Especially for a book grounded in reality. Like sure, I’ll suspend my disbelief for ghosts and magic, but I can NOT believe that someone would name their child GALAXY! Right to jail!
01:14 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine 02:43 The Flat Share 04:04 Beartown 05:40 An Enchantment of Ravens 07:50 Red Rising 10:39 The Raven Cycle 13:34 The Martian 16:20 King of Scars 21:09 Ninth House 26:43 Final Girls 28:38 The Song of Achilles
Song of Achilles is one of my favorite books of all time. That said, it is definitely over-hyped. For me, it was unendingly interesting because I was so excited to see how Madeline Miller was going to make certain aspects of The Iliad work and how she was going to handle the mythology of Achilles. My nerd ass was fangirling when Odysseus showed up. I can say confidently, that will not be the experience for everyone and certainly won't be the experience of anyone who doesn't give a damn about The Iliad.
Dark Academia these days is really dry. Fancy setting but no one going to class, surface level analysis on class/privilege, and then either assault or murder constantly happening sometimes both. Can I please get something new!!!
Except for Song of Achilles (and to a lesser extent Martian) I was nodding along haha. SoA has finally gotten to the “after hype” phase where people who didn’t like it finally feel safe to say they didn’t like it. Which is sad for me - but I lowkey love hearing book roastings haha
I love videos where people admit their unpopular opinions about books 😂😂 this was fun! Definitely books on here that I haven’t seen people diss before. That made it even better
I liked Song of Achilles. I enjoy Miller’s writing and that carried me through any dull parts. As a queer person, I was really happy to see a well written story about Achilles and Patroclus that didn’t depict them as “just bros.” As for Elinor Oliphant, I effing hated that book. The book had a lot of hype and someone recommended it as having an autistic protagonist which intrigued me. I ended up not only disappointed and bored, but somewhat offended if that’s how people think autistic rep should look. I DNF’d pretty early on. It was a mess of a book.
Personally I had a problem with her taking Patroclus and feeling the need to make him the feminine counterpart to achilles. They were peak masculine dude bros it just felt annoying that she changed the mythology in order to make it heteronormative
@@alexjames7144 I didn’t really notice that while reading. If I had, it probably would have bothered me. Perhaps I’m so used to reading heteronormative romance that it went right over my head…which is sad tbh.
I was also really underwhelmed by Final Girls. As a reader of almost exclusively horror and thriller I figured I should give him a go since everyone seems to love him so much. I spent the whole book waiting for it to get good. It also reeked of "female stories written by male authors," in a way that I found it really difficult to shake. It's so nice to hear somebody feel the same way! So validating. I may give Sager one more shot, but we'll see.
'song of achilles' this was what i was worried about. there's SO MUCH hype for this book and i've kinda been dreading it but i'm gonna read a library copy cuz i know there's a big chance i'll also find it boring LOL
@@heyimsasa I think you should read The Song of Achilles first if you want to read them chronologically (the events in TSOA happened before the events in Circe)
the writing style of the flat share dude does get more complex over time as you (& the girl) get to know him and he opens up to himself but i can understand how it dissuaded you. but i COMPLETELY agree about song of Achilles i am always astounded when people say it was heartbreaking. i will say that i hated SoA but LOVED Circe, i found it a lot better written and emotionally compelling.
The thing I find most confusing is that people seem to be surprised by the ending of SoA, when even if they didn't know it already (which I thought most people did) the author uses 'foreshadowing' so heavy handedly it's like being slapped in the face with a sign that has the spoiler written on it
Beartown and its sequel are two of my favorite books. I actually love Backman's writing and how he plots his stories. But it takes all kinds (and opinions) to make a world!
Beartown is one of my all time favorites. I agree that there are a lot of characters, and you do jump around through them a lot. It does pay off by the end of the book and in book two. Backman is the king of characters IMO. Also Maya and Benji will live in my heart forever. They're such great charters.
loool I relate so hard to this level of pettiness. Eleanor Oliphant is one of my favourite books but I understand why you didn't like it, especially with the expectations you were given (romance? riveting? hard-breaking???) I don't know about any of that. It's more of an interesting light character study and I agree I don't understand why it's so hyped, it's a very quiet story.
you break my heart with this SOA slander!!!! it awoke a newfound interest for myth and modern retellings for me; ariadne is next on my list. we've all got different tastes and your takes on these books had me 🤣🤣
I AGREE ABOUT RILEY SAGER LMAO idk why i gave him so many chances. i was like "okay........maybe the next one will be better?" it never got better so i'm done LOL
Song of Achilles should have been the perfect book for me. Love myth retellings. Love Greek myth retellings in particular. Love anything queer. but oh my godddddddd. I was so so so so soooo bored.
Ikr?! I kept reading and going “okay, when will we get to the Trojan War?” and then there was just a bit at the end. We spent all that time training with Chiron at the beginning and then zipped through 10 years of conflict.
I am so bummed you didn’t like Eleanor. Honestly, I have heard so many people hate it. Her particular loneliness really spoke to me though. I think that’s one of those “love it or hate it” things - that is so fascinating when people just get completely different things out of books. Flat Share is on my list, but I haven’t read any Beth O’Leary yet. Maybe I’ll start somewhere else. 😂😂
Ok I read Circe first and it’s one of my favorite books. Idk, it’s kinda boring and dreary but I loved the idea of having a sanctuary where you can grow and learn and love urself, and that book just made me so happy. But then I tried reading song of Achilles and I couldn’t get into it! I even got the audio book! Might try again
I wasn’t crazy for TSOA either. Circe is one of my favorite books and I was really excited to read it, but it just let me down :( I was also hoping it would focus less on Patroclus and Achilles training and more on the Trojan War.
I was in a similar boat. I absolutely loved Circe, and was so excited for TSOA only to be really disappointed. It really gave me "straight white woman fetishizing gay men" vibes. And I HATED how the word "childish" was used in almost every sex scene. The writing otherwise was still beautiful, but I spent a lot of it squicked out.
I came to hear you rant about a Song of Achilles because I 1000000% agree with you, but I’m currently reading king of scars and you made some valid points! 😅
I'm so glad someone finally didn't love The Song of Achilles too! Even if it's not for the same reason as why I hate it. Yes I hate it. It's actually pretty problematic. If you know a little bit about society in ancient Greece you can see very fast this book is pure Biphobia/erasure and unnecessary forced homophobia and monogamy. This book infuriated me so much. To this day I get mad thinking about it. Why is no one talking about all the problems in this book? ~ Yuna
i gotta preface this with it's been 2 years since i've read tsoa, so please correct me if i'm misremembering. but iirc the negative reaction to their relationship was more like period-accurate disdain about grown men (of the same age) engaging in same-sex relationships. i do agree the monogamy wasn't my favourite interpretation of the iliad, but tbf: greek classics are a living, ever-evolving literary tradition, and while it's valid to dislike certain interpretations, there isn't exactly a solid "canon" to erase. in any case, when translation and ancient texts are involved, i think the conversation has to be more nuanced than assigning/erasing sexualities for representation's sake. especially since a particularly faithful adaptation would need to address the fact that achilles had murdered briseis' entire family and kidnapped her as a prize, and a husband's love for his wife tended to be duty-bound and dependent on her submission to him.
