dis actually a GOOD IDEA *nods* I should do that. Someday….
Omg the entire first part of this blogpost I kept thinking: This was me with Red Queen and Divergent and you mentioned them later.
I agree so much on those two books. I read Red Queen and gave it a *5* star rating…??! A few month later I was like this book was actually NOT that great. Same for Divergent. I tried to reread Red Queen because I wanted to read the second book but I just can’t get through it anymore, so I’ll just not finish this series.
I am so shocked about Throne Of Glass, though. I appreciate your opinion (as I always do). It’s just my fav series of all time together with Sarah’s other series and Queen Of Shadows was (to me) one of the best book I ever read. It always shocks me to see people who don’t like it, but I can see why, at moment.
Great blogpost as always!
x Amber, http://thenamelessbookblog.blogspot.nl/
*HI FIVES* We are twins in this then!!😂 I can’t even imagine trying the next Red Queen book…although I was mildly tempted for a while and then I’m like “yOU DIDN’T EVEN LIKE THE FIRST BOOK WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU”. 😂 So I’m quitting that series!
And I’m glad you like Throne of Glass! No offence meant or anything, I promise. We’re all different, though, and that’s good. ;D It’d be boring if we all liked the same books, probably.
This post is hilarious… because it is true.
Opinions change. People grow and change. It is good that you are adaptable.
These photos are incredible! Did you take these pictures Cait?
Happy Reading!
~Icky. 🙂
AW THANK YOU! And it is good to know that we can change and grow our opinions *nods*.
I just take them with my Nikon camera. 🙂
These photos are fantastic! I have tried, but cannot get a good picture of my books. 🙁
Did you fold the origami book flowers? Have you taken photography lessons?
Yes! I do fold the flowers. :’) They’re called “kusudama balls” and super easy to do if you want to google it. (And no I haven’t taken any photography lessons. I just use automatic on my camera too.😂 I’m actually kind of hopeless. haha. BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR NICE WORDS!)
I loved Divergent, but then yeah, I realized that it was crap. xD Also a book called Thunder by Bonnie S Calhoun. It was awesome! Then…*quietly burns the ebook*
It’s not that bad!!😂 I just feel it isn’t as good as I thought it was. ahhaha. (Omg the movies on the other hand…*shudders*)
When I looked at it from a writing perspective, emotion, connection between the love interests, stuff like that…yeah…
*proudly waves a sign proclaiming my unending love for the Red Queen series* you say it’s not original, and it’s a mash up, but honestly, isn’t that like 99.9% of the books out there? We authors are accidental thieves. I find myself taking concepts from books and movies….WITHOUT MEANING TOO. Naturally I try and not to, and fix it when I catch myself doing it, but it’s very difficult. ahem. (especially when someone says your copying something……BUT YOU’VE NEVER READ OR WATCHED SAID THING. It’s so frustrating)
I don’t really change my opinions on books. It’s weird. I sometimes review books right after I’ve read them, but lately I’ve had zero motivation to do it….no motivation for anything in fact. School, blogging, life in general. To quote that 5sos song Permanent Vacation ”Situation no motivation. Destination permanent vacation”
*waits impatiently for the 27th*
Well, I agree that there’s nothing new! 😂 But I think these things can be done a lot better than Red Queen did it…just there were too many elements that blatantly sung of other very popular YA books. :/ But I mean, I don’t want to diss it since you loved it!! We’ll just have to agree to disagree.😂
I guess it depends on the person. I just personally really adored Red Queen 😀
But the sequel, while slower, was better. It was such an emotional roller coaster…….AND THE CLIFF HANGER. *runs around screaming*
The Michael Vey series is one that I used to love. I was reading the books as they come out (the fifth book came out last year). The first and second book I loved, and then I started learning more about writing and picking out flaws, such as the overuse of the word ‘said’ and way to much telling. And the writing in the books started getting worse. The last book was simply horrible. Going back, though I like the first books less than I use to, I still like them. But the newer ones are…ugg. It’s very disappointing.
UGH THAT IS SO DISAPPOINTING. I feel this pain. *gives you comforting cake* I hate falling out of love with things I used to adore. :/
SIX OF CROWS IS ON MY LIST TOO! YAYY! It just gets better every time I think about it, and I am DYING for September to get here already so I can feast upon Crooked Kingdom.
I just finished TLC and it was so confusing, and there was no plan and at Cress, the whole entire thing seemed so unlikely I wanted to scratch my eyes out. I feel so bad that you don’t like Red Queen and ToG because they are some of my favourite!
Lovely List, Cait!
AFJDSAL I cannot wait to read Six of Crows basically!! I’m going to do it via audio the second time to get the FULL experience. *flails happily*
Ah, I’m sorry for not liking your favourites! You just have to love them extra hard to make up for me.😂
Oh my goodness! Dude was thi king of this not two days ago… about weiting a post on the books that I change my mind about way later on… crazy… but you beat me to it 🙁
BUT, regarding the issue at hand… this has been happening quite a bit lately. I wonder why or if this is normal for everyone! For example, earlier this year I read The Vegetarian by Han Lang and it was so-so. And then it went and won the Man Booker International prize… so I decided to give it another read and I realized that I read the thing all wrong the first time! Well it didn’t go up from a 2.5 to a 5. But now I’d probably give it at least a 4.2.
Anyhow, great post by the way.
Oh but this is just part of a prompt! So DEFINITELY STILL DO YOUR POST!!! I look forward to reading it. 😀
I think rating and reviewing books is really hard right?!?😂 We do a good job to even SURVIVE it and get all our thoughts down in an orderly (or something fangirly as is my case) manner hhaha. ahem. But you’re not alone in changing your mind! ME TOO.
I don’t write reviews immediately after reading books, but I do rate them and update on Goodreads right after. I definitely wait a bit to gather all my thoughts and put them into words and sometimes I do find myself changing a rating. Sometimes it goes up (when I find that I find that characters or certain moments remain with me in that rare special way) and sometimes it goes down when I’ve had time to be more analytical about the writing/developmental aspect of the story.
Like you, my impression on the Divergent series went down. I do like it still and will always remember the great experience I had reading it. Although I never did change my high rating for the books, I realized it wasn’t as perfect for me as I once thought it was. I tried rereading it and finally getting to the last book for the longest time but that just didn’t happen because I feel like I changed as a reader and just wasn’t interested anymore.
On the bright side, my opinion for The Raven Cycle series went from great to OMG LOVEEEE when I read The Dream Thieves. Ronan is just… <3333
That sounds like a very reasonable and logical way to go about reviewing, quite honestly! GOOD FOR YOU. 😀 I have no patience. 😂 And also no memory…ahhh. And I always start a new book straight away, so I don’t exactly give books long time to bump about my brain. I should probably slow down hehe.😂
And Divergent HI FIVE. I mean, I think it’s a good series! I just don’t know that it’s as great as I used to believe. And I think changing as a reader is also a huge thing. *nods* Like our tastes change so obviously our old favourite books are going to be outgrown eventually, right? Well. SOME. I can’t envision myself out growing MY PRECIOUS RAVEN BOYS. <33333
OH OH I loved the Selection sooo much when I first read it 2 years ago, but now that I look at it I think I’d give it a 3-star. Shame because I met Kiera Cass and she was such an encouraging author when I told her about my writing!
I didn’t have high expectations for Marie Lu’s The Rose Society as I wasn’t blown away by The Young Elites but in my opinion it’s the most fantastic book ever of all the books she’s written (aside from Prodigy of course which is my number one favorite).
As for a book I wasn’t expecting I’d like… I read Sarah Dessen’s Saint Anything and another book called The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak just for fun and I felt like reading a contemporary, and surprisingly they’re both really good as contemporaries can get for me!
Eeeeep, the Selection is a hard one for me. Because my brain says “C’mon, logically, it’s not that good” but I did enjoy it while reading it.😂 (Although not enough to keep reading apparently?! AGH. I need to get onto that…)
OMG I WASN’T IN LOVE WITH THE YOUNG ELITES TOO. So is Rose Society really that much better?!? Maybe I should rethink my stance to try it!! I seem to always feel a bit “meh” towards Marie LU for some reason. :/
I want to read both Saint Anything and The Improbably Theory *flails* I’m glad you really liked them!
Argh Cait, I love this post! You say so many things that I think / feel. That thing about reading other people’s reviews? I do that. I post mine, I have my opinions and then I read someone else’s and I’m like “oh man, that changes everything – how did I not see that?” and feel torn and unsure how I now feel about said book. < longest sentence ever. Also, when I first finish a book I can be completely absorbed in the world and just gush about it. Then two days later I'm in another world and I'm like "this world is way better". What do you do then? You can't un-gush?
Anyway, awesome post. Thanks! x
AHHHH I’M SO GLAD WE’RE IN AGREEMENT, RHODA! *hi fives*
And yes, you can’t un-gush.😂 I prefer to think of it like “it was great at the time and it made us happy so therefore it was good”…even if I find something WAY better later on. *nods*
I feel the exact same way abotu Throne of Glass – I haven’t even read the other books; I just don’t like how she deals with characters at all.
Thanks for the list.
Ugh, yes. :/ Well at least we’re in this together! *hi fives*
An aside – I read “breaking plates” as breaking Pilates and my imagination tried to supply a picture of “breaking Pilates in passionate feelings” – a cross between yoga and interpretive dance, really.
I feel exactly the same way about Asking for It – I gave Only Ever Yours 5 stars, but it made me depressed for about a week and I don’t read for that!
And Winter is on my shelf, one chapter read for months. I think it’s too fat and intimidating.
WELL THEN. That would’ve been a much more interesting description.😂
Omg YES. I was so depressed after Only Ever Yours. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and it made me MISERABLe. (THAT ENDING THO.) So while I think it’s a good and important book, I can’t say I “enjoyed” it, I guess??? It’s a hard one to talk about. 😛
Whoa… this made me think about how I review books. I’m a pretty lazy reviewer honestly. XD I usually write reviews weeks after I read the actual books, but I take semi-good notes(?). TO be honest, I don’t think about rating much either. Books are either bad. meh. cool, or I’M IN LOVE WITH THE CHARACTERS AND PLOT THE AUTHOR IS A GENIUS to me. Very professional. XD
I agree with you 100% on Winter, but since it took my a couple of months to read it, so I figured there was something weird with the writing and now that I read back on my review, I was mostly gushing about the ending. Go, me. XP Although I still ADORE the rest of the series.
In school, I basically shoved the Divergent series at everyone (and I’m sure they enjoyed that), but now that I’ve read other books in the genre and just more YA in general, I have to say that it’s not my favorite anymore, although I still enjoy the series.
Oh! I almost forgot! I tagged you for The Dragon Loyalty Award on my blog. I hope you find the time to do it! Although the evil monster that is editing is in front of you, STAY STRONG!
Oh oh if you take notes then you are AMAZING.😂 I never take notes. Which is why I must review straight away or I FORGET EVERYTHING WITHIN TWO SECONDS. And pfft, all caps and flailing fangirling is the best way to review, right? ;D
YES! Same with me and Divergent! I definitely like it still, I’m just not all fangirly and enamoured as I was originally. AWW, thanks for the tag!!
LOL Tris changing factions because of food! WHUUUUT? LOL Am cackling! And …Ronan’s GAY? HUH? When was THAT explained? I’m confused. Were you joking or what? Anyway, I love this post. I wish I had the talent to make my posts this pretty. Sigh.
Well, Tris DID admit that Dauntless had better food!
Wait…are you joking about Ronan? Sorry! I can’t tell. 😛 Have you read the books?
AWWW THANK YOU!! *flails* I’m glad you like how the post looks! THAT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME. <3
Yeah I’ve read all the Raven Boys except The Raven King.
I 100% agree with you about Red Queen – I don’t understand why it’s been so hyped up considering it is not original or unique in any way. It was fun while reading it but after reading the second book, my opinion has gone down.
Same goes for Divergent, I enjoyed them well enough the first time around, but they were totally piggybacking on The Hunger Games.
I knoooooooow. IT BEFUDDLES ME SO MUCH. Like. WHY. *collapses* It hasn’t got a single element that a hundred other books haven’t done before. I feel like the publishers just randomly picked which book they were going to promote. -_-
On the “author did something Not Nice” reason . . . there’s one or two authors who have lost a great deal of my respect, not because of something they did in their books but because they released the first book or two in particular series and then failed to release the next books for, oh, five years or so. No real explanations given. One of them even released other (not very good, in my opinion) books in the meantime. So, yeah. I still like the books . . . but I’m a little less excited about them and a bit more willing to be critical.
