Happy mid-week Wednesday to you! For today’s Top 5 post, I decided to share popular book serials that I will probably never get around to reading. In my defence, I have tried to read quite a few of these, if not all of them, but they simply ended up being something not to my tastes, for one reason or another.
Some of these are super hyped and quite beloved, and as such I just want to offer a disclaimer: if you are someone who has read these serials and enjoyed them very much, then that is wonderful! My opinion of them is in no shape or form any type of judgment on or against you as a person and as a reader.
If you see a series that you believe has a crappy first volume, but gets better as you read on, please let me know in the comments and I’ll consider giving them a second shot. 😊
5. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson
This is a fantasy series that was hyped quite a bit by a lot of people that I know and as such I decided to try it out because I love the genre. However, I read the first book and was wholeheartedly appalled by the aloof nature of the main protagonist, Thomas Covenant, particularly when he rapes a teenager girl (he is in his mid-to-late 30s, early-40s). This immediately created a negative vibe between me and the book. But as I read on, I became even more frustrated and enraged by the way the girl reacted to Covenant, as well his entitled and shitty attitude towards what he had done. Toss in bad writing (women who are written in such ridiculously unrealistic and fetishised ways) and misogynistic themes as well, it turns into a definite nope.
4. The Broken Empire Trilogy by Mark Lawrence
This British dark fantasy series is one that was very disappointing to me after being something that I had been anticipating for a while. You can check out my review for book one here where I go into detail as to what I didn’t like, but essentially there were tons of inconsistencies and just the most awfully written female characters ever. I seriously don’t understand why it’s so damn difficult to write women. Also… I’m tired of rape being the go-to crime for people to be viewed as antiheros or villains. There are other ways to create a villainous character that doesn’t involve this over-used garbage.
3. Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward
This is a paranormal romance series. I read the first book for this a long time ago, or at the very least, I read the first half of book one. Either way, I came to understand that romance is a genre that is difficult for me stay engaged with and interested in. A lot of that may have to do with the fact that I don’t feel romantic feelings like the majority of the population or that I am asexual and found the sex scenes to be rather bland. I don’t think there was anything truly wrong with the book aside from those elements, making it a case of: simply not my cup o’ chai!
2. Shatter Me by Tehereh Mafi
This is a young adult fantasy series. I also tried reading the first book and very quickly (about thirty pages in) realised that if I kept reading, I would be extremely frustrated. I detested the main character and I didn’t care for the writing style. It was jarring and very awkward, as well as forced and unnatural.
1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Another fantasy one! This is classified as young adult, but many reviewers have told me that due to the sexual content it is more akin to the new adult genre. I refuse to read this series for two reasons. The first is that the premise sounds sincerely off-putting to me, and the second reason is that anytime someone doesn’t like the series, the fandom goes on the attack. If I had to choose a third reason, it would be the offensive way that Maas likes to toss in marginalised characters into her story to feel validated in offering representation, even if that rep is harmful as fuck, which is a huge problem in this series from all of the reviews that I’ve read by marginalised reviewers. No thank you! I will say this much though: I did receive Maas’s Throne of Glass series as a gift, so one day I will pick those up. If they weren’t a gift from a dear friend many years ago, I would probably pass on that one as well.
Have you read any of these serials? What did you think? If not, then what are some book serials that you will probably never read or have no interest in checking out?
Thank you so much for visiting me today. Until next time, keep reading and keep otakuing. 💜
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YA novels tend to have these short, catchy names, but they all start to sound the same to me. All slightly edgy and doesn’t really give an idea about anything about the story.
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Yeah, they do have catchy named and I tend to fall victim to a lot of them. *sobs* But I have found some neat gems as well. 🙂
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I’m glad there’s someone else who didn’t enjoy Shatter Me very much – almost everything about it annoyed me. As soon as a weird love triangle popped up I had to lay the series to rest
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Yeah, it was definitely annoying and not for me at all. I tried reading another one of the author’s books, but that was awkwardly flowery and forced, so I’m thinking her prose style is just not my cup o chai.
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Haha – “awkwardly flowery and forced” is a great way to describe her writing style
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I had that exact same reaction to Thomas Covenant. He was such an incredibly annoying character. I don’t think I ever hated a book character that much in my life. But…..eventually, things do get better. And you even get some sympathy for him. I know that’s very hard to believe, but it does happen 😊
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I’ve heard other characters in the book are decent and more worth reading the series for, so I may pick it up, but waaay into the future lol.
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Haha, I understand. And even though I warmed up a little to Thomas….he will never be someone I will grow to like: I’ll never forgive him for what he did to that poor girl.
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Oh saaaame.
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Ah such a great topic and a good list, You should do a top five series you read but wish you hadn’t lol
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Ooh, that’s an excellent idea! Definitely going to do that.
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The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant does get better as the series go on, but not with Thomas Covenant. It’s more the other characters that he meets along the way that make the narrative interesting. Thomas Covenant is an entitled dickbag for pretty much the whole series.
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Dickbag, stealing that, lol. Yeah, he was pretty much everything I hated in a character, even an anti-hero. Maybe one day I’ll pick it up again.
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IIRC they do go on for a ways, don’t they? You are being kind to him.
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