@@furbyacolyte5604 I haven't read the end but I heard from other people, that Achilles son get especially homophobic? And I never heard about people frowning over same-sex interaction but I don't claim to be an expert, so it might be very possible I was wrong at that. Thank you very much for this different point of you, it made me thinking. But tbh I would prefer a more accurate depiction with all the brutality and gruesomeness, because painting history prettier is not a thing I like. But then the question is, do we take the illiad as history or mythology? The problem with assigning/erasing sexuality is a very difficult one. We stand before a society that tries to pressure everything in a certain way all the time that every type of change can become a problem just because of all the context around our current circumstances. So I have to disagree with that point. Changing a detail with erasing a certain oppressed minority is a problem. And books that are written in our century should respect that. (I hope this is all understandable and not coming of rude or anything! I very much appreciate other points of view and a good discussion!!!)
Your view on Ancient Greek society and their sexuality is very off, I'm sorry. I'm afraid that there wasn't exactly bisexuality, or really homosexuality in the form that we see today. The sex between two cis men was a power dynamic, hence why most forms of 'homosexuality' we saw came in the form of pederasty (sex between an older man and a youth). Only the wealthy and powerful could have multiple partners. Men were expected to have children, in fact Spartan law required all men and women to marry and have children. There is no erasure of bisexuality or polyamory when those concepts didn't even exist to Ancient Greece.
I'm gonna work on forgiving you for dragging The Martian like this, but you were right about everything else, so I'll just chalk it up to you watching the movie first.
I liked Eleonor Oliphant, Beartown and The Martian when I read them. I do agree the Martian was boring at parts but I probably skipped them. Fredrik Backman is one of my favourite authors tho 😁❤️
17:52 lmao I liked King of Scars because I had a crush on Zoya anyways so even though it was supposed to be Nikolai’s book I didn’t mind the focus on her (I get why other ppl are upset about that though).
I LOVED Song of Achilles, so it was interesting how you said it was like reading a textbook. I can see what you mean and I think that for people who loved reading The Odyssey, The Iliad, or even Mythology by Edith Hamilton, they probably loved this book
Loving the video :) I love The Raven Cycle but I totally get your take. I've tried but I've never managed to grow to like Blue. She just gave me major "not like other girls" vibes from the very first chapters (which were very hard to go through because of that). Also when she described Adam's hair as "the colour of dirt" I think I lost it. Out of every single adjectives?? Girl... Ridiculous indeed ahah A book I can't stand is The Secret History... oops. I get why people might like it, but the characters were so unlikeable and pretentious, I had a haaard time.
Backman’s books are always heart wrenching at the end. All of his characters are so fully formed. You have been with them for something sad/tragic…then at the end he will rip your heart out even more and make you look at it and slowly put it back together. Red Rising is still my favorite series of all time! 💕 Margaret Rogerson is also a favorite author of mine. Lol She is writing a nun fantasy…NUN!!…it’s going to be awesome! It’s ok, we don’t have to have the same tastes. I think your amazing and still love to watch your vids 😀
I also thought Song of Achilles was boring as hell. I only got maybe 60-80 pages in which is all basically backstory for the two main characters, so to be fair the plot hadn't really kicked off yet. Also I didn't like Achilles, and if I don't like half of a pair it's impossible for me to enjoy or care about their relationship. I may still try to get into it though. On the other hand, I've been really enjoying Circe.
I cannot emphasize enough how much I agree with your thoughts on the Raven Cycle series! I think you're the first person to be able to put my exact thoughts into words here, I'm amazed🤯.
I gave The Song of Achilles 3.5 stars, and I thought that was being generous. It was FINE but it wasn't as good as Circe, IMHO. Read it for my Book Club last year (when I was active), and it was fine.
Really, if my Book Club hadn't picked it to read, I probably wouldn't have. Nothing against people who are over-the-moon about A&P, but I wasn't the biggest Achilles fan to begin with.
tbh i finished king of scars with almost the same thoughts back when it first came out, ESPECIALLY in terms of not getting enough nikolai. it made me put off reading rule of wolves for sooo long bc i wasn't emotionally prepared for that disappointment right? BUT i couldn't have been happier to be proven so so wrong bc everything i had an issue with in kos panned out to such a satisfying ending. honestly gives crooked kingdom a run for it's money in terms of it being my fave.
Omg finally I hear someone saying they didn't like The Song of Achilles. As someone passionate about ancient Greek history I was disappointed. I read better Trojan War retellings
100% AGREE when it comes to Red Rising. A lot of the books on this list I haven't read because I just had a feeling. I just KNEW that they weren't for me. I made that mistake buying into the hype when it came to Evelyn Hugo. I knew it wasn't going to be the book for me. I understood why everyone else loved it, but yeah.
I was so surprised by Lovely War by Julie Berry! Glad you mentioned it when talking about Song of Achilles, I feel like Lovely War overlooked and SOA is waaaay over hyped lmao 😘
It's funny because I agree with you on the insta love and I also normally don't like it, but for some reason it worked for me in an enchantment of raven and I still don't know why :') I didn't cry at TSOA, only teared up a bit. But while I enjoyed it, I completely understand that it can be boring to someone else and that it doesn't work for everyone. That's why I'm hesitant to recommend it in the first place :') This reminds me of If we were villains which so many loved and it didn't deliver what everyone promised me.
Hiii Jess! Totally agree with you on the ninth house. I couldn’t even finish it. Too much going on and not done in a good way. I have King of Scars and now I don’t know if I should read it 🤔
The Martian??? Really Jess??? I respect your wrong opinion 😜 but I love that book. Top 5 favorite books ever, and I’m not usually a sci-fi fan but that book really worked for me.
When I read An Enchantment of Ravens, I was looking for a fun easy ya fantasy, and that is what I got. I liked the way it was written and how she approached the fae. It was very insta-lovey but there is like a total of four romances in books that I actually root for so I am used to not liking the romance or the main couple or not caring about them so it didn't faze me. And also I knew about it going in. As for Leigh Bardugo, I go to her books because I adore her writing, I like her worlds and I love her characters. I didn't read King of Scars for Nikolai, even though I liked him in Shadow and Bone, I read it for those reasons. And honestly, I loved the fact that Zoya was a bigger part of that book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ninth House I read for the same reasons, and I also enjoyed that. I did though enjoy both of those books more on my reread.