Also, regarding ToG: YES. I agree with you so much. I mean, I wasn’t sold on the series in the first place, but I liked some of the characters enough to keep reading? But while the latest one had some awesome action and sneakiness (plus Celaena and her cousin being sibling-ish), the characters changed and drove me crazy and yeah. I think I’m done. (Though, at least that book had an ending that felt very last-of-the-series-ish, so I’m not going to go crazy with “What happened next, though?”
Great post!
UGH. 5 YEARS???!??! Who wants to wait that long?! Sheesh. I’ve had a few authors do that to me, although I haven’t hated them for it.😂 But it is annoying as anything!
I don’t blame you for being done with Throne of Glass. *nods* I think it kind of ruined all the things that were epic and good in the first books?? And I thought Rowan was like her UNCLE sort of figure or something, but apparently not. 0_0 Or else it’s okay to be in love with your relatives in feyland? Ew.
100% agree with Throne of Glass and Divergent. I don’t like Celaena anymore either, which is sad because she was one of my favourite characters for a while there. Now, I honestly can’t stand her. I don’t know how I survived through Queen of Shadows.
My TTT
YES OMG YES. *cries* I mean, she loved stabbing things AND puppies AND cake AND books?!? She was my hero! Until Heir of Fire came along and the books basically just trashed everything I loved. *sighs* I will not be picking up Empire of Storms.
I have a hard time changing my mind on books. I don’t do my review right after I read them which makes my life difficult. I just don’t always have time. So when I write my review sometime I have had time to think about the book but I try to use the feelings I had while reading and also when I finished it. I try not to read into things =. Sometimes I think that the author had no hidden agenda or was trying to make a point. They just think they had a story in their head. I think that soemtimes books seem to steal ideas becuase there are only so many stories out there. they all can resemble some others at moments. Not to say that some aren’t way to similiar to another. Anyways I am rambeling. That happens. I like your choices and that you had reasons to change the way you feel about it book. It doesn’t happen often with me… i don’t tend reread and think too much on it later… but there have been a few for sure.
Oh I totally agree that there are only so many ideas out there. *nods* And books are GOING to sound the same at times. Although, some can wander a bit too close to the “copying” range, I think. But yeah. Asking for 100% originality isn’t logical or achievable anyway.
It’s good that you stick to your opinion though! Less life crisis, right?! 😂
I feel the same way about Divergent! (although I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending of Allegiant, but we can agree to disagree haha) It’s one of those series that was published and gained popularity at just the right time, but otherwise probably wouldn’t have been that successful. Anyways, awesome list! 🙂
YES. Totally agree! If Divergent came out now, I don’t think anyone would even care. So I mean, yay that the author got such a lucky break, but yeah…quality. Not so much. :/
I know what you mean about Winter. I ended up rating it 5-stars at the time, because honestly I was kind of rating everything in that series 5-stars. But in retrospect, I was kind of like “it was okay”. And I know it’s kind of terrible but I got my hopes up for some kind of wedding or child in the end, and I know that pushes females into a stereotypical ending box, but I wanted it goddammit. And the fact that I’m still sort of upset at this point shows me that I didn’t 5-stars love it.
Also it did feel like they spent forever gathering their crew to fight, then only fought for a hot minute.
PS. totally with you on unfairly changing book opinions because of author behaviour. I mean, it’s hard to promote something when you know the person benefiting isn’t the greatest
Eeeep. Hehe. I know how you feel about Winter! Except I’m the opposite in that…I ACTUALLY WANTED DEATH FOR THE ENDING.😂 I know. I’m horrible. I just thought it was too happy… *sends self to the corner of shame* But yes, it dragged quite a lot.
AND YES. It’s not always fair, because humans make mistake and that doesn’t necessarily have to reflect on their art. But. We are also human, and omg can I hold a grudge. #mybad.😂
hahaha you would want death for the ending :p I suppose it wasn’t the greatest book for realistic endings, I mean, pretty much all the characters lived and there was only minor character death. Which I’m super grateful for, but I can see how other people might not be
I KNOW, I HAVE A PROBLEM RIGHT?!?!? #shame😂 I mean, it was nice on the feels! And I would probably complain either way if it killed off my favourites so…hehe. Can’t win, right? 😉
When I read The Dream Thieves I was struggling through college apps so I felt like it took forever but I still loved it! I need to go reread it after I finish dying over the Raven King! Great list!
REREADING THAT SERIES IS SUCH A GOOD LIFE DECISION. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND. *flails*
I really need to get Seraphina. It’s on my watch list for a while now, but the copy at my local bookstore has faded printing. I seriously need to find it somewhere else. Argh!
Gonna hop on the Six of Crows train soon. I hope I get to it before the sequel comes out.
YES YES YOU NEED SERAPHINA! I won a copy and I’m soooo glad I did, because otherwise I think I would’ve completely forgotten about it! and now it stares at me and DEMANDS a rematch.
Saraphina has been on my TBR forever because DRAGONS! But I keep getting distracted by new pretties…
I don’t think reading other reviews and going “OMFG I missed it” is cheating at. all. Especially when it comes to problematic things because that’s all about expanding your views and noticing things you normally wouldn’t that other people do. No one’s perfect.
and DRAGONS!!!
Omg getting distracted by new pretties is SO VERY VERY HARD. #bookwormproblems
And ahhh thankyou! I feel much better about changing-my-mind-after-other-reviews-now.😂 And YES! It’s like a big discussion right?!? And it’s great when our opinions are expanded by other’s thoughts. 😀
Seraphina!!! DRAGONS, Cait, DRAGONS. I saw that on your list and for a split second I thought I would have to fight you but then I saw that your opinion went *up* and all is well haha
Omg YES. YOU DON’T HAVE TO FIGHT ME. WE ARE ON THE SAME SIDE HERE. *hi fives* 😂
I don’t often (?) notice my opinion changing on books over time . . . but I guess sometimes it does happen? I can think of two books I read for school which I initially hated (while I was in the middle of reading them); and then by the time I finished I was like, “ehhhhhhh. . . actually, that was pretty good,” and since then, I’ve come to recognize just how brilliant they really are. They’re “Bread Givers” by Anzia Yezierska and “Stasiland” by Anna Funder–both HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. They’re also pretty depressing, especially in the middle (the reason why I hated them both initially) but they are sooooooooooooooo good.
Ohhh I shall have to look these up!! I AM ALWAYS ON THE LOOK OUT FOR EXCELLENT BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS! 😀
My opinion also went down with Red Queen. It’s just… horrible okay. Unoriginal, flat characters, and the romance is just NO. I can’t understand why I liked it back then! I also had the same problem with SYBG, Emily is just too dependent on Sloane. And of course, Throne of Glass. I rated it 4 stars back then, but maybeee I should’ve just give it 3 stars. The more I think about it, the more I dislike Celaena. She’s supposed to be this badass assassin and yet the book gave NOTHING to show it. And all she could think about is how good she looks. But she’s loyal though, so let’s see what will happen in Crown of Midnight.
AGH, I don’t understand why I rated it 3 at all. 🙁 I think I felt a bit pressured to or something?!? BECAUSE OMG IT’S SO VERY BLAND.
And Emily was really dependant on ANYONE basically…throughout the whole book?! Like she couldn’t exist as a human without her friends, and that bothers me, because you gotta be able to be YOU alone to know who you relaly are too. 🙁
And yeah…Celaena doesn’t really do much assassinating does she? More SASSING.😂 (Although less of that too as the series progresses. Wah)
I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING YOU SAID ABOUT TOG. Except I didn’t finished HoF and I have less than zero interest in reading QoS. BUT IT’S LIKE SHE HAS A NEW GUY IN EVERY BOOK. THAT IS SO DISTURBING AND DISGUSTING AND WRONG. Also I didn’t finish ACOTAR and I’m not going to read ACOMAF but from what I gather… the girl has a different guy in the second book and I’m like “OH MY WORD PLEASE DON’T DO IT AGAIN”
i just
i really don’t have any respect for Maas anymore and I only feel 1% bad about saying that.
I’m not even upset that I lost my ToG and CoM copies.
IT MAKES ME SO SO SAD. I was so wildly in love with that series at first. Noooooooo. BLEH. *collapses into a puddle of disappointment. Why’d Celanea have to go be ruined like that? *weeps*
I KNOW. TOG WAS SO WONDERFUL AND AMAZING AND FULL OF POTENTIAL AND CELAENA WAS SO LOVABLE AND FUN. AND IT’S JUST SO… UGH. *collapses and weeps with you*
IT BETRAYED OUR TRUST AND LOVE, THAT’S WHAT IT DID.
HOW DARE IT. BOOKS SHOULD NOT BETRAY US. THEY SHOULD BE THE ONE FRIEND WE CAN COUNT ON. *cries for a million years*
Seriously CAN MAGGIE STIEFVATER DO NO WRONG?!
I checked out basically all the books you said your opinion went up on, and I have come to the conclusion that I am drowning under a pile of TBRs. Send help. I don’t know if I can make it out alive.
MAGGIE STIEFVATER IS A MAGICAL QUEEN AND OF COURSE CAN DO NO WRONG. *flails wildly*
I am drowning under books too, if it makes you feel better. We can drown together? I shall bring the cake.
I really liked Red Queen, but I totally get where you are coming from, it was kind of a mix of other stories all mashed up into this book.
I will join you with my own little sign because I too really appreciated the ending of Allegiant. You have got to be a strong and brave author to be able to end your series in the way she did and it made me love this series and the author, mostly for this ending.
I agree that Winter was a bit long and sloooooooow, but at the same time if it had been any quicker it would have been too short! 🙂
Great choices this week!
Eeeep, yes it was! *winces* But I’m sorry for hating on a book you loved! I’m glad that you do love it, Hannah!! AHHH YAY LET US STAND SIDE BY SIDE WITH OUR SIGNS!! I adore Veronica Roth’s bravery for ending the series like this and I honestly think it was true to the characters *nods*
*whispers* I actually think Winter should’ve been JUST Winter’s book…and then there should’ve been a 5th book for the actual finale. I felt like Winter didn’t get enough space compared to all the space the other characters got in their books!!
I have the same with Divergent, which is why it’s also on my list. I also never thought about the underlying message of Since You’ve Been Gone! I loved it when I read it, but now that you’ve mentioned that. I’m a huge introvert-defender, because people tend to think we are boring, lame or anti-social. And I hate that. Now that you’ve mentioned it, it put a tiny little blemish on my love for the book.
Great list Cait!
I’m an introvert defender too!! I feel like too often “introvert” and “shy” are listed as character flaws and noooo it’s NOT LIKE THAT AT ALL. *cries* Introversion is not something to be changed. So YEAH. As much as I adored that book, I really need to re-read it and see what it was truly saying. 0_0
YESSSSS GIVE ALL THE STARS TO KAZ AND SIX OF CROWS!!! *flailing happily* Honestly though, those dragon secretaries should really start pulling their weight… >.>
OH OH BUT I DO THIS ALL THE TIME. I usually review books very soon after reading them whenever I DO review them. And… my mind changes quite a lot, actually. o.o I have had books I love initially and later go “meh… what did I see in that again??” aaand I’ve also had books I thought were good but I wasn’t RABID about AND THEN LATER DECIDE THEY ARE MY EVERYTHING. I can’t think of specific examples just now but there it is. I also tend to be wayyyyy too nice with my ratings so sometimes I have to take some time away from in to distance myself so I can rate it more accurately instead of FEELING LIKE I’M A TRAITOR TO THIS NICE PERSON I MEAN BOOK THAT I JUST READ BECAUSE GOSH HOW COULD I RATE IT LESS THAN FIVE I MIGHT HURT ITS FEELINGS. …Honestly I have a problem. XD
Awesome post! I so relate! (I’m also really excited about the blogging surprise! :O Good luck on your edits! <3 Dare I ask what you are editing… :D)
GAH, I KNOW RIGHT?!? Those silly dragon secretaries. I’m going to cut their cake pay, if they’re not careful.
And omg, I’m glad I’m not alone in this! Also I feel like if one has a bad memory (aka ME😂) then it’s really hard to remember why I loved a book so much later on too?! Like it didn’t leave a lasting impression. SO WHAT WAS THE POINT OF IT’S FACE. *cries* I used to be scared to rate harshly but not anymore.😂 Feelings are gonna be hurt no matter what, so, eh, I might as well be my delightfully honest self. HAHAHA. Ahem.
I AM EDITING SOMETHING TO DO WTIH DRAGONS. *flails* Although, sadly, I don’t think this one will be wattpadded…*sheds tears of regret*
I am actually reading Since You’ve Been Gone right now, and I would never have considered that perspective but I can see that side of things. I’ll have to reserve judgement until I finish it. I just finished Red Queen and I do kinda think it’s overhyped. The big twist though makes me want to read the next book before I decide whether to carry on or not. Great list!
