Top 5 Wednesday || Least Favourite Book in a Series

When I first saw this topic I didn't think I'd be able to come up with a list... but after staring at my bookshelves, I think I might be able to pull this one off.

So! My least favourite book in the series:

I really did enjoy Leigh Bardugo's Grisha trilogy. Siege and Storm is my favourite book of the three. So I had high hopes for the conclusion Ruin and Rising. And that's not to say this was a bad book, because it wasn't. I was frantically flipping the pages to see what happened next. But there was something anti-climactic about that ending. And no, not because of the romance aspect--I was fine with that, actually. But there was just something that left me wanting. Like, we could've had it all... but Bardugo just didn't go there. Things felt too neatly tied up. Too easily resolved.

Unfortunately Mira Grant's Newsflesh trilogy is one that just kept going downhill for me. The first book, Feed, was like 5-star level unbelievably good. And I liked Deadline, but not as much. And then Blackout was all right, but man it took things in a different direction. Some of the plot points were too out of left field for me. And I don't know... "it's not incest since we're not technically related" is just never a plot device that works for me. Again, this conclusion just felt too tidy in places. And it made all the suffering from book 1 lose its impact.

And now the opposite. The Captive Prince trilogy was one that got better and better for me as the books went on. In fact, I read the titular book 1 and was kind of baffled about the hype. There were so many people falling all over themselves because of this series and I liked Captive Prince well enough, but it wasn't inspiring any kind of manic devotion in me. And if that sounds like your experience HOLY SMOKES READ BOOK 2 PLEASE. Everything took off for me from there and I totally get the hype now. I'm actually really interested to reread this first book knowing what I do now. I think it'll be a very different experience.

Another series where my favourite was book 2 (Days of Blood & Starlight) and my least favourite was book 3. Dreams of Gods & Monsters was gorgeously written and surprisingly quick to read despite its size. But it features this weirdly important subplot that has never really been mentioned before and then relies basically on deus ex machina to solve the major problem of the series. And it was just disappointing. I still adore this series, and Laini Taylor's writing in general, but this conclusion made me feel a little confused and underwhelmed.

Okay, this is kind of cheating since I haven't finished the Lunar Chronicles series yet, but barring some monumental upset, I feel like my answer will be the same regardless. All the books in the series were improvements on the last here. But something about Fairest just didn't do it for me. Reading about Levana was interesting, but I guess I wanted more totally unrepentant villain than I got. In her own narrative, it makes sense that Levana wouldn't see herself as the villain, but she was a bit too... I don't know, childish? in her approach than I expected. Own that badness girl, and take take take. Anyway, still enjoyable, but not super mind-blowing.


And there you have it! What are your least favourites in a series? Let's chat in the comments!

Top 5 Wednesday || DNFs

Ah yes, the dreaded DNFs. I use an "abandoned" shelf on Goodreads to keep track of these. I really try not to DNF books whenever possible. Though sometimes that just ends in skimming and hate-reading, which isn't really better.

I've gotten better these last few years about understanding my own reading tastes. And with that comes the knowledge of whether or not I think a book will redeem itself in my eyes. Sometimes, it's easy to tell that things are just not going to get better.

So. Let's talk about my top 5 DNFs.

With these first two, it was all about the writing style.

The Maze Runner has this incessant slang that completely aggravated me every time I was forced to look at it with my own two eyes. It just. Wasn't good. That and the way the narrative was constructed felt like the author was constantly going, "I know something you don't know~" and I hated it. I'm not sorry I DNFed this, especially since there seems to be only one female character in the whole ensemble cast. And I hate-read spoilers for the trilogy on Wikipedia and whoo-boy, I did not miss out on anything.

With The Dangerous Days of Daniel X it was a similar sort of dislike. Though, I'll admit, I skimmed the first 100 pages of The Maze Runner and didn't even make it 20 into this one. I remember being at the library trying to kill some time before heading to a movie, so I picked this up and thought I'd read the first chapter before leaving. And the narrative style and I just did not get along. I ended up reshelving it and walking away.

Both of these books should've been my thing. Sci-fi action romps that were drawing comparisons to Firefly. I had high expectations when I picked these up.