I DNF’d Final Girls and I’ve never had any interest in reading any more of Sager’s work either. That book really rubbed me the wrong way. I think it’s because it has a character who is just an agent of chaos and I rarely enjoy that. She just seemed to want to stir up problems for the sake of causing drama. I’m sure there was a “reason” for it but I didn’t care enough to keep reading and find out.
Jess! I too am in the apparent minority of not loving The Song of Achilles. I liked it, I did give it a 3.5 star rating (which is a good rating), but that was it. I agree that Madeline Miller has beautiful writing, but there was just something about her storytelling that didn't click for me. There was something about how she wrote the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus that never fully clicked for me.
I've only read two books by Riley Sager (Final Girls and Survive the Night) and I don't understand the hype. I'm a huge horror movie fan and was excited to read Final Girls but it was underwhelming. Survive the Night had a super interesting premise that he just threw in the trash. People like to BOLDLY claim on TikTok and Booktube that Sager knows how to write women and I'm here reading his books like, "WHERE?" The protagonists felt like caricatures of women. I also hate that for both books, the entire plot relied on the female protagonists making a decision that most women in their shoes would not make. It drives me crazy how much people hyped up this man.
I am so happy I read the premise of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine before reading the book. It wasn’t that I thought the book would be boring, but I’m so sick of mental health stories being magically fixed with makeovers, boyfriends, and one therapy session. And the twist at the end makes the whole book even less realistic, because how could someone have that level of mental issues and then be able to turn it all around quickly.
To be fair, I read Sorcery of Thorns (Margaret Rogerson's sophomore novel) before I read Enchantment of Ravens. I LOVED Sorcery of Thorns; it was like a grimdark version of Howl's Moving Castle but with added bisexual rep and diverging from HMC a bit (in HMC the two love interests basically live together, but in Sorcery, the FMC and MMC spend the first 1/3 ish of the book together, then we follow the FMC as she goes off on her own adventure-thing, then she reunites with the MMC in Act 3, and I don't want to spoil any more than that) and because I loved Sorcery of Thorns so much, I decided to go back and pick up Rogerson's debut novel. I'm currently reading An Enchantment of Ravens and I'm just BORED OUT OF MY MIND and might DNF it (I'm on like chapter 5 or 6 right now) So even if you didn't like Ravens, the writing in Sorcery of Thorns is MUCH MUCH AN INFINITE AMOUNT OF TIMES BETTER and you should still give Margaret Rogerson a try, because she most definitely improved by leaps and bounds after her debut! :)
I totally agree on the song of achilles I dont understand why everyone is soo in love with this book. I liked Circe a lot better. When people say they were soo broken from this book , im like really?? This is the book that broke you? You must read more books, if you think this book will make you cry
Andy Weir is often cited as putting the science back into Sci-Fi and that‘s really true, he can get pretty theoretical. I read the book before the movie came out, absolutely loved it and was actually wondering how well they‘d be able to translate the character and his humour into film ^^ his second book, which I feel got a lot let buzz than either Martian or the recent third one, is my favourite and I feel the reason it‘s my favourite is also the reason it got less buzz, sadly. The main character is a highly intelligent, slightly edgy (but relatably so) young woman who‘s an underachieving scoundrel but originally a talented engineer. It‘s been a while but I think it also went less into theoretical detail as Martian or Project Hail Mary do, but it was fantastic and imho also the best female character written by a man I‘ve ever read. Out of Andy Weir‘s three books Artemis, the second one, lends itself the best to a movie adaptation imho but of course an intelligent, badass engineer female lead wouldn‘t be picked up by Hollywood, whereas Project Hail Mary already has a movie coming confirmed, basically as soon as it was released lol
I actually really liked Song of Achilles, but I didn't cry because I already knew the whole original tale and story of the Trojan war so I knew what was coming. Also, I think Madeline Miller is a professor of Greek and Roman studies so the "reads like a textbook" makes total sense, haha
I remember reading "Final Girls" and thinking this is supposed to be a thriller or at least lean towards a horror and no nothing happened for like 100 pages and the climax was kind of scattered to me. I gave it four stars originally but it was really three stars. I've also read "The Last Time I lied" and I didn't really care for that one either. For some reason I think his books will get better though. Maybe I'm wrong.
weirdly enough i had no expectations for Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine when I picked it up earlier this month and I ended up loving it. Also pls I was so let down by the martian I CANNOT wrap my mind around why this is such a well-loved book. + now I’m scared to pick up the song of Achilles haha, it’s waiting on my shelf
I'm avoiding Beartown and its sequel because of its premise, but I loved Anxious People and plan to read the rest of his books, I liked the mystery/secrets and heartwarming/found family aspects, a touch of humour with the sadness, and such unlikeable unpleasant characters you couldn't care less about that eventually grow on you!
the way i gasped when i saw the picture of song of achilles and then saw the title LMAO its my fav from the list and its really not a tear jerker for me? but i do really love it because in general i love the story. as a queer story it just really nails it for me ; o ; the actual story is way more epic and dramatic as usual with greek stories and i think i loved this reimagining more because i loved the original and huge nerd for greek stories in general
So, thanks to tiktok i decided to give "The Song of Achilles" a second chance, because the first time i read it I was in my freshman year in university and i was going through a lot, and i used to blame this particular moment as the reason i didnt like the story. But, even though i love retellings and reimagines, i still dont fully love it (? I mean, Madelaine writes really well but i think I dont like for the same reasons you dont like it. Circe is growing on me tho, but Im only reading it because my grandpa give it to me
I felt the exact same as Final Girls but Home Before Dark and Lock Every Door are MILES above it. If you're gonna try again I would do those. I only did it for a video I was going to do back when I made them, but it was a good choice
Home Before Dark had me turning all the lights in my apartment on. I thought it was a fine ready with some definite scary moments. Lock Every Door was my jam though! Such great gothic vibes.
I thought I was the ONLY one that felt that way about the Eleanor Oliphant book! I was like this book is real dry and is going nowhere for me so I DNF’d and returned it to the library. I know it’s not me because I checked out this book twice.
right before you said the raven cycle, i was thinking "yeah, i own all the raven cycle books but i couldn't get through-" and then you mentioned it omfg thank you so much for saying it! i liked the first book but i couldn't get through the second, i was just so bored.
I just finished Song of Achilles, to me it was bleh. Like it was fine but not great. Did not make me cry at all. But it was also one of those books that the more I thought about it, the more I got mad at it. I have a passing understanding of Greek mythology, and I just kept mentally checking what she had written to what the myth was, and was getting completely confused. She up and changed some significant parts. And I really didn't like Patroclus, and mostly it was because of the changes she made! I read Jennifer Saint's Ariadne like a week or two before SOA, and I really enjoyed that (and actually why I sought out SOA)! I think because she was exploring/retelling a myth from someone that was essentially a side character, that disappeared in the main cannon story. It mean that there was a lot more leeway in the choices she made, plus it was more of a character introspect, then trying to retell a whole damn war.
