My Unpopular Bookish Opinions

Published on by Hannah @ Books, Life & Other Oddities

Oh gosh this Top Ten Tuesday topic. I hope I won’t loose too many friends over it but it was so fun to write 😂😳

1. Dog Earing Pages is Fine

That little crease in the top corner of a page that some bookworms flinch at? Yep that’s fine. I mean if you bend them back the other way you can’t even tell so what’s the big deal, anyway?

2. Cracked Spines are Good

I actively encourage cracked Spines in my bookcase. My books look loved and read, not like a bookshop!

3. Love Triangles Suck

I’m sorry popular ya published when I was fifteen but the love triangles were so over done. And not even that great a trope to begin with…

4. Not All Heroes Need Love

I love my ships, I really do, but do all protagonists and side characters have to pair off? Can they be single and happy about it?

5. Love Shouldn’t Last Forever

Again I love my ships, but occasionally I think they should well… Um… Sink? Just a couple. I mean come on, who here is still with their first boyfriend/girlfriend from 17?!

6. Negative Reviews Rule

Not everyone is going to like every book, so authors shouldn’t be offended to receive negative reviews. Also, as a reader I check reviews to see if I will like a book and I appreciate a reviewers honesty.

7. Review what you DNF

Again, I don’t want to waste my time reading a book I don’t like, so appreciate when bloggers straight up tell me why they didn’t like it.

8. Movies Don’t Always have to Follow the Books

I know, I know, readers are always going to prefer the book. It’s what we do. But I get some things won’t work on the big screen given time, budget or plot purposes and I’m ok with them missing out the odd plot point or character development. I’m just happy they made the movie.

9. Throne of Glass was Cliché

An unpopular opinion in and of itself, but this book is so popular I feel bad not liking it. It even has the ‘let go of a breath I didn’t know I was holding’ line, I’m sorry SJM fans but I am not in your ranks.

10. Soul Mates? Nah

And we’re back to love again. A lot of bookworms eat up this trope, which is fine and I don’t judge, but really it’s not for me.

11. I don’t like Swearing in Books

And a cheeky 11 because I’m just that unpopular. I know some writes think it’s the only way they can express themselves but to some readers it’s just offensive, and you don’t know who’s going to pick up your book. Also it takes me out the story completely, I don’t know why.

Lets Compare Note

There you have it! 11 unpopular bookish opinions. What’s your most unpopular opinion? Do you share any of mine? Do you have a list of your own? Would love to hear from you in the comments!

54 thoughts on “My Unpopular Bookish Opinions”

  2. Hallo, Hallo, Hannah,
    I didn’t take part in the TTT theme this week, but I noticed the posts coming through my WP Reader and I couldn’t help myself – I’ve been visiting the blogger’s I both follow and the commenters on their blogs who intrigued me to read their posts as well! 🙂 This is how I came to find your lovely blog!
    I am overjoyed I came by too – as there are a few things you’d like about my blog! I *do!* out the stories I DNF – there are reviews of stories on my blog I did not finish and/or I had something more critical to say than praise. I write all kinds of reviews – positive, positive-neutral, negative-neutral, negative and somewhere in between! All my reviews reflect my honest and first impressions of the stories I’m reading because I’m composing my thoughts quite literally *as I’m reading!* them.
    Secondly, I have the same opinion of you in regards to vulgarity and that is why I also out authors who use it in an overt way! Like you said – if none of us are openly honest about how we feel about certain stories how are others supposed to know if they want to read it!? I sometimes get flak if I mention a story had too much vulgarity in it for me as I am a hybrid reader – (mainstream and INSPY) however, I have happily found mainstream titles that are w/o such excessive vulgarity just as happily as I’ve snuggled into an INSPY novel. I am sure you have as well.
    There have been more than a few Romances I’ve read over the last year where I thought the author proved the point that the lead character *should not have!* pursued the relationship! One of the first year’s this has happened to me and I wondered… why didn’t the publisher let them tell a story where there wasn’t a ready HEA? I mean, I know Romance is meant to have that.. but more true to life would be to show how sometimes the person you want to fall in love with might not just be the wrong choice!
    So thankful I dropped by!!

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    1. Haha thanks! Oh cool, yeah I know a lot of bloggers don’t like writing negative reviews but I think you sort of owe it to your readers to say if something is bad. Ooh I considered writing reviews as I read books but I don’t know if my opinions would change so I kind of hold of, not sure that’s the best approach though. The point of reviews is to decide if other readers want to read the book so we should definitely be honest!what’s INSPY? Most of what I read doesn’t have swear words in tbh, which is good. But I’m glad you mention when books you read have swear words in!
      Haha yes, I’ve read romances like that too 😳 that’s a good point! And never shown in literature!

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  5. Great list! I love cracking the spines of my books, too – I love my books looking well-loved and read. I also LOVE reading negative reviews – I find them way more helpful than positive ones – and I totally agree that protagonists shouldn’t always be paired off. I love a good ship, but I’d love to see more protagonists be fine with being on their own and just enjoying their friendships.

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  6. Great list! I haven’t read Throne of Glass but I definitely want to give it a try! I also don’t like swearing in books.

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  8. I guess I’m the exception, and it isn’t my first boyfriend from 17 (sorry, Donnie Danbury) but I have been married for 41 years, and love can grow and hang around through some pretty awful times.

    I hate cursing in books. I hate violence. That said, I accept it when I am reading a book with lots of terrible-ness (war, bad guys, etc.)

    I wrote about Widely-Held but Misguided Notions about Reading. I hope you’ll let me know what you think.

