I got tagged by Kaja @ Of Dragons and Hearts to do the Unpopular Opinions tag, which I’ve been tagged for and tempted to do before, so clearly it’s about time…
A popular book or series you didn’t like: Uh, Harry Potter? Sorry, sorry, I just really don’t get on with the books, even when I tried to reread them!
A popular book/series everybody hates but you love: Well, everyone loves to rag on David Eddings’ work, but I do still enjoy The Diamond Throne. It was funnier 
than I remembered, and I really should finish my reread.
A love triangle where you didn’t like who the main character ended up with: Mal/Alina/Nikolai in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha books. I liked the idea of Mal and Alina at first (friends to lovers is one of those tropes I like!), but Mal ended up being so jealous and unsupportive and just… no. Nikolai was much more charming.
A popular genre you hardly read: Hmm, this is a difficult one, because I read a bit of everything. I guess contemporary fiction that doesn’t contain any magic anywhere!
A popular/beloved character you dislike: Well, I don’t get it when people like Lancelot, 99.999% of the time? Mind you, I was pretty much trained to dislike him by Bernard Cornwell’s books. I also don’t get it when people like characters like Draco or Snape. Not so much my thing.
A popular author you can’t seem to get into: Philippa Gregory. I have bounced so hard off every single one of her books that I tried.
A popular trope you’re tired of reading: Love triangles… who isn’t?
A popular series you have no interest in reading: Divergent et al, I guess. I do actually have Divergent somewhere on my Kindle, and my partner quite enjoyed the series, but it’s not really speaking to me.
A movie you liked better than the book: I don’t watch that many movies, honestly. Captain America: The Winter Soldier? Does that count? I thought the adaptation was absolutely amazing.
Really? I won’t disagree with you on Mal’s jealousy–though I am happy that he and Alina ended up together in the end–but I would’ve been furious if Alina had ended up with Nikolai. He’s a fantastic character, and I love reading about him, but I absolutely hated how controlling he was with Alina. Maybe controlling isn’t the right word, but after they met and were traveling through the country, he either forced or tricked her into appearing to be his consort, despite her clear objections. I really wanted someone (preferably Alina) to punch him and explain why he should not be treating a fellow human being that way.
Hmm, good point. But Nikolai always made it clear what he wanted from Alina, and despite his machinations, he felt trustworthy. Whereas Mal… was just so changeable: one minute “we’re together forever, I don’t want anything but you,” the next “oh woe, you’re going to go off and marry Nikolai and you’re all powerful and I don’t like it”. Mal/Alina would normally be exaaactly my kind of pairing, if it weren’t for the way he behaved. It was like he preferred her weak and reliant on him, and that is kinda gross too.
Huh, I definitely felt like Mal was more trustworthy than Nikolai. But I guess that’s why these are unpopular opinions, not opinions everyone should agree with 😉
I felt like Alina could trust Mal with some things, but… I don’t know, he just rubbed me wrong. A lot. I felt like at least with Nikolai, Alina would know what his goals were and they could negotiate. With Mal, it felt like it was “my way or the highway” a lot of the time (or rather, “my way, or your way and I stand apart and look tragically noble and supportive while actually providing none of the support you need”).
I’m actually not 100% thinking Nikolai/Alina would’ve been ideal, just that the ending with Mal was pretty much contingent on Alina giving up everything but him (mostly magic). If she hadn’t lost her magic, would he have settled down with her? From his behaviour, it didn’t seem like it. He was happy when it was just them, and she relied on him… that dynamic just worried me. More than I thought, actually.
Alina turning them both down, or turning Mal down until he accepted her as herself, would’ve made me happier!
Whaaaa? I give you mad props for admitting you don’t like HP. Even more for re-reading the series when you didn’t like it in the first place. I hate the feeling of “What did I miss? Why do people even like this book?”, but not enough to force a re-read. (*coughcough* Slaughterhouse-Five *coughcough*)
I can’t say I have read any of the other books on this list to provide any real comment 🙁 . I think this is a great post idea 🙂
Xxertz recently posted…Stacking the Shelves, #7
I have some nostalgia about it, but after book three I just lose interest every time. Eek.
A lot of readers I know are attracted to villains, and I admit some have their appeal – which would explain Snape and Malfoy. Probably also why some folks I know wished Alina had ended up with the Darkling. I actually like the way that trilogy ended though with the pairing it got 🙂
I’m sure there’s probably some I like, but mostly… I don’t get it! Probably because I love the Paladin types.
Philippa Gregory’s books are hit and miss for me. I enjoyed the first few Tudor novels but after the 3rd one that series fell away. Same with the Cousins War series-a few were ok, a few bored me. I did like Wideacre though.
Hmm. I haven’t liked anything I tried, sadly!
While I only read the first book in the Grisha series, I get into similar discussions about Eric/Bill/Sookie from the Sookie Stackhouse series. I always thought that Bill was the better vampire for Sookie. He was the one most interested in her well-being. Eric has been around the block and knew that no matter what he would outlive Sookie and his decisions always favored his survival above anyone else’s.
Terri M., the Director recently posted…Introducing T.S. Millheim, author | In the Spotlight
I haven’t read that series yet, but I intend to!
I never got past book one of Harry Potter…
I did read the first three or four when I was more or less the same age as Harry, but after that lost interest! Rereading didn’t help.
Haha, “contemporary fiction that doesn’t contain magic anywhere” is a pretty significant chunk of literature! 😀 But I get what genre of books you mean. I enjoy contemporary romances but I don’t read much else in this genre.
Are we talking Lancelot from Arthurian legends/books? I disliked him, too. I haven’t read many contemporary Arthurian novels (do you have any recs, by the way?) but I did read some of the medieval stuff and he was my least favourite (along with Percival).
Ugh and feel free to skip Divergent, it’s one of those series with an infinitely disappointing ending (at least for me).
I’m glad you did the tag! 🙂
Kaja recently posted…All the Hype
Well, that excludes genre stuff like crime/mystery. Women’s fiction and such I don’t read much of!
Yep, him. And I’m glad you didn’t like Percival either, since he was a walking Welsh stereotype of the worst sort and made me itch with anger, haha. Contemporary Arthuriana… hm. I’ll have a think and maybe do a post on it sometime. If you’re interested in quite realistic historical fiction, the Bernard Cornwell trilogy is good. Fantasy-wise, Guy Gavriel Kay’s first three books feature Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot…
My partner actually found it okay! It’s hard to know, haha.
Thanks for the recs!
And I know, many people like Divergent. It’s just a bad fit for me, that happens. 🙂
Hope you enjoy if you try ’em!