Why do I love watching people talk about not liking books? Bear Town is indeed on my shelves, but not sure when I am getting to it. I don't think The Martian was particularly funny, but I loooooved the science bits. I was in Europe many moons ago and there was an older man reading The Martian on the train and he said it was his THIRD time reading it, and I think this was fairly soon after it came out cause it was 2015. Most of these books I have no interest in reading because I think we run in different book circles, lol...but I do love to watch someone tear them down. Specifically Ninth House. That made me feel really good. And DO NOT READ THE NEXT BOOK! Just ask someone else who read it what happens. Please, do not waste your time. Life is short.
I haaaaate Ninth House, agree on a lot of your points. The book brings up all these huge issues w/ classism, race, and sexism but it never does anything with them, it's all just surface-level.
An enchantment of Ravens is *fine* at best. It definitely does not give enough to it's characters to make them real I really loved a sorcery of thorns. It's a huge improvement and the characters are much more fully fledged. (I'm also biased because I love the initial set up of a culture based around libraries).
I DNF'd Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, and that one was super popular a couple of years ago. I don't know if it is because I was listening to it on audiobook and the narrator just grated my nerves or if it was the HP rip off story line or what.
I thought I was the only one who didn't like Red Rising!! OMG it was so hard to read, and I felt the writing was not thaaaat great??? I really pushed myself to NOT DNF that one hahaha
Why am I cackling throughout this whole video! You came out the gate swinging 🤣🤣 ok “Blue Lily, Lily Blue” is a pretty dumb title and if I’m being honest turns me off from wanting to read it 😂 Do not read Rule of Wolves! Don’t do it to yourself.
I agree with your thoughts on the enchantment of ravens 🤔 There was so much potential to expand on the world building and it could have been an epic slow burn romance. Even extending it to 400-500 pages for those reasons could have made a Fae folklore favourite 💙❤️👌😍
I mean, I loved the Song of Achilles, but I can definitely say it is not for everyone. The pacing and denseness of the prose is like a wrecking ball to the gut if that is not what you tend to like. xD
I enjoyed the Martian, that being said, I haven't really "read" the book. I've only ever listened to it as an audio book during long car rides. Something about the person they got to read it aloud made the long car ride really enjoyable.
I enjoyed all of the books in the Grishaverse, but I can see where you would get annoyed with King of Scars. The book that I hate that everyone loves is Outlander, I cannot have a conversation about that book without it turning into a rant. And I love historical romance.
I'm so glad to find more people who didn't like Song of Achilles. Madeline is a very smart, knowledgeable woman who knows her field, but, in terms of writing fiction, I just can't connect with her writing. I was really struggling to see what everyone else did.. And Circe was filled with so many tropes that I just don't vibe with and it left me feeling unfulfilled, I guess. I'd would happily listen to her talk about Greek Mythology in an academic setting, but her books aren't for me either. Especially when myth retellings are so big right now that we have so many choices.
I thought I wouldn't like The Song of Achilles because of the hype. I love Greek mythology so I gave it a chance and ended up liking it alot! I however will not be picking up Ninth House lol
Did the changes to the mythology not bother you? Because personally I struggled to deal with completely overhauling Patroclus to turn him into a femboy
@@alexjames7144 It really didn't for me. It was an interesting take on Patroclus. In some works like The Iliad, Patroclus and Achilles weren't portrayed as lovers but in other works they were.
@@skscott34 Their portrayal as lovers wasn't the issue, I think there's a lot of support historically for that. My issue was completely changing the characterisation of Patroclus to make him essentially a different character.
okay I haven't even watched the rest of the video but YES I couldn't stand Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine!!! such an unpleasant reading experience. I hated the way it played into the "happy people are dumb and simple, unhappy people are complex and interesting" bs even when it pretended not to, and I hated the way mental illness was used as a plot twist at the end!!
![TIPSY ANTI TBR| BOOKS I DON'T WANT TO READ: my petty reasons why [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Cu_FNEEselI/mqdefault.jpg)
![TIPSY ANTI TBR| BOOKS I DON'T WANT TO READ: my petty reasons why [CC]](/img/tr.png)
Did I like some of these books? Yes.
Do I live for Jess roasting books to a crisp? Hell Yes.
Also loving the filming space in front of the shelves!
I second this message lol
And naming your lead character GALAXY is such a wild choice.
also Stern is German for star.......
might as well name them phoenix or some shit lol
GALAXY STAR. PFFFFTTTTTTT
Especially for a book grounded in reality. Like sure, I’ll suspend my disbelief for ghosts and magic, but I can NOT believe that someone would name their child GALAXY! Right to jail!
01:14 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
02:43 The Flat Share
04:04 Beartown
05:40 An Enchantment of Ravens
07:50 Red Rising
10:39 The Raven Cycle
13:34 The Martian
16:20 King of Scars
21:09 Ninth House
26:43 Final Girls
28:38 The Song of Achilles
Song of Achilles is one of my favorite books of all time. That said, it is definitely over-hyped.
For me, it was unendingly interesting because I was so excited to see how Madeline Miller was going to make certain aspects of The Iliad work and how she was going to handle the mythology of Achilles. My nerd ass was fangirling when Odysseus showed up.
I can say confidently, that will not be the experience for everyone and certainly won't be the experience of anyone who doesn't give a damn about The Iliad.
Dark Academia these days is really dry. Fancy setting but no one going to class, surface level analysis on class/privilege, and then either assault or murder constantly happening sometimes both.
Can I please get something new!!!
“ if there were tears, it’s because I yawned so much my eyes watered” 😍 drop the mike! 😜That should be the Large Print blurb for TSOA!!!
Thank you for being honest with your book options and not just going with the flow
Always 🥰
Except for Song of Achilles (and to a lesser extent Martian) I was nodding along haha. SoA has finally gotten to the “after hype” phase where people who didn’t like it finally feel safe to say they didn’t like it. Which is sad for me - but I lowkey love hearing book roastings haha
I love videos where people admit their unpopular opinions about books 😂😂 this was fun! Definitely books on here that I haven’t seen people diss before. That made it even better
I liked Song of Achilles. I enjoy Miller’s writing and that carried me through any dull parts. As a queer person, I was really happy to see a well written story about Achilles and Patroclus that didn’t depict them as “just bros.”
As for Elinor Oliphant, I effing hated that book. The book had a lot of hype and someone recommended it as having an autistic protagonist which intrigued me. I ended up not only disappointed and bored, but somewhat offended if that’s how people think autistic rep should look. I DNF’d pretty early on. It was a mess of a book.