Ooops, I hope I don’t spoil it for you!! >_< I mean, I DID LOVE IT AT THE TIME. And I honestly want to re-read before I make any too wild opinions. And the Maven twist was COOL and the only reason I kind of liked the book at the time.😂 It took me by surprise and I LIKE bookish plot twists that I can't predict!!
Agreed on multiple accounts! I think I was a little disappointed by Six of Crows at first because I… I dunno. I think I was maybe expecting it to be more like The Grisha Trilogy. And I didn’t want an exact copy, but I guess at first I was a little hesitant to accept the multi-POV story because it somehow felt less personal at first? But by now I realize that it was a good book and I like it that way.
Also, I get what you mean about Winter, too. Like, I was actually sort of disappointed from the beginning because I sort of wanted it to work out in such a way that Cinder wouldn’t have to be queen—exactly what kind of queening experience does she have, I ask you? I thought Winter should get to be in charge of Luna. But even if it had worked out that way, I also agree that there was that “perfect storm” vibe so that there was conflict but also totally available ways to handle that conflict and not be too concerned about the end game. It isn’t that I want somebody dead because it would make me sad, but if someone had actually died during the course of the book I think it would have helped us to know that this was serious business and there were real consequences possible to the story, and I am not sure that desperation ever existed before.
YES! I’m glad we’re the same about Six of Crows! I did actually like the 3rd person, but I think there were TOO MANY POVS and I do stand by that. It did too much backstory and kind of felt info-dumpy because there was sooo much to take in. :/ I’m going to re-read it on audio though so hopefully that makes all the backstory make more sense to me. heh.
OMG I WANTED WINTER TO BE IN CHARGE OF LUNA TOO!! I was soooo disappointed that it didn’t work out like that. Like she and Jacin could’ve ruled and it would’ve been so good?!? And yes. I think it needed death. I FEEL BAD FOR SAYING THAT. But I mean, 4 ships that all sailed perfectly? Hmm. But then it was a fairy tale ending so….😂 I suppose that fits in a way!
I liked Divergent too, and I also agree about it getting famous because of the Hunger Games. It pretty much gave people more of what they already knew they wanted. Still, I think I like Tris more than Katniss as a character. She’s more proactive, and based off her and Four’s personalities, it made a lot of sense that they would like each other (whereas I’m not really sure why two different guys were fighting over Katniss when the books work so hard to establish how unlikable she is).
*nods sadly* Yup. I couldn’t agree more. It was just THERE at the right time. Like I think if Divergent had come out now, no one would even have noticed it.
But I don’t actually know if Peeta ever WAS particularly fighting over Katniss?? Like they were thrown together and he always loved her, but I think he would’ve let her go if she’d have chosen Gale. BUT IDEK. I NEED TO RE-READ. hehe.
I agree with divergent. First book where I LIKED the movie better than the book ( I’m a bit of a book snob like that *covers face*) felt like a ripoff after I read the awesome hunger games
YES. SADNESS BUT YES. Divergent honestly did feel like it just was riding The Hunger Game’s success. 🙁 I did like it a lot when I read it initially, but yeah. It’s lost it’s appeal. >_<
I love your post. 🙂 My opinion of the books I featured didn’t change drastically–I couldn’t really find any in which it did. Of your list, I have only read Seraphina, which I quite liked even despite my little issues with it. The author did an amazing job with the mythology of her world, didn’t she? Oh, and Divergent, I read that trilogy and liked it, although found the final book disappointing–but not for the most popular reason not to like the book. One of these days I will read Stiefvater.
I used to be very good at writing reviews directly after I finish books. Now, not so much. I like to use the excuse that I need to think and reflect on the book before putting my final thoughts on paper–and while that it is true to some degree, it is also part excuse because I find myself lacking in motivation to sit down and write. Ho hum.
Ahhh, thank you!! And omg I so so need to reread Seraphina and actually APPRECIATE the intensely amazing world building. It’s such a rich book!! But omg *politely throws all the Stiefvater books at you* THEY ARE SO GOOD I PROMISE THEY ARE THE BEST.
Ooooh, I spent the entire time reading Asking for It with a sick feeling in my stomach. That books is BRUTAL, let me tell you. It was fantastic and sadly extremely true, but brutal. But anyways, my opinion of books tends to go down. I’ll write the review or recommend it to all the people in the excitement of the moment of reading it the first time, and then I’ll read it again like six months later and realize it wasn’t as good as I thought it was.
And ooo, something gloriously exciting on the 27th? That’s your blogversary, right?
AGH OKAY. I’M GOING TO WAIT TO READ IT LONGER THEN. *hides* I just don’t do good with books that give me massive anxiety and if her first book did…then the second one is going to be just as bad right? 🙁 I mean not “bad”. I think she’s writing good stories! But yeah. Anxiety. *shrivels*
YESSSS BLOGVERSARY IS COMING.
My main complaint with Winter was that it was too easy. I never thought that they were in danger once.
And I fell for the hype monster a well with Red Queen. I don’t know if I’m even motivated to read Glass Sword!
SAME! I wasn’t worried about anyone dying. I actually kind of think SOMEONE should’ve died?!??? Like the casualties were just Scarlet losing a finger? Not that…impressive. -_-
I’m so not motivated for Glass Sword.😂
It’s always kind of sad to hear about opinions going down, isn’t it? But I’m glad you had some opinions go up! I admittedly need to read a lot of these. I’m kind of relieved to hear that a lot of opinions about the Throne of Glass series went down…I’ve been feeling a lot of pressure to read them but less so now.
Oh oh yes it totally is sad. I MUCH prefer when my opinions go up!! That’s exciting and just makes me want to reread the book and adore it! *flails*
And there are MUCH better fantasy books to read, honestly. I would do a post about aaall the reasons I’m anti-ToG now, but my thoughts are actually too jumbled. AHHHGH.
I can totally respect you thoughts on There Will Be Lies but that book still drove me crazy. However, you are so right about thinking the book was broken. I don’t think I was in the mood for it when I read it and thinking back, it does still stick with me so maybe I don’t dislike it as much as I thought I did. I really need to read Seraphina because….DRAGONS! Did you like its sequel?
Omg I’m glad I wasn’t alone thinking There Will Be Lies was broken.😂 BUT YEAH. It drove me crazy too…but now I really like it?! SO IDEK.😂
Yes, Six of Crows was sooo good!
I have Since You’ve Been Gone on my top TBR list, but I have some serious issues with the idea that introversion is bad (why is extraversion the ideal, I don’t understand), so if it references that, I may not like it all that much either… But I will try to start it with an open mind anyway and see what happens 🙂
Yesss, eek, I mean, I really need to re-read Since You’ve Been Gone probably?? (I JUST DON’T HAVE TIME THOUGH *SHRIEKS*) Because maybe that’s not what it was saying? But honestly, the whole “extroversion is better than introversion” feels like the subtle message. :/
Divergent was on my list this week too. I have to admit, my feelings about the Throne of Glass series are waning a little after QOS but after making it four books through and becoming attached to the characters, I want to make it to the end of the series! It makes me happy to see that your opinions on Six of Crows and Only Ever Yours have improved over time as those are two books on my ever increasing TBR pile!
Six of Crows is like a BILLION PERCENT RECOMMENDED FROM ME!! *flails and throws politely it at you* And I hope you enjoy the rest of the Throne of Glass series! I’m really disappointed I fell out of love with it, but eh, what can we do? :/
I usually keep high opinions of books. Years after having read them, I’ll think back and think way to highly of it.
On rare occasions, I’ll realize “oh… that wasn’t that great.”
ON DIVERGENT: I liked Divergent ( *okay I skipped a lot of pages with Tris and Four because I wanted more story and action.*) and Insurgent was ehh and then? I never read Allegiant. I found out the ending (or at least part of it) and when I tried to start it, I got hung up on the kissing. I mean seriously, they were kissing each other just a few pages in.
I’m not the biggest romance fan.
Unless we’re talking HP.
Or Caleo. *sigh*
YESSS I SO GET THAT! And I think our standards get higher the more we read too?! Like 3 years ago I tossed out 5-star ratings to books that definitely didn’t deserve them. *sighs*
HAHAAHH. OMG. 😂 Yes there was a lot of kissing in Divergent! My problem more was just the lack of things happening…and honestly Tris and Four’s relationship wasn’t very healthy. 0_0
I try to review books right away because it makes me feel accomplished, plus I will forget if I don’t do it right away. I changed my mind on Miss Peregrine Home for Peculiar Children. At first I was like okay where is this going, and then the second book came and I was like “OMG I NEED MORE!” Then I went and changed my review for the first book. I do that if I love a series and look back and I’m like “Why did I give the first book such a sucky rating?” Then I change it. I have loved a series and hated it. The Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi. The first book I was like “awesome!” The last two books I was like why have all these characters become shriveled prunes. Also what happen on the 27th?! I NEED TO KNOW! I promise I won’t tell*me pushing a furious amount tea and cake towards you”
Saaaame. Plus I forget what I THOUGHT about a book if I don’t review it straight away.😂 Plus I usually pick up a new book straight away and I don’t want to mix them up. Merp.
I didn’t like Miss Peregrine’s when I read it but I AM super curious about the rest of the series?! I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD RE-READ. And maybe read a physical copy?! Because the ecopy made all the pictures so squashed and merp.
YES! See, I look back at some of the books I rated 5 stars or put on my favourites shelf on GoodReads and think “really?”. Which kind of bums me out because AT THAT TIME, this may have been the best book I ever read, but thinking back on it – especially if I CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED, I kind of wonder how much I actually liked the book. But there’s nothing I can do, unless I want to go and re-read all of these books to see if I still feel the same (and likely I won’t) because I won’t be in the same place I was when I first read them ARGH. It’s so frustrating!!!!
SAME. I kind of want to have a cleanout of my 5-star Goodreads shelf but but but…I should technically re-read them first and WHO HAS TIME FOR THAT? NOT ME. I NEED 9 MORE EYEBALLS.
fabulous post (as always), Cait! I struggled this week!! Next week though? I’m all over the Beach Reads lol. My TTT
Omg I wish it was beach read weather for me. *wails*😂 IT’S FREEZING TODAY.
I love your posts. :3 I know I don’t comment that much, but just thought I’d let you know that I’m always quietly lurking around your blog and squealing cause of how fabulous you are. Also, SAME about Divergent. Literally the only time I related to her, too. WHERE WERE THE EMOTIONS??? I don’t even know. PS DIDN’T READ YOUR REVIEW OF DREAM THIEVES BC I’M READING IT RIGHT NOW LSDFJK. So much love/obsessive adoration. It’s fine. I’m fine.
Omgggg *QUIETLY TACKLE HUGS YOU* This is the sweetest thing to hear of ever tho. <33
I HAVE SO MUCH EMOTIONS REGARDING THE RAVEN CYCLE. EVERY SINGLE BOOK. WHEN IS IT APPROPRIATE TO RE-READ THEM EVEN THOUGH I JUST READ THEM.
Omg thank you so much for writing this post! I always feel bad when I read and review things and then I look back in realization like “whoops”. I agree with Divergent (It used to be my favorite series of all time) and Red Queen too ( I got Glass Sword but idk if I’m going to read it [ I probably will ] ). As my expectations got higher and I found other books I loved I started to see how the other ones didn’t really… Measure up? OMG THO MAGGIE STIEFVATER YAS QUEEN! I need to finish the series so bad! *looks to shelf where The Raven King is staring back at me*
WE ARE TOGETHER IN THIS MATTER, KAITLYN! *nods sagely* And omg Divergent used to be one of my top favourite series too. 0_0 I mean, like I said, I definitely don’t hate it or anything!! I’m just not as in love as I was. :/
MAGGIE STIEFVATER IS SO DEFINITELY 10000% QUEEN. HER BOOKS ARE UNBELIEVABLY GOOD. I MIGHT CRY.
Unfortunately I haven’t read a lot of these but I completely agree with you re: SYBG and The Dream Thieves! It’s just interesting how our opinions change over time and how ratings become relative — relative to how we felt when we read the book and where we were in our lives at that time. As we move on, and read more and more, for me, any way, it makes it harder for books to sticks out and a lot of books that I liked when I read them become unmemorable and/or not as good as other books I read. Also, sometimes I have to read a book multiple times before I realize just how brilliant it is!
It IS totally interesting!! I actually love it when my opinion goes up. ;D But I confess more often it goes down. hahah.😂 AWKWARDNESS. *coughs* (I release just how genius Maggie Stiefvater books are the more I read them though. AHHH *falls aggressively in love with them again and again*)
I’ve read “The Tale of Desperaux” three times and had a different opinion about it each time. I went from liking it to hating it to liking it again, though maybe not as much as the first time. I also didn’t like “Inkheart” when I first read it (I gave it 2/5 stars), yet for some odd reason, I picked up “Inkspell” and “Inkdeath” and thoroughly enjoyed them. Okay, this was probably my friend’s fault, as she loves the trilogy. I need to go back and re-read the first one.
