T5W | Talking Trash

This week, we are talking about books you disliked but love to discuss.

One of my favorite things to watch on Youtube is “Books I Hate” or “Worst Books” lists. There’s something cathartic talking about books – or anything, really – that you dislike. You get fired up. You get so passionate about it. And honestly, the more intelligent booktube conversations come from these types of videos. Of course, there are those butthurt people lurking in the comments but mostly, I find actual smart conversations about a why so-and-so book was bad or why this other person liked it. The discussions between the two parties are very interesting to me; it shows how people differ in taste. When I participate, I mostly just expound why I didn’t like the book. I haven’t found a book (or movie) that I feel so passionately about that I will defend it to no end.

Then there are some books that people just really enjoy dragging through the mud. Ah, these. These are the 1-star books, the truly garbage books. Oh what fun. XD

The titles on my list today all rated 3 stars and below. Hell, probably 1-star but I’m just too lazy to look up my rating on Goodreads. I will try not to be mean… however, these “negative” topics bring out the best in me. LMAO.

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Caraval by Stephanie Garber.
This will forever be hard for me because I did genuinely like the author when I met her. She’s such a darling. She was so excited about the book and you can tell she was so proud of it. HOWEVER.

“No longer white, the untouched snow at Scarlett’s feet winked up at her with periwinkle sparkles, as if it were in on some private joke.”

What. The. Hell. Is. That? I get purple prose but this is… periwinkle prose? Eh, I don’t even know. Scarlett was irritating; so much that the other characters in the book were calling out her stupidity. This book was so hyped and it fell so flat. It wasn’t unreadable but it wasn’t enjoyable at all. But I do love repeating that absolutely pointless color quotes. This was just awful.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han.
I hated this book. I don’t know what possessed me to read this at the first place. I’m not the biggest fan of YA contemporary and this definitely has all the reasons why. I got so angry reading this book. I started off my rating at a 3 but as I thought about it more and I kept seeing it around, it just angered me more and I took it down to 1-star. While I don’t like being reminded of this book, I’m still like talking about it. Particularly about how this didn’t work for me and why I dislike it so much.

The epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling.
Let’s be real here, it was like bad fan fiction. But since JKR wrote it, it’s not fan fiction. Honestly, I’ve read better fan works and that whole thing was such a wet blanket. The story should’ve been left there and let the fans imagine the 19 Years later or whenever that was. I will never touch The Cursed Child with a 10-foot pole so I can’t speak about that. It’s just this epilogue… no.

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire.
I don’t hate this book. I quite liked it. But it’s not as life-changing as many people say it is. At least, not to me. I do like reading and watching reviews about how amazing this is and see if I “get” it, you know? I appreciate the diversity and the representation and all that. It’s a move towards the right direction. But that doesn’t really make the book. This was pitched as being about a home for kids who went through magical doorways and how they cope about being back to the real world. It was there but if you really think about it, the book isn’t really about that. While I do have the 2 sequels waiting to be read, this book is just meh. We can talk about it but convincing me that this book will change my life is not going to work.

Our Fault In Our Stars by John Green.
If you love this book, good on you. I personally did not like one bit of this. I don’t appreciate being told what to feel, especially when I went through a loss much harder than anyone in this book. I don’t like Green’s writing style; as I’m told that all his books have that same vibe of tropes and condescension. I really don’t get why this became such a thing.

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What did I say? Fires you up, right? Don’t be butthurt if you love any or all of these books. I don’t know you. It’s not a personal attack. We all have different tastes and that is what makes it beautiful.