Personally I had a problem with her taking Patroclus and feeling the need to make him the feminine counterpart to achilles. They were peak masculine dude bros it just felt annoying that she changed the mythology in order to make it heteronormative
@@alexjames7144 I didn’t really notice that while reading. If I had, it probably would have bothered me. Perhaps I’m so used to reading heteronormative romance that it went right over my head…which is sad tbh.
@@angryotter9129 Yeah I think it bothered me more having just read the iliad beforehand
I was also really underwhelmed by Final Girls. As a reader of almost exclusively horror and thriller I figured I should give him a go since everyone seems to love him so much. I spent the whole book waiting for it to get good. It also reeked of "female stories written by male authors," in a way that I found it really difficult to shake. It's so nice to hear somebody feel the same way! So validating. I may give Sager one more shot, but we'll see.
'song of achilles' this was what i was worried about. there's SO MUCH hype for this book and i've kinda been dreading it but i'm gonna read a library copy cuz i know there's a big chance i'll also find it boring LOL
I loved both of MMs book! But I will say I enjoyed Cerci the most between the two.
@@AshleyBlakeSchmidt which one do you think i should try first? preferably one with less heartbreak LOL
I read Cerci first but they both will tug on the heart strings lol
@@heyimsasa I think you should read The Song of Achilles first if you want to read them chronologically (the events in TSOA happened before the events in Circe)
@@CookieCat-gp9cq ooooh, are they directly related?
the writing style of the flat share dude does get more complex over time as you (& the girl) get to know him and he opens up to himself but i can understand how it dissuaded you. but i COMPLETELY agree about song of Achilles i am always astounded when people say it was heartbreaking. i will say that i hated SoA but LOVED Circe, i found it a lot better written and emotionally compelling.
The thing I find most confusing is that people seem to be surprised by the ending of SoA, when even if they didn't know it already (which I thought most people did) the author uses 'foreshadowing' so heavy handedly it's like being slapped in the face with a sign that has the spoiler written on it
Just bought The Song of Achilles second hand for 8$ I'm feeling good I didn't buy it at Barnes and Noble for 18.99 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The Song of Achilles is literally my most hated book ever. My blood boils every time I think about it.
Me too! I hated that book so much!
Beartown and its sequel are two of my favorite books. I actually love Backman's writing and how he plots his stories.
But it takes all kinds (and opinions) to make a world!
Beartown is one of my all time favorites. I agree that there are a lot of characters, and you do jump around through them a lot. It does pay off by the end of the book and in book two. Backman is the king of characters IMO. Also Maya and Benji will live in my heart forever. They're such great charters.
Totally agree!! Backman's writing is exceptional.
loool I relate so hard to this level of pettiness. Eleanor Oliphant is one of my favourite books but I understand why you didn't like it, especially with the expectations you were given (romance? riveting? hard-breaking???) I don't know about any of that. It's more of an interesting light character study and I agree I don't understand why it's so hyped, it's a very quiet story.
“That’s something you send to the group chat.” I FEEL THIS!! Lol this needs to be a T-Shirt!!
you break my heart with this SOA slander!!!! it awoke a newfound interest for myth and modern retellings for me; ariadne is next on my list. we've all got different tastes and your takes on these books had me 🤣🤣
I AGREE ABOUT RILEY SAGER LMAO idk why i gave him so many chances. i was like "okay........maybe the next one will be better?" it never got better so i'm done LOL
Song of Achilles should have been the perfect book for me. Love myth retellings. Love Greek myth retellings in particular. Love anything queer. but oh my godddddddd. I was so so so so soooo bored.
Ikr?! I kept reading and going “okay, when will we get to the Trojan War?” and then there was just a bit at the end. We spent all that time training with Chiron at the beginning and then zipped through 10 years of conflict.
I felt the same about Circé. Like wth is happening in Madeline Miller's books and why are they so popular?
I am so bummed you didn’t like Eleanor. Honestly, I have heard so many people hate it. Her particular loneliness really spoke to me though. I think that’s one of those “love it or hate it” things - that is so fascinating when people just get completely different things out of books. Flat Share is on my list, but I haven’t read any Beth O’Leary yet. Maybe I’ll start somewhere else. 😂😂
Ok I read Circe first and it’s one of my favorite books. Idk, it’s kinda boring and dreary but I loved the idea of having a sanctuary where you can grow and learn and love urself, and that book just made me so happy. But then I tried reading song of Achilles and I couldn’t get into it! I even got the audio book! Might try again
I wasn’t crazy for TSOA either. Circe is one of my favorite books and I was really excited to read it, but it just let me down :( I was also hoping it would focus less on Patroclus and Achilles training and more on the Trojan War.
I was in a similar boat. I absolutely loved Circe, and was so excited for TSOA only to be really disappointed. It really gave me "straight white woman fetishizing gay men" vibes. And I HATED how the word "childish" was used in almost every sex scene. The writing otherwise was still beautiful, but I spent a lot of it squicked out.
I came to hear you rant about a Song of Achilles because I 1000000% agree with you, but I’m currently reading king of scars and you made some valid points! 😅
I'm so glad someone finally didn't love The Song of Achilles too! Even if it's not for the same reason as why I hate it. Yes I hate it. It's actually pretty problematic.
If you know a little bit about society in ancient Greece you can see very fast this book is pure Biphobia/erasure and unnecessary forced homophobia and monogamy. This book infuriated me so much. To this day I get mad thinking about it. Why is no one talking about all the problems in this book?
~ Yuna
i gotta preface this with it's been 2 years since i've read tsoa, so please correct me if i'm misremembering. but iirc the negative reaction to their relationship was more like period-accurate disdain about grown men (of the same age) engaging in same-sex relationships. i do agree the monogamy wasn't my favourite interpretation of the iliad, but tbf: greek classics are a living, ever-evolving literary tradition, and while it's valid to dislike certain interpretations, there isn't exactly a solid "canon" to erase.
in any case, when translation and ancient texts are involved, i think the conversation has to be more nuanced than assigning/erasing sexualities for representation's sake. especially since a particularly faithful adaptation would need to address the fact that achilles had murdered briseis' entire family and kidnapped her as a prize, and a husband's love for his wife tended to be duty-bound and dependent on her submission to him.
@@furbyacolyte5604 I haven't read the end but I heard from other people, that Achilles son get especially homophobic? And I never heard about people frowning over same-sex interaction but I don't claim to be an expert, so it might be very possible I was wrong at that. Thank you very much for this different point of you, it made me thinking. But tbh I would prefer a more accurate depiction with all the brutality and gruesomeness, because painting history prettier is not a thing I like. But then the question is, do we take the illiad as history or mythology?