Usually, I try to wait a bit before I give a book a rating, allowing me to process what I think about the book. If I particularly dislike it, I’ll give it a 2/5 right away, and some books I loved and gave a 5/5 were later downgraded for 4/5. While I may have been particularly hard on books this year, my average raging is still 3.6 stars. I’d rather give a book the benefit of the doubt.
Thanks for the post!
(Now I can’t wait until Friday!)
I SERIOUSLY NEED TO READ INKHEART. Like I think I did read it???? I have MEMORIES of reading it. But yet I have no review for it, which is bizarre because I review everything. *wails* So I need (re?)read it and then finish the series.
I should probably wait a bit to rate things instead of doing it straight away.😂 I might actually stop changing my mind so much later!
(AHHH I’M SO EXCITED FOR FRIDAY TOO *SHRIEKS*)
Ha ha I loved this! I hate it when you lose interest in a series you used to love and be so invested in. I agree with the author themselves being reasons why your opinion on books changes. I’m quite apprehensive when it comes to reading Cassandra Clares book because all of the things she has been accused of doing. I agree with the whole thing of giving books a 5-star because you expected yourself to love it. I have done this many times and then realised that “no, it wasn’t that good, I just wanted it to be”. Great list!
Yess, it is a problem when you feel like you SHOULD like a book. *winces* I try to avoid thinking about other people’s opinions when I review and try to be true to how I feel…BUT IT’S DEFINITELY HARD SOMETIMES!!
Ooh … I love this topic. I do change my mind about books sometimes, and I love it when someone else’s opinion of a book gets me to reconsider – for the positive or the negative! I find I reconsider a lot with early YA — those books that seemed so cool back in 2008 and now when I look at them I think … meh. A lot can change in 8 years! I think the overall quality of YA is just getting better.
Oh I totally agree about the older books!! Plus we’ve just been introduced to better ones, right?!? WHICH IS COOL. The quality of books really has gone up (particularly lately I believe!)
I totally agree with what you said about things that will affect your opinion for a book. I’ll see a ton of reviews that will point out things a characters did/said, plot points, etc and I’ll think, “HOW DID I MISS THAT? I’M A TERRIBLE PERSON!” That’s why I try to read reviews that are both positive and negative, so that I can have a balanced initial idea when diving into a book. And I feel the same way about Red Queen. I didn’t like it that much in retrospect, but I felt like I had to like it because so many other people did, and I didn’t want to be the black sheep. I plan on reading the sequel to see how that one goes for me. But looking back, it wasn’t as unique as people were saying it was.
And I love all of your bookstagram pictures that you included!
AHHH SAME!! It’s a worry sometimes, right?! I feel so guilty sometimes for liking a book and then having the problematic things pointed out! *hides under bed* Although I do like to try and stick to my opinions…unless it’s something REALLY bad that I should take into account. *nods*
And yesss. Red Queen is a huge victim of hype, right?! I’ve heard a lot of people saying they didn’t love the sequel who did love the first book…so I’m not even going to try. 😛
(AW THANK YOU. <3)
Oh yes I totally agree with you about Seraphina! I wish I didn’t listen to an audiobook, and instead read it. But nope. Have you read Shadow Scale yet? Also wow I thought you loved Throne of Glass? Maybe it was just the first two books. I stopped at Crown of Midnight. I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t continue because I wasn’t in the right mood. But I have all the books that have been released so…uh…
I haven’t read Shadow Scale! BUT I WILL!! I just need to find time to re-read Seraphina (omg it is a beast of a gargantuan book isn’t it though?!😂) And YES, I did like the first two ToG books, but I’ve very much fallen out of love with them. 🙁
You inadvertently reminded me of a series I forgot to include in my post. I adored Jo Walton’s Tooth and Claw (an Austen-esque comedy of manners about DRAGONS). So, I read, and loved her Greek mythology / philosophy novel, The Just City. Then, I read and HATED its sequel The Philosopher Kings. Honestly, I felt betrayed because halfway through the second book (and therefore, halfway through the trilogy) Walton introduced Christianity, anachronisticly, and proceeded to take a huge dump on it. It was offensive (and I think it would’ve been offensive if it was any religion, not just my own).
AHHH DRAGONS!! I am always happy to remind people of dragons.😂 But omg duuuude, that sounds really awful and I definitely understand why you felt betrayed. I really hate it when books get randomly religious, especially if they do it negatively. 🙁
You make me laugh. Always.
I’m listening to the Raven boys series and I’m over halfway done with the Dream Thieves. A-Ronan is amazeballs. B-the narrator’s voice is weird but I need stuff to listen to while getting ready. I giggle every time he does any of the female voices.
I totally agree about Divergent. I actually read that I think before I read all of the Hunger Games because I saw it at the library. Then forgot about it until it started to get hyped for a movie. I’m halfway through the Red Rising series and just hoping for a movie version. BECAUSE GOLDS. Rippling. Gold. Muscles.
THIS IS SO RIDICULOUSLY GOOD TO HEAR, SKULLY, I SHALL JUST SPRINKLE CAKE CRUMBS OF HAPPINESS IN YOUR HAIR. <33 Ahem. And omg the narrator for The Raven Cycle IS WEIRD. I don't really like him. >_< But then, I binge-listened to all 4 books in a couple of months, so I got used to it? But aghhh, CALLA'S VOICE. It sounds like a gravel pit!! UGH. 😂 OMG, did you know Red Rising IS actually in works for a movie?!? I'M SO RIDICULOUSLY EXCITED. IT'S GONNA BE AWESOME. (Provided they actually stick to the book and do it justice.😂)
I often suffer from rating regret. I think you’re right that rating (or reviewing) a book immediately after finishing it skews your opinion, because you’re still caught up in all the feels. And then a couple of months (or hours) later, you can’t think of a single memorable thing.
I’ve definitely been influenced by negative reviews before, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It’s important to be able to recognize problematic parts of a book, even if you didn’t notice them on your own.
Ooh, you really need to listen to the audiobook of Seraphina. I think that will help! I agree about Since You’ve Been Gone. Ugh. I didn’t like the so-called best friend relationship; it didn’t feel balanced at all. I also agree with you about Winter, although I thought that while still reading it. It was SO. LONG. And don’t even get my started about the Divergent trilogy. I can’t believe how much I loved the first book when it came out! 😂 I don’t think Celaena got worse, though. She was always awful. 😛
YES. Those feels. Darn them, they are manipulative. Gah. And also I find if I really hated a book, my review will get VERY ranty.😂 Whereas if I waited, I probably would be more logical…(But omg if I don’t review straight away, I just forget everything. It is a problem. I swear my memory is getting worse. WHO ARE YOU AGAIN???😂 ahem. EXCUSE ME. I HAVE A WONDERFUL sENSE OF HUMOUR I KNOW.😂)
And yes! I think it’s okay to be influenced by other reviews. Because, I mean, it’s all a big discussion right?!? And it’s nice to care what other people think and their viewpoints too *nods*
I WILL. I PROMISE. I wanted to audiobook Seraphina this year but…Finnikin. I want to binge listen to that series next, so I forsee that’ll take me a few months.😂 ALSO CALAMITY. Seriously I have so many audiobooks and life is so good. <33 *HUGS YOU*
In this moment I am very glad you found my top ten list, so I could in turn find yours! I haven’t read all the books you listed, but I was nodding along the whole time—especially about your reasons for changing your opinion, which I do for all those same reasons, and the more time passes the less I trust my own opinion until I have to reread the book and decide all over again. That’s actually the only reason I started writing book reviews; so I could remember what I thought about things.
I feel the same way about the Divergent series, and I haven’t read Winter, but it’s because I read the previous three books, liked them, and then kind of stopped caring about them.
AHHH WE ARE TWINS IN THIS MATTER THEN, GWEN *hi fives* And isn’t it hard when we forget too??? Like sometimes I honestly don’t remember WHY I liked a book and I feel like I should drop the rating, but…arghgurgh maybe I should re-read? WE NEED 9 MORE EYEBALLS AND 87 MORE LIVES SO WE CAN REREAD EVERYTHING. *collapses* And YES I review absolutely everything I read to help me remember things!!
Oh, I didn’t even know about that Nick Lake book! I really liked In Darkness and Hostage Three so I will have to try this one also! I was not ever impressed with Red Queen, but some of my coworkers really love it.
Most people I know adore Red Queen!! So I feel like a minority here. hehe. AHH BUT I’M GLAD YOU FEEL THE SAME! *hi fives*
I always review books right after I read them. and sometimes i might “accidentallyish” give them a better review because I love Love LOVE the author or everyone loves the book and I seem to be alone so I’ll think. “oh, its just a me thing…”.
And you’re not going to like this, but the best example I can think of was The Wrath and The Dawn. I was torn up on the inside because everyone was just SCREAMING about it, but I was really bored the whole time. I still gave it four stars and now I don’t even know why. (although, I did read it as an ARC, and so far I have been bored and disliked every ARC I’ve ever gotten. so it’s possible my brain just really hates ARC or something…?)
and my name at the top is a typo. I have not changed it to end in a v.
And here I thought you had MORE INITIALS. #disappointed
(Just kidding😂😂 I’m ridiculously weird, ahem, never mind me.)
DUDE I “ACCIDENTALLY” GIVE BETTER REVIEWS THAN A BOOK DESERVES TOO BECAUSE OF WEIRD REASONS. Mostly author-love. hehe. And I’m not even ashamed. Life is short! Sometimes it’s okay just to love things a little more and be super nice. :’)
AGh that is sadness about TW&TD but heeeey, we’re all different right??!? (And omg that’s sad you’ve had such bad luck with ARCs. 🙁 I actually hated most of the ARCs I got when I first started reviewing. IT WAS SO AWKWARD. Eeeeek.)
YES TO ALL OF THESE CAIT. I liked Red Queen when I was reading it – it may have been a bit unoriginal but it was at least entertaining – but the more I think about it the more I dislike it. (Warning: don’t read the sequel. It just gets worse.) And I agree about Divergent too. I loved the first book, but everything just went downhill from there unfortunately. Thanks for sharing Cait and, as always, fabulous post! <3
Warning is 100% heeded.😂 I have ZLICH intentions of reading the sequel! And YES. It was entertaining at the time, but in retrospect, gahhhh…seriously problematic. And it bothers me a LOT when books “borrow” very heavily from other famous books. :/
I can see why Seraphina might have been challenging rating-wise- it’s a little more dense than a lot of YA fantasies, and that might have been a little jarring. But, you know, DRAGONS. I’m totally with you there.. everything is better with dragons.
It totally is!! And I think I read it when I wasn’t really reading a lot of epic fantasy??? So it was a bit of a system-shock. Whereas now I read a TON of fantasy and looooove it so much. *hugs all the dragons*
THIS POST IS ME.
Sometimes, mid review, I’m changing my mind. Especially those books that you simultaneously love and hate and they both kinda cancel each other out.
I really really need to read the copy of Seraphina that has been on my shelf for like four years!
OMG YES I DO THAT TOO!! Usually I star-rate first and then start the review, but then sometimes I finish writing it and am like “Dude, no, that star rating is wrong, I was way too negative.”😂 The reviewing life is HARD.
I think it’s easy to change your mind about books when you give it time. Reading other reviews sometimes makes me see a book a bit differently too. I just read The Dream Thieves (for the first time! Yes, I suck with series) and it was very good and i just adore Ronan. I mean, I knew he was gay going in, but *hugs him*
-Lauren
RONAN IS SO ADORABLY WONDERFUL. <3 I am kind of dense hahah so I'm not surprised I didn't see it immediately. *facepalm*
I just bought a copy of Only Ever Yours and I’m definitely looking forward to reading it! I hear it’s reminiscent of A Handmaid’s Tale, which is one of my favorites. Seraphina looks intriguing, I’m going to have to add that one to my TBR!
I haven’t read A Handmaid’s Tale but I HAVE heard that comparison too!! It makes me want to read A Handmaid’s Tale…once I recoer from the trauma of Only Ever Yours. *shrieks* Omg that book was so hard on the feels. *cries*
I am deleting your other comment because this post is not the appropriate place to be going into a rant. You have your opinion, I have mine. You’re asking me to respect your opinion, and I do, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with everything you say, particularly regarding me viewpoints. Please also try and respect my opinion. And if not, that’s fine, but at least respect my blog space. You don’t understand where I’m coming from and I don’t think you want to. Please let’s just stop, okay?