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    1. I’m not with my first bf either 😂 aw so cute! Yeah I have friends who’ve had bfs all through school but it’s not that common, compared to in literature.

      Yeah me too. I don’t like violence either but it’s a lot easier to avoid as you can read reviews and trigger Warnings.

      Oh cool, over on your blog?

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  9. I agree with most of these. I don’t require all my books to look perfect and I’m okay with dog-earring and spine cracking. I also agree with all of the love stuff, I hate that every YA book seems to require a love interest, soulmates don’t exist, love triangles suck and I really don’t get why every YA book has their characters ending up with the same person they were with at 17! I do like the Throne of Glass books, but you are definitely not alone in not liking her books, there’s actually more people than you’d think out there who don’t. I don’t mind swearing in books. I enjoy negative reviews but I find it difficult to write DNF ones because I’m not really sure how to talk about books I didn’t finish. I don’t think movies have to follow the book completely but I hate it when the film is unrecognisable because they’ve changed so much from the book.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2019/06/11/top-ten-tuesday-215/

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    1. Yeah I used to keep my books pristine as I read them, but then the radiator leaked in my room and also I drop them a lot and when the book got exciting I’d crack the spine and I just stopped caring. Also I think my shelves look more loved now so it was all good!
      Yeah I know! I wouldn’t mind the odd ship lasting, love triangle or romance but it’s literally every novel I pick up has at least one of these things, if not all three. Also whenever I read soul mates I just roll my eyes 😂🙄
      Oh really? I have only met one other person who didn’t like them 😂 and a million people who are just in love with the series 😂
      I find it tricky to write DNF ones but I think I say somewhere what my star ratings mean and one star means DNF so I feel I should write them 😂 or I might have got rid of that idk.
      Yeah I don’t like unrecognisable differences but I see people online ranting about tiny things left out in Harry Potter and I’m like ‘they were good films that vaguely followed the plot, stop complaining, look what the PJO fans got 😭’ 😂😂

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      1. Ha ha yeah, I get that. For some reason I’ve never been overly precious about my books? As long as they’re readable, if they look a little scruffy, that just means I really love them!
        Oh yeah I know, why does every book have to be true love for ever? If I was a YA book character and stuck with my first boyfriend, I’d be really annoyed!
        Ha ha yeah, there’s an entire corner of Book Twitter who really hate the series. See I’ve never used the one star rating, but that’s probably because it is just for DNF books and I don’t review those, also a lot of the time I DNF a book because it was a Netgalley one I didn’t have time to finish! Oh yeah totally, you really just want to whack the Percy Jackson movies in Harry Potter fans faces when they complain about teeny things being left out of the films!

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  11. I don’t intentionally dog ear my books, but it doesn’t bother me. And how do you read a 400 page paperback and not crack the spine some?

    #6 and 7 are great though. When I worked for a chocolate company many years ago, I was told I had to try all the chocolate (it was high-end chocolate so TWIST MY ARM) if only so I can say specifically why I didn’t like it. I think this goes for books, too. Write those negative reviews because often a well-written 1 or 2 star review gives me more insight than a 4 or 5 star will.

    Also, sometimes things have to change when you make a movie out of a novel. Not everything will fit, some things don’t translate well to screen, etc. Embrace it. 🙂

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thanks!

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    1. Exactly, it’s far too much effort 🙄 and also I’ll just drop it or itll get scratched in my bag or something so it’s never going to look pristine.

      Oh my gosh you worked for a chocolate company as a taster?! Why did you leave that sounds amazing 😍 yes it does for me too, and sometimes it doesn’t put me off the book because I can say ‘oh I wouldn’t find that annoying’

      Yeah that’s what I think, a lot of people go on about minor changes in Harry Potter and I think those films are great, and there was no way they could capture everything.

      Thanks, I’ll check it out!

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  14. I really love that you review your DNF’d books! I usually do too depending on how far I get into the book. I think a healthy amount of negative reviews is great. Honestly, negative reviews come to me easily for reasons I’m sure everyone on the Internet would love to give me. But there’s a kind of security and ease in negative reviews. Plus I usually feel better after I rant about the books, haha.

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      1. haha I’m right there with you if that’s the case!! The reason I got ~really~ into blogging is because my brother in law read one of my rants reviews and he was like “I need this in YouTube format” I was like not into video. But I was like, “I’ll continue to do this”.

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  16. I’m not a huge fan of swearing in books either. I think sometimes it has its place, but in the 9 books/novellas I’ve finished writing (and throw in my unfinished books too) I’m pretty sure there are less than 10 swear words total. There are a few times it’s warranted, but not many.

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  17. I agree with so many points that you made! I especially agree with reviewing (not necessarily rating) DNF’ed books because it give me a chance to vent about the book and explain why I didn’t like it.

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  18. I agree with you on so many of these, I agree even more so on your point about Throne of Glass. It is at the same level as 50 Shades of Grey. Poorly written dumpster fires. (yes I get a little passionate about those lol)
    Ooh the swearing, I totally get it, but I consistently swear way to much so I don’t notice it. If you ever read any of my reviews, my apologies in advance.

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  21. I agree, a carefully considered, objectively written bad review is a good thing. So long as it doesn’t descend into unwarranted personal attacks against the author (seen that!) then it’s sharing how you felt about the book. It allows authors to grow if they read it plus no every book is for everyone.

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  22. I don’t like forever ever after wither a single person story either😊 and yep, I agree with most of what you wrote except for the dog earing pages heheh.. but that’s alright, we can still be friends right?😊

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      1. Hahaha I believe in letting everyone have their own way so that they can let me have my own way lol.. no forgiveness required😁

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