The problem with assigning/erasing sexuality is a very difficult one. We stand before a society that tries to pressure everything in a certain way all the time that every type of change can become a problem just because of all the context around our current circumstances. So I have to disagree with that point. Changing a detail with erasing a certain oppressed minority is a problem. And books that are written in our century should respect that.
(I hope this is all understandable and not coming of rude or anything! I very much appreciate other points of view and a good discussion!!!)
I didn't love it either.
Your view on Ancient Greek society and their sexuality is very off, I'm sorry.
I'm afraid that there wasn't exactly bisexuality, or really homosexuality in the form that we see today. The sex between two cis men was a power dynamic, hence why most forms of 'homosexuality' we saw came in the form of pederasty (sex between an older man and a youth).
Only the wealthy and powerful could have multiple partners. Men were expected to have children, in fact Spartan law required all men and women to marry and have children.
There is no erasure of bisexuality or polyamory when those concepts didn't even exist to Ancient Greece.
I'm gonna work on forgiving you for dragging The Martian like this, but you were right about everything else, so I'll just chalk it up to you watching the movie first.
I liked Eleonor Oliphant, Beartown and The Martian when I read them. I do agree the Martian was boring at parts but I probably skipped them. Fredrik Backman is one of my favourite authors tho 😁❤️
I skimmed so much of the science in The Martian! I just can’t hang with that.
17:52 lmao I liked King of Scars because I had a crush on Zoya anyways so even though it was supposed to be Nikolai’s book I didn’t mind the focus on her (I get why other ppl are upset about that though).
See I didn’t see it as Nikolai alones book. I definitely expected a decent amount of focus on his inner circle.
I DNFed Red Rising as soon as the female love interest got fridged 😭
Yep. That was also a stopping point for me.
Omg you look so cute! Love your glasses too. Even if I personally like some of these, I also freaking love a good book rant 😂😂❤️
I LOVED Song of Achilles, so it was interesting how you said it was like reading a textbook. I can see what you mean and I think that for people who loved reading The Odyssey, The Iliad, or even Mythology by Edith Hamilton, they probably loved this book
Loving the video :) I love The Raven Cycle but I totally get your take. I've tried but I've never managed to grow to like Blue. She just gave me major "not like other girls" vibes from the very first chapters (which were very hard to go through because of that). Also when she described Adam's hair as "the colour of dirt" I think I lost it. Out of every single adjectives?? Girl... Ridiculous indeed ahah
A book I can't stand is The Secret History... oops. I get why people might like it, but the characters were so unlikeable and pretentious, I had a haaard time.
I have read The Martian and Project Hail Mary and I absolutely love them. Andy Weir has all my respect and admiration 👏👏👏
Have you read Artemis yet...another good book of his. Love Andy Weir.
@@crazybookcanary8941 I'm missing that one, I've seen very mixed reviews. Do you recommend it?
@@elizabeths739 Yes I would recommend it. Its a good book.
@@crazybookcanary8941 thanks, I will definitely read it!!
@@elizabeths739 Your welcome!! Hope you enjoy as much as I did.
Backman’s books are always heart wrenching at the end. All of his characters are so fully formed. You have been with them for something sad/tragic…then at the end he will rip your heart out even more and make you look at it and slowly put it back together. Red Rising is still my favorite series of all time! 💕 Margaret Rogerson is also a favorite author of mine. Lol She is writing a nun fantasy…NUN!!…it’s going to be awesome! It’s ok, we don’t have to have the same tastes. I think your amazing and still love to watch your vids 😀
I also thought Song of Achilles was boring as hell. I only got maybe 60-80 pages in which is all basically backstory for the two main characters, so to be fair the plot hadn't really kicked off yet. Also I didn't like Achilles, and if I don't like half of a pair it's impossible for me to enjoy or care about their relationship. I may still try to get into it though. On the other hand, I've been really enjoying Circe.
I cannot emphasize enough how much I agree with your thoughts on the Raven Cycle series! I think you're the first person to be able to put my exact thoughts into words here, I'm amazed🤯.
Ms Maggles really thought she was doing something 😒
@@JessOwens Frr😆!
I gave The Song of Achilles 3.5 stars, and I thought that was being generous. It was FINE but it wasn't as good as Circe, IMHO. Read it for my Book Club last year (when I was active), and it was fine.
I loved Circe but haven't picked up Song of Achilles because it honestly doesn't interest me as much as Circe did.
Really, if my Book Club hadn't picked it to read, I probably wouldn't have. Nothing against people who are over-the-moon about A&P, but I wasn't the biggest Achilles fan to begin with.
@@ladyslibrarium yeah, I'm not either. That's why I'm just "meh" 🤷🏻♀️ about it.
tbh i finished king of scars with almost the same thoughts back when it first came out, ESPECIALLY in terms of not getting enough nikolai. it made me put off reading rule of wolves for sooo long bc i wasn't emotionally prepared for that disappointment right? BUT i couldn't have been happier to be proven so so wrong bc everything i had an issue with in kos panned out to such a satisfying ending. honestly gives crooked kingdom a run for it's money in terms of it being my fave.
Omg finally I hear someone saying they didn't like The Song of Achilles.
As someone passionate about ancient Greek history I was disappointed.
I read better Trojan War retellings
I'm packing to move and watching old videos because you roasting books is my absolute favorite, lol
100% AGREE when it comes to Red Rising. A lot of the books on this list I haven't read because I just had a feeling. I just KNEW that they weren't for me. I made that mistake buying into the hype when it came to Evelyn Hugo. I knew it wasn't going to be the book for me. I understood why everyone else loved it, but yeah.
The other day The Song of Achilles was on sale for $3.99 Amazon Kindle. I totally caved & purchased it. I 100% think I'll agree with you, though.
I was so surprised by Lovely War by Julie Berry! Glad you mentioned it when talking about Song of Achilles, I feel like Lovely War overlooked and SOA is waaaay over hyped lmao 😘
Finally, someone who feels the same way I do about The Sonst of Achilles. Thank you!
It's funny because I agree with you on the insta love and I also normally don't like it, but for some reason it worked for me in an enchantment of raven and I still don't know why :')
I didn't cry at TSOA, only teared up a bit. But while I enjoyed it, I completely understand that it can be boring to someone else and that it doesn't work for everyone. That's why I'm hesitant to recommend it in the first place :')
This reminds me of If we were villains which so many loved and it didn't deliver what everyone promised me.
Not the song of achillles 🤣 you chose violence
Yes I am here for the song of Achilles slander!!!!!! Lmaoo love it
🤣🤣🤣
Hiii Jess! Totally agree with you on the ninth house. I couldn’t even finish it. Too much going on and not done in a good way. I have King of Scars and now I don’t know if I should read it 🤔
The Martian??? Really Jess??? I respect your wrong opinion 😜 but I love that book. Top 5 favorite books ever, and I’m not usually a sci-fi fan but that book really worked for me.