I COMPLETELY agree about Since You’ve Been Gone and Winter! I liked both of them, but I thought Since You’ve Been Gone was WAY overhyped and Winter was a lot less exciting in retrospect. But the book I changed my mind about the most HAS to be A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. I read it in middle school, and I was so bored and I thought all of the characters were selfish and awful. But then about a year ago, I was talking about it with one of my friends and she was absolutely SHOCKED that I didn’t like it, so I decided to give it another go. And I really, REALLY liked it. Didn’t quite love it, but I liked it enough to move from a 2-star to a 4-star rating and devour the rest of the series immediately. (And I was so wrong about the characters! They might not be the best people, but they’re all so wonderful and interesting.)
YUS. Winter was definitely less exciting. Wahhhhh. And I read Since You’ve Been Gone AAAAAGES ago, so I have no idea what I’d think if I read it now. I’m tempted to re-read quite honestly. Except Morgan Matson books are SO LONG.😂
That is really cool about A Great and Terrible Beauty though! I LOVE when ratings go up. :’)
Hmmmm…. First of all, I started Shadow and Bone yesterday and so far I’m liking it mainly. I usually review a few days after reading… and sadly, even if I really enjoyed a book, I start to be more critical and the rating almost always goes down compared to if I’d reviewed it right after while I’m full of feels. Also, I just read the Scorpio Races (just=last week btw) and omg LOVE LOVE LOVE alkyd;lakjfwoi; kasdf <3 <3 <3 <3 can I be a horse /puck when I grow up? SO I'm hoping to read the Raven Boys soon. I HAVE read Throne of Glass but I've never bothered with the rest of the series, and I share your feeling about Divergent. (that ending though omg) You might have a point about Since You've Been Gone, but she's not necessarily becoming extroverted, but learning to take risks and how to deal without her friend, and make new ones in her own way *shrug*. It's not like introverts don't have friends or are incapable of making them. And as for Winter…. you're just wrong *stamps foot indignantly* (when I say wrong I mean I disagree). Also your photos are beautiful as always 🙂
I totally get that!! I think that’s why I kind of do like to review immediately, because I like having my feelsy review (although if it’s angry feels the review can get waaaay ranty fast😂😂) AND AFJSDKLAFD ISN’T THE SCORPIO RACES JUST BEAUTIFUL?! MY RE-READ IS SMUSHING ALL MY FEELS. <3
And I agree that Since You've Been Gone might NOT have been saying "the introverted life sucks". I mean, I'm sure it didn't intend to. But it just bothers me how Emily was really a nobody unless she had awesome friends around. :/
OMG I'M SORRY ABOUT WINTER. I MEAN, I STILL GAVE IT 5-STARS.😂 And I didn't change my rating. ;D Winter alone was so wonderful she's worth 5-stars.
GAH I love this post of yours Cait! But one thing that I read, which broke my heart into a zillion little pieces was your thoughts on the Throne of Glass series! My heart aches for you, Cait because you fell out of love with the series! I still consider it a favourite of mine though…
AND QUESTION: Do I have to read the Shadow and Bone trilogy before I read Six of Crows?! I need to know this!
AHHH THANK YOU, JOSEPHINE. <3 And omg I'm so so sorry for hating on Throne of Glass. *weeps* I am sad that I don't like it anymore, but eh, it is what it is.
So you CAN definitely read Six of Crows as a standalone! There aren't any character-cross-overs or anything. But if you want to know more about the world before starting, I recommend doing the Grisha books first. 😛 BUT YEAH! Either way! YOU'RE GOOD.
I am so with you on the Divergent series. When I first read it, I adored it. But maybe it’s the passing of time or all the other dystopian books I have read or maybe it’s even the fact that they screwed up the movie adaptation, but I just don’t love it like I used to. I get why you hated Only Ever Yours at first. It was very disturbing. It was the kind of book that I hate to love, you know? Kind of like how I KNOW Asking for It is going to be. I hope to find the strength to read that one soon too, but I know it will wreck me.
YES. Only Ever Yours was definitely a hate/love book. It totally DESTROYED me and I thought it was so depressing and pointless at first…but it really was just a commentary and wanted to make people think, and I think it 100% achieved that. *weeps*
I have the same problem when it comes to reviewing books – I’ll be so eager to write the review that I’ll slap a rating on it and afterwards begin changing my mind and second-guessing myself. That’s the tough part about reviewing, I think!
I agree with so many of the titles on this list – I also wasn’t crazy about Serafina when I first read it but once I was done I began to appreciate it more. And I really liked the first two Throne of Glass books, but I think you’re right – the later ones are a bit of a letdown. I really want to read Only Ever Yours now, too – I’ve heard such good things about it, even though it definitely sounds like a tough and confronting read.
Reviewing IS super tough!! Honestly sometimes star ratings are the hardest part.😂 And omg I’m so glad I’m not alone in my Seraphina-love-but-in-retrospect!! AND AHHH WE ARE THRONE OF GLASS TWINS. *hi fiveS* I feel really bad for not enjoying them anymore? But eh, yeah. They feel very problematic now. But ohhhhhh yes do read Only Ever Yours. But be prepared for EMOTIONAL TRAUMA.
You are 10000000% right about Red Queen. I will never ever understand the hype or how can such unoriginal book that heavily borrowed from other famous stories could became popular…
And yep about changing my feelings towards series. For example Lux series by Jennifer l. Armentrout. First books were amazing…but than it became cheesy and characters became boring and my love for that series went rapidly downhill. Sad times.
AGH HOW IS IT SO FAMOUS THOUGH!??!??! It’s so not original and I feel weird that it gets so much hype. 0_0 I even felt book 2’s cover was nearly identical to book 1…so like even the cover designer wasn’t inspired.😂 Ahem.
CALAENA SOUNDS SO ANNOYING GRR.
Red Queen and Throne of Glass are two series/books I’ve been pretty sure I would like, but I have an inherent distrust of anything mainstream. I know, I’m a super obnoxious hipster who doesn’t even realize she’s hipster. (The same goes for V.E. Schwab books, Maggie Stiefvater books, and the Lunar Chronicles.) It was interesting to hear your thoughts, though! All the fantasy books that have recently come out seem to center around a spunky heroine who’s kickass with a sword and defeats a lot of evil schemers through political intrigue – aka, the exact same thing. So I probably won’t be reading Red Queen or Throne of Glass after this.
I tried reading Divergent because I thought the plot sounded interesting, but I fell asleep halfway through the first chapter and tossed it back on the shelf. Glad to see there’s finally someone else who shares my opinion!
Ellie | On the Other Side of Reality
I really love seeing your honest thoughts on TOG. It’s nice to see someone who isn’t absolutely in love with them. I did enjoy the first two, like you, but I haven’t even read the next two. I keep wanting to read it so badly, but then put it off to the side because I hear different things about them. All the love for her new guy just doesn’t sit well with me. I feel like Maas does that a lot with her characters, especially after hearing some things about ACOMAF as well. Alright, enough about this.
You seriously make me go insane with your talk about TRC. I don’t know why I haven’t read this series, yet, but it sounds absolutely wonderful and I need to pick it up ASAP. I know it is a little confusing at times, but I think I’ll really enjoy it. Plus, it’s always nice when all of the books are out 🙂
Lovely post, Cait! Also, congrats on hitting 2000 followers, you deserve that and so much more. You should absolutely be proud of yourself <333 GO EAT LOTS OF CAKE!
Eeep, oh just come talk to me. I can rant all day about Throne of Glass.😂 I’M SO BAD THAT IT DITCHED CHAOL AND DORIAN. They were my favourites. :/ And YES. It seems to be the Maas trademark to do personality pendulum swings?? Not a fan.
OMGGGG ERICA!! YOU MUST GET SOME RAVEN BOYS INTO YOUR LIFE ASAP. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT. And yes! No cliffhangers. 😉
Awww, thank you about the 2K followers. <3 YOU ARE SO KIND. CAKE FOR EVERYBODY!
Cait! I have THOUGHTS about this post. Firstly that, absolutely, sometimes your opinion changes in hindsight. I feel like I would have rated a lot more books lower in the middle of the dystopian crazy, and yet…also, own that opinion, because I feel the same way. Dystopian is SO over for me.
1. Ugh, Red Queen – my thoughts were yours, but I think I rated it as 2 stars from the beginning. I found it embarassingly trope-y and basically just a mash-up of a bunch of dumb ideas that weren’t fleshed out. I didn’t believe it for a second.
4. I will argue you to death on how great Since You’ve Been Gone is – it’s NOT about an introvert coming out of her shell, it’s about a girl who wasn’t really an introvert to begin with, and how she learns to act on her own. She was fine with Sloane, but she was also losing herself in Sloane and making it too easy for herself to be…SYBG is about loss and learning to move on. Here’s my review in case you want to be convinced =p : http://www.mostlyyalit.com/2014/04/since-youve-been-gone-morgan-matson.html
7. I feel you a bit on Winter. I do think it’s as great as I made it out to be because it did so much and did it well, but I also wonder if it suffers from just being hyped so damn much that I can’t help but like it. That said, I do feel like the ending is brilliant.
8. OMG, Divergent. YES. It’s really not as good as I remember. I also liked Allegiant’s ending and stand by it, but WOW, it kinda wasn’t that great, right?
10. I have to re-read The Dream Thieves, bc I also only gave it 4 stars. I still think BLLB is the best of the series.
It’s sad that dystopian got Sooooo super burned out but YEAH. UGH. *watches feelings of love for it spiral into nothingness*
Omg Red Queen was literally the QUEEN of tropes. -_- I just don’t get how it’s famous, because it did NOTHING that every other book wasn’t already doing?? I’m glad you saw the light from the beginning. 😂
Oh, I do like your perspective on Since You’ve Been Gone! THAT MAKES SENSE. I actually several times wondered if Emily WAS truly an introvert because her life seemed to be waiting between going out with friends again. And an introvert needs ALONE time (not that introverts must be shy; they definitely can be outgoing…but they still need that alone-recharging time). So maybe Emily was a shy extrovert? I THINK I NEED TO RE-READ IT.😂
Ahhhh a fellow Allegiant fan!! *hi fives* We are few and far between. 😂 ALSO HECK YES THAT BLLB IS THE BEST OF THE SERIES. I THOROUGHLY AGREE. ALSO THE BEST COVER.
I feel the same about Red Queen, definitely. I actually originally rated it 4 stars when I read it, and now I look back at that and ask WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME? Because now I would give it, like, 2 stars. MAYBE. That’s being generous. Honestly, if I tried to read it now, I don’t think I would even be able to finish it.
I hear ya. *wails* Sometimes I look back at my old ratings and go “WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!” 😂
Meh. I’ve been putting off reading “A Throne of Glass” because of some of the issues I discovered I had with ACOMAF. I originally bought the first book after ACOTAR, because I expected to read it while I was waiting on the next book, but just didn’t get around to it. Then, when I was SURE I’d love ACOMAF and want to read more SJMaas, I pulled the book off my shelf and prepared it for battle.
Then ACOMAF ended up being a 3 star read for me and Throne of Glass went back on the shelf for further consideration. I’m STILL NOT SURE if I want to read this one now…
As for “The Raven Cycle” – I’m actually in the middle of reading “The Raven Boys”. I put it off forever. I’m not loving it yet, it’s moving a little slowly for me and I’m having trouble picturing Gansey. Also – now I unintentionally know a spoiler about Ronan (LOL!) – but it changes nothing. I think he and Adam are going to be my favorites.
The only other book you’ve listed here that I’m super familiar with is “Winter” – and I haven’t read that one yet because I’m stuck on “Cress”. LOL! Oh my god why can’t I read these books on time.
I didn’t even TRY ACOMAF (which is sadness because FURY is in the title!!!) because I disliked ACOTAR so much. :/ So many unhealthy relationships and I really didn’t even see what was so special about Feyre. Plus I found her name kind of tacky? I mean, it’s about FEY and her name is literally Feyre?!?😂 (I know I’m nit-picking!)
AJFDKLSAD I’M GLAD YOU’RE (KINDA?😂) LIKING THE RAVEN CYCLE. <3333 It gets better and better with each book and fajdskalfd I just adore them all. ALL OF THEM. They are precious children of anxiety and wanting. (I don't think Ronan being gay is really a spoiler.😂)
Omg there's just TOO MANY books right?! Authors need to sloooow down and let us catch up *nods*
I don’t generally change my mind about books. Sometimes my opinion goes down, though… This happened with Twilight. I actually rated the first book 3 stars! I thought it was simple and not very sophisticated, but kind of fluffy and fun. New Moon was sort of okay for me, too. But Eclipse was the beginning of the end for me. I started seeing all the disturbing crap that had been going on all along with Edward, and my opinion really dropped. Of course, it didn’t help that Breaking Dawn was one of the worst things I’ve ever read. The storytelling was awful. The author was pulling all kinds of stuff out of her ass. And that book eventually ended up colouring my impression of the whole series. (My 3-star ratings for the first two books are still up, but if I had to re-rate the series, the books would probably get 2, 2, 1, and 1 stars, respectively.)