I don't think I made it 50 pages into Black Hole Sun. It was just trying WAY too hard. One of those writing styles where the author clearly thinks they're funny and smooth and sarcastic and exciting. But it left me shaking my head in disgust. Nothing about it seemed natural or genuine. And I had no desire to read 300+ pages of super-duper self-insert circle-jerk space cowboy. No thanks.

Avalon was also disappointing, but in a different way. The writing was just really bland. There was supposed to be all this excitement going on and I just didn't care at all. The characters were flat and boring and I didn't care about any of them. The book kept going, "Oh, but the stakes are so high!!" and I was just like, "Really?" I skimmed until about page 160 or so and then read spoilers on Wikipedia. Didn't miss anything here either.

And now for something completely different. Genre-wise anyway.

This book gets praised from here to Sunday about its portrayal of a main character who is on the spectrum. And I just could not stand it. It felt so trite and contrived. It rubbed me the wrong way from page 1, but I tried. I really did. It was when it was clear that this was going to devolve into an adult version of the manic-pixie-dream-girl schtick that I gave up. 

People who love this compare it to The Big Bang Theory--which I think is fairly accurate. It also explains why I loathed it entirely.

And there you have it! What are some books you've DNFed? Let's chat in the comments!

Top 5 Wednesday || Disappointing Eye Candy

I judge books by their cover. 100%. I'm only a little ashamed to admit it. Because damn there are some lovely covers out there. However, sometimes the outsides and insides don't match. And I'm not just talking about the crying shame that is every 90s fantasy book I've ever seen.

But sometimes, the pretty cover is the best thing the book has going for it.

Here's my Top 5 Disappointing Eye Candy (or books that looked beautiful, but I didn't like).

1. Trial By Fire (Worldwalker #1) by Josephine Angelini
I love this cover. Look at this cover. It is so epic looking. But Trial By Fire was only a mediocre read for me. I won't be reading the rest of the trilogy. [Read my mini-review.]

2. Zodiac (Zodiac #1) by Romina Russell
Ugh, SPACE. Look at it! The cover is so gorgeous. And the cancer symbol in the "o" of Zodiac. I love it. But this book was most just a mess for me. Bizarrely unnecessarily complicated and too superficial. [Read my full review.]

3. Ink (Paper Gods #1) by Amanda Sun
LOOK AT THIS COVER. All the covers in this series are amazing, tbh. But this book was so so so bad. [Read my full review.]

4. More Than This by Patrick Ness
The hardcover of this book is SO LOVELY. With the little cut-out door and the contrast and UGH. I'm really glad I got this from the library instead of buying it though, because I'd have a hard time letting it go it's so pretty. But mostly this book was a mess. [Read my full review.]

5. Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn
This one is probably a case of "it's not you, it's me", but this book was not my thing. The cover is gorgeous though. What a shame. [Read my mini-review.]


And there you have it! My disappointing (but lovely looking) books. Have you read any of these? What books would you add to this list? Let's chat in the comments!

Top 5 Wednesday || Favourite Buzz Words

So there are certain words that appear in the synopsis or marketing of a book that just make me drop everything and immediately add that book to my TBR. Sometimes this works out in my favour, other times not so much.

So for Top 5 Wednesday this week here are my 5 Favourite Buzz Words.

1. Soulmates/Soulbond
I'm a huge sucker for this nonsense in all its forms. I will go out of my way to pick up anything that even slightly has to do with soulmates. I still prefer a slow burn over insta-love in this case though; and some of the best stuff I've read works actively to explore and subvert the trope. And though this is definitely something I see more often in fanfic, you put this in your synopsis and I am so in it's not even funny.

2. Reincarnation/Past Lives
Especially when it goes hand in hand with #1. Whoa-boy can I click that "want to read" button any faster? No. I cannot. I am 99.8% certain that watching Sailor Moon as a kid is responsible for this. But I can't even tell you how much I love it when there's history there... especially if there's a little bit of memory play with remembering past lives. UGH. GIVE IT TO ME NOW.

3. LGBTQ+
Okay, not a buzz word, per se, but stay with me here. Because I'm not really talking about your standard contemporary queer lit either. Not that it doesn't have it's place, it certainly does and is vitally important, but it too often ends in tragedy. No, I'm talking about your standard SFF romp (or any genre really) with queer main characters. Incidentally queer characters. A story that plays out in exactly the same way it would if it was about straight characters. More of this always please.