I'm with you. I love it too.
Is it weird that I love hearing you talk about books you didn't like?! 😂 I am so curious now because I have a few of these on my tbr 😬😬
neil degrasse tyson is always talking up 'the martian' because of how good the scifi is, but i also hate math sooooo that's good to know 😂
When I read An Enchantment of Ravens, I was looking for a fun easy ya fantasy, and that is what I got. I liked the way it was written and how she approached the fae. It was very insta-lovey but there is like a total of four romances in books that I actually root for so I am used to not liking the romance or the main couple or not caring about them so it didn't faze me. And also I knew about it going in. As for Leigh Bardugo, I go to her books because I adore her writing, I like her worlds and I love her characters. I didn't read King of Scars for Nikolai, even though I liked him in Shadow and Bone, I read it for those reasons. And honestly, I loved the fact that Zoya was a bigger part of that book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ninth House I read for the same reasons, and I also enjoyed that. I did though enjoy both of those books more on my reread.
I DNF’d Final Girls and I’ve never had any interest in reading any more of Sager’s work either. That book really rubbed me the wrong way. I think it’s because it has a character who is just an agent of chaos and I rarely enjoy that. She just seemed to want to stir up problems for the sake of causing drama. I’m sure there was a “reason” for it but I didn’t care enough to keep reading and find out.
Jess! I too am in the apparent minority of not loving The Song of Achilles. I liked it, I did give it a 3.5 star rating (which is a good rating), but that was it. I agree that Madeline Miller has beautiful writing, but there was just something about her storytelling that didn't click for me. There was something about how she wrote the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus that never fully clicked for me.
My son, who is a chem major, loved The Martian because of all the detailed science talk. He loved it. Ate it up. Made his heart sing. 😋
Zomg, I hope you make another one of these before next year. 😂 Made my day and I laughed so much that I had to pause a few times.
I've only read two books by Riley Sager (Final Girls and Survive the Night) and I don't understand the hype. I'm a huge horror movie fan and was excited to read Final Girls but it was underwhelming. Survive the Night had a super interesting premise that he just threw in the trash. People like to BOLDLY claim on TikTok and Booktube that Sager knows how to write women and I'm here reading his books like, "WHERE?" The protagonists felt like caricatures of women. I also hate that for both books, the entire plot relied on the female protagonists making a decision that most women in their shoes would not make. It drives me crazy how much people hyped up this man.
Great video! I enjoyed hearing your opinions. I love some of the books you mentioned and felt the same way about others. It's interesting.
OMG. You are so right about "The Flat share". I don't get why people love it so much
I'm really liking this lighting! Loving the vibe ma'am!
I am so happy I read the premise of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine before reading the book. It wasn’t that I thought the book would be boring, but I’m so sick of mental health stories being magically fixed with makeovers, boyfriends, and one therapy session. And the twist at the end makes the whole book even less realistic, because how could someone have that level of mental issues and then be able to turn it all around quickly.
To be fair, I read Sorcery of Thorns (Margaret Rogerson's sophomore novel) before I read Enchantment of Ravens. I LOVED Sorcery of Thorns; it was like a grimdark version of Howl's Moving Castle but with added bisexual rep and diverging from HMC a bit (in HMC the two love interests basically live together, but in Sorcery, the FMC and MMC spend the first 1/3 ish of the book together, then we follow the FMC as she goes off on her own adventure-thing, then she reunites with the MMC in Act 3, and I don't want to spoil any more than that) and because I loved Sorcery of Thorns so much, I decided to go back and pick up Rogerson's debut novel. I'm currently reading An Enchantment of Ravens and I'm just BORED OUT OF MY MIND and might DNF it (I'm on like chapter 5 or 6 right now) So even if you didn't like Ravens, the writing in Sorcery of Thorns is MUCH MUCH AN INFINITE AMOUNT OF TIMES BETTER and you should still give Margaret Rogerson a try, because she most definitely improved by leaps and bounds after her debut! :)
I totally agree on the song of achilles
I dont understand why everyone is soo in love with this book. I liked Circe a lot better. When people say they were soo broken from this book , im like really?? This is the book that broke you? You must read more books, if you think this book will make you cry
I thoroughly enjoyed you roasting books including some I liked 🤣🤣
Andy Weir is often cited as putting the science back into Sci-Fi and that‘s really true, he can get pretty theoretical. I read the book before the movie came out, absolutely loved it and was actually wondering how well they‘d be able to translate the character and his humour into film ^^ his second book, which I feel got a lot let buzz than either Martian or the recent third one, is my favourite and I feel the reason it‘s my favourite is also the reason it got less buzz, sadly. The main character is a highly intelligent, slightly edgy (but relatably so) young woman who‘s an underachieving scoundrel but originally a talented engineer. It‘s been a while but I think it also went less into theoretical detail as Martian or Project Hail Mary do, but it was fantastic and imho also the best female character written by a man I‘ve ever read.
Out of Andy Weir‘s three books Artemis, the second one, lends itself the best to a movie adaptation imho but of course an intelligent, badass engineer female lead wouldn‘t be picked up by Hollywood, whereas Project Hail Mary already has a movie coming confirmed, basically as soon as it was released lol
I actually really liked Song of Achilles, but I didn't cry because I already knew the whole original tale and story of the Trojan war so I knew what was coming. Also, I think Madeline Miller is a professor of Greek and Roman studies so the "reads like a textbook" makes total sense, haha
I remember reading "Final Girls" and thinking this is supposed to be a thriller or at least lean towards a horror and no nothing happened for like 100 pages and the climax was kind of scattered to me. I gave it four stars originally but it was really three stars. I've also read "The Last Time I lied" and I didn't really care for that one either. For some reason I think his books will get better though. Maybe I'm wrong.
Am I the only one who is skeptical of the multiple authors writing Final Girl books when they themselves are men???
I haaaaaaated Red Rising. I don't know why it's so popular 😅
Me to I can't believe that I'm not the only one who hated it 😬🤯
weirdly enough i had no expectations for Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine when I picked it up earlier this month and I ended up loving it. Also pls I was so let down by the martian I CANNOT wrap my mind around why this is such a well-loved book. + now I’m scared to pick up the song of Achilles haha, it’s waiting on my shelf
I'm avoiding Beartown and its sequel because of its premise, but I loved Anxious People and plan to read the rest of his books, I liked the mystery/secrets and heartwarming/found family aspects, a touch of humour with the sadness, and such unlikeable unpleasant characters you couldn't care less about that eventually grow on you!
the way i gasped when i saw the picture of song of achilles and then saw the title LMAO its my fav from the list and its really not a tear jerker for me? but i do really love it because in general i love the story. as a queer story it just really nails it for me ; o ; the actual story is way more epic and dramatic as usual with greek stories and i think i loved this reimagining more because i loved the original and huge nerd for greek stories in general
Re: Riley Sager. Interesting how he subtweeted Grady Hendrix when Stephen Graham Jones released The Last Final Girl in 2012....