I review books right away when I finish them, but that’s mostly because of my terrible memory. If I let things percolate, I’ll forget too much of what I wanted to say. So I put down the book and immediately put on my reviewer’s hat.
I can’t really think of a series that I loved but then ended up disliking (except for series that I ended up disliking right in the middle… but that would be based on the books themselves and not my fluctuating opinions). Of course, since I don’t re-read, there could be all sorts of series that I once loved but now don’t… and I’d never know. I think I prefer not to know; I’ll hold on to my happy memories of my favourite series. 🙂
I never got passed Twilight😂 Like I always INTENDED to read more??? But life is seriously short and I want to read so many books and I don’t really have time for books I know I’ll like!! (Plus I trust your ratings. :P)
AND SAME OMG! *hi fives for terrible memories* If I even let it go longer than a day, I just start to forget all the things I wanted to say! I only occasionally don’t review it straight away, and that’s if I finish too late at night and need to crawl into bed. ehehe
“Also I confess I’m not a fan of stuffing sexytimes in there when your friends are dying and the evil king is being evil and ALL HELL IS BREAKING LOOSE. Please. Keep your pants on, peoples and get some priorities.”
Okay, but that line totally had me cracking up. Because YES this is my opinion on so many stories (mostly movies). Like, if I was trying to save the freaking world, I don’t think that love would be high on my priority list? And I kind of disrespect characters who pull this crap. So thank you for voicing it in a completely relatable and humorous way. XD
Ugg, Divergent. I never even read that series. I could 100% tell it was riding THG coat tails. And I know that I should NEVER judge a book by its movie. But come on. The movies? Not impressed.
You already know my violent opinion on Red Queen. But, after reading Red Rising and loving it I completely want to tear every copy of Red Queen to shreds because HOW COULD YOU STEEL FROM SOMETHING SO AMAZING AND MAKE SOMETHING SO CRAPY!? GAAAAAAAAA
AHHH *hi fives* We are in such agreement here. Like I think people use the love as a distraction from the tragedy they’re facing? So I GET that. But also…I kind of don’t get it because I would be a PANICKED MESS if the world was ending and people wanted me dead. LIKE WHY WOULD YOU BE OFF KISSING PEOPLE WHEN YOU COULD BE STABBED????? Plus. You’re 80% more likely to be killed by someone you know. Best survival tactic is: have no friends.
I laughed halfway through the Insurgent movie and then had to ditch it.😂 IT WAS JUST TOO RIDICULOUS.
AHHHHH RED RISING IS BEYOND PERFECT! And the fact that Red Queen is trying to take from it is just absurd. It’s like toast trying to be a DOUBLE LAYER MAGNIFICENTLY BAKED LORD OF CAKES.
I completely agree with everything you said about Divergent!
However, a lot of these are on my TBR list and now I am SCARED. Except for Six of Crows, which I am now 11/10 excited to read – especially since I’m currently halfway through Siege and Storm, and very much enjoying the series!
I’ve only read Throne of Glass in that series, but I do have the other books sitting waiting to be read. I got a little excited about it after finishing A Court of Mist and Fury and deciding that Sarah J. Maas is a QUEEN… But this week, I’ve seen a lot of people say their opinions of the ToG series have gone down over time, so now I’m like, ahhhh…???
I will probably still read all of these books because curiosity always gets the best of me… But maybe my expectations won’t be as high as they were!
Aww, I don’t mean to scare you!!😂 Tbh, I think if you like the ACTOAR series then you’ll be fine with how Throne of Glass has changed. JUST TRY IT. IGNORE ME. GO FOR IT. hehe.
I felt the same way about Winter, that’s why I gave it a 4 when I finished it. But still… it was a pretty great read! And I still haven’t read Six of Crows… along with a million other books of course! But I’m definitely going to try The Raven Boys once again, only because you can’t stop raving about otherwise it ended up in my dnf list previous year. Don’t have a heart attack please, I told you this before. 😛 Nonetheless, great post!
AHHHHHHH I HOPE YOU LIKE THE RAVEN BOYS BETTER THE SECOND TIME. 😂 Don’t worry. I shall leash the dragons now. Provided you like it the second time round….
JUUUUST KIDDING.😂😂 *gives you cake anyway*
Oh boy was Red Queen overhyped! When I first read it I gave it 3 stars I think. I forgot to add this one to my own list, but since the my opinion of it has gotten even worse. I don’t even really remember anything that good about it. 😡 Great list!
The ONLY good thing I remember was being impressed with the Maven plot twist.😂 Otherwise I was annoyed the whole time too *hi fives*
I loved Seraphina from the beginning! I’m glad you saw the light!
I tend to have what I like to call “a sober thought”. After the hype has worn off, I realize that the book did have flaws. Usually I see my ratings on Goodreads months later and I’m like, I gave that book 4 stars! And then adjust the rating according:P
I’m glad I saw the light too!! I CAN’T BELIEVE I WAS SO DELUDED NOT TO TOTAL ENJOY IT *facepalm* Although, tbh, I think I hadn’t read any epic fantasy for a while.😂
THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME TO ME. And it’s so true that I read negative reviews on purpose and sometimes agree with them. Oops. But I’m writing a blog post on that. And oooooh I did borrow Only Ever Yours and I’m pretty…excited. I don’t think that’s the right word but it should be good. Maybe even Handmaid’s Tale-esque.
OOOH, I look forward to this blog post!! 😀 I read negative reviews always.😂 IT’S PrOBABLY BAD. Unless I’m super super psychotically in love with the book (and then I want to hear no bad word about it😂) but otherwise, I go read negatives reviews first. Hahhhh.
OMG GOOD LUCK FOR ONLY EVER YOURS. IF YOU NEED TO CRY, I AM HERE.
Definitely agree! This happens to me too – and I find it really frustrating!!!
Like, I want to be CONSISTENT. I STRIVE FOR CONSISTENCY IN ALL THINGS. So I feel kind of hypocritical when I’m not consistent? The very thing I whine about other people NOT BEING all the time???
Btw, I do the same thing – the whole “author-does-something-bad-so-I-don’t-like-their-work-anymore”? Only, I’ve never had it happen with an AUTHOR because I don’t really follow the author’s lives? Also, I mostly read authors who are Christians or dead. Or possibly both…
But I do it all the time with MUSICIANS and ACTORS – and it really messes me up, okay? Because, what the heck, I LOVED you, man , and then you went and did THAT and now I feel like I just CAN’T anymore, ya know???
AGH!!!
Do you ever have it happen TWICE, though??? LIke, LOVED it first time, HATED it second, and then went back to LOVING it??? Or the other way… I think I’m weird:)
Pictures are GORGEOUS, as always.
Ugh, I hear ya with the musicians and actors too. :/ I mean, I don’t follow them VERY much because my life is like 90% books and 10% cake.😂 BUT YEAH I STILL HEAR YA. I’ve had favourite movies ruined for me because the actors were really horrible off-screen. :/
I haven’t had the love-to-hate-to-love thing happen yet!!😂
I agree with you! There Will Be Lies is one of the best books ever! At first, I was a bit confused with the formatting, but it turned out to be so compatible with the story! I never saw the ending coming, and I want to read it over and over again! Also, I adored Throne of Glass in the beginning. But when Celaena turned to Aelin and she gave the cold shoulder to Dorian and Chaol, I was about done. She completely abandoned her first friends and ’embraced’ her bloodline. Ugh, so annoying. I don’t even know what to feel about this series anymore.
AHHH YES!!! *hi fives for There Will Be Lies love* I mean, the TITLE warns us, but it’s still shocking and awesome.😂
Ugh, yes, same with Throne of Glass. 🙁 I love Chaol and Dorian and I feel like the book is killing their personalities. Like they’re not even important anymore?? Wut even. It’s almost like these later books are trying to pretend the first books never happened. (Like all those LIES Celaena spewed about Chaol being “her home” and that?? LIKE DOES THAT MEAN NOTHING NOW???)
I am a terrible person so my opinion almost always go down – the longer I leave a review, the more negative things I have to say about a book XD Which is horrible because I take ages to write my review, so I am sorry, books! I am super glad you admitted you notice negatives from reading other people’s reviews, because I totally do this too – where would I be without my fellow bloggers I have no ideas. E.g. I was so smitten with ACOMAF it took Jeann and Jenna a 900 words review each to show me the light, I still love it though.
But I am so glad you adore SoC now, that was one of my favourites from last year!
Ahhh, I hear ya.😂 I usually do my star rating before I start my review and I’ll be like “oh yeah this is a 3” and then I start reviewing and ranting and I’m like “WAIT. NO THIS IS ONL A 2 AND JUST BARELY”. hehe. Ahhh, the reviewin life is tough. 😉
And actually it took another person’s review of ACTOAR to have me start a lot of the problematic elements.😂 It wasn’t sitting right with me, but I couldn’t quite figure out why. (I’m glad you still like the series though. 😀 AND YOUR DESIGNS ARE AFJDKSLAFD GORGEOUS FOR IT.)
Do you also eat cake if you’re not sure you want it? Because I definitely do.
And yes, I feel for Kavinsky now too!
Cake is LIFE. That is all. That is the answer to everything. *nods*
May I just say, I. am. absolutely. relieved that your opinion on Six of Crows went up because I read your review and I was like, but Cait? Because yes, I thought that six povs would be tiring and confusing, as it usually is, but when the author behind it is one who can handle – eg: Bardugo and Steifvater – it just takes you on this amazing journey, I mean, I love Nina and Inej and Jesper as much as I love Kaz and am so glad I got their POVs. I cannot wait to see Wylan’s pov in Crooked Kingdom because he seems so muffiny so far!!
Insightful as always, Overlord! 😀
Eeep, I’m glad I like it more now too. 😂 Although I *must* confess that I still wish there had been less POVs. Like at least with Maggie Stiefvater, she only started off with Blue, Gansey and Adam in bk 1? And then she added in more POVs as it went along, so it wasn’t TOO overwhelming. I’m a fan of that. *nods* ;D I CANNOT WAIT FOR CROOKED KINGDOM THO.
You’re posts are always so pretty! <333
Anyway, you listed a lot of books that I felt differently about, too. And mostly they were because the author did something not nice – especially when it comes to SJM, I was never a big fan to begin with, but with ACoMaF, I've lost all hope of ever liking her stuff. I kinda want to reread ToG, just to write a scathing review, but then I'd likely get strung up and hung by the reading community.
Divergent was another fine example. I adored Divergent and Insurgent, but someone douchenugget spoiled me for Allegiant and I guess in hindsight, I should thank them. I would've been furious if I wasted my time reading it, only to realize that the MC dies. -_-
I'm really glad your opinion of Bardugo's books went up. I wasn't the BIGGEST fan of Shadow & Bone. I liked it, but it wasn't something I was fangirling over. Then with Seige & Storm, I really got into it and now I praise just about anything Bardugo writes. XD
Loved your post! Looking forward to seeing what you write next.
Brittany @ Space Between the Spines
Awww, thank you!! 😀 THAT IS SO NICE TO HEAR *flails happily*
And I’m kind of relieved I’m not the only anti-SJM reader now.😂 And omg the fandom is kind of rabid right?! I know a reviewer who gave ACOMAF a low rating and got so much hate for it. 0_0 It’s ridiculous really. We should all be fine to have our opinions! Ahem.
But omg SPOILED FOR ALLEGIANT WOULD BE THE WORST?!?! *cries for you* I mean, I actually like that plot twist? and I think it was done well, so I’m okay. 😉 But I would’ve been LIVID if it got spoiled for me!
(And also I wasn’t the biggest Shadow & Bone fan! It took me like 2 years to finish that series, ahhahha, but now I ADORE IT.)
THE DREAM THIEVES THE DREAM THIEVES. Dang, Cait, you write a post, I think of 859 intelligent responses, and then you mention TRC and it all goes out the window. Ugh. My BFF is currently reading TRK (AT LAST) and texting me throughout so I’m reliving it all. Desperation to reread = off the charts.
Anywaaaay. My opinion of Allegiant went down because I loved Divergent and quite liked Insurgent, but honestly I think I grew out of the series. If I’d been able to read them all aged 13 (as with Divergent) I think I’d have loved them all, but by the time I was a wise (lol) 16 y/o I was kidding myself that I still liked them. It’s sad when that happens.
I am surprised you hated HoF! Personally I found Celaena more likeable and less annoying than in ToG (when I was really not a fan). Because she’s learnt more about friendship through Nehemia, and she’s no longer got no qualms about being an assassin. Whereas I really thought she was horrible to Dorian in ToG. But YES why does every male have to be in love with her? SHE’S PRETTY AND SHE HAS TURQUOISE EYES. WE GET IT. Ugh. I am looking forward to getting to QoS, though opinions are varied.