4. Historical Fantasy
Less of a buzz word and more of genre. I really like it when you combine a historical-ish setting with some fantastical elements. Necromancy in Tsarist Russia (The Gathering Storm), magical prohibition in the 1920s (A Criminal Magic), steampunk in the Wild West (Revenge and the Wild)... and so on! I'm in, let's do this.

5. X Meets Y
Okay okay, sometimes this gets a little dicey. Because some times the publishers get is SO WRONG and some times they get it SO RIGHT. It's hard to tell. Hence why it's at the bottom of my list. But done properly there's can be just enough intrigue for me to keep going and want to read it. These Vicious Masks, for example, is marketed as Jane Austen meets X-Men and that's literally all I needed to know before adding it. On the other hand, The Young Elites was supposed to be X-Men meets Assassin's Creed (noticing a trend here, are you?) and I absolutely loathed it. So. Hit or miss.

And there you have it! What are your favourite buzz words? What did you think of mine? Let's chat in the comments!

Top 5 Wednesday || Series to Start in 2016

Starting the rejuvenated blogging off right with Top 5 Wednesday! This week's topic is "Series I Want to Start in 2016".

1. The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
It's getting to the point that it's almost embarrassing that I haven't read this yet. I own all three of the books. I know I'm going to like it. I keep meaning to read it. What is wrong with me?

2. The Broken Earth Series by N.K. Jemisin
Jemisin's work has been on my radar for a while now. All her stuff sounds really interesting. But I've heard some excellent things about The Fifth Season in particular, and the sequel is coming out in 2016, so!

3. The Captive Prince Trilogy by C.S. Pacat
This one seems to be notoriously difficult to find, so I'm probably going to have to buy it online. Adriana from Perpetual Pages has raved about this book and series--and come on, queer fantasy? Yes please.

4. The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson
I got The Kiss of Deception for Christmas last year... so I really need to get around to this. I've heard spectacular things, and the idea of not knowing who is the prince and who is the assassin sounds SO cool.

5. The Worldbreaker Saga by Kameron Hurley
Another really interesting sounding series that I've heard great things about. This list is so fantasy-biased anyway, might as well keep up the trend!


There are a ton of series I want to finish in 2016 as well, but that will have to be a separate post!

What are you wanting to start in 2016? Any of these look interesting? Let's chat in the comments!

Top 5 Wednesday || Series I Won't Finish

So, if you didn't know, Top 5 Wednesday is primarily a BookTube feature. Started by Lainey @ gingerreadlainey, there's a Goodreads group as well.

This week's topic is not actually the one I'm posting about today. But I saw the video responses floating around online this past week or so and thought, "Yeah, I wanna do that."

So here I am.

And here are the list of the Top 5 Series I Won't Finish.

1. The Syrena Legacy by Anna Banks
This book was too little substance for my tastes. I couldn't stand any of the characters and some super problematic elements were treated as perfectly acceptable. I have no desire to continue and, in fact, donated my copy of this book pretty much immediately after I was finished it.

2. The Firelight trilogy by Sophie Jordan
This one doesn't bring up as visceral feelings as the previous series. But it wasn't particularly memorable. My review on Goodreads wonders if I would've even bothered finishing the book had I not been stuck on an airplane for many hours. So.

3. The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner
Maybe not a super unpopular opinion, because I know this series has mixed reviews--but I figured it was fitting given the film adaptation is upon us. While the premise was intriguing there was too much "everyone knows something you don't know" nonsense. I couldn't make it through this. I looked up some spoilers online and wasn't too disappointed I'd decided to drop this. (I will be seeing the movie though.)

4. The Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr
I ended up skimming about 75% of this book. It just never captured my attention. I can't remember if it was the characters or writing style or both that aggravated me. But given that this is a six book series, I can't be bothered to invest in something I didn't care about.

5. The Last Werewolf trilogy by Glen Duncan
A recent read (and review to follow). This was just too "male power fantasy" for me. Yuck. Though I am interested in Tallula's story, I think I'd want it to be written by someone else. This checks off too many boxes on the "super problematic representation of women" list. So bye.


How about you? Any series you're not finishing? Read any of these and think I should give them another chance? (Or not!) Let's chat in the comments!