So, thanks to tiktok i decided to give "The Song of Achilles" a second chance, because the first time i read it I was in my freshman year in university and i was going through a lot, and i used to blame this particular moment as the reason i didnt like the story. But, even though i love retellings and reimagines, i still dont fully love it (? I mean, Madelaine writes really well but i think I dont like for the same reasons you dont like it. Circe is growing on me tho, but Im only reading it because my grandpa give it to me
I felt the exact same as Final Girls but Home Before Dark and Lock Every Door are MILES above it. If you're gonna try again I would do those. I only did it for a video I was going to do back when I made them, but it was a good choice
Home Before Dark had me turning all the lights in my apartment on. I thought it was a fine ready with some definite scary moments. Lock Every Door was my jam though! Such great gothic vibes.
I thought I was the ONLY one that felt that way about the Eleanor Oliphant book! I was like this book is real dry and is going nowhere for me so I DNF’d and returned it to the library. I know it’s not me because I checked out this book twice.
right before you said the raven cycle, i was thinking "yeah, i own all the raven cycle books but i couldn't get through-" and then you mentioned it omfg thank you so much for saying it! i liked the first book but i couldn't get through the second, i was just so bored.
I just finished Song of Achilles, to me it was bleh. Like it was fine but not great. Did not make me cry at all. But it was also one of those books that the more I thought about it, the more I got mad at it. I have a passing understanding of Greek mythology, and I just kept mentally checking what she had written to what the myth was, and was getting completely confused. She up and changed some significant parts. And I really didn't like Patroclus, and mostly it was because of the changes she made! I read Jennifer Saint's Ariadne like a week or two before SOA, and I really enjoyed that (and actually why I sought out SOA)! I think because she was exploring/retelling a myth from someone that was essentially a side character, that disappeared in the main cannon story. It mean that there was a lot more leeway in the choices she made, plus it was more of a character introspect, then trying to retell a whole damn war.
Why do I love watching people talk about not liking books? Bear Town is indeed on my shelves, but not sure when I am getting to it. I don't think The Martian was particularly funny, but I loooooved the science bits. I was in Europe many moons ago and there was an older man reading The Martian on the train and he said it was his THIRD time reading it, and I think this was fairly soon after it came out cause it was 2015. Most of these books I have no interest in reading because I think we run in different book circles, lol...but I do love to watch someone tear them down. Specifically Ninth House. That made me feel really good. And DO NOT READ THE NEXT BOOK! Just ask someone else who read it what happens. Please, do not waste your time. Life is short.
I haaaaate Ninth House, agree on a lot of your points. The book brings up all these huge issues w/ classism, race, and sexism but it never does anything with them, it's all just surface-level.
An enchantment of Ravens is *fine* at best. It definitely does not give enough to it's characters to make them real I really loved a sorcery of thorns. It's a huge improvement and the characters are much more fully fledged. (I'm also biased because I love the initial set up of a culture based around libraries).
I so agree with you on the song of achilles coz I could not finish it, I m sorry to anyone who loved it but I couldn't make myself complete it
I DNF'd Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, and that one was super popular a couple of years ago. I don't know if it is because I was listening to it on audiobook and the narrator just grated my nerves or if it was the HP rip off story line or what.
The Raven Boys Slaaaander. Jess. "The trees speak latin", it's greatness. But I do very much see your criticisms lol.
Right? I was onboard with everything else until she went to The Raven Boys. I definitely clutched my pearls there. The scandal!
I thought I was the only one who didn't gel with the Raven Cycle, glad to see someone else gets it!
You are breaking my heart with some of these!!!! However, I 100% agree with you about Red Rising, Ninth House, and ANYTHING written by Riley Sager.
I thought I was the only one who didn't like Red Rising!! OMG it was so hard to read, and I felt the writing was not thaaaat great??? I really pushed myself to NOT DNF that one hahaha
Oh you are not alone I totally hated the book 👍😬🤯😡🤬
Why am I cackling throughout this whole video! You came out the gate swinging 🤣🤣 ok “Blue Lily, Lily Blue” is a pretty dumb title and if I’m being honest turns me off from wanting to read it 😂 Do not read Rule of Wolves! Don’t do it to yourself.
I agree with your thoughts on the enchantment of ravens 🤔 There was so much potential to expand on the world building and it could have been an epic slow burn romance. Even extending it to 400-500 pages for those reasons could have made a Fae folklore favourite 💙❤️👌😍
I mean, I loved the Song of Achilles, but I can definitely say it is not for everyone. The pacing and denseness of the prose is like a wrecking ball to the gut if that is not what you tend to like. xD
I enjoyed the Martian, that being said, I haven't really "read" the book. I've only ever listened to it as an audio book during long car rides. Something about the person they got to read it aloud made the long car ride really enjoyable.
I enjoyed all of the books in the Grishaverse, but I can see where you would get annoyed with King of Scars. The book that I hate that everyone loves is Outlander, I cannot have a conversation about that book without it turning into a rant. And I love historical romance.
Okay I might love some of these but you’re so right with your thoughts 🤣🤣
I'm so glad to find more people who didn't like Song of Achilles. Madeline is a very smart, knowledgeable woman who knows her field, but, in terms of writing fiction, I just can't connect with her writing. I was really struggling to see what everyone else did.. And Circe was filled with so many tropes that I just don't vibe with and it left me feeling unfulfilled, I guess. I'd would happily listen to her talk about Greek Mythology in an academic setting, but her books aren't for me either. Especially when myth retellings are so big right now that we have so many choices.
I really liked The Flatshare it's a bit slow in the beginning but I think it was worth it.
Beach Read is one I didn’t love but everyone seems to stan. I really didn’t like January, she annoyed me so much.
I thought I wouldn't like The Song of Achilles because of the hype. I love Greek mythology so I gave it a chance and ended up liking it alot! I however will not be picking up Ninth House lol
Did the changes to the mythology not bother you? Because personally I struggled to deal with completely overhauling Patroclus to turn him into a femboy
@@alexjames7144 It really didn't for me. It was an interesting take on Patroclus. In some works like The Iliad, Patroclus and Achilles weren't portrayed as lovers but in other works they were.
@@skscott34 Their portrayal as lovers wasn't the issue, I think there's a lot of support historically for that.
My issue was completely changing the characterisation of Patroclus to make him essentially a different character.
okay I haven't even watched the rest of the video but YES I couldn't stand Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine!!! such an unpleasant reading experience. I hated the way it played into the "happy people are dumb and simple, unhappy people are complex and interesting" bs even when it pretended not to, and I hated the way mental illness was used as a plot twist at the end!!