MY LIFE BASICALLY CONSISTS OF THINKING INTELLIGENT THINGS AND THEN REMEMBERING THE RAVEN CYCLE AND — KABOOM — LET’S JUST FANGIRL PSYCHOTICALLY INSTEAD. *shrieks* Ahhhhhhhh, I want to re-read TRK. I NEED TO BE STABBED IN THE CHEST AGAIN, OBVIOUSLY. <333
I think growing out of books makes sense. *nods* Like our opinions change and we want different things from books, right?!
And with Throne of Glass, I've noticed that a lot of people who didn't like Celaena original, like her more now.😂 So funny how that works, right?!
Question: How do you have so many sharpies?? In so many colours??? I have serious colour envy now, thanks so much.
BUT staying on topic, because on topic is good… I don’t remember changing my mind often about books! Usually I’ll expect to love or hate a book, and my opinion is changed after I read it… or I adore the beginning and by the end I’m like, ugh, help me no… or I start out feeling decidedly ‘meh’ and then something fantastic happens to change my mind… but I don’t often finish a book and have an opinion that changes later.
(I do, however, frequently doubt my own opinions if someone else has one that opposes mine, but even though it scares me, I’ll usually keep it.)
Is this normal? Maybe I’m supposed to change my mind a lot? (I’m usually pretty indecisive, but idk???)
I DON’T KNOW. I JUST COLLECT THEM.😂 Although to be honest, the sharpies are actually mostly out of ink and the other ones are Bic markers (basically sharpie knock-offs) and they weren’t very expensive. ;D Ahem. BUT ANYWAY.
That’s cool that you’re mostly consistent though!! *cheers for you* At least you don’t have to have any life crisises about changing opinions, right?!
This might be a bit of an unpopular opinion, but I though “Cress” actually dragged more than “Winter.” But maybe this has to do with my rabid love of Winter’s character and my undying support of Jacin/Winter and how much I adore Winter’s character arc. In short, maybe I’m biased. 😛
I get that!! 😂 So you’re not alone, nope. Actaully, my unpopular opinion is that I don’t even really ship Cress and Thorne, hahhaa. OMG WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME. Jacin and Winter were adorable though. <33
I COMPLETELY GET YOU ABOUT THRONE OF GLASS! I really didn’t enjoy QoS either – I thought it was almost boring, and I hated what Celaena was turning into. She’s just turning into killing machine, and I hate the way she’s lost her caring nature too. I still think I will be picking up Empire of Storms (even if I’ll just put aside that NASTY cover) because I’m so invested in the series now, but I’m not desperate for it. My rating went down for HoF too! I GET YOU ON RED QUEEN. I don’t get the hype at all? It was so dull, and just nothing happened. Everyone always talks about the plot twist at the end, but I can’t even remember what it was, haha. I promise I was reading and paying attention…
Denise | The Bibliolater
UGH TO CELEANA. At least I’m glad I’m not alone! *hi fives* I just think it’s stupid that she LIED so much in the first books. Like all that promising to be there for Chaol and be Dorian’s friend? And then in QoS she’s like “Eh, kill Dorian. Who even cares?” I mean, WUT. That is not the girl I started reading the series for. *burns down everything*
(And the cover of Empire of Storms is HORRIBLE.😂 Although I’m fine with that because I’m not reading it. ahhahha. Ahem.)
Oh I’ve done this so many times before. Like you, my opinions can change with time. I actually read the whole Matched series by Ally Condie and loved it until now… I look back on it and realise it was horribly boring and not my kind of thing at all >.> My opinion of Seraphina went up too! I still need to read the sequel but at first I really couldn’t get into the book. I think that struggle made it difficult for me to appreciate the second half of it. But thinking back, it’s actually a creative and pretty great story.
Yayyy that both our opinions on Seraphina went up!! *hi fives* WE ARE GETTING OUR PRIORITIES IN ORDER.😂 I feel like when I first read it I wasn’t really into epic fantasy so much??? So I didn’t know what to expect with all the world building and slower plot. BUT NOW I ADORE EPIC FANTASY AND I NEED TO RE-READ AND ADORE IT EVEN MORE.
First of all, I love love love this post format and you should do more of these in the future! I consider myself fairly well-read but there were a few books here I have never heard of! So of course I added them to my secret Amazon wishlist that I plunder when people give me gift cards (because as you know from a previous comment, I HAVE TOO MANY BOOKS ALREADY.) It was interesting to see what went up or down. I’m with you on the Divergent series. I actually stopped reading at 13% of Allegiant because the writing was so terrible. I apologize because I know people love her and this series, but I couldn’t stomach the constant similes, the “telling,” and the WHERE WAS HER EDITOR? Anyway, I haven’t read WINTER yet as it’s in my queue (this summer!) but I will see if I have the same opinion. 🙂
I do this kind of post format every week.😂 BUT THANK YOU! THAT’S SUPER NICE OF YOU! And pffft, no such thing as “too many books”. ;D We just need 93853 more hours in our days, right? THAT SHOULD FIX THE PROBLEM.
I do still love the Divergent series, but I guess I’m not the MOST rabid fan as I used to be.😂 Allegiant was definitely much slower paced, which is disappointing, but that’s the story she wanted to tell! So I trust the author to tell the story their way. *nods*
GOOD LUCK WITH WINTER! IT IS A MASSIVE BRICK.😂
Oops sorry! I didn’t mean the top 10 format, I actually meant the “let’s look back at old books” subject. Because I feel that as readers and book bloggers we’re always looking ahead, future future future, instead of looking back and remembering the awesome books we’ve read before. Anyway, it was a great post! ☺️
OH OH SORRY.😂 I totally misinterpreted you!! AHH I’m so embarrassed.😂 So like talking more about old books, yes yes for sure!! I think we bloggers do get caught up only talking about the newbies. ;D Not that there’s anything wrong with that for sure, but it’s nice to give the older books some love!!
Great list! I felt similarly about Divergent too. Although I must admit I’m not a fan of the ending of Allegiant. I wanted them to end up together. I think I need to reread Winter already. Haha. It was one of those concluding books that I read too fast and decided I would love it no matter what. And then it was 800 pages long!
Thanks for stopping by my TTT earlier this week 🙂
Eeeep, we are the same on a lot of these then! *hi fives*😂
I think it totally makes sense that you’re feelings will change about a book later one, it’s all about that hindsight.
I totally agree about the Game of Thrones series. I think I gave QoS a 3, mostly because I still liked the writing, but yeah, not a fan of Caelena much anymore and it’s a little frustrating to read.
I think Cinder when I read it I only gave 3 stars, but with continuing the series and re-reading it, it’s definitely gone up!
I do this a lot (changing my mind) with my romance novels, if I end up re-reading them, sometimes it’s all about the mood that I’m in.
Great discussion and post, Cait!
True! True! I mean, we as people change, so it makes sense that our views on books change too yes? (hehe, it’s Throne of Glass though, not Game of Thrones. 😂 But I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN!!) And yeah, Celaena is getting super frustrating. I liked it when she was focused on important matters, but now she’s just boy crazy and the actual plot of the book seems to be sliding. 🙁
I think Six of Crows did need more Kaz tbh. I am so obsessed I did a photo shoot with my little brother dressed as Kaz.
Omgggg, did you??! Did you blog it?!? That seriously sounds amazing!!
I’m very proud that your opinion of Only Ever Yours went up. That book… it’s a freaking masterpiece. Someone tried to fight me on Goodreads about it, saying that I was dumb for liking it (ah, trolls!) but come on, it’s genius! Asking For It is more realistic, of course I don’t know if that makes it more or less disturbing. Basically, Asking For It is a thing that happens. And it will make you MAD, but will probably disturb you less?
Divergent.. yes, it totally piggybacked. And I am also not sure what I feel about it anymore. I blame Allegiant, is that okay? I know you loved it, but I just… well I did not. Not because of “the thing”, but because I found most of it to be boring. And fine, maybe “the thing” too. Throne of Glass… idk. I am on the fence. See, I didn’t read QoS yet, but I have heard several (dozen) spoilers, even though I am trying so hard not to. So I didn’t read that whole section, but I am conflicted too. ToG was only okay for me, then CoM was epically amazing, then HoF was good, but boring at times. So I am just scared, especially because these books just keep getting LARGER. And I am not okay with that!
I am bummed that I missed this TTT because I definitely have a few of these! TMI, for sure. Beautiful Creatures. The Maze Runner. (Sorry!) are all series that went down in likeability for me. Some that went up over time…. do these exist? I mean, at least for me? I feel like I willl need to scan my Goodreads list to find these. It doesn’t look good.
It is a freaking masterpiece! AND TERRIFYING. I’M TRAUMATISED SHANNON. IT TOOK YEARS OFF MY LIFE. *cries* Trolls on goodreads though…ugh. They are the worst. I basically dread comments from people I don’t recognise because I know they’re going to just stroll in and say mean things. *weeps* THE INTERNET IS A SCARY PLACE. Anyway. What was I saying? Sheesh, don’t distract me like this.
Oh I know you didn’t like Allegiant.😂 hehe, but I mean…I still LIKE it? But not LOVE it, I don’t think? I was a rabid defender of it for a while.😂 ToG and CoM were both some of the best books I’ve ever read. SO THIS IS WHY I FEEL SO BETRAYED OMG. *cries* Apparently Empire of Shadows is way bigger than QoS. It’s getting ridiculous.
DHASDJLSAJDLAKMLNFKS I CAN’T TALK PROPERLY OR COHERENTLY RN TO BE HONEST. Okay. Hi. *scrolls back up to reread this post because tbh I’ve forgotten all my thoughts at this point haha welcome to my life* I CAN TOTALLY RELATE TO NOT LIKING A BOOK AS MUCH BC THE AUTHOR DON’T BEHAVE HIM/HERSELF. LIKE, waa. stahppp. You are SUPPOSED be a creature of perfection and omniscient deliciousness. :””””( ugh.
THOUGHT #1: The third image in this post IS SO IMPRESSIVELY BEAUTIFUL. Like I can’t even say what it is because I know it has a name because you mentioned it on insta one time…when all the books are stacked together in a cool pattern?! xD
THOUGHT #2: Anyone who feels the need to make the (COMPLETELY UNTRUE) point that introverts are not happy until they lead extrovert lives need to just go home and go to bed for a while. Keep they’re little hands away from books. >.>
THOUGHT #3: WINTER. WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT WINTER. THANK YOU FOR SAYING WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT WINTER. I have like 10 chapters of that book left and so far I have noooot beeen entirely pleeeeased. *beats head slowly on something hard* Like, of course it couldn’t be lousy with that cast of characters (obvs <3) BUT I THOUGHT IT DRAGGED SO MUCH IN THE MIDDLE. Like, do we even have a plan here?!? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING WHEN YOU EITHER A) DON'T MAKE PLANS, B) DON'T FOLLOW THROUGH WITH YOUR PLANS, OR C) RUN AWAY CRYING. ???? i don't understand it Cait. Although (oops totally ranting here) I kind of feel like this whole series dragged?? Like the objective was introduced in book 1 and it has taken 3 more books (and hundreds of thousands of words) to actually get there (which would be totally fine but a lot of it feels like detours??! like let's be honest the entire book of Cress was one giant detour but noticed exactly 0% of it because CRESS AND THORNE AND EVERYTHING ELSE IN THAT BOOK. whaaat even <3) OMG I'M RANTING SO MUCH HOW DID THIS HAPPEN. I will be quiet and eat some of those pinecones in the Divergent picture now. XD
THOUGHT #4: DIVERGENT. WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT DIVERGENT. THANK YOU FOR SAYING WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT DIVERGENT. xD I absolutely feel like this series piggy-backed The Hunger Games’ success SO MUCH. Because the marketing logic behind it is actually very sound. What smarties XD Like…why not copy this and make it suitable for slightly younger audiences??! WHY EVER NOT. (The food comment though!! *closes eyes and nods* Honestly I would trade to any faction (even the evil ones tbh) IF THEY HAD WAFFLES. I wouldn’t be very practical in a dystopian universe.)
OKAY DONE. EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO WEEP WITH LAUGHTER SOME MORE OVER THE FIRSTBORN LOBSTER THING. X””’D
OMG
OMG ABBIE, HOW DO YOU ALWAYS LEAVE THE BEST COMMENTS.😂 I AM LAUGH/CRYING, YOU PRECIOUS CREATURE. *gives you cake* Oh oh wait. *gives you waffles*
And I thoroughly agree with Thought #2. Although I seriously feel like I need to re-read the book and analyse Emily.😂 I’M SURE THAT’S A NORMAL BOOKWORM THING TO DO, OF COURSE OF COURSE.
And omg yes yes and YES to your Winter thoughts too. I was just mega annoyed that they seemed to spend half the book sitting and hoping. Like that’s not what I signed up for. IT IS NOT. I wanted an epic rebellion plan! But they honestly just seemed to be winging it. I actually kind of think Winter should’ve been ABOUT Winter and then had a separate book for the finale, so a) they’d actually have time to plan a decent finale and b) give Winter and Jacin more space because fjdsakfldsajfdalkj. I mean, THE BOOK WAS ABOUT WINTER BUT SHE SEEMED TO BE CONSTANTLY PUSHED TO THE BACKGROUND. WUT IS THIS. Ahem. Okay. I shall shush now. *nods* I think waffles would’ve improved everything too, tbh.
Actually what wouldn’t waffles improve????
I want to reread Seraphina and start the sequel too! It’s an amazing book and DRAGONS! I think that was the most dragonish book I’ve read in my life. But it’s so thick. I need like a year of free time to read it and a second year of free time for the sequel.
Divergent. Hm. I’m with you 156% about the ending of Allegiant! And I remember really relating to Tris in the way that I was still figuring out where I fit in and such. My life was stuffed full of changes like Tris’ when I read it. But now? I kinda do and don’t want to reread it? Like I want to reread it because now I’m a more thinking reader? But at the same time, I know I’ll still have very fond memories of my first read and I don’t want to not like it anymore. I think it was one of those books that got me into YA. You’re right about the writing though. It’s rather emotionless. On my initial reading. I had always given that to Tris being a very goal oriented narrator. And then Tobias was very methodical. BUT what do I know?! It’s not like I’ve read anymore of Roth’s writing. Maybe it’s just her style.
Only Ever Yours sounds really good in that it addresses a lot of important topics. I kind of want to read it now. But it definitely does not sound like a pleasure read. It actually sounds kind of depressing. Like I should wear a sign that says “Please do not interact with until after finishing depressing book, for your safety and health of mind. Thank you.”
AHHHHH SERAPHINA RE-READS FTW THEN! *hi fives* We have excellent goals, clearly. But omg they are thick. 0_0 I’m going to do the audio for my re-read so I don’t have to panic over how it’s the size of Jupiter.
AHHHHH I’m so glad you are an Allegiant fan. We are few and far between, right?!😂 I re-read the series just before Allegiant, so I don’t really feel a NEED to re-read them, but yeah, I’m worried my love of it would drop a lot. 🙁 I DID enjoy and adore them at the time, though, so I don’t want to forget that!! And I’m very keen to read Veronica Roth’s new book and see if her style is the same??? Maybe it IS just how she writes??
Because I have such a bad memory, I often review a book immediately as well but then later, I revisit my feelings on it and sometimes it changes wildly. I personally love it when someone’s review of it makes us think differently! Although I’ve read a whole bunch of books this week which ranged from 5 stars to 3 stars. Am I just comparing it to what I read recently or to all the books of ever? Eh, idek.
*hi five for bad memories*😂 I honestly HAVE to review straight away or I forget EVERYTHING and my reviews are just me waffling on. haha. Ahem. (okay my reviews are ALWAYS me waffling on…) I do like it when other’s reviews show me a different angle too!! It makes me think and that’s always awesome. 🙂
Wow, you are fully demonstrating book opinions can change… a lot. I like that you’re being honest with your thoughts about the Throne of Glass series. I didn’t even get around to reading the third and fourth book because of all the mixed reviews which came out about them. I very much feel it may be a series I binge read once it’s all out, but I can’t take all the changes in characters whilst also waiting for a book to come out. I hate the idea that all the male characters are in love with Celaena because they all deserve way more than just being a love interest. I hate when characters are reduced to something like that. Ugh, that series feels me with a lot of feelings considering I’ve only read two books.
I completely agree with your thoughts on Divergent, it definitely did piggyback on the hype of another series and the series began with a strong first book and then went downhill from there, which was upsetting. I could have forgiven it joining the hype if it carried on being good.
I do think you’re wrong in your thoughts on Since You’ve Been Gone (am I allowed to say that in a comment? I feel like it shouldn’t be allowed) it’s not so much an introverted character being shown that she won’t have friends unless she becomes extrovert, it’s more showing that she should try to do things outside her comfort zone every so often so people can see what you’re really like. That was just my take on the book, though.
(My comment will end soon, I promise, just a couple more books I want to discuss.)
Now, I’ve not read any Louise O’Neill but Only Ever Yours sounds awful and amazing (that is definitely possible) and I seriously need to read it. I’ve got Asking For It from the library so I’ll read that first and see how uncomfortable it makes me and then I need to read her other books because that sounds all kinds of uncomfortable and amazing to read. Also a bit terrifying.
And the final book I want to discuss… Seraphina. I totally know why your opinion changed on that one because I felt the same. It’s very intense, you’ve got a slow paced story with a character who is structured and the whole concept of dragons in the book is weird and awesome. It’s not a book which hits you in the face with its brilliance, though. It sort of creeps up on you instead. Now, I still need to buy the second book and am totally overdue for a reread of the first, hopefully I’ll enjoy it more the second time around because I know what to expect, but we’ll see how it goes.
And I’m done, enjoy my mammoth comment.
I’m actually surprised I didn’t get more backlash about Throne of Glass.😂 hehe. I HAVE SUCH SUPER NICE FOLLOWERS WHO DON’T MIND IF I RANT, OMG. <3 But yes. I think Throne of Glass is really growing problematic, especially in the romance, but I'm happy for other people to like it! I'll just avoid. 😂
And omg of course you're allowed to disagree with me in the comments!! That's completely fine! And like I said, I'm don't 100% sure on my Since You've Been Gone feelings because I haven't re-read it. (I NEED TO.) Someone else pointed out that it's possible Emily isn't even an introvert! Since she spent all her time thinking about being with people and her friends, she seemed to need to be with them? Whereas an introvert needs time alone to recoup energy. Since Emily didn't ever seem to NEED to restock her energy lives by being alone, I wonder if she wasn't just a shy extrovert??? ANYWAY I GOTTA REREAD AND ANALYSE CLEARLY.😂
And I also think, with Seraphina, that I wasn't USED to that kind of fantasy?!?!? Whereas now I love it, so I feel all squishy and loving it. <3 hhehe
I LOVE THIS POST! I love that you were able to articulate how opinions, both positive and negative, about books have changed for you over the years. I’ve found that my opinions about books, and what I look for in them, have changed a LOT since I started blogging. I’m almost scared to go back and read certain titles that were my beloved favorites when I was a teen/pre-teen because I KNOW I’m going to look at them through a more critical lens (sort of like when you eat one of your favorite childhood candies as an adult and realize it just tastes like processed sugar and food coloring even though it used to be your favorite thing ever). Thanks for your honesty in this post!
AHHH THANK YOU, CRISTINA!! *flails* And I’m the same with being terrified of going back to reread old favourites. AGH. I’ll probably not love them nearly as much and totally have to those fond memories. *runs away from old favourites screaming* 😂
I changed my mind about Serphina too. I am not proud to admit it, but I did not finish it the first time I tried to read it. I thought it was a little confusing and I wanted more dragon action. But then, with some nagging from my bookish friends, I picked it up again and read it all the way through. And I am so thankful that I did because it got a lot better. Serphina is one of those books that I have to digest a little bit before I can fully appreciate its awesomeness, and re-reading it helped a lot actually.
Unfortunately, my opinion has changed on a lot of books, and not for the better. Normally, this is due to the fact that I have found so many better books and it has raised my standards. This happened with the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I read it really early into my YA career and I adored it. But then I went back to re-read it to prepare for the newest books and I realized that I could not stand it. I felt that Kat lost herself throughout the series and too much time was spent on angst for my tastes.
Even though I am sad to attempt it, my love for Divergent has also dampened. I used to adore the series and I thought it was so unique, but I have realized that is not exactly true anymore. Like you, I still stand by the ending of Allegiant, but I think that the series got diluted after the first book. I still love Divergent, but Insurgent and Allegiant are not my favorites anymore.
I don’t change my thoughts on a lot of books because unless I discuss them … I don’t really ever think about them again *laughs* Which is kind of terrible.
However, I have to say that my opinion of the Throne of Glass series is seriously depleting at an exponential rate. Not for the same reasons as you, but I rated QoS five stars when I read it last year, and I know that I would not rate it five stars if I read it now. I am not entirely sure what I am going to think when I read Empire of Storms. All of SJ Maas’s books are really problematic for me now, and I just don’t know if I have it in me to love them anymore.
I used to write reviews as soon as I finished the book, but I stopped doing that because it means I have to collect my thoughts really quickly, and also go on my laptop when I might just want to sit and wallow in my bookish feelings. I am now seriously terrible with them, though, and only write them the day they are scheduled to go up on the blog *nervous laughter*
Ooh, now I’m curious as to why you’re not a fan of Throne of Glass now.😂 But eh, yes, I definitely think problematic is a good descriptor unfortunately. *sigh*
I toooootally get the want to wallow in bookish feels. I’m TERRIBLE though and basically read books back to back so if I don’t write down my thoughts immediately, pffft, what thoughts? I HAVE NONE NOW. *collapses in a heap of regret*
OH, BLESS THIS GLORIOUS POST! There aren’t a great many things where I think “Maybe it’s just me” (because the bookish community is, y’know, MILDLY HECTIC), but when it comes to changing opinions on books weeks/months/years after the fact… IS IT JUST ME?
Except now I have proof that… CLEARLY NOT. OH, THIS FILLS ME WITH SUCH JOY AND A SENSE OF CAMRADERIE IN OUR INDECISIVENESS. Why have ONE opinion on a book when you can have FIVE? I mean, why limit yourself so? That’s all I’m saying.
I used to think The Duff was so RELEVANT and so SENSITIVE TO ISSUES until a plus-size friend of mine read it and called me in a mild outrage. She said she felt so, so utterly fat-shamed. And not to mention how incredibly dysfunctional that main dynamic was throughout. And then I looked back and… DUDE, THAT’S ACTUALLY REALLY TRUE. I’ve also heard nothing but good things about Finding Audrey (though I’ve yet to give it a try), but then I read your take on it and… UM, THAT SOUNDS LIKE THE LITERAL WORST?! I think a treatment of issues tends to change my mind the most. But also my shameful 19yo New Adult binge… there were a few books from that period I used to genuinely love, but I KNOW, I just know for absolute certain, that if I went back to them now… I’d gently, lovingly peel the skin off my face in frustration and NOPE.
AND WHAT YOU JUST POINTED OUT ABOUT SINCE YOU’VE BEEN GONE…!!! THAT IS SO TRUE?! BUT…! I DIDN’T SEE IT? EVEN THOUGH THAT’S A PERSONAL PET PEEVE OF MY INTROVERTED SOUL? OH, GAHD. (And shhhhhh, I feel the same about Divergent, and Winter. I don’t DISLIKE them now or anything, but with Winter, it was more rating-it-5-because-I-expected-to, and with Divergent, it just generally plummeted in my graces overtime.)
AND THIS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IS WHY EVERY BLOGGER’S GREATEST FEAR IS SOMEONE FINDING OUR OLD REVIEWS.
I love your list of reasons your mind can change about a book. Some have happened to me. Mostly it happens when I do a re-read. Either I end up loving the book more, or I question why I loved it so much the first time around. Sometimes that scares me from wanting to do re-reads, but ultimately it could just be my mood/my age/my interests have changed. So hard to tell.
Great post!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t change their Goodreads ratings! I change my mind because of the exact same reasons you do (except for the reviewing immediately haha) and I know some of my ratings are definitely not accurate anymore, but 1) like you said, who has time for that? and 2) I wouldn’t even know what to change it too. I’d have to reread them and I don’t want to.
Definitely agree with you on Heir of Fire and Queen of Shadows. I actually didn’t enjoy them that much (especially QoS), but my ratings don’t really reflect that. I even gave Heir of Fire 5 stars and I remember being conflicted with that because I didn’t enjoy it that much, but it was Throne of Glass! One of my favourite series! I couldn’t lie when it came to QoS though (though it’s still a little lie, because 3,5 stars who am I kidding that’s too high) I’m really tempted to quit the series as well. I’ve lost all love and motivation towards it (though the first two books will always have a special place in my heart), but I keep thinking: what if the last two are amazing and I miss out? But then again I don’t know if I want to spend money on them and the libraries in The Netherlands barely have any English YA, let alone new releases.. Basically I’m torn haha
I really enjoyed the Matched series by Alie Condie and the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. After giving them extra thought though, I didn’t like them as much. One series that I still enjoy (even after the hype) is the Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.
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